A Proposal for Public Schools -By Olusegun Adeniyi

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?

That was the question posed by the former Chairperson of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mrs Ifueko Omoigui Okauru, on Tuesday in Abuja at a townhall on improving transparency and accountability in basic education in Nigeria. Organised by the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation (SMYF), in collaboration with the MacArthur Foundation to mark World Anti-corruption Day, the theme for the session came by way of a question: “When was the last time a health inspector visited your child’s school?” An investigative report by Cable News on the 2017 health crisis at Queens College provided the case study.

In addition to Omoigui-Okauru—who, aside several other commitments, is the current President of the Queens College Alumni Association—speakers included the Country Director, WaterAid Nigeria, Dr Chichi Aniagolu-Okoye, the UBEC Director of Social Mobilization, Alhaji Bello Kagara, Director of Basic and Secondary Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs Binta Abdulkadir, Programme Officer, Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation, Ms Abiose Adams, Deputy Director and MacArthur Foundation, Mr Dayo Olaide with the SMYF Director of Public Policy Initiative, Mr Amara Nwankpa as moderator. In attendance at the session—which interrogated how stakeholders can act collectively to improve education outcomes nationwide—were key stakeholders in the education sector, teachers and over 80 students from secondary schools in Abuja.

Although Queens College was used as a case study for the event, the incident that led to the unfortunate death of those three young girls, according to Omoigui-Okauru, is symptomatic of the challenge of public school administration in the country, “The lack of accountability in school health management is a collective indictment and directing blame exclusively at one person or institution will not solve the problem,” she said while calling for collective action to ensure increased accountability and transparency in school health management.

Omoigui-Okauru, who revealed that she has met the 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.”

If we are to revamp public school in Nigeria, this is an idea worth considering.