Blessing Iruoma, Port Harcourt
The Ogoni Liberation Initiative (OLI) has stated that the education system of the country is deteriorating with the incessant strike actions by the institutions of higher learning.
President of the group, Douglas Fabeke, spoke at the weekend, during a prayer programme in Bori, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, where first batch of the Ogoni students on scholarship were bid farewell for studies abroad, sponsored by the group.
He condemned the strike actions by the universities, advising that institutions should seek other ways of expressing their grievances and demands that will not affect the educational stability of the students.
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“Our curriculum is a dead one because it does not fit into the standard of today economic requirement. This issue of strike is an old method to approach problem facing the educational system.
“University is supposed to be a professional body that innovate solution for problems but they are contributing to the problems of the students. For instance, a student that is supposed to spend four years in the university is spending up to seven years because he has ended up wasting more years in strike.
“I think it is time for the Nigerian government to sit down and look at this thing. Education is not a stress, education is supposed to channel you to have innovation to solve problem in the society. We want to bring in new system of education where our children will graduate and get job and not graduate and remain jobless. We are not satisfied with the Nigerian system of education”.
He disclosed that the scholarship by the organization to Ogoni youth Ogoni was an “idea started by Ken Saro-Wiwa but I am doing it in a way that we can build global entrepreneur from Ogoniland, people will go there and get a particular skill and come back here to be a blessing to us when they have gotten a job”.
Fabeke further lamented the current scaring insecurity situation in the country.
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The group linked the increasing insecurity challenge to rate of unemployment in the country allegedly caused by desperate politicians.
He stressed “Nigeria is not peaceful. Insecurity is everywhere and if you look at the foundation of this insecurity about 60 percent is traced to the politicians, people that want to take power by force, they have different groups of youth who campaign for them.
“You see a governor who failed the state, you are campaigning for him, you do not have a job, and the children of that governor are in United Kingdom, then when they enter power they don’t create job.
“Look at Rivers State, is there any youth being employed recently by the state government, no youth empowerment programme, no skill acquisitions programme and the youths are there. So that is the foundation of the insecurity. These people don’t have jobs and government has 100 percent capacity to create jobs.
“So, insecurity is linked to unemployment. Nigeria is recording 95 percent of unemployment because leaders are not bringing out innovation to solve the problem. They are piling up money to contest for president, who will vote for them”.
