Education Crisis in Africa reflects chronic leadership failure

IN THE NEWS

REPORT OF EXPANSION OF THE ACTIVITIES OF PAN AFRICA CHILDREN ADVOCACY WATCH,(PACAW, Inc.) TO ANOTHER REGION -- DELTA STATE-- IN NIGERIA IN SEPTEMBER 2018.

THIS REPORT IS PROVIDED BY MR. SUNDAY OMOLU, PRESIDENT OF THE OLISE - OMOLU FOUNDATION THAT PACAW, Inc. COLLABORATED WITH.

VISIT OF DR. S. A. AYENI, PRESIDENT/ FOUNDER OF PAN AFRICA CHILDREN ADVOCACY WATCH, AN NGO BASED IN MARYLAND, USA TO OUR FOUNDATION’S PILOT PROJECTS AT EZIONUM, DELTA STATE

Sunday Omolu

Oct 31, 2018, 7:47 AM

to Teslim, Taiye, Ayodeji, Taiwo, me, Ngover, inya.oti, Bola

My Dear Supporters/Benefactors,

I refer to the above. You would recall that I earlier informed you of this visit. The visit has come and gone leaving in its trail profound impact on child education at Ezionum. Against all dissuasions from his loved ones, Dr Ayeni came on this visit. By this visit, he walked the talk. He drove the point home that his love for the emancipation of the children of Africa ensnared by illiteracy is total. He made it plain that his desire for the well being of the coming generation is not an affectation but is as natural as breathing. Dr Ayeni is the author of a soul- searching book‘RESCUE THYSELF’ which I am making available to you very soon.

A recap. This outing at Ezionum was bankrolled by PAN AFRICA CHILDREN ADVOCACY WATCH (PACAW), an NGO based in Maryland, USA. Its President/Founder Dr. S. A. Ayeni, a Nigerian who is a Neuro Surgeon has been in the US since 1975. He left the comfort of his home in God’s own country to malarial Ezionum. We have been exchanging emails and phone calls these five years and more. But we had not set eyes on each other until about 8pm on

17th September, 2018 at Port Harcourt International airport, where I have gone to pick him. It was his very first visit to that part of Nigeria.
Few days before our maiden meeting, he had transferred over a N1.2 million to our Foundation to make available the following critical school supplies to the three schools at Ezionum – five thousand exercise books, desks/chairs to sit eighty children, nine footballs and twenty-eight football jerseys. The trust that informed the ferrying of such amount of money to someone you did not know from Adam, to use the cliché, stands out. Remember, I have stated above that it was only on 17th September, 2018 that we met in person for the first time.

For two weeks running, Dr. S A Ayeni and I traversed Delta State. He saw at first hand the squalid conditions of our schools (some scenes almost drew his tears) like the Physics Lab at Ezionum secondary school. He was brutally frank when he said that the difference between the Physics Lab and a dustbin is just the difference between six and half a dozen. He promised that as soon as his foundation has enough funds, he will address the lack of a state of the art science laboratory. One question he kept on asking me throughout the duration of our visit was: “SUNDAY, IF YOU HAD NOT INTERVENED, WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE FATE OF THESE SCHOOLS.” Let me state clearly that in these five years that I have been treading this path of encouraging some of theout-of-school children to ‘return’ to school (with your very generous supports), no outing has been as impactful on Ezionum community as this.

Pan Africa Children Advocacy Watch (PACAW) through its President/Founder, Dr Ayeni, rekindled the interest of the out-of-school children at Ezionum in education; drummed the idea that education is it into the ears of those parents who were previously not keen on sending their wards to school. This objective was hugely achieved if we are to go by the number of children that resumed in the second week of resumption this just commenced school year.

We were told that in the past, the King had to instruct the town crier to alert members of the community that schools have re-opened otherwise there will be no children to teach. But this time, because of the availability of amenities that make schooling at that level tick, no one needed to be reminded to be at school. Darius Lyman has written that a gift in season is double favour to the needy.

Could you please join me in saying Well Done to Dr Ayeni and PAN AFRICA CHILDREN ADVOCACY WATCH (PACAW).
And as if the great things he did at Ezionum were not enough, Dr Ayeni still donated eighty-five copies of a very important Scientific Journal - NATURE - to the Delta State University, Abraka. Before he made the donation of the Journals, Dr. Ayeni had a day before went round the University Library and discovered that the few copies of the Journal there were 1991 editions. He donated 2016 and 2017 editions of the journal. The Librarian Professor S. O. Uwaifo was so elated when we kept the appointment of presenting the Journals that he had to interrupt the meeting his Vice Chancellor, Professor Victor Peretomode was having with a

phone call to alert him of the generous donation by Dr. Ayeni of the highly revered journal. The VC was equally happy and expressed his gratitude to Dr. Ayeni for the donation of the very useful journal.
On another subject (but related to child education). November 20th, 2018 is Universal Children’s Day marked every November 20th by the United Nations. It is the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and on the same day in 1989, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the “Rights of the Child.” To revive the Reading Culture, and above all, to introduce the children to reading,OLISE OMOLU FOUNDATION is organizing a ‘READING COMPETITION’ for fifteen primary schools in the local government area where our pilot projects are located. Our budget for prizes to be awarded to outstanding children and logistics etc for the exercise is N100,000.00. You have been wonderful partners in this project of reducing the number of out-of-school children. We remain very grateful.

Our account details are:
ACCOUNT NAME: OLISE OMOLU FOUNDATION BANK: UBA PLC
ACCOUNT NO.: 10 21 35 70 25

OCTOBER 6, 2017.

