Schools that Kill

Sorry State of Schools in Nigeria

By Azubike Aliche

When I worked in journalism, we operated on the premises that pictures do not tell lies, and that a good picture tells a story better than a thousand words can do. On the basis of that, I’m saving words for my blog, today, to show pictures of examples of what pass for schools in my native Abia State of Nigeria. The pictures were taken in the last month by Nwaeze Nwachukwu, a Los Angeles, resident who visited Nigeria. Nothing portrays, better than these photos, the objective reality of schools in Nigeria and some other parts of Africa. These are schools that put the health and welfare of our children at risk, as they are put at the mercy of the elements. Pictures like these have spurred me and other like-minded concerned individuals to come together to found the Power Education Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit, to raise money and make grants aimed at improving access to early childhood education in Nigeria. Please, visit our website at www.powereducationfoundation.com, to see what we are doing and what you can do to help. Your small tax-deductible donation can make a difference.

Welcome to my World!

I was born and raised in Nigeria. I lived there for more than three decades before coming to live in the United States. My heart remains there and I pay close attention to events over there. And, a lot of the goings-on there give me sleepless nights, particularly if it has to do with the conditions of the child in the rural arears where I was born and raised.

The Unicef-published 2007 Global Monitoring Report on Education for All has bad news for Nigeria, and Africa at large. The report said that Nigeria was No. 1 among countries with the highest out-of-school children. The report added that 60 percent of school age children in Nigeria fail to complete primary education. Unicef estimates that, for the year 2000, only 4.6 million, out of Nigeria's 23 million children under the age of six, were enrolled in pre-primary education. That's just 24.7 percent.

I'm determined to work for the millions of Africa's children who need to but lack access to early childhood education. Please, visit my website at www.powereducationfoundation.com to see what I'm doing or planning to do to provide access to much needed early learning opportunities for kids. I do it because I'm motivated and inspired by my own experience when I took my very first job, as classroom teacher, 28 years ago. More importantly, though, I do it in memory of my late father, Jonah Chiehika Aliche, who braced all odds to ensure that his own children and others got, at least, primary education. At old age my dad attended adult school in the evenings and learnt how, at least, to write his name!

Every week, or as often as I can, I'll draw attention to one issue or the other that is working against preparing Nigeria's, nay, Africa's youngest children for school. I'll ask you to join me in my school readiness business. So, welcome to my world!