Education: Wike calls for Agenda 2030
… Says no nation can grow without the right education and skills
Rivers State Governor and former minister of education, Nyesom Wike, has advocated for what he calls ‘Agenda 2030 on Education’, saying Nigeria cannot make progress or achieve meaningful growth without specific goals on knowledge-based education and skills empowerment.
Wike, who declared open the 64th meeting of the National Council on Education (NCE) in Port Harcourt on Thursday, 2019, stated that the nation can only attain development when the citizens are empowered with the right knowledge and appropriate skills to contribute to national growth.
He said that educational empowerment will equip the citizens to sustain themselves. He said: “The reality is that no country can be politically stable, economically robust and socially secure and cohesive if the citizens are not empowered with knowledge, appropriate skills and the right values to sustain themselves and contribute meaningfully to the progress of the country.”
Wike called for the promotion of inclusive and equitable quality education to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030.
He said: “Agenda 2030 is therefore a call to action on our collective commitments to transformative education by addressing all forms of exclusion, disparities and inequities and ensuring that every child, irrespective of social background, cultural affiliation, location and family or income status is not left behind but have equal and equitable access to quality and transformative public education.
“This requires providing the enabling legal framework, adopting the right policies and programe of action, deploying adequate resources and manpower, including qualified teachers in addition to a strong political will from the government at all levels.”
He said the lack of political will by government, inadequate allocation of resources; lack of commitment and by parents, teachers and school leaders, lack of or ineffective monitoring policy implementation are some of the serious factors responsible for the deteriorated status of education across the country.
“As a former Minister of State Education, I am quite familiar with the NCE and what it stands for as the highest national policy organ on education. During our time and under my watch as Minister, we initiated and implemented several policies and programmes, such as the Girl-child Education programme, the Almajiri education policy and programme, and the Special Vocational/basic Education programme for boys as well as the national policy on Albinism. We also strengthened the quality of learning with the provision of modern e-libraries for the Federal Government Colleges,” he said.
“While I am not very sure of the present status of these laudable programmes, I do believe that they are fundamental to resolving some of the agelong underlying problems with our education system that borders on lack of universal access, equity and gender inequality. And if you reflect for a moment on the state of our country – the chaos, the misery, stagnation and hopelessness among the majority of our people, you will appreciate the cost of inadequate investments in education,” the governor further said.
The governor stated that his administration has invested in the development of Education for the rapid growth of the state.
According to him, “Here in Rivers State, our commitment is to provide equal opportunity to all our children to attend great schools, be taught by committed and well-motivated teachers at all levels and enable them to acquire the training and skills they need to realise their full potential and be successful citizens. We have successfully renovated, expanded and equipped over 400 basic education schools while 68 new schools are under renovation with this year’s grant.
“We have rebuilt, expanded and fully equipped a number of our secondary schools across the State while many more are undergoing similar reconstruction and expansion. We have also expanded the carrying capacity of all our tertiary institutions with additional faculties and infrastructure to enable more of our youths to access tertiary education.
“Besides effectively banning the collection of all forms of levies from parents in the publicschool system, we have released adequate funds through the Ministry of Education to school heads for the sustainable administration of all our public schools.”
In a keynote address, Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu said that the Federal Government was working towards developing a functional educational system that will make citizens self reliant.
He said: “There is no doubt that Technical and Vocational Education and Training holds the key to the development of our country’s industrial sector, thus the challenges of youth unemployment can best be addressed through quality education that guarantees self reliance.
‘Entrepreneurship Education and training is globally acknowledged as an important strategy for tackling youth unemployment. In our drive to reposition education for self-reliance, particular attention has been given to the development of technical, vocational and entrepreneurial skills in learners as the present administration has trained over 500 science, vocational and mathematics teachers on the use of modern equipment and new approaches in schools.”
He said that the Federal Government had granted approval for the establishment of new Federal Science and Technical Colleges in 16 states.
Adamu added that the Federal Government is improving access to quality education in different parts of the country.
Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen praised Wike for being a promoter of Girl-child Education. She said educating the Girl-child will empower the family and the nation.
She called on all stakeholders to work towards educating the Girl- Child. Tallen stated that the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs will partner with the Federal Ministry of Education to promote Girl-child Education.
Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Education, Dagogo Adonye Hart, said the NCE was relevant to the development of vital policies and programmes to improve the quality of education.
The Theme of the 64th National Council on Education is: “Education for Self Reliance: A Tool for Achievement of 20:30 Agenda.”
The meeting attracted Education Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries and FCT Secretary of Education from across the Federation.
Congratulations on your new position. How has it been since assuming the office?
I joined Wakanow eight months ago from Amazon, the largest online retail company in the world. Since joining the company, I have been leading my team to move the company forward in line with the vision of the founding fathers.