INFRASTRUCTURE DEFICITS IN THE NATIONS OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA AND THE PROFOUND NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON EDUCATION

There is a strong correlation between infrastructure and development in any nation. Poor infrastructure has, unfortunately, been the hallmark of most of the nations of Sub-Saharan Africa. Very little attention has been paid to the building of the infrastructure of these nations after they attained independence from the European colonial masters. This neglect has contributed significantly to the poverty of these nations.

Most of the leaders of the nations of Sub-Saharan Africa would rather pillage the treasuries of their nations, fatten their overseas bank accounts and multiply their private aircrafts and other ephemeral possessions than take care of millions of their impoverished citizens.

No malfeasance by the leaders of Sub-Saharan Africa has resulted in, and continues to produce more irreparable damage to the essence of the “being” of the people of these nations than the collapse of their educational institutions at all levels. This calamity may be the greatest impediment to elevating many of these nations from the “bottom billion.” Why is that? Because the absence of quality education and the prominence of mis-education constitute permanent roadblocks to the maturation and attainment of the full potential of that unique gift of nature, the human brain. 

Below is the link to the article titled: How Bright Is Africa's Future by Geoff Hill, distinguished author, journalist and former African Bureau Chief for The Washington Times.

http://theinspiredafrica.com/2017/09/05/bright-africs-future/

The article is as touching and revealing ass much as its sadness. Sub-Saharan Africa certainly needs a new generation of selfless, visionary patriots. Hopefully we will find them among the children.

This article was published on Medium.com platform on Oct 3, 2022

Why President Biden’s White House Should Cancel The December 13–15, 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.

One of the most impactful African policy decisions President Biden’s administration can and should make is to cancel the December 13–15, 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.

Moving ahead with the Summit will:

a. Reveal a lack of understanding of the fundamental issues regarding failure of poverty alleviation by foreign benefactors in several failed States in Africa.

b. Clearly demonstrate failure of the Biden Administration to learn from the failure of the efforts of former Administrations who used a similar playbook.

c. Demonstrate indifference to the unrelenting pain, suffering and injustice imposed on the majority — the forlorn figures — in the continent by the oligarchs, dictators and kleptocrats.

d. Unwittingly preserve the participation of the United States in this carousel of fruitless “triangular” Africa head of States regular or periodic summits in Washington DC, Beijing and New Delhi.

Deja Vu

From August 4–6, 2014, during President Obama’s Administration, the US — Africa Summit took place in Washington, DC. Forty-five heads of African nations accompanied by scores of entourage participated in the Summit.

The August 4 “Signature events” included Investing in Women, Peace and Prosperity, Investing in Health, Investing in Africa’s Future, Resilience and Food Security in a Changing Climate and Combatting Wildlife Trafficking.

My goodness; what a mouthfull to chew on in one day, let alone digest, comprehend, conceptualize and then activate — a tall order indeed even for the truly committed.

Apart from improvement in women participation in politics and public service in several nations in Africa, (And it would be awfully hard for the Summit to claim credit for this trend) no fruits have sprouted from the other items in the “Signature Events”.

The August 6 sessions included one that was “focussed on how to enhance governance in order to deliver services to citizens, attract and prepare for increased domestic and foreign direct investment, manage transnational threats and stem the flow of illicit finance”.

Whoa !!! Just a few hours in a conference hall in Washington, DC to accomplish all of the above?

In the eight years since the summit was held, just look at the trajectory of all basic indices of development in African nations. The paucity of clean running water, reliable electricity supply, infrastructure, public safety, agriculture, viable healthcare systems, honest governance and conflict resolution etc. Progress in these critical areas is few and far between if at all.

In the past three years, there have been six coup d’etats in Africa. In Mali, Guinea, Chad, Sudan and twice so far this year in Burkino Fasso. And in March 2021, there was a failed coup attempt in Niger.

Should anything more be said about the unworthiness of these Summits?

CONTEMPORARY AFRICA’S DANCE WITH THE EAST

The India-Africa Forum Summit was started by former Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh in 2008. The third summit of the forum was held in New Delhi from October 29–30, 2015. Fifty-four sovereign African nations were represented, forty-one of them by their heads of State and their entourage.

The first Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) took place in Beijin, China in 2000. Since then, China’s footprint in Africa is gargantuan. “China’s Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa” is the title of Howard French’s 2014 book. It speaks volumes about the profundity of the negative consequences of leadership failure in Africa.

Despite the frequent flights unto the wings of “saviors” in search of the golden goose for development from outside her precious 1.3 billion African brains, Africa remains firmly planted at the basement of human development.

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY FOR PRESIDENT BIDEN’S WHITE HOUSE

At some point, sooner or later, a new crop of African leaders will stop this demeaning and disgraceful packing of the bags of heads of States of an entire continent to meet with officials of a single country, no matter how powerful that country is.

Do the heads of States of other continents with multiple nations; South America, North America, Europe or Asia engage in this type of pathetic low expectation behavior?

Real friends of Africa who wish well the hundreds of millions in the continent trapped in grinding poverty should tell African leaders to get to work. They should be told to apply their bottoms to the chairs in their homeland and “Rescue Themselves” using that most precious gift of nature — their own brains.

The way to strengthen ties with Africa is not to encourage their leaders to spend tens, maybe hundreds of millions of dollars for a three day photo-up and shopping in Washington, DC. Money which they don’t really have and if at all they do, should be better spent on fixing the monumental deficits they face at home.

Also of note is the fact that these African heads of States and their entourage have just spent millions of dollars to attend the 77th session of United Nations General Assembly in New York City from September 13–27, 2022.

African leaders must be told emphatically to own the circumstances of their nations, own the solutions and commit their natural and human resources to change the miserable circumstances for the better FROM WITHIN.

Your feedback, positive or critical is welcome.

Sylvanus A. AYENI, M.D.

President & Founder, PACAW, Inc.