President Bola Tinubu, in the company of Vice President Kashim Shettima, met with the 36 state governors of the Federation on Thursday.

Naija News earlier reported that the President, on Thursday, met with the governors inside the Council Chamber of the State House in Abuja to address the insecurity, economic situation and general hardship in the country.

The meeting also had in attendance the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike; the Minister of Information and Orientation, Mohammed Idris; the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari; the Director of the Department of State Service (DSS), Yusuf Bichi, and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the meeting agreed on common ground to address some of the challenges currently facing the country, especially the rising cost of food and insecurity.

He said after extensive deliberations the President and Governors agreed to work together to solve the problems and tackle the economic pressure being faced by the citizens.

Below are the key takeaways from the meeting:

1. On addressing insecurity which is also affecting farming and food production, President Tinubu made 3 key pronouncements.

A. More police personnel to be recruited to strengthen the force.

B. President Tinubu informed the Governors that the Federal Government will work with them and the National Assembly towards putting in place a mechanism that will engender state police instead of the vigilantes that are being used in some states.

C. The President charged the Governors to strengthen their Forest Rangers and arm them to keep all the forest safe from criminals.

Modalities for State Police and addressing security issues to be discussed further at National Economic Council.

2. On rising cost of food: The President directed that the State Governments and Federal government should collaborate to increase local food production. The President advised against the idea of food importation and price control when local food producers should be encouraged to produce more food.

3. President advised Governors to follow the example of Kano State in dealing with hoarding of food for profiteering by commodities merchants. He directed the Inspector-General of Police, National Security Adviser, Department of State Security Services to monitor warehouses hoarding food items across the country and stop profiteering by merchants.

4. President charged Governors to pay attention to livestock development in their states and increase production most especially poultry and fishing products.

5. President pleaded with Governors to ensure all salary arrears to workers, gratuities to retired workers and pensioners are cleared as a way to put money into the hands of the people since states are now getting more monthly FAAC revenue. Spend the money, don’t spend the people, he urged the governors.

6. President Tinubu implored Governors to create more economic opportunities for the youths in their states to keep them more productively engaged.

If members of the House of Representatives have their way stop sports betting said to be a pastime of 60 million young Nigerians may soon become a thing of history in the country.

This followed a resolution by Rep. Kelechi Nwogu (PDP-Rivers) at the plenary in Abuja on Thursday.

The lawmaker had in the resolution complained that the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) is weak or has neglected regulations of sports betting in the country.

He said this have given rise to mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety and addiction.

Nwogu added that it had also led to strain or broken relationships due to lying or stealing from friends and family, financial problems, legal issues, and job loss due to excessive loss or debt.

“Betting has given rise to increased crime rate and eventual suicide,” he said.

He harped on the need for campaigns to prevent the negative social impact of lottery and underage participation.

Adopting the motion, the House urged the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation to conduct comprehensive nationwide campaign to raise public awareness about the negative impact of youth participation in sports betting.

The House also mandated the Committee on Inter–Governmental Affairs to conduct a Public Hearing on the dangerous effects of sports betting in Nigeria.

It urged the committee to report back to it within four weeks for further legislative action.

The National Lottery Trust Fund (NLTF) has revealed that over 65 million Nigerians actively engage in betting, spending an average of 15 dollars daily.

NLTF also said Nigerians spend an estimated 975 million dollars daily on online sports betting, which amounts to about 356 billion dollars annually.

It was estimated that about 60 million Nigerians aged between 18 and 40 engage in sports betting.

Many young Nigerians also engaged in sports betting to get succour from the hardship in the country

The NLTF lists 58 betting companies approved to operate in Nigeria on its website.
NAN

Nigeria’s inflation increased to 29.90 per cent in January 2024 from 28.92 per cent recorded in December 2023 amid rising food prices.

The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS disclosed this on Thursday in its latest Consumer Price Index.

According to the bureau, the figure is 0.98 per cent points higher compared to the 28.92 per cent recorded in December 2023.

Similarly, NBS said, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 8.08 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in January 2023, which was 21.82 per cent.

”It said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate in January 2024 was 8.08 per cent higher than the rate recorded in January 2023 at 21.82 per cent.

In addition, the report said, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in January 2024 was 2.64 per cent, which was 0.35 per cent higher than the rate recorded in December 2023 at 2.29 per cent.

”This means that in January 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is more than the rate of increase in the average price level in December 2023.”

The report said the increase in the headline index for January 2024 on a year-on-year basis and month-on-month basis was attributed to the increase in some items in the basket of goods and services at the divisional level.

It said these increases were observed in food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel, clothing and footwear, and transport.

