Nigeria is a country filled with dolts. No wonder they are governed by dolts. Now I see why a joke like Orji Uzor Kalu can be Governor of a state for 8 years in Nigeria.

The people simply do not understand the issues.

This caveman mentality will not lead you people to anywhere. Spread your wings and interact with nations.

is not his fault he sold banana island and co to chinese nau he evacuate makoko indegine so that he can sandfill the place and sell to china, well i think fashola is a begger in disguise but that is too poor of him mtchew.

jackbauersballs: I just tire for these people objecting to learning chinese....while posting in English...

You think learning a foreign language is bad...and you express this thought...in a foreign language...

ayox2003:

So why did you learn English in the first place? If our ancestors had rejected English as a lingua franca, what would have been of our bilateral relations now?The world is in a cycle and China is next....

We all speak and write English because it is the official language in Nigeria- supposedly because it 'unifies' the country and makes inter-tribal interraction easier. If English was only adopted just for bilateral relations with the west, should we then change the official language to Mandarin if our commercial relations with China overtakes those with the west?.

PS: I'm Yoruba and I speak and write very good yoruba. I have a few yoruba literature and loads of traditional yoruba music in my library...I can count in yoruba too and I don't have any English names.

ayox2003:

So why did you learn English in the first place? If our ancestors had rejected English as a lingua franca, what would have been of our bilateral relations now?The world is in a cycle and China is next....

We would have advance so much!!!! You cant develop using other people's langugae!!!!

Thats why the European that went to American created their own Language. Your language is your identity, it is the driving force, the power the oil your growth. if you lose that... you become second class!

Personally I see no big deal about this development. I have read about US schools teaching basics of Spanish, Chinese and even French. I believe the Americans are doing this just to motivate investors from the part of the world speaking the language. I see nothing bad if chinese is being made compulsory, as I have always wished we face out French sef. I learn french in my pri n secondary sch days, all we know is Bonjour, Bon soir, mon ami and d lil.
Learning language doesn't makes us being colonized by the chinese at all, it would only improve the already established trade ties.

D 1 we dey do we neva pass am finsh na chinese dem go carry come again God help does pikin wei dem wan teach

We lost OUR religion(Foundation)then OUR culture (Tradition) now OUR language(Joy)... God please bless naija

kennytidistar: is not his fault he sold banana island and co to chinese nau he evacuate makoko indegine so that he can sandfill the place and sell to china, well i think fashola is a begger in disguise but that is too poor of him mtchew.

Why not French or spanish nawaooo very soon chinese will take over naija will their fake product.

The same chinese that treat africans like apes? Will they include any of our local languages in their curriculum? Why do we demean ourselves by treating other races like gods?

macnuel: I really must ask us people why we must always feel that some acts of the government is laudable when in actual fact, when you assess everything, it's just a few percentage that is really worth the applause. Nigeria has no need for the learning of Chinese language at that tender age of our educational level for our children because it will get nowhere. If learning Mandarin is so important, then someone who feels it's needed should take it up as a core course or an elective in the university or wherever. I was taught French in primary school up till J.S.S 3, but people, I can't remember NADA! Am I dull? Nope because I can prove to you that I am a trail blazer in my chosen career now. Do I need French? Maybe later in life (which I don't think would be necessary anyway) But learning French has been to me, a waste of time and resources. I want to believe there will be thousands if not millions of Nigerians like me out there who will give this same testimony.
Education in our Nigeria is still nothing to write home about. These ministers need to revisit and revise our syllabuses, flush out the unnecessary things and let our children learn what's essential for their lives and career. Not French and obviously not Mandarin. This move by the LASG is not important to the Nigerian child. Let Mandarin be infused into the list of courses in our tertiary institutions and not at the primary and secondary levels where it would not make any impact in that near future they're referring to.

Thank you my bro! All the time that I spent learning French in my primary and secondary sch days were wasted effort. Let me see the school that will want to take my kids thru such. The English that we inherited our students still record mass failure in exams.