Currently, customer service is our priority. We give commitment to meeting the needs of our customers. Innovation is another key priority for us. We look for new areas to improve our services by leveraging on social media to reach our customers. As we innovate, we also expand to reach the teeming population of our country. To satisfy our customer needs, we make sure that our workforce are constantly retrained and paid appropriately for their services.
As I joined the company, I am happy and ready to surpass the expectations of our organisation in terms of delivery. I can achieve this through team work with our great workforce.
The travel agency business in Nigeria is growing. Our customers need technological innovations, and with the aid of technology customers can buy tickets online and we are focusing on innovations. Wakanow is stronger because we have enhanced our services, dealt with our challenges.
You are in online business, which is prune to risks, what measures do you have to check cyber crime?
For us, social media is a tool to capture the travel market. What we are doing to tackle the risks in cyber crime on social media is that we have payment partners that help us ensure fraud prevention.
We are aware of online fraud, but our payment system is highly secured to beat fraudsters. We protect our customers and also engage them to determine their identity and travel destinations. The measures help us to know genuine ones and check fraud level, which is less than 1 percent in Wakanow.
Why did you leave Amazon despite the better working environment and pay?
Many people have asked me this question before I left America for the job in Nigeria. They say it is not normal. I tell you, I am a son of the soil and I believe in the Nigeria project. I did this to contribute my experience towards national development, especially in the travel industry. So, I am connected to the Nigerian Spirit.
What is your vision for Wakanow?
My experience in Amazon in the United States of America is very vast, and I will bear my experience on the organisation. My experience in Nigeria is very unique. I was one of the people that started selling products when social media started in the country. Back then, I used to sell up to 4,000 shoes per day on Facebook in Nigeria. I always love the act of selling and that is my staying power. I have worked with some big organisations in the US and my experiences were impactful. Amazon is the largest online retail company worldwide and my contributions there are remarkable.
My vision for Wakanow is to grow the company into the largest travel agency in Africa and not just in West Africa. I will work to take up the market and harmonize it so as to grow tourism in Africa. I want to create opportunities for Nigeria and Africa in the travel business.
We are business enablers and employer of l abour; Wakanow employs over 300 professionals across the country. So, my vision is clear; to expand the business and create travel opportunities for travellers in Africa.
What problems do you see in the business?
We need to expand the travel business; we need to expand the needs from one country to another in Africa and around the world. But the limitation is that disposable income is too small for the Nigerian worker to travel. The minimum wage of the Federal Government is N30, 000. What can N30, 000 do for a family that is struggling. With that income, it is difficult for people to travel to explore tourism around Africa and the world.
Again, visa is a challenge to travellers in Nigeria. For instance, the US recently cut down visas it gives to Nigerians. The same applies to the UK and South Africa’s attitude to visa issuance to us is not encouraging. As players in the industry, we need to understand these challenges and work towards solving them. We need to expand our travel market and that is what I call expanding the pie.
Do you have products that are designed for intending travellers?
Yes, Wakanow has a product called E-wallet that makes it a bit easier for us to sell tickets to customers. It is a payment system, though it is at the developing stage.
With E- Wallet, intending travellers can save money in advance for travel, we are working on that. The product is amazing; it is what we call Save To Travel. We are working in partnership with some banks and some other financial companies to achieve that.
Has Wakanow been able to go beyond its business to attract foreign direct investment in Nigeria?
I play the role of experience. I will use my tourism experience to lure foreign investments in Nigeria. Kenya lives on tourism; the same opportunity exists in Nigeria. Nigeria has great tourism destinations, where foreigners can come and experience and even do business.
At Wakanow, we create unparalleled experience for our visitors. When our clients land, we help them with logistics and ensure they are well settled down in their choice hotels.
We help foreign visitors experience our national monuments, museums, beaches and other tourist attractions. That is the role we play.
Secondly, Wakanow is advertising our products both in Europe and America. We are gradually covering the African space and this positions us as the biggest travel agency in West Africa. We partner with foreign investors to provide contents.
What have been your challenges in the past?
Wakanow has had its own troubled times; name it financial and other wise. We cannot hide that we are trouble-free. But the truth is that Wakanow hires a team of corporate people that can move the company. With that, we have been able to turn the company around.
In few years to come, we will ensure we have financial stewardship of our financials; know where we are making money and where we are not, understand our business and customers bearing in mind that a company that neglects its customers will die.
When we focus on our customers, we start to win. We want to start and end with our customers so that they will always come again.
In the next two years, we are going to innovate to make it easier for our customers to travel using viable technology- tools of social media and Whatsapp, as well as, e-mail.
So, financial stewardship, innovation and automation are our focus for the next two years.
Wakanow now is expanding its branch network. We are now in Aba, Asaba, Nnewi. We are opening in Maiduguri, Sokoto, Katsina, and Kaduna with strategic partnerships. We are a hybrid travel agency that does business online and offline.