By Ali Muhammad Idris

The Nigerian education sector has been in turmoil for years, with repeated industrial actions by unions like the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU).

These strikes, aimed at securing improved working conditions, funding, and welfare packages, are rooted in valid demands.

However, the far-reaching impact of these strikes on students, the education system, and Nigeria’s development calls for urgent intervention.

Strikes in Nigeria’s education sector have become alarmingly frequent. From 2017 to 2022, ASUU went on strike at least five times, with the longest one spanning an unprecedented eight months.

These strikes disrupt the academic calendar, leading to significant setbacks for students and causing severe emotional distress, uncertainty, and frustration.

The 2020 ASUU strike, for instance, forced final-year students to spend an additional year in school, delaying their graduation and disrupting their plans for further studies or employment.

The consequences of these prolonged strikes are profound, especially for students. Lost learning hours mean that students are often forced to rush through incomplete syllabuses, affecting their academic performance and understanding. Many students are unable to follow the curriculum properly, leaving them underprepared for future academic and professional challenges.

Additionally, the frequent disruptions to the academic calendar make it difficult for students to plan their education or careers effectively. Constantly adjusting to these interruptions can lead to a lack of motivation, academic disinterest, and even school dropout in some cases.

Moreover, these strikes impact Nigeria’s research output, hampering the country’s potential for innovation and scientific advancement. Research activities often depend on consistent timelines, resources, and student participation—all of which are compromised when strikes disrupt the academic environment. This reduction in research not only limits Nigeria’s academic contributions but also negatively affects its global reputation and diminishes the potential for groundbreaking discoveries.

The economic impact of strikes on Nigeria is equally devastating. When students are kept out of school, parents and guardians face unexpected financial burdens, as they must cater to their children’s extended stay in school. These additional expenses create a strain, particularly for low-income families, who may already be struggling with the high cost of education.

The strikes also prevent graduates from entering the labor market on schedule, resulting in missed economic opportunities for both individuals and the nation. When young people delay their entry into the workforce, Nigeria loses out on potential productivity and economic contributions.

Additionally, the frequent disruption of academic activities deters foreign investment in Nigeria’s education sector. Potential investors and partners are less likely to commit resources to a sector plagued by instability, which further weakens the country’s global competitiveness.

The recurring strikes in Nigeria’s education sector underscore a pressing need for change. To break this cycle, all stakeholders—including the government, educational institutions, and unions—must engage in constructive dialogue and prioritize the needs of students and the nation’s educational stability.

The Nigerian government must allocate more funding to education. These funds should be directed towards addressing infrastructural deficits, improving learning environments, and recruiting qualified staff. Adequate funding will help meet the demands of union members, who rightfully seek better conditions.

Establishing consistent communication between the government, unions, and educational stakeholders will facilitate early resolution of grievances. Regular dialogues can prevent misunderstandings, build trust, and foster a collaborative approach to addressing issues within the education sector.

Rather than resorting to strikes, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms like mediation and arbitration should be prioritised. Such methods offer a way for parties to resolve their differences without disrupting academic activities, ensuring that students’ education is not interrupted by labor disputes.

Effective implementation of education policies, such as the agreement reached between ASUU and the government, is crucial. The government must honor its commitments, as any failure to do so erodes trust and perpetuates the cycle of strikes. Ensuring transparency in policy implementation will build confidence and foster a more stable educational environment.

Nigeria’s education sector is at a critical juncture, and decisive leadership is needed to end the cycle of strikes. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has the unique opportunity to address this issue head-on and leave a lasting impact on the nation’s educational landscape. By prioritising education reforms and implementing sustainable policies, he can help secure a brighter future for Nigeria’s youth.

Ending the strike culture in Nigeria’s education sector would benefit the entire nation. A stable academic calendar would ensure that students graduate on time, enhancing the workforce’s productivity and fostering economic growth. Additionally, a well-functioning education system would attract foreign investment, further boosting Nigeria’s economy.

In conclusion, the government must take a firm stand to resolve the ASUU strike and prevent future disruptions. Education is the foundation of any society, and a country’s growth depends on the development of its youth. We call upon President Tinubu to act swiftly to stabilize Nigeria’s education system. By committing to constructive dialogue, adequate funding, and transparent policy implementation, the government can create an environment where students can thrive without fear of disruption. The future of Nigeria’s education system depends on it.

