The Founder, The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, Bishop Mike Okonkwo, in this interview with some journalists, argues that government is only paying lip service to education. SEGUN OLUGBILE was there
The Founder, The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, Bishop Mike Okonkwo, is an education enthusiast. But much as he loves education, he says neither he nor TREM will set up a university as other faith-based institutions are doing.
The major challenge facing the country, according to him, is unemployment. And to reduce the scourge, Okonkwo believes that investment in vocational education and youth empowerment is key to reversing the trend and consequently enhance the nation’s development.
“As a church, we have primary and secondary schools, but my interest, really, in terms of higher institution, is building a vocational centre. I do not have a dream to establish a conventional university. What informed this is that we have many universities now and many more are
coming, but our people are stranded. A lot of our people, after leaving school, have no job. Can you imagine a doctor, after finishing school, is struggling to take up a job of N10,000 per month? That is frustrating! Nigeria is a developing country; we have not even scratched the resources that are in the country. So, we want to be able to train people who can use the gifts that they have to become entrepreneurs and employers of labours. And that is one of the things my mind is going into concerning the education sector,” he says.
But how does he intend to manage the negative perception Nigerians have about vocational education? Okonkwo says this is due to ignorance, adding that dependence on paper qualification would not help the country.
“That is lack of understanding, when people begin to see that it is not about your certificate but about what you can do for the society, they will have a change of mind and attitude. The first thing God gave to us is our individual gifts, and when that is brought out, it can be useful in the society,” he adds.
To give fillip to his belief in vocational education, Okonkwo said he had started a vocational centre where youths would be trained in various trades, including welding, fashion designing, computer studies and masonry. This, he says, would complement the Mike Okonkwo Educational Youth Initiative.
“We have acquired a land at Aba in Abia State and we have put up some structures there, but we have not put up everything. As soon as we finish, we would start imparting skills. Most of our youths who claim to be artisans are not well trained and that is why some multinational and construction companies do not employ them as labourers. Look at the tiling of this office, we had to look for labourers from Benin Republic after we discovered that the ones done by Nigerians were not well done. So, I want to be able to tell our people that you do not lose by doing a nice job. In the final analysis, people will look for you. But our people are too much in a hurry, as everybody wants to become millionaires overnight, so they do shoddy jobs. A tailor will sew a cloth for you and within weeks, the zip is off. That is shoddy job!”
The centre, he said, would be well equipped to equip youths with the skills needed to excel in their chosen vocation.
“The vision is not to start another school; the essence is to improve the quality of services that we render. In Nigeria, we render shoddy services to people and expect them to pay for it. It does not work that way; we can also do things excellently. We would teach them how to be good plumbers and the students will be taught to become excellent craftsmen and women.
Okonkwo, who argues that the standard of education has fallen, notes that if something urgent is not done to reverse the trend, the nation’s institutions would just be producing a bunch of illiterate people.
“The standard of education has fallen, given what happens in JAMB, WAEC examinations. The rate of failure is very ridiculous. And a nation where the educational system has fallen is headed for trouble, because we are looking at a long-term project, not an immediate project. If we do not take urgent steps to arrest the trend, it means that in the next few years, we would have a bunch of illiterate people.”
This, he argues, is so because pupils and students are no longer interested in reading.
“Lecturers, too, are not helping because some lecturers, perhaps because of the prevalent harsh economic situation, will tell students to bring money or they fail them; or sleeps with a female student to make her pass. Why do you want to give a certificate to somebody who did not go to school, or why will you want to award a mark to somebody who did not merit it? For me, I believe and I quite agree that the standard of education has fallen; but I thank God for private universities that are springing up all over the country and I think they are helping to bridge the gap; but I cannot really vouch for government institutions,” he adds.
The only way the gap between the rich and the poor could be bridged, he insists, is through investment in quality education. To achieve this, he advises government at all levels to assist the various ministries of education to drive the sector.
He also argues that transparent and passionate people such as the former Minister of Education, Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili, should be allowed to administer education in the country.
“I believe that people like that would have been able to put their foot on the ground, who are not looking for anything but to ensure that this nation becomes what it should be. Until government stops playing to the gallery and people who hold offices truly love this nation, I cannot see how we can change. If you truly want to change things, then we must have genuine, sincere and passionate teachers, head teachers, principals and vice-chancellors who are not there because of money, but for impartation of quality education to our children,” he says.
He argues further that until government understands that education is key to national development and takes it seriously and insists that anybody charged with any responsibility in that sector does the right thing, the nation would not grow.
Private institutions, he argues, are faring better because they are disciplined, prudent and provide the people with the quality they desire.
In order to tame negative attitudinal problems and lack of commitment to work by workers in the nation’s education sector, Okonkwo calls on government to take the issue of teachers’ remuneration seriously.
On why he set up the national essay contest for secondary school pupils in the country, the clergyman says the essence is to make young people think outside the box, get creative and studious.
“Apart from serving as a tool to encourage reading and writing, the competition has also given the pupils the opportunity to make contributions on issues significant to the socio-economic development of our nation,” he says.
Okonkwo, who disclosed that entries for the 10th edition of the competition would close next month, added that past performances by pupils had encouraged him to continue with the initiative.
“When one looks back and listens to some of the testimonies we have received, one is happy that the objectives of the competition are being achieved. The poor but brilliant pupils are getting university scholarships through it and in fact there is one of the past winners who also received a scholarship from Oxford University for his Master’s degree after he completed his first degree under the full scholarship he enjoyed after winning in one of the editions of the contest. So, I think we are getting the result.
For this year’s contest, the man of God says pupils will write on the theme of insecurity in the country, adding that the contest will soon be extended to English-speaking nations in the West African sub-region from where it would move to other African nations.
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