Jst like English, Madarin is the most spoken language in the world, i think thatz the reason for the decision.

excellent idea,Fashola is really a long term planner,
Very soon China is on its way to becoming the next world power and it is a relevant move if Nigeria should stay relevant,even American schools have added Mandarin to their curriculum
You guys here have tunnel vision,try and looks at the big picture once in a while

To me,its crazy. There are many tinz dat children can be introduced to,like learnin handiwork while school cos no jobs,insted of chinese. Very soon Englsh lang will be banned cos even dese chldren dat want to be taught chinese,mst of dem cant spik good nd clear englsh,sum of us cant spik our moda's tougue. its absurd.

[quote author=gabng]

Felifeli,ure right but as far as dis country is concern,i observe d govt like to sell our rights out. Yes its for our good bt it wil suprise u dat dere will be more harm to dis dan d good we anticipate now.

I am simply astounded at some of the half-arsed replies i've been reading on this thread. I mean, how can this be a bad thing? We have had French in our curriculum for years; Have we stopped speaking our local languages? Have you considered those who ended up in Francophone countries and are now thankful for the grounding they got in French back in secondary school. Some people here make it sound like the Lagos state government is planning to substitute our local languages with mandarin. Can't you guys think forward for a bit? China is almost definitely going to be the next reigning world power; how can giving our children, the future leaders of this country, a grounding in their language be considered a bad thing. What does this have to do with inferiority complex. I learnt Italian all on my own. Does it mean I feel inferior to the Italians? C'mon, think here.

Well, here's an option for you if you don't like it: home school your kids.

jackbauersballs: I just tire for these people objecting to learning chinese....while posting in English...

You think learning a foreign language is bad...and you express this thought...in a foreign language...

For those of you shouting about earning Yoruba, igbo, etc...How will these languages actually HELP you?

Unless you work in a local customer service call centre...Can you put YORUBA on your CV?

Dude, we're communicating our greviances in english because we have been left no choice due to decisions of our leaders past. We've accepted to live with past errors but we are saying no to future problems by these same leaders. Do you get it now or shd i repeat myself in french?

muffins99:





We all speak and write English because it is the official language in Nigeria- supposedly because it 'unifies' the country and makes inter-tribal interraction easier. If English was only adopted just for bilateral relations with the west, should we then change the official language to Mandarin if our commercial relations with China overtakes those with the west?.

PS: I'm Yoruba and I speak and write very good yoruba. I have a few yoruba literature and loads of traditional yoruba music in my library...I can count in yoruba too and I don't have any English names.

What about muffins? And point of correction. We speak english because that's what our colonial masters speak and not because it unifies ur country. BTW, what the heck is your point sef?

nigerians r funny, would it kill you to look at the big picture...lol kudos to fashola for planning ahead.most chinese people are currently learning english now because the ninties most hadnt travelled out,but now that they have opened up,it would only be logical to incoporate english language,or should they be as foolish as nigerians and curse that english is set to take over their language that is as old as two thousand years...i think not.what fashola has done is to equip the next generation with the skill to deal with china,the next superpower.haba naija una mumu oh,na akpi wey una dey chop dey dull una like this

acidtalk: I used to think Jonathan was Insane but I got to realize Fashola has totally gone MAD.

This idio*ts never get to think before passing laws and acting.

What have they done to improve our culture by making our local dialect a MUST in the school curriculum.

This fools are the reason why today's chiddren now feel its a shame to speak their language.

If you say it is to improve business ties between Nigeria and China, is it primary and secondary school children that travel down to china for business trade and bring in loads of substandard goods to flood the Nigerian market which inturn as killed our local Industry and production.

Jonathan and Fashola na who dey CRAZE pass? 100marks + $50,800

GBAM!!! Truest talk,our government have gone mad again,french wey dem teach na wahala 4 average student,talkless of adding chinese to it

ehie: excellent idea,Fashola is really a long term planner,
Very soon China is on its way to becoming the next world power and it is a relevant move if Nigeria should stay relevant,even American schools have added Mandarin to their curriculum
You guys here have tunnel vision,try and looks at the big picture once in a while

See who cannot see beyond her nose accusing everyone of same. Its a pity. To be candid, do you think this policy will get you a top flight job in china? Or do you think your factory will blosom in china because of this? Think again pal. Those guys are too many so they'l need to populate other countries. Besides, in major ramifications, they out class us. What else can you foresee that we cant? No make i vex o!

