12072020 - Uzodinma, Ngige, Nnamani others meet, vow Igbo united front

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 12, 2020, PAGE 13
Tinubu and the Latter-Day Nostradamus
By Tunde Rahman
ome people never learn but I
Swill tender to them a word of
sound advice in hope that some
degree of civility and good sense will
find its way to them. It is not wise to
continuously pass judgment on a
person or to repeatedly predict a
person’s demise, politically or
otherwise. Worst, are those who lurk
in the shadows to pass calumny and
stir falsehood against someone
because you believe that person may
one day seek the same high office
you so irrationally and desperately
covet. The same measure you use
shall ultimately be weighed against
you and you shall be found lacking.
Political carpetbaggers and their
hired mercenaries have strained and
tugged so hard to paint recent
developments within the All
Progressives Congress to be what
they are not. With the legal disputes
regarding the national
chairmanship, the party was
certainly going through a rough
patch. However, we know much of
that turbulence was due to the covert
machinations of a troubled minority
in the party that wanted to take over
the party leadership. Since they did
not have the requisite popularity
within the party, they tried to do
through the court what they could
not achieve through the workings of
internal democracy. They learned
this tack from their former mentor
Atiku Abubakar who used the same
ruse to try to grab though specious
legal argument what President
Muhammadu Buhari handily won
through the democratic ballot. Victor
Giadom would never have laid
claim to the APC chairmanship if
not that certain figures were
instigating his actions from their
lairs in the shadows. He was not
really an independent leadership
figure. He was but the improvised
explosive device of those who paid
him to do their destructive work so
that they may seem to keep their
hands clean. Their motives were still
soiled and sordid.
The turmoil this minority caused
indeed was hurting the party. The
president waited patiently hoping
matters would be resolved. However,
when it became clear that the
usurpers would not stop, he wisely
determined to put an end to their
penchant for confusion.
The action taken at the recent NEC
meeting placed the party on an even
keel. Victor Giadom gloatingly
waltzed into the meeting thinking
•Tinubu
himself chairman of the party. He
was escorted out before the meeting
ended. The court cases were to end.
The party was to stand united
behind the Edo primary winner,
Osagie Ise-Iyamu. A caretaker
committee comprised of leading and
highly respected party members was
formed to guide the party through
elections in Edo and Ondo states and
to schedule a national convention in
6 months.
The minority usurpers were denied
the core of what they had been
plotting to achieve. Party leadership
was moved as far from their hands
as ever. They reacted predictably by
vainly depicting this as a setback for
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. But Asiwaju’s
statement on the matter set the
record straight. If this were a defeat,
it is one of those defeats so
advantageous as to be
indistinguishable from victory. In
their dissections of events, some
writers have, however, attached
themselves to the empty conjecture
and propaganda of the anti-party
usurpers.
Posturing as latter-day
Nostradamus, these people are not
trying to predict what will be; they
are predicting what their sponsors
want to happen. They see only what
they and their biases have been
financed to see. What they claim to
be their crystal ball are nothing but
their leaden hearts and dense
ambitions. They see nothing because
they cannot see beyond themselves.
This brings us to the existential
question: why all the furore over
Tinubu? They want to rule this nation
but deep down they know the nation
does not really want them. They also
know that their ambitions far
outpace their abilities. They have no
qualms in making a mash of the
party because they merely view the
party as a platform for their
unbridled selfishness.
Tinubu on the other hand is
different. He joined with President
Buhari to form this party. He sees
the party as an essential institution
to provide Nigerians the democratic
good governance and progressive
reform needed. He also established
a fine track record as a creative and
innovative governor, one of the
nation’s best and most productive.
Those who snipe at him
from the shadows and
through proxies know
they cannot equal his
resume nor do they have
his knowledge and
vision. Thus, they must
do the only thing they
have mastered in their
long careers. They must
seek to destroy a man
who has in one way or
another helped them
during their times of
need. While such
destructive talents may
seem potent in the shortterm,
they offer no
enduring solutions to
building a great nation
or establishing a vibrant
political party.
These people are so scared of
Tinubu’s shadow that they constantly
attack him although he has yet to
declare an interest in the 2023 race.
As such, this ambition exists only in
the imagination of his enemies.
Tinubu has shown himself to be
clearly of a different personal
constitution than these people. He
does not engage in backbiting and
sniping. These people do these things
because it is all they now. At this
juncture, with so many challenges
facing us, these people should be too
occupied with the daily welfare of
the nation than in what might
happen three years from now. Their
perception of time and what is
important are sorely warped. This
should give the public pause as to
whether they want such people to
lead them.