 Idris wrote from Mass Communication Department, Borno State University.

By Okoh Aihe

The American Elections are over and President Donald Trump won convincingly, literally blowing Kamala Harris out of the political space. The contrarians had their emotional expectations but the big boys who spent their money for Trump and the ordinary folks in the motley crowd had their way.

That is the way of politics.

Some get really hurt badly. That is what happened to the Democratic Party, to those who followed Kamala Harris and her smiles. They would wish they are having a very long sleep where waking up is not going to be immediate.

Anyway, I don’t write politics; I write technology. But permit me to observe that people are attributing Trump’s victory to his unrepentant call for America First and Make America Great Again (MAGA).

He was smart enough to latch on to a new thinking amongst a segment of the American population and there is nothing anybody could do about it. After all, people are free to stick to their various political consciousness and beliefs.

Here is my point of interest this morning. Whether it is the Democrats or the Republicans, it has always been about America, it has always been about Americans, the flag and the country which they believe in and love so much. You can’t begrudge a leader for being lavish in his patriotic beliefs or being nearly psychotic in pursuing the details.

Instead, you blame your leaders for their horrendous policies which destroy every fabric of life, including education and healthcare, policies which pursue the intelligentsia and intellectuals out of their country, to sell their knowledge to countries that appreciate and can pay some life-sustaining amounts for what is despised by their country.

Trump has only accentuated that latent feeling with his maverick nature and star influence – real estate billionaire, billionaire friends with a large crowd who are waiting on the big boys to make choices for them while being allowed to romanticise about their involvement in the process. But let’s return to technology.

Under the title, Technology, always about National Interest, we wrote on March 22, 2023: “For some of these nations, technology is always about national interest irrespective of the government in power. They demonstrate the veracity of the statement, government is a continuum.”

At the time, we tried to demonstrate that no matter the government in power in America, they will always initiate policies that promote the American interest before any other thing or country. We had looked at Trump’s positon on 5G and TIkTok owned  by ByteDance, a Chinese company.

Today we shall add President Joe Biden’s Executive Order on AI and President J. F. Kennedy epochal declaration on Space Technology.  It is always about America First, and please, don’t misunderstand them, as there are different levels of patriotism.

We also gave a list of other countries who had trouble with TikTok by putting their National interest first, not out of spite or arrogated patriotic feelings, but out of pure love for their countries. They include: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Canada, United Kingdom and a host of other countries.

However, let’s restrict our interest to America for the sake of this writing. On September 12, 2019, President Trump took a very strong position on the development and deployment of 5G technology when he said America would never leave the industry to any other country to lead.

At the time, Chinese companies, Huawei and ZTE were in clear lead globally, but Trump applied the brakes. He rallied the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Wireless industry whose promoters readily pledged the sum of $275bn to grow the industry.

“We cannot allow any other country to out-compete the United States in this powerful industry of the future.  We are leading by so much in so many different industries of that type, and we just can’t let that happen.  The race to 5G is a race America must win, and it’s a race, frankly, that our great companies are now involved in.  We’ve given them the incentive they need.  It’s a race that we will win,” he vowed.

Trump didn’t play games or appoint surrogates to drive the American dream. He challenged the industry which responded so spontaneously by pledging hefty investment which they projected could yield 3 million American jobs while adding $500bn to the economy.

Trump’s position on TikTok was not less vehement. August 6, 2020, he signed An Executive Order asking Chinese owners – ByteDance and Zhang Yiming to divest from the video sharing  platform of snackable contents for Americans to take ownership of the company which at the time was worth over $50bn.

There is the fear that the Chinese government laces Chinese equipment and platforms with spyware thus, for instance, making it possible for the Chinese government to exploit its relationship with TikTok to mine data which the company collects from its subscribers and gain an advantage over the US government or spy on journalists who report China, President Trump signed an executive order to the effect that TikTok cedes ownership to American investors. He has since adjusted his position of a complete ban, saying the company needs to exist to resist Facebook, which he described as “enemy of the people.”

This is further fuelled by the fact that China has national security laws that require companies under its jurisdiction to cooperate with broad range of security activities.

June 9, 2021, President Biden rescinded Trump’s Executive Order but continued with the scrutiny of the organisation. He would eventually ban TikTok from government platforms and terminals. He didn’t meddle with the sensitive idea of ownership change. Mind you, Biden didn’t also do anything that could affect Trump’s policy on 5G. It’s actually all about America in taking critical decisions affecting the people. It’s about America First.

