Opinion

Blight Of Nigeria’s Education

Published

7 years ago

August 20, 2018

When the Nigerian education sector is x-rayed, one quickly notices the problems that bedevil it. Our education truly needs holistic remedy to make it what society expects of it.
According to British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) English Dictionary, education encompasses teaching people various subjects at a school or college. Education is also the process through which a person is taught better ways of doing something or even a better way of living.
Hence, education means any form of learning which transforms and adds value to an individual’s life which should lead to the benefit of his family and society at large.
The fact that our institutions of higher learning run courses that are not accredited speaks volumes of the administrative anomaly in our schools.
However, most students enroll in various schools to study law, engineering, medicine and economics etc. Perhaps, they see these courses as the best selling professions, that is, a profession that can lead to gainful employment after graduation. This is so because most Nigerian students believe that the Nigerian environment only favours certain professions.
Meanwhile, there are other selling professions like those in the environmental option like estate management, surveying which could enable graduates become self-employed. For instance, a person in primary school could say he wants to become a doctor without knowing what is required of him before he could be qualified to study such a course later in a tertiary institution. Such a child, when he later gets admission into a secondary school, may not be able to cope with the science subjects that would enable him pursue the career he initially wished for.
Today, much emphasis is placed on trained teachers to teach in schools, that is, teachers with relevant educational qualifications. This has caused many people to bribe their way through schools in order to obtain certificates. Yet, not all trained teachers have the knowledge of teaching. This eventually promotes bribery and corruption which has become the order of the day.
However, to create the much-needed social balance and beat unemployment that is now ravaging the youth, there is need to upgrade technical schools to offer training in various skills.
It is toward breaking the youth unemployment yoke that the learning environment for acquisition should be encouraged with foreign partnership. This will go a long way to decongest the population of students enrolling in our universities, in addition to reducing the number of unemployed youth.
According to a scholar, Robert Owen, environmental conditions determine individual destinies and to improve the lot of the individuals, any reformer must start with recreating the environment to favour the individual.
Now, how do we recreate the environment in our various institutions of higher learning to favour these individuals bearing in mind that facilities in schools make up what is referred to as the environment? How do we put ASUU strike under control knowing full well that strike is a right of every labour union?
In juxtaposing the view of an English clergy, Rev Thomas Malthus, in his book: “Essay On The Principle Of Population,” where he asserted that the population was growing more than the rate at which food is supplied, it becomes clear that our students’ population is growing more than the available educational facilities.
The fact that students’ population is continuously outgrowing educational facilities in Nigerian universities and other institutions of higher learning brings with it economic backlash, as many are unemployed. These unemployed persons, in order to obey the natural law of survival, go into crime as the only way to keep food on their table. This goes a long way to slow down government policy of the day.
As a result, poverty keeps increasing and when proper measures are not taken to correct this imbalance, then, Darwin’s ‘Theory of Succession’ sets in such that it is only the strongest that survives. The big question is, what should be done to correct this imbalance whereby the Nigerian students’ population grows faster than educational facilities?
In Nigeria, birth and death lack proper registration or documentation. This accounts for ghost workers being paid salaries, while many persons including graduates remain unemployed.
However, should birth registration be done electronically alongside finger prints and passport photogragh of Nigerians in such a way that their data become accessible through the internet in similar way information is sourced through Google, this would help to reduce fake declaration of age of workers in government ministries and parastatals and other firms, and create room for youth employment.
Wonukwuru writes from Port Harcourt.

Enyi Wonukwuru

Opinion

A Renewing Optimism For Naira

Published

5 days ago

October 27, 2025

The Tide

Quote:”……in 2024 alone, Nigeria imported N14.14 trillion worth of goods from China, compared to China’s N3 trillion imports from Nigeria.”

