A former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Prof Taiwo Abioye, has attributed the frequent break down of law and order in the northern part of the country to low literacy level in the area.
Abioye disclosed this during a chat with our correspondent shortly after delivering the university’s 12th inaugural lecture entitled: “By Words they were created: The Synergy Between Language, Discourse and the Media in the construction of realities,” recently.
According to her, education is mandatory for developing countries in line with the United Nations Charter to which Nigeria is a signatory “but if there are certain upheavals and skirmishes in the society, it is not impossible that the low level of education has contributed to it.”
The professor of Discourse Stylistics and Applied Linguistics added that the north was really lagging behind in terms of educational development, saying this had contributed to the current problems of the breakdown of law and order in the northern part of the country.
She advised the Federal Government to bridge the educational gap between the South and the North to end the current crises in the country.
Abioye said, “The present problem in the north, as far as education is concerned, is a gap and the Federal Government needs to take decisive steps in addressing the issue.
“The gap is strongly linked to the dichotomy of the Nigerian press, which is usually categorised into the Lagos-Ibadan axis (Southwest) and the Northern Press.”
She added that the dichotomy was connected to the different sociological and ideological leaning of the two zones because “it is obvious that literacy level reduces from South towards the North, which may partly account for the frequent breakdown of law and order in the North.”
The don identified the major factors militating against the achievement of an effective literacy level to include misplacement of priorities and the persistent pattern observed in government’s attitude.
Abioye said that education was the bedrock of any nation’s development and that any country that failed to educate its population was bound to fail.
She said, “Education is a fundamental human right that enhances people’s ability and skill development, improves workers’ efficiency, adaptability, and productivity.
“Actually, my Bible tells me if the foundation be destroyed what can the righteous do. Basic education is very important and it is what I call functional education so that, that person will be able to function within the family and society. But many Nigerians don’t even have it, which is a big challenge.”
The university don added, “If the government cannot do any other thing, it should fund basic education, which is very crucial to the development of the country because Nigeria has been battling with the weight of illiteracy, which does not seem to have improved, for
decades.
“Government should live up to its responsibility. The culpable devastation and reckless plunder of the nation’s resources presents the image of an irresponsible and ineffective government incapable of providing compulsory, free and universal basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary
school age.”
Abioye also urged the Federal Government to make free, compulsory primary and secondary education available throughout the country so that peace, unity and progress could be achieved.
