I wrote in my 2009 memoir - Service my country, that 'Our country needs...leaders who are conscious of the future; who are not just satisfied with short-term gains.’ This re-echoes the widely quoted work of Chinua Achebe ‘the trouble with Nigeria’ in which he said the problem with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of …
Author: Dabesaki
On President Jonathan’s new PhD Scholarship Scheme
The President’s new initiative to support young first class students' study through to PhD level in some core disciplines (science, engineering and economics) at some of the world’s best Universities could be valuable in principle, as it could potentially contribute to the nation’s current higher education manpower, which in fact is the President’s main justification …
Continue reading On President Jonathan’s new PhD Scholarship Scheme
Towards Integrated Youth Development
I had the most amazing birthday discussion of my life (well with the exception of 23: 24 day in 2005!) on April 23, 2012, thanks to Ms. Hilda Dokubo and the Centre for Creative Arts Education. The theme of the discussion was ‘towards integrated youth development framework, financing and programming.’ In a very stimulating and thought-provoking intervention …
Closing Nigeria’s Toilet deficit
I love toilets! For one, a toilet is a place where I take care of my sanitary needs. Beyond this, it is a place where I find inspiration, the concentration required to derive some meaning (to life and other subjects) and where I am able to meditate. But this was not always the case. In …
Revitalising TVET in Nigeria
At a UNESCO workshop on the revitalisation of technical and vocational education and training (TVET - I write mainly about post primary TVET) in West Africa held in Abuja in 2009, I said as representative of the African Union that ‘I am very impressed with what I saw in Kaduna during our visit yesterday [referring …
Okolobi! 