By Abdulsalam Mahmud

There isn’t a higher tragedy than watching a nation flip its again on the soul of its future—its kids. Within the streets of Ibadan, the slums of Ajegunle, and the dry edges of northern plains, the chalkboards are cracked, the flooring dusty, and the academics weary.

Nigeria’s fundamental training system—significantly on the major degree—lies in silent, aching ruins. As soon as a sacred floor the place minds had been lit with information, major faculties throughout the nation have turn out to be shadows of themselves.

A go to to many public major faculties tells the story plainly. Crumbling buildings with damaged home windows, bogs that mock human dignity, kids studying below timber or in overcrowded makeshift school rooms, and chalk-wielding academics who haven’t been educated or correctly paid in years.

Right here, training isn’t just in disaster—it’s endangered. Thousands and thousands of pupils in rural communities can not learn or write, but they’re promoted 12 months after 12 months, pushed via a damaged system like paper via a shredder.

The implications are stark. A era that can’t suppose critically, a youth inhabitants indignant but uninformed, and an financial future threatened by illiteracy and ignorance.

This academic decay just isn’t merely a developmental concern—it’s a nationwide safety menace. A society the place information just isn’t nurtured will inevitably be swallowed by ignorance, extremism and stagnation.

It’s time for an institutional rethink—past the traditional Ministries and Departments—of who can and will play a task in salvaging our academic panorama. And on this second of grave want, management should put on new uniforms.

It’s not nearly who wears fits or agbadas, however who sees the deserted future and dares to revive it. Because of this the current intervention by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) below the forward-thinking management of Comptroller-Common Bashir Adewale Adeniyi just isn’t solely laudable—it’s revolutionary.

Customs, an company finest identified for implementing commerce laws and gathering income, is now boldly redefining its footprint by moving into the trenches of Nigeria’s academic decay.

On Wednesday, CGC Adeniyi, commissioned a newly-renovated Native Authority Major Faculty and a Major Healthcare Centre within the Sagbokoji neighborhood, Amuwo-Odofin Native Authorities Space of Lagos State, below the “Customs Cares” initiative.

Talking through the launch, Adeniyi stated the NCS stays dedicated to supporting host communities, noting that the initiative addresses each academic and infrastructural wants.

His phrases, “We’re endeavor initiatives that can have direct influence on our faculties and our college students. We have now introduced college baggage, train books, textbooks, and sandals for all of the pupils of this college.

“We’re additionally enhancing Infrastructure, the place we see the deficit, and what we have now chosen to do is to renovate the whole college. And I’m joyful that via Apapa and the Stakeholders, we have now been in a position to ship on this mission.”

He additionally emphasised the significance of healthcare to neighborhood improvement, which is a crucial pillar of what the service is doing. “We all know that the wants of this neighborhood is greater than what we have now executed, however we have now taken step one in direction of getting into into a permanent partnership with this neighborhood.”

The Customs Space Controller (CAC), Apapa Space Command, Comptroller Babatunde Olomu, famous that the mission exemplifies the Service’s dedication to neighborhood well-being, past its core mandates of commerce facilitation, income era, and anti-smuggling.

“The benevolence from Customs exhibits that we have now compassion for the communities the place we cohabit, and this was what knowledgeable this very mission.

“Within the final 4 weeks, it’s been each day and evening, staff have been right here, with the energetic assist of our distinguished stakeholders, to make sure that this mission truly see the sunshine of day”, Olomu stated.

In his goodwill message, Chairman of Amuwo-Odofin Native Authorities Space, Engr. Valentine Buraimoh, expressed appreciation to the NCS, describing the gesture as unprecedented.

“That is the primary time we’re witnessing uniform males within the helm of affairs doing this mission. And right now, I’m extremely elated for this gesture. I need to respect the NCS for renovating our college and the Major Healthcare centre.”

The headmaster of LA Major Faculty, Oladeyo Emmanuel, additionally lauded the Service for its intervention, noting that the facelift would enhance the morale of academics and college students alike.

The occasion featured the distribution of academic supplies to pupils, and culminated within the official commissioning of each the college and the healthcare facility.

In a time when public officers jostle for applause with out substance, the Customs Service has quietly set an ordinary that challenges each company of presidency.

If the NCS can rise past its routine to repair blackboards and paint hope on classroom partitions, what excuse do others have? Ministries with training of their portfolios should now look over their shoulders.

It’s not about mandates anymore. It’s about humanity. And Customs, via this gesture, has confirmed that nationwide improvement just isn’t a job title however a dedication to legacy.

The company has demonstrated that the way forward for Nigeria’s kids shouldn’t rely solely on the ministry in cost, however on the need of each company with a conscience.

The actual reformers of our nice nation aren’t those that look ahead to excellent coverage alignment. They’re those that act, those that see the rot and dare to rebuild.

If we should salvage Nigeria’s failing training system, then we should embrace this Customs mannequin—motion over excuse, influence over indifference. This, really, is easy methods to lead a reform.

Mahmud, Deputy Editor of PRNigeria, may be reached at: [email protected].