 Properties › Re: FG To Begin Sale Of New Housing Units Soon Nationwide by anonimi: 6:17am On Nov 01, 2019 |
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| Properties › Re: FG To Begin Sale Of New Housing Units Soon Nationwide by anonimi: 6:11am On Nov 01, 2019 |
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| Politics › Re: Buhari's/APC.'s Campaign Promises by anonimi(op): 6:08am On Nov 01, 2019*. Modified: 9:03am On Apr 06, 2020 |
pendy79:
General Muhammadu Buhari in UK:
I Will Maintain a Modest Lifestyle as President - Buhari...Will Resuscitate Nigerian Airways...All Presidential Aircrafts Will Be Brought Under
Nigerian Airways
"One of the major killer of our economy apart from corruption is Waste. Our scarce resources are being plunder away very carelessly and unnecessarily wasted. "Let me give an instance, presently, there are more than 6 aircraft in the presidential fleet.
What do you call that? "Billions of naira is budgeted every year for the maintenance of these aircraft not to talk of operational cost and other expenses.
"You may want to ask what a Nigerian President is doing with so much aircraft when a Prime Minister of Britain fly around using the same public aircraft like an ordinary Briton.
"Go and check and compare with that of any developed country in the world, the office of the Nigerian President is a very expensive one inspite our high level of poverty and joblessness.
"Despite all these, you still find a Nigerian Minister spending about N10billion to charter an aircraft for just one year."Now, for me, when we come
into office, all these waste will be blocked and properly channelled into our economy. "We intend for instance, to bring back our National carrier, the Nigerian Airways."We shall do this by bringing all the aircraft in the presidential fleet into the Nigerian airway and within a year increase the fleet into about 20.
What is the Difference between me and those who elected us to represent them, absolutely nothing. Why should Nigerian President not fly with other Nigerian public? "Why do I need to embark on a foreign trip as a president with a huge crowd with public funds?"Why do I need to go for
foreign medical trip if we cannot make our hospital functional? "Why do we need to send our children to school abroad if we cannot developed our university to compete with the foreign ones?
"Why, and why must our people be servants to the foreigners in the midst of plenty? I can go on and on."I came here in the UK and I chose to trek just to make sure I sent a message back home to some people who wish us dead.
This is not my struggle, it is our collective efforts to save Nigeria from those who have failed us for 16 years."-
General Muhammadu Buhari speaking in London on Saturday, February 21, 2015 www.nairaland.com/attachments/10490704_screenshot20191101051249538_jpeg_jpege049cfdbeaa82cd14fe2bb161aa8f425 |
| Politics › Re: Buhari's/APC.'s Campaign Promises by anonimi(op): 6:05am On Nov 01, 2019 |
www.nairaland.com/attachments/10489802_img20181117211806_jpeg65ddde837293439c0242eda8334ffbfeThe major difference this time around is that for the very first time since transition to civil rule in 1999, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is facing its stiffest opposition so far from our party the All Progressives Congress (APC). We once had about 50 political parties, but with no real competition. Now Nigeria is transitioning from a dominant party system to a competitive electoral polity, which is a major marker on the road to democratic consolidation. As you know, peaceful alternation of power through competitive elections have happened in Ghana, Senegal, Malawi and Mauritius in recent times. The prospects of democratic consolidation in Africa will be further brightened when that eventually happens in Nigeria. But there are other reasons why Nigerians and the whole world are intensely focused on this year’s elections, chief of which is that the elections are holding in the shadow of huge security, economic and social uncertainties in Africa’s most populous country and largest economy. On insecurity, there is a genuine cause for worry, both within and outside Nigeria. Apart from the civil war era, at no other time in our history has Nigeria been this insecure. Boko Haram has sadly put Nigeria on the terrorism map, killing more than 13,000 of our nationals, displacing millions internally and externally, and at a time holding on to portions of our territory the size of Belgium. What has been consistently lacking is the required leadership in our battle against insurgency. I, as a retired general and a former head of state, have always known about our soldiers: they are capable, well trained, patriotic, brave and always ready to do their duty in the service of our country. You all can bear witness to the gallant role of our military in Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Darfur and in many other peacekeeping operations in several parts of the world. But in the matter of this insurgency, our soldiers have neither received the necessary support nor the required incentives to tackle this problem. The government has also failed in any effort towards a multi-dimensional