"As a man thinks in his heart, so is he"

We all have a choice! A choice to attend the NYSC or not.

Well let me tell you, I regretted spending 5 years of my life in the University gaining nothing and I made up my mind NEVER to serve! Why should I waste another year on youth service? I was persuaded severely, told of some abstract consequences but I stood my ground.

So if some people decide to go and waste their time and lives by going into one bush or where ever to do something that won't influence their lives in any way, it is their choice.

"what you think is real becomes your reality"

"where is a will, there is a way"

President Olusegun Obasanjo was surprised to see the sea of heads as he climbed the rostrum inside the banquet hall of the Aso Rock villa at the weekend. And he did not hide it. "I haven't seen this number of people in this hall before," he declared as he cleared his throat and took charge of the meeting.

The occasion was the Presidential Forum on Education. Attendance was very large: traditional rulers, which included the late Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Maccido (who died in the ADC plane crash last Sunday), Pro-Chancellors, Vice Chancellors, Provosts, Rectors, development partners, non-governmental organisations, unions among others. Many people apparently came to listen and contribute.

The education sector had, recently, been embroiled in a number of controversies, the most prominent of which is the issue of unity schools. The reform agenda proposed by the Education Minister, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, has also been interpreted in different terms, depending on which side of the divide the arguments are coming from. There is a school of thought that is wary of the proposed reforms, and is urging caution. There is also the other school of thought that believes that the reforms were long overdue.

The forum thus presented Ezekwesili with the rare opportunity of explaining her intentions to the largest audience of principal stakeholders at a time, and for her to also feel the pulse of what people really think. She took full advantage of it.

Acting as master of ceremony, Obasanjo, during the preambles, described the large turnout of stakeholders for the forum as an indication that education "is taken seriously." He stated that to him, education was more serious than "impeachment." He noted that over the past seven years, his government had tried to carry out some reforms in the education sector and that those reforms had met with some difficulties.

"But resistance to reforms is understandable," he observed. "People will resist change because of entrenched self interest. But if we do not reform, we are not going to make progress. We are not where we should be yet, but we are making progress. Education is everybody's business. It should not be left in the hands of students, parents and teachers alone. Religious leaders have a role to play, the private sector has a role to play."

Harping on the importance of quality, Obasanjo said it was important for the country to get its bearing right in adopting the best form of education to give to its citizens. "How do we educate? Education for what? What should be the products? We are thinking, and thinking aloud."

But the president disabused the minds of those who already believed that the Federal Government Colleges, also known as the Unity Schools were up for grabs. "We are not selling any educational institution," he declared. "Education is a service and it will remain a service. We want to manage it well (and) we want to get value."

However, Obasanjo insisted on the reform of the sector, which, he argued, must begin with the institution saddled with the responsibility of managing it: the Federal Ministry of Education. "The ministry has to be reformed for it to carry out what is required," he said.

Ezekwesili then took the floor and made a presentation that lasted over two hours. She started by giving an insight into all the areas covered by the Federal Ministry of Education, which she gave as: Early Childhood, Basic Education (which comprises primary and Junior Secondary), Secondary (the last three levels), Adult and Non Formal, Special Education (for the physically challenged) and the Tertiary.

She noted that at the primary level, the problem of access still existed. While there were, according to her, 42.1 million children eligible for elementary education, just about 22.3 million were in school as at the end of last year. Thus, some 19. 8 million children are still hanging out there. She also revealed that there were 50, 871 public pre-primary and primary schools and 9, 317 private ones. Both segments have, between them, 254, 319 classrooms and 597, 741 teachers. The ratio of pupils to teachers stood at 36: 1.

According to her, Nigeria has 11, 000 secondary schools, 6700 of which are publicly owned at the moment. The remaining 3400 are privately owned. Of this number however, Ezekwesili said only 102 are Unity schools, made up of 80 Federal Government Colleges, 19 Federal Technical Colleges and the remaining one is the School for Gifted Children. The minister further explained that there were 122, 000 students in all the unity schools, who, she noted, represent just about 1.9 per cent of the 6.4 million students in the nation's secondary schools. Yet, the minister noted that 33.9 million young Nigerians were eligible for secondary school education.

