Ademola Adedoyin
Last week, we were on the road. And on air. A tour of North East geo political zone with some colleagues in the pen profession turned out to be more enlightening than one had initially looked forward to.
In this clime, it is given that the attitude to public service by top officials and political appointees is, at best, half hearted and, in most cases, nonchallant. The perception, and, in several cases, the reality, is that selfish interest and personal aggrandizement often override public servants’ senses of judgment in the discharge of their duties. In Nigeria’s is peculiar public sector work culture, public servants are hardly at home with setting goals, let alone meeting targets. In most cases, they come into offices through cronyism and patronage and therefore are bereft of vision on what to do with the task at hand.
For a columnist whose task lies mostly in pointing out societal ills; in offering suggestions and proffering solution on the way forward, when he encounters an exception to a negative societal norm; an exception to the prevailing unethical code of public service, he can only be excited. And be moved to tell the story to his readers.
At Adamawa, we found a young man, a Nigerian whose story deserves to be told if only to serve as a source of inspiration to other Nigerian public servants and, more importantly, to the younger generation. It is a story that put a lie to the misconception that the Nigerian youth are not yet ready to take over the leadership of the country. It is a story that shows that in the hands of some young Nigerians, this country has a future. It is the story of a 39 year Salihu Bakari, the Executive Chairman of Adamawa State Universal Basic Education Board. A first time encounter with this young and youthful Nigerian, fills one with admiration as one is confronted with intellect, youthful zeal, brilliance, vision, and, most importantly, humility. Bakari is all of these and more. But let’s take the story in sequence.
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The Bakari story in Adamawa SUBEB can only be appreciated in the context of the gains that stand to be derived when the round peg is put into round hole; when appointments are made based on qualification, competence and right experience. Bakari, the young man who calls the shots at Adamawa SUBEB has a Bachelors’ Degree second class upper in Education, a Masters in Sociology of Education with Distinction, another Masters in International Education, (again with Distinction) from the University of Sussex and a PHD in Gender and Education from the same university.
Before landing at Adamawa SUBEB, Bakari had, at different times, served as an Assistant Director, UBE Commission and Special Assistant to the Executive Secretary, Assistant Director and Special Assistant to Executive Secretary, Education Trust Fund, Director General, Special Projects and Programme, Government House, Adamawa State. Loaded with these academic qualifications and relevant experience, Bakari, following his appointment as Executive Chairman of Adamawa SUBEB by Governor Murtala Nyako on 13th September 2010, literally and metaphorically, hit the ground running. Last year alone, SUBEB in Adamawa rehabilitated and constructed new classrooms in 150 junior secondary schools in all the three senatorial zones of the state. For a visitor to these schools, what impresses one is not the share large number of schools that have benefitted from the scheme, but the quality of work done and the convenience and comfort the efforts have brought to learning.
At Central School, Jimeta, in Yola North Local Government, a school established in 1929, a first time visitor would think he has arrived a well funded private school. Said to be in a dilapidated state until about a year ago, which until then operated a shift system owing to lack of classrooms, the school today has solidly built rows of 24 classrooms. As at now, each classroom in this oldest school in Jimeta accommodates about 46 pupils, down from about 200 per class over a year ago.
To make learning stress free, electricity has been provided with fans in the classrooms and functional toilets strategically located in the school. All the schools visited in Yola North, Yola South, Girei and Fufore Local Government Areas are of the same standard with what was on ground at Central Primary School. At Lamido Lanwal Model Primary School in Girei Local Government Area, for instances, the school has a state-of-the-art Sick Bay and dispensary, well equipped computer centre with about 20 computers all on internet facilities, science room and a well stocked library.
The ongoing project at Girls Model Junior Secondary School, Fufore is awesome in scope and in cost. With a row of classrooms, a computer laboratory, a science laboratory, a sick bay, this project which has gulped about N130 million is billed for completion and hand over in the next two months. The Bakari approach to education in Adamawa is comprehensive. While conducive environment is desirable for learning, SUBEB under Bakari, is not losing sight of the fact that well motivated and adequately trained teachers are required to ensure quality learning. In two years, SUBEB in Adamawa has employed 3,450 teachers in order to catch up with the fast rising population of pupils in the state.
To ensure that these teachers remain in form, in-service training has been regular. More than 200 teachers have enrolled for the training. And more have benefited from the Information Communication Technology, ICT, training which experts from the United Kingdom handle on voluntarily mission in the state, a gesture in support of the strides in Adamawa. To demonstrate his commitment to quality education, Bakari and his team allocate 15 % of its Adamawa SUBEB allocation to building and equipping libraries, as, according to Bakari, the only way education can be meaningful is if pupils have access to relevant textbooks and other instructional materials.
As part of his determination to provide conducive environment for learning, over 500 toilets have been built in various schools in the last one year and a fence-it-round project embarked upon to ensure that these schools are protected against intruders. It is perhaps in recognition of these strides that earned the state the Best performing SUBEB state by UBEC in 2008. Bakari looks forward to retaining the crown when the 2009 award is announced.
For Bakari, who personifies humility and modesty, the strides of the last two years have been made possible through “the grace of Allah, our Governor whose passion for education is unrivalled and UBEC under the able leadership of Ahmed Modibo.” At this stage of the Nigerian nationhood, rulers owe it a duty to Nigerians to head hunt for more Bakaris where ever they are in this country, offer them positions and watch them turn the fortunes of this country around for the better. With the Bakari of Adamawa, Nigeria can only wish for more Bakaris in the years ahead as it begins the journey into the second half of its first century as a nation.