response to this problem leading to a situation in which we have now become dependent on our neighbours to come to our rescue. Let me assure you that if I am elected president, the world will have no cause to worry about Nigeria as it has had to recently; that Nigeria will return to its stabilising role in West Africa; and that no inch of Nigerian territory will ever be lost to the enemy because we will pay special attention to the welfare of our soldiers in and out of service, we will give them adequate and modern arms and ammunitions to work with, we will improve intelligence gathering and border controls to choke Boko Haram’s financial and equipment channels, we will be tough on terrorism and tough on its root causes by initiating a comprehensive economic development plan promoting infrastructural development, job creation, agriculture and industry in the affected areas. We will always act on time and not allow problems to irresponsibly fester, and I, Muhammadu Buhari, will always lead from the front and return Nigeria to its leadership role in regional and international efforts to combat terrorism. On the economy, the fall in prices of oil has brought our economic and social stress into full relief. After the rebasing exercise in April 2014, Nigeria overtook South Africa as Africa’s largest economy. Our GDP is now valued at $510 billion and our economy rated 26th in the world. Also on the bright side, inflation has been kept at single digit for a while and our economy has grown at an average of 7% for about a decade. But it is more of paper growth, a growth that, on account of mismanagement, profligacy and corruption, has not translated to human development or shared prosperity. A development economist once said three questions should be asked about a country’s development: one, what is happening to poverty? Two, what is happening to unemployment? And three, what is happening to inequality? The answers to these questions in Nigeria show that the current administration has created two economies in one country, a sorry tale of two nations: one economy for a few who have so much in their tiny island of prosperity; and the other economy for the many who have so little in their vast ocean of misery. Even by official figures, 33.1% of Nigerians live in extreme poverty. That’s at almost 60 million, almost the population of the United Kingdom. There is also the unemployment crisis simmering beneath the surface, ready to explode at the slightest stress, with officially 23.9% of our adult population and almost 60% of our youth unemployed. We also have one of the highest rates of inequalities in the world. With all these, it is not surprising that our performance on most governance and development indicators (like Mo Ibrahim Index on African Governance and UNDP’s Human Development Index.) are unflattering. With fall in the prices of oil, which accounts for more than 70% of government revenues, and lack of savings from more than a decade of oil boom, the poor will be disproportionately impacted. In the face of dwindling revenues, a good place to start the repositioning of Nigeria’s economy is to swiftly tackle two ills that have ballooned under the present administration: waste and corruption. And in doing this, I will, if elected, lead the way, with the force of personal example. On corruption, there will be no confusion as to where I stand. Corruption will have no place and the corrupt will not be appointed into my administration. First and foremost, we will plug the holes in the budgetary process. Revenue producing entities such as NNPC and Customs and Excise will have one set of books only. Their revenues will be publicly disclosed and regularly audited. The institutions of state dedicated to fighting corruption will be given independence and prosecutorial authority without political interference. But I must emphasise that any war waged on corruption should not be misconstrued as settling old scores or a witch-hunt. I’m running for President to lead Nigeria to prosperity and not adversity. In reforming the economy, we will use savings that arise from blocking these leakages and the proceeds recovered from corruption to fund our party’s social investments programmes in education, health, and safety nets such as free school meals for children, emergency public works for unemployed youth and pensions for the elderly. As a progressive party, we must reform our political economy to unleash the pent-up ingenuity and productivity of the Nigerian people thus freeing them from the curse of poverty. We will run a private sector-led economy but maintain an active role for government through strong regulatory oversight and deliberate interventions and incentives to diversify the base of our economy, strengthen productive sectors, improve the productive capacities of our people and create jobs for our teeming youths. In short, we will run a functional economy driven by a worldview that sees growth not as an end by itself, but as a tool to create a society that works for all, rich and poor alike. On March 28, Nigeria has a decision to make. To vote for the continuity of failure or to elect progressive change. I believe the people will choose wisely. In sum, I think that given its strategic importance, Nigeria can trigger a wave of democratic consolidation in Africa. But as a starting point we need to get this critical election right by ensuring that they go ahead, and depriving those who want to scuttle it the benefit of derailing our fledgling democracy. That way, we will all see democracy and democratic consolidation as tools for solving pressing problems in a sustainable way, not as ends in themselves. Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in Africa: Nigeria’s Transition Permit me to close this discussion on a personal note. I have heard and read references to me as a former dictator in many respected British newspapers including the well regarded Economist. Let me say without sounding defensive that dictatorship goes with military rule, though some might be less dictatorial than others. I take responsibility for whatever happened under my watch. I cannot change the past. But I can change the present and the future. So before you is a former military ruler and a converted democrat who is ready to operate under democratic norms and is subjecting himself to the rigours of democratic elections for the fourth time. https://dailypost.ng/2015/02/26/full-text-of-buhari-speech-at-chatham-house/ |
| Politics › Re: "Buhari: A Public Servant On A Private Visit With Public Money" by anonimi: 5:37am On Nov 01, 2019 |
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| Politics › Re: "Buhari: A Public Servant On A Private Visit With Public Money" by anonimi: 5:34am On Nov 01, 2019 |
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| Politics › Re: Amaechi Says Made-In-Nigeria Trains To Be Launched Soon by anonimi: 5:20am On Nov 01, 2019 |
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| Politics › Re: Amaechi Says Made-In-Nigeria Trains To Be Launched Soon by anonimi: 5:17am On Nov 01, 2019*. Modified: 5:38am On Nov 01, 2019 |
jaxxy:
We don’t have power, basic amenities and facilities and we talking on made in Nigeria trains.
U guys haven’t fixed the economy yet. Nothing innovative just building infrastructure here and there on borrowed funds that my be more difficult to maintain in a poor and unplanned economy. Why are you thinking like a rational Nigerian so? The Alliance of Past/Present Crooks, APC zonebees won't like that o.  https://nextmoneyng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/cartoon-1.jpg |
| Politics › Re: Amaechi Says Made-In-Nigeria Trains To Be Launched Soon by anonimi: 5:14am On Nov 01, 2019 |
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| Politics › Re: Mobolaji Johnson: Achievements Of The First Governor Of Lagos State by anonimi: 4:36am On Nov 01, 2019 |
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| Politics › Re: Dear Nigerians, This Is Not Our National Flag (see Photos) by anonimi: 4:21am On Nov 01, 2019*. Modified: 4:37am On Nov 01, 2019 |
naptu2:
This thread is tempting. Should I run riot here??  And you did, for our enlightenment and education. |
| Celebrities › Re: Joysolano, Don Jazzy's Sister Graduates With 1st Class by anonimi: 4:12am On Nov 01, 2019 |
Ogaga87:
You're looking for likes by insulting someone's daughter online.. What a pity to see a nairalander with faulty brain before going to bed Is she not too fat  |
| Travel › Re: Lagos Flood Brings Crocodile At Ebute-Ero, Lagos Island- Eyewitness. PHOTOS by anonimi: 3:55am On Nov 01, 2019 |
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| Travel › Re: Lagos Flood Brings Crocodile At Ebute-Ero, Lagos Island- Eyewitness. PHOTOS by anonimi: 1:33pm On Oct 31, 2019 |
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| Politics › Re: Atiku, Atikulate, AtikQuiet by anonimi: 10:25am On Oct 31, 2019 |
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| Politics › Re: Mobolaji Johnson, The First Governor Of Lagos Is Dead by anonimi: 10:15am On Oct 31, 2019 |
lexy2014:
Can u pls show me where I said that u wrote that they achieved those things? Also if u say that they "tried to", are there no results of d trials? That was d first question I asked u. U said Jakande, Tinubu and Fashola all "tried to", but u were able to attribute ur entire posts to Jakandes efforts with regards to human capital development. As far asTinubu and Fashola who u said also "tried to", u aren't able to muster anything. So u aren't really doing them any favours. That has nothing to do with any issues I have with them or not Please go through his initial post on this. He said Jakande "tried to achieve", but that the other two "tried to copy" him. That puts Jakande on a much higher pedestal than both latecomers. naptu2:
Human capital development. I think that's what Governor Jakande tried to achieve with his education policy and what Governors Tinubu and Fashola tried to copy with their Millenium Schools policy. |
| Politics › Re: APC Matters In Pictures by anonimi(op): 10:12am On Oct 31, 2019 |
I believe that Baba Kekere is one of the best governors that Lagos has ever had (you'll see why in a minute), but I also acknowledge his flaws. However, it's very difficult for most people to assess him objectively. They either love him dearly or hate him passionately.