Others are furnishings, household equipment and maintenance, education, health, miscellaneous goods and services, restaurants and hotels, alcoholic beverages, tobacco and kola, recreation and culture, and communication.

The bureau said the percentage change in the average CPI for the 12 months ending January 2024 over the average of the CPI for the previous corresponding 12-month period was 25.35 per cent.

“This indicates a 5.99 per cent increase compared to 19.36 per cent recorded in January 2023.”

The report said the food inflation rate in January 2024 increased to 35.41 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 11.10 per cent higher compared to the rate recorded in January 2023 at 24.32 per cent.

“The rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis is caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, oil and fat, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, meat, fruit, coffee, tea, and cocoa”.

It said on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in January was 3.21 per cent, which was a 0.49 per cent increase compared to the rate recorded in December 2023 at 2.72 per cent.

“The rise in food inflation on a month-on-month basis was caused by an increase in the average prices of potatoes, yam and other tubers, bread and cereals, fish, meat, tobacco, and vegetables.”

The report said, “All items less farm produce and energy’’ or core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 23.59 per cent in January on a year-on-year basis.

“This increased by 4.71 per cent compared to 18.88 per cent recorded in January 2023.’’

“The exclusion of the PMS is due to the deregulation of the commodity by removal of subsidy.”

It said the highest increases were recorded in prices of passenger transport by road, medical services, actual and imputed rentals for housing, pharmaceutical products, accommodation service, and passenger transport by air, etc.

The NBS said on a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was 2.24 per cent in January 2024.

“This indicates a 0.42 per cent rise compared to what was recorded in December 2023 at 1.82 per cent.”

“The average 12-month annual inflation rate was 21.15 per cent for the 12 months ending January 2024, this was 4.74 per cent points higher than the 16.41 per cent recorded in January 2023.”

The report said on a year-on-year basis in January 2024, the urban inflation rate was 31.95 per cent, which was 9.40 per cent higher compared to the 22.55 per cent recorded in January 2023.

“On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 2.72 per cent in January representing a 0.30 per cent increase compared to December 2023 at 2.42 per cent.”

It also said on a year-on-year basis in January 2024, the rural inflation rate was 28.10 per cent, which was 6.97 per cent higher compared to the 21.13 per cent recorded in January 2023.

“On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate was 2.57 per cent, which increased by 0.40 per cent compared to December 2023 at 2.17 per cent.’’

On states’ profile analysis, the report showed in January, all items’ inflation rate on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi at 35.79 per cent, followed by Oyo at 34.58 per cent, and Akwa Ibom at 33.16 per cent.

It, however, said the slowest rise in headline inflation on a year-on-year basis was recorded in Borno at 22.57 per cent, followed by Taraba at 24.83 per cent, and Benue at 26.64 per cent.

The NBS, however, said in January 2024, all items inflation rate on a month-on-month basis was highest in Ondo at 3.79 per cent, followed by Osun at 3.77 per cent, and Jigawa at 3.58 per cent.

“Bayelsa at 0.45 per cent, followed by Yobe at 1.10 per cent and Ogun at 1.35 per cent recorded the slowest rise in month-on-month inflation.”

The bureau said on a year-on-year basis, food inflation was highest in Kogi at 44.18 per cent, followed by Kwara at 40.87 per cent, and Rivers at 40.08 per cent.

“Bauchi at 28.83 per cent, followed by Adamawa at 29.80 per cent and Kano at 30.08 per cent recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis.’’
The NBS, however, said on a month-on-month basis, food inflation was highest in Ondo at 4.69 per cent, followed by Osun at 4.59 per cent, and Edo at 4.58 per cent.

“In Bayelsa it was at 0.24 per cent, followed by Yobe at 0.97 per cent and Ogun at 1.44 per cent, recording the slowest rise in inflation on a month-on-month basis.”

Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and political organisation Afenifere has lauded the National Assembly for waking up to the reality of the need to cut governance costs and restructure Nigeria’s political system.

The organisation, in a press statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, however, added that while the proposed change in the political system from presidential to parliamentary is welcome, the country needs more than ‘just a shift from one system of government to another.’

“There is a fundamental need to have the country return to the type of arrangement we had before the military incursion in 1966,” Ajayi stated.

DAILY POST recalls that a bill seeking to effect a change in Nigeria’s governance system from the present presidential to parliamentary system passed through the first reading on the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

The bill was sponsored by 60 members of the House of Representatives, led by Wale Raji (APC) representing Epe Federal Constituency in Lagos State.

Reacting, Afenifere posited that Nigeria’s socio-political problem is beyond the system of government being run.

