Category: Auto Guid

DESPITE the ongoing madness in the local political landscape, the Philippines also got good news one after the other recently.

In a matter of only 24 hours, Jessica Sanchez won America’s Got Talent (AGT), Kirk Bondad was proclaimed Mister International, and Veejay Floresca took home the grand prize in Project Runway US.

Sanchez’s victory was imminent after a stunning, soul-stirring performance of ‘Die with a Smile’ ( a collaboration between Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga) during the final show before Americans started to cast their final votes.

Sanchez is from Chula Vista in San Diego and married to Ricky Gallardo. She recorded a short video upon getting home: ‘I cannot believe what just happened. I was a complete mess onstage emotionally, and I’ve just been doing interviews and stuff, and I still feel the adrenaline and I’m soaking it all in with my husband. I’m just so honored and so grateful to everyone who believed, cheered and voted for me.’

The big dream started 20 years ago when as an 11-year-old hopeful, she joined AGT but didn’t make it very far. In 2012, she almost won American Idol, finishing runner-up to Philip Philips.

In a post victory interview, Sanchez talked about her big dream. ‘That dream started on the AGT stage a long time ago and I think it ignited this fire in me to believe in something bigger. Even though I didn’t make it through that time, and I was devastated as a 10-year-old, I’m so glad to have found that little bit of strength to keep going, and throughout the years it’s really been hard and challenging trying to find myself as a woman and as an artist. But you know, the biggest message is perseverance and just finding that little bit of faith to push though and believe in yourself again. So, here I am, the AGT winner of Season 20, and it’s just so amazing and so crazy,’ she enthused.

Floresca was a surprise winner for Project Runway’s season 21, which has been bashed consistently for many things: choice of designer contestants and judges, constant bickering and drama, boring outputs, and just the overall quality of content in many aspects of the show.

But in the end, after the many plot twists, the US immigrant from the Philippines made history as the first-ever transgender winner of the series, much to the delight of his fans and followers.

Once more, Floresca has proven that not giving up on our dreams is indeed very crucial because it is the reflection of our deepest desires and potentials.

‘If you have thought long and hard about something and it feels right, and it does consistently feels good, then you should not let anyone talk you out of it. Reaching for our dreams require bravery. And bravery is not the absence of fear but the strength to keep moving forward despite every hurdle. The path may seem challenging, even rough, but being brave means embracing all these struggles and continuing, knowing that the reward is always worth the effort you give,’ she told us when she first learned that she made it to season 21 of Project Runway.

Floresca added, ‘Giving up was never an option because it can lead to missed opportunities. I’ve always wanted to be a designer-a good, successful and respected designer. I know Project Runway will open bigger doors and make this dream of mine come true.’ For her feat, Floresca, who competed in the local version of Project Runway in 2008, won a cash pot of $200,000, plus six-month representation by Agentry PR, a mentorship program with the Council of Fashion Designers of America and a spread in Elle magazine.

And then there’s Kirk Bondad, who won Mister International in Thailand a few days ago. Bondad, only the third Mister Philippines to have won the crown after Alexander Aquino in 2001 and Florencio Mata Jr. in 2014, was obviously nervous before he was called out as the winner.

‘Your vision is unique to you and only you, and even if others might not see what you see, it is what you think and and what you feel that matter most. After my devastating loss in Mister World, I knew I cannot give up on my dreams,’ he told us before flying to Thailand earlier this month.

Bondad, who is half German and half Filipino, carries his mom’s surname in all his modelling and pageant activities. His father’s surname is Wachsmuth.

In summation, these victories reaffirm that it takes courage to pursue a dream, especially when others doubt or dismiss it. Just always follow your inner voice, keep your heart and intentions real and pure, and your mind undistracted. It is always okay to reset, restart and refocus, but never give up on your dreams.

Indeed, the big wins of Jessica Sanchez, Kirk Bondad and Veejay Floresca only confirm that big dreams, when pursued with courage, mindset, determination and hard work, have no deadlines.