LKJ implemented the progressive/welfarist manifesto of the UPN to the letter. The LSTC was still running at the time that Jakande was governor and he converted some of the LSTC buses (including some of the air conditioned buses) into Scholars Bus, buses that were specifically designated to convey primary and secondary school children to and from school for free.
He utilised the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) to build low cost houses/flats, which low and medium income people could buy via a mortgage scheme (they paid back in instalments over a 10-25 year period).
Jakande endeared himself to the people by using his private car, a Toyota Crown (or was it a Cressida?) as his official car, rather than one of the long wheel base mercedes limousines that were common at the time. (He used that same car as his official car when he became Minister of Works in the Abacha Government, but his motorcade looked funny to me because the official Peugoet 505 Evolution that was meant to be his official car was often driven behind the Toyota).
Governor Jakande revived the Lagos Metroline plan which had been abandoned by the previous military government. The system had been originally planned by United Nations experts that were advising the Federal Government in the 1960s, but successive governments were not serious about it. Governor Jakande was very serious about it and the right of way had already been demarcated by the time he was removed from office.
He established the Lagos Television (LTV), the only state tv station (the previous state and regional tv stations had been taken over by the Federal Military Government in the mid-1970s). The NPN controlled Federal Government quickly established a youth oriented tv station on the exact same frequency (NTA2 Channel 5) and LTV was eventually forced to move to Channel 8 (it was forced to move again in the 1990s, when the Federal Government reserved the VHF frequency band for only Federal Government owned stations. It eventually settled on Channel 35).
He also established Lasu, a multi-campus university that was modelled after the University of California multi-campus system.
But, the most controversial policy of the government (and the policy that was the subject of Sunday's debate) was the education policy.
The Federal Military Government had taken over private primary and secondary schools in the 1970s. Part of the reason for the take over was the fear that most of these schools were, in one way or another, controlled by foreign organisations and people, such as foreign missionaries and that it was dangerous to leave the education of Nigerian children in the hands of foreigners. These primary and secondary schools were handed over to the states by the Federal Government (the Federal Military Government also took over regional/state owned universities and still owns and manages those universities today).
Governor Jakande decided that every child must attend school, that they (and their parents) must spend little or nothing to get an education and that this must be done on budget (that is, the government must also not overspend in order to achieve this). So the government created numerous schools (I don't think any government in the history of Lagos has created as many schools as Jakande did).
The scholars buses ferried children to and from school free of charge and the government also reached agreements with publishers to supply books to the schools at no cost to the students.
I took some of those books from one of those students at that time and below are pictures of one of those books.
www.nairaland.com/attachments/10485552_101209415112779724628382974985295233809545n_jpegf25c7149db0ded952da615210e0b0c92
www.nairaland.com/attachments/10485553_1054885415112786091294413277182517401698560o_jpeg9a86eea7fd3015de841be594b17c80e7
You can see that it has the Seal of the Lagos State Government on it. This notice is stamped on some of the pages of the book - "Property of the Lagos State Government. Not for sale" (the notice on the pages of another book reads - "Property of the Lagos State Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Not for sale" ). The name of the particular school was also stamped on the books and it was a huge offence to sell those books.
