|
BNW |
|
B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Searching for mediocrity in Zamfara By Levi Obijiofor BY all indications, Zamfara State should be treated as a lost sheep that requires guidance and direction. Ever since Ahmed Sani became the state governor, Zamfara has rolled from one act of disrepute to another. Not content with a notorious reputation as the first state to introduce the controversial Sharia law since the return of democracy in 1999, Zamfara State legislators and Governor Sani have continued to engage in policy decisions that are equivalent to someone dancing naked in a marketplace. The danger in allowing Governor Sani and the legislature to continue in their path to perdition is that they all believe they are doing very well for the people of the state. But are they Zamfara State leaders have become notorious through infamous conduct, pronouncements and policy decisions. And they should be advised (by whomsoever they listen to) to discontinue with irresponsible and discriminatory laws that bring nothing but cause disaffection across the nation. In recent weeks, not only has Zamfara State introduced compulsory tuition fees for non-indigenes in the state, it has also announced the banishment of non-indigenes from its public schools. The two policy decisions are contradictory in nature. If non-indigenes were not going to be admitted into the state schools, why introduce compulsory tuition fees for non-indigenes The policy of barring non-indigenes from Zamfara state schools is as highly discriminatory as the policy that imposes different fees for indigenes and non-indigenes. Both policies raise a number of serious questions regarding the constitutional obligation of the federal government, the legality of the decision by Zamfara State and the likelihood that other states might introduce similar discriminatory policies. As The Guardian noted in a recent editorial on the question of introduction of discriminatory school fees in Zamfara: "At a time when the nation is at an impasse over the settler and indigene crisis, the Zamfara government has once again displayed acute insensitivity to the overall well-being of the nation. Why must Governor Ahmed Sani always be at the forefront of adopting policies which threaten the very basis of the federation The recent controversial policies rolled out by the Zamfara State government represent an affront on the integrity of the constitution. One key question that now arises, in the light of the discriminatory policies in Zamfara, is: Is Nigeria still a united country or a divided country Nigeria is a federation. That is a fact. But no state within the federation should be allowed to implement policies that have the potential to lead to the disintegration of the country. Governor Sani has thumped his nose at the federal government for far too long and it is now time that President Obasanjo (if he has the guts) took him on. The sad thing is that Obasanjo has kept quiet and pretended he is unaware of the dangerous policies emanating from Governor Sani. The worst thing that can happen to our future generation is to subject them to discriminatory policies in a country that professes the virtues of ethnic diversity and gender equality. What Governor Sani and his Commissioner for Science and Technical Education, Alhaji Aliyu Muhammed Tukur, intend to achieve by their latest decision is uncertain. Perhaps they like to swim in controversy. When Tukur announced that only Zamfara indigenes would be admitted into the state's schools before non-indigenes, he forgot that there are Zamfara indigenes residing in other parts of the country and who have been accorded the same privileges as the indigenes of the states where they reside. It is perhaps not yet known to Governor Sani and his science and technical education commissioner that there are many non-indigenes of Zamfara (including parents, guardians or wards) who live and work in that state and who, as a consequence, contribute to the economic development of the state. When Zamfara State leaders argue that only indigenes of their state would be admitted into the state's schools, they fail to realise that they are pursuing a policy that promotes mediocrity over merit. One can understand why Zamfara wants to give priority to its indigenes. But in its objectives or motives, the policy is indeed deceased from source. It will not promote educational excellence among the state's indigenes who are given free and easy admission to study in the public schools. Admission into schools should be based on merit, not on state of origin, not on ethnic orientation, and certainly not on gender. Anything else is discriminatory and stupid and could be successfully challenged in the Supreme Court. By the recent offensive and discriminatory decisions taken by the leaders of Zamfara State, the state government and legislature are signalling that, in their judgment, gender, ethnicity and state of origin should be key criteria that determine how non-indigenes are able to integrate fully into the society. It is a dangerous path. The consequences could go beyond discrimination in schools. Up till now, Zamfara State has behaved as the prodigal state of Nigeria. And Governor Sani has re-confirmed his profile as the philistine governor who likes to walk where his compatriots fear to tread. The quest for knowledge through education is not something that Sani and his courtiers in Zamfara can achieve through negative and regressive policy decisions. It is indeed an insult to our understanding of the notion of equal education opportunity when the Zamfara State science and technical education commissioner makes such a silly policy statement such as the following: "We are not going to admit any non-indigene in our public schools. Until when we obtain a vacant number after admitting the indigenes, then we can afford to give them admission because we want to first satisfy the need and aspirations of our people." There are a number of fallacies in the commissioner's argument. Satisfying "the need and aspirations" of the people of Zamfara is a noble idea but it should not include giving free passage into Zamfara's public schools to all indigenes of the state, ahead of non-indigenes. Furthermore, educational backwardness cannot be overcome through discriminatory omnibus laws designed to offer free admission into schools for indigenes of Zamfara, including those whose performance records show they do not deserve an easy ride into the state's schools. Perhaps it is this flawed policy that has catapulted Zamfara State into the top position in the league of states that excel in examinations fraud. When you admit all manner of persons into your school system without tests and bar non-indigenes, the final result is bound to be defeatist and it will show in one way or another. Take a look at the examinations malpractice index released last weekend. Zamfara emerged as the state with "the highest examination fraud figure". According to a report in The Guardian of Monday this week, of "the 4,784 candidates that sat for the 2003 Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE), 2,291 candidates or 47.89 per cent were involved in one form of malpractice or another". That's a damning report. This is not the kind of exalted position that Zamfara and its leaders would like the state to be sitting on. It is an ignoble position and one that should give Governor Sani another reason to roll out another ridiculous policy to cleanse the stinking corruption in Zamfara's senior secondary school system. |
|
||||||||||||