Egypt international Ramadan Sobhi, who helped Pyramids win their first CAF Champions League title last season and previously played in the English Premier League, has been banned for four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for an anti-doping rule violation, Egypt’s anti-doping authority has

‘We have received an official letter confirming Ramadan Sobhi’s four-year suspension in a doping case,’ Hazem Khamis, head of the Egyptian Anti-Doping Organisation, told reporters.

Sobhi’s suspension stems from allegations of doping and sample tampering, the body said.

Sobhi has not yet commented on the sanction. His lawyer was quoted by local media saying that an appeal to the Swiss Federal Court was being prepared.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed the initial lifting of Sobhi’s provisional suspension, which had briefly allowed him to return to play, before the case was referred to CAS.

The 28-year-old remains in custody in a separate case. A Giza criminal court has ordered his detention pending trial over allegations of academic fraud, including forging documents and paying someone to sit exams on his behalf at a tourism and hotels institute. Sobhi has denied wrongdoing and the next hearing is scheduled for December 30.

Sobhi, who has played 37 times for Egypt, began his career at Al-Ahly before moving to England in 2016, where he played for Stoke City and Huddersfield Town.

He joined Pyramids in 2020 and played a key role in their continental triumph last term.

The Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has petitioned the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court (FHC) on the party’s cases assigned to courts presided over by three judges of the court.

The judges are: Justices James Omotosho, Peter Odo Lifu, and Joyce Obehi Abdulmalik.

The faction described the courts presided over by the judges as ‘Courts of Particular Concern’.

It listed the courts and their judges in a letter, dated November 19 and signed by the National Secretary of the faction, Teofeek Arapaja, and addressed to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.

While Justice Omotosho and Lifu issued judgments stopping the party from proceeding with its just-concluded national convention in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Justice Abdulmalalik is currently entertaining a suit against the party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Arapaja wrote: ‘I have the instruction and authority of the National Chairman of our Party, the Peoples Democratic Party, and the entire members of the newly-elected National Working Committee (NWC) and the National Executive Committee (NEC) of our party to write this letter to Your Lordship concerning our fear and apprehension regarding all matters either filed by our party or against our party at the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division.

‘My lord, it is of great concern to our party that it would appear that all matters for the past few years filed in the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division, either for or against our party have always been assigned to the following three judges only, namely: Hon. Justice James Omotosho, Hon. Justice Peter Odo Lifu, and Hon. Justice Joyce Obehi Abdulmalik.

‘.There are other judges, numbering up to nine in the Abuja Judicial Division who could have taken up any of these matters, as the Abuja Division has 12 judges.

‘Several of our party members have recently complained bitterly to the newly elected members of the National Working Committee and the National Executive Committee of the above-mentioned scenario.

‘Indeed, all these three courts are viewed by party members and indeed the public as ‘courts of particular concern’ with regard to matters pertaining to or affecting the interest of the Peoples Democratic Party.

‘My lord, it is trite that justice must not only be done in all cases and circumstances with regard to matters pending and matters filed in the court of law, but justice must be seen to be done indeed by reasonable members of the society including the members of our party.

‘Given the current challenges facing the party, there is a high likelihood of cases being filed for or against the party.

‘It is in this respect that we humbly plead and beg that in no other matters or circumstances with regard to cases that may be filed by or against our party henceforth should be assigned to any of these three judges, since justice is rooted in trust and integrity.

‘Our party wishes to reiterate the fact that we have no iota of doubt with regard to the integrity of the Judiciary, particularly the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division, headed by your lordship in dispensing justice in all cases, other than the above-highlighted fears and apprehension of our party.

‘Kindly accept the assurances and warm regards of the National Working Committee and the National Executive Committee of our great party.’

The House of Representatives recently set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the over 11,800 abandoned federal government properties and projects across the nation. The properties are estimated to be worth nothing less than N20trn in market value today. The motion that seemingly set off the alarm was raised by the House Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, representing Obio/Akpor federal constituency of Rivers State.

Chinda recalled that in 2000, the Presidential Implementation Committee on Federal Government Properties was set up but sadly, two and a half decades later, the committee is yet to submit its final report. In his opinion, nothing speaks so eloquently about the lack of accountability and transparency when it comes to national assets than this act of non-responsiveness of such a committee.

