Joshua King's Free Press

I rode on a motor bike to the venue. Upon arrival, the rider asked me what time it was. I looked at my watch and told him: “7.30pm.” “Only 7.30 na im everywhere be like this?” There was nothing wrong with the neighbourhood where the commercial motorcycle operator had dropped me off. Nothing except that everyone in a usually noisy street had gone in to watch a live football match leaving the street deserted. It is mid month in May 2013 and the country already is like this. Thick with plots and intrigues as though it was an election year. While some plots are obvious and plain, another plot is clearer by its darkness. The battle for the soul of Nigeria’s presidency come May 2015 began soon after May 29, 2011. The denials of the president that he is committed and focused to his tenure fool only those who have just returned from a vacation in Baga where the number of civilian deaths was exaggerated. There are seven more months left in 2013 and another 12 months in 2014 but the pol...

                  Results of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board examinations taken 27th April have been released. The results thus far show the continued decay in Nigeria’s education sector. Over one and half million young Nigerians took the examination in hope of gaining admission into over 80 universities. Somehow, the secondary school system continues to train students no good enough to gain admission into the universities as proven by results in public examinations like WAEC and JAMB. Going by the last Senior School Certificate Examination results or trend in the past five years, the decline continues to worsen. The pass rate for English and Mathematics shows a fluctuating trend in our secondary schools. 2009 - 26% 2010 - 25% 2011 - 40% 2012 - 20% 2013 - ?        There is a real problem with our secondary schools. For years, the emphasis has been on the poor standards of lear...