One of my favourite parts of the policy and one that was hated by many students, is the part that was known as Center. Basically, students from schools in a particular area or neighbourhood would congregate at a centre in which they would be taught woodwork, home economics and other hands on subjects.
So, how can anyone have a problem with this policy?
1) Multiple schools: - Remember that most of these schools were seized from their original owners, most of whom were european missionaries. The missionaries believed in total, all-round education. They believed that it was important to educate the mind, body and soul. So most of those schools had large football fields, cricket pitches, basketball and tennis courts, chapels and mosques and even swimming pools. They also had farms for agricultural science and facilities for music, arts and drama.
Jakande was determined to get as many people as possible into school, so he built new classroom blocks on those sports facilities. Several schools were built in the same compound. You had "Government College, School 1", "Government College, School 2", "Government College, School 3" (sounds like a nollywood movie, doesn't it?) and so on and so forth. Many of the schools (classroom blocks) were built so close to each other that they were poorly ventilated. If you go round Lagos, you'd see a lot of these schools that were established between 1980 and 1982.
Someone complained, "What kind of schools were those? They had no laboratories, no sports facilities, no libraries, just blocks of badly built classrooms".
The original owners and ex-students of these schools were also very upset that their school compounds were being broken up in this manner (a visit to Igbobi College or Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School will give you an idea of what happened. The Aunty Ayo School system was divided into 3 schools!).
2) The buildings: - The quality of the new buildings was also another source of concern. I watched a documentary on Jakande's birthday, in which the project coordinator explained what happened. Jakande told her that he wanted X number of classrooms built at Y amount. She went, did her study and came back and told him that it was impossible. He replied that he had faith in her and he knew that she could do it and restated that he wanted X number of classrooms built at Y amount. That she should find out where she can make savings. So she went back and made some adjustments. Rather than using glass window panes, they used wood. They made other similar adjustments and were able to build X number of schools for Y amount.
This was one of the things that infuriated people the most. One of my friends on Sunday complained that, "I can never like that guy. I don't know why people are trying to whitewash and launder his image. That guy built chicken sheds in my school and called them classrooms!"
Many of those classroom blocks were very basic. Some had no coat of paint, some had wooden windows, no fans, no electricity, etc.
Governor Mudashiru, who took over from Jakande, had to spend a lot of money to upgrade some of the classroom blocks.
3) Interview: - Like I said earlier, the missionairies and the colonial government believed in total education. They believed that they should not only educate the mind, but that they should also develop the body, social skills, behaviour and spiritual needs of the child. So there were sports activities, plays, musical performances, etc.
Thus, prospective students were interviewed and investigated to determine their suitability, not only academically (which would have been determined by the entrance examinations), but also in terms of character.
Jakande's policy dictated that school districts were divided into catchment areas. Principals of secondary schools had to accept students from specified primary schools in their catchment areas (so long as the student passed the G2 primary school leaving certificate exam [one of the easiest exams you could ever take). It was also very difficult for the principals to expel these students, except the student failed promotion exams twice.
The result was that many unruly students were admitted into these schools. Discipline broke down. It became quite normal to read stories in the newspapers about students beating up teachers and even principals. This was also one of the reasons why the old Principals Cup Competition was suspended. Extreme violence often accompanied these football matches. Secondary school students went to school and football matches with axes (known as UTC), cutlasses and other dangerous weapons.
4) Carrying capacity: - The policy led to a dramatic increase in school enrollment and this put a huge strain on facilities (despite the rapid increase in schools and classrooms). Most schools, pre-1979, had a student-class ratio of 25 or 30 students per class. This changed during the Jakande era and it was not unusual to see classrooms with 60 to 100 students.
5) Shift system and boarding facilities: - Jakande's aim was to provide education to as many people as possible, so it was very strange that he abolished the shift system.