It is sad that a report by the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors had identified 11,866 abandoned federal projects across the country, representing approximately 63 per cent of all projects initiated since independence. Some of these properties are: the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos; the Federal Secretariat in Ikoyi, Lagos; the Nigerian International Hotel Suleja, Niger State; Millennium Tower, Abuja; the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) building in Abia State; the National Library Headquarters, Abuja; the Nigeria Newsprint Manufacturing Company, Kaduna; the Kaduna Textile Building; the Nigerian Aluminium Smelting Company, Delta State.

We are amazed at the array of iconic and valuable projects that have suffered neglect and abandonment across the country. This says everything negative about the value successive governments in this country have placed on national assets and projects across the nation.

In many countries, the preservation of such iconic assets is taken very seriously because in most cases such historically relevant assets represent not just history. They are preserved as national treasures not just as beautiful edifices but for the value they add to the socio-economic lives of the people.

A place like the National Stadium in Lagos today stands as a national disgrace. The stadium didn’t just represent a great geographic space; it stood as a national rallying point that the citizens have a sense of attachment to. It represented a rallying point for sporting activities in the nation and had in the past been the flagship for national, sub-regional, continental and even global sports competitions. Beyond sports, it provided spaces for other socio-political activities due to its centrality and accessibility. Today, the stadium has become home to street urchins and parts of it have been occupied by some private individuals who are reaping profits from national assets.

Today, the most popular sports, football competitions, are now mainly hosted by Akwa Ibom State’s Godswill Akpabio Stadium built by the present Senate President when he was governor. This puts to shame the successive governments at the federal level that could not renovate the National Stadium for the same function, given the employment and revenue that would definitely accrue from its functionality.

Today, Morocco, a smaller African country, has seemingly overtaken Nigeria with its huge investment in sports infrastructure. They have been hosting several FIFA-organised games. They hosted the FIFA Women World Cup; they would be hosting AFCON this December. They are on their way to co-hosting the 2030 FIFA World Cup with Spain.

The investment in sports infrastructure by Morocco has become a huge inspiration for the country’s youths and a huge source of national pride and global relevance. Their national team made history at Qatar 2022 World Cup by reaching the semi-finals, becoming the first African and Arab country to reach the 4th place in a World Cup. Their government has shown understanding of the power of infrastructural development and maintenance. There are no disadvantages to valuing national assets.

We feel that a huge part of the responsibility of governments’ taking care of the security and welfare of citizens comes from the way national assets are handled. This is because most of the abandoned projects like the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) buildings built by the former military leader, Ibrahim Babangida’s administration across the country have all become enclaves for miscreants and robbers that are a menace to communities. Even if many analysts felt that the buildings were poorly thought out, as long as they had been built, the onus is on every government to improve on the buildings and increase their functionality for the people.

We consider the abandoned assets and keep wondering how successive governments never thought of making those buildings functional: federal secretariat, aluminium smelting plant, national library, hotels, and textile companies etc. in a country that has been in dire financial straits since the end of the oil boom in the 1970s.

It amounts to crass irresponsibility and financial recklessness to keep building new elephant projects that are often abandoned by opposition governments while ignoring solid structures that are of huge economic and social value.

However, while we commend the House of Representatives for pointing a torch at those valued national assets, they must do more than that. They have committees that can collaborate to see that the right things are done. Being in the House should not be all about raising matters of urgent national importance. The real work is in following through and for each member to focus on the assets in their own states and make sure their oversight function covers such projects. They are national legislators for a reason. While they come from specific constituencies, their larger constituency is the nation.

The relevant ministries like those of works, sports, education and housing must work together to track and account for all the thousands of assets across the nation. In cases where some unscrupulous civil servants or politicians have either appropriated or sold some or parts of those assets, the relevant government agencies must not just retrieve them but also prosecute the offenders. National assets always stand in history as generational legacies with a stamp of care for posterity. Nigeria’s case cannot be different.

Former Super Eagles winger Tijani Babangida has blamed Nigeria’s failed 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign on ‘self-inflicted’ issues, insisting that former head coach Finidi George had the competence and experience to guide the team to qualification.

