A former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, who has been prominent in the forefront of the struggle for a better education system in Nigeria in an interview on Saturday lamented the state at which the reforms she initiated in the ministry are at present.
During an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise, Ezekwesili was asked if the reforms she made are still in place and she said that the citizens should be asked.
She also said that “the first thing that I heard after I left government was being told that my successor’s mantra was to reform Ezekwesili’s reforms.”
“How can you politicize education reforms,” she asked.
Following the incidence of more strikes in support of ASUU’s strike, Ezekwesili said the failure to understand the cause of a dysfunction in the education system, which functions organically, is like treating cancer with paracetamol.
Education which falls within the concurrent list of the Nigerian constitution is an activity which the federal, state, local governments have a right to embark upon.
She questioned if the stakeholders are doing what needs to be done.
To her detractors who have been questioning what she accomplished during her tenure as the education minister, she said they “must have been sleeping” adding that anyone who followed the reform programme in education, would never ask that question.
“I don’t engage in self adulation, (not) one bit”.
She also said that education mandate was one of the most challenging assignments she had to do in government.
“When I was minister of solid minerals, the number of reforms that, through diagnostics, we found we needed to do in order to set the system fully on a credible path for performance, was 107.
When she got into the education ministry, the number was over 300.
Mrs Ezekwesili said she had done a 3 year work with her 10 month stay in that ministry, at the end of which 45% of the work had been completed.
“10 months became 3 years in terms of the volume of work.” She said “I would start off work at 7am and I would leave office at an average of 2am.”
