Nigeria as we all know is a developing nation and a budding country in Africa. It is seen as a country having a lot of potentials to execute and deliver key projects that would help promote and project Africa in good light. It is pathetic and disturbing however, to note that the leaders are the one serving as a bottleneck in the actualization of that dream. The government, both past and current, have shown and displayed high scale corruption, lackadaisical attitude to work and have displayed nonchalant and unsympathetic attitude to issues affecting the masses which they claim to govern.
It is from the foregoing that brought about the sudden or should i say outright decay in the educational sector. If at all a sector should be so destabilized, should it be the educational sector? *A sector that stimulates critical thinking which in turn birth innovation that eventually lead to the much needed growth and development.*
The educational sector has derailed from a once budding sector in the late 20th century to a sector often characterized by pandemonium, seen as unstable and confused with turmoil. The Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education are grossly underfunded resulting in a proportional decrease in the quality of teaching and service delivery which has in turn had a consequential effect on the graduates emanating from the system.
To make matters worse, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, (JAMB) made cutoffs for higher institutions *120* which they claim is to serve as a benchmark, but from my analysis, 120 out of the total 400 marks obtainable in JAMB is just 30%. Wow!. In a University setting, having a score of 30/100 in an examination would be regarded as an outright failure (Carryover) and considering the fact that 30% is way below the 45% usually used as a pass mark in most Nigerian Universities. Is the system not tolerating mediocrity?
To further compound the problem, Nigerian secondary schools are hell bent on ensuring that candidates that sit for their SSCE examinations in their centers pass in flying colours aimed at fetching goodwill to them, all because of money. Greed! (Exchanging the future for monetary benefits). Don't you think we have a long way to go? We claim our leaders are corrupt but we have forgotten that we ourselves have taken corruption as a way of life (culture).
To further aggravate the challenge, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), a body expected to fight for the interest of the students and constantly orientate our leaders have become so politicised, riotous, factionalized and lacking direction all because of monetary incentives given by politicians. This is where the youths have failed. Gone are the days!
Nigeria is structured in such a way that the ruling class will continue ruling and the proletariat will continue serving. Most policies are formulated to favour the rich. I read about the *"Not Too Young To Run"* bill and posited through my personal conviction that it was passed to favour some certain categories of people who i won't mention. I won't dwell much on that.
Research, which happens to be the framework with which a University operate has been non existent in some institutions. The system, no doubt is grossly underfunded. The Nigerian government seem not to realize that through undertaking quality research, a solution can be proffered to help ameliorate or possibly solve the nation's economic problems. I wonder at times, why the government can't use the funds recovered from treasury looters to properly fund the educational sector. I am sure they travel often and can see what is obtainable in other countries of the world.
*My submission*
Not until we start seeing education as a critical and germane component of developing a nation; not until our leaders begin to realize that posterity will judge them all; not until we begin to concentrate resources in the appropriate channels; not until the students themselves standup to challenge maladjusted acts and negligence on the part of government; not until we stop playing petty politics with education and by extension the future of Nigeria, the buoyant future we envisage/crave for Nigeria *might* not be actualized.Thanks for reading.
Shotunde Oladimeji
*LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY*.
©Excel Alliance
Awesome!
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