It's been a while that I felt this way.
It's been a while the wind whispered his name.
It's been a while I remembered soft sighs and aching need.
It's been a while the pleasure just began.
It's been a while since he left me.
It's been a while I gave a damn about it.
It's been a while I heard his heart.
It's been a while I allowed the music cry.
It's been a while the melody spoke my pain.
It's been a while we spoke of the future in vain.
It's been a while I recalled the laughter and joy.
It's been a while I had that kind of conversation.
It's been a while that I thought of him in distant lands.
It's been a while he was my waking thought and first text.
It's been a while we discovered new books and places and things.
It's been a while I was happy at all without him.
It's been a while I spoke of him or recalled callous deeds and thoughtless acts.
It's been a while since he spoke of her and not me.
It's been a while that his life began and mine abruptly ended.
It's been a while since we were young and carefree.
It's been a while we broke the rules and truly lived.
It's been a while since I thought of the future and possibilities.
It's been a while my heart died when he went away.
It's been a while I was this tired.
It's been a while i vividly remembered.
Its been a while I really missed him.
It's been a while that I spoke his name.
Subomi Plumptre's Blog: Thoughts, beliefs and expressions
Friday, June 25, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Rape, Indecent Dressing and Anger
I’ve keenly followed the stories of Royal Fathers publicly beating their wives, State Governors using the instruments of state to oppress theirs, Senators indulging in under-age marriages and Fathers impregnating their 12yr old daughters. Sigh!
I listened to the ongoing chatter on Facebook and yesterday I read a particular comment that generated one of the greatest internal expressions of rage in my 30-odd years. I was so incensed that for the first time ever, I felt like physically slapping someone - the offender. I felt like forming a line of slappers – I would give the first slap, then push him on to the next slapper on the line and the next and the next...you catch my drift. What did this unfortunate individual say? He had the audacity, the gall, the effrontery, the sheer temerity to say that the 12 year old girl was probably dressed provocatively and that ladies should stop dressing in a manner that seduces men. HOW DARE YOU!!! Exactly in what manner can a 12 year old dress that would cause her father to continually rape her till she eventually gets pregnant? What basis does a father have to even entertain amorous thoughts towards his daughter, even if she were to run around stark naked in the house? God...please give me that man to slap!
But wait; let me backtrack a little, because my anger didn’t just begin. I was in Lagos a few years back when the notion of controlling “indecent dressing” began flying around. This move was championed by the First Lady of Lagos State (with all due respect). For a brief spell, young women were afraid to wear what they liked. I’ve also listened to the rumbles in the Senate about an Indecent Dressing Bill. I’ve heard about the stickers that read: Only Prostitutes Dress Like Prostitutes. None of these actions are about protecting the rights of women; they are about CONTROL and legislating behaviour. If they were about women’s rights and ennobling women, there would be stronger Child Marriage Laws, more stringent rape laws and fathers wouldn’t rape their kids! During that season in Lagos, women were bundled into Police trucks and raped because they dressed “indecently”. Young girls enroute nightclubs were stripped of their clothing in public. In my humble opinion, legislating behaviour is akin to stitching a woman’s labia or enforcing a Chastity Belt so she can be chaste.
The abuse of women in Nigeria has been going on for a LONG time – the instances have just not been well documented or publicised till now. The Walk Against Rape (WAR) had a following because women were getting raped. The V-Monologues hit a nerve because we know the stories presented actually happen in real life. When I attended the Vagina Monologues a few years ago; during the introduction by the organisers (Kudirat Abiola Initiative for Democracy – KIND), it was stated that all the stories presented were REAL stories submitted by women. While they are dramatised, the stories themselves are real. These things have been going on for decades and we must speak up and take action to put an end to them. No more sweeping things under the rug.
The so-called issue of “indecent dressing” must be contextualised. In Rio, Brazil where everyone dresses like their enroute the beach, we don’t see the Police randomly grabbing and raping women. In Dubai, an Arab State, the authorities recognise that it is a melting pot of different cultures. While I wore my shorts and spaghetti straps boldly and without fear, I was respectful of the culture and made sure my shorts were of modest length. It wasn’t legislated; it was a choice I made out of respect for the culture. In my Alma Mata – Unilorin, there’s a big sign at the bus stop, with pictures of what NOT to wear. In a tertiary institution? What arrant prejudicial nonsense. In Nigerian villages where the women go about topless, I don’t see the men losing control and raping them left, right and centre.
The truth is if you have a problem with the way people dress, you shouldn’t seek to forcefully change things by legislating behaviour; you should understand the “why”; respect people’s free will and if you so desire, give them other options to consider. Today’s dressing is deeply rooted in the concept of “cool”. It is a cultural thing. Trust me, if Beyonce were to decide today to start wearing turtlenecks and baggy trousers, women would follow suit even in our hot weather! After all, Kid Cudi made big goggles cool!
You can provide young people with an alternative cultural reality and ALLOW THEM TO CHOOSE! Stop seeking to force them to bend to your antiquated viewpoint or will. Stop fermenting bile and advancing your agenda (Hear me oh Senate).
Just think, what would kid’s television programming be without The Disney Channel. The organisation decided to promote family values. It was a choice they made and paid an economic price for it even selling off Miramax Studios (Remember the Kill Bill movies), because it didn’t fit their ethos. Today, parents have a choice of Disney or the more aggressive, violent cartoons on the Cartoon Channel. Disney didn’t just talk or condemn, they provided alternatives. Kanye West decided that instead of the “tits and ass” music video genre, he would do conceptual, creative videos. The West Wing is perhaps one of the most intelligent TV series I have ever watched- combining conscientious leadership with practical everyday executive decisions. It provided an alternative for those who’d rather not watch Nip/Tuck!
What we need in this world are people who will not seek to force others to their point of view, but who are willing to WORK, yes WORK to provide other alternatives for people to choose from. If you’re not satisfied with the quality of radio programming today, start your own radio station. If you’re not satisfied with the manner of dressing, start your own clothing trend and get celebrities to wear the clothes to make them popular. Use the tools of pop culture to advance alternatives.
It will take immense creativity, hard work and sacrifice. But you must stop towing the line of “if you can’t beat them, destroy them”. Rather get in the ring and show us how it can be done. I was at an interview the other day and MI recounted how some of his fans openly scorned him for participating in the “Maga No Need Pay” video. Some people will taunt you for not towing the populist line. You may be laughed at, but in the end you’ll impact people.
I therefore salute Gbenga Sesan and the entire Maga No Need Pay collective.
I celebrate the numerous artistes on the Notes2Note video, who are reminding the Youth that they can have values and still be cool.
I salute Chude Jideonwo and the Future Project Crew who celebrate young achievers and are breeding positive activism through Enough is Enough Nigeria.
I salute Brave and Creative people everywhere who DO SOMETHING, providing credible alternatives to what is popularly accepted.
I salute you all and comprehensively despise and denounce the Hypocritical who talk but do nothing. May this generation never remember your names.