Pre-1979, people who were unable to get an education when they were younger and those who could not make it into the regular morning session because of space constraints, could enroll in the evening school system. Most schools had both a morning and an evening session (usually using the same school buildings, but sometimes using separate buildings). Jakande abolished that system and the morning session became the only session. For example, the facilities that were used for St Gregory's College's evening session became the Government College Victoria Island (GoCoVi). The shift system was initially created by the civillian and military governments of the 1960s, when the launched "universal education" policies. The facilities overstretched the existing facilities, so they had to introduce a shift system.
Jakande also abolished the boarding school system. The government planned to demolish the hostels and build classroom blocks where the hostels previously stood.
Now, certain families have a tradition of attending the legacy schools in Lagos. The legacy schools include:
CMS Grammar School, Methodist Boys High School, Methodist Girls High School, Anwar-Ul Islam Model College (formerly Ahmadiyya College and before that, it was known as Saka Tinubu), Anwar-Ul Islam Girls High School (formerly Ahmadiyya Girls College), St Gregory's College, Holy Child College, Baptist Academy, Kings College, Queens College, St Finbarr's College, Our Lady Of Apostles Secondary School, Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School, Aunty Ayo International School, etc. (All of these schools, except Kings and Queens College, were taken over by the State Government. Aunty Ayo was divided into 3 and 2 of the schools were taken over by the State, while one remained private).
I know a family which has had at least one member in a particular school every decade since the 1920s. I know another family in which the tradition is so strong that the children are brought back to Lagos, from wherever they are in the world, to attend a particular school (or its sister school). These families were very angry at the way that Jakande was "destroying" "their" schools. The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Okogie, launched scathing attacks against Jakande in the newspapers. He also instituted several lawsuits against the Lagos State Government. The families made several attempts to stop the LASG's attempt to "destroy" their schools. The Old Boys of Igbobi College stopped funding the school at a point, because they were depressed by what was happening to it.
It became an insult to be referred to as a Jakande boy or Jakande girl (they were synonymous with the word "thug" ) or for someone to say that you attended a Jakande school.
However, like my other friend would point out, this policy enabled many people who would probably have been uneducated and a problem to society, to get an education, get a job, feed their family/be independent and contribute to Nigeria's development. Cricket pitches, football fields, etc are a small price to pay in exchange for that. |
| Politics › Re: Mobolaji Johnson, The First Governor Of Lagos Is Dead by anonimi: 10:11am On Oct 31, 2019 |
naptu2:
I believe that Baba Kekere is one of the best governors that Lagos has ever had (you'll see why in a minute), but I also acknowledge his flaws. However, it's very difficult for most people to assess him objectively. They either love him dearly or hate him passionately.
LKJ implemented the progressive/welfarist manifesto of the UPN to the letter. The LSTC was still running at the time that Jakande was governor and he converted some of the LSTC buses (including some of the air conditioned buses) into Scholars Bus, buses that were specifically designated to convey primary and secondary school children to and from school for free.
He utilised the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) to build low cost houses/flats, which low and medium income people could buy via a mortgage scheme (they paid back in instalments over a 10-25 year period).
Jakande endeared himself to the people by using his private car, a Toyota Crown (or was it a Cressida?) as his official car, rather than one of the long wheel base mercedes limousines that were common at the time. (He used that same car as his official car when he became Minister of Works in the Abacha Government, but his motorcade looked funny to me because the official Peugoet 505 Evolution that was meant to be his official car was often driven behind the Toyota).
Governor Jakande revived the Lagos Metroline plan which had been abandoned by the previous military government. The system had been originally planned by United Nations experts that were advising the Federal Government in the 1960s, but successive governments were not serious about it. Governor Jakande was very serious about it and the right of way had already been demarcated by the time he was removed from office.
He established the Lagos Television (LTV), the only state tv station (the previous state and regional tv stations had been taken over by the Federal Military Government in the mid-1970s). The NPN controlled Federal Government quickly established a youth oriented tv station on the exact same frequency (NTA2 Channel 5) and LTV was eventually forced to move to Channel 8 (it was forced to move again in the 1990s, when the Federal Government reserved the VHF frequency band for only Federal Government owned stations. It eventually settled on Channel 35).
