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Opinion

The Oracle: Ethnic Nationalities and Emerging Challenges in Nigeria (Pt. 1)

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By Mike Ozekhome

INTRODUCTION

National unity is the most important factor that holds the country together. Nobody will fight for the strange people; nobody will care about the parted country and no country will develop and work together without the idea of national unity. After a wide research, one can confidently say that, Nigeria has over 400 ethnic groups, which ordinarily should amplify its rich culture but the reverse seems to be the case.

These groups are broken down between religious, languages, and tribal lines. These divisions existed ever since but were further broken down at independence to a multi-ethnic nation state.

With the divisions, the nation has been battling with the problem of ethnicity on the one hand, and the problem of ethno-religious conflicts on the other, as has been witnessed severally when ethnicity and religious intolerance led to ethno-religious conflicts.

However, according to historians, it was these conflicts that gave birth to many ethnic groups like the O’dua People Congress (OPC), Bakassi Boys, Egbesu Boys, Ijaw Youth Congress (IYC), Igbo People Congress (IPC), Arewa People’s Congress (APC), and Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).

Since independence, Nigeria has experienced an avalanche of ethno religious conflicts that resulted in loss of lives and unquantifiable damages on properties. No doubt, the violent nature of ethno-religious conflicts, which often take the form of riots, sabotage, assassination, armed struggles, guerilla warfare and secession in Nigeria, have implications on the political and economic development of the nation.

ON ETHNIC CONFLICT

According to reports, ethnic conflict is an issue that, particularly during the last decade or so, has crept to the forefront of international political debate. Stremlau stated that, (1999-03-26:1), “polarization between ethnic groups and resulting conflict between them as they compete for resources, political and economic power and other goals, has spawned negative consequences of tremendous proportions, of which genocide, ethnic cleansing and civil war are but a few examples, have caused several losses of lives, livelihoods, displacements as well as properties”.

An intriguing and or pertinent question to ask here would be, what really is the cause of all these incessant tribulations that seem to gain momentum every decade from one generation to the next generation?

It can simply be put that, Ethnic conflicts in Nigeria and Africa in general arise as result of scarcity of political resources, multi-culturalism, religion, militarization of ethnicity among others. These conflicts cannot be ignored as they are most times often initiated by people who benefit from control of state resources and power which are the bases of their patronage networks, thus they seek to instigate violent ethnic conflict.

They often get away with this because of the high rate of unemployment, illiteracy, marginalization and an unequal distribution of the national wealth in the areas dominated by their ethnic groups.

However, the most painful and regretful consequences of such ethno-crises have been far reaching. The parties always at the most detrimental end are the women and children. One can simply put again that, the consequences of ethnic conflict on women, aged and children had the most damaging impact, thousands of women, the aged and children have been compel to desert their homes and seek refuge in neighboring villages, towns and countries due to the ethnic conflict, they are internally displaced persons (IDPs) in their own country.

Accordingly, the International Journal of Scientific Research in Multidisciplinary Studies further posited that “violence against women, the aged and children is devastating which include emotional and physical injuries, rape as a traumatic injury, sexually transmitted diseases, maternal mortality, unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion and the use of child soldiers’ to fight in ethnic conflict.

Truth be told, Ethnic conflict has certainly affected the government and the people generally and have resulted to political and economic instability, weakened patriotism, breed suspicion, lack of trust and true relationship among different ethnic groups in the country, and the only hope of a common man is to believe that responsive and responsible government would restore confidence among the population and promote de-Ethnicsation policy among the competing ethnic groups in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, the recent wave of ethnic-crises have become extremely alarming as it has become a daily routine practically across all geopolitical zones and states. Instances where we can draw inference from includes but not limited to, the raging and I dare to add,

(a). Unending wars between Farmers and herdsmen, with the former bearing the brunt of the menace.

(b). Gunmen recently attacked the Police Headquarters in Imo State, set several vehicles ablaze, and executed a jailbreak at the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) facility in the state capital, Owerri, where over 1,800 inmates escaped.

