INTERVIEW.
Professor Musa Alabe is a professor of Engineering with some impeccable records of success. He established and headed the Faculty of Engineering at Bayero University Kano before coming back to his home state Yobe where he took over as the Vice Chancellor of the state owned University and built it from the scratch into a world-class university, one of the fastest growing universities in Nigeria.
Though professor Alabe resigned as the Vice Chancellor after a few months into his second tenure during the Ibrahim Gaidam tenure as governor, his track records however influenced Gov. Mai Mala Buni’s decision to call him back to the services of the state in the capacity of the Executive Secretary of the State Universal Basic Education following the declaration of the State of Emergency on Education in the state by Gov. Buni. His appointed generated mixed opinions as many regarded it as a demotion to head such a board having served as a Vice Chancellor but Prof. Alabe took the humble pie and resumed as the board chairman and has even taken up teaching at the primary school in the state.
In this Exclusive Interview with ImpactOnlineNigeria in Damaturu, the Yoruba born Kanuri Professor explained how the sickness of education in Yobe State has been diagnosed by Gov. Mai Mala Buni in less than one year. That diagnosis he explained has culminated into a strategic plan which include the establishment of some Model and Mega Primary Schools in the State which according to him is a panacea of changing the narrative of the current abysmal primary education in the state.
Tell me about these Mega Primary schools you are planning to establish and how they are going to change the narratives of foundational or primary education in Yobe State?
PROF: You know we in Yobe State are faced with a lot of problems in the primary sector of education. These are inherited problems. Now when you are faced with a problem, the first stage is to do a full analysis and I think the stage was set when His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni declared the state of emergency on Basic education in the state. A committee was formed and analysis was done, that analysis is the first stage towards solving any problem; it is called diagnoses. In medicine once you are well diagnosed you already know half of your solution.
How do they call it in engineering sir?
PROF:
In engineering we call it troubleshoot. Troubleshooting helps you in finding the cause of the problem and when you are certain that you have troubleshoot you now go into finding solution to the problem. All the times we waste our time solving symptoms. So, what we did during the emergency submit was to find the root causes of the problems of primary education in the state. So now, we have identify the root causes, what remains now is to apply the solution. As it is now, we have already solved half of the problems. In applying the solution, you have to plan stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, stage 4 and that comes through the strategic planning which we are going to lunch in the next two weeks and all of you will be invited to come and witness the occasion, that explains the solution level of our crisis that we are in.
Can you go specific to some of the solutions please
PROF: Now part of the solution is having some Model Schools. We are looking at them as model because, when you say something is model, it is of high standard and a reference point that people copy. So we want all our schools if possible to copy these model schools in line with their concepts. So we now have seven in place which have taking over, two in Potiskum, one in Damaturu, one in Gujuba, one in Nguru, one in Gaidam and one in Buniyadi making it seven. The syllabuses we will be using for these schools is that of El- Kanami College Maiduguru. I integrates both the formal and Islamic into one. So it models along El-Kanami College Maiduguri. The essence is to integrate the Islamic and formal education. Let me tell you the main reason is that we want to change the two way system of schooling that we have here. When our kids go to school and come back in the afternoon they change their uniform and take another step by going to Islamiya school. So we felt that is distraction and we felt it better to integrate that. Give them all what you want to give them in one place so that by the time they come back in the afternoon they will relax. And whatever they are missing in the Islamiyia is now been integrated to the formal schools. So it is now a one school just like the El-Kanami is doing, they don’t have two schooling system, they only have one integrated schooling system and that is what we are basically trying to do. So if that is the model, we will now apply it, employ staff why we are still also taking care of the other public schools we are now working on, rehabilitation, production of tables, and recruitment of teachers, training and retraining teachers will continue. While these ones servers as models, we cannot change the situations of these other public schools instantly we have to gradually refashioning them and improve on them to meet up with the model ones because we already have a standard. We will look at what is happening and apply it gradually to see how it is working and improving them to met up with standard.
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| Prof. Musa Alabe, Executive Secretary Yobe Universal Basic Education Board. |
What is the difference between the Model and the Mega Schools. Is it not a duplication?
PROF: NO, its not a duplication. The Mega schools are bigger than the Model schools but fashion the same way. You cannot find mega schools in the villages or in a small populated local government, mega schools will only be in the urban areas. First, it will help to decongest. Secondly, it will serve as model school. We felt subsequently our model and mega schools are supposed to be model for the state. The state has not got any standard before, but after we finished these, when you come to Yobe, at least we can show you that this is our dream. This is what we dream to reach other schools have not reached to this level but it is our dream that in the future we will balance up and come to that stage.
So the mega will be how many?
PROF: For now there will be seven mega schools and seven model schools.
So apart from changing the islamiyia structure and collapsing it into a dual curriculum, what other special model will be adopted in the schools?
PROF: The science are there, they are fully equipped with science equipment. The technical aspect is equipped with ICT computers they are all available not only in the model schools but also in the other schools.
What plan is the state having in terms of recruitments for these Model and Mega schools?
