Paper presented by Solomon Selcap Dalung at the fifth North East Zone Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) Conference at Umar Suleiman College Education Gashua, Yobe State on the 7th
November 2012.
Foremost it delights
me much for the honour done me as one chosen to share with colleagues ideas at
this prestigious assembly COEASU, organized to cross pollinate experiences with
the aim of rejuvenating key actors in the education industry of the geo-political
North East Zone under the theme: National Integration, National Security and
Conflict Resolution, the role of Teacher Education.
The choice
of this theme could not have been more appropriate than now taking into
consideration the national challenges the Nation is undergoing. More
appropriate also is the chosen audience, a critical constituent responsible for
catalyzing social consciousness. As custodians, I concurred with the organizers
in the choice of the theme and desire that in the final analysis the results
will be utilized for the benefits of mankind.
In doing
justice to this herculean task, I have adopted a conventional classroom method
which my audience are familiar with hence can navigate the academic storm with
me easily.
Introduction:
Unfolding
developments Nigeria in contemporary times have generated debates within
political, academic and legal parlance about future of Nigerian the federation.
Of utmost concern is proliferating regime of violent crimes, religious and
ethnic tension. Consequently, economic and social activities have been in
comatose in most commercial cities thereby justifying the basis of the debate
that the state of union is in near jeopardy. Security challenges have dominated
every national discourse. The insurgent question has been so much exaggerated
and mystified that phobia and mutual suspicion determines every aspect of
public relationships. The capacity of the state to contend with these challenges
obviously is below citizens expectations.
Analysts and
Public Commentators held varied opinions about its origin. According to
Proffessor Ali Mazuiri, Amongst the things that trigger the shariah advocacy
in some northern state of Nigeria, was the resentment of being at the periphery
of Nigerian politics and power configuration. There were points when the
northern leaders held sway politically in the power configuration, but the 1999
elections, saw the balance of power shifting south without any remarkable
transformation in the economics of the north. Hence, the politics of shariah
advocacy was part of a protest against regional economic in equalities existing
in Nigeria (Mazrui 2001:3).
On the
contrary, it considered from a religious perspective as an Islamic machine
islamization of Nigeria. The latter School is popular among some Christians
while the former is a political theory orchestrated mostly by a segment of Southern
elites. Either way the situation is assessed; the nation is in a dilemma as a
result of ravaging hunger, poverty, unemployment, corruption that is
responsible partly for insecurity. The summary of these traumatic trends
explains the agitation for a National Sovereign Conference, (NSC) as a way of resolving
certain national questions.
National integration
is central to fostering cohesive security consciousness among citizens to
guarantee territorial integrity, while strategies employ for amicable
reconciliation of contending interests within a social system is germane to
attaining national ideals. In realizing the above, what will be the role of the
midwife of social consciousness, the teacher? To my understanding, this
explains the motive of our gathering here.
Conceptualization:
National
Integration is a very broad statement. To achieve national integration, the
nation must pool human resources like cultural, religious, scientific, natural,
educational etc, to achieve oneness in all spheres of life of the citizens so
that progress can be achieved. With progress, the citizens can enjoy fruits of
prosperity and happiness, living in harmony irrespective of the creed, language
and cultural leanings professed by each as individuals.
National
integration is the awareness of a common identity amongst the citizens of a
country. It means that though we belong to different castes, religions and
regions and speak different languages we recognize the fact that we are all
one. This kind of integration is very important in the building of a strong and
prosperous nation. The integration of multicultural groups into larger
pan-local identities is at the heart of the idea of national
integration. A brief definition of a nation is important for an
understanding of national integration. A nation is a ‘large social group integrated by a combination of objective relationships (economic, political, linguistic,
cultural, religious, geographic historical) and their reflection
subjective in collective consciousness’ (Hoch 1996).
It has also
been seen as an expression of ‘large-scale solidarity, constituted by the
feeling of the sacrifices that one has made in the past and of those that one
is prepared to make in the future.’
Both
definitions underscore Renan (1996) and Handler (1998) ideas that the nation is
a ‘daily plebiscite,’ and a ‘continuous’ entity, that ‘constitutes a broad
framework of interaction beyond specific sub-national identities. ‘These
diverse linguistic, cultural and religious groups into broader entities are one
of the most dominant features in the formation of nations. Multi-ethnicity is
the rule rather than the exception, for there are virtually few nations (perhaps with the possible exception of Somalia) constituted by a single ethnic group. Second,
and hinging on the first reason, nations have a historical past however tenuous
that past may be: shared myths, culture, language, or a common
colonial experience. Third, there is often a territory or ancestral land
serving as a ‘marker’ distinguishing one nation from others. Fourth,
and finally, some level of communication, industrial development, and
progress help to hasten the ‘blending’ process.