I listened to the ongoing chatter on Facebook and yesterday I read a particular comment that generated one of the greatest internal expressions of rage in my 30-odd years. I was so incensed that for the first time ever, I felt like physically slapping someone - the offender. I felt like forming a line of slappers – I would give the first slap, then push him on to the next slapper on the line and the next and the next...you catch my drift. What did this unfortunate individual say? He had the audacity, the gall, the effrontery, the sheer temerity to say that the 12 year old girl was probably dressed provocatively and that ladies should stop dressing in a manner that seduces men. HOW DARE YOU!!! Exactly in what manner can a 12 year old dress that would cause her father to continually rape her till she eventually gets pregnant? What basis does a father have to even entertain amorous thoughts towards his daughter, even if she were to run around stark naked in the house? God...please give me that man to slap!
But wait; let me backtrack a little, because my anger didn’t just begin. I was in Lagos a few years back when the notion of controlling “indecent dressing” began flying around. This move was championed by the First Lady of Lagos State (with all due respect). For a brief spell, young women were afraid to wear what they liked. I’ve also listened to the rumbles in the Senate about an Indecent Dressing Bill. I’ve heard about the stickers that read: Only Prostitutes Dress Like Prostitutes. None of these actions are about protecting the rights of women; they are about CONTROL and legislating behaviour. If they were about women’s rights and ennobling women, there would be stronger Child Marriage Laws, more stringent rape laws and fathers wouldn’t rape their kids! During that season in Lagos, women were bundled into Police trucks and raped because they dressed “indecently”. Young girls enroute nightclubs were stripped of their clothing in public. In my humble opinion, legislating behaviour is akin to stitching a woman’s labia or enforcing a Chastity Belt so she can be chaste.
The abuse of women in Nigeria has been going on for a LONG time – the instances have just not been well documented or publicised till now. The Walk Against Rape (WAR) had a following because women were getting raped. The V-Monologues hit a nerve because we know the stories presented actually happen in real life. When I attended the Vagina Monologues a few years ago; during the introduction by the organisers (Kudirat Abiola Initiative for Democracy – KIND), it was stated that all the stories presented were REAL stories submitted by women. While they are dramatised, the stories themselves are real. These things have been going on for decades and we must speak up and take action to put an end to them. No more sweeping things under the rug.
The so-called issue of “indecent dressing” must be contextualised. In Rio, Brazil where everyone dresses like their enroute the beach, we don’t see the Police randomly grabbing and raping women. In Dubai, an Arab State, the authorities recognise that it is a melting pot of different cultures. While I wore my shorts and spaghetti straps boldly and without fear, I was respectful of the culture and made sure my shorts were of modest length. It wasn’t legislated; it was a choice I made out of respect for the culture. In my Alma Mata – Unilorin, there’s a big sign at the bus stop, with pictures of what NOT to wear. In a tertiary institution? What arrant prejudicial nonsense. In Nigerian villages where the women go about topless, I don’t see the men losing control and raping them left, right and centre.
The truth is if you have a problem with the way people dress, you shouldn’t seek to forcefully change things by legislating behaviour; you should understand the “why”; respect people’s free will and if you so desire, give them other options to consider. Today’s dressing is deeply rooted in the concept of “cool”. It is a cultural thing. Trust me, if Beyonce were to decide today to start wearing turtlenecks and baggy trousers, women would follow suit even in our hot weather! After all, Kid Cudi made big goggles cool!
You can provide young people with an alternative cultural reality and ALLOW THEM TO CHOOSE! Stop seeking to force them to bend to your antiquated viewpoint or will. Stop fermenting bile and advancing your agenda (Hear me oh Senate).
Just think, what would kid’s television programming be without The Disney Channel. The organisation decided to promote family values. It was a choice they made and paid an economic price for it even selling off Miramax Studios (Remember the Kill Bill movies), because it didn’t fit their ethos. Today, parents have a choice of Disney or the more aggressive, violent cartoons on the Cartoon Channel. Disney didn’t just talk or condemn, they provided alternatives. Kanye West decided that instead of the “tits and ass” music video genre, he would do conceptual, creative videos. The West Wing is perhaps one of the most intelligent TV series I have ever watched- combining conscientious leadership with practical everyday executive decisions. It provided an alternative for those who’d rather not watch Nip/Tuck!
What we need in this world are people who will not seek to force others to their point of view, but who are willing to WORK, yes WORK to provide other alternatives for people to choose from. If you’re not satisfied with the quality of radio programming today, start your own radio station. If you’re not satisfied with the manner of dressing, start your own clothing trend and get celebrities to wear the clothes to make them popular. Use the tools of pop culture to advance alternatives.
It will take immense creativity, hard work and sacrifice. But you must stop towing the line of “if you can’t beat them, destroy them”. Rather get in the ring and show us how it can be done. I was at an interview the other day and MI recounted how some of his fans openly scorned him for participating in the “Maga No Need Pay” video. Some people will taunt you for not towing the populist line. You may be laughed at, but in the end you’ll impact people.
I therefore salute Gbenga Sesan and the entire Maga No Need Pay collective.
I celebrate the numerous artistes on the Notes2Note video, who are reminding the Youth that they can have values and still be cool.
I salute Chude Jideonwo and the Future Project Crew who celebrate young achievers and are breeding positive activism through Enough is Enough Nigeria.
I salute Brave and Creative people everywhere who DO SOMETHING, providing credible alternatives to what is popularly accepted.
I salute you all and comprehensively despise and denounce the Hypocritical who talk but do nothing. May this generation never remember your names.
Sunday, June 06, 2010
On Business Structure
I have spent the last decade in an organisation I watched grow from an entrepreneur’s idea into a structured company. (The company began with start-up capital of N17.50K). This was done in one of the most hostile business environments on earth – Nigeria. I have also spent considerable time thinking about how the many fledgling & brilliant entrepreneurs in Nigeria can evolve into structured corporations (and perhaps even fast track their way there). But first, it would be helpful to describe what an unstructured business looks like.
As an entrepreneur, you can tell your business isn’t structured if:
- Potential clients have a brief but can’t find you because you never pick up your phone or promptly return calls.
- You don’t have a backup or secondary phone line.
- You don’t have staff that are equally as competent as you. Therefore your business can’t grow beyond the number of briefs you can individually handle.
- Your official email address ends with gmail.com or yahoo.com.
- You’ve not empowered leaders in your company (where leadership is defined as the ability to take executive, binding decisions such as signing cheques and contracts).
- Your office is your dining room table and a multinational won’t give you a job because you won’t pass their typical office inspection.
- You’re not a registered company and have no idea what VAT and Withholding Tax are.
- You fall ill for 3 months and your company falls apart because there’s no one to hold the fort while you’re recuperating.
- You can’t do international business transactions because you don’t have a credit or debit card.
- You won’t be granted a visa because your company doesn’t have consistent income statements over 6 months or corporate registration documents.
- None of your staff has a proper job contract with defined job descriptions, expectations, obligations and benefits.
- You don’t have a business card.
- You don’t have a website.