We never finish English Language curriculum since 1914 them wan add another hard language. I can imagine students convulsing with laughter during a Chinese class lesson. My name is Xin Zu Hen. Pls the last one is not chicken.

We have fools with mis-placed priority in government. Fashola and Tinubu are now linking Lagos state to china by rail. All thier shady contract deals with CCECC to contruct road using state fund and yet told us na borrowed funds, never do them. The whole idea is to steal state fund, soon they will tell us how much loan to took from the chinese and mortgage our children future. An Owori man's children cannot speak their native language that is not a problem to the state. But far east asia for a language and got our children tongue twisted. An d create more confusion for our future generations, the English wahala is yet un-resolved. Now we wnat to add china problem join.

The question is, who needs who?

When Nigeria becomes a global power then we can talk about other pple learning our languages and cultures. Millions of foreigners goes to China every year to learn the so called chinese language that u folks are bad mouthing. Even Joe Biden, the US VP has a daughter in sichuan China that is schooling there. What happened to american educational systems?

hajifaty: When Nigeria becomes a global power then we can talk about other pple learning our languages and cultures. Millions of foreigners goes to China every year to learn the so called chinese language that u folks are bad mouthing. Even Joe Biden, the US VP has a daughter in sichuan China that is schooling there. What happened to american educational systems?

your languages will be dead by then

Oluwa4Sure: before it starts sef.
My names are chung Li Yung!!

lol

hahahahahahhahahahahahhahahaha,where is I go die?

Oluwa4Sure: before it starts sef.
My names are chung Li Yung!!

lol

hahahahahahhahahahahahhahahaha,where is I go die? Ol boy,u funny pass I go die.but me, I go live sha

