nation0428

THE NATION TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015
19
COMMENTARY
‘Instead of committing billions
to overseas education,
it is time to develop strategies
whereby more of that
money is spent at home.
Government itself must take
the lead in this respect by
ensuring that a greater proportion
of the huge sums it
spends on foreign scholarships
are transferred to indigenous
tertiary institutions’
T
HE report of unknown epidemic
which hit Ondo and killed 12 people
has attracted as much of public
attention as it has created fears in the
minds of inhabitants of Ode-Irele, a serene
community in Irele Local Government
Area of Ondo State. Curiously
enough, the state commissioner for
health, Dr. Dayo Adeyanju, who reported
the epidemic to journalists, did not know
the cause, neither could he say when nor
how the disease was first noticed in the
community. But he knew that four persons
with fresh symptoms of the disease
had been isolated at the General Hospital,
Ode-Irele.
All that is known about this disease are
its symptoms. According to Adeyanju,
preliminary reports showed that all the
victims who died of the disease “complained
of headaches and later lost their
sight before dying”. The commissioner
explained that the symptoms of the epidemic
were unlike those of Ebola Virus
Disease which are diarrhoea, vomiting
and haemorrhage. It is all well and good
that the commissioner has assured that
everything possible would be done to
prevent the disease from spreading and
that the state government had already
sought the aid of the World Health Organisation
(WHO) and other partners,
including the Federal Ministry of Health.
On his part, however, the Chief Executive
Officer of Ebola Alert, Professor
Bakare Lawal, said that examples obtained
from the victims were being analysed
“to enable experts to determine
EDITORIALS
Money to waste
•Nigeria is spending far too much on overseas scholarships
Nigerians in Ghana annually. Exam Ethics
International, a non-governmental
organisation, puts the total spending on
the education of Nigerians abroad at a
staggering N1.5 trillion. Given the fact
that the country plans to spend N400 billion
on education in the 2015 budget, it is
obvious that the funds spent outside the
nation’s shores are grossly disproportionate
to local capacity.
Overseas scholarships can be beneficial
when they are properly used. During
Nigeria’s early years as an independent
nation, hundreds of students were sent
abroad as part of an ultimately successful
effort to expand and develop the fledgling
country’s human resources. The rational
then was that there were only a few
local tertiary institutions available for students
to utilise within the country.
Currently, however, Nigeria is endowed
with over one hundred universities and
about as many polytechnics and other
tertiary institutions. The excuse of inadequate
local capacity is therefore less defensible.
The fact that the country is
spending such a huge amount on overseas
education is an obvious indication
that there is a viable market for educational
services if only determined attempts
are made to fully tap into it.
Instead of committing billions to overseas
education, it is time to develop strategies
whereby more of that money is
spent at home. Government itself must
take the lead in this respect by ensuring
that a greater proportion of the huge sums
it spends on foreign scholarships are
transferred to indigenous tertiary institutions.
This can be done using a variety
of means: by insisting that more of its
The Ondo epidemic
•Citizen caution is advised while scientists probe the root
HE allegation that the Federal Government
is spending some N100
billion a year on foreign scholar-
Tships must compel a comprehensive reformulation
of the ways in which Nigeria
finances its education system. The accusation
was made by Mr. Ahmed Adamu,
chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth
Council (CYC), as part of his appeal to the
President-elect, Major-General
Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), to scrap it.
There can be little doubt that Nigeria
spends a huge amount of money on the
education of its students in overseas universities.
About N27 billion has been
spent on foreign scholarship awards by
the Tertiary Education Trust Fund
(TETFUND). In 2011, N8.4 billion was
spent on the school fees of the offspring
of Nigerian diplomats. An estimated
N160 billion is spent on the education of
scholarships be tenable in Nigeria, rather
than abroad; by awarding grants aimed
at enabling local universities to expand
their postgraduate education; by working
with international donor agencies to develop
scholarship programmes with overt
Nigerian content.
However, it must also be understood
that such strategies will not work if local
tertiary institutions continue to perform
below international standards; indeed,
this is the reason why so much money
goes overseas in the first place. Tertiary
education operates within a global context,
and it cannot be arbitrarily adjusted
to local whims and caprices. Inadequate
infrastructure, ill-paid and poorly-motivated
staff, incessant strikes and other
disruptions to the educational calendar
will only continue to degrade and diminish
the tertiary education system, thereby
driving ambitious students and their parents
abroad, at great cost to themselves
and to the nation.
If Nigeria’s tertiary institutions want to
start attracting more of the educational
funds that go abroad, they will have to
undertake a comprehensive change in
attitude. Many foreign universities aggressively
market themselves in Nigeria.
Why is it that so few of their local counterparts
think it necessary to do the same?
