Enhancement of the Quality of Education in Adamawa State the case of the 100 years old General Murtala Muhammad College (GMMC), Yola.

Engineer Hassan Suleiman's post is worth a review

 

Image 1&2: Screenshots of Engr Hassan’s post

On the 6th of March 2022, on the Platform TYD Old Boys, Engr. Hassan Noted:

That there was no need for TYD members to worry, as the President of TYD, Admiral Murtala Nyako has already suggested June as the period for the centenary celebration.

One hundred years Celebration requires due diligence. He said the TYD President, Admiral Murtala Nyako has a lot of contributions to make to the college.

Hassan commended the LOC for the achievements made, by particularly, the Alumni members who contributed by picking lots for the facelift of the school.

However, he said somethings must be done soonest to arrest the mismanagement of the school by the current school authorities.

He said one could see how the infrastructure of the school are being vandalized; window glasses broken, stolen and cooking in the hostels (dormitories).

As the school is being renovated at the same time it is being vandalized.

He said one wonders if the school has any leadership at all.

He suggests LOC holds a special session with the school authorities in order to discuss the issues of security and moral decadence in the school.

He said he doubts if the management of the school is living up to its responsibilities.

He appealed that the school management should not take his own comments as offensive.

On the 10th of March 2022, on the platform of GMMC 1989 set, Bello Ibrahim Haruna wrote:

Students of GMMC Yola are seen at the corners of Karewa, Masakare and GRA fetching water or washing their clothes. Who should provide water for the students? Is it the school administration or the State Ministry of Education who should provide water for the students in the school? The consequences of such breaking of bounds are serious and many.

The school fence is so porous, students go out at night!

Whoever is responsible for fixing the fence should do so immediately please.

 

Image 3,4: Screenshot of Bello’s post

This brings to mind the relationship between the school and the Tiddo Yo Daddo National Alumni Association of the College, GMMC Yola and the State Ministry of Education (SMOE) and the Government who is the proprietor of the school. The Tiddo Yo Daddo Alumni Association is an independent NGO, the umbrella body of the various sets from 1920 to date. The TYD AA has no statutory relationship with the college but it has a collaborative, cooperative, and supportive roles with the college as its payback policy. The Centenary Celebration offered the TYD Alumni Association a bigger opportunity to demonstrate its resolve to assist and support the century old school. In that respect the Adhoc/LOC has set a model of relationship between the Alumni Association and the Alma Mater. The TYD AA cannot replace the School Authority in any way.

 

Images 5 & 6: Science teacher and students in a Biology Lab recently renovated by the Old Boys

Abstract:

GMMC is a public school and so the government is the proprietor. The government hires the teachers and the school administrators; Principals, Vice Principals, bursars and clerical officers etc. It is the proprietor that 'hires and fires' the staff of the school. A good school will have a functional school-based management committee (SBMC), headed by the Principal for the day to day running (management) of the school. The Principal reports to the State Ministry of Education on any matter beyond the SBMC. The school annual budget is verified and approved by the SMOE, who funds all the government schools' annual budgets. Where the Post Primary Schools Management Boards (PPSMB) is available, the Principal reports to it all matters concerning his school. It is the PPSMB that routes any schools matter to SMOE who in turn brings it up to the Government if the matter is beyond its management capacity. Similarly, instructions are passed down by the proprietor, the Government in the reverse order to the school. This has been the standard practice in the past, saner government establishment or the NGOs (private schools) in Nigeria. It is now understood that most of the saner, logical procedures are either flagrantly ignored or shoved aside to fester corrupt practices. In the North Eastern region of Nigeria, in particular, Adamawa State of the region, where education has suffered near irreparable damages in all sectors.

Ministry of Education:

The general education hub where education policies are formulated in accordance and within the education policies of the country, Nigeria. However, in our Adamawa clime, most of the extant policies tilt towards whittling down, what the Adamawa education policy makers consider as, harsh or too stringent for individual's wishes. Through time many selfish policies were institutionalized and become standard practices by successive office holders. Examples abound but some glaring abnormal but common practices found in Adamawa are:

Favouritism in appointments and posting of Principals and Vice Principals: - This is an area where most of the injustices aminate from and the ripple effects on the psych of the victims of such injustices, who usually are more qualified and experienced than those favoured. The victims become despondent, dispirited and loose self esteem. This affects the job. This arrogant practice is the mockery of excellence in Education in Adamawa. If this practice, called ‘who you know’ not ‘what you know’ is not rooted out of the education system in Adamawa, the state will remain backwards while priding itself with array of prominent educators in the past. TB, Prof Iya Abubakar, Prof Jibril Aminu, Hamidu Alkali, Prof Peter Lassa etc. The legacies of these people have been bastardized, corrupted and rendered useless. To be counted in the twenty first century, we in Adamawa must change our global outlook, embrace honesty, sincerity, justice and fairness to all. So long as we still harbor superiority/inferiority complexes, the twenty first century will leave us behind. Favouritism must be banished from our civil service.