He also established Lasu, a multi-campus university that was modelled after the University of California multi-campus system.
But, the most controversial policy of the government (and the policy that was the subject of Sunday's debate) was the education policy.
The Federal Military Government had taken over private primary and secondary schools in the 1970s. Part of the reason for the take over was the fear that most of these schools were, in one way or another, controlled by foreign organisations and people, such as foreign missionaries and that it was dangerous to leave the education of Nigerian children in the hands of foreigners. These primary and secondary schools were handed over to the states by the Federal Government (the Federal Military Government also took over regional/state owned universities and still owns and manages those universities today).
Governor Jakande decided that every child must attend school, that they (and their parents) must spend little or nothing to get an education and that this must be done on budget (that is, the government must also not overspend in order to achieve this). So the government created numerous schools (I don't think any government in the history of Lagos has created as many schools as Jakande did).
The scholars buses ferried children to and from school free of charge and the government also reached agreements with publishers to supply books to the schools at no cost to the students.
I took some of those books from one of those students at that time and below are pictures of one of those books.
www.nairaland.com/attachments/10485552_101209415112779724628382974985295233809545n_jpegf25c7149db0ded952da615210e0b0c92
www.nairaland.com/attachments/10485553_1054885415112786091294413277182517401698560o_jpeg9a86eea7fd3015de841be594b17c80e7
You can see that it has the Seal of the Lagos State Government on it. This notice is stamped on some of the pages of the book - "Property of the Lagos State Government. Not for sale" (the notice on the pages of another book reads - "Property of the Lagos State Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Not for sale" ). The name of the particular school was also stamped on the books and it was a huge offence to sell those books.
One of my favourite parts of the policy and one that was hated by many students, is the part that was known as Center. Basically, students from schools in a particular area or neighbourhood would congregate at a centre in which they would be taught woodwork, home economics and other hands on subjects.
So, how can anyone have a problem with this policy?
1) Multiple schools: - Remember that most of these schools were seized from their original owners, most of whom were european missionaries. The missionaries believed in total, all-round education. They believed that it was important to educate the mind, body and soul. So most of those schools had large football fields, cricket pitches, basketball and tennis courts, chapels and mosques and even swimming pools. They also had farms for agricultural science and facilities for music, arts and drama.
Jakande was determined to get as many people as possible into school, so he built new classroom blocks on those sports facilities. Several schools were built in the same compound. You had "Government College, School 1", "Government College, School 2", "Government College, School 3" (sounds like a nollywood movie, doesn't it?) and so on and so forth. Many of the schools (classroom blocks) were built so close to each other that they were poorly ventilated. If you go round Lagos, you'd see a lot of these schools that were established between 1980 and 1982.
Someone complained, "What kind of schools were those? They had no laboratories, no sports facilities, no libraries, just blocks of badly built classrooms".
The original owners and ex-students of these schools were also very upset that their school compounds were being broken up in this manner (a visit to Igbobi College or Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School will give you an idea of what happened. The Aunty Ayo School system was divided into 3 schools!).
2) The buildings: - The quality of the new buildings was also another source of concern. I watched a documentary on Jakande's birthday, in which the project coordinator explained what happened. Jakande told her that he wanted X number of classrooms built at Y amount. She went, did her study and came back and told him that it was impossible. He replied that he had faith in her and he knew that she could do it and restated that he wanted X number of classrooms built at Y amount. That she should find out where she can make savings. So she went back and made some adjustments. Rather than using glass window panes, they used wood. They made other similar adjustments and were able to build X number of schools for Y amount.
This was one of the things that infuriated people the most. One of my friends on Sunday complained that, "I can never like that guy. I don't know why people are trying to whitewash and launder his image. That guy built chicken sheds in my school and called them classrooms!"
Many of those classroom blocks were very basic. Some had no coat of paint, some had wooden windows, no fans, no electricity, etc.
Governor Mudashiru, who took over from Jakande, had to spend a lot of money to upgrade some of the classroom blocks.
