TheCable

Ayo Opadokun, convener of the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER), says he does not see hope on the horizon for the country.

Delivering a keynote address in Ibadan, Oyo state capital, during the weekend, Opadokun said Nigerians are not doing the needful to bring good result. 

“I do not see hope in the horizon for Nigeria because those who should ask questions are busy grumbling. Both the young and the old are not doing the needful. That would not bring a good result. Those who lament are not in my good books,” he said. 

“Nigerians know what is wrong but they are busy lamenting. They know what to do to right the wrong but they do not have the guts or the conviction of the heart to face the consequences of their actions to ensure that the right thing is done. So, God be with all of us.”

Opadokun, who is among those who fought dictatorship, blamed the military for the country’s situation, “especially as it concerns education”.

“This has hindered the country’s ability to contribute significantly to human civilisation,” he said. 

“They worsened the situation because they sheepishly conceded to the enforcement of the so-called lingual franca on us. What they have done to us is that the mother tongue, which should be the foundation or superstructure upon which a child can be educated, was shattered.

“The learners are going through jeopardy now because they lack the fundamental superstructure upon which their education should be based. This spells doom as they do not understand the foreign language that was foisted on them and they don’t have a good grasp of their mother tongue.

“In most homes today, use of mother tongue is punished because it is regarded as vernacular. That is injustice in the area of education.

“The military came and frustrated our negotiated federal arrangements. That is part of the crisis of our lives. The military had little regard for education. The leaders allocated so little to education.”

Urging people to invest in education, Opadokun added that there is a need for a change of orientation.