Speaking in a recent interview, Babangida expressed deep frustration over the circumstances that led to Nigeria missing out on a direct ticket, stressing that internal problems rather than lack of talent or technical know-how derailed the campaign.

According to him, Finidi’s track record with Enyimba and his understanding of the national team setup were more than sufficient to steer the Super Eagles through the qualifiers.

‘I believe if Finidi didn’t have that problem with the team, with the experience he has with Enyimba and the coaching he’s doing, I’m sure he would have cleared all those matches,’ Babangida told Brila Fm.’Because of that issue alone, we lost two matches and those two matches cost us our World Cup.’

He noted that once the internal tensions settled, particularly after the controversy involving striker Victor Osimhen, the team looked more organised and began to win again. However, by then the damage had already been done.

‘When I saw them come back, the whole team became settled and we started winning again. But it was too late for us at that time,’ he lamented.

Babangida criticised the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for allowing the conflict between Osimhen and the coaching crew to escalate, arguing that the situation should have been handled swiftly to prevent it from affecting results.

‘The NFF should not have allowed that problem with Osimhen to escalate. They were supposed to do what needed to be done, but they didn’t. It was very unfortunate,’ he said.

Despite the disappointing campaign, the former Ajax star urged the NFF not to lose faith in Nigerian coaches. He argued that domestic managers should continue to be given opportunities, but supported the idea of pairing them with highly experienced European technical advisers.

‘NFF should not be discouraged from giving our coaches a chance again. They can always bring in a very experienced European coach to assist them, but the opportunity must remain,’ he added.

Super Eagles striker, Ademola Lookman, is back to his striking sharpness as he grabbed the curtain raiser in Atalanta’s Champions League 3-0 victory over away to Eintracht Frankfurt last night.

Lookman scored Atalanta’s first foal in the 60th minute as he lashed on to an inviting cross from the right by De Ketelaere to finish with a sizzling volley off the inside of the boot to the far post.

Two minutes later, he was the provider as he rolled the ball across the face of the goal for

Ederson to beat the opposing goalkeeper one-on-one.

While Ketelaere scored the third some three minutes later , Lookman was in the thick of action before being substituted in the 82nd minute.

Yesterday’s win was the first for new coach Raffaele Palladino who suffered a 3-1 loss to Napoli on his debut with the club in the Serie A on Saturday.

Nigeria stands at a critical moment in its reform journey. With the passage of modernised tax laws between 2023 and 2026, the federal government has set in motion one of the most ambitious overhauls of the country’s tax administration in decades. From digital compliance measures to the rationalisation of incentives, new dispute-resolution structures, and strengthened enforcement powers, these reforms attempt to reshape Nigeria’s tax landscape for the realities of a 21st-century economy.

Yet, the success of these reforms depends on one fundamental factor: capacity. Tax laws, no matter how well drafted, do not execute themselves. They require competent institutions, skilled personnel, modern technology, data-driven intelligence, and taxpayer trust. Without these, even the most progressive legislation will struggle to deliver results.

To bridge this gap, Nigeria must commit to a systematic and sustainable programme of capacity building across national and sub-national tax agencies – FIRS, NCS, State Boards of Internal Revenue, and local government revenue units. This article proposes a four-pillar blueprint to achieve exactly that: Legal and Policy Competence, Digital and Data Capability, Organisational Excellence, and Taxpayer Engagement.

Pillar one: Legal and policy competence

The starting point for effective tax administration is a deep and uniform understanding of the law. In Nigeria, the challenge of inconsistent interpretation across levels of government has long created confusion for taxpayers and fuelled avoidable disputes. With the new tax laws, this challenge becomes even more pressing. The country has introduced new rules on digital taxation, expanded VAT provisions, modernised excise operations, reviewed incentive regimes, and updated administrative procedures. Many of these provisions require technical understanding and accurate legal interpretation.

