The

Three Distressed
Boys
Of Achishuru

James .S. Abraham

and the
CLIN FOUNDATION Research Team

Copyright 2014 by CLIN EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical or any information storage and
retrieval system without the permission in writing of the
publisher.
ISBN

CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgement.
Prologue..
Chapter One- Era of Chop I Chop_
Chapter Two- Evolution and Downturn_
Chapter Three- Era of Admission Palaver_
Chapter Four- The Way Forward For Oka, Tuwo, and Agidi.

Reference.Personal Experience.

Acknowledgement
I wish to use these medium to acknowledge the selfless
commitment of the founding fathers of Achishuru who
committed so much to the pursuit of sound education and
putting in place physical Educational Infrastructures that has
stood the test of time. Looking back the next generation will
have nothing to offer if we cannot build on the foundations
laid by the founding fathers.

And to my mentors in the pursuit of sound lasting

Education late Ace Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Prof. Babatunde
Fafunwa, Dr. David .O. Oyedepo, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Dr.
Nnamdi Azikiwe, Dr. Afe Babalola the generation next will
remember you for good.

PREFACE

Writing the book The three Distressed boys of

Achishuru is a story of transformative process, an excursion
back in history to the origins of our national Education, a
search for answers to questions that continue to trouble us
today.
Achishuru is a choice fictional name of a country in
dear need of total overhaul of its educational system for the
benefits of its citizens.

PROLOGUE
This story is a narrative experience of some three boys
that came from different backgrounds and from three
different ethnic groups in a country call Achishuru.
Achishuru is a country that has abundance of solid
natural and human resources, considering the size of the
country and population they are at advantage over other
countries surrounding it, the vast land mass of the country,
the strategic and vantage position it enjoyed due to the
foundation laid by the fore-fathers who struggled to see to
the early freedom of its people from their colonial master is a
thing to appreciate, but many of the aged in the country have
decided to close their eyes to the evil in the land and their
ears to the crying of the distressed and disappointed
younger generations to which these three boys belong.
The three boys Oka, Tuwo and Agidi had good formal
education early in life when things were going very well in
Achishuru.
They both attended Local Authority Schools and
government schools for elementary and Secondary
educations, they were also privileged to have scholarships

for their higher education after which they graduated with

very good grades.
The three were lucky to finish without a break in education
for any reason in a four years, five years and seven years
programmes from different universities.
That is to say there was orderliness even when the school
gets closed for any reason they were opened in good time
and the academic calendar remains the same and covered
for the students to graduate.

CHAPTER ONE
Era of Chop I Chop
There came a time in Achishuru when things started
going bad, that was the beginning of the downturn in the
growth and development of every area of governance and
leadership, that marked the beginning of riots and
demonstrations in the secondary and higher institutions, it
also marked the era of destruction of facilities in the schools,
vandalisation and outright breakdown of law and order
witnessed especially at the universities.
It also marked the beginning of students carrying placards
and demonstration materials against bad administration in
schools, the demonstration was led by the student union.

The older generation never took this development serious

until it fully grew to a monsterous level threatening
everybodys peace. Few years later the teachers and
lecturers joined the students, and in their own case they
went on strike without considering the plight of the students
who have long out-grown demonstrations, now it is the turn
of the teachers who will not even listen to the call and plea of
the students for their demand for a higher renumeration and
welfare conditions.
The era of Chop I Chop is beclouded with high level of
abuse of privilege positions, taking advantage of ones office
to enrich oneself, other vices that were tantamount to
corruption and fraud at all levels, projects were abandoned
or executed shabbily, immorality was being introduced by
teachers forcing female students to sleep with them as a
condition to pass a class to another level, students pay
money to get pass even when they dont attend class, this
era marked the downturn in academic excellence and the
three boys Oka, Tuwo and Agidi looking back were not happy
with what they see turning to be the order and pattern of the
education of the younger generation.
CHAPTER TWO
Evolution and Downturn
Fortunately, Oka, Tuwo and Agidi finished well, got a
good job and were able to establish a family.
But their children were faced with the effect of a
cankerworm that defiled extinction Chop I Chop that, they

also experienced while in the university before they

graduated which led to the first demonstration by students
during their time, when suddenly the meal ticket ceased and
other welfare packages enjoyed started to disappear and the
students started asking questions on what is become of a
once orderly society that has more than enough for its youth.
Oka, Tuwo and Agidi told their children the story of how
every child coming from a different home, background and
ethnic group, but they relate like brothers and family.
There was no religious sentiment, everyone sees the other
as one and a brother, money was not an issue because their
was sharing and caring for each other, infact it is common for
a child from a rich background to ask his parents to do some
package for his poor friend.
Oka, Tuwo and Agidi were best of friends, their
background not withstanding, they have a common purpose
to pursue good education and become good citizens.
There was healthy rivalry in class on who takes first,
second and third positions, and who become the head boy,
head girl and other school prefects, this era and evolution is
a preparatory stage for leadership that counts even after
completion of school at whatever level then.
There was mutual respect between the three boys, they
respect their diverse gifting and talents and they also
appreciate the shortcomings of those lagging behind who
are naturally termed backward or poor in class by their
teachers.

