North can never catch up with South -Balarabe Musa

From Ayodele Adesanmi and Akin Durodola, Abuja
Monday, October 6, 2008
CHAIRMAN of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) and former governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, has said that there is nothing the North can do to catch up with the development in the South.







Musa, in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, scored the present administration of Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua low, saying he could not perform better because he was imposed on the nation.

Alhaji Musa said the whole of the country was underdeveloped but the North was more underdeveloped, adding that “there is a 40-year gap in educational development between the South and some parts of the country and the North.

“No matter the efforts, the North would never catch up unless there is a revolution,” he said. “When I became the governor of old Kaduna State in 1979, we made it public that within 26 years, Kaduna would match the educational development of Oyo State and if the succeeding governor had continued, Kaduna would have been there today,” he said.

Speaking on the 48th independence anniversary of the country, Musa said Nigeria had lost what it had during the colonial days and the First Republic, attributing the failure to successive past leaders.

He said the country, at 48, had nothing to celebrate and may continue in that direction if the same set of people who had been leading still occupied the position of authority.

“Throughout the history of this country, particularly since the First Republic, the country had been controlled by a socio-economic system which is centred on self interest and produced a political leadership that owed the system,” he said.

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/oct/6/603.html

That is why their lives depends so much on the oil in niger delta and they use turns to destroy and set back the educational system in nigeria so their illiterate people can catch up. That is why they doesn't want to relinquish power and the evil British are ever ready to support them with arms to use in holding and arresting the development of others so they the British can keep on milking nigeria dry with the aid of this their mugu and imbecilic friends.

When a former Minister of Education can not understand the Mad Rush for Education in the South!!!

That is why their lives depends so much on the oil in niger delta and they use turns to destroy and set back the educational system in nigeria so their illiterate people can catch up. That is why they doesn't want to relinquish power and the evil British are ever ready to support them with arms to use in holding and arresting the development of others so they the British can keep on milking nigeria dry with the aid of this their mugu and imbecilic friends.

Can you say something for once without adding tribal sentiments in it?

Balarabe only restated the obvious. It's a known fact. I also heard the Sokoto state commissioner for Education say it in an NTA network problem some months ago. They can however close the gap, but definitely not being on the same educational level with any state in the South.

Balarabe only restated the obvious. It's a known fact. I also heard the Sokoto state commissioner for Education say it in an NTA network problem some months ago. They can however close the gap, but definitely not being on the same educational level with any state in the South.

Of course they can. What if there is a serious natural disaster in the south?

more likely in the north than anywhere in the south

DeepZone:

Of course they can. What if there is a serious natural disaster in the south?

Can't get this. Natural disaster? And everybody in the South will die abii?

JJYOU:

more likely in the north than anywhere in the south

Maybe a Tsunami or Hurricaine will come from the desert and wipe the whole north

I think it is time to know that it is not competition.
And the earlier the North realizes that, the reason why there is a wide gap btw education in the North and South, is all cos they dont wanna blv in educaton, they wanna give out a young girl to some old man for marriage and yet they wanna talk about education?
They need to educate their mind to get real education.

if you can catch up with soyinka, then the north can catch up with the south. if you are the senior i can only try to be like you while you get better. and people let start talking like NATIONALS

However, the north can overtake the south . . .

North can never catch up with South

Oh yes they can, through education, education, education.

Oh yes they can, through education, education, education.

Yes they can like Obama.

DeepZone:

Yes they can like Obama.

What has development of Northern Nigeria got to do with Obama?

Balarabe Musa is only speaking from his myopic position.

The relative position of two entities (any) cannot be perpetually fixed. B. Musa must be an idiot to insinuate that the current reality of the North being behind the South in education will be so in perpetuity.

The North can catch up in about two decades:

1. The deliberate anti-education policy of the old Northern leaders is replaced with an enthusiasm for education by the younger leaders.