To this extent, a national curriculum shared across FIRS and all State Boards of Internal Revenue is therefore essential. This curriculum should break down the provisions of the new laws into practical modules relevant for assessments, audits, enforcement, and dispute resolution. Monthly legal-policy interpretation clinics will help harmonise approaches and significantly reduce litigation. Additionally, sector-specific competence is equally necessary. Oil and gas, fintech, digital commerce, informal sector operations, telecoms, manufacturing, and financial services all have unique tax dynamics. Officers must understand the peculiarities of each sector to administer the law effectively. Therefore, legal competence is the foundation. Without it, every other reform pillar becomes shaky.

Pillar two: Digital and data governance capability

The second pillar speaks to the technological engine of the tax system. Globally, the future of tax administration is digital. Nigeria’s new laws reflect this reality mandating e-invoicing, e-filing, e-payment, digital audit trails, automated risk analysis, and greater reliance on real-time data. Despite significant strides by FIRS in automation, many state and local government agencies still lack the capacity to operate robust digital systems. Even where technology exists, officers often need more training to utilise the systems effectively. Consequently, a Digital Tax Operations Academy would help bridge this divide. Through structured training, tax officers would acquire skills in:

Data analytics and risk profiling

AI-based audit selection

Cybersecurity and digital forensics

Understanding and managing digital tax platforms

Cross-agency data matching (BVN, NIN, CAC, Customs, Land Registries, etc.)

Digitisation is not merely about reducing paperwork; it is about building a smarter tax administration that detects evasion patterns, generates insights, and sharpens enforcement tools. With stronger digital governance capacity, Nigeria can move decisively toward automated compliance, fewer leakages, and more predictable revenue flows.

Pillar three: Organisational excellence and human capital development

Reforming tax institutions requires more than legal knowledge and digital skills. It requires a motivated, ethical, and professional workforce. So, the third pillar focuses on building a tax administration anchored on performance, professionalism, and integrity. For too long, promotions in public service have been heavily influenced by tenure. The new era demands competency-based progression, where officers advance based on skills, certifications, knowledge, and results. Therefore, professional qualifications must be mainstreamed: CITN, ICAN, ACCA, ANAN, cybersecurity certifications, internal audit certifications, and forensic accounting skills all have roles to play. These qualifications ensure that officers bring global standards into their daily work.

Capacity building must also incorporate a gender-inclusive focus. Women make up a significant share of the taxpayer base and workforce, yet their tax experiences, business dynamics, and compliance challenges differ. A gender-responsive tax administration is not only fair it improves compliance and reduces distortions. Leadership training is another critical area. Directors, regional coordinators, and unit heads must be equipped with modern governance skills – change management, strategic leadership, collaborative problem-solving and cross-agency coordination. Organisational excellence creates the institutional backbone for efficient tax administration.

Pillar four: Taxpayer engagement and service delivery

No tax system can thrive without the trust and cooperation of taxpayers. The fourth pillar focuses on creating a citizen-centred service environment where taxpayers feel informed, respected, and supported. Nigeria needs a comprehensive taxpayer education strategy that communicates the implications of the new tax laws in simple language. Radio programmes, market outreach, digital campaigns, community town halls, and materials in local languages will help explain filing requirements, rights, obligations, and available remedies. Modernising service touchpoints is equally important. Taxpayers should be able to access support through:

Upgraded call centres

AI-enabled chatbots

Online dispute-resolution portals

Secure e-payment channels

Appointment-booking systems

Improved service delivery reduces the cost of compliance, encourages voluntary filing, and strengthens public confidence. In addition, stakeholder engagement with business groups, market unions, civil society, accountants, tax practitioners, investors, and the broader public will provide important feedback that shapes more responsive tax policies. A modern tax system must communicate, listen, and adapt.

Toward a high-performance tax administration

Nigeria’s new tax laws offer a historic opportunity to strengthen domestic resource mobilisation and reduce overdependence on oil revenue. But laws alone cannot transform a tax system. Institutions do. By adopting a four-pillar capacity-building blueprint legal competence, digital capability, organisational excellence, and taxpayer engagement Nigeria can build a future-ready tax administration capable of delivering results for decades to come.

