Ezekwesili, who is the convener, FixPolitics, and founder, School of Politics, Policy and Governance, said citizens must be part of the process of solving problems in society.
She said this when her team at the Human Capital Africa, an accountability initiative, paid a visit to Not Forgotten Initiative School, a non-profit school set up for providing free access to education, in Abuja.
The HCA donated N2m and adopted the school for intervention programmes as part of activities to mark Ezekwesili’s 60th birthday.
While applauding the founder of the school, Tosin Adeniyi, for coming up with the initiative as part of efforts to reduce the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, she lamented that the classic failure in governance suggests that citizens must also play their own role in developing the society.
She said, “There is a classic failure in governance that creates the kinds of problems and situations we have in the areas of delivery of basic services like education and health to our citizens.
“But then there is also the part where this initiative doesn’t necessarily have to be because of the failure of the government. It is rather an initiative where citizens are showing that they can be contributors to solving society’s multiple needs. The kinds of needs that we have are humongous, that even the best government acting alone would not be able to solve all of them.
“So all citizens must be part of the process of solving problems in society. But I think that what her initiative does is that, it will create an example so that the government will see that if you did this kind of a program in a certain kind of way, the children in the school will actually not just come to school, but that they will learn literacy and numeracy, which is a major challenge.”
Noting that the foundational level is the most critical level in education, the former minister said the country needs more impact-focused Nigerians who can choose to make a positive difference in the lives of others.
Adding, she said, “Tosin looked around her environment and saw children who were out of school. They are children of parents that live in those makeshift houses that you see around in this neighbourhood in Asokoro. Then, she decided that she must do something about it and ensure that they get an education, and she started literally under the tree.
“The foundational level that she’s addressing is the most critical level in education because it determines what will happen at all other levels.
“Nigerians must understand that what she is doing, what she has done, is formidable for the society and so the more that we celebrate these kinds of citizens’ initiative that works, the more government will be forced to do the right things to make sure that all of our children get the education necessary for economic and social mobility.”
Speaking, Adeniyi urged the government to make education accessible to every child and provide adequate supervision so as not to give room for failure.
“Today we have 85 kids in the school. We have 27 on our scholarship, 10 in the federal government college and about four in the university.
“I want to advise the government to make education accessible to every child and don’t leave any child behind. They should also provide the supervision that it requires. So, it’s not just setting up a school but ensuring that the right thing is being taught and personnel are motivated to do the right thing.”
