Days after the outcry of Nigerians caught in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict went viral, the federal government of Nigeria has approved $8.5 million for their immediate evacuation.

About 5,000 Nigerians, mostly students, affected by the war have fled to neighboring Eastern European countries of Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia, where they’re currently stranded.

The Nigerian government’s decision to embark on an evacuation mission was disclosed by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada, after the virtual Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Dada said the evacuation approval came after a joint memo presented by both the ministries of Foreign Affairs, and Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development at the council meeting.

The House of Representatives last week, had implored Nigeria’s airline Air Peace, to help with the evacuation. Dada said that Air Peace and Max Air airlines have been contracted to provide three aircraft and run as many shifts as possible to facilitate the evacuation.

“The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs wrote a memo to the President, seeking for funding to enable us conduct this exercise. The memo was in the region of $8.5 million, which Mr. President has graciously approved. That provision entails an arrangement to evacuate not less than 5,000 Nigerians.

“Whatever happens you can be rest assured we are going to run any number of shifts that it will involve. Don’t forget it will also involve taking care of those Nigerians that may decide not to come back. It also includes some assistance for the feeding that may have been done by the missions under whatever arrangements.

“Even the missions themselves are also in dire situations. So it’s a whole gambit of activities that are involved,” Dada said, adding that the said fund has been released . That’s why the evacuation flights will begin today (Wednesday),” he said.

However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on Wednesday, saying that only persons documented with the Nigerian Embassies will be eligible for evacuation. The Ministry urged those yet to register for the exercise to do so, as it is a mandatory requirement. It added that those without passports will be issued Emergency Travel Certificates (ETC) to enable them travel back home.

Nigerians in Russia have also been advised to leave the country as soon as possible due to increasing global sanctions targeting Russia’s economy.

Africans in Ukraine have complained of racial discrimination as they try to escape to neighboring countries. The African Union has expressed its concern over the development as it hinders the efforts of African countries to evacuate their citizens.

Some Ukrainian cities have been captured by Russia, trapping their inhabitants. Dada said he hopes the Russians will respect international law and ensure that no harm comes to Nigerians caught in the situation.

“We want to believe the Russian armed forces will obey the rules of engagement. They know the rules about civilians that are caught up in situations such as this. We want to assume they will respect international laws and ensure that no harm comes to them.

“Don’t forget that even our missions in Ukraine have had to be evacuated. So if for any reason any Nigerian is left behind, we are very very prayerful, we are very hopeful that no harm shall come to them once of course they are in some shelters or whatever place they are hiding.

“Don’t forget we had also summoned both the Russian and Ukrainian ambassadors to our ministry, and we did emphasize the need for their troops to ensure that they do not do anything that will harm the lives of innocent citizens.

“We have seen video clips making the rounds about the alleged treatment that had been meted out to black people who were on queues and in buses and all that.

“All these we have brought to the attention of the ambassadors and we have expressed our displeasure at this development and demanded that they do something about this,” he said.

However, some Nigerians caught in the war have said that they have no desire to return to Nigeria, despite the government’s evacuation plan.

A video of a police officer attached as a security detail to Dr Nimota Nihilola Akanbi who was recently appointed as the pioneer Chairman of the National Secondary School Education Commission (NSSEC) has sparked a lot of negative reactions and it is putting the name of the Nigerian police force to ridicule.

In the viral video, the police orderly in his full police regalia was seen carrying a tray of food for the “Oga Madam”, following the Madam behind while the “Oga madam” was just exchanging pleasantries in an event over the weekend in Ilorin, Kwara state.

This act of VIPs turning their police or security protocols to domestic staff, using them to do menial jobs and house chores other than providing security for them which is the primary  reason they were attached to the individual is a no, no and should be highly condemned. A police officer is a security officer representing the uniform he wears and the Nigeria police force and should never be seen in his police outfit engaging in chores other than providing securities for the VIP for the pleasure of the VIP.

In no where in s.4 of the police act which provided for the general duties of the police and by extension the general duties of a policeman was it provided that a police officer attached to any VIP as an security orderly should be turned into a house boy or a “boy boy”,  used for menial chores or used as the VIP pleases. 

For the sake of emphasis, s.4 of the police act will be represented here, thus:

S.4. General duties of the police

The police shall be employed for the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehen- sion of offenders, the preservation of law and order, the protection of life and property and the due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are directly charged, and shall perform such military duties within or outside Nigeria as may be required of them by, or under the authority of this or any other Act.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Police Service Commission (PSC) should start withdrawing the police officers attached to some VIPs that are subjected to this kind of slavery and abuse. Just because you are privileged to be a high ranking member of the society should not warrant you to subject a fellow human who is same age bracket with you who is just attached to you to carry out his statutory duties ( of providing security for you) to this form of slavery.

Everything is wrong with this act.

