BANK OF EDUCATION (BOE) PROJECT: THE BIG IDEA ....AS PROMULGATED BY DARE OLOWOLEYE

  Overview/Background

The Education Sector in Nigeria is in shambles. The standards of Education are abysmal. Education infrastructures are rapidly decaying and restoration or resurrection process, or even damage control plans are non-existence. The United Nations (UN) in its reports has continued to warn the Nigerian Government on the negative outcomes of its inaction in the sector. Such of the negative outcomes may include Poverty, breakdown of Law and Order, Extremist, Terrorism and indisputably, War.

Nigeria was a golden destination to the world pre and post-independence era. What then happened? How come the standards of Education in Nigeria took a nose dive? A 2018 UN report on Education indicated that Nigeria has the highest number of children out of the school in the world. Over 13.2million Nigerian children are out of school! Why?

 Reasons for Abysmal Education Standards                                               

·        Population Explosion

This is supposed to be an advantage provided that the rate of population growth is direct proportional to the rate of infrastructural development. But Nigeria is a classic example where the rate of population growth is inversely proportional to the infrastructural development. This situation has exerted immense pressure on the country’s natural resources, public services and economy. As at time of putting down this proposal, there is no visible policy from the Government to check the sparing rate of population growth.

·        Cultural/Religion Belief

An average Nigerian believes that his/her future is pre-determined by some power of divinity or destiny or fate and hence, future plans and goals have always been discarded. Undoubtedly, the leaders who make decisions on the government functions and activities that affect all sectors, education inclusive, are also Nigerians. Moreover, this belief system facilitates family expansion and view reproduction as fruit of marriage which ultimately leads to population explosion.

·        Poverty

Ironically, quality education is the way to poverty. But how can you teach a man who had no breakfast, no lunch and no hope of getting dinner? Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world with over 60% of the population living in penury. Quality Education is not cheap and with the level of poverty, it will remain an illusion in Nigeria.

·        Misplaced Priority

A democracy system of government enables the people to elect focused and trusted intellectuals to lead and serve in the interest of the Nation. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Nigeria. The Nigerian people elect popular or rich individuals to lead, focused more on politics than governance, pay huge attention to election than the budget, devoted quality time to discuss ethnicity and religion than productivity and economic indices, dispense enormous energy on social media platforms than in the classrooms and eventually, oblivious to the opportunities that are overflowing in their immediate environment. The leaders simply evolve and give in to people desires.

Quality Education is the key to human development. It’s the right mixture of the variables of environment, exposure and experience to activate the minds of the people and nurture their talents to full potential. The Nigerian environment is rich enough but the people lack the required exposure and experience to ultimately develop themselves and evolve.

The need to positively activate the minds of the people, stimulate and nurture talents to full potentials gave birth of the Bank of Education (BOE) Idea.

The BOE is envisioned to facilitate infrastructural development, loans disbursement, capacity building and exchange programs in the education sector.

B.                Structure and Operation of the BOE

Appointment of the Board

The Board is expected to be functional and people-oriented and appointment of members will be based on qualification, exposure and experience. Due to the pervasiveness of BOE operations and activities, it hereby recommended that the following Ministries/Organizations should have a representative on the Board 

·        Ministry of Finance

·        Ministry of Education

·        Ministry of Foreign Affairs

·        The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN

·        Nigeria Insurance and Deposit Corporation, NDIC

·        The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN

The reason for suggesting these organizations will be explained in due course.        

BOE Funding and Asset Base

Education is the ‘Power Box’ of other sectors of the economy and it is key to human development. In line with this thought and based on the exigencies in Nigeria Education Sector, the government is hereby advised to set aside the sum of $15Billion from the National Reserve as Education Trust Fund (EDTF). Education is not cheap and quality education cannot be free. Also, the complete overhaul and maintenance of the infrastructures and other human development programs to be undertaken by the BOE in the Educational sector also validate the need for the EDTF.  