- You don’t know how to knot a tie or dress appropriately for a business dinner.
- You can’t stand toe-to-toe with your international counterparts.
There are many more examples but you get the point.
From discussions with young entrepreneurs, I have tried to collate a progression sketch for how to move from the first stage of entrepreneurship to a more structured stage. (I will not speak particularly about Finance, because an entrepreneur who has not figured out how to raise finance for his business is NOT an entrepreneur and should get a job).
These are my suggestions:
1. DECIDE ON YOUR REASON FOR DOING BUSINESS
Your concept of life and raison d’être will invariably affect your concept of business. If your ultimate desire is to just make money for instance, you won’t invest in structure and you’ll lack critical business focus. If tomorrow, fish becomes a hot selling product, you’ll jettison whatever it is you’re doing to jump into the fish market.
Once you decide why you’re going into business and the kind of company you want to build, then you can design a structure to get you there.
2. PUT IN PLACE ADMINISTRATIVE AND REGULATORY STRUCTURES
OPERATIONS: You may have very creative ideas or products. However, if you do not create an enabling environment to develop, manage & protect them; then package and present them to the world as marketable propositions, you are deploying valuable effort to create inventory.
Administration is the business of the business. It ensures products get to market. It protects you and ensures you remain a going concern. You’d be amazed for instance what a properly filed letter or invoice can do for you when a dispute arises with a client. Also, what a prompt response to a brief or a returned telephone call can do to your bottom line.
Hire an efficient operations person to handle the everyday business issues so as the business driver, you can focus on the bigger picture. And please, do not get a boy to do a man’s job. Never get an immature, cheap minion to run your operations. You will destroy your company. Find someone who can comfortably represent the company in a meeting with a Lawyer, for example – someone very intelligent and responsible. Someone you trust.
REGULATORY ISSUES: Stop trying to handle regulatory issues on your own. There are competent individuals and firms who consult for small and growing businesses. Instead of banging your head against the wall trying to register your business at CAC, pay someone to do it. On the issue of business names, sometimes, all you need is a little wisdom. It’s easier to register an abstract non-English word that you coin or your own God-given name, than an existing everyday name. For example, Visix Enterprises is easier to register than Crusader Trustees Company.
Growing businesses need basic templates to work with (and I’m not talking about letter or invoice templates). You need an HR Contract template for staff you’ll be hiring. For your accounts, you need to do your first Trial Balance and Management Accounts, if you’ve existed for a number of years and are tax liable. You also need a basic Financial Policy and Accounts Tracking template, which makes your accounts audit so much easier when you begin to pay taxes. It also helps you see at a glance how much comes in and goes out of your company; what your profit margins are; your daily expenses and whether on the whole, you’re a going business concern or approaching death.
You also need a Service Contract template for clients and contractors. There are LAWYERS & ACCOUNTANTS that specialise in helping growing businesses in these areas and it may be cheaper for you to retain them on an annual basis or to get them to develop the basic structures over a project period of say 3 months.
SUPPORT SERVICES: There are a number of service providers every entrepreneur needs to have on speed dial. They include:
- Designer
- Printer
- Website Developer
- Marketer
- Travel Agent
- Electrician
- Generator Technician
- Plumber
- Carpenter
- Realtor
- Insurance agent
For example, a small enterprise can’t “afford” to have a car stolen or bashed by a danfo. Comprehensive insurance helps you cushion the cost.
2. DEVELOP A BRAIN TRUST
A growing business may not be able to afford a management consultant or to commission market research. Sometimes the perspective of a single mentor is also too narrow and limiting for a long term vision. Therefore, you may need to put together a group of people you respect within and without your industry who will serve as a Strategy Board, Advisory Board or just Sounding Board. They should be experienced, seasoned and wise. They should be approachable and willing to tell you the unvarnished truth. Their job is to meet every year (or half-year), hear you out and provide market insight from an outsider’s point of view. They do not make executive decisions but provide counsel. They are your ad hoc focus group and help you shape ideas into marketing propositions. In some cases, they also provide links and networks. You may decide to pay an honorarium for this service or simply buy lunch – it’s up to you.
3. HONE YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY
Besides having a good brand, website, brochure and other marketing tools; you need a hands-on person to physically sell your product to the market when it’s ready. (This may or may not be the company founder). It must be someone who has the personality and drive for it. If it’s too expensive to hire someone, get an agent you trust and pay them a commission. But nothing beats having an in-house point person. Without a marketing driver, your business will die a slow death. Sometimes your strategy may be to not publicly market but to rely on referrals. Notwithstanding, you need someone to physically write proposals, attend meetings, do presentations, seal the deal and most importantly follow up on payments . Remember, when the idea or product is developed, someone has to look for potential clients, sponsors and business partners.
4. GET AN OFFICE
Instead of trying to bear the cost of an office, identify 2 or 3 other people like you and share office space for at least the first 1 year of the rent period. Split the cost of diesel and other bills, have a common reception and meeting room but keep separate work spaces (because of confidentiality issues). After a year, some people will be able to afford their own office space and move out, while others will join. Having a shared office provides economies of scale on office supplies.
5. TRAVEL, READ, MEET PEOPLE
Move beyond being a local champion or competing with local champions. Broaden your perspectives and learn about the best in your industry, internationally. Travelling does wonders to your world view. You can do it physically or through the pages of a book or the web.
Spend time with potential clients or seek to understand their world. Read what they read. It will help you to see things from the customer’s perspective and to develop products that meet their needs. Also, you’ll come to realize that customers prefer to do business with people who understand them not people who speak technical industry verbiage.
I hope the few prescriptions in this write-up have been useful. I wish you the very best in your business endeavour. You can reach me on twitter @subomiplumptre and join the conversation at #NigeriaSME.
As an entrepreneur, you can tell your business isn’t structured if:
- Potential clients have a brief but can’t find you because you never pick up your phone or promptly return calls.
- You don’t have a backup or secondary phone line.
- You don’t have staff that are equally as competent as you. Therefore your business can’t grow beyond the number of briefs you can individually handle.
- Your official email address ends with gmail.com or yahoo.com.
- You’ve not empowered leaders in your company (where leadership is defined as the ability to take executive, binding decisions such as signing cheques and contracts).
- Your office is your dining room table and a multinational won’t give you a job because you won’t pass their typical office inspection.
- You’re not a registered company and have no idea what VAT and Withholding Tax are.
- You fall ill for 3 months and your company falls apart because there’s no one to hold the fort while you’re recuperating.
- You can’t do international business transactions because you don’t have a credit or debit card.
- You won’t be granted a visa because your company doesn’t have consistent income statements over 6 months or corporate registration documents.
- None of your staff has a proper job contract with defined job descriptions, expectations, obligations and benefits.
- You don’t have a business card.
- You don’t have a website.
- You don’t know how to knot a tie or dress appropriately for a business dinner.
- You can’t stand toe-to-toe with your international counterparts.
There are many more examples but you get the point.