Nigeria’s national currency, the Naira, is creating a new buzz as it sets on rising trends following years of astronomical slides in the recent past. Just within a few months ago, naira’s trajectory charted almost a straight course, strengthening from N1,636.71/$ on April 10, 2025, to N1,465.68/$ on October 2, 2025. But financial analysts appear divided over the future fate of the local legal tender.While analysts like the Forbes and Renaissance Capital Africa (RENCAP) deride naira’s current trends as being unsustainable, Bloomberg sees a sunnier side. However, evolving economic landscapes strongly suggest that the naira might be charting a sustainable path of resilience. For more than four decades, the naira had never experienced favourable Foreign Exchange (FX) tussles.

Suffering under skewed supply and demand tensions against foreign currencies, the value of the naira had procedurally depreciated. It got worse when, at the height of subsidized petroleum products import-dependence, subsidies got suddenly withdrawn in May 2023 as the present government took over office. Barring local production of the products, coupled with poor export earnings, demands for scarce foreign currencies surged at all FX windows as product importers competed to make overseas payments. The result was cataclysmic. The naira depreciated rapidly against the dollar, falling from N460.7/$ in May 2023 to N1,706/$ in 2024. Hardships propagated across the entire Nigerian economy in ripples of hyper-inflation as is still being felt. The initial response from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was knee-jerk and unsustainable, as the regulator kept throwing its store of foreign reserve into FX markets to quench the ensuing inferno.

Though the naira showed buoyancy at the expense of depleting reserves, the CBN was criticized against the hopelessness and unsustainability of such artificial floats. Thankfully for the local currency, after months of fire-fighting, the CBN, aided by other lucky developments, may have stumbled unto some formulae to weather the storms. Emerging econometrics now suggest that the economy may be in recovery, and the naira appears to be charting a more optimistic course, even as the apex bank still prods it. The lower oil production data of around one million barrels per day as at May 2023, has improved to around 1.51 million barrels per day at the moment. Surely, the fight against oil thefts is rewarding the economy with surpluses unencumbered by Nigeria’s debt-mortgaged oil futures.bSecondly, a changed petroleum products sourcing landscape, berthed by new-found local refining capacity at Dangote Refinery, if not strengthening the naira, must be tipping the balance of FX pressures in its favour.

While asserting its ability to fully satisfy local demands, the Dangote Refinery also hit a remarkable milestone when it shipped its first cargo of gasoline to the United States of America last month, drawing-in huge FX. Earlier, the refiners had shipped to Asia and West Africa, in a significant shift that has transited Nigeria from being a net-importer of petroleum product, to a net-exporter. Also, improvements in the non-oil exports are increasing the inflow of foreign currencies to Nigeria. Nigerian cocoa and other agro-products especially, got higher demands as crop diseases resulted in poor crop yields in neighboring West African countries. It should be noteworthy that CBN’s experiments with Naira-Yuan trade swaps with China may not have been of much favour. Though on-going trade swap arrangements between Nigerian and China which enable some settlement in naira and yuan, may ease dollar pressures, the huge trade imbalance between Nigeria and China may replace any gains with new yuan pressures.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2024 alone, Nigeria imported N14.14 trillion worth of goods from China, compared to China’s N3 trillion imports from Nigeria.

However, the CBN could be given credits for its bold reforms at the Foreign Exchange market that created a single Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) in October 2023, which replaced the former Investors’ and Exporters’ window, and later adopting the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) in December 2024. These steps successfully narrowed the gap between official FX rates and the black market. Even as the measures may not directly detect the balance of currency demands and supplies, improved transparency and liquidity raised confidence that is boosting foreign remittances via official channels. Added to improved exports, it is evident that the extra liquidity gives spontaneous buoyancy to the naira, in ways CBN’s panicked throwing-in of dollar into FX markets could not have.

