By Haruna Salami
The Senator representing Imo North, Frank Ibezim has said that a new Nigeria where the citizens will live in peace and prosperity irrespective of tribal and religious differences is still possible.
He spoke with journalists after his African Union Convention on the protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Domestication & Enforcement Bill passed first reading at the Senate.
He said “there are internally displaced people, IDP in every part of Nigeria due to conlficts or challenge of harsh weather or rain and we are talking about how to manage our people in Nigeria that have been displaced, how to shelter, feed or cloth and rehabilitate them”.
Talking about “Classroom Library foundational education” he said the challeges facing the country emanating from youth restiveness, drug infestation, unemployment can be solved by introducing proper foundational education.
“Growing up as a child, we had libraries and during long vacation, some of us go to one library or the other and try to read one thing or the other. Today we don’t even have the culture neither do we have the books.
“So part of what I am working on in the past three years when I was advising the Minister of State for Education in the last dispensation, was trying to bring back class room library into our classroom and into primary and nursery school so that we can get foundation education right.
According to him, even COVID-19 pandemic could have been avoided or greatly reduced “if our primary one and nursery kids were taught how to fight germs as children, thereby already teaching them how to fight the pandemic. These are elementary things we were being taught in school before.
But with classroom library, what we have tried to do, sometime during our second year anniversary, I visited the IDP camp and what I did was to go to IDP camp to introduce classroom library to them.
“If you come to the entire FCT, I heard they have three of them and I visited the one where I went and donated classroom library there in Wuse zone 5, you will not believe, it was an eyesore here the Federal Capital Territory.
“So we have found that the only way we can get that back on track is to introduce classroom library and I have just explained what one book would do for you and this book would handle the pandemic.
“This country is one of the most blessed countries in the world and I can tell why because I have travelled to so many continents and I am yet to find any country that has the kind of weather we have in this country and we also have the vegetation.
“Criss-cross Nigeria and you will find out that we are blessed, but I believe that its that blessing that is also our challenge because truly you cannot grow as a nation without challenge. They say for you to invent anything there would be need, even the early man was able to find light when he was so cold and couldn’t help it and he started heating stones together – the stone age. So, yes we are blessed in Nigeria because we have, we are talking about Nigeria, unity in diversity.
“Somebody will tell you that because we have Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo that is why we have problems, its not true. If you go back to Yoruba land you will find out that you have brothers fighting to kill. The other day, I was with one of my colleagues and they are calling from Cross River where sister localities were dismembering each other.
“Also go to south East, you must have heard about Aguleri and Umuleri, so the truth of the matter is Nigeria is blessed, unity in diversity, but we have to teach unity to these children from day one so they understand. If you don’t teach people to discuss more of the things that brings them together and less of the things that separate them, how would they work together? Nigeria is such a great country that I want to go to South West to eat ewedu, I want to go to the North and eat mashed rice; it is beautiful.
“But the truth of the matter is that we don’t understand that because of our blessings we don’t understand that there is need for us to develop. And that is why I believe that even in this anarchy; I believe in this country, I believe that because of this challenge – all these restiveness issues, Nigerians have the right human capital, Nigeria will just think a little out of the box because of this hunger challenge and begin to solve our issues.
All over the world Nigerians are there. Anytime we put our mind to doing something we rule the world in soccer in different sports activities even without facility. Did it happen? Without facilities we ruled the world so think of it if we begin to think that we should have the right facilities and train Nigerians, sports alone can drive our foreign exchange and make us a rich country.
We have about 200 million Nigerians or thereabout, we have what it takes to feed our people. I have looked at it and no matter how you look at it, we just need to go back to teaching our children based on foundation education.
