Better Nigeria: Undereducated Nigerians?!!!!

BY ADESUWA
I was opportuned to attend a civil society session and its theme was : 'Revitalizing Nigerian Tertiary Education for 21st Tertiary Challenges'.

I must say that whilst listening to the panelists like Mrs Yemisi Ransome Kuti, Dr. Nasir Fagge (president, ASUU) and a host of others,  and contributions from the audience, I became outraged. Maybe because they were saying the very things I have observed and have been suppressing, because I have had no avenues to express my disappointments.

I am a lawyer, I graduated from the University of Abuja, gone through law school and now called to the Nigerian Bar. These took seven years of my life and so I can talk authoritatively about the decaying tertiary education in Nigeria.

The rude shock I got when I left school, is that, after all studied and achieved on paper, I could not impressively express myself as an individual, as a graduate, and  a lawyer. I have discussed with my colleagues...their stories are no different. So I found myself undergoing some sort of self development education, to learn those informal things that I lacked by leeching on my seniors and gathering informations from all sources.
Another rude shock was that, alas! all I learnt is not what is actually in practice. Now let's disabuse our minds of my area of study, this crisis is prevalent in every area of study. Let's be sincere.

We are be-crying the issue of unemployment and I must confess my dear youths that we are not fully equipped to take on most of the vacancies out there. We have been poorly educated. That's the harsh truth. The requirements for vacancies these days surpass the education we received. That is why most of us have to be shipped abroad to do masters and phd...to better compete with our peers. Masters used to be some sort of feat in the old days. Today, it has become a necessity, which does not guarantee anything though. Soon enough, a degree would just be nothing till you have masters, that is if we have not reached that stage already.

Anyway, I still feel flying away to do masters is going to further worsen the problem. By so doing, we are admitting our deficiencies, fueling another's economy (and the fees would keep sky rocketing, afterall we want to do masters abroad), and Nigeria would not grow. Besides our leaders' children are all abroad studying, so that our educational system is rottening has not gone unnoticed. Who are we fooling anyway?  Now am not saying do not go abroad oh! Afterall, we are trying to help ourselves.  I am just gently reminding us, that the mess awaits us when we get back, after all if you won't clear the cobwebs hanging from your ceiling it would soon touch your head.

Government's irresponsibility and rascality is the main challenge and threat to our education. Corruption fuels it. Our institutions are ill-equipped, the curriculum is not self developing, its a cram-and-pour sort of curriculum. Practical exercises are not done, our lecturers would not go through the stress, and I do not blame them, if you lecture a class of about 300 students..to do practical exercises is to pass out. So a note or material is produced, the students are expected to read it, cram it and pour it out as it is, because most atimes if you deviate from it, you will fail the course and that's all. Education has gone beyond this. Through all my confusion and strive to gain a balance and to assert myself in the society, I have learnt witout being told that tertiary education is not an end itself, its a means to a whole world of opportunites. We need to start thinking, innovating, creating and working outside the boxes of our degrees.

I like a statement made by Abdulrazaqque Barkindo (Publisher, The Road Newspapers) at the the above forum : "Nigeria is a certificate reliant country...Education is not for you to graduate and get a job! its for you to be able to live successfully with others.."

The teaching conditions are not attractive, so most lecturers are now after becoming Vice Chancellors or atleast close to Vice Chancellors, so they can partake in the booty. So politics has entered the system, and no ground breaking change can occur if the main officers of a University are controlled by a VC who was appointed politically by the very Government that seeks to cover up its irresponsibility.

Another neglected aspect of tertiary education is, vocational. And technical education. So now we import chairs, tables, clothes, fabrics, food,  ideas, creativity, and so on because we are running out of professional carpenters, farmers, cloth weavers, we would rather not think but tap from the creativity of the western world, because we have been taught not to think outside our lecture notes or materials.

Its such a sad situation.

Although I do believe things could change. That is if we youths, can arise and clamour for a better education. If our parents would demand that government give their children the best education and not wait for ASUU everytime to do so. Our parents should be able to leave their busy lives and visit our schools and demand from lecturers why their children are not performing well. Should a lecturer threaten a class or an individual, the struggle should not be left for their children alone, parents! Get interested, so as to get value for your money.

The governing councils of Universities, should begin to involve students more in their deliberations..the Senate of Universities are not left out in this.  ASUU should try to hold training programmes for our lectures, maybe some sort of retreat, so they talk to themselves, because 50% of the change we really seek in our Institutions can be helped by our lecturers.

As for our Government, that has now taken shield under private institutions, arguing it cannot bear the burden alone and all that. I say, that it can not shy away from the responsibility of educating its citizens. No country can develop with private education. The best schools in the world are public schools. The best schools in the world are public schools. Government must see to it that our institutions have adequate infrastructure, lecturers are well paid, students study under good conditions and with proper security. Yes, this has been over-emphasised but should we stop saying it? No. 

There should be a law that prohibits Government officials from sending their children to schools abroad. This would help our educational system a whole lot.

Bans on Student Union Groups should be lifted, so students can actively air their views.

In all these, I would not go into primary and secondary education today. These are near extinction, and I mean quality primary and secondary education is near extinction, before you argue, just visit a primary or secondary school and compare to what was obtainable as at 5years ago. Yes, five years ago so as not to go too far, so that we can guage the steady decline of education in Nigeria. This would be a topic for another day. Maybe the reality that after tertiary education, we embrace the world is what gnaws me most at the moment.

The Committee on NEEDS Assessment on Nigerian Public Universities 2012, is an eyeopener for Nigerians. Try to get hold of it, read it! That report is not good for the image of Nigeria, but sadly, it is the truth. I would also not dwell on this report, as I need to digest and dissect it before making any conclusions.

As 2015 draws near, let's begin to psyche our minds and be sincere, and put the right leaders in power.

GOD bless Nigeria.