I wish I could do without Nigerian Education
In the words of the late Chief
Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), Nigerian foremost legal luminary,“the welfare of the proverbial man on the street can only be guaranteed
by the government that cares about the employment, health, education,
infrastructure, good housing, cheap and nutritious food, national minimum
living wage, old age care, pension, gratuity, security of life and property,
free and fair election, transparency in the conduct of affairs of state and
access by all to justice in a court of law.” Saying that Nigerian
government at all levels have failed woefully in virtually all the cogent needs
of the proverbial man as listed by Late Fawehinmi is stating the obvious.
Truly, education remains the only
potent tool that can bring the national integration and the much needed development
Nigeria has strived to achieve over a period of 53years independence.
Painfully, education has been largely neglected, poorly funded and lamentably
supervised by the government, who of course, is the largest sponsor of education
in the country and the saving shield for the Nigerian masses and to as well save
many from the exploitative tendencies of private education service providers. An
average Nigerian, who cannot afford to live on $365 per annum, is not expected
to enrol his child in a private primary school where more than $1000 greedily
charged per annum.
Unfortunately still, the government
has consistently caused the average Nigerian students feel the wide marginalization
between private and government controlled schools, otherwise known as public
schools. Right from my days in Ore – Ofe Oluwa School, a private primary school
in the city of Ibadan, I knew what it was to be opportune to be in a private
school. The comfort and quality of the teaching-learning process could not be
disputed. After all, we paid exorbitant fees to the school proprietor(s). It was
however a different case when I attended a public primary school for a week to
enrol for the common entrance into secondary school at Primary 4. I won’t
forget the day tears rolled down my tender cheeks – Young Gboluwaga cannot cope
with the distress encountered in my new school. Much unlike where I was coming from.
Someone said the educational
situation in Nigeria is like a pierced balloon, no matter how hard you pump air
into it, it will never blow. How true?
After an extended early morning
reflection during the passing week on the present state of affairs in the
education sector of this country, I came to a depressing conclusion. My
conclusion is: 'I wish I could do
without Nigerian education, not in the 21st this century. Ancient history gathered from uncles,
lecturers and parents proved that its good old days are gone.
I do not expect any progressive
and patriotic Nigerian to question my conclusion. But for those who will try to
do, I can boldly explain the useful information I gathered through personal experiences,
which led to my hypothesis and eventually led to my sad conclusion.
Here I go:
(I fully intend to sound bad
tempered in this piece with no iota of regrets.)
I don't know any institution in
Nigeria that has made it to the first position in Africa not to talk of the
world chart. South Africa leads the way, while our Obafemi Awolowo University,
is managing the 10th position. Imagine a Tanzanian university;
university of Dar es Salaam is occupying the 4th position. Our own
premier university, university of Ibadan occupies an embarrassing 33rd
position. Yet we pride in the fallacy of hasty generalization, attributing
Nigeria to be the giant of Africa.
Furthermore, what pertinent and peculiar
research works had been produced from our universities and research institutes in
the country in recent times? To me, higher institutions ought to be the site of
intellectual inventions running after beautiful innovations, peculiar to our
own local system. We rather receive the
brain work of elementary school students in countries with sane and stable
educational system.
The last innovation carried out
from my discipline, (Agricultural Science) is the Nigerian breed of beans from
Obafemi Awolowo University, donkeys of years ago. How can we make research when
the equipment in our laboratories are all archaic and outmoded? Many have
turned to breeding house for rats and insects? In most saddening cases, the
little research and innovations together with their brilliant inventors are bounded
through the back door to foreign countries.
It is even non-consequential that
many courses are disaccredited from our higher institutions. No thanks to the
NUC whose eyes are not too dim and hands too short to peg many courses where
schools have failed to meet up to our local standards and not the international
standards in most cases. No thanks to inadequate manpower, learning aid and
poor funding.
A system where the leaders given
the mandate to steer the ship of the nation to greater heights keeps diverting public funds to personal
foreign bank accounts. Political officers and members of the parliament keep smiling
home with scary amount of money on a monthly basis, at the expense of our
national wellbeing and economic stability. Then, they send their children outside
the country to receive and witness education in its right and complete sense.
An educational system where a
four year academic contract is unduly and painfully extended to 5years with hard
labour, under strenuous and unfriendly learning conditions, no thanks to
regular industrial actions by both academic and non-academic staff in our
institutions, as they keep agitating for improved motivation for service
delivery. On some other occasions, protests by students for outrageous increase
in fee and epileptic power supply and poor access to clean and portable water
supply have led to the closure of schools for months.
With the educational system whose
curriculum content is struggling to meet the demands and needs of the society,
how then will it help catapult the nation to a position where it is technological,
economically and politically reliant? No job to bring a fulfilling future for
the thousands of graduates being produced. I am therefore not surprised when I
see graduates of Electrical Electronics Engineering working behind the counter in
banks, counting crisp of the Nigerian naira notes and a graduate of International
relations returning to his family’s farm to till the ground, cultivate crops
and rear animals while he depends on foreign research to get the latest species
of crops, vaccines and drugs to boast his production. Graduates therefore keep
living a frustrating life.
Strictly speaking, I looked into
the realms of Nigerian educational sector and all I could see the painting on
its walls saying ‘nothing works’. No thanks to nexus of neglects coupled with
the aforementioned problems, among many obstinate problems. And at such, I can
say I wish I can do without Nigerian education. But at least I find my succour
in the fact that my days are numbered. With just a year left on my normal
contract, I am off the scene. Perhaps, I progress in a more sane and convenient
environment in Europe or America.
Olaomo Gbloluwaga John