PROF: We are going to have serious recruitment drive. These recruitment drive will be in line with international standard. So if you know you are not qualify don’t waste your time. It is devoid of political godfatherism , devoid of nepotism and devoid of favouritism. We don’t want to favour anybody, we just want to have the best for Yobe and that is the instruction of His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Yobe State, Hon. Mai Mala Buni. He said his next level, Mai Mala next level, we should be doing things in line with the national and international standard if a person is qualified even if he/she is not from Yobe state we can employ them on contract to come and teach and if you are not qualify and just because you are from Yobe doesn’t give you the ticket for you to be employed because if others are doing the same we won’t have taking our kids to their place. It is because they kept the standard that’s why everybody is rushing there. If we really want to maintain our standard then we really have to adopt some strict measures but it is a storm everybody knows this is political era where people come in with their brother and sisters to be employed and people come with their kids to be admitted to schools because they are political big wig but that is not going to happen. We have told them and they have agreed. The only way is to change the narrative and think outside the box so, what we are doing now is outside the box it is no longer business as usual. Because you said the state is in the state of emergency so even if you are sick and you go to the hospital and you said you are in the state of emergency you get special treatment, doctors rushing over you bringing more drugs drips here and there to sustain you because your life is in danger. That is how we classified the education sector in the state. We said the education is the state of emergency, so it means we cannot apply the normal narrative.
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| A prototype of some of the proposed Mega Primary Schools to be constructed in Yobe State |
Ok sir, these schools, how soon will these schools take off?
PROF: Well you know resources are needed, the physical structure is now there; then we have to secure the environment to ensure there is sound security system around them and then we make sure all the equipment are there then, the next is the employment of the personnel both teaching and non-teaching staff because we need matron so on and so forth we be recruited and then integrated into the system and then we will flag off the model schools. It is not easy and it is stage by stage.
So what is your time line?
PROF: I wouldn’t like to say because it is a board. As you are talking to me now, one of my board member is here and is listening so we are now going to start thinking and drafting the timetable and put it in the plan to work along that line what have we done now, when are we taking off and so on responsibilities are still going on, we want to take over. Now we are putting in the security all around the system now. So let me say, we hope to take over and start by next semester with COVID 19 allowing the space maybe before December we hope to start the first face.
Has the COVID 19 period given you an opportunity to plan better certain things that were challenges you would have been doing as at the time schools are in session, can you just maybe, if such a thing is going on in terms of building, renovations and other things that would have disrupted academic activities why these are going on? Are you taking advantage of this situation to carry out certain things?
Unfortunately, COVID 19 do not discriminate between young and old, professional and non-professional, it affects everybody so everything was close down so even during the COVID 19 you cannot start doing one thing or the other. Even work they are say from grade level 12 down ward should stay at home and not come to work only level 14 and above that should come to work. It is a huge challenge, it is something that has not happen for a very long time. The last time we had such challenge was in 1918, that is exactly 102 years ago so most of us that are alive now have not witness this only about 1 or 2 people I saw on the television 103 year old woman who survived that 1918 and she survived this one. So this scenario we are having on Corona virus has never been experienced and up till now we are not sure of the clear picture of what is going to happen but, the lockdown is going to be relaxed after the 21st of this month when flight will resume between Lagos and Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, Cross River and Enugu so now with this opening of the 5 airports, maybe lifting of the restriction between states, life has started returning back to normal. So we hope that we also we sit down and discuss how we want our schools to reopen because by next week I want to book an appointment with the COVID 19 committee to see what we can do if we are to reopen our schools.
The presidential task force on COVID 19 has said states should take charge on some of those things. So we want to met with the COVID 19 committee to discuss on how we will reopen our school because what we have is a serious crisis.
How would you ensure social distancing in the schools when they eventually resume
PROF: In a case where you have 250 students per class where do the social distancing begins and ends. I give you an examples, Sweden have opened schools but have to close down the schools again because life was extremely difficult for the kids. In one classes they are just about 10 or 15 students per class then you see social distancing this one is there the other is there and they divided the class. Despite that, they put a red line in the middle of the class. This section will not cross over to this section, you will not hug each other, you will not touch each other even when they are playing, you will be on the playground with one equipment and you should make sure you don’t come close to each other. So the restrictions were so much that even the parents refused to agreed with this kind of rules and regulations to safeguard their wards at long last, it failed woefully and then they just close the schools. We are going to face much… difficulties but what we intend to do is to propose these, we have to go with the solutions. We have to go out with buckets around, carry out orientation for the schools that every child which means there is no school that will not have buckets and enough water which means this is our responsibility now, schools that don’t have water before now we must ensure they have water. So constant washing, when you are in school you must wash your hands at least six times. It will be place in such a way that every student will come and wash their hands at least six times. Now, we must provide the locally manufactured face masks for them and they must wash it on a daily basis when they go home. Again, we must made hand sanitizers available to every school. These are all challenges that we must overcome. Then greatest problem as I always said is social distancing. This is something that has no solution because already we are in deep problem pertaining to the space that will accommodate our students in one class. Places like Ari-Kime in potiskum with a total population of over 18 thousand students. So it make life so difficult, we have to think of a way out. It is a crisis but it throw up some challenges which need solutions. Alternatively, maybe we have to create morning and afternoon sessions apart from morning and afternoon sessions, we have to build temporally learning centres. In fact let me tell you, this COVID 19 is going to be a blessing to us rather than disadvantage.