On October 30, 2023, Biden issued an Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence. Here is what it says in the introduction: The Executive Order establishes new standards for AI safety and security, protects Americans’ privacy, advances equity and civil rights, stands up for consumers and workers, promotes innovation and competition, advances American leadership around the world, and more.

This wasn’t Trump speaking, it was Biden. Its not about the Democrats or Republicans, it’s about the country and her people. That is what leadership is all about. The people first before pecuniary advantages. In our part of the world, it’s reverse thinking and we blame the world for being unfair, never for once thinking that some of our actions undermine nationhood and the potency of people’s power.

Okay, let’s take a little walk back in time to May 25, 1961, when the race for space was boiling over. In his epochal  Man on the Moon speech, President John F Kennedy, declared: “Space is open to us now; and our eagerness to share its meaning is not governed by the efforts of others. We go into space because whatever mankind must undertake, free men must fully share…

First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

JFK, as he was popularly called, made a veiled reference to the Soviet Union which, in 1957, had sent the Sputnik into space. He challenged and committed America to lead the way, to put a man on the moon not a machine. The feat was achieved on July 20, 1969, when America landed Apollo 11 on the moon.

JFK was a Republican not a Democrat. There are major leadership decisions that must be driven by patriotism and a feeling for the people. The party is irrelevant. The people and country are the only constant in the equation. During the campaigns, Trump reached out to a segment of the people and secured their hearts. They may have helped him to win the elections but what he will do will be for America and Americans.

That formed the nexus of his campaign. There may be a little nastiness in achieving his goals but that is Donald Trump. You cannot change his character but you cannot also put his patriotism to question. It’s all about America, dear friend. Be rest assured a newly fired-up Trump is coming  with a mission where the rest of the world comes a distant second to the patriotic fire burning inside of him which only he can interpret to the rest of the world. 

By Tony Iji

Dr. Sampson Uche Ogah, president/founder of Masters Energy Group, is one of Nigeria’s leading, patriotic, visionary, and risk-tolerant entrepreneurs today. Since leaving office as Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development in 2022, the former senior banker-turned businessman and politician has been channelling all his time, energy and financial resources to repositioning his company for the future.

