seminar conducted over the Internet
(WHATSAPP).
THEME;
°Is the Nigerian government really justifying the role and purposes of a DEMOCRATIC system?
°May 29,democracy day! Is there democracy in government dealings with Nigerian students?
first speaker;
Commr. Jonathan Oladimeji, pka Emperor dtwo.
(former AMACOS ogitech chapter president, former national campus writer general secretary, current National Association of Nigeria Campus Editors President).
And to a layman Democracy is the government of the people,by the people and for the people. Which means democracy is open to all to participate in government.
According to Mariam Webster dictionary ; Democracy is ; “a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.”
In order to not be grandiloquent about stating the purpose(s) of democracy it is important to first understand “democracy “ is a system or way government that allows everyone (citizenry) to participate in the governing of a state or nation.
In Nigeria today Democracy is said to be in place but are we sure Democracy is been practiced?
Democracy might be expensive to operate but so far across the world it is still preferable as a system or way of government.
Where Democracy exists, unity and freedom to exercise fundamental human right is granted.
During the military regime in Nigeria the citizenry who are civilians were not allowed to operate in government.
Apart from democracy no system of government allows more participants and freedom to human rights. Democracy operate freely without oppression.
Until the day the military handed over power to an elected civilian government in 1999, marking the beginning of the longest continuous civilian rule since Nigeria’s independence from colonial rule in 1960.
Only militants have the right to take over power during this regime. Therefore, fundamental human rights of the civilians were been threatened. Many of the head of states, their lives are been threatened out of power.
With the above statements on democracy it is clear that Nigeria is not displaying enough features to be called a democratic state.
In a democratic state elections will not end up in riot and dismals.
MKO Abiola remains the father of democracy in Nigeria for his victory on June 12,1999 elections.
In a democratic system power rotates among the people and not just a set of people. Is that happening in Nigeria?
At this juncture I want to proffer possible solutions in order for us to have a better display/practice of democracy.
The Nigerian government must ensure that the voice of the mass is been heard and acted as demanded because democracy is the government of the people.
As good as Democracy is the greedy Nigerian leaders/politicians still find it difficult to just abide by the rule of democracy which says that elections must be free and fair in a democratic state.
The youths must be given chance in government because democracy does not allow the old age alone.
Second speaker;
Comr. Leader Egwuoku Azuka Benjamin
(SUG caretaker committee Pro, pioneer NAEEES PRESIDENT).
Leader is taking us on the topic below Ahead of President Muhammadu Buhari’s swearing in as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for his second term, what do you think should be improved especially in the education sector? In order to make democracy justifiable.
Good evening distinguished ladies and gentle men…
Afore note :
I want to congratulate our dear country Nigeria for a successful swearing in today… We pray d good lord to make dis time favorable….
I also want to commend the first speaker for his wonderful keynote address….
DEMOCRACY:
A CONCISE TOOL FOR NATION DEVELOPMENT…
Let me consicely say that if a nation is to be built, we need consider so many factors that would make that nation a developed one… One of the key factors that broadens light to d path of the just citizens is EDUCATION…
If I am Going to refer to any definition at all I will take the proper definition of democracy as :The government of the people, for the people and by the people, so in other words democracy is a proactive governance that pulls along the citizenry of her country side by side… It means we are all decision makers in matters
If a national suffers in educational sector is means that the system in charge of the administration is faulty…
Taking into concise statistics how well our educational system has suffered setback
It will interest us to knw that our annual budget as a country comes in trillion, and we see a very little slice out of this budget Goin into education… As time will not permit me to relate the actual amount(we can make the findings ourselves)…. UNESCO Severely warned our country about the fall out of our budgeted educational cost fall out… From 20% to 15% yet we went along side to release a budget that cripples education in our dear country…
Enough of this my heavy language so it will not turn into blames… I will prefer a solution as it can be countered later…
1. I expect this next ride of administration to give us a functioning EDUCATION MINISTRY
A functional ministry that will oversee the affairs of our country educational sector…
The course of choosing an anointed minister for education is gone, we have technocrats that can handle our sector and it will work…
2.Adequate funding of educational bill on the senate floor
Sometimes wen I listen or watch our plenary sections I just give up, instead of the so called senators to sponsor viable bills to b passed into law, u will hear bills like cattle grazing, funding of charcoal as a mean of lighting… In a country that produces tons of student every year… Our bill as regards education should be matured…
Funny as it stands that our dear country coughed out over 200billion naira for EFCC to build prisons… Senator Murray Bruce had to say to them, that we spend more on prison than education so that wen students leave school they will end in prison… I hope we all understand his point of view
3.let us embrace UNESCO statistics for educational growth… We encourage British curriculum, most of our secondary school runs summer programs.. So why can’t we just embarece the UNESCO attitude towards education…
As I call it a wrap on here… I expect more to be done on educational system, I expect proactive minister for education, I expect a technocrats that wil handle the system, I expect a change in budget allocation for education sector….
