Who remembers what Nigeria was like in 1997' I stumbled on a copy of the Daily Times newspaper dated Friday 23rd March 1997.It was very telling in the sense that several of the national issues that made headlines in the edition are still the very issues we are talking about today, 14 years on. One news item said 'FG adopts new health policy'. In the body of the report readers are told that 'childhood diseases account for 80 percent infant mortality.' According to the report, the Federal Government 'has reviewed the nation's disease management pattern for children by adopting the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI). The report made very interesting reading because all the pledges made then to address childhood diseases are yet to be achieved if the current statistics provided in the past couple of years are anything to go by. Figures released this year by UNICEF indicate that Nigerian children are no better off. The data was provided last June by the UNICEF Country Representative, Dr Suomi Saki who said that an estimated over 200,000 children die of diarrhea in Nigeria. The high morbidity and mortality rates are due to sanitation'related diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery and typhoid. None of the social indices has placed Nigeria in the top 50 countries with an improved health sector. Anyway, what else is in the newspaper' There were several snippets of news about various goings-on in the country. One short news item implored Nigerians 'ensure the success of Vision 2010.' According to this report 'love and harmony are intrinsic values of a just society and this could be demonstrated through selflessness and honesty the part the people saddled with the responsibility of administering the planned programmes. This was part of an address by the late Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Maccido to journalists on the Vision 2010. Judging by the state of the country today, the values propagated in that 1997 speech are still absent. A blanket of rage has been thrown on to the country and it accounts for the horror stories we see in our communities virtually everyday. Cases of robbery, kidnapping, ritual killings, extra-judicial killings, assassinations make up the sum total of Nigeria. The list is endless. Any way, let's go back to the March 1997 edition of Daily Times to see what else was cooking in the cauldron that is Nigeria. Communal clashes in Jos were also in the news; and yes, a fact-finding committee was set up to 'investigate the Gero Communal clashes in Jos South Local Government.' According to the report, witnesses 'refused to turn up' forcing the Committee to close and reconvene the next day. 'Quality of primary education worries UNICEF' screams another headline in addition to telling us that 'boys drop-out rate from school decried.' The body of the report highlights 'the poor quality of primary education in the country; in a number of states in the northern part of the country, girls' enrolment and completion rates were below 40 per cent.' Other aspects of the news report notes that ' the inadequate training programme for teachers and the lack of teaching materials and motivation to apply the knowledge acquired posed a challenge for policymakers and everyone.' 14 years on, we know for a fact that Nigeria is still grappling with these challenges. Few weeks back, there was a news report that some teachers in primary schools could not spell correctly. Not much change in the lamentation about the costs of cement either. In 1997, it was being sold for N390 as opposed to the government stipulated price of N285. 'Why cement prices are still high.' The manufacturers put this down to 'problems associated with transporting cement from factories to dealers.' Transportation was listed as one of the headaches that needed medication. Today, in addition to challenges of transportation, manufacturers are crying out over chronic power failure which has seen many factories close down. Of course, there are several photographs in the edition. We see the be-goggled late Head of State, General Sani Abacha in attendance at the 'Heads of State meeting of the ECOWAS Committee Nine on Liberia.' In one photograph, Abacha and late Lansana Conte of Guinea walked side-by-side. The latter was also a dictator who ruled his country for over two decades. Another photograph showed a line-up of Nigerian ministers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. The caption said they were 'waiting to welcome the ECOWAS Heads of State.' Truthfully, they looked so glum as if they had been lined up in front of a firing squad. On the politics pages, women were canvassing 'support for political ambition.' They still are! Political parties that received a mention on the politics pages were United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP), National Centre Party of Nigeria (NCPN), Congress for National Consensus (CNC) and Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN). National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON), (the INEC of the day) also came under fire for what was described as 'lack of respect for the ruling of a competent high court.' On the sports pages, the usual politicking in football was very much around as it is today. However, there is an interesting one- page write-up titled 'Motivation as a factor in modern football coaching.' Could be an ideal piece for new Coach Stephen Keshi to read!The above is a summary of what life was like in March 1997. Not much difference from November 2011!
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