What Shekarau needs to do at Education

His two tenures as governor of Kano from 2003 to 2011 however brought mixed results, even with the initial optimism that as a former teacher, education would receive massive boost in his tenure.  Malam Shekarau, who was inaugurated on Wednesday as the Minister of Education, recorded some achievements in the area of primary and secondary […]

His two tenures as governor of Kano from 2003 to 2011 however brought mixed results, even with the initial optimism that as a former teacher, education would receive massive boost in his tenure.  Malam Shekarau, who was inaugurated on Wednesday as the Minister of Education, recorded some achievements in the area of primary and secondary education, especially in terms of infrastructure development.
In the area of tertiary education however, the state owned tertiary institutions experienced some difficulties, infrastructural decay, poor academic staff welfare, and incessant strike actions were the hallmark of his administration. It was open secret that many colleges were known to conduct lectures under trees during his time.
In 2009/2010, I was part of the struggle then as a student leader against the Kano government for its inability to resolve the incessant strike actions by staff of the state-owned tertiary institutions. I can vividly recall that protests were organized by us, Aminu Kano College of Islamic and Legal Studies students and Kano State Polytechnic students after we spent nearly a year feeling the brunt of the strike by the academic staff of the schools. That strike lingered on until May 2011 when the present administration of Kwankwaso came to power. Shekarau even though was a former teacher himself called the bluff of the lecturers by calling their demands “outrageous”.
My hope and prayer this time around is for the new minister to turn a leaf and quickly resolve the present strike action by Academic Staff of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education. I hope that in the next 9 or so months that he will be Minister of Education before the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan ends, Shekarau would usher in positive changes in the education sector in Nigeria.

Rabiu Shamma, Kano < [email protected]>;