‘Strategic Investment in Education Strong Foundation for National Devt’
Ugo Aliogo
For the country to recover from its economic downturn it must invest strategically in the educational sector so as to lay strong foundation needed for national development.
An Associate Professor of Comparative Politics and Head, Department of Political Science, Lagos State University(LASU), Dr. Paul-Sewa Thovoethin, stated this at the event organised by Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Badagry branch as part of 2022 World Teachers Day in Lagos.
Thovoethin, who delivered a paper titled, ‘Nigeria Politics and Education: Way Forward’, Lagos, said without education the foundation of development will flop ultimately.
According to him, the ongoing event in Nigeria’s educational sector, specifically the Federal Government-Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) imbroglio that has culminated in the seven-month-old strike makes this topic garner profound currency as a national discourse.
In his words: “Political leaders at all levels of our education scheme must make the provision of sufficient funds to realise the goal of education-for-development a priority.”
“By the way, the lack of sufficient funding is the core reason for the persistent ASUU strike, as well as, the strikes across the educational sector in the country.
“If governments commit to adequate budgetary provision for funding centres for education, I strongly believe that complaints over salaries, wages and remunerations of line staff and other categories of staff in the sector would be a thing of the past. Enough funding too would address the problem of dilapidated buildings and the absence of modern laboratories, ICT and classroom teaching aids.”
He maintained that development from education is a dependent variable of the dynamics of politics which brings education-for-development value into being.
Thovoethin remarked that from an armchair epistemological observation, his view is that without education the foundation of development would flop ultimately holds certainty, “this is to ascertain the fact that to make education instigate development is not an end in itself.”
“By explicit and implicit simplification, I assume that Nigerian politics has thus far produced a reality not favourable to declare that her education has enabled development in the true sense of the concept of developmentalism. That is, the somewhat reality of the nexus between politics in Nigeria and the use of the educational enterprise of the state for advancement has been diametrically opposite to development,” he stated.
He disclosed that the intransigence of Nigerian politics to relate symbiotically with the instrumentalities of the education sector and its stakeholders that instigated the states of the education sector.
The university don added that the product and by-product of the intransigence of politics to the education sector in Nigeria are numerous and negative all through.
According to him, “They include incessant strikes by lecturers and teachers, unfriendly relations between unions in the educational sector and governments, and inadequacies of graduates from these education institutions at every cadre.”
He added that: “The corollary effect of the frosty relationship between Nigerian politics and education has produced by-products such as persistent school/higher institutions closures, an upsurge of cultism and cultic tendencies, exam malpractices, learning disorders, and various other forms of corruption and vices like hooliganism, sex cum bribery-for-good grades, and materialism.”
Highlighting challenges facing the sector, he opined that research works have shown factors like obsolete educational infrastructure, low funding of the sector, and poor classrooms and lecture hall ambiance.
He stated that many studies also noted inadequacy of lecture/teaching aids such as computers, and projectors, poor laboratory and library services, and a shortage of highly qualified lecturers/teachers.
Continuing, he said: “Rarely do researchers dwell on the poor and unfriendly learning environment instigated by the demoralized psychology of lecturers/teachers thrown up by the intransigence of politics not to relate with education in such a way to produce sound development.”
