There is no doubt that education has
been the growth of a nation, but one would argue that it has been the case with
Nigeria.
Education is a process acquiring
knowledge and developing skills. Those who are said to be educated are often
seen by others to possess a certain kind of wisdom and intelligence that can
change events, norms, and traditions that are no longer required to help
society. Educated people possess the skills to invent and create. But
regrettably, Nigeria has been falling short of these.
Nigerian educational system has so
far produced enough graduates with certificates with many devoid of true
intelligence and a limited idea of nation building. Meanwhile it is sad to note
that the sole reason Nigerians attend tertiary institutions is to get a job
afterwards and make money. In schools, we are taught how to read but not how to
reason, how to write CVs but not how to write histories, how to search for jobs
but not how to create jobs, and how to blame the government but not how to
change the government. A Nigerian graduate if given the opportunity often does
worse than those in the position he now occupies. In Nigeria, a graduate with
formal education is more crooked and fraudulent than those who haven’t been to
tertiary institutions.
Last month, a graduate from the
University of Lagos had the record of graduating with 5.0 and over fifty
graduates equally came out with first class from the University of Osun. With a
first class brain, Nigeria should be glad to have graduates who are capable of
invention and creation, because they must have been incredibly superb in skills
and knowledge to have graduated with first class. These set of first class
brains should have the ability to build the nation by re-inventing it to
standard, by building a super power, and by developing new ideas and
technology. It will however be a disappointment if the primary focus of these
first class graduates is either to get a good job in the labour market and live
happily after or to advance further in education in a bid to getting more
certificates.
The reason for education is to
reinvent the society – especially a dwindling society like Nigeria. But the
country has failed in this formation since its focal characterization of
education is financial fulfillment and job search.