By S.A. Aniyi
The time honoured aphorism that: ‘health is wealth’ can hardly ware out of relevance as long as human beings continue to exist. This is as a result of the centrality of health in the organogram of human needs, which is a pointer to the fact it is only a healthy body that can aspire to the promise of human possibility. Without a sound health, every aspiration will only thaw into a liquid of a vast mirage. In fact, the ‘Caring HEART’ sloganeering, which should be the acronym for the sector by sector focus of the government rightly placed ‘H’ which stands for Health in the first position.
It is therefore a thing of great concern to any perceptible resident of Ondo state that such a critical department of government could be criminally neglected and wickedly left to bleed to death. No hyperbole intended! Whereas, most distant observers of the happenings in Ondo state could have been fed with the toxic of unending media theatrics, the reality of the state of the health services in the state is one that brutally contradicts the euphonious rhapsody of an Eldorado which the government of the Dr Olusegun Mimiko has been serving the hapless media consumers with, through devious media manipulations. Like everything else, the government in the state has elevated lurid deceit to the state of government policy.
At the inception of the administration, the government said it was going to focus on the enhancement of primary health care with special interest on maternal and child care services. The governmental policy could hardly be faulted with the unenviable record of the state as one of the most notorious in maternal and infant mortality, with statistics that bested the widely alarming national average limit. It was indeed a great relief that a supposed medical doctor being the head of government and with previous experience as two term commissioner of health in the state, would be in a better position to do the right thing. Unfortunately however, the Labour Party (LP) administration has replaced ‘eye projects’ with high service performance. Almost four years later, the ugly reality in the state hospitals at all levels, is that of descript and comprehensive decadence.
Many would find it hard to reconcile this revelation with the products of propaganda tonnage being churned out daily by the well fortified lie factory of the government. What is being shown is a ‘beautiful showroom’ created to give the impression of an unusual development. The truth about health matter in Ondo state is that, this government decided to clinically kill the existing health facilities across board in order to justify the humongous, but hardly sensible creation of centralized maternity hospital. A project which many concerned patriots have dubbed a conduit pipe used to siphon the tilt of the state. For instance, the two MHCs in Akure and Ondo have gulped close to a billion naira so far, to erect.
The argument of many observers is that, there existed and still extant in the state, four State Specialist Hospitals in Akure, Ondo, Ikare-Akoko and Okitipupa. These hospitals were established by the late Oloye Adebayo Adefarati when Dr Rahman Mimiko was in charge as commissioner of health. The specialist hospitals were designed to provide tertiary health services; with all major departments of human health present; including the Gynaecology Department (which houses the Obstetrics and Paediatrics Units, and) which provides same functions that the so called Mother and Child Hospital in Akure provides. Besides, the state has what is called five ‘tier B’ and 10 ‘tier C’ general hospitals, while there are 18 Comprehensive Health Centers, enhanced with Basic Health Centers across the villages. Building of physical infrastructure has never been a major problem, especially in the urban area, if ever existed; it would be in the often neglected, hinterlands. The problems had been and still remain: poor and outdated facilities, poorly trained personnel, lack of essential drugs, traditional beliefs and shortage of medical personnel.
These obvious challenges were left unattended to, while building of new huge Obstetrics Hospitals was considered more expedient. No doubt any uncritical stranger in Ondo state would be mesmerized by the sprawling edifice called Mother & Child Hospital (MHC), but beneath, is a cancerous rot and an exemplary case of resource mismanagement. Worse still, even though about 80% of the state’s capital votes on health are expended on the MHC buildings; the state has only delivered one that is located in Akure. The second one in Ondo town has not been completed three years later. Similarly, the Abiye Safe Motherhood programme lunched with fanfare in Igbara-Oke three years ago has remained product of elusive sophistry. In theory, the public is made to believe that the state has attached each pregnant woman with a doctor, given a preloaded mobile phone and can call for ambulance services at any time of the day, free of charge. It is nothing but an oversize whopper; people know this is one of the hallmarks of the chicanery which has patently defined this government. It is a mere fanciful phantom idea, projected in power- point presentation to hypnotize the easily impressed Western donor houses. Apart from the publicity intended and showy demonstration centre in Igbara-Oke, the Abiye fantasy has virtually become an idea in the grave yard.
It must be added that one of the promises of this administration is the provision of free health services. Any semblance of this only exists partially in the MHC and Igbara-Oke showrooms. Patients pay for everything but consultancy services in the other health facilities across the state. For instance, drugs are permanently out of stock in the State Specialist Hospital, Akure which ordinarily should be the most fortified, being the biggest and foremost medical institution of the state. If gold can rust, what is the hope for the iron! Unlike what is obtainable in other neighboring states which have free health coverage for age 0-12 and for the elderly from age 65-above, the free health provided in the MHC only covers age 0-5. Which means the service only takes care of obstetric services. This service does not also cover post natal services for the mother. Already, the MHC Akure has been overstretched and always overcrowded as people scramble to benefit from the partial free health provided in the hospital which is denied the other existing health facilities. Pregnant women have to keep vigil so as to wake as early as 4am to board motorcycle to MHC so as to get tally for antenatal booking as the registration only takes place once a week and closes 10am. The hospital has become a huge corruption racketeering center where people have to tip the staff of the hospital to get a tally. Many fail to get booked, end up frustrated and are forced to opt for traditional birth attendants, because of the lack of money, in spite of the known risk attached. With all the hypes about this hospital, it is shocking and inconceivable that it cannot handle not-too-serious medical cases such as post-partum hemorrhage, which is often referred to the senselessly abandoned State Specialist Hospital, Akure.
