thorough-bred professional who has carved a niche for herself as a
leading light in President Goodluck Jonathan's cabinet. In this
interview with Emmanuel Nwagboniwe, she spoke on the Federal
government's achievements in the educational sector and how these
feats have impacted on the states. She also faulted Governor Rochas
Okorocha's penchant for claiming credit for Federal Government
executed projects in Imo all in the name of politics.
ON her experience as Minister of State 1 for Foreign Affairs, before
moving to the Education Ministry
It was very exciting and one learnt a lot about international
politics, and the world of diplomacy. One was also happy that I was
able to talk for my country and represent her in different fora
internationally and nationally in different multilateral settings and
bilateral; we linked up many countries and signed pacts with them. And
that is why in all organizations we belonged to, we vied for elections
and won as board members and governing council members as the case may
be. The key to that was our re-election to the United Nations Security
Council for the fifth time. That election was significant because it
marked the end of our exit from the UN Security Council. We got 186
out of 191 votes.
It was an affirmation of the efforts of President Goodluck Jonathan
and the reaffirmation that Nigeria has come of age. While in Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, l was able to make more Ambassadors in- situ with
the kind approval of the President, I made 32 of them in one day. We
also won election into the Committee of World Democracy Nations. I was
able to sign two bilateral agreements; between Nigeria and Israel, as
well as between Nigeria and Turkey. Turkey was the last assignment l
had; with that, Turkey Airways can now fly into Abuja and Enugu while
increasing the frequencies into Lagos and Kano. I also made our first
Albino Ambassador, Uche Ajulu Okeke who was made Consul General to
Johannesburg through the generous endorsement of the President who
operates a non discriminatory policy in the running of the country. We
were applauded for this unique and the Albino Foundation Worldwide
gave me an award as an Albinism Ambassador for the elevation of one
of their own. It was also interesting and tasking assignment , as
you were travelling with the President as he met with other world
leaders. We also met with His Holiness Pope Francis, and he prayed for
us. In all, l can say that Foreign Affairs was very good and we did
our best.
On significant differences in Education Ministry compared to former ministry
Well, in education, you are working within and with different
categories of staff, teachers, students. There is a lot to do at home,
and that is what education tells us. In terms of ensuring quality of
teaching, ensuring that school materials get to the students. In my
new assignment, we have continued to battle them as we are working
towards training and retraining of teachers and repairing destroyed
structures. In the Education Ministry, we have these various projects
under Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and TETFUND in
addition to other agencies; National Mass Literacy, Nomadic Education
etc. There is no community in the country which UBEC has not touched,
building classrooms of various types and categories.
How does the Education Ministry partner with State Governments to
ensure that this transformation in the education sector gets to the
grassroots?
We work with state governments closely in this area. The UBEC has
built classroom blocks across the country, and I can confidently say
again that there is hardly any community in Nigeria where UBEC has not
built a block of classroom, water borehole in schools. You know basic
education is actually the responsibility of state governments; we have
only come to intervene and help them make it work, because these are
Nigerian students as well.
On the recent disagreement with the Imo State government over Federal
Government projects in the State
There was not supposed to be any disagreement of the many federal
government executed projects in Imo State, but Imo State Governor,
Rochas Okorocha appears very mischievous over the issue . The
Universal Basic Education (UBE) through its intervention projects
built up some projects in the state but the governor claims he
executed them.
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