“It weighs more heavily on the structure. This is why we are insisting that the country be restructured. Anything tinkering with the Constitution that fails to tinker with the present structure would be cosmetic,” Ajayi said.

The Afenifere Publicity Secretary applauded the lawmakers for recognising the fact that Nigeria was better governed in the First Republic.

The Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission is in the process of relocating certain departments from Abuja to Lagos, three years after moving its headquarters to the nation’s capital.

Formerly known as the Department of Petroleum Resources, the NUPRC oversees the oil and gas industry, ensuring compliance with regulations and laws, and manages safety regulations for the import and export of products into the country.

In a memo titled “Movement to Lagos”, dated February 14, the relocation is driven by the commission’s desire to reduce operational costs and to also utilise its assets in Lagos.

“In line with our objectives of improving organizational efficiency. ctiving industry growth, and managing office accommodation in Abuja, we are ‘exploring the possibility of relocating certain units to Lagos.

“This initiative is driven by the need to enhance our service delivery and reduce operational costs. and make adequate utlisation of our assets in Lagos,” the memo stated.

Already, heads of departments have been asked to submit a list of units that can perform independently in preparation for the relocation.

A senior management staff told Daily Trust that about 200 staff members are expected to be affected by the move.

Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria recently transferred of some its staff from Abuja to Lagos.

The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria also relocated its headquarters from the country’s capital to Lagos.

The move at the time caused disaffection from some stakeholders including a Senator representing Borno South in the 10th Senate, Ali Ndume, who cautioned President Bola Tinubu to be wary of the political consequences of such a decision.

Africa Cup of Nations Runners-up, Super Eagles of Nigeria have moved up by 14 spots to placed 28th in the world in the February FIFA ranking.

In the ranking table published on the website of the world football governing body on Thursday, the team garnered 1,522 points as against the 1,474 points garnered in December 2023.

The upward movement further shoot up the Super Eagles as the third placed team on the continent, behind Morocco and Senegal who have 1663 (12th) and 1620 (17th) points.

However, the newly-crowned African champions Cote d’Ivoire, reaped the rewards of their continental triumph on home soil by being in the 39th place having moved up by 10 spots.

AFCON second runners- up, South Africa climbed 8 spots to 58th, with Egypt (36th), Cameroon (51st) & Ghana (67th) dropping down after their early AFCON 2023 exits.

The Angolan side who were ousted in the last eight (93rd, up 24), are the biggest climbers in the latest installment of the global ranking.

In the points stakes, two-time Asian Cup winners Qatar (37th, up 21) chalk up the biggest tally (92.04 points) after capitalising on home comforts to successfully defend their continental crown.

Elsewhere, Jordan (70th, up 17), who were edged out in the final, make good ground, as do Thailand (101st, up 12), whose journey came to an end at the last-16 stage.

Qatar’s rise sees them enter uncharted territory, with two other teams also recording best-ever rankings.

Senegal (17th, up 3), which suffered shoot-out heartbreak at the hands of the eventual winners Cote d’Ivoire in the AFCON Round of 16, break new ground.

Tajikistan (99th, up 7) mark their maiden Asian Cup campaign by making a first-ever appearance in the top 100.

Other impressive performers are Equatorial Guinea (79th, up 9), South Africa (58th, up 8), Cabo Verde (65th, up 8), Namibia (107th, up 8) and Mali (47th, up 4).

Herbert Wigwe everyone knew, but not many knew the backbone behind his immense success. I called you Chiz Baby. Queenette Allagoa called you Chiz Burger. Most called you Doreen. I remember when you came back from the United States of America 31 years ago. You were just 26 years old, armed with your university degrees and ready to start life afresh back home. We immediately bonded over our unique family dynamics and love of trading. I remember marvelling at your capacity to switch back and forth from an American accent to a Nigerian English accent with ease. I was immediately drawn to your infectious laughter which could be heard from a mile away and your tremendous industry. You were born into privilege, but you were never afraid of hard work.

Your dad, the late Chief Cyprian Chukwuemeka Nwuba (Uncle CY) was a chartered accountant and had worked for Shell Petroleum Development Company where he rose to the position of African Financial Controller, before transferring to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation where he was the Group General Manager, Finance and Accounts, before his retirement. Your mum was a senior public servant who worked in the education ministry before she took you, Alex and Pauline to live with her in the United States.

Despite spending your impressionable years growing up in the U.S., we would head out daily to Oke-Arin market in the heart of Lagos Island where we tried our hands at wholesale trading. I would later drop my forays into Oke-Arin market and give up the shop that my parents had paid for me as I forged a new career in journalism. But you never did, frugally saving and turning around every penny that you made until you became an immensely wealthy and successful businesswoman with interests in construction, real estate and the hospitality sectors.