Square pegs in round holes. Unabashed, ignorantly or arrogantly installing less qualified, or sometimes unqualified Principals to superintend over more qualified, experienced teachers. Again, here too the ripple effects destroy our education system. The Principal or the Vice Principal of a school is a professional leader, the role model in the school, staff and students. He is the head teacher because he should be the most able and the most experienced. A novice Principal, no matter what, can never inspire or get the loyalty of his subordinate officers. The ripple effects affect the academic out put of the school negatively. That is why for over twenty years, despite huge money sunk into education, our WAEC Examinations results continue to record less than 5% passes in five subjects including English and Mathematics for direct admissions into universities. That is why many of the products of our Secondary Schools cannot write correct grammar in English or Hausa. That is why our Secondary School graduates cannot be employed easily. The ripple effect damages our society seen as corrupt, deeply selfish and monopolistic.

Teacher recruitment. Even the simple recruitment of the teachers who are going to teach our children, in a recent recruitment exercise in Adamawa, it took nearly a year or more to make the results of interview conducted to recruit teachers available. Common sense dictates that the most qualified should be employed but not in this instance where It was reported by the media that there were cases where some who did not sit for the interview were short listed for employment while those who actually sat for the interview were dropped for the employment. To me this is callous, vanity or what can we describe this scenario? Teaching is not a joke. It is not where you can replace the capable ones with the lousy ones. While States like Kaduna, Kano and recently Borno are leading the campaigns to rid teaching of fake, ghost, unqualified teachers, we are here in Adamawa festering decades old corrupt practices of who you know and not what you know. The State Government should establish a strong Inspectorate Service (Agency) to checkmate the excesses of the Civil Servants. The Present Administration has contributed immensely to the education sector but still needs to do more. For the future generations, this generation owes it a duty and responsibility to reset education agenda for twenty first century Adamawa State.

THE OLD STUDENTS ASSOCIATIONS:

The Old Students Association or the Alumni Association of a school is the umbrella body of past graduates of a school or an institution for, principally two reasons; first, to fraternize with one another who were either schoolmates classmates or dormitory/hostel mates. Secondly to give back to the school that made you what you became in later life. In Nigeria, examples abound where the fraternity has transformed not only the life of classmates and schoolmates but that of the states and the regions from where the school is located. The Bida Old Boys Association is one example too nice to mention. A class of twenty-four students who were so knit they never forgot a single one of them in their later life. All twenty-four of them became national icons. They had three heads of state of Nigeria from their set, many generals of Nigeria army, many Minister's and chief executives of Federal corporations. The ripple effect was that at a time, many Niger State indigenes occupied the top most positions in most areas of the Federal establishments. That is the beauty of Alumni Associations, well managed, all inclusive. Even at that level of knit Association, Bida Old Boys has never interfered with any open official matters. I doubt if the Bida Boys influence the appointment of Principal or staff of Bida Government College that I know. Not until the proprietorship changes, no organisation can impose laid policies of posting staff to schools. However, subtly, diplomatically, politically it may be achieved.

For the comments in the posts by some of our members, it is suggestive that not all is well with the administration on ground in our alma mater. If, however there are glaring proof of the observed infringements in the school administration, TYD Alumni Association through its Adhoc Committee/LOC can arrange for a discussion with the SBMC and offer corrective advice and an official Advisory Inspection of the school, where the school will be ex-rayed properly. (it was done in 2009 by Nyako Committee for Assessment of Key Government Projects/Services) Full recommendations will be made to the to the SMOE/Government. It should be noted that the Principals (Junior and Senior, a misnomer?) cannot write or see the governor except through the State Ministry of Education.

The history of the rot and dilapidation in GMMC dates back to late eighties and early nineties when the last vestiges of foreign teachers and education administrators left Adamawa. Most of our indigenes taking over had little or no moral obligations to deliver justice but corruption. We need to change or we shall drag the nation and the region backwards.

Alh. Sa'adu Abubakar Gambe, Retired Deputy Director Federal Ministry of Education, Former Principal FGC Sokoto Former Coordinating Inspector Federal Inspectorate Service (FIS) Jalingo, Currently Chairman Adhoc LOC for the Centenary Celebration of Tiddo Yo Daddo Alumni Association of GMMC Yola. 24/3/2022.