just the other office

Nigeria, a country that one’s had the best educational system of sub-Saharan Africa, has now an education sector that is literally falling apart. Falling apart because schools collaps. Luckily some principals don’t allow their pupils to come in to school during rainy weather. But what then? Also the federal government doesn’t seem to mind that schools close for 4 weeks. Elections are more important than education…..
My questions ….. or better to say Lucy’s and my questions are: how come that things deteriorated so much? How come the differences between different states are so enormous? How is responsible for maintaining buildings, writing curriculum, supplying furniture and learning aids? To get an answer to these questions Lucy got suggested that we should go to the Federal secretariat of the ministry of education. So we did.
After a summit for the 10th anniversary of the international year of volunteering we took off to the ministry. In the taxi thinking about how to put the questions and who to talk to, we arrived. A little bit nervous. How do we know where to go? How do we know who is the right person? Where do we start and how do we introduce ourselves? We decided to start to look for the director of schools. So we went to the 6th floor. We popped in the first open door to ask where we could find the director. In 606. There we were directed to 610 and there to the first office we entered. The new directions lead us to the nearby office where somebody was sleeping on the desk. Visualize a head that crashed down by gravity. She told us to go to the third floor, to the director of administration. On the third floor we also visited 3 office and got directed to the eight floor…… or was it the sixth …. again.
In the hallway we decided for ourselves that we had to make a choice. Lucy got the advice to seek it higher in the hierarchical system, the minister of education should know our answers.
Mmmmm, minister …… are we dressed properly? What do we really want to know? Why are we here? New deliberation in the hallway. We took the advice of a lovely lady in the hallway and we went to the ps’ office (Permanent secretary). ‘ He knows everything’: she said.
After entering 2 office and asking if the ps was in we were sent to a waiting room. Nice chairs and a tv + some other people.
Being in Nigeria for a while now, we know that waiting is part of the daily routine. Also the fact that secretaries don’t know anything about the agenda of their ogar (boss) is known by us. But waiting for somebody for more than an hour while he is not in the office is a little bit strange….. surely when it is already 5 o’clock in the afternoon.
All and all after a while Lucy did get the advice to write a letter in which she has to invite herself at the ps’ office ……... After 2 hours waiting.
What did we gain: knowledge about structure of the building, some good practice examples of schools (advertising on tv) and how to find our way in a bureaucratic environment (conversation with lady that also was waiting).