Applying
these contextually so as to capture the true condition of Nigeria prior to1960
political independence Anderson (1983) stated thus “Nigeria is not a nation. It
is a mere geographical expression. There are no “Nigerians” in the same sense
as there are “English,” “Welsh” or “French.” The word ‘Nigerian’ is merely a
distinctive appellation to distinguish those who live within the boundaries of
Nigeria from those who do not”
Arguing
along this line Clifford Imasuen states that “More than the past a number of
decades, Nigerians have sought to create cheap printing company.
Nevertheless, the nation constructing process has been largely difficult by
Nigeria’s tremendous ethnic diversity and uneven distribution of resource. Since
independence in 1960, the geographical expression known as Nigeria has striven
without success to bring together the diverse ethnic nationalities into a
single” When people speak of Nigeria derisively as an ‘accident,’ they could
not, in some sense, have been more correct in their descriptions. All nations
are in some sense ‘accidents ‘of history, ‘imagined communities ‘that could
potentially develop broad national spaces by subsuming sub-national spaces.
These
statements captured the true condition of Nigeria prior to 1960 when political
independence was obtained. There has been no any positive change in this regard
since then. Instead, the relationship among the constituent ethnic
nationalities and religious groups has worsened drastically in spite of all pretenses
to the contrary. Nigeria is not an ethnically homogeneous society, having come
into being accidentally, as it were, as a product of British imperialism.
Today, rather than integrating into a cohesive community with a common sense of
national identity and destiny, citizens of Nigeria are returning more and more
to primordial affiliations for identity, loyalty and security. Instead of
forging a united front and presenting a concerted effort to face the challenges
of development in an increasingly competitive and globalised world, Nigerians
are busy waging ethnic and religious wars, struggling for control over
resources, resisting marginalization by dominant ethnic groups, and contending
with diverse problems of basic survival. (Ekanola 2006)
The point
thus is that nations neither drop from the sky, nor are they natural. People, through conscious, purposive activity construct nations; national integration is
conscious process of social engineering. The process of construction of
national integration takes different forms depending on which specific
historical variable that dominated the sub national communities to emerge as
the nuclei of solid national political and economic organization. The
characteristics of such broad national communities are distinguishable by the
followings, internationally recognized geographical boundaries, a fairly common if broad cultural and linguistic ethos, an identifiable feeling of belonging, and a state.
According to (Rokkan (1972) and Yinger (1980), Mechanisms and methods for
‘blending’ multi-ethnic identities into national political communities
sharing a common identity are numerous. The followings have been
identified, religion.
Whichever factor
determines the construction of national integration depends on its
relationship with other factors within specific historical interaction. Little
wonder Tunde (1991) contended that “Many [Nigerians] deceive themselves by
thinking that Nigeria is one….This is wrong. I am sorry to say that this
presence of unity is artificial. Adding weight to this Kuna (2005) stated that “In
some contexts, religion became a rallying point in the formation of pan-local
communities; in others, it was trade; in others it was war and coercion; yet
again, it was any combination of these forces in other contexts.
The British
had in 1899 revoked the charter of the Royal Niger Company. By 1914, it completed
the process of bringing together several hundreds of ethnic, linguistic and
cultural groups and communities which then had attained different levels of
economic and political development. These strategies produced a state structure
that was to become the servant of imperialism and all those metropolitan
interests which owned their existence of the continuance of imperialism (Elekwe
1986)
The failure
of the colonial powers to graft such desirable aspects of the past on to the
present rather than super-impose their own experiences on us and our
perpetration of this practice in the post independence period has in part led
us into the quagmire of governmental instability. It is needless to reiterate
the fact that such instability has diverted our attention from the fundamental
goal of ensuring a better life for our populace. (Obasanjo 1989).
The Nigeria
ruling class inherited this state structure without any form of modification or
moderation. They rather became so preoccupied with the use of the state
paraphernalia for accumulating surplus without through the processes of
producing surplus. The resultant contradiction was an institutionalized myopic
and visionless ethnic centered leadership with separatist and particularistic
political outlook. (Nnoli, 1979)
In a
nutshell, the construction of the Nigerian nation was fashioned not in the
overall interest of sub national communities rather as a service centre of the
departing imperial political community. Bye and large the emerging indigenous
leadership compounded the situation by monopolizing ethnic and regional values
against entrenching a national political community. Consequently, the political
instability and social unrest characterized national landscape.