The teachers also on their part will always sincerely

comment and encourage the poorly performing ones to work
harder and not be discouraged. Today it is even the teachers
that will fail you, so as to ensure you either dont complete
the course of study or you drop out, they feast fat on illgotten money gotten from the students and their parents.

CHAPTER THREE
Era of Admission Palaver
Oka, Tuwo and Agidi were shocked to the marrow when
they discovered that to get their children to school in a good
school setting, the children will have to go to a private school
rather than the local Authority or government school they
attended.
The competitive nature of getting into such schools, and
the high school fees which was more than their monthly
income, the three discovered that for their children to resume
with their mates at the beginning of terms they have to save
ahead of time, their salary alone could not pay at a go and
not just the high cost of such school fees but the decadence
in the schools morally and drop in academic performance, as
parents influence the grades of their children by facilitating
welfare packages to the teachers.
Sometimes performance and grading is best
understood from parents-teachers relationship and no more
Teachers-Pupils relationship. The teachers will prefer to

know the parents rather than knowing the students, their

ability and their problems so as to render helping hand.
During their time teachers were mentors, but they
realized that things have changed, the three decided to sit
together to profer solution, but the vast majority that are
privileged and highly placed will not let them have their say.
It became so frustrating for Oka, Tuwo and Agidi that
looking back was like a mirage and looking forward was
difficult to explain.
They asked each other what they could do to address
the issue of social difference and no solution was in view, in
a society that is over shadowed by corrupt sharp practices.
Achishuru is a religious country, where even the pagans
practice their believe religiously.
When their children managed to finish from the
secondary school, securing admission into higher level of
education became a most difficult hurdle, Okas daughter
had a very good grade now referred to as cut-off point but
could not secure admission in the part of Achishuru country
where they reside because of ethnic dichotomy, she has to
travel to her fathers state to gain admission, and Tuwos
experience was not different neither was Agidis.
The three were troubled, because in their days they
came from different part of Achishuru but were freely given
admission without restriction of any sort nor discrimination.
When Oka, Tuwo and Agidi asked why the hardship

In securing admission for their children, the answer they got

was bridging the gap, which gap is being bridged and by
who?
During the time of Oka, Tuwo and Agidi, education was
free, and the schools were owned either by government or
the missionary, why the sudden change? The answer no one
could give one thing was common to the three the society
has changed, and the interest of the leaders is no longer on
the people but how the leaders fair with their families.
What a downturn and regrettably, the younger
generation were privileged to read from books what had
transpired in Achishuru, in the years pass and what had
become of it, because of bad leadership and lack of national
interest that the founding fathers had and nurtured.

CHAPTER FOUR
The Way Forward For Oka Tuwo and Agidi

The three looking back and forward, realized, there was

no solution outside their thought, commitment to a selfless
hard work, pursuit of excellent performance and good
education for their children and making sure that they join
others with like-minds to pass the message across to the
ruling government in Achishuru to do justice and be fair to all
its citizens.
They also advocated that every citizen of Achishuru be
treated as an indigene wherever they reside for at least ten
(10) years with track record of positive commitment and
contributions to the community where they found
themselves, after all foreign entities reside only for fifteen
years and get absorbed into the mainstream of Achishuru,
why not bonafide citizens of Achishuru in their fatherland.
They opted for a law making it mandatory for
government to recognize the right and privileges of an
Achishuru citizen to benefit from free education, freedom of
religious practice and freedom to reside in any part of
Achishuru without fear of persecution or deprivation of any
benefit accrued in that society or community.
The political class in Achishuru have to understand that
taking their children to schools outside Achishuru is a bad
image portrayed, it is a sign that they dont believe in the
educational system ran by a government they are part-of
either fully or partly or as an opposing party.
It is a common experience in Achishuru for the rich and
privileged to send their children overseas to Egypt, Cyprus,
Dubai, South Africa, United State, Britain and even some

progressive countries neighbouring Achishuru, until recently

when promising Achishurus citizens studying overseas were
gruesomely murdered, killed or manhandled that the heat
became unbearable for their parents, who are now calling for
government intervention to stop the ills, but Oka, Tuwo and
Agidi have this question to ask, what is wrong with our own
educational system? and what has become of the good old
days? the structures and foundations put-in-place by the
founding fathers of Achishuru.
Government timely intervention backed by enabling
laws should make Education for all free since Achishuru is
richly blessed and intervention monies can be generated
from various sources of its natural resources, the various illgotten wealth reclaimed, other monies recovered from
corrupt officials, and the breathing monies in various illegal
accounts and sub-heads which is being carted away by
corrupt officials of Achishuru is enough to better the life of
the citizens.
The Education of Achishuru citizens un-inhibited is a
cardinal benefit that should be enjoyed freely from primary to
university education to discourage the unnecessary
migration and contribution of Achishuru politicians to the
revenue generated by the host countries where the
Achishuru citizens travel in pursuit of education they claim is
better than what obtains in their own country.
We must of necessity read the script of the plan, pursuit
and legacy of the founding fathers for which we were all
beneficiaries, particularly the politicians and ruling class of

today, so as to trace our path of old and chart the course for
a new Achishuru full of opportunities for all, particularly
education for all Achishuru citizens.
We are known as giant of the continent we should also
demonstrate this in our educational sector for all the benefit
of the future generation of Achishuru.