I remember the beginnings of your relationship with Queenette, which was to blossom into a lifelong unbreakable sisterhood. Today, she’s inconsolable without you, but remains thankful to God for your life. I remember your first meeting with Herbert, then a young, freshly minted General Manager at Guaranty Trust Bank, and the twinkle in your eye after introductions had been made. It was at Queenette’s house where we used to hangout as young women, laughing our heads off and without a care in the world. I remember your wedding to Herbert and the reception at the Muson Centre. I remember Chizi’s birth a few months after and Tochi’s four years later. We would still hangout at Queenette’s house where Herbert would often turn up after work to pick you up, but only after he had helped himself to a hearty meal of edi kai kong, afang or fisherman’s soup that were regular staples at Queenette’s abode.

I recall when you ventured into the construction industry. Just a few of us knew that Craneburg Construction Company was your baby. You would regale me with stories about size of the contracts your company was taking on and I was amazed at your trips all over the country, executing and monitoring road, infrastructure and building projects. You would sometimes call me from Bauchi or Sokoto State and I would ask, “Chiz Baby, what on earth are you doing there?” You would always respond with your trademark laughter, “Ijeoma, I am working.”

It was your construction firm that built the highways, bridges and toll plaza from Lekki Phase II all the way to and within Epe town, making the journey to Ijebu Ode in Ogun State less arduous. It was your construction firm that built roads and flyovers in Ondo, Imo, Adamawa, Ogun, Bauchi, Gombe and other states. You took on airport construction projects, oil and gas, and marine projects like fish to water. Today, Craneburg is one of Nigeria’s largest, diversified construction groups that employs 7,000 people working across all major sectors of the economy. When you were not travelling around Nigeria, you would take off to China or Hong Kong to import all sort of things that you sold. No enterprise was too big or too small for you to handle. You revelled in it like very few people could.

I once asked you how Herbert felt about your far-flung business interests. You responded, saying that your relationship with him was built on trust and he was a confident man who was very supportive of your business. Herbert was later to confirm this over ten years ago when he proudly confessed to a mutual friend that you were probably wealthier than he was. More recently, in an interview on Arise News Channel, when the interviewer Ojy Okpe asked Herbert what his most prized possession was, without skipping a beat, he said you were his most prized asset and his everything. This was how much you meant to him. You were anything but a trophy wife. You were an equal partner in a blessed union made on earth and now in heaven.

As I watched your relationship with Herbert thrive, I was later to understand that it was your independence, industry and mutual love of children that solidified your bond as a loving couple. Just like Herbert, you loved children dearly and I watched your family grow with the addition of David, Hannah and Okachi. I remember your love and dedication to your children. Despite your business interests, you always took off for several months at a time watching over Chizi and Tochi in the UK when they were at boarding school and university. When David and Hannah were old enough to go to boarding school, you did likewise. I remember when you told me that Herbert found it difficult to let go of David and how he cried like a baby when he was dropped off at prep school in the UK. You and Herbert absolutely adored children and were planning to have more because they brought both of you tremendous joy.

Barely a week before you embarked on your final journey to the United States, I called you to introduce you to a friend of mine who wanted to build two multi-storey buildings in Lagos. Irrespective of the numerous projects that you were already handling, you were very grateful and excited at the new prospect and within 24 hours had met with her and her team at their office in Ikoyi. My friend is very sad at your passing but has promised to go ahead with Craneburg Construction as a mark of remembrance of your dynamism and industry.

Chiz Baby, what will we do without you? You were a beautiful woman, not just in looks but in spirit. You never, ever flaunted your success. You were always God-fearing, humble, playful, shrewd and intelligent. Last Saturday evening when I heard that you, Herbert and Chizi had been declared missing after the helicopter crash, I kept calling Alex your brother who was extraordinarily brave that night. We held on to whatever glimmer of hope that we had that all three of you had walked away from the crash and would be found. But as the night wore on and we learnt that you were no more, I completely lost sleep.

All I could do was to go down memory lane of our early beginnings as I showed you the lay of the land and introduced you to the few friends that I had. I thought of our minor scrapes as young women and our ability to move past them. I thought of your interactions with my mum and dad whenever you came round to visit. I thought of your interactions with your parents and siblings Alex, Pauline, Tolly, the late Anana and Chinny and how much you loved them. I thought of Tochi, Hanana, David and little Okachi who you, Herbert and Chizi have left behind. It was like watching life through a kaleidoscope.

