‘More Grammar Schools, Technical Colleges will Curb Youth Restiveness in Niger Delta’
As he turns 90 this year, the Ijaw national leader and founder of Edwin Clark University, Delta State, Chief Edwin Clark told Funmi Ogundare that in addition to his desire to ensure that youths are educated, there is need for the federal government to bui
Youths all over the world are an important segment of the society in which they live. A disciplined, focused and law-abiding youth is capable of creating a bright future for any nation.
However, in the Niger Delta region, youth restiveness has been a prominent issue in recent times, as there has been an increase in the occurrence of acts of violence and lawlessness, including vices like hostagetaking of prominent citizens and expatriate oil workers, as well as oil bunkering, arms insurgence, cultism, among others, capable of threatening the nation’s peace and security.
As a result of years of oil exploration and pollution which have destroyed the environment and can hardly sustain the means of livelihood of the people of the region who are mainly farmers and fishermen, the quality of education is low and the youths are no longer enthusiastic about school, coupled with lack of job opportunities for them.
The Ijaw National Leader and founder, Edwin Clark University, Chief Edwin Clark told THISDAY that it has been a long standing, sad and problematic issue to tell, while recalling his efforts in the region when he was commissioner for education in the old Bendel State where he assisted in building 10 grammar schools.
“Those who went to school at that time appreciated education and they were old enough to move from their villages to the school through paddling of canoe. But now, you don’t expect a five or six-year-old to paddle from his own town to where the school is. I remembered having that at the back of my mind when I returned from Great Britain after qualifying as a lawyer. I became the commissioner for education in the old Bendel State because I saw for myself that the area was educationally backward and there was only one grammar school and one teacher training college.
“I pleaded with Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, the then military governor, who gave me free hand to see what education can do to my people and he was very cooperative and kind. He even went with me in most cases between 1968 and 1971. We established at least 10 new grammar schools in the areas. So with that we were able to canvass for children to go to the schools.
“I saw to it that every month, I visited those schools to see how they were progressing and in addition to that, I gave scholarships to teachers who will go to university to return to teach in those grammar schools. I still remember the two people I gave scholarships and they went back to teach in schools which we later converted to Government College.
“Due to the enthusiasm to education, the governor was able to bring his colleagues to see those schools and they wanted the types of building to be replicated in their own states. We had series of attraction in the area and children went to school and the teachers had allowances granted to them, we attracted mathematics and science teachers; and we made it mandatory that every girl who passed the examination into the college be given scholarships. The awareness was great that time.”
He expressed concern that most of the schools that were built then have been closed down and no longer functioning saying, “there were no teachers, the school buildings have collapsed and there is no more enthusiasm. As a result of recent development between the security forces and the youths in the area, their presence scares away the youths from going to school.”
Clark regretted that no one is talking about the out-of-school children in the Niger Delta and that the region has not really benefitted from the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB). “How much do we benefit from SUBEB? Our children are not in school, there are no teachers and no special training for our children, the area is worse now than when I was commissioner for education.”
On the amnesty that the youths were granted in 2009 by the Jonathan administration through which some of them were sent abroad for training and studies, he said he has since been canvassing for better welfare packages and constant payment of their bursary.
“We have been talking to the government to ensure better welfare packages and constant payment of bursary for the youths who were picked up in the creeks, granted amnesty and have been receiving training. They were not going to school before then and they became a menace in the area because they had nothing to do. Most of them had gone abroad on scholarship to be trained and most of them are doing very well.
“Recently, we learnt that 23 of them made second class upper; four made first class in London and even at Idahosa University, six of them also made first class. There are no opportunities, but given the opportunity, there is no reason why they should not perform better than others.”
On the effort of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in institutions across the region, Clark said, “NDDC has succeeded in providing facilities for federal, state and private universities, but has not bothered to look at the education of the young ones. Basic education is the bedrock, without it nobody will progress, so that is what the Niger Delta people are suffering from today.
“The federal government knowing fully well that the parents of the children have been impoverished by the exploration of oil, no farming, fishing, carving, woodwork, and manufacturing, and the oil refinery they are doing are illegal, until this is done, the federal government should take it as a duty to see to the education, health and welfare of the youths of the area.”
He called on the government to build more grammar schools and technical colleges, while ensuring a deliberate attempt to educate the children especially. “Otherwise we will be worse than the north-east in the field of education simply because nobody is talking about it in our area.”
Commenting on the Faculty of Law of the university, Clark said, “I decided to establish a legacy and that is the university and I am not looking for money, but I wanted a situation whereby students from all over the country will come to my town where the university is, to read and learn together as good citizens of a united Nigeria. To do that, character comes first.
So we have a vice-chancellor who had been the VC of Bowen University, Osun State for 10 years and other professors manning the faculty. The place is well staffed. The senate of the institution is very strict regarding the quality of students to admit and the quality of lecturers to lecture the students.
“I wrote to the Council of Legal Education that I wanted to start with Law now that I am 90, I have a very high regard for the faculty, we have a moot court, it is one of the best and we named the faculty after the late legal icon Rotimi Williams and we have a good dean of the faculty, we have books, we have signed a memorandum of understanding with foreign universities like Coventry University, UK and Chicago University, US.
“I have been a lawyer for over 50 years. I would love a situation whereby when it pleases God to take me away; my body should lie in state at the law faculty. Recently books were donated to the university and the largest so far donated to any university with the agreement that we should give some of those books to International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and give some to some other universities which we have already done. Delta State University and the state’s FIDA also received some of the books.”
On the way forward for education in 2017, the Niger Delta leader said education is key to the success of any nation, adding that government should lay more emphasis on it by resuscitating unity colleges.
“When the unity schools were established in the first republic, they were very good schools and majority of our leaders today passed through those schools but unfortunately, they no longer carry the reputation they had before, most of them are dwindled. The federal government should resuscitate all of them and hand them over to the old students association. The federal government should spend more money on education.”
He also appealed to the federal government to encourage private universities by giving them grants through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), saying that the move will ensure a unified type of education in the country.
“Even though I am a proprietor, there is no reason why the government should not give grants to private universities. Some of them are doing very well, they should encourage them. Some of them have good records outside Nigeria. There is no reason why private university should not benefit from TETFund. Projects should be identified and supported by the government so that there can be a unified type of education in the country.
“Now with the recession, you find out that every child wants to go to federal university because they are almost free. So the private institutions are now finding it difficult to get students, the federal government should take note that the private universities are filling a big gap in the education of this country. If they collapse, it will affect us. Rather than send our children to Ghana and other countries for education, the private universities should be encouraged and by doing so, they will reduce their fees. So children should be able to take advantage of the existence of private universities.”