Our former president wants reforms in Nigerian schools

fuad lawal

May 4, 2017 11:45 PM

Obasanjo stated the obvious things, like how this review is important for building a dynamic society.

Former Nigeria president, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has called for review of all academic curricular in the Nigerian University System.

The former President said innovation was needed in the education sector for improved relevance and global competitiveness.

He noted this while chairing the National Universities Commission (NUC) 2nd Quarterly Distinguished Lecture on Thursday, May 4 in Abuja.

The lecture tagged; "On the March to Re-Invent the Curricular of Nigerian Universities for Improved Relevance and Global Competitiveness," was delivered by a former executive secretary of NUC, Professor Peter Okebukola.

Obasanjo said, "Whatever our education is for, I believe one important aspect in a dynamic society or situation is that the curricular must be renovated, invigorated, re-engineered and be made dynamic."

The Executive Secretary of NUC, Professor Abubakar Rasheed said the commission intends to undertake a comprehensive overhaul of the curricular in all academic disciplines in universities.

But when?

It's hard to tell when, considering the duration for 'soon' in Nigeria is anything from six months to six years. Every Nigerian will agree that the Nigerian educational curriculum is completely outdated. A good example is how the average Computer Science graduate probably learned only FORTRAN in school. An old programming language. In fact, the same programming language America used to send the first man to Space.

Hopefully, this actually leads to something meaningful in the nearest future.

fuad lawal