Many have equally asked the question as to why MCH is not under the control of the Ondo State Hospital Management Board which is statutorily empowered to superintend on the state owned health institutions. The MCH is directly in the Governor’s office and is being managed by a governor’s nephew who is the Chief Medical Director. He gives no stewardship to anyone and award of contracts are never discussed with any known management committee. Even though the bulk of the personnel are employees of the Hospital Management Board, the board is an onlooker in matters of emoluments, discipline, promotion and redeployment. To borrow the PDP’s mantra, ‘it is a family affairs’!
Whereas the MHC might not be entirely useless especially in Akure, and can even be seen as an extension of the State Hospital, what is disheartening is the deliberate policy of its systematic castration through willful abandonment. This seems to be consistent with the idiosyncrasy of this government which tends to project itself as the only government that has ever done something great in the state. Thus, existing legacies are left to decay while money is spent to reproduce the same value through fanciful nomenclature and colour coating. Let us x-ray the litany of challenges facing the once enviable State Specialist Hospital, Akure which remains the highest medical institution in the state.
Most of the buildings in the hospital are dilapidated and need total overhaul, expansion and refurbishing. Cases of leaking roofs, including consulting rooms; broken beds, and stinking lavatories as a result of inadequate water supply persist unattended to. It would be recalled that this government sunk six boreholes for which it receives tons of appreciation, but it is regrettable that the boreholes did not see another six months when they broke down irretrievably. Since then, the hospital has been made to depend on the old borehole and periodic water supply from other sources. The hospital’s children ward remained abandoned since 2008. The ward was blown off by the wind and almost collapsed then, which prompted the last administration to award the contract for renovation. It is shameful that this government has abandoned the project. The hospital conference hall is now converted to children ward. This has resulted in situations where children with cases that demand isolation treatment are being lumped together in a crowded ward which has led to high child mortality incidents in the hospital. The state hospital doesn’t have a morgue, it rather uses embalming room where corpses are embalmed and then left on the floor. An unflattering incident occurred recently when the remains of a man deposited with the mortuary had his feet mutilated and lacerated. The family of the deceased swooped on a hapless mortuary attendant who was promptly accused of mutilating a part of the deceased for diabolical purposes, the man was rough handled; it took the intervention of the hospital authorities for the man to be left off the accusation. Investigation later showed that rats often saunter into the embalming room regularly to dine on human fresh. The sad part of it is that, we have it on good authority that the Oloye Adefarati government procured one morgue which never lasted a year. The morgue was alleged to have been supplied by a proxy company of the then commissioner of health Dr Rahman Mimiko, who instead of supplying a new morgue, was alleged to have supplied a refurbished one. Now that he is the state’s chief executive officer, a provision of another one, even at the expense of the state would have been a pardonable atonement.
Free health is a mirage in the hospital as patients buy every bit of the drug themselves: from tissue papers, hand gloves, syringes and many other minor consumables, you pay through your nose. They are never provided. In fact, to have a caesarian delivery in the hospital, the patient will have to cough out between N30, 0000-N50, 000. What is called the theater room is a dignified slaughter’s slab, nothing modern, nothing inspiring! The outpatient department is the worst hit, as there is no waiting room; patients clubbed around in sun and rain and hardly get desired attention, as many returned home worsted. The hospital doesn’t have a radiologist; a contract radiologist only visits from Federal Medical Center, Owo once in a week. Even doctors in the hospital do not trust ultra sound scan done in the laboratory because of the antiquated machine still being used. The x-ray machine is outdated while the modern Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI) cannot be procured by a government that spending so much on endorsement freebies. In fact the general hospital Iwaro Oka -Akoko does not have a functional x-ray machin., You find cases of broken ceilings, craters on the hospital interlink road and many other evidence of lip service to public health.
It is a shameful thing that Ondo state is the only state that doesn’t have teaching hospital in the south west. What this will mean in the long run is that the opportunity for promising Ondo state indigenes to get admission to study medicine is slim. The services of specialist consultant on critical medical services cannot also be received here, while residency experience cannot be obtained in the state’s hospitals. There is no hospital that can attend to serious orthopedic care in the state, this is a reason why Ondo state has the highest density of trado-orthopedic homes (Arogun) in the south west. The import of this is that Ondo state which should lead in the parade of large number of medical professionals as she used to, will now trail her sister states in critical specialized medical professionalism. These are some of the critical issues which this administration has irresponsibly avoided while concentrating on marginally valuable architecture wannabe.
The story of the health sector in Ondo since the beginning of this administration is a sad prologue ending in a tragic epilogue. It is a shambolic affair; a monumental neglect too wicked to be real. It is a product of poorly conceived and digested health policy that is healing the symptoms while hiding the sickness.

and when will the chinese government introduce Yoruba languange or Igbo in their own Curriculum?.....A beg make una help me ask them. I think this is arrant nonesense.