From discussions with young entrepreneurs, I have tried to collate a progression sketch for how to move from the first stage of entrepreneurship to a more structured stage. (I will not speak particularly about Finance, because an entrepreneur who has not figured out how to raise finance for his business is NOT an entrepreneur and should get a job).
These are my suggestions:
1. DECIDE ON YOUR REASON FOR DOING BUSINESS
Your concept of life and raison d’être will invariably affect your concept of business. If your ultimate desire is to just make money for instance, you won’t invest in structure and you’ll lack critical business focus. If tomorrow, fish becomes a hot selling product, you’ll jettison whatever it is you’re doing to jump into the fish market.
Once you decide why you’re going into business and the kind of company you want to build, then you can design a structure to get you there.
2. PUT IN PLACE ADMINISTRATIVE AND REGULATORY STRUCTURES
OPERATIONS: You may have very creative ideas or products. However, if you do not create an enabling environment to develop, manage & protect them; then package and present them to the world as marketable propositions, you are deploying valuable effort to create inventory.
Administration is the business of the business. It ensures products get to market. It protects you and ensures you remain a going concern. You’d be amazed for instance what a properly filed letter or invoice can do for you when a dispute arises with a client. Also, what a prompt response to a brief or a returned telephone call can do to your bottom line.
Hire an efficient operations person to handle the everyday business issues so as the business driver, you can focus on the bigger picture. And please, do not get a boy to do a man’s job. Never get an immature, cheap minion to run your operations. You will destroy your company. Find someone who can comfortably represent the company in a meeting with a Lawyer, for example – someone very intelligent and responsible. Someone you trust.
REGULATORY ISSUES: Stop trying to handle regulatory issues on your own. There are competent individuals and firms who consult for small and growing businesses. Instead of banging your head against the wall trying to register your business at CAC, pay someone to do it. On the issue of business names, sometimes, all you need is a little wisdom. It’s easier to register an abstract non-English word that you coin or your own God-given name, than an existing everyday name. For example, Visix Enterprises is easier to register than Crusader Trustees Company.
Growing businesses need basic templates to work with (and I’m not talking about letter or invoice templates). You need an HR Contract template for staff you’ll be hiring. For your accounts, you need to do your first Trial Balance and Management Accounts, if you’ve existed for a number of years and are tax liable. You also need a basic Financial Policy and Accounts Tracking template, which makes your accounts audit so much easier when you begin to pay taxes. It also helps you see at a glance how much comes in and goes out of your company; what your profit margins are; your daily expenses and whether on the whole, you’re a going business concern or approaching death.
You also need a Service Contract template for clients and contractors. There are LAWYERS & ACCOUNTANTS that specialise in helping growing businesses in these areas and it may be cheaper for you to retain them on an annual basis or to get them to develop the basic structures over a project period of say 3 months.
SUPPORT SERVICES: There are a number of service providers every entrepreneur needs to have on speed dial. They include:
- Designer
- Printer
- Website Developer
- Marketer
- Travel Agent
- Electrician
- Generator Technician
- Plumber
- Carpenter
- Realtor
- Insurance agent
For example, a small enterprise can’t “afford” to have a car stolen or bashed by a danfo. Comprehensive insurance helps you cushion the cost.
2. DEVELOP A BRAIN TRUST
A growing business may not be able to afford a management consultant or to commission market research. Sometimes the perspective of a single mentor is also too narrow and limiting for a long term vision. Therefore, you may need to put together a group of people you respect within and without your industry who will serve as a Strategy Board, Advisory Board or just Sounding Board. They should be experienced, seasoned and wise. They should be approachable and willing to tell you the unvarnished truth. Their job is to meet every year (or half-year), hear you out and provide market insight from an outsider’s point of view. They do not make executive decisions but provide counsel. They are your ad hoc focus group and help you shape ideas into marketing propositions. In some cases, they also provide links and networks. You may decide to pay an honorarium for this service or simply buy lunch – it’s up to you.
3. HONE YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY
Besides having a good brand, website, brochure and other marketing tools; you need a hands-on person to physically sell your product to the market when it’s ready. (This may or may not be the company founder). It must be someone who has the personality and drive for it. If it’s too expensive to hire someone, get an agent you trust and pay them a commission. But nothing beats having an in-house point person. Without a marketing driver, your business will die a slow death. Sometimes your strategy may be to not publicly market but to rely on referrals. Notwithstanding, you need someone to physically write proposals, attend meetings, do presentations, seal the deal and most importantly follow up on payments . Remember, when the idea or product is developed, someone has to look for potential clients, sponsors and business partners.
4. GET AN OFFICE
Instead of trying to bear the cost of an office, identify 2 or 3 other people like you and share office space for at least the first 1 year of the rent period. Split the cost of diesel and other bills, have a common reception and meeting room but keep separate work spaces (because of confidentiality issues). After a year, some people will be able to afford their own office space and move out, while others will join. Having a shared office provides economies of scale on office supplies.
5. TRAVEL, READ, MEET PEOPLE
Move beyond being a local champion or competing with local champions. Broaden your perspectives and learn about the best in your industry, internationally. Travelling does wonders to your world view. You can do it physically or through the pages of a book or the web.
Spend time with potential clients or seek to understand their world. Read what they read. It will help you to see things from the customer’s perspective and to develop products that meet their needs. Also, you’ll come to realize that customers prefer to do business with people who understand them not people who speak technical industry verbiage.
I hope the few prescriptions in this write-up have been useful. I wish you the very best in your business endeavour. You can reach me on twitter @subomiplumptre and join the conversation at #NigeriaSME.
98% FAILURE IS UNACCEPTABLE - A ROADMAP FOR EDUCATION BY THE YOUTH OF NIGERIA
BACKGROUND
There is almost no way of exaggerating the statistics or the conclusion: Nigeria’s education system has all but collapsed. The fact that schools no longer have faith in the results of the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) examinations and need to organise post-UME examinations is one pointer. Another is the fact that employers have had to extend training periods after employment before new staff can be deployed.
But, nothing underscores the issue more than the secondary school examinations result released by the two exam bodies in Nigeria. The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) 2009 results, according to Waecdirect.com, show an overall poor performance with only 26% percent obtaining a credit pass in Mathematics and English. In the same vein, the National Examinations Council (NECO) November/December 2009 results show 98% failing to clinch five credits, including English and Mathematics. Only 1.8% got five credits, including English and Mathematics. It was the poorest result in the history of the examination body.
At primary school level, things are not much better. In an international study reported by the World Bank in which learning achievements in 22 countries in sub‐Saharan and North Africa are compared, the learning achievements of students in Nigeria’s primary schools were the lowest with national mean scores of 30% compared with 70% in Tunisia and 51% in Mali.
THE PROBLEM
There are a series of factors that have led to this point. This is an example of a near-perfect storm of negative factors combining in a synchronous yet disastrous harmony. To this extent, most of the angst expressed recently about the latest results may be misplaced. Emotions do not solve problems. We failed to invest in Education and so we reaped the results.