This is why, when the CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, announced during the 302nd monetary policy committee meeting that, “The second quarter 2025 current account balance recorded a significant surplus of $5.28 billion compared with $2.85 billion in first quarter of 2025,” there is need for him to identify significant drivers. The CBN deserves commendation also, for incrementally growing Nigeria’s Foreign Reserve savings from $34.39 billion as at May, 2023 to $42.40 as at October 2, 2025. The strength of a nation’s reserves reflects its ability to meet international payment obligations without straining the stability of its legal tender, and also serves as part of risk assessment criteria that determines its borrowing costs. Increasing reserves is projecting greater external resilience for Nigeria, which reflects in Moody’s upgrading, this year, of Nigeria’s rating from ‘Caa1’ to ‘B3.’

With renewed investor confidence, foreign investments may be heading towards Nigeria as ripples from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX) suggest. Following recent interest rate cuts in the US, foreign investors appear to be shifting appetites towards Nigerian portfolios. Improved reserve is also helping Nigeria at the Eurobond market, where the yield rates Nigeria pays on its loans, have fallen from above 8 percent in early 2024 to just over 5 percent by mid-2025. However, even as the N1,706/$ exchange rate of last year, compared to the current N1,465.68/$, may seem cheery, it is still a far cry from the N460.7/$ of May 2023, when this administration took over. Government and the CBN need to push further to shore-up greater reserves, and to build local and international assurances that attract job-creating investments for local production. Comparatively among its pairs, South Africa’s reserve is $70.42 billion, Algeria’s, $64.574 billion and Egypt’s, $49.04 billion.

Nigeria, which is being projected for a $1 trillion economy by 2050, should be focusing on $100 billion external reserves. Apart from reserves, Dangote local refining shows that local production is pivotal to the value of local currencies. Nigeria needs to improve security and infrastructure to reassure subsisting industries, and improve ease of doing business, in order to attract industries. Though Naira’s path of recovery this time is sustainable, the factors that aid it need to be sustained.

By: Joseph Nwankwor

Opinion

Don’t Kill Tam David-West

Published

5 days ago

October 27, 2025

The Tide

Quote:”To erase Tam David-West Boulevard is to tell a dangerous lie about who we are. It is to pretend that we no longer remember honour, that we no longer care about the rare men who made Rivers State proud.”

There are names that do not fade with time — they endure like echoes in the hills of memory, like rivers that never dry. Tamunoemi Sokari David-West is one such name. To attempt to erase it from the map of Rivers State is to wound the spirit of remembrance itself. The deliberate removal of the steel signs that once declared Tam David-West Boulevard is no mere act of neglect — it is a betrayal of history, an unspoken attempt to silence a voice that still teaches us what integrity means. For Tam David-West was not just a man; he was a moral compass in flesh and bone. His life was a lantern held high in a country struggling to see itself clearly. From the quiet sanctums of the University of Ibadan to the volatile chambers of power in Lagos and Abuja, he walked unbent — the scholar who would not sell truth, the minister who would not mortgage his soul. To erase his name from a road in the land of his birth is to declare that virtue is no longer welcome here.

That road — the grand link between NTA road and the Port Harcourt International Airport — was named after him for a reason. It symbolized movement, progress, and passage. Tam David-West was himself a bridge: between science and service, intellect and honesty, courage and humility. To strike out that name is to tear down the bridge between our noble past and the moral future we still hope to build. When Nigeria’s oil wealth became the golden snare that trapped men’s conscience, Tam David-West stood apart. As Minister of Petroleum, he refused the seductive gifts of oil magnates; he declined privileges that came wrapped in corruption. He wore simplicity like a medal, and truth like a robe. In an age of thieves, he remained a teacher. In a field of compromises, he remained whole. Shall we now bury that lesson beneath the dust of forgetfulness? A city tells its story through its street names.