While believing the expression and
naked pursuit of any presidential
ambition would be highly distasteful
at the moment, Asiwaju has devoted
himself to trying to assist the party
and the administration. Showing a
supportive relationship with
President Buhari, he has offered
policy suggestions and ideas during
the COVID-19 crisis. Abridged
versions of some of these ideas have
been published to help explain to the
population the need for novel
approaches during this uncertain
time.
While Asiwaju has devoted himself
to such constructive efforts, his
assailants have done nothing of the
kind for they cannot offer what they
do not have. What they lack is
statesmanship and economic
knowledge. What they have in
abundance are cheap tricks,
intrigues and cynical politics that
speak of nothing but their individual
ambitions. Such
people are not of the
kind that Nigeria
needs, particularly
now.
Tinubu has spent
his time trying to
better the lot of the
average person
during this
straitened moment
of global
emergency. These
others give not a
thought to the
common person.
They would rather
sacrifice the
collective interests of
all Nigerians to
satisfy their thirst.
Whatever you want to say about
Tinubu you cannot say he has been
afflicted with this malady. He has
sacrificed his own ambitions more
than these other men ever could.
As a last ditch effort, the usurpers
and their hired columnists have tried
to create some rupture between
President Buhari and Tinubu. Their
efforts, though creative, have not
worked. They have tried to stoke the
President by saying Tinubu is trying
to undermine him. They have tried
to stoke Tinubu by saying the
President is attacking him. The two
men and their political partners are
wiser than the conspirators think. The
President sees how hard Tinubu has
worked and, I believe, knows the
sincerity of Tinubu’s suggestions and
recommendations. Tinubu trusts
that the President is always seeking
the national interests. Such a
foundation cannot be destroyed by
unfounded rumour and tales.
From his response to President
Buhari’s intervention, Asiwaju clearly
demonstrated his support. Not only
did he support the decisions taken
by President Buhari to restore order,
he restated his unwavering belief in
the Buhari administration to
continue to reform this nation for the
better.
This is not the response of a man
bemoaning his fate. Moreover, the
APC Caretaker Committee led by
Governor Mai Buni had visited
Asiwaju Tinubu and former Interim
National Chairman of the party,
Chief Bisi Akande. During their visit,
the panel thanked Asiwaju for his
support of the NEC decisions.
Governor Buni stated that the visit
was to seek support, guidance and
wise counsel for the committee’s
assignment.
Those mindlessly pursuing a 2023
presidential ambition at present to
the point of fomenting disunity to
gain control of the party structure
need therapy. They have been driven
to mad obsession by their
ambitions. Asiwaju has taken a
different path.
In his most recent statement,
Asiwaju said: “To those who have
been actively bleating how the
President’s actions and the NEC
meeting have ended my purported
2023 ambitions, I seek your pity. I
am but a mere mortal who does not
enjoy the length of foresight or
political wisdom you profess to have.
Already, you have assigned colourful
epitaphs to the 2023 death of an
alleged political ambition that is not
yet even born.
“At this extenuating moment with
COVID-19 and its economic fallout
hounding us, I cannot see as far into
the distance as you…I have devoted
the last few months to thinking of
policies that may help the nation in
the here and now. What I may or may
not do 3 years hence seems too
remote given present exigencies”.
In addition to thinking of policies
and ideas that can help the country
at present, Asiwaju, at every point,
has been counseling Nigerians to
stay safe by engaging in personal
hygiene and embracing social
distancing measures. Only in this
way may we get through this
moment without adding to the
tragedies that have already come.
Every other matter including what
happens in 2023 is for the future and
as such in the hands of God, not the
clever devices of man.
*Rahman, former Editor
Thisday on Sunday
Newspaper, is Media Aide to
Asiwaju Tinubu.
Adamu Adamu and President Buhari’s education agenda
By Olive Obi - Udeh
n his second term,
IPresidentMuhammadu Buhari
nominated nine priority areas for his
administration.Education is one of
these areas. Others are: building a
thriving andsustainable economy,
enlarging agricultural output for
food security andexport, attaining
energy sufficiency in power and
petroleum
products,
expandingtransport and other
infrastructural development,
expanding
business
growth,entrepreneurship and
industrialization, enhancing social
inclusion andreduction of poverty,
providing affordable healthcare,
building systems tofight corruption
and improve security for all. In the
education sector, thePresident also
set a sector agenda otherwise called
the mandate of the Ministryof
Education, namely:
Ensuring countrywide compliance
with the President’s June12
Declaration on the enforcement of
free and compulsory basic education
forthe first 9-years of schooling;
Implementing advocacy and
prioritizefunding to increase
enrolment and completion rates in
primary and secondaryeducation;
Implementing every child counts
STEAM curriculum; Executingwith
all the states a proactive teacher
training plan; Updatingnational
minimum standards for education
outcomes; Reviewingthe operation
of specialized education funds and
implementing reforms tooptimize
their benefit; Developing
curriculum for promoting values that
shapecitizens’ mindset and
character; Preparing at least
sixuniversities to be among the first
1,000 universities in the world;
Activelycollaborating with the
private sector to create a large
number of well-payingjobs for
Nigerian youths; and
Implementing strategy for the
realizationof the President’s June 12
promise of lifting 100 million people
out of povertyin the next 10 years.