(c). In Anambra, they attacked the Police Zonal Headquarters at Ukpo and killed two policemen while setting a found in the compound.

(d) In Ebonyi State, over 18 people were killed in an ethnic clash between locals and armed herdsmen. Same was also witnessed in Enugu State is not left out of the lot being that they experienced almost the same incident like Ebonyi Sate.

(e) Again, another incident occurred at Shasha in Oyo State, an ethnic war followed the killing of a cobbler by a cart pusher that escalated to Ibarapa and some other parts of the state, leaving many people dead and properties destroyed.

(f) The very heart-aching incidents that occurred in Ogun State, where some AK47-wielding herdsmen sacked remote agrarian villager’s in Yewa North and Imeko Afon Local Government Areas (LGAs) such that surviving locals were reported to have fled to neighboring Benin Republic. And the list continues.

So, the picture gets clearer with time. Africa’s largest oil and gas producer, Nigeria, has attracted negative international attention in recent years mainly because petroleum operations in the Niger Delta have created conditions for the eruption of major ‘civil disturbances’ and other forms of social conflict that threaten the country’s corporate existence. A number of issues foreground the conflict.

First, since 1956, when a commercial oil well was struck in the small rural town of Oloibiri (in Bayelsa State) – but particularly since 1958, when the country commenced crude oil export – Nigeria has grown steadily dependent on this resource for its export revenues. For instance, while oil accounted for 57 per cent of total export revenues in 1970, this proportion rose to 96 per cent (1980), 97 per cent (1990), 76 per cent (2000), and 92 per cent (2004) (OPEC 2005). Second, the Niger Delta is composed of minority ethnic nationalities (in a country demographically dominated by three largely non-oil-producing ethnic groups, namely Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo). Third, the Niger Delta is one of Nigeria’s most underdeveloped regions. Lastly, the ‘lack of development’ in the Delta belies the fact that the region’s petroleum wealth practically sustains the entire country.

Grassroots discontent in the Niger Delta has found expression not simply in protest marches but in such acts as oil pipeline vandalism, abduction of oil company employees, and reprisals against community subgroups considered by local activists to be sympathetic to the Nigerian government and transnational oil interests. Of late, armed confrontations with the national security forces have become prominent. All this has occurred amidst sustained environmental and civil rights activism spearheaded by local, national and international civil society groups, as well as the mass media. The Nigerian government has estimated the monthly cost of the Niger Delta crisis to be about US$1 billion in lost Petro-revenues.

The growing body of literature on the Niger Delta crisis does seem to underline one point: there is an ethnic undertone to the crisis. For one thing, the argument goes, community groups in the Niger Delta regard the non-oil-producing regions (those of the Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo) as the principal beneficiaries of federal petroleum exploitation and revenue sharing policies. The ethnic minorities of the Niger Delta are treated as objects (property) owned by the majority groups to be dealt with according to their whims and caprices. Therefore, however otherwise the Niger Delta crisis disguises itself, there is a feeling in the region about ethnic domination and hence the main target of grievances (and possible future insurrection) must be the non-oil-producing regions. What tends to give credence to this line of argument is that in ethnolinguistic terms, Nigeria is one of the world’s most diverse countries, with some 510 ‘living languages’ spoken across over 300 ethnic groups.

Let me pause for a moment and state here categorically that this incessant incident has almost become the order of the day such that most person’s do not feel the shock anymore until it hits them one way or another. Unfortunately, across all the states in the South, bandits and terrorists now masquerade as herdsmen and have resorted to raping, killing and kidnapping natives with reckless abandon without recourse to justice. Similarly, in most Northern states, these armed brigands have carried out mass kidnapping for ransom and cold blood murder of school pupils, travelers and anyone. The one I  still can’t seem to wrap my head around is the fact that these bandits now go into worship places (i.e) Churches and Mosques, they even trail their victims up to their residential homes and kidnap, assault, rape and even kill them. So, the list is truly endless and sometimes when you arrest these culprits and enquire to know the aim or the reason for their actions, some of them would tell you it’s an off-shoot of community misunderstandings, some would tell you that they just do it as a means to survive a very though economy, some would also tell you that they are acting based on instructions given to them from unknown sources.