Chiz Baby, right now we can only console ourselves in the knowledge that you and your dearest Herbert left behind separate, yet intertwined sustainable legacies through which we shall remember both of you for eternity. Thankfully, Tochi is your daughter through and through. She is almost the same age today as you were when you returned to Nigeria over three decades ago. We believe in her capacity, with the support and guidance of her numerous uncles and aunties, to look after and bring up her younger siblings in a manner that would make you, Chizi and Herbert proud. Despite the heartbreak, they will grow, prosper, and carry on the baton of the Wigwe family. They will be fine!

Sleep on my dearest Chiz Baby. Sleep on my dearest Herbie. Sleep on my dearest Chizi. And may your souls rest in eternal peace.

Old students’ associations can be a bridge between the past and future. In several countries, academic institutions owe their survival and development to the vibrancy of these alumni bodies. But though they engender a spirit of unity necessary to surmounting difficult challenges facing our country today, we are yet to sufficiently tap into this critical opportunity. Or at least so I thought. Until January last year when I received a call from former Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Director General, Mr Sola Omole. He made what I considered a rather unusual request on behalf of Fiditi Grammar School Old Students Association (FIGSOSA) of which he is a member. To mark its 70th anniversary this February (then 13 months away), FIGSOSA wanted a commitment from me that I would write a column about the standards of education in Nigeria over the past 50 years.

Five months later, 22 May 2023 to be specific, I received a letter jointly signed by FIGSOSA national president, Professor Adesola Ogunniyi, chairman of the anniversary’s organising committee, Mr Oladapo Lagunju and Omole who chairs the publicity committee. After highlighting the theme for the 70th anniversary, ‘Sustainable Youth Development—Roles for Old Students Associations’, they formally made their request. “Our desire is that using the celebration and our theme as background, you review our education standards and perhaps proffer ways of improvement,” their letter stated. “We want this to be our contribution to the all-important debate about the place of education in Nigeria. We request that this suggested piece appear in your backpage VERDICT column on any day between the 12th and 16th of February 2024.”

I thank the leadership of FIGSOSA for their concern about education in Nigeria. I feel very humbled that they consider my intervention on the issue of any consequence. Honestly, I have found it difficult to process the amusing request. Whoever came up with the idea obviously has more faith in this column than I do. But for whatever it is worth, considering the reminder I got last week, I intend to keep my promise. First, let me say a few words about Fiditi Grammar School in Oyo State.

Founded in 1954, the late Mr Christopher Okigbo (who would become a globally renowned poet) was a teacher and later vice principal and sports master at the school. The duo of Okigbo and then principal, Chief Alex Ajayi, according to Omole, recruited Teslim ‘Thunder’ Balogun as coach for the football team that won many laurels. Other prominent products of Fiditi Grammar School include Dr. Bode Olajumoke, a prominent lawyer, businessman and former Senator who was for 20 years FIGSOSA National President, Professor Adejare Agboola of Applied Botany Department at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Professor Olufemi Durosaro of the University of Ilorin, and Professor Samson Omotosho of the University of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. Major General Kola Ogunkoya (rtd), a one-time NYSC Director General, Naval Admiral Segun Egbedina (rtd), who commanded NNS Aradu, AIG Lanre Bankole (rtd) as well as Professors Bridget Sokan, Adekunle Akinyemi and Ogunniyi, (current FIGSOSA president and consultant Neurologist), are products of the school. Of course, there are hundreds of other prominent ex-this, ex-that who have also passed through the school. Omole himself was for several years the General Manager, Public Affairs, Chevron Nigeria Limited, before returning to NTA as DG.

Now to the issue at hand. While FIGSOSA asks that I review education in Nigeria in the past five decades, I believe it would be more productive to share my thoughts on their 70th anniversary theme because it centres on the role that alumni associations can play in the development of education in our country. Indeed, the immense benefits of alumni networks have led to the establishment of global charity organisations including ‘Future First Global’, based on the findings of a research study that covered countries in Asia, East and West Africa, Latin America, North America, Europe and the Middle East.

The study, sponsored by the Open Society Foundations, reveals how former students can engage with their alma mater as role models, mentors, work experience providers and trusted advisers. Former students, according to Future First Global, UK, are an incredible and largely untapped resource that every school has. “We think there are over 500 million adults globally who would give back to their old schools if they were asked, and yet we estimate only 2% are currently doing so.” Not surprisingly, while only two percent of adults polled had engaged with or gone back to their former high (secondary) schools, 52 percent of those asked said they would be willing to do so. Therefore, we have a pool of resources that can be harnessed for the development of our education sector, especially in Nigeria. And I am delighted that FIGSOSA is leading the way.