Mallam Adamu Adamu, a
consistent advocate of
educationalreform in his Daily Trust
column was re-appointed Minister
of Education toexecute the above 10-
point agenda of the President, which
if successfully done,would change
the face of education in the country
and by extension the
economicfortunes of the nation. The
10-point agenda constitutes a
performance bondbetween the
minister and the President, ditto the
nation. The Minister
largelyprosecutes the President’s
agenda through the 22 agencies of
his ministry. Thiswrite up focuses on
how the Minister has prosecuted or
executed the first itemof the
agenda:
Ensuring
countrywidecompliance with the
President’s June 12 Declaration on
the enforcement of freeand
compulsory basic education for the
first 9-years of the Nigerian child.
The Universal Basic Education
Commission (UBEC) helps
theMinister to deal with the first item
of the agenda – the subject of
thisarticle. By the 2004 Universal
Basic Education Commission Act,
UBEC has theresponsibility of
assisting states, local government
•Mallam Adamu Adamu
areas and communities todischarge
their obligations of funding primary
and secondary education.
Localgovernments have the
responsibility of funding primary
school education whilestate
governments, with the exception of
Federal Government Collages
otherwisecalled unity schools, have
the responsibility of funding
secondary schooleducation. UBEC
was established to assist both local
and state governments becausethey
were not meeting their funding
obligations. What this means is that
theprimary obligation of funding
primary and secondary education
remains withlocal and state
governments even after the
establishment of UBEC. UBEC is
thereforean intervention agency for
the realization of access by all
Nigerian childrento qualitative,
functional and free basic education.
Adamu Adanu therefore hasto push
These
people are
so scared of
Tinubu’s
shadow
that they
constantly
attack him
President Buhari’s June 12
Declaration through the agency of
UBEC.
Pursuant to actualizingthe
President’s first agenda item, Adamu
Adamu pursues implementation
ofNational Enrolment Drive
Activities across the thirty-six States
of thefederation and the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT). The Ministry
of Educationthrough UBEC equally
runs advocacy and sensitization
programs involvingpolitical,
religious and community leaders on
the reduction of Out-of-School Boy
Child Syndrome, earlychildhood
education and Girl Child education.
Because of the attention given
toexpansion of access to education,
the number of Out of School
Children – the so-called Oosch,
dropped from 12,700,000 to
10,193,918within the first two years
of Adamu Adamu serving as
Minister of Education in
PresidentBuhari’s first. This drop
represented 19 percent reduction in
the number of Out of School
Children in the country.This is a
positive development that can be
described
as
significant,unprecedented and
momentous. To achieve this, the
Ministry under Adamu
Adamuconducted a National
Personnel Audit (NPA) field work and
mop-up activities inall public and
private schools in Nigeria to
ascertain the number of Out of
School Children in the thirtysixstates
of the federation and the
FCT. His ministry has also carried
out highlevel meetings with the
organized private sector in Lagos,
and coordinatedenrolment drive at
the national, state and local
government levels.
To create a conduciveenvironment
for teaching and learning, the
Ministry of Education under
AdamuAdamu acting through
UBEC and other agencies of the
ministry
constructed
2,493Classrooms, 2,457 Ventilated
Improved Pit (VIP) toilets, 19
Laboratories, 91Boreholes;
renovated 1,266 classrooms,
procured 192,985 pupils and 10,
038teachers furniture, procured and
distributed millions of
instructionalmaterials in all the
thirty-six states of the federation and
the FCT.
As part of its strategyto give
secondary education a facelift, the
Ministry of Education under
AdamuAdamu has also provided a
comprehensive framework for
enhanced access toqualitative
educational resources that will add
impetus to teaching andlearning.
The Ministry has also constructed
classrooms for Second
ChanceEducation Opportunities in
the six northeast states; constructed
68 JuniorModel Girls Schools for
Girl ChildEducation nationwide,
introduced OpenSchool System
in Adamawa, Niger, Katsina,
Kaduna, Kano and Kebbi states,and
developed National Policy on
OpenEducational
(OER).
Resources
Olive Obi - Udeh writes
from GwarimpaAbuja.
Read more on
www.vanguardngr.com