WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND NATION BUILDING: THE ROLE OF UNITY COLLEGES

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1 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND NATION BUILDING: THE ROLE OF UNITY COLLEGES A LECTURE DELIVERED BY THE CHAIRMAN, SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, SENATOR (DR.) JOY EMODI ON THE OCCASION OF THE 25 TH ANNIVERSARY OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GIRLS COLLEGE, BWARI, ABUJA ON MONDAY, 23 RD FEBRUARY, 2009 Protocols I feel honoured to be amongst you today to share some thoughts on the imperative of women empowerment and the effective role Unity schools have played over the years towards achieving desired results and objectives of Government. The Dictionary of contemporary English defines empowerment as giving someone more control over their own life or situation. It also refers to giving one the means to achieve something or giving what it takes to become stronger and more successful. Nation building refers to a legitimate political process to establish a system of governance and ability to maintain order, guarantee the fulfillment of international obligations and human right and deliver essential social services. It is the establishment of equitable, democratic, and egalitarian society in which the rights of men and women are respected. Empowering somebody for nation building therefore is about giving her, the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to live more fully and 1

2 effectively. Life itself is a never ending process of learning, and when this is fully appreciated one is no longer a survivor but an adventurer. One key way of empowering citizens for nation building is through education. Education is the single most important sector that defines the life, values and economic power of a nation. It inculcates the norms of responsible citizenship. It is through education that the human resource capacity of a nation is harnessed for development. Often times we focus more on infrastructural development projects like roads, housing, water, power etc. We must bear in mind that we need an educated workforce to build infrastructure, to man our schools, hospitals, telecommunication network, factories and so on. We have even greater need to have educated policy makers, administrators and leaders of both today and tomorrow. In short without education, we will have no society, no democracy, no future and no nation. All developed nations and developing ones for example, the Asian Tigers all built their economies on the foundation of education because they realized that it is an instrument par excellence for national development. To become a player in world top 20 economies by the year 2020, Nigeria must make education a priority focus and it must be a critical, dynamic skill and knowledge based system to make her relevant in the scheme of things. You will ask where the woman comes in, in all these. The woman is a citizen, a worker, a professional, a director, a nation builder, a mother and 2

3 a home maker. A nation is a conglomeration of homes and the woman is fully involved from its cleaning to its full management. Need I say that she should be fully involved and participate in key decision making both in the home and in political structures. The well known old adage which posits that when you educate a man, you educate an individual, but when you educate a woman you educate and empower a nation is still relevant in our time. The role of women in the family which is the unit of society can not be overemphasized. This also goes to the larger society in the nation. The more reason therefore that she needs to be empowered as this will affect the health, the social, spiritual, emotional, economic and total wellbeing of the citizens. Little wonder then the Federal Government has in its wisdom presently established 104 Unity Colleges with almost one half of this number set aside specially for the education of woman. In our society today more women are holding forth in their areas of chosen profession and proving their worth in their various endeavours. It is only justifiable that they be given equal opportunity to empowerment in order to contribute effectively to nation building and development. Role of Unity Colleges In the early 70 s the Yakubu Gowon Administration had an overriding passion to heal the wounds of the just ended Nigerian civil war, hence the declaration of the 3 R s policy of Governance: Reconciliation, Restoration and Rehabilition. The essence was to unify a nation which had been 3

4 devastated by a very divisive civil war. There was need to rehabilitate, reconstruct and restore in order to move forward. The setting up of the unity colleges therefore was part of the restoration strategy for nation building. This strategy to focus on the human resource to bring Nigerian children together so that they can develop a sense of unity once again as they appreciate each other s culture. In practice therefore there was need to build boarding schools and bring in young unpolluted minds from across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria, ignore the differences of tribes and tongue which were bound to differ in a 250 strong multi-ethnic entity. At this time the King s and Queen s Colleges in Lagos were the only schools that had some semblance of being National Schools. The Principle of fostering unity through education therefore could not have been better timed. It was at this time that the second generation of unity colleges was set up. (These include the Federal Government Colleges at Ilorin, Warri, Sokoto, Odogbolu and Enugu). They were to serve as models in every respect of Secondary Education, promoting the ideals of national unity and providing qualitative education for nation building. They were essentially co-educational schools which gave the girl- child equal opportunity with her boy counterpart, to education. The children came from all over Nigeria irrespective of religious and ethnic divides and their teachers were from across the world. 4

5 These pan-nigerian colleges have developed over the years and with the policy of each state having at least two or more of these colleges, the idea of empowering our girls through education has indeed been greatly enhanced. The unity colleges have produced among others notable and distinguished Nigerians (men and women) who man the various sectors of our economy such as the Academia, the Executive and Legislative arms of government, the industrial and commercial sectors. I dare say that you can easily tell a product of the Unity Colleges in any Nigerian society of today. You are bound to notice in them, the vastness of their knowledge across multiple disciplines, the spectrum of their friends across various ethnic divides, and their pan-nigerian out look on issues amongst other qualities. It is gratifying to note that this high academic standard and detribalized mindset still manages to be retained in many of our Unity Colleges today. It is a known fact that there are presently major lapses in the education sector and these unity schools have been bewildered by incessant revision of curriculum, introduction of new systems of education, frequent changing of Ministers and Administrators, misplacement of priorities, coupled with corruption in our body politic, lack of academic tools and environment to promote learning. Nevertheless the unity colleges have done well in promoting quality education to our teaming youths, the girl child in particular. This is precisely why the Senate Committee on Education and all stake holders in education are leaving no stone unturned to redress the situation. I wish to assure you that hope is not lost, and that collectively we shall succeed. 5

6 I wish to salute the founding fathers of the unity colleges for their foresight. The seeds they sowed are still yielding fruits. I wish to commend the Principal, staff and students of the Federal Government Girls College Bwari for the good work they are doing. As they celebrate their 25 years of existence, the event is already showcasing the school as the spring that produces and will yet produce and empower illustrious Nigerian women of the future. Thank you for listening, and God bless you all. Senator [Dr] Joy Emodi 23 rd February,