From primary school which lays the foundation, to university which prepares students for an increasingly competitive job market, all levels of education are important. But perhaps the most important is High (secondary school) that stands in the middle. In an ideal scenario, this level of education covers a broader scope of subjects with just enough depth to prepare and equip an individual with the requisite knowledge for gainful occupation and economic self-sufficiency. But this critical sector, which provides the foundation for building productive and conscientious members of society, is seriously challenged in Nigeria. The fact that many of our university students are ill prepared for rigorous intellectual engagement and the graduates are unfit for the job market reflects the quality of the foundation they received in secondary schools.

This is a systemic problem. While most of us are products of public schools, we have long opted to send our children to private schools (and I also plead guilty here), without caring about those who cannot afford the huge costs. Of course, we all know what a succession of governments, at all levels, have done to public schools in Nigeria. Yet, the point we must underscore is that public schools have significant social missions they fulfill in every society. The most critical is that they guarantee equal opportunity for all children regardless of their parents’ social status. In the process, they help to unify a diverse country.

To secure the future, we must defend the integrity of our learning spaces. And beyond what government should do, meaningful interventions from alumni associations can make a world of difference. If anybody has a doubt about the crisis of education in Nigeria, the sight of fully suited-up young men and formally dressed young women (most of them graduates) distributing leaflets for housing estates should drive the point home. That some supposedly educated people believe they can build their life on, or find fulfilment in, distributing leaflets on major roads and street corners is telling. In recent years, my wife has been championing a free education scheme for indigent children in Abuja through her Not Forgotten Initiative (NFI) School. With that, I have seen the abysmal level to which our public schools have degenerated. And we cannot all just fold our hands.  

Let me identify four areas in which our public secondary schools are deficient and where alumni associations can help to redress the situation. First is in the provision of adequate infrastructure and ensuring a safe and conducive learning environment. The second is in providing essential tools that include well equipped laboratories with required technical equipment, well stocked libraries, and access to computers. In many of our public schools today, students access basic tools through their imagination, which makes it difficult to comprehend most of the theories they are being taught.

It is noteworthy that to mark its 70th anniversary, according to Omole, Governor Seyi Makinde has been invited to open a skills acquisition center just completed for Fiditi Grammar School by FIGSOSA. “The centre will train school leavers, even those without a formal education, in various trades such as information technology and allied trades, carpentry, fashion design, catering and culinary skills among others,” Omole said of a project that should be emulated by other stakeholders in the alumni space if we must reposition the education sector in Nigeria. “This initiative is being undertaken in the belief that only those who can create and sustain personal entrepreneurial initiatives will survive in the unfolding global economy.”

However, as critical as conducive learning environment and infrastructure are, teachers are unarguably the most important element in formal education. Unfortunately, many of the teachers allowed into the system lack sufficient qualifications and the ones who possess these qualifications have not been cherished by the government. Tied to this is the issue of remuneration which remains abysmally poor. Aspiring to be a teacher was once a prestigious calling but the majority who enter the profession today are those who have no other means of livelihood. We need to change that paradigm.

Finally, there must also be an increase in funding. Nigeria’s yearly budgetary allocation to education pales in comparison to many other African countries and falls short of UNESCO’s recommended standard of at least 26 percent. Meanwhile, even the meagre budgetary allocation is mostly spent on recurrent expenditures, leaving little money for infrastructure upgrades and capacity building. If we are serious, we can use alumni associations to revitalize education in Nigeria. But the intervention must be structured.

In November 2019, a former Chairperson of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and then President of the Queen’s College Old Girls Association, Mrs Ifueko Omoigui Okauru posed a question at a townhall session on improving transparency and accountability in basic education in Nigeria. The question has not been answered: Can Nigerian authorities, as a pilot scheme, allow alumni associations to run some of our public schools for a specific period to see if it could help halt the decline of the educational sector in the country?

Omoigui-Okauru, who revealed that she met then education minister, Mallam Adamu Adamu to discuss wide-ranging issues on public school management in Nigeria said “the Queens College Old Girls Association has made a proposal to the federal government to take over the administration and management of the school for a pilot period of three years. The school can be permanently turned over to the association if government is satisfied with the management after the pilot period.”

I don’t know what happened to the proposal, but to revamp public schools in Nigeria, this is an idea worth considering. In a country where the government will continue to find it increasingly difficult to meet up with its responsibilities, we must encourage alumni associations to play a greater role. We need them to be more involved with the boards of school management and they can offer useful suggestions on the relevance of school curriculums to the demands of the professional workplace.

There will be a day to look at the private schools because they are also part of the problem. Last year, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) alleged that many private school owners in the country employ quacks as teachers. Even though the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) rejected the allegation, it is a serious issue we also need to examine. Just as we need to look at the role that Parents Teachers Association (PTAs) can play and the state of teacher’s training institutes across the country.

