By Toby Chuks
As the people Nigerians continue to face teething challenges including corruption embedded in poor management of human and natural resources, poverty, unemployment and worst of all crime like kidnapping, terrorism and banditry, a scientist and technology consultant based in the United States of America Chief Engr Kizito Okechukwu Ayogu (Ebubedike of Ezike Oba) has identified cultural reforms as well as reforms in Education and Agriculture sectors as the key to finding lasting solution to the myriad of challenges facing development in Nigeria and Igboland in particular
Speaking to Divine Illumination Tv in his country home of Aji, Enugu Ezike during a memorial service organised in honor of his late father Chief Josephat Alijah Ayogu, the American based scientist who is the Founder/CEO Monodome Logistics LLC said that people of Igbo extraction in particular to retrace their step back to their roots with respect for the legacies of their ancestors and by so doing find ways to undo what was wrongly did by foreign teachers during colonial era to reclaim their inheritance and destiny
According to him, our culture is our backbone, our inspiration and energy. Yeah, before the advent of the foreign teachers our fathers had means to deal with their problems, means to find out the cause of problems and how to solve them, means to punish those that disobey the law, means to identify good leaders and means of protection and the communities were safe and secured but the foreign teachers came and took way our culture, our destiny, our inheritance and our names and that is why we cannot find solutions”
Continued he added “We have to get back to our root and rediscover and reclaim our inheritance and destiny to be able to solve our problems because we cannot forget our root and expect things to flow well with us. Today I am remembering my father who died 20 years ago with a horse because that is my root where my destiny was shaped, so I cannot forget my root. My father died 20 years ago but we have already moved along with his legacies as demanded by our culture and I want to tell my father that his family is doing well and I am now the Ebubedike of Ezike Oba”
The scientist went further to identify the need to also affect reforms in the education sector because according to him, the standard of education in Nigeria remains poor as the schools are not well equipped and the teachers not taking care of well enough unlike what is obtainable in other countries. Citing his Alma mater, the Aji High School as example, he lamented that the condition he met the Aji High school on visit shows that the school in facing serious neglect both on the side of government and the citizens.
More so he decried the content of education in Nigeria noting with dismay that “it is imperative to fundamentally re-examine our curriculum framework. Our current system remains largely modeled on externally imposed structures that were not designed to accelerate our intellectual independence or preserve our cultural identity. These inherited curricula have, over time, constrained contextual learning and limited our exposure to our own history, values, and indigenous knowledge systems.
Butressing his point he added “At the core of this reform must be the restoration of history as a strategic pillar of education. Historical narratives were deliberately distorted and selectively presented, erasing critical truths about our past and disconnecting generations from their roots. When a people are denied their history, they lose the ability to understand who they are, what they have endured, and what they are capable of becoming.
“We must therefore take ownership of our narrative by developing our own textbooks, learning materials, and academic content—documents that accurately tell the stories of our heroes, civilizations, philosophies, and achievements. This is not merely an educational exercise; it is a nation-building strategy. By teaching our children the truth about their heritage, we inspire confidence, ambition, and a renewed sense of purpose, empowering them to aspire to greatness anchored in identity and pride.
He wondered why the citizens in particular should neglect the school that shaped them to become what they are in life today noting that some millionaire businessmen in Aji and some people from Aji that are working in government quarters attended the school but all of them have forgotten the school. While maintaining that reforms in education is imperative, he called on government and citizens to wade into education sector and contribute to providing necessary equipments that enhance quality teaching in the school.
Going further on how to advance development to greater height, he pointed at agriculture saying that affecting reforms in agriculture will impact positively on advancement of the system owing to enomous benefits that are obtainable in griculture such as availability of food with attendant benefits of value chain in creating jobs for the youth and contribution to economic growth.