But what is rather confounding is that much strength of the education ministry, which should have been evenly distributed across all the areas under its supervision, was concentrated on the 102 unity schools. She backed her claims up with figures. She said that 23, 400 of the Ministry's 27, 000 members of staff were engaged in the unity schools. And that is why about 70 percent of the ministry's yearly budget end up in the unity schools alone.

No wonder, then, the minister noted, that the ministry could not perform effectively in all the other areas. She said when her team subjected the ministry to a critical self-examination, it failed woefully on almost all fronts. Taking 12 parameters, on a scale of A-F, the ministry ended up with 7Fs, 2Es, 2Ds and 1C. The breakdown: Leadership - F, Funding - D, Communication Strategy - F, Information Technology - E, Managerial Competence - F, and Human Resource Capacity - F.

The others include Partnerships - C, Training - E, Management - F, Intellectual Property - D, Structures, Systems, Processes - F, and Ethical Dimensions, Transparency - F.

On academic performance, Ezekwesili said that figures emanating from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) indicated that the failure rate was very high across the board. She noted that while it could be true that some candidates made five credits at the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), those that made effective five credits (which include Maths and English) were less than 30 per cent between 2000 and 2004. Even at the Universities Matriculation Examination (UME) level, the minister stated that of the 868, 000 candidates that wrote the examination in 2005, only about 200, 000 passed.

Besides, Ezekwesili noted that young people were more easily disposed to vices such as sex, cultism, examination malpractice, robbery and other social problems just as she urged that no effort should be spared to bring about a turn around.

After the minister's presentation, Obasanjo returned to the rostrum and began to call out to different stakeholders for comments. Dr Ahmed Lawal, the chairman of the Federal House of Representatives Committee on Education was the first to speak. He stated that the House was prepared to support the minister's reforms, provided they (reforms) were properly understood. He laid emphasis on proper understanding, as a condition for the support of the Legislators.

His counterpart from the Senate, Mrs Joy Emordi was more dramatic. After stating that she was only echoing what her constituency asked her to say, she stated that one of the conditions for the Senate to support the reform proposals is that the fees charged in the unity schools "do not change." She also insisted that the unity schools should be left intact in terms of the objectives.

Obasanjo was apparently miffed by the comments of the duo. To Lawal, he said it was curious that such comments could emanate from him when he (Obasanjo) was made to understand that the House Committee members were taken along every step of the reform agenda. To Emordi, he said it was also her responsibility to educate her constituency on the correct position of all policies. The president said while the senator was insisting that fees charged in the unity schools should not change, parents were already paying black market rates to get their wards into the schools. He also described an experience he had as a military Head of State.

He said while on a visit to one of the states in the Southwest zone, some unity school students had come out to greet him. When he asked each of the students to state the profession of his parents, only one told him that his father was a farmer. "I later discovered that his father was actually a gardener. The others were children of top civil servants."

The Nasarawa State governor, Alhaji Adamu Abdullahi, in his contribution, stated that History w as not adequately taught in schools and that the value system should be critically examined. Chief Sam Ikpe, the Iyase of Benin spoke on early childhood care and urged the ministry to pay more attention to it. To Mr Gamaliel Onosode, the pro-chancellor of the University of Ibadan, the content of Adult Education should teach mothers as the first teachers of the child.

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof Oye Ibidapo-Obe said the introduction of the post university matriculation examination (UME) test had helped the universities to fish out unserious candidates, but he did not state when UNILAG would return the post UME fees collected from each candidate as directed by the Minister.

The President of the Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN), Alhaji Babs Animashaun implored the minister to always maintain regular consultation with all stakeholders for a proper understanding of the ministry's reform agenda and other critical issues.

The president underscored the importance of consultation in determining the best form of education to give to the citizens. He stated that for someone like him, who was educated by accident, education would remain important. "When I was in the village, I wanted to be mechanic. At another time, I wanted to be a bar tender. But I got educated by accident. I wonder what I would have turned out to be if I had not been educated," he said.