2. Investment in education is ramped up - secondary school libraries and labs, primary school furniture, university professors, etc. Better pay for teachers (higher than in the South), for professors and for education administrators.

3. Improved security and robust legal system to investigate, apprehend and convict persons that mastermind, sponsor, execute, condone or in any way partake in riots that result in the loss of life and property. This will encourage many Southern and foreign teachers to relocate to the North as teachers, administrators and professors.

4. Massive effort to source books from Europe and North America. This should include encouraging (tax incentives, etc.) publishing houses to open up businesses in North and negotiating copyright deals so that some books can be reprinted at reduced cost in the North (just as in some provinces in India).

5. Negotiate deals with lab equipment manufacturers to supply these materials to the North. Most equipment manufacturers earmark parts of their products as donations to developing nations through well-known educational charities.

6. Huge push for computerization and recruitment of computer teachers to move to the north and teach. With adequate security, volunteer computer, math and English teachers can be sourced from as far away as Brazil, France, Japan, the US, UK and Germany.

7. Utilization of the beautiful scenery, lush flora and diverse fauna of the North to attract foreigners as tourists. This would also mean encouraging business entrepreneurs in the South, to invest in the hospitality industry (hotels) in the North. This would put Northern Nigeria on the tourism map with a decade.

8. Finally, all 19(?) northern governments should come together, appoint an Education Improvement Czar (EIC) to oversee the initial (and beyond) phase of this 20-year effort to improve education in the North. That individual should be from anywhere in the globe - Japanese, Igbo, French, Yoruba, German, Hausa, Brazilian, Jamaican, Ijaw, Indonesian etc. The project must be internationalized, but streamlined within the context of Northern Nigeria. We've all seen the benefits (Clemens Westerhof) of having foreign football coaches isn't it? Why can't the North appoint a foreigner, residing in, say Jos, as the EIC?

The North can do this, but are their leaders willing to start doing something now?

The British relinquished power to them and they had every opportunity to be ahead of the south in all ramifications but i wonder what their leaders
were doing while Awolowo was sending His people to school and after four decades, the rest of the south are even ahead of them. Ooh i remember,
they were holding tight to power . Well, as RichlyBlack has stated, they actually can if their leaders start something positive now.

keba:

The British relinquished power to them and they had every opportunity to be ahead of the south in all ramifications but i wonder what their leaders
were doing while Awolowo was sending His people to school and after four decades, the rest of the south are even ahead of them. Ooh i remember,
they were holding tight to power . Well, as RichlyBlack has stated, they actually can if their leaders start something positive now.

And have you ever wondered why the British relinquished power to them? Because they saw in them this educational disadvantage as the sleeping and ignorant people they can easily deal with and also saw in the them as the willing mugus, idiots, imbeciles and illiterates that will be willing at any time they call on them to do their bidding of holding the whole country down with the barrel of gun (with steady military assistance from Britain) while they the evil British continue to milk the country dry. Ever wondered why yar'adua quickly run to their masters, the British to seek for military support to quell the niger delta uprising? Ever wondered why those evil British people quickly yielded to his request instead of telling him to seek for diplomatic/dialogue means to solve the problem?
The British before they left knew very well that they dare not make such mistake with the Igbos who can't take that bullcrap as they will lose out immediately they leave their cage. Despite them cornering all the money from the niger delta oil, where is it in their education? Yet the Igbos they connived with the British and the Yorubas to arrest their development knew better to invest in their children's education from their personal pockets.

Education-wise?

Capital No

Not in this generation.

Even with the hep of OBJ since 1978(via formation of JAMB), do they come near? No

@Deep Zone

Can you say something for once without adding tribal sentiments in it?

Akpa dirty, you are worse and the champion of tribal sentiments in this forum. I can dig up your rubbish comments and stare them in your face now. Ewu. See who is talking. Anumanu.

RichyBlacK:

Balarabe Musa is only speaking from his myopic position.

