Nigeria is wobbling – Obasanjo

By Tony Edike
ENUGU — FORMER President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, expressed grave concern over the current state of insecurity in the country and the continued slow march of the nation to desired development destinations.

He also called for increased public private partnership in the management of education to tackle the  “four serious problems that still persist in thwarting” the nation’s efforts with consequences for Nigeria’s ability to meet the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs.

Obasanjo who delivered the 41st  convocation lecture of the University of Nigeria, UNN, at Nsukka on the theme  “Education and national development” said the country could not continue to wobble as she is currently doing.

Speaking on the challenges of the future for the nation, Obasanjo said: “This country cannot continue to wobble along like a stalked and wounded lion, walking to its death. We have immense resources— there were 37.2 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Nigeria as of 2011 ranking the country as the largest producer of oil in Africa and the 11th largest in the world, yet, there is no respite in the search for sustainable development of the nation.”

Obasanjo also alluded to the nation’s growing population which is put at 170 million as at today, saying: “This will be an asset only if we start now to work seriously and assiduously on how this large population will be the quality, united and purposeful workforce associated with such countries as the US and South Korea.”

He explained that the United Nations’ projection that Nigeria will be the fourth largest nation in population by the turn of the next century places a big burden on the leaders and people of Nigeria who must work for corresponding growth in education sector by increasing access to, quality and purpose of education.

Obasanjo identified the four problems confronting the nation’s education sector as inadequate access to education, poor quality, lack of clarity on purpose of education and relevance of current education to Nigeria’s culture, orientation, core values and the future.

The former military and civilian president called for public private partnership to tackle the challenges of education in Nigeria.

He submitted that “PPP in Nigerian education today must go beyond mortar and bricks, and extend to shared services, entrepreneurial development and reform ideas.”

Chief Obasanjo also recommended that Nigeria must “institutionalise systematic performance reviews and assessment of all key areas of our education system”, noting that “the annual lamentations about poor performance in WAEC and NECO examinations will remain empty and futile until we have reward and punishment systems to encourage improvements among students, teachers, administrators, schools and communities.”