By Forbes
June 09, 2025
Physicians are in short supply. They are costly. Is the APP the answer to the CMO’s workforce and budget challenges? …
Amid the hype and promise, a growing tension is becoming clear: the reality of what AI can deliver versus what it can’t. …
Diary of a woman’s journey through Nigeria’s Education system – Daily Trust
Title: Thorns of Success: Reminiscences of an Educationist
Author: Lami Amodu, PhD
Publisher: Bloom Media Network Ltd
Year: 2019
Pages: 268
Reviewer: Theophilus Abbah, PhD
Introduction
Thorns of Success: Reminiscences of an Educationist is the autobiography of Dr. Lami Amodu, who served in Nigeria’s civil service for thirty-three years, from 1986 to 2019. Throughout her career, she played a critical role in shaping educational policies and implementing strategies that significantly influenced Nigeria’s Basic Education system. Upon retiring at the mandatory age of 60, she had become a symbol of dedication to the country’s educational development.
Dr. Amodu’s autobiography is a powerful account of a woman whose courage, enthusiasm, determination, and faith helped transform Nigeria’s education sector. The book is structured chronologically, providing insights into her birth, family background, early education, marriage, and her determination to overcome cultural limitations to pursue higher education. Her journey resonates with the biblical principle: “Nothing shall be impossible to them that believe”, reflecting her resilience against formidable challenges.
The first six chapters, of the 18-chapter book, offer a glimpse into her upbringing in a traditional African setting, where the education of female children was often discouraged. Girls were expected to attain secondary education before transitioning into family life. Young Lami, however, defied these societal expectations by pursuing tertiary education at the University of Lagos while managing the responsibilities of motherhood.
Career in the Civil Service
Dr. Amodu joined the Ministry of Education in 1986 and was immediately assigned to a challenging role—Popularization of Technology and Science—a precursor to the expansion of science education in Nigeria. She worked alongside esteemed scholars such as Professor Grace Alele-Williams and Professor Peter Okebukola to develop foundational policy documents, formulate curricula for science education, and facilitate the establishment of JETS Clubs in secondary schools across the country.
Her contributions went far beyond science education. Thorns of Success provides in-depth details about her involvement in developing primary education curricula, implementing home-grown school feeding programs, spearheading Universal Basic Education (UBE) projects, and reviving the Federal Inspectorate Services, which later evolved into the Quality Assurance framework. As principal of three federal secondary schools, she played a pivotal role in secondary education reforms.
One of her significant contributions was leading the committee responsible for improving teachers’ welfare, which resulted in the introduction of a special salary scale and allowances, as well as the extension of the retirement age to 65 for educators in the basic education sector.
Challenges and Controversies
Dr. Amodu’s tenure as Principal of Queen’s College, Lagos (2015–2017) was marked by intense challenges, including conspiracies, misinformation, and political intrigues. Media coverage, both traditional and social, fueled misinformation about her administration, leaving her unable to publicly counter these narratives due to civil service regulations. However, Thorns of Success provides documentary evidence of how investigations conducted by the Federal Ministry of Education and the Senate Committee on Education vindicated her.
Her autobiography also sheds light on the broader struggles of secondary school administrators in Nigeria, advocating for systemic reforms to reduce undue pressures on principals. In reflecting on her experiences, she writes:
“In spite of the turbulent moments, my contributions to the college were recognized by several bodies…God delivered me from the fowler’s snare and prepared for me a table in the presence of my enemies. If not for God, some Old Girls were all out to ruin my career, which they themselves admitted as rich and fascinating.” (p.211)
Lessons from the Civil Service
For civil servants, Thorns of Success serves as an insightful exposé on the politics of governance. Despite its noble objectives, the civil service is often tainted by internal intrigues and corruption, leading to the truncation of promising careers. Many hardworking professionals face manipulations that prevent them from making lasting contributions to national development.
Dr. Amodu uses a storytelling approach to communicate valuable lessons about the civil service. Her eloquent prose, rich with literary and creative writing techniques, ensures that even complex administrative and educational policies are engagingly discussed. Rather than overwhelming readers with bureaucratic jargon, she delivers an accessible narrative that keeps them turning pages.
Conclusion
The Nigerian civil service, rooted in British administrative traditions, serves as the backbone of governance and policy formulation. Dr. Amodu’s autobiography portrays the civil service as both a platform for national development and a battleground of bureaucratic challenges. Thorns of Success is an inspiring account of a woman’s journey through the education sector, demonstrating resilience, leadership, and integrity.
This book is a must-read for educators, policymakers, and anyone interested in understanding the intricacies of Nigeria’s educational system and civil service.
Thousands of companies are sacking their workers due to AI (artificial intelligence), no industry is spared, business owners are in panic mode due to its rapid change. The solution is to earn in US Dollars(up to $55,000) while living in Nigeria or Diaspora.
