By McPhilips Nwachukwu

President Goodluck Jonathan’s Bring back The Book campaign hit the University of Benin campus, Benin City, Edo State last Thursday with the theme; Jonathan: The Future of the Book at the Main Auditorium of the university that was packed with students eager to be part of Mr. President’s book revolution.

From r-l,Ken Saro-Wiwa Jnr, Stephanie Okereke at the event

The event had two of Nollywood star speakers as models; Kanayo O. Kanayo and Stephanie Okereke to help propagate the book culture among students of Nigerian universities. Comedian MC Casino made the event memorable with his deft performance alongside other campus music stars. The arrival of Senior Special Assistant to the President on Research, Documentation and Strategy Mr. Oronto Douglas and his team, which included two of Nollywood’s actors Kanayo O. Kanayo and Stephanie Okereke, created excitement amongst the students. On the team, too, was Mr. Ken Saro-Wiwa (Jnr), son of the late minority rights activist, also from the Presidency.

In his introductory remarks about the book mission of Jonathan’s team to the campus, Student Affairs Assistant Dean, Mr. F.O. Osadolor recounted the struggles Nigerian students had previously embarked upon to entrench the book culture in Nigeria. He disclosed that in the 1980s, and as a politically conscious student himself, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) had been at the forefront of agitation for a free and qualitative education for all Nigerians.

Importance of education

He praised Mr. President for establishing nine Federal Universities, saying that it was the mark of an educated President, who knew the importance of education, and as the first President to be a PhD holder among Nigerian leaders.

Osadolor praised Mr. President recent establishment of new nine Federal Universities as a measure of reducing admission headaches as more students would be admitted in the face of inadequacies of the existing universities accommodating the large number of applicants seeking for university education.

More so, he said that the universities would create jobs and take many Nigerians away from the crowded labour market and ensure that more Nigerians receive qualitative education. He premised these on Jonathan’s insistence that every Nigerian had access to education having struggled himself to get one as an indigent student. He assured his students that with Jonathan, Nigeria’s educational problems would be solved so as to make learning fun for them.

Then Tamara of Naija Sings obviously wooed the student audience as they gently rocked along with her.

Talking to the student, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Research, Docummentation and Strategy, Douglas said he was a bonafide citizen of Benin and recalled his student days with Osadolor and their exploits in ousting military dictatorship that started the deterioration in Nigeria’s educational system with their anti-educational policies, especially their aversion to knowledge acquisition that tended to challenge their authority and aversion to university autonomy.

According to him, “Educational system today is not the best that we can get. It is ten months since Jonathan has been President and he has restated education as one of his priorities. It is important that for Nigeria to become a great nation, you here who will be governors, senators, engineers, doctors, lawyers and presidents should be properly educated and made to understand the value of the book to the great Nigerian project that Mr. President wants to evolve.”

Continuing he added that , “Jonathan is the man who has said that he is going to fix the educational system; he has said that every Nigerian that comes from a humble beginning must have an opportunity of aspiring to the best that he can, even the Presidency. He believes in the unity of Nigeria, in a system that has to change for the better. “We chose UNIBEN to Bring Back The Book because of its uniqueness and dynamism. The books being given here are symbolism of the book campaign. You have to decide what your future will be. Jonathan is emphasising to you today the need for excellence, brilliance, unity and togetherness as virtues that must be entrenched in all of you to achieve the Nigeria of our dream”.

Also while addressing the students, Nollywood chieftain, Kanayo didn’t mince words in reminding the students about the good political product that Jonathan was, saying he was not a hard-sell as a political figure but a good product. “We need to receive that consciousness about the book for our collective development. Jonathan has not claimed that he owns all the intelligence, but he means well. He is a story of hope. Being a stakeholder and former teacher, he knows the problems in the university system like electricity, poor hostels.We owe Nigeria a fresh breath, and this is a new dawn”.He said.

Story of his father

Writer of the popular book , In the Shadow of A Saint, Saro-Wiwa (Jnr) told the students the story of his father, the late environmental activisits, Ken Saro- Wiwa, his agitation for the rights of minority people of Nigeria and his campaign for an educated citizenry and how he was hanged for convictions. He said he was in Oakland, New Zealand, when his father was killed. He explained how his father encouraged his Ogoni people to use their brains to stop the guns pointed at them by the oil companies and the complicity of Nigerian state.

In his words, “You are the future of Nigeria in the various individual roles you will play in your chosen courses here. Jonathan is going to transform Nigeria for good and for you, the youths. Use your brains to change Nigeria for the better. Students, stand up for your future!”

In a sense, Jonathan’s Bring Back The Book campaign campus launch would seem to have come at the right time: it is hoped to enable Mr. President’s right hand man Douglas to get firsthand information on the state of things in the university campuses. But sadly, no student was given a chance to respond on behalf of the students’ body on the true state of things in the university. This is an anomaly that should be addressed in the subsequent campaigns. Students should be allowed, even encouraged to directly address Mr. President about the challenges they face in campuses and how best they think it should be resolved.