3) Interview: - Like I said earlier, the missionairies and the colonial government believed in total education. They believed that they should not only educate the mind, but that they should also develop the body, social skills, behaviour and spiritual needs of the child. So there were sports activities, plays, musical performances, etc.
Thus, prospective students were interviewed and investigated to determine their suitability, not only academically (which would have been determined by the entrance examinations), but also in terms of character.
Jakande's policy dictated that school districts were divided into catchment areas. Principals of secondary schools had to accept students from specified primary schools in their catchment areas (so long as the student passed the G2 primary school leaving certificate exam [one of the easiest exams you could ever take). It was also very difficult for the principals to expel these students, except the student failed promotion exams twice.
The result was that many unruly students were admitted into these schools. Discipline broke down. It became quite normal to read stories in the newspapers about students beating up teachers and even principals. This was also one of the reasons why the old Principals Cup Competition was suspended. Extreme violence often accompanied these football matches. Secondary school students went to school and football matches with axes (known as UTC), cutlasses and other dangerous weapons.
4) Carrying capacity: - The policy led to a dramatic increase in school enrollment and this put a huge strain on facilities (despite the rapid increase in schools and classrooms). Most schools, pre-1979, had a student-class ratio of 25 or 30 students per class. This changed during the Jakande era and it was not unusual to see classrooms with 60 to 100 students.
5) Shift system and boarding facilities: - Jakande's aim was to provide education to as many people as possible, so it was very strange that he abolished the shift system.
Pre-1979, people who were unable to get an education when they were younger and those who could not make it into the regular morning session because of space constraints, could enroll in the evening school system. Most schools had both a morning and an evening session (usually using the same school buildings, but sometimes using separate buildings). Jakande abolished that system and the morning session became the only session. For example, the facilities that were used for St Gregory's College's evening session became the Government College Victoria Island (GoCoVi). The shift system was initially created by the civillian and military governments of the 1960s, when the launched "universal education" policies. The facilities overstretched the existing facilities, so they had to introduce a shift system.
Jakande also abolished the boarding school system. The government planned to demolish the hostels and build classroom blocks where the hostels previously stood.
Now, certain families have a tradition of attending the legacy schools in Lagos. The legacy schools include:
CMS Grammar School, Methodist Boys High School, Methodist Girls High School, Anwar-Ul Islam Model College (formerly Ahmadiyya College and before that, it was known as Saka Tinubu), Anwar-Ul Islam Girls High School (formerly Ahmadiyya Girls College), St Gregory's College, Holy Child College, Baptist Academy, Kings College, Queens College, St Finbarr's College, Our Lady Of Apostles Secondary School, Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School, Aunty Ayo International School, etc. (All of these schools, except Kings and Queens College, were taken over by the State Government. Aunty Ayo was divided into 3 and 2 of the schools were taken over by the State, while one remained private).
I know a family which has had at least one member in a particular school every decade since the 1920s. I know another family in which the tradition is so strong that the children are brought back to Lagos, from wherever they are in the world, to attend a particular school (or its sister school). These families were very angry at the way that Jakande was "destroying" "their" schools. The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Okogie, launched scathing attacks against Jakande in the newspapers. He also instituted several lawsuits against the Lagos State Government. The families made several attempts to stop the LASG's attempt to "destroy" their schools. The Old Boys of Igbobi College stopped funding the school at a point, because they were depressed by what was happening to it.
It became an insult to be referred to as a Jakande boy or Jakande girl (they were synonymous with the word "thug" ) or for someone to say that you attended a Jakande school.
However, like my other friend would point out, this policy enabled many people who would probably have been uneducated and a problem to society, to get an education, get a job, feed their family/be independent and contribute to Nigeria's development. Cricket pitches, football fields, etc are a small price to pay in exchange for that. Thanks for covering almost all that needs to be said. I hope that you don't mind me using the contents from time to time, without your mention to not keep "disturbing" you frequently. |
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ursullalinda:
OP you get mind oh.....what kind of long write up is this? Abeg summarise pls If you want to hide something from a black man, put it inside a book.   |
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[/quote]Criminals like Buratai? 