Click here to start
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
Leave a Comment
Leave a Comment
White: My mother, a schizophrenic, is slipping through the cracks – Ottawa Citizen
Mom has been placed on countless medical holds, which inevitably restart the cyclical pattern of untreated schizophrenia. Is that really the best we can do?
You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.
Five years ago, during the pandemic, we received two liberating diagnoses. My biological mother, Bonnie, is a schizophrenic, and I have PTSD from being raised by an undiagnosed — but very presenting — schizophrenic.
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Mental-healthwise, the 1990s were a different time. Institutions were over-utilized, while interventions including psychotherapy and talking to your family physician about mental health were under-utilized. This meant that Bonnie, despite being the sibling of an institutionalized bipolar sister and a homeless schizophrenic brother, and displaying many symptoms of a mental condition herself, somehow fell through cracks of assessment.
Bonnie lost physical custody of us around 1990. My father allowed 50-per-cent visitation, which I followed until age 14 when I was legally able to decide to stop. When I was growing up, my dad and stepmom repeatedly told us that Bonnie “was doing her best,” to which I internally shuddered. From forgetting to feed us or bathe us, to corporal punishments and emotional abuse, I have few loving memories or feelings she did “her best” from our 14 years together.
Over the years, the schizophrenia ran its course and every family member she had pulled back to protect themselves. Until five years ago, when we received her diagnosis, then mine, and I began trauma therapy, devoting the next few years of lockdown to heal my inner child. Now, alone, I am Bonnie’s only advocate.
Since then, she has been placed on countless medical holds, which inevitably restart the cyclical pattern of untreated schizophrenia: medical intervention occurs following an “episode”; she is injected with antipsychotics; continues believing she doesn’t need long-term treatment; is released with a prescription of oral medications she doesn’t believe she needs; then slowly devolves and becomes less organized until she’s inevitably arrested or placed back on a medical hold a few months later.
This winter, I received a phone call from a health-care team, notifying me that Bonnie was refusing treatment and they were concerned about wounds on her legs. Following several attempts to reason with Bonnie, I petitioned for yet another medical hold, whereby she was picked up by the police and brought to a local hospital for another psychiatric evaluation, and to be treated for what was now a cellulitis infection in both legs. As a schizophrenic, she is unable to understand that doctors were trying to save her legs, and instead thought they were trying to poison her. By refusing treatment and being incapable of caring for the wounds herself, she allowed the infection in her legs to persist, has not been able to walk for 13 weeks — and counting — and might eventually end up needing one, or both, legs amputated.
Once more, the medical system notified me that from a psychiatric perspective, our options are “limited.” Despite acknowledging she is not caring for herself, is a risk to herself and the community, and isn’t fully capable of understanding the impact of the decisions she makes, Bonnie has been released.
The truth, however, is that while they are limited, our options aren’t null. Programs such as those at the Royal Ottawa exist for people like Bonnie who cannot care for themselves and need support beyond what family can provide. At minimum is the option for a community treatment order: a tool designed to enforce medical support for people in our community who are incapable of appreciating they require it. Under the Mental Health Act, it would stipulate that Bonnie is a person with serious mental illness and requires supervised treatment and care in the community, and she would be required to receive a monthly injection of a prescribed antipsychotic. Bonnie’s current barriers to a viable treatment plan continue to be how overwhelmed our mental health-care system is, and her lack of a family doctor to make the recommendation that she is medically incapable of caring for herself.
Admittedly, the consequences of deeming someone incapable of caring for themselves are not to be taken lightly; however, neither are the alternatives. At best, she dies alone, somewhere, following another cyclical pattern of disorganization. At worst, someone else dies, Bonnie is arrested, and then she dies alone incarcerated.
It took me decades to accept that she did, in fact, do her best as a mother. It has taken me five short years to accept that our health-care system failed her in the ’90s and continues to fail her and thousands of Ontarians with complex mental-health issues. Without viable treatment options appearing to be accessible or available to Bonnie, I can’t help but wonder: has a schizophrenia diagnosis been reduced to a revolving door of treating immediate symptoms but not the disease? Surely that cannot be the answer.
Jennifer White lives in Ottawa, works in public affairs and is currently working on her first book regarding her experience with schizophrenia. Bonnie’s name has been changed to safeguard her identity.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.
365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4
© 2025 Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited.
This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
You can manage saved articles in your account.
and save up to 100 articles!
You can manage your saved articles in your account and clicking the X located at the bottom right of the article.
Leave a Comment
Leave a Comment
Leave a Comment
Global streamers fight CRTC’s rule requiring them to fund Canadian content – Global News
Instructions:
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.