The country cannot afford half-measures. Revenue agencies must rise to the challenge with urgency, collaboration, and a focus on excellence. If implemented diligently, this blueprint will not only improve compliance but also deepen public trust, strengthen fiscal stability, and accelerate national development. The task before us is clear: build institutions that can deliver the promise of the reforms.

Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in years blazed late into the night yesterday as the city’s leader confirmed at least 36 people, including a firefighter, had died and another 279 people were reported missing.

Hundreds of residents were evacuated as the blaze spread across seven high-rise apartment buildings in a housing complex in Tai Po district, a suburb in the New Territories. At least 29 others remained hospitalized.

‘Police and the Fire Services Department have already set up a dedicated investigation team to investigate the cause of the fire,’ John Lee, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said.

He said the fire was ‘coming under control’ shortly past midnight.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday expressed condolences to the firefighter who died and extended sympathies to the families of the victims, according to state broadcaster CCTV. He also urged efforts to minimise casualties and losses.

The housing complex consisted of eight buildings with almost 2,000 apartments housing about 4,800 residents, including many elderly people. The housing complex was built in the 1980s and has recently been undergoing a major renovation.

Fire chiefs said high temperatures at the scene made it difficult for crews to mount rescue operations. It was not immediately known how the fire started, but officials said the fire started at the external scaffolding of one of the buildings, a 32-storey tower, and later spread to inside the building and then to nearby buildings, likely aided by windy conditions.

A column of flames and thick smoke rose as the blaze spread quickly on bamboo scaffolding and construction netting that had been set up around the exterior of the buildings. About 900 people were evacuated to temporary shelters.

Multiple buildings close to each other were set ablaze, with bright flames and smoke shooting out of windows as night fell. Authorities said that hundreds of firefighters, police officers and paramedics were deployed. Firefighters aimed water at the intense flames from high up on ladder trucks.

The blaze, which started mid-afternoon, was upgraded a level 5 alarm – the highest level of severity – as night fell. Authorities said that conditions remained very challenging for firefighters.

‘Debris and scaffolding of the affected buildings (is) falling down,’ said Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Fire Service operations. ‘The temperature inside the buildings concerned is very high. It’s difficult for us to enter the building and go upstairs to conduct firefighting and rescue operations.’

The fire department said that it received ‘numerous’ calls requesting assistance. It said some residents remained trapped as of Wednesday night. Firefighters deployed more than 140 fire trucks and more than 60 ambulances to the scene.

The dead included a 37-year-old firefighter, while another received treatment for heat exhaustion, Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung said.

District officials in Tai Po have opened temporary shelters for people left homeless by the fire.

‘I’ve given up thinking about my property,’ a resident who only provided her surname, Wu, told local TV station TVB. ‘Watching it burn like that was really frustrating.’

Heavenly Mother’s Crusader Ministries is to empower widows and offer free healthcare services at its Open Air Crusade.at Ikotun, Lagos.

The event, with theme: ‘Eternal Excellency,’ will combine spiritual revival with practical community support, targeting widows and those requiring medical attention.

The crusade will feature a free medical care. The Widow’s Mite Empowerment initiative will provide financial assistance, food, and essential items to widows.

The ministries said the initiative reflects a commitment to supporting vulnerable groups and promoting self-reliance.

Head, Prophetess Kikelomo Olowofela, said the programmes are central to the ministry’s mandate. ‘A key part of our mission is to care for the needy and provide support to the community.

The Free Medical Care and the Widow’s Mite initiatives are practical ways we can serve both spiritual and physical needs,’ she said.

A spokesperson for HMCM’s Outreach Directorate emphasised the broader purpose of the event. ‘Excellency, in the eyes of God, is not just about spiritual wealth; it is about extending compassion and practical help to our neighbours. We believe the message of ‘Eternal Excellency’ must be grounded in immediate, actionable relief.’

There is no argument about which language of instruction should be used in early education in any serious country other than the mother tongue. The recent announcement by the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa that as from now English will be the medium of instruction for education reminded me about his predecessor in the same ministry, Tahir Mamman who suddenly decreed that only children 17 or older will be permitted to write the JAMB admission examination for entrance to Nigerian universities as if there were unchallengeable reasons to bar younger people of admission into university especially in a global environment where Nigerians and others were graduating in British and American universities abroad at ages lower than 17.

