Mr. President, sir,
Pardon my manners,
sir. My name is Onyeka Nwelue, a young Nigerian, with so much hate in
his heart for conventions and methods, clearly interested in education
but in a realistic and holistic way.
I have been
considered to be crude, rude and disrespectful by many people, including
family members and seen to have an uncouth mouth. But in years, you are
the only public office holder or politician I truly cherish and love
and respect and support. You will always have my support, morally and
where needs be, I shall always support you.
The day your predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan handed over to you, I actually cried. I was in one of the dingy,
dirty and scurfy rooms in the guest house at the University of Nigeria,
Nsukka. The TV was the only thing that was alive there.
I cried, not because Mr. Jonathan was
going back to Otuoke; I really wanted him to go. I cried, because of
what you said about him: “If Mr. President wanted to make things
difficult for Nigerians, he would have.” That was what you said.
Two months on, one is tempted to ask,
“Are you going to make things difficult for us, young Nigerians, by
allowing the kind of politicians we see around you, exist?” Don’t make
things difficult for us, Mr. President. We genuinely love you.
Mr. President, sir,
last week, the Internet was awash with Mr. Rochas Okorocha, a sitting
Governor of Imo State, celebrating the graduation of his son, Aham,
bagging a first class degree in God-knows-what at the University of
Manchester. I am not begrudging Aham the right to study abroad. I am
only appalled that you allow people like Mr. Okorocha ‘litter’
themselves around you, like waste, when an institution like Imo State
University is there, in shambles. The lecturers are all dull-brained and
the students completely clueless of what they are doing there because
there are no facilities. I have found out that not only Mr. Okorocha’s
children are in foreign universities while they treat our universities
like scum.
Mr. President, if I
showed you the pictures of the buildings of Nigerian universities, you
would not be able to eat. I think you’d have seen them and I believe you
will act on them but please sir, I am your supporter, so I have every
right to impatiently demand for every thing.
Speak to the
governors! If the universities are not well-equipped, we will keep
producing politicians who are not articulate. Our parents will go and
farm, get money and send us to Ghana and then we’ll brag about foreign
university certificates in Nigeria. Mr. President. Are you not
ashamed of this? How can there be no one in government whose
certificates are all issued by Nigerian universities? Even your wife,
Mr. President, those who show off her CV make a case of telling us how
she acquired this and that from France and other countries. I haven’t
seen Americans boast of foreign university certificates. They can boast
of having exchange programs, but why do we cherish Americans and
desperately want to be like them, but can’t? What is it that the
Americans have gotten right that we haven’t, Mr. President?
Mr. President, I am
elated that you’re travelling to the United States of America. I
wouldn’t compare you now with any other world leader. You’re a king of
your kingdom. You are very experienced. I will wait to see what the trip
to the US brings, but then please pay attention to what I am about to
say.
One night in Abuja, I
drove with my friends, David Nnaji, Mitt Okorie, Ifeanyi Orazulike and
my cousin, Gerald Konwea, all great young Nigerians, struggling so hard
to leave legacies behind, to the Nordic Residence in Jabi, to see a
friend, Gossy Ukanwoke. It was raining.
At 25, Mr. Ukanwoke
is the founder of Beni American University (BAU), Nigeria’s first
private online university. It was launched in 2012 and allows students
to access their classes at any time of the day with any internet-enabled
device. Now, they have over 16,000 students. He is getting it right but
on the surface of this perceived glory, Mr. President, I am sure that
if you signed into a bill a law that prohibits children of public
officers from using public funds to study abroad, their parents would be
forced to improve the quality of education in Nigeria and make sure
that their children get the best.
You know what Rochas
Okorocha will be saying to IMSU students, Mr. President, sir? He will
say – and I say this because I know how he sounds: “My people, my
people, do what makes you happy there in Owerri, because my children no
dey here.” If any lecturer is owed, it is their own cross to bear, their
own tale to tell.
Mr. President, some
of us graduate from Nigerian universities after studying a four-year
course for 7 years, because of strike and other related issues meted out
by lecturers. And then we find ourselves behind glass showcases at
eateries selling doughnuts and rice and plantain.
I’m suggesting this,
Mr. President, that we begin to get easy on bureaucracy; just like
India, where you get all kinds of institutions – colleges, institutes,
universities and vocational training centres awarding certificates
(credits or no credits, everyone’s paperwork matters). My point
is this, we can recreate the system and flush away the conventions. The
Senate is filled with people who don’t care, anyway – Senator Ben Murray
Bruce’s children are in foreign universities, so how would he care
about such a bill that will make the educational system work? No one
even cares about this sector.
Mr. President, I can
see Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili parading herself as a purist. Now, you must
ignore her completely and question her past as Education Minister. Find
someone who can channel their energy into pursuing a mission that would
be to provide young Nigerians with a solid foundation in the craft of
thinking for themselves and engaging in intensive training to put in a
position to compete with the world of employment, where they can easily
employ themselves.
Mr. President,
please, when you get to America, tell Mr. Obama to take you on a tour of
Silicon Valley. Enugu could be our own Silicon Valley, but what have we
made of it? We all know that Enugu is every
creative person’s dream. It has incredible landscapes, amazing varieties
of light and hills, a dynamic scene, and an unbeatable cultural
history.
You might have heard
the music of William Onyeabor, the classical Nigerian musician whose
funky psychedelic sounds engulfed the airwaves in the ’70s and ’80s.
When we forgot Mr. Onyeabor, white people rediscovered him and now, Mr.
President, do you know how many young people in Europe and America who
have gained employment just because of Mr. Onyeabor’s music? Doing
tours? DJ-ing his music at beach parties and making money off him? What
education in Nigeria allows us to know our history, to know about Mr.
Onyeabor?
Mr. President, Flora
Nwapa lived in Enugu. Does she also need an introduction? Is her story
not relevant? I am not saying this should be your job but what way can
one talk about Nwapa without making it part of the curricula? Chinua
Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie both lived in Nsukka too as
well as other highly respected creative people. Mr. President, I believe
you will speak to the Governor of Enugu State. If some of these
Governors are not educated enough to make things happen in their states,
let them not be stumbling blocks to the ramifications of young people
like us who want to restructure the educational system by setting up
creative schools all over Nigeria. Deal with bureaucracy for us, Mr.
President!
In writing to you,
Mr. President, I strongly believe that I know lots of young people who
have graduated from foreign universities, with different structures in
their heads, hoping they would come make a CHANGE in your government,
not inside Aso Rock, but by having easy access to different departments
to establish a system that will be beneficial to anyone. They will need
to build their faculties from the top talents in the creative industries
and partner with institutions both in Nigeria and abroad to provide
Nigerians with a unique educational experience.
Mr. President, I want
to end this letter by reminding you that till now, Nigeria has no
functioning railway system and Mr. Babatunde Fashola who always sounds
so intelligent, speaking grammar up and down, could not manage to build a
METRO railway system in his mega-city, Lagos!
Sir, the road ahead
is dark and your burden is heavy. I know you are up to to the task. I
have never been this optimistic about Nigeria or anything else before.
If you surround yourself with people who won’t block your ears with
wool, then, you’re on the right track and maybe, some of us will all
stay in Nigeria.
I speak on behalf of over 170 million Nigerians when I say that the country will appreciate if you start working now! Thank you so much for your patience.
Regards,
Onyeka Nwelue
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