Former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo says the African continent has no business being poor and can change her fortunes with education.
Obasanjo, who spoke on Thursday at the launch of the Ethan and Harriet Map of Nigeria puzzles created by his daughter, Mrs Bunmi Williams, said that poverty was caused by the continent’s leaders.
“Poverty of Africa is a choice of African leaders. We don’t need to be poor. I believe we can make a different choice and if we do we will be what God has created us to be – a land flowing with milk and honey.
“God hasn’t created us to be poor. Ans the beginning of not being poor is education,” he said.
Obasanjo lamented the poor level of awareness of the Nigerian history and cultural heritage, likening it to suffering a memory loss.
“Not knowing your history is like losing your memory. How can you be inspired when you don’t know your history; when you don’t know your sense of identity?” he asked.
Obasanjo said he was proud that his daughter came up with a solution through the puzzle, which can help children and adults learn about all states of Nigeria, their capitals, and their locations on the map.
“I came from the Mambila Plateau some weeks ago. And when people called me and I told them I was at the Mabila Plateau, they asked what country it was in. Mambila Plateau is in Taraba State.
“What Bunmi has done, which I am that it is appreciated by you is that this important gap should be filled very early in preparatory education; our own adult lack of knowledge can be filled by this puzzle,” he said.
He thanked his daughter’s husband (Rotimi) and father, whom he called to the podium, for supporting her creativity by giving her peace of mind.
“For Bunmi to have the peace of mind to be creative is because the domestic environment is conducive and Rotimi partly makes it conducive; Baba Rotimi partly makes it conducive,” he said.
In her speech, Mrs Williams said she was inspired to create the puzzles to preserve Nigeria”s heritage.
“Our national and cultural heritage is our responsibility to preserve and promote. Only those that truly care can change Nigeria. But you can’t change what you don’t know about.
“We created this to bridge the gap – as a fun way to teach our values,” she said.
Mrs Williams said her firm has partnered with the Oando Foundation to distribute the puzzles (a wooden board kind and a floor puzzle measuring 3ft by 2ft) to public schools in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. She called for further collaborations with others to distribute up to 12,000 copies of the puzzles to pupils who cannot afford the price (N6,000 for the wooden, and N10,000 for the floor puzzle).
Many dignitaries like Dr Donald Duke, former Cross River State Governor; Mrs Sarah Sosan, former Lagos Deputy Governor; Erelu Olusola Obadan, former Osun State Deputy Governor and Minister of Defense, Mrs Ronke Soyombo, Director-General, Office of Quality Assurance, Ministry of Education; and Dr Femi Ogunsanya, President, Association of Private Educators in Nigeria (APEN) endorsed the puzzles at the event.
Product reviewer, Dr Duke, who also lamented the relegation of history in schools said the product was a good one.
“This is noble and really worthy of our entire support,” he said.
Dr Ogunsanya said she was glad it would expose children to learning about Nigeria early in life.
“The introduction and teaching of values must start from creche – with children under five. It gives me great excitement that it teaches children how to put together the Nigerian map early in life,” she said. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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