Education remains the bedrock of national growth and development, and we all have a part to play by giving back to the institutions from where we studied. If we do nothing, the rot will continue and haunt us all in future. FIGSOSA is therefore reminding us that Alumni associations are critical stakeholders in the process of reforming the education sector. And to the extent that efforts to bring about sustainable change in the education system in Nigeria is a collective task, alumni associations must be allowed to play a critical role. 

Once again, I wish FIGSOSA and all its members a happy 70th anniversary.

Goodnight, Herbert Wigwe

Having followed what turned out to be the most entertaining and unpredictable African Cup of Nations (AfCON) football tournament, with its twists and turns, I had a desire to watch the final live. I was therefore excited last Saturday afternoon when, in graciously granting my request, Vice President Kashim Shettima said I should be at the Abuja airport presidential wing by 1PM next day (Sunday) to join his delegation to Abidjan for the match. Unfortunately, a few hours later, news broke of the death in the United States of Herbert Wigwe along with his wife, son and others. I had to send a message to the vice president that regrettably, I would no longer travel because of the tragedy.

I considered the late Herbert a friend, but it is with his parents that I have a special relationship. When in June 2022 they marked their 60th wedding anniversary, I wrote about how, since 2001, Pastor Shyngle Wigwe, a former NTA Director General, had taken me almost like a son—and always called to pray for me and my family. I cannot begin to imagine what the Wigwes have been going through since Saturday. The overwhelming suffering and intense emotional pain that parents experience after such tragic bereavement, according to ‘Compassionate Friends’, a global NGO committed to supporting grieving families, “shatters core beliefs and assumptions about the world and the expectations about how life should unfold.” My thoughts and prayers are with the Wigwes at this most difficult period.

In her column, ‘Telling Chizoba’s Story’ yesterday, Ijeoma Nwogwugwu provided rare insights into the life and times of Mrs Wigwe who died alongside her husband in the helicopter crash. It is a moving and fitting tribute to a remarkable woman. Meanwhile, it was on a personal project, Wigwe University, that Herbert had lately invested considerable time, energy and resources. When we last spoke in December, he promised to take me to see the campus located in his ancestral Ikwerre land in Rivers State. That will no longer happen. I hope there are people who will help sustain that legacy.

For the WhatsApp philosophers who use the death of successful people to write and circulate drivel on the pretext that ‘life is fleeting’, ‘all is vanity’ etc., they must understand that Herbert has run his own race and is now with his maker. “Each man’s death diminishes me,” John Donne wrote in his immortal poem. “For I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.” Herbert perfectly understood that nobody is guaranteed tomorrow. In a post on his official X (formerly Twitter) handle on 19th January, he left a fitting epitaph for the rest of us. “Today and always, let us remember that life is a precious gift – a chance to breathe, feel, love, experience and connect,” he wrote in a prescient manner common only to those who are spiritually alert. “Let’s honour this gift by living with purpose, kindness, and gratitude, making every moment count. Let us number our days.”

May God comfort his loving parents, remaining children, family members and his bosom friend cum business partner, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede.

• You can follow me on my X (formerly Twitter) handle, @Olusegunverdict and

I was going through some old files in my closet the other day when I saw some documents and receipts that absolutely cracked me up. Among the browning, time-worn papers was the receipt from a private primary school for the payment of my first daughter’s fees. 

It was a middle-class school that charged N5,000 naira per term. Attached to the fading receipt was a thank you note by the bursar. I rocked with laughter. This was in 1995 when, after nearly seven years of working, my monthly salary was around 60k or so. I will not forget how my mother reacted when she found out how much I was paying for her granddaughter’s termly fees. “Did your university tuition cost that much?”, she asked despairingly. 

Of course, it did, but not by a lot. As I held that rusty receipt in my hand on that day, the shock and despair in my mother’s face about how prices had gone up and how things had changed, for the worse, flooded my mind. 

Yet, within three decades of my mother showing concern, the joke was on me. By this time, it was no longer a laughing matter.

“Ilu le o…!” 

I had somehow managed to find out how much my daughter was paying for my granddaughter’s school fees in a school certainly more upscale than the one she attended, but by my reckoning, unlikely to be among the A-List schools in her part of town. 

What she was paying for my granddaughter’s kindergarten per term was roughly ten times my salary after seven years of working. I couldn’t help wondering what my mother would have said or done if she had lived to see the school fees of her great-granddaughter, a kid enrolled barely out of her diapers! And this was only three years ago.

