It saddens my heart
whenever I think about the deplorable state of education in Nigeria. How did we
find ourselves in this mess? We look up to countries that are doing fine in
technology, infrastructure, economy, and still we do not seem to know the
secrets of their successes and breakthroughs. Without wasting much time, I will
like to open our eyes to some things that we most times ignore.
UNESCO
(United National, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), few years
ago encouraged countries to put 26% of their budget in education every year. Who
wouldn’t know it is an avenue to deliver most of these countries from
backwardness that have plagued them. Unfortunately, many of these backward
countries who still look at advanced countries as paradise are yet to fulfill such
obligation. One of these countries is Nigeria who spends not more than a 10% of
their budget on education every year. Who did we offend?
I have been searching
for opportunities online for some days now, and I discovered a particular trend
that is very worrying. The popular developed countries that we know, like
China, Japan, US, UK, Singapore, Germany and many more spend a lot on
education, most especially researches. I tried to relate this with their level
of development and I discovered that their technological advancement may not be
outside their resolution to fund education and researches.
Also, these countries
dish out a lot of scholarships every year in order to cart away the best of
other countries which we may identify as “Brain
Drain”, and these researchers are also happy to leave their countries. (Who
wouldn’t anyway). However, the undeveloped and developing countries hardly care
about education, researches and mostly care about politics.
This made me remember “GIGO” – “Garbage in, Garbage Out”,
whereby whatever you sow you reap or whatever you spend on, you get result. One
of these is the current launch by Tesla to study the surface of the Sun
(Corona), where they spent close to $1.5 billion. How could they have spent such
kind of money on studying what is not on earth here while my country could only
spend that kind of money on politics and elections?
“Whatever you put your strength in, that is where you get result”
What saddens me most is
the minimum requirement to get a good job in Nigeria which is not even certain,
and the minimum requirement to be a governor or a president. Do I need to
remind you that all you need to become a governor or president in Nigeria is a
WAEC certificate and you will be expected to rule over millions of Nigerians,
while you need a first degree with strong grade to get a good job in a
reputable company if at all.
Do you think it will be
difficult to manipulate a president or governor with a WAEC certificate in the
21st century just to steal public funds? Funny enough, most of these
politicians don’t even have this WAEC certificate or the certificates are
forged. How do you expect such a person to lead engineers, lawyers, doctors,
professors effectively? Does that not indicate the level of importance we put
in our education that is lying in shambles.
What injustice do we have when it
is possible that a president we employed and are to pay for four years didn’t partake
in NYSC while the law says all government employees must take part in NYSC? Is law
actually blind? I believe laws are made for men and men are not made for laws. Why
should a Bachelor Holder, Masters Holder or Doctor who took part in NYSC have
the same salary with a WAEC holder who didn’t serve and became president? Is such
law fair? Is a president no more an employee of the government and is to serve
the people while his salary comes from these same people that took part in
NYSC.
How could a president
or governor with WAEC cope in the comity of nations where some country leaders
even have more than three degrees? How do you want to bring in ideas or coin
intelligent words? While certificate doesn’t make one intelligent in real
sense, education does. Even those that dropped out of colleges to be successful
are educated but not with certificates. Education is far different from what you
are taught in the four walls of a classroom, however, school still remains a
good medium to being educated. Education opens your eyes wide and makes you
reasonable. It shows how intelligent you are and how flexible you can be to
proffer solutions to problems.
My dear Nigeria, this
foundation you lay your education on is very weak and shallow, it is a time
bomb waiting to explode; it has a limit to which it can contain your servitude,
it will soon erode like a house built on sand, and it will soon wash away like
a road without drainage. Make education your priority, spend on it, value it,
make it need-based, and make sure it suits your current needs.
Check this: Why I cannot die trying
Check this: Why I cannot die trying
I am of the opinion of
the need for professional institutions where people can learn directly what
they love; where they can practice what they want, what of Federal University
of Automobile engineering, Institute of Baking, School of Oceanography, University
of Computer Programming; this will address the noise of Nigerian graduates
being unemployable. It is either we do it now or never. We must make the right
priorities. Let us restructure education.
Finally, it’s high time
the constitution is reviewed to address the insult of WAEC to be a minimum
requirement to be a governor or president when you can’t use that to work in a good company with a good pay. Nations tend to laugh at us and take us to be
unserious. While I know those that made the constitution did it to suit
themselves because they don’t have more than that, this has therefore made them
have no life outside politics. Should they be sent out of politics, they remain
nothing. They have no establishment of their own; all they ever lived on is
politics and her money. Even when you demand for these certificates, they
rather go to court to defend themselves and ask the court not to allow you ask
for their certificate.
What a Shame!!!!!!!!
There is the need for
an outcry on this. We can’t continue like this.
No Bachelor,
no Governorship no Presidency
Remember to leave a comment and also share. Everyone should be aware of the injustice going on in the society. If education isn't valuable, they should stop it. According to Nelson Mandela, education is the only way to eradicate poverty.
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4 Comments
Nice writeup; though provoking
ReplyDeleteI think the best Nigeria could do concerning our education is to privatize our university education system. That's what happens in the developed countries mentioned above. People there pay for what they get. But in Nigeria, we protest every increase in school fees. How do I expect to get the best of education when the total cost of my entire 5 years in school is less than a million Naira? Where else would you get that in the world unless you are on scholarship? And that's why the private universities in Nigeria are gradually taking the lead. Because they pay for what they get.
ReplyDeleteIt becomes difficult for the government to give us the best if we expect them to subsidize every thing.
I think the best Nigeria could do concerning our education is to privatize our university education system. That's what happens in the developed countries mentioned above. People there pay for what they get. But in Nigeria, we protest every increase in school fees. How do I expect to get the best of education when the total cost of my entire 5 years in school is less than a million Naira? Where else would you get that in the world unless you are on scholarship? And that's why the private universities in Nigeria are gradually taking the lead. Because they pay for what they get.
ReplyDeleteIt becomes difficult for the government to give us the best if we expect them to subsidize every thing.
I think the best Nigeria could do concerning our education is to privatize our university education system. That's what happens in the developed countries mentioned above. People there pay for what they get. But in Nigeria, we protest every increase in school fees. How do I expect to get the best of education when the total cost of my entire 5 years in school is less than a million Naira? Where else would you get that in the world unless you are on scholarship? And that's why the private universities in Nigeria are gradually taking the lead. Because they pay for what they get.
ReplyDeleteIt becomes difficult for the government to give us the best if we expect them to subsidize every thing.