Nor do local tertiary institutions feel the
need to attract and retain the best university
teachers and administrators, as is
habitually done in countries like the
United States. When local schools begin
to see themselves as potential players on
the global education stage, they will be
able to start taking advantage of the educational
bonanza at their doorstep.
whether the disease was bacterial or viral
infections”. But an online search vide
the healthline.com revealed that the symptoms
of this “unknown” disease “mimic
those of temporal arteritis”. The portal
has advised that, “although the exact
cause of the condition is unknown, there
may be a link with the body’s auto-immune
response. In addition, “excessive
dose of antibiotics and certain severe infections
have been linked to temporal
arteries which supply blood to the head
and brain, become inflated or damaged.
It is also known as cranial arteritis or giant
cell arteritis”. The portal advises that
although the exact cause condition is unknown,
there may be a link with the
body’s auto-immune response.
All these notwithstanding, the speculation
tracing the epidemic to consumption
of illicit gin brewed locally in the community
has been widely spread. We
therefore support the warning to people
not to patronise the illicit gin, also known
as ogogoro, suspected to be the culprit, at
least for now, although this seems a remote
possibility given that the local gin
has been consumed for ages without such
epidemic. Whilst not necessarily supporting
the consumption of the local gin,
we must look beyond it for the cause of
the epidemic.
It is a pity, even if it is not surprising,
that the epidemic had killed 12 people,
as we live in a country where all kinds of
drinks like the one called sobo and its like
pass for soft drinks, and are readily consumed
without verification from authentic
quarters, like the National Agency for
Food and Drug Administration and
Control (NAFDAC), as to their safety for
human consumption. What this tells us
is that people should be mindful of what
they drink.
The Ondo State Government should
investigate the matter to find out the
source or sources of the production of
illicit gins and also see to it that other
things sold as drinkables, like ‘pure
water’, should be made to pass NAFDAC
test. Should handling of the epidemic be
beyond the scope of the state
government, it should follow up its calls
on the relevant Federal Government and
WHO to jointly look into the matter with
a view to finding a lasting solution to it.
The Federal Government particularly
should show interest in the Ondo epidemic
before it spreads to other states of
the federation. A stitch in time saves nine.
‘Should handling of the
epidemic be beyond the
scope of the state government,
it should follow up
its calls on the relevant Federal
Government and
WHO to jointly look into
the matter with a view to
finding a lasting solution to
it’
LETTER
Counting the cost
of xenophobia
IR: South Africa is in the eye of the storm
again as xenophobic onslaught against
fellow immigrant Africans sweeps
Sacross that land. The repeat of this deep rooted
irrational hatred for fellow human beings
which took place seven years ago, claiming
over 60 lives was cruelty taken to another
ugly dimension. Take it or leave it, xenophobic
attacks in Africa have unfortunately lived
with us and gone unnoticed for years. When
it is over we forget to properly identify its
recipe to forestall future occurrence.
Killing and maiming of brothers has become
the bane of a well celebrated continent
of loving and caring people. The world was
largely miffed in this South African Xenophobic
attack because this is happening in a multicultural
society known to have garnered immense
African solidarity and support against
serial injustices done to their nation during
apartheid regime. This is the nation of Nelson
Mandela: the epitome of the struggle for
South African freedom who once said, “for to
be free is not merely to cast off one’s chain
but to live in a way that respects and enhances
the freedom of others.”
Unfortunately, this barbarism contradicts
the South African ideal for democracy, freedom,
justice and what they portend. The brazenly
rascality turned into broad day armed
robbery where looting of shops and properties
of immigrants by the young and old South
African in the full glare of local and international
media was the order of the day. The
South African police and other civil security
establishments should be investigated for
their unenthusiastic approach to the crisis.
They did not seem in my estimation to have
risen up to this occasion.
Xenophobia and other crisis in Africa cannot
be divorced from economic struggle for
livelihood and the quest for survival among
the masses amidst affluent few, corruption,
unemployment, poor healthcare facilities,
lack of good education and paucity of the
needed resources or denial therein. The lack
of purposeful leadership and good governance
in Africa has thrown up all sorts of confusions
and crises. Both the hungry and the
unemployed take to anger and since anger
emotionally overpowers reason; the least
provocation is a misdirected violence waiting
to happen on the society which are manifested
in the forms of riots and civil wars.
Ralph Ellison posited that, “when I discover
who I am, I will be free.” South Africans were
freed from apartheid regime 21 years ago but
they have failed to emerge from their
cocooned slave-mindset and discover themselves;
and if they do, they will be free indeed.
Africans are weary of and can no longer
tolerate governments devoid of good governance.
The earlier African states and governments
begin to see positions of authority as
one of trust, service to humanity and a social
contact which must be sacrosanct, Africa will
arise, be well and better for it.
• Sunday Onyemaechi Eze,
Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company,
Kaduna
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