There is no
gainsaying that at the heart of the Nigerian problem is not only the complex
ethnic configuration but the mismanagement of national focus by leadership over
a period of time. Instead of concentrating on building a national political
community on the strength of diverse values as formidable basis for progress,
parochial material accumulation has replaced patroticism in leadership.
Regardless
of these challenges, the country has not disintegrated due to the invaluable
sacrifices of noble compatriots galvanized by elastic citizenship tolerance. Of
course these safe guards have limitation that requires constant service with
justice and equity. Where leadership fail to reciprocate these goodwill, rather
embark of faulting the system, then there will be adverse implication on
national integration.
National
Security:
Like most
concepts there is no generally accepted definition of National Security based
of varying opinions on the components of a nation state. The differences in
thinking of Scholars and Analysts varied about conceptualization of National
Security which provide an overview of multiple usages of these words. The
concept still remains ambiguous, having originated from simpler definitions
which initially emphasized the freedom from military threat and political
coercion to later increase in sophistication and include other forms of
non-military security as suited the circumstances of the time. (Romm, 1993).
Macmillan
Dictionary defines National Security as "the
protection or the safety of a country’s secrets and its citizens" emphasizing
the overall security of a nation and a nation state.
In 1943, Walter Lippmann defined it in terms of war saying that "a
nation has security when it does not have to sacrifice its legitimate interests
to avoid war, and is able, if challenged, to maintain them by war".
Later, in 1950, a political scientist, Harold Lasswell conceived National
Security from similar perspective of external coercion: "The distinctive meaning of
national security means freedom from foreign dictation”.
While
recognizing the need to segregate the subjectivity of the conceptual idea from
the objectivity, Arnold Wolfers in 1960, talks of threats to acquired values: "An ambiguous
symbol meaning different things to different people. National security
objectively means the absence of threats to acquired values and subjectively,
the absence of fear that such values will be attacked." (Paleri, 2008).
The National Defence
College of India in 1996 identify the elements of national
power thus: "National security is an appropriate and aggressive
blend of political resilience and maturity, human resources, economic structure
and capacity, technological competence, industrial base and availability of
natural resources and finally the military might” (ibid)
In Harvard, History Professor, Charles
Maier defined National Security through the lens of national
power when he argued that "National
security... is best described as a capacity to control those domestic and
foreign conditions that the public opinion of a given community believes
necessary to enjoy its own self-determination or autonomy, prosperity and
wellbeing."(Maier, 1990)
However, National
security refers to the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. These encompass a broad
range of facets which includes the non military or economic security of the
nation and the values espoused by the national Political Community.
Accordingly, in order to possess national security, a nation needs to possess economic security, energy security, environmental
security, etc. Security threats involve not only conventional foes
such as other nation-states
but also non-state actors such as violent non-state
actors, narcotic cartels, multinational
corporations and non-governmental organizations;
some authorities include natural disasters
and events causing severe environmental damage in this category. Measures taken
to ensure national security include: using diplomacy to rally allies and isolate
threats, marshalling economic power to facilitate or compel cooperation, maintaining
effective armed forces,
implementing civil defense
and emergency
preparedness measures (including anti-terrorism
legislation), ensuring the resilience and redundancy of critical
infrastructure, using intelligence
services to detect and defeat or avoid threats and espionage, and to protect classified
information, using counterintelligence
services or secret police
to protect the nation from internal threats. (Supra)
Analyzing
critical components of national security General Maxwell Taylor in 1974 has this to say
“The national valuables in this broad sense include current assets and national
interests, as well as the sources of strength upon which our future as a nation
depends. Some valuables are tangible and earthy; others are spiritual or
intellectual. They range widely from political assets such as the Bill of
Rights, our political institutions and international friendships, to many
economic assets which radiate worldwide from a highly productive domestic
economy supported by rich natural resources. It is the urgent need to protect
valuables such as these which legitimizes and makes essential the role of
national security”.
Limiting our
scope contextually to Nigerian situation and reviewing the concepts above
leaves the mind puzzle whether basically National Security is not only an
academic exercise. There is no gain saying that the collapsed of national
values has destroyed national interest which primarily serves as motivating
drives of nationalism. Without the spirit of nationalism it is impossible to
evolve a dependable theory of National security.
