Appreciating Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufai reforms in Nigeria education sector

By Bashir Bello (Dollars) &  Ali Ahmed

The Nation newspaper in a last report of a three-part serial of assessment of the performance of some minister under President Goodluck Jonathan had this to say about Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufai, the current Minister of Education “Though the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufai, joined the cabinet shortly after the then President Goodluck Jonathan became a substantive President, she was one of the few new ministers who hit the ground running. Immediately she resumed at the Federal Ministry of Education, she ensured that everybody was kept busy on how to improve the sector. Most of the parastatals under the ministry have been engaged in several developmental activities which, according to sources, were left unattended to before the arrival of the woman who many describe as hardworking. Her latest achievement is the recent public presentation of the nation’s education data survey and the launch of the Digest of Education Statistics for the period, 2006 to 2010 which gingered President Goodluck Jonathan to assure Nigerians of increase in budgetary allocation to the sector.”   The paper went further to award her a well deserved ‘Good’ performance scorecard, unlike her other colleagues who mostly got an ‘average’, and below average pass mark.

No doubt, only a prejudiced analyst would have failed to see the truth in the paper’s assessment that the professor on resuming duty as the Minister of Education hit the ground running, and that patriotic sprint by this erudite woman to revamp the sorry state of our education sector has brought about some positive success.

This write up is to really put in view the remarkable silent achievements   of this unsung Amazon who within the shortest possible  period  as minister of education in our country history had been able to revolutionized our education sector and also set a standard  that many of her male counterparts who had a long grace period  as education ministers, including resources, and a then  peaceful security situation failed to hit their masculine feet on the ground to restore sanity to our  almost sunk education sector.

According to an article published  online by a Nigerian focused website www.nigerianin America.com,titled : Education in Nigeria: The Return of Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufai as Minister, while analyzing the needed reforms to save  the  Nigerian education sector, had this to say “When Minister Rufai took over the ministry roughly 18 months or so ago, she quickly identified four areas of focus: (1) access and equity, (2) standards and quality assurance, (3) technical and vocational education and teacher training, and (4) funding and resource utilization as part of her plan to reform the education sector. Professor Rufai has strategically aligned herself with state commissioners of education and selected board members of the National Universities Commission (NUC), particularly Chris Okojie and others in the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to re-conceptualize the tertiary education or higher education. The strategy is now paying dividend as fidelity in compliance and rigor in action returns to the federal ministry of education”.

Over the years, since the country’s return to democracy, the Nigerian schools have witnessed a shameful sliding among other schools in the Africa continent, away from its hitherto number position. Helpless citizens were forced to watch as public schools in Ghana, Benin, Zambia, Kenya, Togo, Botswana and other African countries with little resources compared to Nigeria continued to modernize their schools, and yearly churned out educated and intelligent graduates from their various cradle of learning.

It was still this poor state of schools that Professor Ruqayyatu met on assuming office as the minister of education, but today the story cannot say to be the same as this woman of substance has within the shortest time changed the face of schools in Nigeria. Still fresh in mind, was the actualization of a change in the country’s outdated curriculum which became a reality under her tenure, a long expected change that finally saw the light of the day following a decision reached during the last National Council of Education meeting, a new curriculum was approved for Senior Secondary Education.
 This decision was made public at a meeting between the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufai, and Commissioners for Education from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, in Abuja. The Executive Secretary of the National Educational Research and Development Commission, Prof. Godswill Obioma, while presenting a brief structure of the new curriculum at the meeting informed the public that under the new structure, a total of 42 subjects were approved. He said the new SSE curriculum structure specifies 42 subjects, distinctly categorized into four distinct fields of study namely: “Senior Secondary Education (Science), Senior Secondary Education (Humanities), Senior Secondary Education (Technology) and Senior Secondary Education (Business). He further explained that the structure also indentified compulsory/ cross cutting subjects; core subject i.e. subjects selected from any of the four fields of study; and elective subjects for each field of study. In addition, 34 entrepreneurial trades subject are to be offered in secondary schools to encourage self reliance and wealth creation.
Looking at this transformation in our hitherto out of date secondary school curriculum, one would but agree that the coming of professor Ruqayyatu was part of the catalysts that brought about a much needed change in our secondary schools, initiated the students to learn how to be self reliant and importantly propelled our schools to meet up to the 21^st Century teaching techniques in this globalised age. Also worthy of mentioning is the undisputed fact that it was during the tenure of this woman achiever that more federal universities where approved and established across the various regions in the country; a remarkable achievement that will no doubt live in the sand of time, with her name reechoing in our minds whenever the issue of education reform in Nigeria is being mentioned.
It is an undisputable fact that this woman as rightly positioned by the nation newspaper hit the ground running on assuming office as the minister of education. A race she won by creating various positive records in our education sector and setting a landmark that our schools are identifiable with today.