BOE Offices and Operational Take-Off

Due to the exigencies of the situation in Education Sector, it is projected that the BOE operations should take off in all six geo-political zone simultaneously. Six offices to be established in these zones with reporting line to the BOE Head Office which will be domiciled in the country capital. As the BOE operations gathers momentum, the operational and liaison offices in each state of the federation and in the tertiary institutions will be established. It is important that the BOE operations and activities are close to people for easy access.

In summary, BOE Offices should include;

·        BOE Head/Corporate Office

·        BOE Zonal Offices

·        BOE State Offices

·        Tertiary Institutions’ Operational/Liaison Offices

 Infrastructure Development, Loans Disbursement and Payback Period

The state of California with estimated population of 40million has a total number of 281 tertiary institutions while Lagos state with estimated 21million population has a total number of tertiary institutions to be 19! (Wikipedia) This illustration tell it all. There is urgent need to build more schools.

One of the major responsibility of BOE is to develop a data base of Companies/Firms/Organizations that will facilitate the immediate infrastructural development in Education Sector. Criteria for companies’ registration, categorization and loan rates and requirements and payback periods will be determined by the BOE Board. The selected companies will be contracted to develop sustainable modern designs and blueprints for infrastructural advancement in the Education Sector.

Efforts should also be geared toward the establishment of institutions in specialized and crucial areas of economy and knowledge such as;

·        Agriculture (at least 18 Universities to support the diversification policy)

·        Petroleum

·        Economics

·        Tourism and Sports

·        ICT (at least 12 Federal Universities)

·        Medical and Robotic Engineering and others

It is also recommended that 6 Schools of Talents should be established for students with special abilities to reduce the rate at which Nigeria is losing its bright minds to other countries. These institutions will be designed to nurture these talents to successfully fulfill their potentials. 

  Student Loans

One of the major operational activities of the BOE is the provision of student loans. This is expected to be made available to students at a college /universities to enable them to pay for post-secondary education and all other related fees such as tuition, books, other materials and supplies needed to effectively complete a chosen course of study. To successfully carry out this operation, it is advisable for BOE to maintain veritable data base of students in the tertiary institutions. (This is where experience of CIBN in student’s registration and categorization will be appreciated) 

The disbursement of the student loans will be done thru the commercial banks and such account will be opened, operated and maintained with Bank Verification Number (BVN). The BVN (just like the Social Security Number SSN of the US residents) is the key to handle the mobility of students and ensure loan payback.

The loan rate and sum should be determined by the BOE Board but the following is suggested for the students should be considered.

·        Universities (N2million)

·        Colleges (N1.5million)

·        Secondary School (N 1million with parents/guardians as guarantors)

A payback period of 20years post-graduation is also suggested. The payback schedule will be determining by the BOE Board.

Capacity Building and Students/Lecturers Exchange Programs

The right mixture of variables of environment, exposure and experience facilitates the positive activation of minds and effective nurturing of talents to fulfil great potentials. For students to get the best out of the education process, they must be exposed to a different but working environments and other contemporary methods of achieving success in a given endeavor.

The BOE thru the Ministry of Foreign affairs is expected to develop a working partnerships with notable countries that boast of best tertiary institutions in vital areas of knowledge. This partnership will be built toward instituting successful exchange programs that will expose both students and lectures to new methods and modern technologies in different but working environments.

The period a student or lecturer will spend undergoing an exchange program will be largely depending on the terms of agreement between the countries. But the following are suggestions to be considered for students under:

·        4yrs duration of study (6mths)

·        6yrs duration of study (8mths)

·        8yrs duration of study (12mths)

It is advisable that this program should form part of the requirements for obtaining any first degree certificate.

For lecturers, the duration of participation in exchange program will be largely determine by qualifications, work requirements and schedules, experience, position, rank, etc.

The successful exchange program will personally and professionally equip the lecturers and students and build their capacity to excel in their chosen fields. The programs is also expected to instill confidence in students and enable them to develop new and better orientation, appreciate new/modern methods and break educational barriers.