His objective is to grow his conglomerate, made up of over 15 subsidiaries with interests in multiple sectors, including oil & gas, aviation, real estate, transport, logistics, consumer goods, etc, to the point where it could add significant value to the national economy. Dr. Ogah was neck-deep into the pursuit of this dream when the removal of subsidy on petrol and floating of the Naira mid-last year threw virtually all economic variables and businesses off balance. While many other existing businesses scaled down their operations, shelved expansion plans, or closed shop altogether, the Masters Energy Group founder forged on. Where others bemoaned the problems, he saw prospects and profits. Instead of being deterred by the immediate negative fallouts of the fuel and foreign exchange policies, Dr. Ogah was propelled into action by them.Thus, early this year, Dr. Ogah convened a Masters Energy Group Senior Leadership Strategy Retreat under the theme: “Innovation, Exponential Revenue Growth by Cost Management and New Product Introduction.” The essence of the retreat was for senior and top-level workers at the leadership cadre to deliberate and strategically decide on innovations and initiatives the organisation was implementing to enhance its business operations.“Masters Energy Group is positioning to expand its business, increase presence in the Nigerian market and ultimately achieve an exponential revenue growth through massive investment, partnerships, and new products,” Dr. Ogah told reporters at the end of the retreat. “We want to go into a lot of business that we haven’t been before; that is why we are having this retreat for us to come together to discuss, to strategize on how this year will be better than last year,” Mrs Patience Dappa, the Group Managing Director of Masters Energy, explained. “We all know that subsidy is out of the way, so we need to look at how we can survive and sustain our business without the presence of subsidy.”Pushing against the odds facing the economy has been the focus and preoccupation of Dr. Ogah ever since. Unfortunately, it is obvious that some people are not comfortable with his bold and strategic repositioning of Masters Energy Group to expand its frontiers and support the growth of the economy. They appear resolved to do whatever is possible to distract his attention, sabotage, and, possibly, bring down the Group’s businesses. One of such heinous acts was the recent re-circulation of a nearly 10-year-old video in which the company was wrongly accused of importing expired rice into the country. A source attributed unearthing of the old 2016 video to one Lauretta Onochie, who started circulating it as a new video, presenting it like the company intentionally smuggled in an expired rice into the country to sell.” Ms Onoche, for those who may have forgotten, was the same woman whose nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari as INEC Commissioner was rejected by the Senate following public protests by Nigerians. Later, she was removed from office as Chairperson of NDDC after serving for only few months. Both incidents arose from questions over her integrity.The management of Masters Energy Group has set the records straight. In a public statement, the company categorically denied this claim, describing it as baseless and a falsehood calculated to damage its reputation. The statement said: “Our company ordered some quantity of rice in 2016 with the value of the consignment duly paid. The consignment was inspected and passed by a reputable international inspection agent prior to shipment to Nigeria. However, by the time the consignment arrived Tin Can Island Port Lagos, the restriction by the federal government of Nigeria on the importation of certain goods (among which is rice), famously referred to as Ban on 41 items, had taken effect; so we were unable to clear the containers from the Customs.”We made various appeals and representations to the Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigerian Customs to grant us a window to clear the consignment; but our efforts were of no avail. The consignment was eventually seized by the Customs in August 2016.In 2019 – more than three years after the consignment has been seized – during a working visit to the Tincan port, the then Customs C.G. (Comptroller-General) discovered the abandoned shipment within the premises, which had since deteriorated due to long exposure to heat in the container and other environmental elements. This was first thought to be a fresh import, but further investigation revealed that the containers have long been at the port and the goods degraded due to over-stay at the port. Our company was absolved of culpability.”The company reaffirmed its commitment to upholding the highest quality and ethical standards and full adherence to all import regulations. “At no point did we import, intend to import, or distribute expired rice to the Nigerian market,” it said. The company has assured that it will not be distracted by the schemes of saboteurs from pursuing its expansion programme, which has been progressing smoothly.Indeed, the Nigerian economy is beginning to benefit from Masters Energy Group’s expansion programme as it has given birth to new and enhanced operations as well as new products and services. One of them is the Joint User Hydrant Installation 2 (JUHI-2), Nigeria’s largest aviation fuel depot with a storage capacity of 15 million litres of Jet A1 fuel, which was commissioned this October. The state-of-the-art depot is a partnership between Masters Energy Oil & Gas Ltd, Eterna Plc, Techno Oil, Quest Oil, Rahamaniyya, Ibafon Oil, and First Deep Water Limited. The facility, which spans 46,000 square meters, is set to revolutionize aviation fuel logistics, offering unparalleled efficiency, safety, and cutting-edge technology. The company’s new services in the aviation sector are not limited to airline operators. The company has also extended personalized airport protocol services and exceptional hotel reservations and tour packages to passengers and tourists through its Cardinal Points business arm. It is also offering energy independence to consumers via Masters Energy solar panels. The solar energy services it provides include expert solar installations, supply of premium solar panels and inverters.Masters Energy Group has also expanded its business into logistics and interstate travel services with the launch of Alsa Logistics Limited, marking a significant milestone in its commitment to delivering comprehensive and reliable services across the country. In the area of manufacturing, the conglomerate is also looking to introduce new product lines like household products, with a projection that, by the end of this year, Masters Energy products would be in every household in Nigeria. The company is also considering exploring opportunities in the export business to enable them to overcome challenges associated with high exchange rate. Similarly, the Group is expanding its footprint in the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) business. In 2023, it performed the flag-off of the Masters Energy 40,000 metric tonnes LPG storage facility in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. It hopes to complete it before the end of next year. The company is planning to take the oil and gas downstream market by storm with its massive investment, new products, and innovation. Masters Energy presently has about 300 retail outlets across major cities in Nigeria with not less than 50 more outlets scheduled to come on stream before end of this year. Dr. Ogah is not only focused on growing the company but is also developing its management capacity and capabilities. Only recently , he completed a prestigious leadership programme at the University of Oxford with Honours. The remarkable achievement demonstrates his dedication to personal and professional growth and earned him invaluable insights and advanced skills that will, by extension, greatly benefit the company as it strives for innovation, growth, and success. In the face of all these efforts by Masters Energy Group to support the growth of the Nigerian economy and impact the lives of Nigerians, it’s disheartening seeing some dubious individuals trying to roll back the gains made by patriotic entrepreneurs like Dr. Ogah.