For a long time now, the standards of education in Nigeria have been in free fall due to the following well known reasons:
Financial mismanagement, corruption and bureaucratic complexity. The problems here include corruption amongst education and government officials, such that allocated monies are not received or utilised effectively. While some may argue that the budget allocation is too little, however, virtually no country in sub- Saharan Africa has the volume of funds that Nigeria can afford to allocate to education. Yet other countries do much better in terms of education quality (as can be seen from the primary school results in the World Bank study).
There is also the issue of how education is treated in the constitution. Education is on the concurrent list and the funding structure is opaque and very complex. There are too many agencies and too much replication. This fuels corruption and huge bureaucracy that prevents funds from reaching where it matters most - the classroom. Therefore, there is a need to address governance and legislation.
Many parents do not see the relevance of education as it is taught in Nigeria today. The curriculum is deemed outdated and out-of-touch with 21st century skills and realities. There is also the issue of enrolment. In many Nigerian states, enrolments have fallen. According to the Federal Ministry of Education, Nigeria has 7 million school aged children that are not in school. This is the highest in the world! Cultural norms & traditions contribute to the low enrolment figures.
The quality of teachers and teaching is abysmal. Unmotivated teachers, poor quality of teaching and low learning outcomes are rife across all levels of education According to the Kwara State Commissioner for Education, an aptitude and capacity test was organised for a total of 19,125 teachers in the State's public school system in 2008. Out of these, 2,628 were university graduates. The teachers were given tests that were designed originally for primary four pupils in English and Mathematics. At the end of the exercise, only seven teachers out of the 19,125 crossed the minimum aptitude and capacity threshold. Only one out of the 2,628 graduate teachers passed the test, 10 graduates scored outright zero. The teachers fared worse in literacy assessments which recorded only 1.2% pass rate.
Infrastructure and low capacity are also issues. Pictures of primary school pupils taking their lessons under trees while sitting on the floor, or huddled under leaking classroom roofs, have become all too common. But infrastructure is not the primary issue facing the education sector (as our forefathers who studied under worse conditions can attest to). In truth, the quality of instruction is even more of an issue.
Warped values have introduced corruption to the classroom. Learning is no longer of prime importance to students. Inordinate focus on riches and short-cuts seems to be. There is an increase in exam malpractice and lecturer abuse.
Policy flip flops are the order of the day. The influence of politics and policy instability has been damaging to education. The head of a parastatal recently expressed deep frustration in “working with eleven Ministers and 14 Permanent Secretaries in the past eleven years”!
THE OUTCOME
According to a previous Central Bank Governor, “71 per cent of Nigerian graduates like bad cherries won’t be picked by any employer of labour because they are not fit for anything even if they were the only ones that put themselves forward for an employment test”. The next generation is largely illiterate. Where are the leaders, managers, engineers, doctors, craftsmen and artisans of the future? Who is going to be working when this generation is old?
Concrete efforts and solutions are required. It is not simply a matter of giving multi-million Naira contracts for providing furniture, a perfunctory increase in budget, education summits without new ideas and formats, or superficial competitions. There has to be a comprehensive strategy that engages the problem from its many different angles and the strategy has to be sustained. Above all else, it has to be outcome-oriented. Below are some solutions to address this state of emergency in education.
THE SOLUTION
The Role of Teachers and Teaching
Teachers are at the heart of education. The most important interaction in any educational system is what goes on in the classroom between the teacher and the child. Therefore, any solution must support this interaction. The Mckinsey & Co. 2007 Report on The World’s Best Performing School Systems highlights only 3 key solutions that can drastically improve a country’s educational system. 2 of those solutions focus on Teachers:
a. We must get the right people to become Teachers; recruiting from the highest percentile. (An educational system cannot rise above the level of its teachers). Teachers must also possess motivational and communication skills.
b. We must continuously develop Teachers to become effective instructors through rigorous professional development.
c. We must put in place mechanisms to ensure that schools deliver high quality instruction to every child/student. (The system must be held accountable and rigorously tested and measured).
Therefore, our solutions must focus primarily on Teaching and Accountability.
A credible living wage must be instituted for teachers. Teachers should earn enough to live on and should be paid on time. The States must be held accountable for this.
Ongoing teacher training must be institutionalised. For instance, The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria may be restructured into an institute capable of re-training and administering accreditation examinations [much like the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN)]. All teachers in Nigeria must go through thorough training and examinations every year to be re-accredited as teachers.
An emergency plan must be put into place to attract volunteer teachers and retain existing ones. A Teachers Volunteer Programme must be set up to attract individuals who wish to give up a few months to go into schools to teach. A fund should be set up to defray the administrative expenses. The NYSC should be repurposed for 3-5 years to focus on education. Corpers should sign up to teach and the 3-week orientation should no longer be used for frog jumps and endurance treks; instead, corpers should be taken through a teacher training module on volunteer teaching. A competition should be held to identify teachers who are well regarded and voted effective by students in public secondary schools. These teachers should become national role models, be co-opted to train other teachers (in a restructured Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria) and should be rewarded. A national award should be given to volunteer teachers who sign up for an appreciable amount of time as well as existing role model teachers. The award should be endorsed by and should include dinner with the President.
Financial mismanagement in education must be stopped. The States are responsible for funding basic and secondary education as well as their state owned tertiary institutions. They receive funding from the Federal Government as well as internally generated funds. A system must be put in place to ensure that the monies generated go towards school infrastructure and teachers’ pay. Therefore, there should be an independent poll on teachers’ pay and the production of photographic evidence of school infrastructure in each state on an annual basis. The Federal Ministry’s Operation Reach All Secondary Schools (ORASS) was a good initiative in this area. It should be continued and extended to primary and tertiary institutions. Funding policy must also be streamlined.
A League Table of exam success rates in WAEC & NECO should be published annually. The Table should show the results for each State AND each school (public & private). In doing so, the public will be informed of how each school is faring and whether public taxes are simply going down the drain or being effective. This serves the twin purpose of transparency and keeping these schools and their authorities on their toes. The League Table should show how much each State receives from the Federal Government vis-a-vis the number of students they cater to and the students’ success rate. That way, Nigerians will know the spend-per-child and how effective the spend-per-child is. The table may be published in conjunction with WAEC, NECO and an independent Actuarial Firm.
Schools must be held accountable for students’ results. In the 1950s, Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman argued for the introduction of a “school voucher system”, stating that competition would improve schools and cost efficiency. While we are not sure Nigeria is ready for a voucher system, we do advocate for schools to be subjected to competitive pressure. The government may release a base sum to schools (to take care of basic administrative expenses), however, the rest of the money should be released on a “per-child” basis. Parents should be free to choose a desired school based on the school’s performance on the published “League Table”. Schools will then receive the bulk of their funding from the government based on the number of students that willingly enroll in the schools. Parents may also be given a tax credit if they choose to send their kids to public primary or secondary schools. In 5 years, non-performing/non-competitive schools on the League Table should be penalised.
Schools must also be properly licensed and monitored to ensure high standards. Monitoring must be above-board, independent, thorough and devoid of corrupt practices.