I take sole responsibility for the errors that must have occurred… I say That I am also prone to learning.
My name is Comr. RF. Egwuoku Azukaego Benjamin.
Third speaker;
Comr. Babalola Samson Oluwashina ( baba s )
(Pioneer/1st sug deputy speaker in ogitech).
President of National association of computer engineering students (NACOMES) 2016/17 set).
Best graduating student in computer engineering 2016/17.
Without further a due, I will like to go straight to the topic before me which says:
Is there democracy in government dealings with Nigerian students?
I won’t like to drag us back with the meaning and history of democracy as other speakers have already said a lot about it.
Nevertheless, I will still shed some light on it quickly….
The term “Democracy” is derived from two Greek words “demo” (people) and “kratos” (rule). meaning rule by the (simple) people.
Abraham Lincoln said and I quote; “The ballot is stronger than the bullet” and “no man is good enough to govern another man without other’s consent” that is why DEMOCRACY came into existence.
Little briefings
Democracy is 20 years old in Nigeria today and the journey, however, began when AbdulSalam Abubakar handed over power to Olusegun Obasanjo on May 29, 1999, and since then, the day has been set aside to celebrate democracy.
Now permit me to rephrase the topic before me to; *Is there democracy in government dealings with education? because _there is nothing like education without the students_.
One fundamental principle of democracy is that it allows people to participate in decisions that affect their lives. It follows that in a healthy democratic society, all those who are involved in the education system, namely teachers, parents and students, can have a say.
Now let’s digress a little bit to Nigeria education system….
Countries experiencing successful democratic transitions can thus, over the coming years, expect increased public spending on education, lower schooling fees, a larger share of their children enrolled into primary and secondary school, and that their youth will, on average, spend more years in school.
What are the systems of education?
The term education system generally refers to public schooling, not private schooling, and more commonly to kindergarten through high school programs.
Schools or school districts are typically the smallest recognized form of “education system” and countries are the largest. States are also considered to have education systems.
Simply put, an education system comprises everything that goes into educating public-school students at the federal, state, or community levels:
Laws, policies, and regulations of public funding, resource allocations, and procedures for determining funding levels. State and district administrative offices, school facilities, and transportation vehicles.
Human resources, staffing, contracts, compensation, and employee benefits
Books, computers, teaching resources, and other learning materials and, of course, countless other contributing elements.
I won’t be going into details to save time…
Moreover my leader Comr. Azuka already talked about this
What are the problems of Nigeria educational system?
Education in Nigeria is besieged by colossal problems such as:
1. Poor funding
2. Poor educational infrastructure including inadequate classrooms, unqualified teachers/lecturers
3. Polluted learning environment.
1. Adopt local policies to promote education for democracy and political skills
After stating the problems of education with the Nigeria government, what are the likely solution?
2. Set up courses, workshops, democracy hubs and other support for political participation
3. Secure funding to sustain them (the 2 above).
The Nigerian education establishment needs to shed its aversion to teaching facts.
For the past century, teacher-training programs have been dominated by a philosophy known as “progressive” or “constructivist” education.
The summary of the aforementioned is that most of the people in government in Nigeria apart from the provision of funds, now mix politics with education but if Nigeria educational sector can introduce politics to students from grassroot, when these sets of students gets into power (government), they will take education as a big priority rather than playing politics with our children through education
The idea is that it’s better for students to “construct” or discover their own knowledge than to be passive receptacles for a “bunch of facts” that will only bore them.
I will be drawing the curtain here.
Thanks for your time and the opportunity given to me.
I remain your person
Baba X
Ideally, teachers will just impart cognitive skills that students can use to acquire and analyze information for themselves.
Democracy Webinar continue…
