# Chinwe Obaji

Chinwe Obaji is a higher education lecturer, teacher and education administrator who was appointed to head Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Education.

## Quotes

* If people are criticizing you and they don't have the facts, it only means that you are doing what is right.
** Chinwe Obaji in an interview.
* But if life is lost, that is the end of that person. To stay alive therefore is more important than to put lives at risk in the name of going to school.
** Speaking in an exclusive interview about school re-opening
* Every other thing can actually wait but not the upbringing of a child.
* The mandate of the 10 pillars of the education road map included revamping the basic education sector, education data and curriculum planning, as well as improving the quality of teachers’ education, which is key.
* Improving the quality of teachers’ education, however, requires professionally competent teachers that can handle emerging issues in our educational institutions and the society.
** Speaking during training of trainers on Trafficking in Persons (TIP).
* What is the condition of FG technical schools? Do they have new technical laboratories? What are those schools producing? Achieving technological advancement is not just playing to the gallery; it is about showing commitment and matching words with reality.
* Look at FSTC, Yaba, it is the premier technical school, and will soon clock 70 years, by now we should be producing something even if it is simple cell phone. Simple technology we cannot produce. Go to FSTC, Orozo and FSTC, Ohanso, the state of their facilities is terrible
* Our problem in this country is that we tend to forget the past. We don't remember the future. We are only living for the day. And any country that does not remember the past, can never move to the future. There have been a lot criticisms of President Muhammadu Buhari's government. But we forget where we are coming from and where we came from. And because we forget where we came from, that's why anybody can jump up and criticize this government. I want to go back a little bit. There was a time when every Nigerian was interested in our local football clubs. We were interested in clubs like the Rangers football club of Enugu, in IICC Shooting Stars, in Mighty Jets of Jos, in Racal Rovers of Kano, etc. Then we were interested in made in Nigeria items. But today, many Nigerian youths particularly don't know these Nigerian football clubs that dominated our local football leagues then. Now everybody is talking about Juventus football club, Manchester United otherwise known as Man-U, Chelsea football club, etc. And people are ready to bet their lives over these clubs sides in the English football league. Suddenly, we acquired foreign taste in everything: in education, in our clothes and in everything we are doing. But with the sharp drop in oil price, we could no longer maintain our foreign taste. That was the position of things in Nigeria when President Muhammadu Buhari took over the mantle of presidential leadership of the country in 2015. What the Buhari presidency has made us today is to rediscover ourselves in this country. What do l mean by that? For the people who are still interested in farming, they're smiling to the banks. They're not complaining like every other person. States like Kebbi state with their Lake rice are making so much revenue from rice local production. The same with Ebonyi state with their famous Abakaliki rice. There is Anambra rice, Kano rice, Lokoja rice and Ofada rice, etc, are all in the market today. By consuming these local rice, we are patronizing our local rice farmers. This is unlike before when we were patronizing foreign rice produced by farmers in Taiwan, in Bangok Thailand, in China and other Asian countries. We were bringing in through import, tonnes of expired rice into this country. So by doing this, we have rediscovered ourselves as a people. Therefore we must give president Buhari credit for this initiative.
** What is your appraisal of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) under President Muhammadu Buhari in the past five years?
* Like we all know, there is no way one man can please everybody. For the people who are waiting for mana to fall from heaven, they are there criticizing Mr President. But the farmers that l have given you example of, they're not criticizing him. One of my security men from kaduna saw my ginger plants at home recently and asked me "mummy, do you also plant ginger? He said in my place they call it ATM (Automated Teller Machine)" because ginger product today is like a money spinner. He said that a bag of ginger in their place sells for N35,000. There are some people l know who have left Abuja here and gone home to plant ginger or rice or whatever. Those people are quietly making their money. They are people who are ready to die for president Buhari. They are in the majority and they are not even on social media. Those people who are on social media are the idle ones. If you are indeed busy, you won't be seen everyday on social media all the time. For these people that are busy making shoes or working in their farms, they are busy and have no time to go on social media to be criticizing Buhari.
** Despite all these laudable achievements of president Buhari as you have enumerated, why is it that some vocal Nigerians are still hostile and highly critical of the president's administration. It's has even become worse after this 2019 elections?
* Sincerely speaking, l have never foreseen him lose that election. Of course, anyone following me on social media before that election knew my position about Buhari coming back as an elected president for a second term. You see, it is never over until it is over. Now we have many political parties in the country but the truth is that we have two major political parties that one could say actually stood for the 2019 general elections. There was no way president Buhari could have easily lost that election. It was just a victory foretold.
** With all the criticisms and opposition to President Buhari before the 2019 elections, did ever think that he would win his re-election bid?
* l think l will answer your question with a small story. I remember those days in University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) when some people were being interviewed for the job of chief security officer of the university. And the question that was put to most of them was: assuming thieves were coming from a particular direction to attack the university by so so and so time in the night, what will they do to repel the criminals from gaining access into the university campus. Every other person answered how they will launch a counter-offensive against the thieves, but there was this particular candidate who eventually got the job and who answered the question differently. He asked the panel of interviewers whether they want him to expose his strategy to them so that they will go and leak the information to the criminals? So what l can assure you is that there are some of us APC stalwarts in the South East who are not noise makers but who have a sense of what to do about how to make the APC acceptable to the people of the South East. You know, most big names in politics don't control the grassroots and they do not win elections because the lack the capability to convince their people. Most of them have stepped on one big toe at one time or another and therefore they have lost the trust of the People. But for those of us who don't talk much, we know where we are going to, how to connect to our people and we can not leak such strategies on the pages of newspapers.
** Over time, people like you have shown serious commitment and consistent support for president Buhari in the South East zone but despite that, it still appears that the APC is battling with the challenge of getting mass support of the Igbos?
* For me, it is very exciting. If people are criticizing you and they don't have the facts, it only means that you are doing what is right. It is the person that is holding the ball in a football field that other players tackle. Isn't it? So we are all entitled to our own opinion and l don't fault other people for holding their own contrary views. If my attackers or critics can not sway me, it means l am sure of my own position and that is where the excitement comes. If they could draw me out from what l believe in, then they will not be talking. It is a game. And at the end of the day, we will see who convinces the other or more people for president Buhari.
** What does it feel being on the receiving end of public attacks even on social media for being a firm believer in president Buhari?
* You see, every government has its strong and weak points. The important thing is about Nigeria and not about any particular individual. I don't see president Muhammadu Buhari as somebody who is there as president of Nigeria for what he can get. And he does not have any ego about it. You understand? Like all human beings, he has his strengths and weaknesses. But we can only look at him and ask ourselves which one is more beneficial and important to the country. Is it his strength or weakness? And we look at it objectively and critically before we make our judgement. To me, l think he has his weakness but his strength far outweighs his weakness. Yes!
** How do you see president Buhari's leadership style and his capability in governance?. I ask this question based on the fact that some of the president's critics within and outside the APC often accuse him of demonstrating leadership incapability? Is he actually incompetent as your former boss, ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo once said in his letter to Buhari?
* Honestly l wouldn't know. I have never been a former head of state or president, so l wouldn't know.
** Why do you think some of the former leaders appears to be in the forefront of the opposition and criticism of president Buhari and his leadership style?
* I said l wouldn't know. Many of these leaders also came from military background and sometimes, people could carry over old prejudices over the years. So l wouldn't know. I have never been in the military and l have never been a former head of state, so l wouldn't know why. May be as a Journalist, as a senior editor of a newspaper, they (leaders) would be disposed to grant you an interview to that effect.
** But you were a former minister of education who worked with Obasanjo and who should be in a position to know what we ordinary citizens do not know?