Names are not just labels — they are memory made visible, value made public. To erase Tam David-West Boulevard is to tell a dangerous lie about who we are. It is to pretend that we no longer remember honour, that we no longer care about the rare men who made Rivers State proud. History does not forgive such silences. This quiet removal of his name is not accidental. It is the work of small minds afraid of great examples. It is an unholy attempt to kill memory because it still condemns mediocrity. But let them know — Tam David-West cannot be erased. His truth was not written on road signs alone; it is engraved on the conscience of all who ever believed that public service could be clean.He was a son of Buguma, a prince of the Kalabari Kingdom, yet he carried his royalty lightly. His true crown was knowledge; his true sceptre was conviction. As a virologist, he studied the world of unseen forces; as a statesman, he confronted the visible viruses of greed and hypocrisy.

Even when power imprisoned him, it could not diminish him. He emerged, as always, with his dignity intact.This fight is not for a signboard. It is for remembrance — for the preservation of a moral landmark. When a people begin to uproot the monuments of their best men, they invite darkness upon their future. When we forget Tam David-West, we lose not only a name but a mirror: the reflection of what Rivers people once were — strong, principled, unbending in truth. Once upon a time, Rivers State was the cradle of conscience — the home of Okilo, Obi Wali, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Diete-Spiff, and Tam David-West. They were the pillars of our collective dignity. To erase one is to weaken the others. We cannot afford to become a generation that builds roads but destroys remembrance. A city that forgets its heroes soon forgets itself. Today, the boulevard stands in silence.

The proud steel markers have been hewn down, yet a few businesses still bear his name — small flames of resistance in the wind of revision. Their signboards still whisper, Tam David-West Boulevard, as if the very ground remembers the truth the government forgets. Perhaps the asphalt itself mourns, but it also remembers. We owe it to our children to lift his name again — not only in metal and paint, but in civic memory. Let those signs rise taller, brighter, unashamed. Let them tell every traveller on that road that once there lived a Rivers man who served with clean hands, who spoke truth to power, who never bowed to corruption. That, indeed, is the Rivers spirit — fearless, dignified, incorruptible.“Don’t kill Tam David-West!” is not only a plea; it is a command from the heart of history. It is a cry against forgetfulness. It is a reminder that integrity is the greatest heritage any people can keep.

When we defend his name, we defend our own possibility of goodness. When we erase him, we erase a piece of our own honour. So let the signs return. Let the name Tam David-West Boulevard shine once more at NTA Road and Omagwa Roundabout. Let Rivers State rise above pettiness and reclaim its conscience. For names like Tam David-West do not die — they only wait for courage to call them back. To kill Tam David-West is to kill the Rivers soul. And that, we must never do.Amieyeofori Ibim is a seasoned Journalist, political analyst and public affairs commentator.

By: Amieyeofori Ibim

Opinion

Fuel Subsidy Removal and the Economic Implications for Nigerians

Published

1 week ago

October 24, 2025

The Tide

From all indications, Nigeria possesses enough human and material resources to become a true economic powerhouse in Africa. According to the National Population Commission (NPC, 2023), the country’s population has grown steadily within the last decade, presently standing at about 220 million people—mostly young, vibrant, and innovative. Nigeria also remains the sixth-largest oil producer in the world, with enormous reserves of gas, fertile agricultural land, and human capital.

Yet, despite this enormous potential, the country continues to grapple with underdevelopment, poverty, unemployment, and insecurity. Recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS, 2023) show that about 129 million Nigerians currently live below the poverty line. Most families can no longer afford basic necessities, even as the government continues to project a rosy economic picture.

The Subsidy Question

The removal of fuel subsidy in 2023 by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been one of the most controversial policy decisions in Nigeria’s recent history. According to the president, subsidy removal was designed to reduce fiscal burden, unify the foreign exchange rate, attract investment, curb inflation, and discourage excessive government borrowing.

While these objectives are theoretically sound, the reality for ordinary Nigerians has been severe hardship. Fuel prices more than tripled, transportation costs surged, and food inflation—already high—rose above 30% (NBS, 2023). The World Bank (2023) estimates that an additional 7.1 million Nigerians were pushed into poverty after subsidy removal.