The relative position of two entities (any) cannot be perpetually fixed. B. Musa must be an idiot to insinuate that the current reality of the North being behind the South in education will be so in perpetuity.

The North can catch up in about two decades:

1. The deliberate anti-education policy of the old Northern leaders is replaced with an enthusiasm for education by the younger leaders.

2. Investment in education is ramped up - secondary school libraries and labs, primary school furniture, university professors, etc. Better pay for teachers (higher than in the South), for professors and for education administrators.

3. Improved security and robust legal system to investigate, apprehend and convict persons that mastermind, sponsor, execute, condone or in any way partake in riots that result in the loss of life and property. This will encourage many Southern and foreign teachers to relocate to the North as teachers, administrators and professors.

4. Massive effort to source books from Europe and North America. This should include encouraging (tax incentives, etc.) publishing houses to open up businesses in North and negotiating copyright deals so that some books can be reprinted at reduced cost in the North (just as in some provinces in India).

5. Negotiate deals with lab equipment manufacturers to supply these materials to the North. Most equipment manufacturers earmark parts of their products as donations to developing nations through well-known educational charities.

6. Huge push for computerization and recruitment of computer teachers to move to the north and teach. With adequate security, volunteer computer, math and English teachers can be sourced from as far away as Brazil, France, Japan, the US, UK and Germany.

7. Utilization of the beautiful scenery, lush flora and diverse fauna of the North to attract foreigners as tourists. This would also mean encouraging business entrepreneurs in the South, to invest in the hospitality industry (hotels) in the North. This would put Northern Nigeria on the tourism map with a decade.

8. Finally, all 19(?) northern governments should come together, appoint an Education Improvement Czar (EIC) to oversee the initial (and beyond) phase of this 20-year effort to improve education in the North. That individual should be from anywhere in the globe - Japanese, Igbo, French, Yoruba, German, Hausa, Brazilian, Jamaican, Ijaw, Indonesian etc. The project must be internationalized, but streamlined within the context of Northern Nigeria. We've all seen the benefits (Clemens Westerhof) of having foreign football coaches isn't it? Why can't the North appoint a foreigner, residing in, say Jos, as the EIC?

The North can do this, but are their leaders willing to start doing something now?

Nice article man. Very articulate and pointed solutions you've given. Folks like you should be the ones running the government. I like the sharp and direct approach you've stated, even though I disagree with the possible workability, especially considering the fact that the  lack of education in the North is both an ideological as well as a cultural one.
[b]
@Topic
[/b]I think this is very good for the country. The competition between the North and South if followed fairly, would stimulate economic development. I think the competition should be encouraged.

On the comment by Balarabe Musa, that the north can't catch up, he is soooooooo right for the following reasons and more.

1) It will take at least a decade of intense brainwashing (no disrespect intended)  to get the average Northerner to see the benefits of getting quality education. Many don't speak English, so that's another hurdle they have to scale.

2)The South has a very voracious, non-governmental, private sector driven educational system. This means that whenever Southern State governments do nothing about improving educational standards, the private/ non governmental sector fills the gap by building more and more private institutions of better and better standards.
Case in  point: The number of New Universities been opened over the last five years by Churches/Private Individuals  in the South is maybe 7 times the number of new Universities opened by Government.
I don't know how any Northern government policy can catch up with that.

3)The most important point in my view is the number of Southerners going overseas to study. The numbers are outstanding. This means that even if the North has the political will and gets to spend all monies required and revamps its educational systems, their products(Graduates) would still be competing with southerners that have attended some of the best Universities in the world.

Balarabe is sooooooo right. Two decades would not be enough, even if the South were were frozen with ice.

some of you guys seem to be ignoring the need for adult literacy programs in the north. nigeria needs skilled labor, whether young or old.

I think this is very good for the country. The competition between the North and South if followed fairly, would stimulate economic development. I think the competition should be encouraged.

It can stir tribal sentiments in an uncivilized nation like Nigeria.