Bukola Olatunji and Uche Nnaike
25 March 2008
Lagos — Come April 5, what may perhaps be the largest gathering of people who attended Federal Government Colleges and Federal Government Girls' Colleges, nationwide (unity colleges) will hold in Lagos. It is being hosted by the old students of Federal Government College, Ilorin and other unity colleges in the South West, under the umbrella of the Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA), otherwise known as the Pro Unitate Forum.
The National Congresses began in Calabar last month and are expected to also be held in Abuja (in May), Enugu (July), Maiduguri (September) and Sokoto in November.
The theme of the 'Lagos Plenary', as it is called, is 'The Unity School Concept as a model for Secondary School Education in Nigeria'. It would feature lectures by distinguished personalities at the Nigerian Law School at 10.00am, followed by a novelty football match at the King's College Annex in the afternoon and a dinner at the Lagoon Restaurant at 7.00pm.
At a pre-plenary luncheon, organised in Lagos, the Forum called on the private sector to create a sustainable funding platform that would enable it develop the infrastructure of unity schools, resuscitate its academic excellence, as well as promote values that would ultimately contribute to the continued unity of the country.
The President General, Mr. Albert Okumagba said the call became necessary as a result of the declined state of facilities in these schools, which he said does not justify the huge investment committed over the years. The Forum is therefore dedicated to promoting the development and advancement of public secondary education in the country, using the colleges as models of academic excellence.
These objectives the President General said, were aimed at turning these schools to model schools wherein standards are defined for other classes of secondary schools, be it public or private.
To achieve these objectives he added, USOSA's present executive committee has developed a seven-point agenda to: rekindle the vision of the founding fathers of the schools as centres of academic excellence, integration, leadership and national unity in Nigeria; review the corporate governance structures of unity schools, aimed at providing sound and best-of-breed administrative leadership in the schools; mobilise the private sector to play a more involved role in the funding and administration of public education in Nigeria, as well as the funding of education initiatives, under a public/private sector partnership structure and attract policy makers from both the public and private sectors to review secondary school education in Nigeria, as well as proffer strategies that would enhance the growth and development of secondary education, as a foundation for sound academic, moral education and national economic development.
The association has also initiated several activities such as, organising a National Education Summit in conjunction with the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG); the formation of a group consisting 1, 000 eminent unity schools old students, who desire and are passionate about reforming the entire public education system in Nigeria; instituting an education think-tank group, made up of eminent educationists to fashion out a new policy direction on education (in an independent advisory capacity to the Federal Ministry of Education), among others.
Citing a report by the Federal Ministry of Education, prepared during the tenure of Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili, on the current state of the Nigerian educational system, Okumagba said Nigeria has about 11,000 secondary schools, 6700 public and 3400 private. Of the 11,000 schools, 102 are unity schools. Most of which are confronted with several problems, ranging from inadequate physical infrastructure to funding and poor performance.
The report also stated that 98, 073 classrooms were currently available, while 32, 677 more are needed immediately. About 50 percent of available classrooms were considered to be in "good" condition, while only 42 percent of secondary schools had access to water and light.
According to him, students' academics performance was poor, 23.37 percent made credits in English Language and Mathematics across the federation, between 2000-2004. Also in 2005, only 23.1 percent of the students that sat for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) passed.
There was also the problem of inadequate number of teachers. Other problems identified in the report included, examination malpractice, alternate role models, value issues and dangerous trans-border media influences. Others were, internet crimes, student abuse, as well as corruption by administrators and teachers.
Okumagba added that the dysfunctional state of the education sector over the last two decades was a major cause of some socio-economic problems in the country.
"The unity schools were set up to promote the laudable objectives of educating young Nigerians from all over the country in a conducive atmosphere that would provide total education, entrench the values of national unity as well as promote the pursuit of excellence. However, over the years, unity schools have lost their pride of place and have constituted a drain on the resources of the Federal Ministry of Education", he said.
The report also revealed that between 2000-2004 examination results showed that 85 percent of unity school students failed the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate examinations (WASSCE) and only 15 percent scored above the 40 percent s"In a world where progress largely depends on an international language, the acquisition of French, a language of diplomacy and culture in wide use, is certainly indispensable, particularly in Africa.
Head, Department of French, College of Human Development, Covenant University Ota, Ogun State, Professor Emmanuel Kwofie who made this observation in the university's 18th public lecture, entitled, 'French Studies and The Making of the Total Man', held at the University Chapel.
The topic, he said bears on the French Language, which like any other natural or human language, is the most important means of expressing knowledge, the human condition or the existential realities of its speakers or users.
According to him, the learning and teaching of the French Language are necessary in Anglophone countries, just as the learning and teaching of
English Language are in francophone countries. "I therefore invite you to learn French", he said
Kwofie however noted that at least 20 regional varieties or "dialects" of the French Language exist, in addition to several linguistic differences that have been observed in the French used in Africa. He suggested the adoption of a standard African variety of the language for use, which
would not be so divergent, as to prevent communication between Africans and non- Africans. This, according to him, would ensure "communicative efficiency" in Africa and within the global context.
"French Language is a means of international communication. Consequently, the variety of the language that must be chosen for acquisition by students and therefore taught, is the one that would maximally ensure 'international communicability', or maximum inter comprehension", he added.
A well - thought out French studies programme in Nigerian universities, he said will make hundreds of Nigerians, not only "functionally" literate in French to fill the international communicative needs of the country, but also and more importantly, enable Nigeria to play her leadership roles more efficiently in Africa and exert visible influence on the world scene through such organisations as World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Organisation (UNO), among others.
According to him, "as French is a vector of an important culture and civilisation, the teaching of the language as an academic subject must be extended to that of the attendant culture and civilisation that largely informs the culture, although the focus has been on the language.
The relevance of French studies to the Nigerian and generally African context, he stressed, will be further enhanced through "Combined Honours" programmes involving French studies and courses like Mass
Communication, Banking and Finance, Political Science, among others, appropriately structured or designed. core grade, while 61 percent scored between zero to nine percent.
In addition, the average success rate (Five credits and above, including Mathematics and English Language) for unity schools in the National Examination Council (NECO) between 2000 and 2006 was 38 percent, adding, "consider NECO's ranking of top 100 secondary schools in Nigeria in terms of performance for the period 2000 and 2006, the first unity school was ranked 54th
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