Well, amongst all of these painful incidents and incessant ethnic clash in the country and even the world at large, we must find a civil and very quick solution to these issues because if care is not taken, we may wake up one day and find out that everyone around us have become a victim or we may even be the victim. We need to equip more persons with sound understanding on how to mitigate ethnic gaps within the security framework, processes, practices and spending. Ethnic champions have now arrogated to themselves powers to issue quit notices. This is very unhealthy, dangerous and a big threat to national security. We must do something to rescue this country and corridor it from those misery vendors and merchants of death. (To be continued).

FUN TIMES

“Female foul we I buy refused to lay eggs since two years now. E be like the mother-in-law tie her womb oooo”.  

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

“We live in a society that wants to label you with a color, sexuality, religion, or ethnicity. It divides us, but it also allows us to find pride in our identity”. (Logan Browning).

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Opinion

The APC is jittery by Karounwi Adinni

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Very jittery about the coalition, and it should rightly feel so.

If coordinated properly, they have the capacity and numbers to upstage APC, from national politics.

If they manage to do it, it will be well-deserved.

The neo-liberal economic policies embarked on by BAT has shrunk the economy brutally.

The country has shrunk far more economically after removing fuel subsidy, particularly when electricity is still non-existent, raising production costs infinitely and lowering spending, making it a double-whammy for millions.

Electricity costs have been double even when its generation, distribution and transmission hasn’t improved significantly blunting claims of Nigerians needing to pay humongous amounts if they want electricity, even if several examples exist of Countries in the Global South with far more reasonable electricity charges with even more access to electricity.

Let’s now add devaluation, that skyrocketed costs of goods in an import-dependent economy and ran more millions into penury.

War-level inflation, rising costs of living, food prices off the ceiling.

And what they have been told is that, that is the only way to rejig the economy.

The supposed billions stolen by subsidy thieves hasn’t been retrieved, and perpetrators jailed.

Customs officials that permit fuel smuggling that justified subsidy removal weren’t arrested and jailed.

Yet, the people who weren’t responsible for these lapses were told to stomach these lapses and adjust to “SAP” tightening adjustments.

Minimum wage of 70k has still not been paid, what was done was a cynical 40k wage award across levels. This after fuel went from 185 to over 900 naira in some places, and skyrocketing prices of goods quarter-by-quarter.

In 2000, When Olusegun Obasanjo raised minimum wage from 250naira to 5500 naira, and Federal civil servants pay raised from 3500 to 7500, it triggered the phrase “GBEMU AREMU” (Aremu’s Largesse) that raised national income and subsequent spending across several sectors.

Teachers would buy Opel cars prompting applause when it was announced on assembly grounds, and several civil servants started building houses leading to a construction boom.

Federal contractors are being owed despite government claims of record revenues, and gaslighting statements of more allocations being accrued to Governors.

Let us now go back to pet peeves about allocation of projects.

Gilbert Chagoury’s HITECH got awarded the “Lagos-Calabar coastal road”

The same Chagoury’s HITECH got the Sokoto-Badagry road.

The same HITECH was awarded Benin-Akure-Ilesha road.

Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road was taken from Julius Berger and handed to HITECH.

Chagoury’s ITB also got $700m port revamp contract.

BAT says Alex Zingman who got the $250m contract to bring in tractors from Belarus is his friend.

When major contracts are given to closet accolytes in a family&friends scheme, how will the economy grow, when fairness is out of the window.
Multi-billion dollar contracts are being handed out attimes with no bidding to preferred contractors whom the President openly calls “His Partner” (Chagoury).

This is the samee Chagoury who returned $66million to Switzerland to get his conviction expunged.

He paid $300million to Nigeria’s government to protect him from prosecution for his role in helping General Sani Abacha loot the country by transferring National funds abroad.

Abacha’s special friend tha helped launder money abroad is BAT’s advisor and confidante whose companies get no-bidding contracts and people are to keep quiet.