Education should be made an election issue & priority for the next administration. The electorate should reject any candidate (or political party) who does not make education a critical part of his/her manifesto. Education must be brought to the forefront of any electoral debate.
Complementary institutions to Universities must be promoted to meet the excess demand for tertiary education. In 2004, it was reported that Nigerian Universities could only cater to 15% of those who applied. Today, it is reported that Nigeria’s public Universities can cater to 65% of applicants, notwithstanding that in some cases a class designed for 40 students accommodates 400. In view of this low carrying capacity, we advocate that the Vocational Enterprise Institutes (VEIs) & Innovative Enterprise Institutes (IEIs) initiatives as set up by the Federal Ministry of Education should be promoted as credible alternatives to Universities. VEIs and IEIs provide certificates in specialised vocational and technical fields. Champions must be identified and promoted to raise the interest in and brand profile of these certificates, thereby driving up enrolment. Examples of potential champions include Downtown Beauty Academy (an existing VEI) and the accreditation of the Lady Mechanic Workshop as an IEI.
We do acknowledge that many credible solutions have already been prescribed for the educational sector. We respect the efforts of those who have gone before us. However, we must question why the solutions are not being implemented or proving effective. Questions raise solutions.
IMPLEMENTATION STEPS
In order to deliver on the solutions presented, there is a need to inform and then engage the citizenry. We must move beyond just talking about the solutions to becoming a part of it. Below are some preliminary implementation steps for citizen engagement, which we hope to champion in the weeks to come.
Step 1: Concise information on the State of Education in Nigeria must be made available. A concept paper on the state of primary and secondary school education in Nigeria must be produced, accompanied by statistics from WAEC and NECO, where available. This information should be published in the form of a League Table of the exam failure rates in each state of the federation. This is because, while there is an assumption that, nationally, everyone is aware of this problem, the depth of the decay needs to be highlighted and brought to the attention of the Nigerian public at large. Also, it is important for Nigerians to be well informed about the issues, with the correct data and perspective. The paper (and accompanying statistics) should be published as editorials in the newspapers and downloadable from the web. It should also be circulated as emails/letters to anyone who expresses concern about the state of education in Nigeria. The articles and letters will serve as an invitation to concerned Nigerians who wish to support an education intervention with their intellect and resources.
Step 2: Town Hall Meetings should be held to harvest contributions and feedback. Two weeks after the paper has been circulated, meetings should be held with persons who respond, to harness initial input and contributions and to also chart the way forward in concrete terms. We also recommend telephone conferences for Nigerians in Diaspora. Key outputs from the deliberations should be:
• Organisations or individuals who will volunteer credible implementation platforms to intervene in education.
• Organisations or individuals who will champion a proposed Technical Volunteer Corps (TVC). The Technical Volunteer Corps (TVC) is made up of individuals with deep experience in and passion for education. They include (past and present) government officials, private sector practitioners and international consultants who have experience in transforming education in countries.
• Media partners who will dedicate their voice and media spaces to bring education issues to the fore.
Step 3: A series of Youth Fora should be held in each state of Nigeria. The reason a forum is to be held in each state is that, although the Federal Government formulates and regulates education policy, the States and Local Governments control and are directly responsible for Public Primary and Secondary Schools. Hence they are accountable for the deplorable nature of education in Nigeria. This fact must be brought to the fore in all communication materials. The fora should begin in the state with the highest failure rate to underscore the critical importance of the initiative. The meetings should be supported by ongoing calls for ideas from youth across the nation which may be sent in by email and SMS. Members of the Technical Volunteer Corps will be asked to moderate the fora and streamline ideas into a coherent document. The fora should be aired live on TV, radio and the internet by media partners.
Step 4: A solutions document on Education must be produced with input and wide support from the Youth. From the solutions garnered during the fora, a symbolic solutions document should be produced and presented to all State Ministries of Education and the Federal Ministry of Education (The Minister). The document will contain no more than 5-10 major solutions. It should not be a dense soporific document that will be shelved. Rather, it should have both long term solutions as well as quick wins that can be implemented within a year. It must also be accessible by all stakeholders in education. Any plan to fix education that does not take into account the views of the youth should be rejected, as education directly concerns them. The document must be on the agenda of the next National Council on Education and each State Ministry should be pressured to execute at least one or two of the solutions in the next 6 months.
Step 5: Hands-on support by the Technical Volunteer Corps must be provided to the Federal and State Ministries of Education. The Technical Volunteer Corps should offer their services to implement the education solutions proffered. A fund should be set up to take care of the administrative expenses. The idea is to not just proffer solutions, but to help implement them.
Step 6: Results must be well documented and the Ministry held accountable. In 6 months, a report should be produced of what has been accomplished by the Federal and State Ministries of Education.
These are ideas and solutions for education in Nigeria. We call on Nigerians to lend their voice and support to implement them.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
This document is the combined effort of Nigerian youths and senior professionals working in various sectors of the Nigerian economy. We care about education, and believe that, beyond consternation and display of outrage, it is important for those who have the means, skill and resources, to work with the authorities to revive and/or improve our education system.
Contributors: Nigeria Leadership Initiative, Do More for Nigeria, The Future Project, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria
If you wish to participate in the ongoing discussion on education or contribute to the solution in any way, kindly email, SMS or call: info@thefuturenigeria.com, 07034904820, 07028101959, 08022226712
Data Sources: Federal Ministry of Education, Nigeria; National Universities Commission; McKinsey & Co. Report on Best Performing School Systems, THISDAY, Nigerian Muse
There is almost no way of exaggerating the statistics or the conclusion: Nigeria’s education system has all but collapsed. The fact that schools no longer have faith in the results of the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) examinations and need to organise post-UME examinations is one pointer. Another is the fact that employers have had to extend training periods after employment before new staff can be deployed.
But, nothing underscores the issue more than the secondary school examinations result released by the two exam bodies in Nigeria. The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) 2009 results, according to Waecdirect.com, show an overall poor performance with only 26% percent obtaining a credit pass in Mathematics and English. In the same vein, the National Examinations Council (NECO) November/December 2009 results show 98% failing to clinch five credits, including English and Mathematics. Only 1.8% got five credits, including English and Mathematics. It was the poorest result in the history of the examination body.
At primary school level, things are not much better. In an international study reported by the World Bank in which learning achievements in 22 countries in sub‐Saharan and North Africa are compared, the learning achievements of students in Nigeria’s primary schools were the lowest with national mean scores of 30% compared with 70% in Tunisia and 51% in Mali.
THE PROBLEM
There are a series of factors that have led to this point. This is an example of a near-perfect storm of negative factors combining in a synchronous yet disastrous harmony. To this extent, most of the angst expressed recently about the latest results may be misplaced. Emotions do not solve problems. We failed to invest in Education and so we reaped the results.
For a long time now, the standards of education in Nigeria have been in free fall due to the following well known reasons:
Financial mismanagement, corruption and bureaucratic complexity. The problems here include corruption amongst education and government officials, such that allocated monies are not received or utilised effectively. While some may argue that the budget allocation is too little, however, virtually no country in sub- Saharan Africa has the volume of funds that Nigeria can afford to allocate to education. Yet other countries do much better in terms of education quality (as can be seen from the primary school results in the World Bank study).