The bane of
nationalistic values revolves round institutional decay in leadership. Overtime
leadership as trust has been re-constructed to reflect the personal interest of
repository of state power. Consequently, resources meant for advancement of the
system are redirected to service huge but unjustifiable security budgets. Apart from these wastages, the conduct of
leadership has been counterproductive to values that encourage nationalism and
by extension re-enforcing national insecurity. Corruption has dominated the
national psyche so much so that it looks unusual to stand against it.
Looting of
public treasury as negative culture has contributed to destruction of sense of
togetherness which has inflicted colossal damage to common national interest.
In fact what is considered national interest is mere reflection of whims and
caprices of the ruling class which monopolize instrument of coercion for
protection of group hegemony. Officially, in every segments of our National
political community poverty, hunger and youth unemployment has been
domesticated through discredited Poverty Eradication or Empowerment Programmes
which are mere conduits for siphoning national wealth. The rate of citizens
surviving beyond the poverty margin is quite outrageous while government
continues to give lips service to this raving social menace.
In the
circumstance instability determines the context of social relationships and to
my mind it explains succinctly the current security challenges confronting the
nation. The poor management of the security situation can be viewed from this
perspective or better still it may be provoked by unanticipated panic of inept
leadership. The reduction of the concept of national security to mobilization
of force to embark on rampage by destruction of lives and properties of
innocent citizen defeats the essence.
The
imperative of effective security measures must crystallized into intelligence
networking consolidated within the good will of citizenry which in turn define
the scope of engagements. There must be collaboration between the security system
and the community as basis for confronting any security challenge; anything
below this margin will tilt the balance in favour of insurgency.
The excesses
of security agencies in handling challenges leaves much to desire whether war
has been declared on the country by its own security service. Nauseating
reports of extra judicial massacre by those engaged to restore normalcy has
completely destroyed the spirit of national integration. This pitiable scenario
had facilitated sub national consciousness where people in affected areas
considered themselves to be under siege by the Nigerian authorities. It is
necessary the Federal Government re-appraise the impact of engagement of the
military in internal security operations otherwise the consequences on
developing a national political community and democracy will be compromised.
Conflict
Resolution:
Conflict resolution
is a set of ideas and ways to reduce sources of conflict. The term
conflict resolution is sometimes used interchangeably with the term dispute
resolution. The terms conflict
and dispute overlap. As a term,
conflict is broader than dispute, more concerned
with physical action, and less concerned with verbal arguments. Processes of
conflict resolution generally include negotiation, mediation,
and diplomacy. The processes of arbitration,
litigation,
and formal complaint processes such as ombudsman
processes, are usually described with the term dispute resolution,
although some refer to them as conflict resolution.
Conflict resolution is
conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the
peaceful ending of conflict. Often, committed group members attempt
to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their
conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest of the group (e.g., intentions;
reasons for holding certain beliefs, and by engaging in collective negotiation. (Forsyth, 2009).
It may be important to note that the term conflict resolution may also
be used interchangeably with dispute resolution, where arbitration and
litigation processes are critically involved. Furthermore, the concept of
conflict resolution can be thought to encompass the use of nonviolent
resistance measures by conflicted parties in an attempt to promote effective
resolution.(Adam Roberts and Timothy Garton, 2009)
Conflict management is often considered to be distinct from
conflict resolution. In order for actual conflict to occur, there should be an
expression of exclusive patterns, and tell why the conflict was expressed the
way it was. Conflict is not just about simple inaptness, but is often connected
to a previous issue. The latter refers to resolving the dispute to the approval
of one or both parties, whereas the former concerns an ongoing process that may
never have a resolution. Neither is it considered the same as conflict transformation, which seeks to reframe the positions of
the conflict parties.(ibid)
Conflict management refers
to the long-term management of intractable conflicts. It is the label for the
variety of ways by which people handle grievances standing up for what they
consider to be right and against what they consider to be wrong. Those ways
include such diverse phenomena as gossip, ridicule, lynching, terrorism,
warfare, feuding, genocide, law, mediation, and avoidance. Which
forms of conflict management will be used in any given situation can be
somewhat predicted and explained by the social structure or social geometry of
the case.(supra)
In
any organized social community conflict seems to be a fact of life. We have all
seen situations where different people with different goals and needs have come
into conflict. And we have often witnessed intense personal animosity that can
result into conflict. The fact that conflict exists, however, is not
necessarily a bad thing, as long as it is resolved effectively, it can lead to
personal and professional growth. However, the neglect or mismanagement of
conflict situation may have adverse consequences on social harmony and economic
advancement.