Yet, APC stalwarts will attempt to gaslight people by saying “Relax, economy is getting better, BAT knows what he is doing”, even when diaspora Nigerians who come into the country exchange their Pounds and USD into Naira, and still cannot cope with the skyrocketing prices.

People are being told to sacrifice, while they see the Presidency buy yatch, new vehicles and Presidential Jet.

If it’s the ADC that will come and trigger the APC, we are all in for it.

Even if several of the characters in ADC have been in government for years. Distributed stealing is much better for the economy than singular appropriation.

Perhaps, when Nigerians change governments over and over, politicians will sit tight and apportion some efforts towards working for masses and treat people with some level of respect.

And the coalition should watch out for Aregbesola, the main reason that has given the coalition impetus. He is not a man who gives half-measures. And he is coming for revenge.

There is no fight as interesting to watch as tight buddies turn into implacable foes.

Knowing him, Aregbesola would likely have control of Lagos ADC, where he would bring in many elements of APC currently disaffected and angry into the party.

Being more conservative than even Tinubu, he would avoid trap of filling positions with non-Yorubas.

What would ensue in Lagos, with an Aregbesola-controlled ADC will be a fight for the ages, people who knew “Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu” before he became “Asiwaju” or “Jagaban” would be brought into the fray.

Imagine for example, Muiz Banire, as Governorship candidate. Prominent families, in Lagos will be split down the middle, as Aregbesola comes for the jugular.

And woe betide APC, if the North refuses to vote for them and APC loses the Presidential election.

It makes the task of dismantling even Lagos from Tinubu’s hold after 28 years easier.

Tinubu’s current yes-men gaslighting people about economy should continue telling people all is well, even when economy squeezes people out.

In 2 years, they might lose everything. Both Federal and beloved Lagos.

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Opinion

Imperative of the Battle Against Impunity

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By Ayo Oyoze Baje

“When a leader encourages the culture of impunity, the society is lost and it makes the work harder for the rest of us”
– Prof. Wole Soyinka

One of the bitter facts about striking the delicate balance between criminality and justice is that if the perpetrators of sundry crimes are either treated with kid gloves, or left to walk our streets as free men, some others would view such as the best way to go. Unfortunately, from the persisting challenge of insecurity through the reckless squandering of public funds by some favoured political helmsmen to budget padding, crass impunity has remained the middle name of our democratic dispensation, sad to note.

For instance, recently Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), criticized both the Federal and Benue State Governments for consistently failing to prosecute suspects arrested in connection with violent attacks that have resulted in the killing spree in Benue State. In the statement issued under the platform of the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), of which he is the Chairman Falana lamented that although hundreds of suspects have been arrested over the years for crimes ranging from illegal possession of firearms to mass killings and kidnapping, most of them are never charged.

To him President Bola Tinubu’s recent directive to the Nigeria Police Force to arrest and prosecute all those involved in the latest wave of violence in the state is potentially symbolic.He pointed out that previous arrests had not led to convictions or justice for victims. Falana also berated the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, for alleging that residents of Yelwata community provided shelter for the killers. He described the statement as an attempt to shift blame onto victims instead of addressing the systemic failures of security and governance.

Such a sordid situation triggers the burning questions. Is the life of the voiceless victims not important to humanity in general and the country in particular? Are the perpetrators of the scary insecurity ravaging the country that has sent hundreds of thousands of innocent souls to their early graves more valued than that of the defenceless citizens? What is so difficult in identifying the sponsors, who arm them to kill fellow citizens and bring them to justice?

It is a similar situation when it comes to profligacy with regards to the way and manner some politicians squander public funds. Only recently there was disagreement between the National Assembly and the BudgIT over the issue of budget padding to the stupendous amount of N6.93 trillion in the 2025 federal government’s budget. Yet, some Nigerian contractors have remained unpaid for about a year! And there are allegations about some of them awarded contracts without going through the fiscal policy relating to the budget. That runs against Section 5 (b) of the Public Procurement Act. That is impunity, is it not? Yes, it is. But the pain in all of these is that the culture of impunity in places high and low has been with us for eons.