There is also the issue of how education is treated in the constitution. Education is on the concurrent list and the funding structure is opaque and very complex. There are too many agencies and too much replication. This fuels corruption and huge bureaucracy that prevents funds from reaching where it matters most - the classroom. Therefore, there is a need to address governance and legislation.
Many parents do not see the relevance of education as it is taught in Nigeria today. The curriculum is deemed outdated and out-of-touch with 21st century skills and realities. There is also the issue of enrolment. In many Nigerian states, enrolments have fallen. According to the Federal Ministry of Education, Nigeria has 7 million school aged children that are not in school. This is the highest in the world! Cultural norms & traditions contribute to the low enrolment figures.
The quality of teachers and teaching is abysmal. Unmotivated teachers, poor quality of teaching and low learning outcomes are rife across all levels of education According to the Kwara State Commissioner for Education, an aptitude and capacity test was organised for a total of 19,125 teachers in the State's public school system in 2008. Out of these, 2,628 were university graduates. The teachers were given tests that were designed originally for primary four pupils in English and Mathematics. At the end of the exercise, only seven teachers out of the 19,125 crossed the minimum aptitude and capacity threshold. Only one out of the 2,628 graduate teachers passed the test, 10 graduates scored outright zero. The teachers fared worse in literacy assessments which recorded only 1.2% pass rate.
Infrastructure and low capacity are also issues. Pictures of primary school pupils taking their lessons under trees while sitting on the floor, or huddled under leaking classroom roofs, have become all too common. But infrastructure is not the primary issue facing the education sector (as our forefathers who studied under worse conditions can attest to). In truth, the quality of instruction is even more of an issue.
Warped values have introduced corruption to the classroom. Learning is no longer of prime importance to students. Inordinate focus on riches and short-cuts seems to be. There is an increase in exam malpractice and lecturer abuse.
Policy flip flops are the order of the day. The influence of politics and policy instability has been damaging to education. The head of a parastatal recently expressed deep frustration in “working with eleven Ministers and 14 Permanent Secretaries in the past eleven years”!
THE OUTCOME
According to a previous Central Bank Governor, “71 per cent of Nigerian graduates like bad cherries won’t be picked by any employer of labour because they are not fit for anything even if they were the only ones that put themselves forward for an employment test”. The next generation is largely illiterate. Where are the leaders, managers, engineers, doctors, craftsmen and artisans of the future? Who is going to be working when this generation is old?
Concrete efforts and solutions are required. It is not simply a matter of giving multi-million Naira contracts for providing furniture, a perfunctory increase in budget, education summits without new ideas and formats, or superficial competitions. There has to be a comprehensive strategy that engages the problem from its many different angles and the strategy has to be sustained. Above all else, it has to be outcome-oriented. Below are some solutions to address this state of emergency in education.
THE SOLUTION
The Role of Teachers and Teaching
Teachers are at the heart of education. The most important interaction in any educational system is what goes on in the classroom between the teacher and the child. Therefore, any solution must support this interaction. The Mckinsey & Co. 2007 Report on The World’s Best Performing School Systems highlights only 3 key solutions that can drastically improve a country’s educational system. 2 of those solutions focus on Teachers:
a. We must get the right people to become Teachers; recruiting from the highest percentile. (An educational system cannot rise above the level of its teachers). Teachers must also possess motivational and communication skills.
b. We must continuously develop Teachers to become effective instructors through rigorous professional development.
c. We must put in place mechanisms to ensure that schools deliver high quality instruction to every child/student. (The system must be held accountable and rigorously tested and measured).
Therefore, our solutions must focus primarily on Teaching and Accountability.
A credible living wage must be instituted for teachers. Teachers should earn enough to live on and should be paid on time. The States must be held accountable for this.
Ongoing teacher training must be institutionalised. For instance, The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria may be restructured into an institute capable of re-training and administering accreditation examinations [much like the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN)]. All teachers in Nigeria must go through thorough training and examinations every year to be re-accredited as teachers.
An emergency plan must be put into place to attract volunteer teachers and retain existing ones. A Teachers Volunteer Programme must be set up to attract individuals who wish to give up a few months to go into schools to teach. A fund should be set up to defray the administrative expenses. The NYSC should be repurposed for 3-5 years to focus on education. Corpers should sign up to teach and the 3-week orientation should no longer be used for frog jumps and endurance treks; instead, corpers should be taken through a teacher training module on volunteer teaching. A competition should be held to identify teachers who are well regarded and voted effective by students in public secondary schools. These teachers should become national role models, be co-opted to train other teachers (in a restructured Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria) and should be rewarded. A national award should be given to volunteer teachers who sign up for an appreciable amount of time as well as existing role model teachers. The award should be endorsed by and should include dinner with the President.
Financial mismanagement in education must be stopped. The States are responsible for funding basic and secondary education as well as their state owned tertiary institutions. They receive funding from the Federal Government as well as internally generated funds. A system must be put in place to ensure that the monies generated go towards school infrastructure and teachers’ pay. Therefore, there should be an independent poll on teachers’ pay and the production of photographic evidence of school infrastructure in each state on an annual basis. The Federal Ministry’s Operation Reach All Secondary Schools (ORASS) was a good initiative in this area. It should be continued and extended to primary and tertiary institutions. Funding policy must also be streamlined.
A League Table of exam success rates in WAEC & NECO should be published annually. The Table should show the results for each State AND each school (public & private). In doing so, the public will be informed of how each school is faring and whether public taxes are simply going down the drain or being effective. This serves the twin purpose of transparency and keeping these schools and their authorities on their toes. The League Table should show how much each State receives from the Federal Government vis-a-vis the number of students they cater to and the students’ success rate. That way, Nigerians will know the spend-per-child and how effective the spend-per-child is. The table may be published in conjunction with WAEC, NECO and an independent Actuarial Firm.
Schools must be held accountable for students’ results. In the 1950s, Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman argued for the introduction of a “school voucher system”, stating that competition would improve schools and cost efficiency. While we are not sure Nigeria is ready for a voucher system, we do advocate for schools to be subjected to competitive pressure. The government may release a base sum to schools (to take care of basic administrative expenses), however, the rest of the money should be released on a “per-child” basis. Parents should be free to choose a desired school based on the school’s performance on the published “League Table”. Schools will then receive the bulk of their funding from the government based on the number of students that willingly enroll in the schools. Parents may also be given a tax credit if they choose to send their kids to public primary or secondary schools. In 5 years, non-performing/non-competitive schools on the League Table should be penalised.
Schools must also be properly licensed and monitored to ensure high standards. Monitoring must be above-board, independent, thorough and devoid of corrupt practices.
Education should be made an election issue & priority for the next administration. The electorate should reject any candidate (or political party) who does not make education a critical part of his/her manifesto. Education must be brought to the forefront of any electoral debate.
