Kpaduwa: clear thinking, clear message

Dr. Kpaduwa
BY COLLINS Ughalaa 
Time has gone when people of the state paid attention to empty but high sounding phrases. They no longer hold the attraction or the allurement; they have been bereft of those fancies because we have been through that road before and we cannot walk through it again. If you are the Commander of Free Education we would want to see it in the quality of education in the state, not in your high sounding phrases. We will not regard you seriously when you speak of commanding free education and you churn out several data, but what we practically see is that the quality of education has fallen in a free education regime. I was shocked when I learnt of recent that the standard of education has fallen in the state, so much that Imo State, of all states, now occupies the ninth position in the WAEC ranking and 34th position in the overall ranking of education. This is happening in a state that used to have education as its number one industry. That is abysmal and shameful. But in this era of confusion, a period when the government seems bereft of ideas on what to do to get things running again, a period when the government cannot help but repeat old non-entertaining songs, a period when the government admits that its projects are of inferior quality; a period when lying has become the trademark, there is a man who comes with clear thinking and clear message. His name is Dr Julius Kpaduwa, an American trained medical practitioner. He comes for the Imo State governorship with a clear understanding of the problems of the state, and without making the claim of a rescuer, comes handy with practical things to do about the Imo situation. Kpaduwa is not a know-it- all and he makes no pretence to it; he has the knowledge of all that it takes to fix what has been bastardized by the rescuers whose ship has sunk, and he has the competence to do so. That is the thinking that Kpaduwa brings, and it is clear. That is the message that he brings, and it is clear and scintillating and soothing. Kpaduwa is a native of Ezike in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State and he learnt the values of fairness, entrepreneurship while growing up in his community. He learnt that everybody deserves a chance, and he lives by these time tested values. Unlike some people, he is not a superman. He travelled to the United States after the civil war where he became a Medical Doctor and ran a successful business. In America he became the President of the Association of Nigerian Physicians. It was his belief that everybody deserves a chance that pushed him to return home after a long sojourn in the US so that the people of the state could actually have a chance to enjoy good health and live, and not die. And to achieve this, he set out with free medical services, with about 20,000 patients benefiting. This did not fail to get the notice of the state government who made him the Chairman of the Imo State University Teaching Hospital Orlu during Ohakim’s tenure. And as a person that has value for life he did not disappoint. Kpaduwa's thinking is that Imo State is not jinxed but that it is not where it is supposed to be; that current effort by those on the rescue seat will at best jinx the state if there is no rescuer's rescuer. He knows what should be, not can be, done about the Imo situation. His message is the can-do message, that we can fix the problems of the state only if we make the right choice of our leaders. Only if we can think clearly on the Imo project. He says that "Imo State has resources, but its greatest resources is its people. With good governance, we have the potential to turn our state into something truly special - into the Taiwan of Africa." That is the thinking of the man that has a vision and wants to be the Governor of Imo State come 2015 - a vision to turn things around. This thinking passes across the message that we are not in a helpless situation as they forced us to believe in 2011; that we can fix things; that we have what it takes to fix the problem; that we should believe in ourselves; that we need only someone to bring in good governance and the state is changed for the better. Because of the failure of our education system, because the standard of education has nosedived in a supposedly free education administration, we need critical intervention in that sector, and we need just the right person with the right mental attitude to the issues, and one who can move the people with a convincing message devoid of rhetoric. We need the man who understands the challenges. Then I ask, what does Kpaduwa think about the fallen standard of education and what message does he have for us? He says: "Our educational system needs to be revamped and realigned, with a focus towards vocational, digital, technological and entrepreneurial skills to provide the expertise [that is needed] to drive the planned rapid industrialization of Imo State." That is the thinking of the man with the clear thought on the situation of education in the state. The statuesque will not remain as far as education is concerned: it should be revamped and realigned to bridge the skills gap. That is one thing the current educational policy of the state government does not provide for. The government is interested in churning out figures of the number of enrolment, but there is no plan for quality. What is the worth of education if it has no direction, if it cannot serve a need? That is why we should pay attention to the man whose tenure will place the emphasis "on scholarship and student participation, high quality teacher development and welfare, as well as building capacity and incorporating technology in all levels of education system." No doubt, this is a clear deviation from the lame concept of building 305 model schools in the 305 INEC Wards in the state. Kpaduwa's thinking and message for the education sector is practical, not choruses that sleep inducing. There is need to situate Kpaduwa's thinking on the education sector to the real needs of the state, which is that if the future of the state would be guaranteed, we need to have functional education system that would produce the necessary manpower for the various sectors of the state economy. This is true considering the fact that the state cannot talk about industrialization and building a robust economy when we don't have the requisite manpower. We would only end up exporting our jobs and impoverishing our people if we don't have the necessary skills that are needed to drive the state economy. If we want to make our people rich and happy; if we want a secured future for the state; if we want to truly prepare the future leaders of the state, we need to begin now to think that time will come when the battles of this country will be fought, not with guns and bombs, but with intelligence, and the basis upon which we can achieve this bright future is that we equip the youths and the children, not by giving them stipends in schools, but by creating opportunities for them through the provision of high quality education.