Tunde Omolehin, Sokoto
Director, National Education Academy and Senior Lecturer, National Open University of Nigeria, Prof. Adams Agahiu, has urged the Federal government to immediately declare state of emergency in the education sector owing to what he described as infrastructural decay and academic laxities among students.
Speaking during a media interaction to sensitise government on the plights of Nigerian education, Agahiu explained that the decay in both infrastructures and Nigerian education have gotten to an alarming rate whereby the Federal government must urgently intervene to arrest the ugly trends.
He lamented the high level of indiscipline and lackadaisical attitudes among teachers/students of primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in the country, saying: “indiscipline on the part of students has made them more lazy and unable to read’’.
“Reading culture among Nigerian students is now nightmarish owing to the availability of smart phones and internet and all these encourage examination malpractices, cultism and other vices among students.
“The standard of Nigerian education in the early 1960s which he enjoyed has dropped to zero level”. “In those days in my nativity in Ofu – Idah, Kogi State Nigeria, headquarters of Kogi Central Senatorial districts with nine local governments, education was at its best”.
“We were under Benue State government and students strived hard to read with lantern in order to pass their examinations. I spent about five years as headmaster, Anyigba, Ankpa and principal in Ajekalaga Semene Secondary School before leaving for U.S to further my studies and later lectured for over 26 years in New York City. Unfortunately, the growth and values we witnessed in the education sector before travelling abroad were no longer feasible”.
While comparing education in United States with Nigeria, the professor added: “the standard of education in both countries are wide. When I worked in Nigeria as a teacher in those days, I discovered, we lacked many qualified teachers as only few teachers were trained.