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| Administrative view of the proposed Yobe Mega Primary School. |
How?
PROF: If we have been shouting and crying for temporary learning centres before, and we are not getting attention the COVID 19 will make it compulsory, we have to source for resources, we have to press our NGOs like UNICEF. We have to live what we were doing before and concentrate on decongestion as a way of solving the problem.
How would the temporally learning centres look like?
PROF: You make roof and build it with half way with iron rods as pillars and equip them with plastic seats because these are temporary learning centres and these cost about 1.5 million naira. You can build them in a week as many as possible so these are what we have been looking for and we have not been able to get them and COVID 19 has made it possible for us to get these 20 per school decongestion will quickly take place and learning will improve and of course there are disadvantage.
Apart from decongestion and getting these, do you also need personnel to mount the temporally learning centres?
Of course, the other challenges are that of the teaching staff. There are even schools with only one teacher per school in Yobe that are many. Do you know what? If you decide to disengage this one teacher because you found him capable of not able to teach these kids you will leave the schools empty and you will not have a replacement in the near future because it is subject of processing by the state government. So you will expose the kid to no teacher. So we are between the devil and the deep blue sea. We are thinking of recruiting 1,000 teachers so that is one of the answer to your question. So this will complement to what we have.
How many do you have?
PROF: When you asked how many do we have here in Yobe, we have a large number but if I give you the number you will think that will have a enough staff because most of them are not qualified that is why I am withholding from committing all the numbers because when I tell you people will start saying that ok you have enough teachers but why are you complaining. So what we have is just a name, they just don’t know anything infact I don’t know the appropriate word to call them. But we have solve half of the problem because, we have diagnosed the problem so we have the solutions at hand and we have taken care of all the symptoms and we have now known the root cause. Before we came, It was the symptoms that were been treated and that is why we have been always sick. But right now, we have known our problems and when we apply the solution, you will see that we will get well. That is why when I came on board I added responsibilities to myself to go and teach to show them that if you need to revive the whole system you need to also involved in teaching. It is not just sitting at the centre and be administering. So by going back to the class room I now find the decay. You will never know how much we have decayed in everything, in concept and in content except you involve yourself in that teaching. We have decayed in both concept and in content. My going back to the class make the teachers also proud, most people look down upon primary school teachers as just, let me say some non-entities, they don’t regard them. Go to the primary school and teach because they see it as the lowest profession you can take. But why people have advanced in advance countries like Sweden, Japan and Germany you can’t just leave here and go and become a teacher even if you are a graduate they will drill you in such a way that, they will push you out if you are not qualify to teach in their kids. You must be A even in Turkey when they want to take an economic teacher you must be the one that scored A in the class. They will go for A,A,A first class then they will now shortlist all those with A grads in Mathematics, English, Geography, Religious studies. They are the one that are mark for teaching profession with salary that even an engineer cannot boost of. They are the highest paid. Even in Britain, Germany, Sweden, Japan among others teachers are the most paid and respected, when you are in a bus once a teacher comes in you have to give he/she seat to show you how much they respect their teachers. So what do we see as the consequences of their actions, they are already advance, they are the one that we feel they have gone ahead , we are looking upon to them as role models and then what are we doing here at home. Unfortunately, here, we look at teachers at the lowest elb of the societal social ladder so no people give them that regards unless we revive that trend we are going no where. Teachers are very important component of the society. So if you are looking for a reason why our society refused to grow it is because we have refused to reversed the role of the teacher and give him his good standing. And that is why our kids are becoming very dull year in year out we not getting replacement because we have not done the needful. So one of the role I am here to play is to, reverse that role and that is why I went to the class and started teaching.
That is why when we are lunching the strategic plan, it would have details all the problems. The strategic plan is a plan of solution it doesn’t now dwell on problems and problems, anything you say about education is mention problem and now is the solution and how to apply the solution and how to review the solution at the end of the year. So this is what I am doing now, we are looking at it holistically, I have always said our solution is in 4 ways: work very hard, learned from your mistakes, have a cogent realistic and implementable plan and then pray to God for success. These four formula is what we are applying. When we are working hard we don’t have time limit for working. You have to be working hard throughout. I have no closing time here, people come here 8:00 am see me here. Yesterday I close here around 8:00 pm and I started around 8:00am which means I am putting in 12 hours so I am working hard and this working hard has no limit and you have to pray. But you don’t just sit at home and pray to God and read everything and think you will be successful. Don’t think some angels will come from haven and give you everything. This is Africa, we go to church and mosque and pray expecting everything we fall in our place. You see people on the mountains and rocks praying and when you asked them what amount of work have you put in before you pray, they will say no things will just change. We always think that some magic is going to take place and it doesn’t work that way. So we are working on our plans and insha Allah we hope to succeed.