In
many cases, effective conflict resolution can make the difference between
positive and negative outcomes. The good news is that by resolving conflict
successfully it can solve many of the problems that it has brought to the
surface, as well as getting benefits that you might not at first expect.
Having
consider what conflict resolution connotes, it will be proper to locate it
within social context. Contemporary conflict indices in this country are multi
faceted, ranging from poverty, hunger, unemployment which manifest into
conflict situations like socio religious, ethnic or sectarian crisis or general
insecurity. This phenomenon has generated leadership burden so much that some
scholars and foreign nations have predicted the collapse of the nation in no
distant future. It is not the presence of conflict that is of concern but the
capacity to manage it.
So many
years back the country started manifesting malignant symptoms of this current
situation. However, weak citizenship political consciousness was exploited by
manipulating sentiments to create divisions. It also contributed to gradual
erosion of value system with collapse of reward system. With these scenarios,
the stage was ripe for corruption and other leadership vices to dominate public
responsibilities. While the current democratic enterprise has produce a
self-style imposed and deceptive leaders, who lead by deception and create
Islamic revivalism to mobilize and capture cheap support by claiming to be
introducing Islamic legal principles a midst missive collapse of services,
poverty, failed governance, absence of social justice and a fair electoral
process which produced consensus candidates that lack legitimacy. Corrupt and
power hungry politicians, who hijacked votes and self imposed leaders, declare
billions of fictitious amounts of naira as assets only to be recouped as
investments through falsification and over pricing of contracts awards, in
spite of the existence of framework of due process and diligence in contract
awards and procurement. (Loimeier, 2003).
Leadership became personified with parochial
scope to national development rather projection of family interest displaced
national interest. Consequently, ideal leadership became liquidated through the
hijacked of the state power under a pseudo democratic atmosphere which recycle
bad leadership via discredited or sometimes massively rigged polls. Even though
Nigeria pride itself as belongs to democratic societies it has not been able to
organize a credible election which is fundamental to survival of democracy.
Of course
taking analysis of events that characterized the political landscape and
gauging same with the volatile atmosphere, it is manifest that conflict
situation exist within the polity. The culture of denial common within official
circle is mere defence.
No wonder, the state of frustration created by lack of
good governance has provoked debates on the sustainability of the 1914 unholy
political matrimony of the Northern and Southern protectorates. It will be in
the interest of national harmony to focus on the process of national
reconciliation instead of the disintegration theory. It cannot be better
alternative in view of the fact bad leadership culture is the bane. Even if balkanization succeeds little
progress will be recorded because leadership virus will still infect the new
nations with more severe symptoms than what we are passing through now.
Obvious,
absence of leadership and injustice has contributed greatly in exaggerating the
state of insecurity bedeviling the country. There are rampant incidences of
militancy, arm robbery, kidnapping, rape, hostage taking cross the nation with
the unengaged productive segment of the social system patronizing these
negative vices. No single moment is idle without report of any of the above. Of
course, there will be no need for oracle consultation to arrive at scientific
conclusion that the country is enjoying the grace of time to explode. It may
look simple to ignore the symptoms but certainly not the consequences.
Closely
related to the conflict paradigm is the theory of collapse of political
institutions which naturally safeguards democratic culture for evolution of leadership.
The inability of our electoral system to guarantee credible elections is at the
centre of generating vote of no confidence in this democratic dispensation. At
any general elections, the process become glaringly manipulated by either
ballot stuffing, violence, alteration of figures, declaration of losers or
sometimes outright rigging backed by state apparatus. In the final analysis
dissatisfaction is provoked by shameless ballot stealing which from the
immediate experience received the anger of the people. Therefore, discredited
electoral process is also a form of conflict within our political context.
Addressing
these conflict situations requires radical social surgery of leadership with
the determination to lay solid base for peace and harmony. Leadership is a
burden which must not be sacrifice for political convenience even when it is
clear that the figure under consideration may lack the capacity to pilot state
affairs. Severe sanctions including death penalty is hereby recommended as one
the method for reconciling corruption conflict which is the bane of our
progress.
It is my
opinion that election criminals including official collaborators within the
system deserve the same penalty like corruption. There should be special courts
created constitutionally to handle such cases to enhance speedy trials, while
such verdicts should be executed within the soonest possible time after expiration
of right of appeal. This will in no small measure serve as deterrence to would
be offenders.