It is wrong from every angle. Your security details attached to you as a VIP is a privilege and not your right,  they are for your security and not to do menial jobs and domestic chores for you. When you subject them to do some chores for you other than providing security, it amounts to abuse and mental slavery. Some VIPs even asked their police orderlies to do their laundry and do house cleaning; God forbid!

If you as a VIP need a domestic staff please employ one and stop subjecting the security forces of the nation to such abysmal ridicule and abuse.

The good news is that it was reported later today that the Police commission has summoned the officer who was seen carrying the food tray for his madam in the viral video. The police authorities also issued a strict warning that its operatives attached to Very Important Persons (VIPs) all over the country to stop serving purposes other than providing security coverage for the individuals against security threats. 

It’s not anymore news that the contemporary education system across the globe has been characterized by some technicalities that are rather harmful to the system.

Education is simply defined as the imparting and acquiring of knowledge via teaching and learning, respectively, especially at a school or similar institution.

In the words of G. K. Chesterton ‘Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.’ No wonder every sane and rational society treats it as the fundamental factor required toward any meaningful development.

The earliest educational processes involved sharing information about gathering food and providing shelter; making weapons and other tools; learning language; and acquiring the values, behaviour, as well as religious rites or practices of a given culture.

Prior to the invention of writing and reading, people lived in an environment in which they struggled to survive against natural forces, animals, and other humans. At the time, to survive, preliterate individuals developed skills that grew into cultural and educational patterns.

Education, therefore, emanated from the human struggle for survival and enlightenment. It may be formal or informal. The latter refers to the general social process by which human beings acquire the knowledge and skills needed to function in their culture. Whilst, formal education refers to the process through which teachers instruct pupils or students, as might be the case, in subjects of study within institutions.

Modern day education makes one feel proud that s/he is truly educated, though formally or informally, everyone is educated. Real education, which is the overall development of mind, body and soul, can be acquired via any means. According to Carter Woodson, education means to ‘inspire people to live more abundantly, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better.’

It’s noteworthy that modern education is aided with a variety of technology comprising computers, projectors, internet, and calculators, among others. This fact forms the basis of this discussion, hence shall take time to do justice to it.

Everything that can be simplified has been made simpler by the introduction of the aforementioned gadgets into modern day education. Science has obviously explored every aspect of human life. It suffices to say that there is now much to learn as well as more to assimilate. The Internet alone provides abysmal knowledge, meaning literally that there’s no end to it.

Skill development and vocational education has added a new feather to the modern system of education. Everyone has something to learn. Even an infant these days goes to a kindergarten. And a little grown – mentally and physically – is promoted to a nursery.

The most fascinating part is that everything is being categorized ranging from kindergarten, nursery, primary, secondary, to tertiary; and each of these stages has a certain set of technical acquaintances. The truth is, the modern pattern of education is a never-ending process. Aristotle Nicomachus, in his usual way, stated that education is an ‘ornament in prosperity and a refugee in adversity.’ This is exactly what modern education represents.

However, it’s pertinent to acknowledge that the existing technical intricacy of modern education has caused colossal harm to the present days’ children, thereby posing threat in their respective ambitions and future endeavours.

For instance, before now, devices such as abacus were used during Mathematics classes. Such an approach helped tremendously to educate the kids – ranging from ages 6 to 14 – on mental arithmetic, a knowledge that enables them to face any form of Mathematics problem in the future.

But now, except in countries like India, Russia, China, Ghana, and what have you, that still make use of counting frames or abacus, calculators have suddenly overtaken its use in Nigeria. Worse still, even primary school pupils are now exposed to scientific calculators.

Modern education has deprived most learners the opportunity of seeing the real events or scenes. Engineering students, for example, only see pictures of what is being taught, or what is expected to be produced by them.

Final year undergraduates, and perhaps postgraduate students, presently do their projects or theses by merely downloading the required materials from the net. Most students don’t even know where the fabric they are wearing came from. The word ‘how’ is currently missing in our world, which causes severe ignorance.

Modern education has succeeded in spreading more ignorance than knowledge. It has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading. Learners do more of cramming rather than memorizing, which can only be achieved by getting close to facts or the actual pictures. Albert Einstein once said education is ‘that which remains if one has forgotten everything learned in school.’

For the technical intricacies involved in modern education to be advantageous to the learners, they must serve as supplements. In other words, they ought to be used for reference purposes, and not as fundamental devices as they are presently utilized in various institutions of learning.

The pupils or students must get used to the real pictures or sites before introducing the use of tech gadgets to them. Their brains shouldn’t be complicated with those things at an early stage. Those brains are still fragile, thus ought not to be juxtaposed with tech intricacies. More so, endeavour to let the practical segment be preceded by theory.

The truth is that we must note that every invention was made for a purpose, and to be applied at a particular time. So, if we end up misusing them, it becomes a problem when they are meant to serve as blessings.

Hence, there’s a need for concerned authorities to acknowledge the essence of following the required processes in any system.