A Critical Economic View

As an economist, I argue that the problem was not subsidy removal itself—which was inevitable—but the timing, sequencing, and structural gaps in Nigeria’s implementation.

Structural Miscalculation

Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries remain nonfunctional. By removing subsidies without local refining capacity, the government exposed the economy to import-price pass-through effects—where global oil price shocks translate directly into domestic inflation. This was not just a timing issue but a fundamental policy miscalculation.

Neglect of Social Safety Nets

Countries like Indonesia (2005) and Ghana (2005) removed subsidies successfully only after introducing cash transfers, transport vouchers, and food subsidies for the poor (World Bank, 2005). Nigeria, however, implemented removal abruptly, shifting the fiscal burden directly onto households without protection.

Failure to Secure Food and Energy Alternatives

Fuel subsidy removal amplified existing weaknesses in agriculture and energy. Instead of sequencing reforms, government left Nigerians without refinery capacity, renewable energy alternatives, or mechanized agricultural productivity—all of which could have cushioned the shock.

Political and Public Concerns

Prominent leaders have echoed these concerns. Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, described the subsidy removal as “good but wrongly timed.” Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party also faulted the government’s hasty approach. Human rights activists like Obodoekwe Stive stressed that refineries should have been made functional first, to reduce the suffering of citizens.

This is not just political rhetoric—it reflects a widespread economic reality. When inflation climbs above 30%, when purchasing power collapses, and when households cannot meet basic needs, the promise of reform becomes overshadowed by social pain.

Broader Implications

The consequences of this policy are multidimensional:

Inflationary Pressures – Food inflation above 30% has made nutrition unaffordable for many households.
Rising Poverty – 7.1 million Nigerians have been newly pushed into poverty (World Bank, 2023).
Middle-Class Erosion – Rising transport, rent, and healthcare costs are squeezing household incomes.
Debt Concerns – Despite promises, government borrowing has continued, raising sustainability questions.
Public Distrust – When government promises savings but citizens feel only pain, trust in leadership erodes.

In effect, subsidy removal without structural readiness has widened inequality and eroded social stability.

Missed Opportunities

Nigeria’s leaders had the chance to approach subsidy removal differently:

Refinery Rehabilitation – Ensuring local refining to reduce exposure to global oil price shocks.
Renewable Energy Investment – Diversifying energy through solar, hydro, and wind to reduce reliance on imported petroleum.
Agricultural Productivity – Mechanization, irrigation, and smallholder financing could have boosted food supply and stabilized prices.
Social Safety Nets – Conditional cash transfers, food vouchers, and transport subsidies could have protected the most vulnerable.

Instead, reform came abruptly, leaving citizens to absorb all the pain while waiting for theoretical long-term benefits.

Conclusion: Reform With a Human Face

Fuel subsidy removal was inevitable, but Nigeria’s approach has worsened hardship for millions. True reform must go beyond fiscal savings to protect citizens.

Economic policy is not judged only by its efficiency but by its humanity. A well-sequenced reform could have balanced fiscal responsibility with equity, ensuring that ordinary Nigerians were not crushed under the weight of sudden change.

Nigeria has the resources, population, and resilience to lead Africa’s economy. But leadership requires foresight. It requires policies that are inclusive, humane, and strategically sequenced.

Reform without equity is displacement of poverty, not development. If Nigeria truly seeks progress, its policies must wear a human face.

References

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). (2023). Poverty and Inequality Report. Abuja.
National Population Commission (NPC). (2023). Population Estimates. Abuja.
World Bank. (2023). Nigeria Development Update. Washington, DC.
World Bank. (2005). Fuel Subsidy Reforms: Lessons from Indonesia and Ghana. Washington, DC.
OPEC. (2023). Annual Statistical Bulletin. Vienna.

By: Amarachi Amaugo