It seems the ministers were getting out of step with their positions. They seem to arrogate know-all powers to themselves until they are brought down to the reality of being removed from office.

I wonder whether the current minister was properly advised to take this decision because the research council in the ministry could not have done this because the council’s position and those of most departments of education in our universities are clear on this: they have said and written that one of the reasons for the low quality of our graduates in all departments of learning is that whatever we studied in other peoples’ language cannot be properly absorbed and internalized and if the foundation is not solid, whatever floors constructed on a weak base will be ab initio unreliable.

This fact may be stretching the argument too far but there is no doubt that if the foundation is not strong, the superstructure cannot be reliable. Besides researches by the late Babs Fafunso a professor of education and others suggest that we should study English as a subject in our local languages just as we use English to study many subjects now .This is what great countries like China, India and Japan as well as most of the Arab countries have done and it has not stopped them from making advances in science and technology.

The biggest argument one may have for the minister’s policy of teaching in English to infants is that this is what essentially but unofficially exists in practice among the educated middle class in Nigeria and among most Nigerians in urban centres where people speak a multiplicity of languages. But this does not make it rational to the point of becoming the law. We can also argue about how difficult it would be to translate all existing books in the sciences, medicine, technology and all subjects into our native languages.

Which of our about 300 languages would we choose without alienating the other speakers of languages not selected? This is apparently why the choice of Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba as official languages is not strictly enforced in official communication but English which is neutral has remained the lingua franca. The current policy is that early education should be in our local languages presumably in English, Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba which have remained the official languages of the country. But what has become the constitutional provision of primary education remaining in the province of states? Then what happens to over 200 plus languages spoken by millions of other Nigerians?

If we can learn from our colonial experience in the North where Hausa was taught to all school children even though people in Northern Nigeria spoke other languages like Kanuri, Shuwa, Bura, Jukun, Chamba, Tiv, Angas, Birom, Fulfude, Nupe, Yoruba, Maguzawa, Igala, Idoma , Ebira and others if taken together may have outnumbered the Hausa native speakers. This policy has successfully knitted together perhaps more than 50% of Nigerians who now speak Hausa. There was no such language policy in the South though over the years Creole or Pidgin English is spoken all over Nigeria by people with a few years of exposure to the English language. This Creole/Pidgin of course cannot be seen as a native language. Some years ago, the late Professor Armstrong of the University of Ibadan in the 1960s suggested Igala as a strong candidate if Nigeria wanted a language to adopt as a national language because according to him, Igala has elements of Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa. This was based on his academic study of Nigerian linguistics but I am not sure how far his suggestion got in the corridors of power in Nigeria where it was simply laughed out of court.

This new policy cannot be rejected on the basis that English was imposed on us by an outside authority. It has the support of presumably most people in Nigeria who may have taken up arms against government if a local language or group of languages were imposed on the country. The government probably learnt from the experience of the government of India which met stiff opposition while trying to impose Hindi on the vast country and population which had accepted English a neutral language. It also put us within the global medium of English with its abundant development of instructional material at all levels of the educational ladder. The argument of supporters of English is that if we don’t belong to the wide medium of the English language world, we would have to learn English to understand the language of computing and AI.

If we will gain something from early learning of English, and that the better we started early and this does not mean we will naturally not speak our mother tongue at home and in the market, worship places and perhaps as secret language when negotiating with foreigners or when sending what will amount to ‘coded language’ in the wider global world. This is my personal experience in diplomacy when we want to arrive at a quick decision without our opposite party knowing our position, this will depend on if some of our people speak the same language. This experience made decisions maker to insist that any young recruit into our foreign service must have passed at ordinary level a Nigerian language.

One cannot overemphasize the importance of the ability to speak a mother tongue. Inability to do so undermines one’s indigenous personality and character in a world where confidence in one’s skin is an imperative for one to be able to assert one’s personality in a world of competition of cultural sensitivity. In conclusion, studies in mother tongues, many of which we have in Nigeria will continue to be an advantage for those who study for use in politics, business and the market place economics.