As yours truly highlighted through an opinion essay back in April 2017 all the hue and cry that trailed the probe into the $10billion(or is it $16 billion) sleaze in the power sector years back has long suffered from what physicists call the Doppler Effect, or died a Nigerian “natural death”. And as one warned back then that “was not the first time and it may not likely be the last unless government musters the much needed political will to bring the perpetrators to book.” But is the situation any better today? The answer is patently obvious.

These days we read about the humungous amounts, even in dollars found stashed in the private vaults of some former public office holders. From local government council chairmen to senators and governors, it is a recurring ugly decimal of national shame. But some hungry and disenfranchised poor citizens caught for stealing fowls and goats are either sent behind bars or hounded to hell!

It speaks volume about how those in government interpret words such as accountability, probity and transparency. It demeans us all as a people that those vested with the sacred trust of holding the destiny of men and materials of a country as vast as Nigeria are allowed to go Scot-free after committing various heinous crimes against the state. No one talks about the $12 billion Gulf War windfall again because some people are above the law. Not a few former state governors were once paraded by the EFCC as suspected to have siphoned state funds for self-aggrandizement.But years later some of them have the audacity to want to go back to their former offices, or find their ways to the hallowed Red chamber to make laws for you and yours truly. All these happen because of the insidious culture of impunity

As it was between 2015-2023, one is not surprised, therefore, that some corrupt politicians who defected from the PDP to the ruling APC are surreptitiously enjoying some ignoble immunity. It has happened before. All of these make a mockery of our judiciary process. Many of the proceedings are centuries away from the Information Technology and Communication(ICT) age as obsolete type – writers are still used for recording purpose. Series of laughable injunctions take over the well scripted drama of the absurd, characterized by the shameless display of former politicians suspected of grievous financial crimes, raising their hands in bravado as their paid praise worshippers fan their battered and bruised ego.

It is little of a surprise therefore, that virtually all notable institutions of government; from ministries to departments and agencies have in the past years of our democratic experience been probed for one fraud or the other. But after years of turning their searchlight to unveil the rattling skeletons in their cupboards, nothing meaningful comes out of it.
To several of those accused of such financial misdemeanor Nigeria is one big, slumbering elephant to be milked dry. And the easiest way to have a piece of the national cake is to get elected or appointed into any plum political post. But for how long can we go on this way? Not much longer, I dare say.

Corruption, which is a debasement of set moral values and a violation of standard professional ethics is like a two – edged sword that cuts both the victim and the misguided beneficiary. When those who have short changed the system are not brought to speedy justice it emboldens others with similar criminal inclinations to commit worse crimes.

It is responsible, as in the Nigerian politico-economic situation for the countless pot hole – riddled roads, the epileptic power supply, pervasive preventable diseases and mass youth employment that have turned into daylight monsters haunting us all.

As one admonished the then President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in 2017 so I do now to the President Bola Tinubu-led government. To shame all critics he must muster the political will, backed with the enabling laws by the National Assembly to transform both the EFCC and the ICPC into well toothed bulldogs that bark and bite. And no one, no matter his political persuasion, must be above the rule of law. As Isabel Allende aptly stated: ” Nothing is as dangerous as power with impunity”.

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Opinion

Skills Acquisition: Way Forward for Nigeria’s Educational Development

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By Ayo Oyoze Baje

“The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways” – Robert Greene

As concerned Nigerians keep deliberating on the best way to navigate the twists and turns inherent in our education delivery system, if yours truly has his way secondary school students should be spending three days of each week for theoretical knowledge and two for practical skills development. These include skills such as tailoring/fashion design, hair dressing and carpentry. Others include building construction, painting, domestic farming, singing, acting, oratory and comedy.

This has become more expedient because in 2023, Nigeria ranked 100th out of 100 countries in Coursera’s Global Skills Report in terms of skill proficiency. Incidentally, the country also ranked low within the Sub-Saharan Africa, placed 12th out of 13 countries.In fact, other African nations such as Botswana and Cameroon outperformed Nigeria in the same report. This was an indication of a significant skills gap in the country. But recent indicators suggest an increase performance that should be built on. For instance, Nigeria showed the fourth-highest year-on-year growth rate for Professional Certificates enrollments on Coursera. This clearly suggests a growing awareness and participation in skills development initiatives which should be built on.