BEST PRACTICE OF INTERNAL DEMOCRACY IN PERIL

 By Sani Aliyu

Bad governance in a democratic setting has its roots in the lack of coherent best practice of internal democracy at political party level. Being the leadership brewing center, the political party is foisted with the obligation of setting the pace, but where people at the helms of affairs are not democratically elected but selected, it follows therefore, that the nation’s leadership takes queue in abandoning democratic tenets in governance. This is the crux of today’s popular lamentation by the electorates.

Setting a good precedence is synonymous with good parenthood, thus, what the political party stands for is parenthood to a nation’s leadership. Therefore, garbage-in-garbage-out, exactly what we must expect given the current happening, where someone would declare that the President is with him and, not only that, the president stoops so low as to be begging Governors to support this individual. Naturally, a President is expected to play neutral, because everybody in the party belongs to his camp and there is no exemption just like a good father who is expected to administer justly amongst his children.

If today the administration of the largest party in Africa would depend on the decision (s) or want (s) of an individual or a handful of individuals as against delegate election, then it is very unfortunate and tantamount to bad leadership. A trade-by-barter form of governance would therefore be given root. Or would it be governance by blackmail? Going by the disturbing show of desperation exhibited by the so called government-favoured candidate, expressed through a show of arrogance, calling peoples’ fathers kids, then I am afraid those he refers to as kids fall in the same age bracket with the President and more so they were Mr. President contemporaries either as Governors or otherwise.  Be that as it may, with my concern as an individual championing the advocacy of sustenance of democracy in Nigeria through best practices, I find it very unethical for someone seeking the headship of an institution that has the onus of sieving quality leadership for Nigeria to condescend this low.

Taking account of the recent melodrama of this very distinguished African roundtable icon, one would but wait to ask what his desperation is for? At his age and time he should be in a better position to know that certain assertions are capable of impairing whatever vantage position one occupies.  If his easy access to Mr. President is deluding him to undermine delegates to the extent that he is calling for consensus Chairmanship, is this not a direct indication that he lacks the capacity or content to face contenders with better track records? This and many more disturbing lingering questions are begging for answers. However, from my perspective, the President would need a man with the qualities highly regarded by all, whose pedigree represents best practice of democracy, calm not loud, easily accessible by the downtrodden and has the capacity to foster peace across the regions. A highly experienced politician with high level of integrity whose words counts weight and his contribution to the party and elections are immeasurable.

The man that has youth development and empowerment as his testimonial engagement, a man whose achievement stands tall and speaks for him, a man that has the vision and share and understand Mr. President’s vision. Of course, we need a man that would harmonize the ruling party and by extension be a pacesetter for others to follow.

Let Mr. President distance himself from building acrimony and instead showcase neutrality, for even his secret support of and intention to force a particular candidate on the party, is no more a secret. Nigerians already see no good in PDP, and this notion must change. Let Mr. President allow the good practice and not corrupt practice of democracy. PDP SHOULD GO FOR THE POLLS, LET THE DELEGATES DECIDE. 

Sani Aliyu

Country Director (RDV)

Email: aliyusani@yahoo.com