If you get Global News from Instagram or Facebook – that will be changing. Find out how you can still connect with us.
Some of the world’s biggest streaming companies will argue in court on Monday that they shouldn’t have to make CRTC-ordered financial contributions to Canadian content and news.
The companies are fighting an order from the federal broadcast regulator that says they must pay five per cent of their annual Canadian revenues to funds devoted to producing Canadian content, including local TV news.
The case, which consolidates several appeals by streamers, will be heard by the Federal Court of Appeal in Toronto.
Apple, Amazon and Spotify are fighting the CRTC’s 2024 order. Motion Picture Association-Canada, which represents such companies as Netflix and Paramount, is challenging a section of the CRTC’s order requiring them to contribute to local news.
In December, the court put a pause on the payments — estimated to be at least $1.25 million annually per company. Amazon, Apple and Spotify had argued that if they made the payments and then won the appeal and overturned the CRTC order, they wouldn’t be able to recover the money.
In court documents, the streamers put forward a long list of arguments on why they shouldn’t have to pay, including technical points regarding the CRTC’s powers under the Broadcasting Act.
Spotify argued that the contribution requirement amounts to a tax, which the CRTC doesn’t have the authority to impose. The music streamer also took issue with the CRTC requiring the payments without first deciding how it will define Canadian content.
Amazon argued the federal cabinet specified the CRTC’s requirements have to be “equitable.”
It said the contribution requirement is “inequitable because it applies only to foreign online undertakings and only to such undertakings with more than $25 million in annual Canadian broadcasting revenues.”
Apple also said the regulator “acted prematurely” and argued the CRTC didn’t consider whether the order was “equitable.” It pointed out Apple is required to contribute five per cent, while radio stations must only pay 0.5 per cent — and streamers don’t have the same access to the funds into which they pay.
The CRTC imposes different rules on Canadian content contributions from traditional media players. It requires large English-language broadcasters to contribute 30 per cent of revenues to Canadian programming.
Motion Picture Association—Canada is only challenging one aspect of the CRTC’s order — the part requiring companies to contribute 1.5 per cent of revenues to a fund for local news on independent TV stations.
It said in court documents that none of the streamers “has any connection to news production” and argued the CRTC doesn’t have the authority to require them to fund news.
“What the CRTC did, erroneously, is purport to justify the … contribution simply on the basis that local news is important and local news operations provided by independent television stations are short of money,” it said.
“That is a reason why news should be funded by someone, but is devoid of any analysis, legal or factual, as to why it is equitable for foreign online undertakings to fund Canadian news production.”
In its response, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters said the CRTC has wide authority under the Broadcasting Act. It argued streamers have contributed to the funding crisis facing local news.
“While the industry was once dominated by traditional television and radio services, those services are now in decline, as Canadians increasingly turn to online streaming services,” the broadcasters said.
“For decades, traditional broadcasting undertakings have supported the production of Canadian content through a complex array of CRTC-directed measures … By contrast, online undertakings have not been required to provide any financial support to the Canadian broadcasting system, despite operating here for well over a decade.”
A submission from the federal government in defence of the CRTC argued the regulator was within its rights to order the payments.
“The orders challenged in these proceedings … are a valid exercise of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s regulatory powers. These orders seek to remedy the inequity that has resulted from the ascendance of online streaming giants like the Appellants,” the office of the attorney general said.
“Online undertakings have greatly profited from their access to Canadian audiences, without any corresponding obligation to make meaningful contributions supporting Canadian programming and creators — an obligation that has long been imposed on traditional domestic broadcasters.”
The government said that if the streamers get their way, that would preserve “an inequitable circumstance in which domestic broadcasters — operating in an industry under economic strain — shoulder a disproportionate regulatory burden.”
“This result would be plainly out of step with the policy aims of Parliament” and cabinet, it added.
The court hearing comes as trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada have cast a shadow over the CRTC’s attempts to regulate online streamers.
The regulator launched a suite of proceedings and hearings as part of its implementation of the Online Streaming Act, legislation that in 2023 updated the Broadcasting Act to set up the CRTC to regulate streaming companies.
In January, as U.S. President Donald Trump was inaugurated for his second term, groups representing U.S. businesses and big tech companies warned the CRTC that its efforts to modernize Canadian content rules could worsen trade relations and lead to retaliation.
Then, as the CRTC launched its hearing on modernizing the definition of Canadian content in May, Netflix, Paramount and Apple cancelled their individual appearances.
While the companies didn’t provide a reason, the move came shortly after Trump threatened to impose a tariff of up to 100 per cent on movies made outside the United States. Foreign streamers have long pointed to their existing spending in Canada in response to calls to bring them into the regulated system.
The email you need for the day’s top news stories from Canada and around the world.
The email you need for the day’s top news stories from Canada and around the world.