Governments
at all levels must confront poverty, hunger and unemployment frontally and
discontinue the culture of lip service. These vices are potential tsunamis that
can generate social convulsion capable of up surging national stability. Job
creation must be sincerely prioritized with dogged commitments to erecting
formidable employment generation mechanism which will accommodate the restive
constituency.
THE ROLE
OF TEACHER EDUCATION:
As catalyst
of social consciousness in every society, the teacher is a critical variable in
attaining national development. The contributions of teachers in social
progress cannot be adequately remunerated by any government. May be it is the
basis for the adage that teachers reward are in heaven. It sound quite
ridiculous but in practice it has influenced the psyche of policy makers that
sometimes nonpayment of wages is sought to be explained by this adage. who then
is a teacher?
A teacher is a person who provides education for pupils (children) and
students (adults). The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried within
a school environment or other place of formal education. In many countries, teachers must first obtain specified professional qualifications or credentials
from recognized university or college. These
professional qualifications may include the study of pedagogy, which is the science of
teaching. Teachers, like other professionals, may have to continue their
education after they qualify, a process known as continuing professional development.
The role of
teachers vary among cultures which may include provision of instructions in literacy
and numeracy, craftsmanship or vocational training, the arts, religion, civics, community roles, or life skills.
In some
countries, formal education can take place through home
schooling. Informal
learning may be assisted
by a teacher occupying a transient or ongoing role, such as a family member, or
by anyone with knowledge or skills in the wider community setting.
In other
words a teacher is a social engineer who re-constructs human minds in order to
assume future roles. Without the teacher there can be no modern leadership.
In Nigeria currently,
the status of a teacher best suits the wheel barrow theory. The role of the
teacher is that of a mere tool for the convenience of budgetary allocations
that are diverted by political leadership without impunity. The school system
is so discouraging that the teacher is reduced to security guard who report
daily to a place designated as place of learning. At whatever level, it does
not require an oracle to identify a teacher because his personality is herald
by intimidating poverty. Even when he dutifully demonstrates unqualified
commitments to his responsibilities the working environment is unbearable
hostile yet the Nigerian teacher remains unshakable in the performance of his
role. Where is the saying that you cannot kill the goose that lay the golden
eggs?
This state
of affairs is a threat to the very definition of peace. If the social process
that guarantee hope for the future is caricature of itself then what is the
motivational drive for submission to it. The learning environment must not only
be conducive but fascinating to project hope. It remains great mystery the attitude
of leadership towards education, even when teachers find themselves in
leadership positions they had performed worst than non teachers. Under their
administrations as either Ministers or Commissioners for education, industrial
strikes flourish incomparable to any period. And can it be imagine being normal
for either Ministers or Commissioners for education to send their children to
foreign or private schools yet he pretends to be presiding over the educational
industry, what an irony?
The net
effects of all these explains the level of decay that characterized the
society. If the foundation of the system is faulty certainly no miracle should
be expected from the end products. The lamentable state of affairs made it impossible
for the role teacher education to be functional. This development has plunged
the nation into so many questions including the security challenges. Of course
the solution does not lay in the militarization of society rather a sincere and
conscious reflection on where we missed our steps in search of nation hood
which in my opinion includes the neglect of education. It is only then that the
role of teacher education will impact positively in addressing key development
and security issues.
CONCLUSION:
In terminating
this discuss, I will employ the experience of one of the leading world powers
to drive home my theory of returning back to the drawing board. During the Second
World War, chemical weapons were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan
which reduced it to rumbles. After the war the survivors resolved that they
were going to spend every sources at their disposal on education to build the
people that will build a new Japan. Fifty years later Japan is a world power.
The argument
among leaders that fifty two years of independent is too young for Nigeria to
make any meaningful progress is mere justification for leadership failure. The
misplacement of budgetary priorities must be reverse in favour of education and
until then the role of teacher education remains inconsequential.
Therefore,
Iam calling on governments at all levels to allocate thirty (30%) percent of annual
budgetary allocations to education. Not only that, but education should be
placed on first line charge for availability of funds for rapid development.
The national curriculum on education must be restructured to accommodate
certain positive traditional values so as to make it functional. The mechanism
for realizing national integration, security and conflict resolution can only
be found in a solid and viable educational system where the teacher is an
indispensable factor. Anything contrary to this leaves the nation with severe
consequences of social instability.
Thank you
for your audience.
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