C.        Idea Implementation Strategies

Legal Backing and Authority

This proposal is intended to be developed into a Bill which will be presented at the National Assembly (NASS).

The aim is to solicit NASS power to enact an Act to establish the BOE in Nigeria and taken into consideration provisions for its Board, Management, Administration, Operations and other related matters. To this end, a copy of the proposal will be forwarded to the following:

·        Consistency representatives at the Senate

·        Consistency representatives at the House of Representative

·        NASS Committee on Banking/Insurance

·        NASS Committee on Education

·        NASS Committee on Foreign Affair

A copy of the proposal will also be forwarded to the following for information purposes.

·        Ministry of Education

·        Ministry of Finance

·         Ministry of Foreign Affairs

·        CBN, NDIC and CIBN

D.               Publicity of the Idea/Proposal

This is anticipated to create awareness for the idea thru Social, Electronic and Printing Media. The aim is to open the minds of the people to this idea, solicit public support and attract criticism.  Also, plans are ongoing for the establishment of a Blog/Website to showcase this idea to the public.

Already, a twitter account @projectbankofeducation with #takeresponsibility #projectBOE has been set up to enlighten the public on this great idea.

Pilot Scheme

A Pilot Scheme or Pilot Project is a scheme deployed to test an idea before the full implementation. This is a new idea and it is advisable to introduce it in a control/stimulated environment to enable situational reports, project reviews and public feedbacks.

In view of this, it is suggested that the implementation of BOE operations should start thru a Project Scheme which will include some selected schools. The following number of institutions can be considered for the Scheme.

·        12 Universities/Polytechnics

·        12 Colleges (Technical/Education)

The Project Scheme is expected to take-off simultaneously in all the 6 Geo-political zone and should be completed in 1 to 2 yrs or as determined by the Board.

A successful Pilot Project will facilitate the development of Blueprints/Frameworks for full implementation of this noble idea. It will also help to avoid take-off setbacks.

E.                 Conclusion

Anticipated Gains of BOE

·        Human Development.

Quality education is the key to human development. In an environment where human development is not considered as priority by the authority, all other aspects of socio-economic life will suffer. Successful implementation BOE brings quality education to the doorstep of the people and give them the opportunity to unlock their talents and hone their skills to full potentials.

·        Poverty Eradication

The first viable option to reduced or get rid of poverty is easy access to education. Investment in other sectors of the economy can only be maintained by investment in people. A budget to reduce poverty that is not channeled toward education can only achieve little of nothing.

·        Solid Foundation for Education

Establishment of BOE is expected to lay a solid foundation for education process and development. As explained, the BOE operations will facilitate unprecedented and massive infrastructural developments in education sector by establishment of more school and grant the people easy access to them.

·        New Ideas and Discoveries

Most significantly, the establishment of Schools of Talents will enable students to break new grounds and boundaries and this will ultimately result in new ideas and discoveries.

·        Elicit Sense of Belonging and Patriotism

Yes! Bring back the 50s and 60s. That golden generation of Nigerians who are highly motivated to give all for the continuous existence of the Nation and willing to sacrifice for the progress of the Nigeria.

Lastly, the importance of quality education and human development was reiterated by Bill Gate while making remarks during his March 2018 visit to Nigeria. He stated that “To anchor the economy over the long term, investment in infrastructure and competitiveness must go hand in hand with investment in people. People without roads, ports and factories cannot flourish and roads, ports and factories without skilled workers to build and manage them cannot sustain the economy.”

While he recognizes that Nigeria has unmatched economic potentials, he stated that the most important choice the authority can make is to maximize the greatest resources which is the Nigeria people.

Bill assured that if the government invest in health, education and opportunities which is the human capital, there will be a solid foundation for sustained economic prosperity. But he warned that failure to invest in people will limit the opportunities and rate of which the country can grow. (The Nation Newspaper March 22, 2018)