For instance, the unemployment rate in Nigeria stands at about 4.84% in 2025, according to Statista. com. This translates to an estimated 5.74 million people who are unemployed. Similarly, the youth unemployment rate is around 7.50% according to Trading Economics.

Given the current global influence of information technology, the expanding impact of Artificial intelligence ( AI ) and the soaring influence of climate change. Others include the increasing need to ride the freaky waves of economic survival, and the stifling space for employment, not only in Nigeria but across the globe. Yet, the country is abundantly blessed with rare talents in different fields of human endeavour.

Mention names such as Silas Adekunle, known for his robotics expertise and the world’s first intelligent gaming robot or Riya Karumanchi, who invented a device to assist visually impaired individuals the importance of skills acquisition in the development of the talents of our youth gradually dawns on us.

It is a similar scenario when the name of
Hassan and Hussaini Muhammad, who created a way to convert petrol, water, salt, and alum into hydrogen cooking gas crop up. And out there there are other young Nigerian inventors such as Khalifa Aminu (FM transmitter), Muazzam Sani (remote-controlled car), and the team behind the smart walkway light and automatic irrigation. The importance of skills acquisition cannot therefore, be over emphasized.
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Put in its simple terms, skills acquisition is crucial for Nigerian students academic development, because it enhances their employability, as well as boosts entrepreneurship. In fact, it contributes to overall national development. According to experts on educational development it empowers students to be self-reliant, reduces poverty and unemployment, and also provides them with a global perspective.

The impact and import of students’s skills acquisition is amply deployed in Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun state. There, students are exposed to the practical aspect of whatever course they are studying such that seasoned professionals are invited to deliver the practical aspect of their theoretical knowledge.Such is the impact that engineering students have become problem solvers. They have constructed pavements, fences, designed and built solid infrastructure.

Furthermore, the Centre for Agricultural Technology and Entrepreneurial Studies (CATES) has come up as a key initiative at the same university. As a noble cause it was established to foster practical, solution-oriented approaches to agricultural and entrepreneurial development within the university and the wider community. The skills promoting aspect of it is that CATES focuses on areas such as poultry technology, aquaculture, cassava farming, and mushroom culture. It also operates a vegetable farm and a plantain farm on campus. All these explain why graduates of the citadel of knowledge become self employed, with several of them kick starting the process right from the University as undergraduates. All these boost their financial independence while they contribute to the Gross Domestic Product, GDP.

Skills acquisition therefore,
increases employability, more so in today’s competitive job market. Having relevant skills makes students more attractive to employers. These include skills such as digital literacy, communication, and problem-solving, which are highly valued across various industries.Entrepreneurship programs teach them how to start and manage their own businesses. This eventually, leads to economic growth and improved living standards with appreciable Human Development Index, HDI. By equipping students with practical skills, skill acquisition programs can assist to lift individuals and families out of the terrifying trap of poverty and ultimately reduce the unemployment rate for the country.

From the global perspective, many skills are transferable across borders. This is one good lesson learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic. Nigerian students can latch on it to participate in the global economy through remote work or international collaborations. It also fosters confidence in students, assist them to adapt to the global socio-economic dynamics,while instilling a sense of accomplishment in them, thereby contributing to overall personal growth.

Of great significance, is that
a skilled workforce is essential for the nation’s economic growth and technological advancement. Overall, the skill acquisition programs contribute to building a more productive and innovative society. So Nigeria work on the report which highlighted specific skill areas where it lags, especially technology and data science.

Nigeria should also learn from countries that stand out for their high levels of skill acquisition and development. These include Northern European nations such as Finland, Norway, and Sweden which consistently rank high, along with Switzerland, Singapore, and Germany. These countries often prioritize education, training, and creating opportunities for their populations to acquire and utilize a wide range of skills. As rightly noted by Malcolm X: ” Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today”.

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