Complementary institutions to Universities must be promoted to meet the excess demand for tertiary education. In 2004, it was reported that Nigerian Universities could only cater to 15% of those who applied. Today, it is reported that Nigeria’s public Universities can cater to 65% of applicants, notwithstanding that in some cases a class designed for 40 students accommodates 400. In view of this low carrying capacity, we advocate that the Vocational Enterprise Institutes (VEIs) & Innovative Enterprise Institutes (IEIs) initiatives as set up by the Federal Ministry of Education should be promoted as credible alternatives to Universities. VEIs and IEIs provide certificates in specialised vocational and technical fields. Champions must be identified and promoted to raise the interest in and brand profile of these certificates, thereby driving up enrolment. Examples of potential champions include Downtown Beauty Academy (an existing VEI) and the accreditation of the Lady Mechanic Workshop as an IEI.
We do acknowledge that many credible solutions have already been prescribed for the educational sector. We respect the efforts of those who have gone before us. However, we must question why the solutions are not being implemented or proving effective. Questions raise solutions.
IMPLEMENTATION STEPS
In order to deliver on the solutions presented, there is a need to inform and then engage the citizenry. We must move beyond just talking about the solutions to becoming a part of it. Below are some preliminary implementation steps for citizen engagement, which we hope to champion in the weeks to come.
Step 1: Concise information on the State of Education in Nigeria must be made available. A concept paper on the state of primary and secondary school education in Nigeria must be produced, accompanied by statistics from WAEC and NECO, where available. This information should be published in the form of a League Table of the exam failure rates in each state of the federation. This is because, while there is an assumption that, nationally, everyone is aware of this problem, the depth of the decay needs to be highlighted and brought to the attention of the Nigerian public at large. Also, it is important for Nigerians to be well informed about the issues, with the correct data and perspective. The paper (and accompanying statistics) should be published as editorials in the newspapers and downloadable from the web. It should also be circulated as emails/letters to anyone who expresses concern about the state of education in Nigeria. The articles and letters will serve as an invitation to concerned Nigerians who wish to support an education intervention with their intellect and resources.
Step 2: Town Hall Meetings should be held to harvest contributions and feedback. Two weeks after the paper has been circulated, meetings should be held with persons who respond, to harness initial input and contributions and to also chart the way forward in concrete terms. We also recommend telephone conferences for Nigerians in Diaspora. Key outputs from the deliberations should be:
• Organisations or individuals who will volunteer credible implementation platforms to intervene in education.
• Organisations or individuals who will champion a proposed Technical Volunteer Corps (TVC). The Technical Volunteer Corps (TVC) is made up of individuals with deep experience in and passion for education. They include (past and present) government officials, private sector practitioners and international consultants who have experience in transforming education in countries.
• Media partners who will dedicate their voice and media spaces to bring education issues to the fore.
Step 3: A series of Youth Fora should be held in each state of Nigeria. The reason a forum is to be held in each state is that, although the Federal Government formulates and regulates education policy, the States and Local Governments control and are directly responsible for Public Primary and Secondary Schools. Hence they are accountable for the deplorable nature of education in Nigeria. This fact must be brought to the fore in all communication materials. The fora should begin in the state with the highest failure rate to underscore the critical importance of the initiative. The meetings should be supported by ongoing calls for ideas from youth across the nation which may be sent in by email and SMS. Members of the Technical Volunteer Corps will be asked to moderate the fora and streamline ideas into a coherent document. The fora should be aired live on TV, radio and the internet by media partners.
Step 4: A solutions document on Education must be produced with input and wide support from the Youth. From the solutions garnered during the fora, a symbolic solutions document should be produced and presented to all State Ministries of Education and the Federal Ministry of Education (The Minister). The document will contain no more than 5-10 major solutions. It should not be a dense soporific document that will be shelved. Rather, it should have both long term solutions as well as quick wins that can be implemented within a year. It must also be accessible by all stakeholders in education. Any plan to fix education that does not take into account the views of the youth should be rejected, as education directly concerns them. The document must be on the agenda of the next National Council on Education and each State Ministry should be pressured to execute at least one or two of the solutions in the next 6 months.
Step 5: Hands-on support by the Technical Volunteer Corps must be provided to the Federal and State Ministries of Education. The Technical Volunteer Corps should offer their services to implement the education solutions proffered. A fund should be set up to take care of the administrative expenses. The idea is to not just proffer solutions, but to help implement them.
Step 6: Results must be well documented and the Ministry held accountable. In 6 months, a report should be produced of what has been accomplished by the Federal and State Ministries of Education.
These are ideas and solutions for education in Nigeria. We call on Nigerians to lend their voice and support to implement them.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
This document is the combined effort of Nigerian youths and senior professionals working in various sectors of the Nigerian economy. We care about education, and believe that, beyond consternation and display of outrage, it is important for those who have the means, skill and resources, to work with the authorities to revive and/or improve our education system.
Contributors: Nigeria Leadership Initiative, Do More for Nigeria, The Future Project, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria
If you wish to participate in the ongoing discussion on education or contribute to the solution in any way, kindly email, SMS or call: info@thefuturenigeria.com, 07034904820, 07028101959, 08022226712
Data Sources: Federal Ministry of Education, Nigeria; National Universities Commission; McKinsey & Co. Report on Best Performing School Systems, THISDAY, Nigerian Muse
Thoughts in June (1)
Do not come too close to the people you admire; you will find that they are all too human and less than admirable - especially young entertainment personalities. (Don't mind me, just reacting to the people i've met lately)
It isn't that God is not in the business of the extraordinary - he can only only make dreams come true through people. Unfortunately there aren't that many people who are interested in making other people's dreams come true. Hence, God is left with "managing" those he can find, as best as he can.
No matter how logical you are, without grace and wisdom, someday you will be confronted with a situation where you willingly throw logic outta window & start on a path of destruction. The sad thing is you won't even be aware of it, you'll think you're doing the right thing and only those observing you can tell. Listen to them or you'll be destroyed. Constantly take stock of your life and allow people to regularly be your mirror. Ask them what they think of you and what you can do better.
Things/people/relationships require attention or else they'll show signs of neglect and eventually break down. Excellence requires constant supervision and attention to detail. You must be ever vigilant, constantly improving, ever perfecting.
It isn't that God is not in the business of the extraordinary - he can only only make dreams come true through people. Unfortunately there aren't that many people who are interested in making other people's dreams come true. Hence, God is left with "managing" those he can find, as best as he can.
No matter how logical you are, without grace and wisdom, someday you will be confronted with a situation where you willingly throw logic outta window & start on a path of destruction. The sad thing is you won't even be aware of it, you'll think you're doing the right thing and only those observing you can tell. Listen to them or you'll be destroyed. Constantly take stock of your life and allow people to regularly be your mirror. Ask them what they think of you and what you can do better.
Things/people/relationships require attention or else they'll show signs of neglect and eventually break down. Excellence requires constant supervision and attention to detail. You must be ever vigilant, constantly improving, ever perfecting.
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