Many things in the old files in my closet reminded me of how the times are changing. When I think of Victor Olaiya’s famous highlife song, “Ilu le o!” (literally meaning, Country hard!) released over 40 years ago which was supposed to have captured the misery of men and women complaining about the hard times, I wonder exactly what the moaning was about. 

Nuts for the rich

A few days ago, I had a conversation with my local cashew nut seller. I had been buying cashew nuts from her since when a bottle cost N800, which was not up to four years ago. Slowly, but steadily, the price climbed to N1,000, then N1,200, then N1,500 and before you could say, “cashew,” it became N4,000 per bottle – roughly the cost of my daughter’s one-term school fee in the late 1990s.

How do you buy a bottle of nuts for N4,000? Perhaps because I drive a big car – which is a Tokunbo, by the way – the nut seller thought she had me hooked; that I should be able to afford the nut, whatever the price. Well, she was mistaken and I told her so. Of course, she pleaded that it was not her fault that it was – you guessed right – the exchange rate! Dollar or not, I won’t buy cashew nuts now priced as luxury items. 

Of course, I know about the fiber, protein and healthy fats that come from cashew nuts, not to mention blood sugar control, heart health and weight loss. But at 72.5kg, and with the gift of a stature that can eat both pounded yam and mortar without them showing, why should I lose sleep over weight? Whatever cashew nut offers, especially in fiber, I will get from sweet potatoes.

But cashew nuts are not the whole story of this cost-of-living crisis. Even potatoes have doubled in price. According to a BBC report, prices in Nigeria are rising at their fastest rates ever in the last 30 years.

This was how the BBC report described it: “A standard 50kg bag of rice, which could help feed a household of between eight and 10 for about a month, now costs N77,000,” that is, about double the price last December. The prices of other staples such as beans, garri, maize and millet have also gone up, costing the average worker two months’ minimum wage for a bag.

Portion control 

Portion control was a frequent point of argument in my house. It’s a problem with men, of course, but it’s worse with African women brought up to believe that the proof of spousal care is in the size of the husband’s weight, measured by the amount of food on his plate. It’s considered taboo in many places, especially in the South of Nigeria, for example, for a man’s plate of soup to have only one piece of meat or fish. Or for his dough, famously called swallow, to appear miserly. 

This well-intended culture of culinary excess is captured in Chinua Achebe’s Things fall apart, where the story is told of a wealthy man who gave a feast at which guests on one side of the table did not see those on the other side from morning until night when they managed to level the mountain of food set before them during the new yam festival. 

If, however, Okonkwo’s guests were living in today’s Nigeria, where a sachet of water in a 50cl plastic bag costs N20, more than twice the price last year, they would be lucky to find enough water to drink after a meal of afafata, chaff of rice grain, which is now a staple in parts of Northern Nigeria.

My point about portion control is that after years of struggling to convince my wife, and often the female domestic staff, that measurements and smaller food portions, including far fewer pieces of protein in my meals don’t mean lack of care, the cost-of-living crisis is finally driving the point home! 

As for other things such as the cost of petrol and other energy costs, which increased by 216 percent from N195 per litre after the removal of subsidy last May, I threatened to buy a bicycle to augment my transportation cost before a concerned staff warned me of the risk of cycling nearly 15 kilometres to work across two major highways.

There is, however, one area of adjustment, which after futilely struggling to contain without luck, I have decided to seek “divine intervention”, as we say: my BP medication. In a country where less than five percent of the population have health insurance and the rest pay out-of-pocket for treatment, persons with underlying medical conditions have been badly hit by the current inflation rate of 28.9 percent.

It’s not a laughing matter. Last year, for example, a packet of Co-Diovan 80/12.5mgs, my recommended BP management medicine, cost about N8,000. Now, it is N24,000 and still rising for the same packet which lasts 28 days.

Trouble in the world 

Of course, it’s not a uniquely Nigerian problem. From New Zealand to Nepal, countries around the world have been battling with a serious cost-of-living crisis. This crisis is a combination of factors ranging from COVID-19 and the supply chain problems that followed, to the war in Ukraine and extreme climate changes across the world. 

In fact, Nigeria is not listed among the 10 African countries with the highest cost of living, a list that features Senegal at the top, with others such as Cote d’Ivoire, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Cameroon and Kenya, among others. 

Just like economic problems imitate physical diseases, countries with underlying structural problems have been the worst hit. The difference from place to place, however, has been in how leaders repaired trust and mobilised resources in response. 

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu campaigned for his current job knowing full well there won’t be a honeymoon from day one. I’ll need to file something urgently in my closet that my granddaughter might see someday to show that my vote for him was not a mistake.