Nigeria’s education system, like most other public institutions is in shambles. Sadly, our leaders do not seem to care. The incessant strikes and the dilapidated infrastructure and ethos of educational institutions, particularly tertiary, are evidence enough of our leader’s lackadaisical outlook to the problems.
The route Nigerians have taken to self-help is to run abroad to get their children educated in developed and better organized countries where education is taken seriously. It is a shame that Nigerian parents even send their kids to poorer peer nations like Benin republic, Togo, and Ghana for education. Sadly, in some of these countries, Nigerian students attend substandard universities, some of which are not even approved by the host nations because of their low standards.
We have read about universities in Ghana, Cotonou and Togo that are housed in one storey buildings, and run by fake lecturers. Even in Europe and America, most Nigerians do not really get admissions into tier 1 institutions because of the high cost, so they settle for third rate schools in the name of studying abroad. In the eyes of many parents and self-sponsoring students, a third rate school in the west is better than a first rate Nigerian school. Unfortunately, running away from reality does not solve the problem because we have not even begun to address the solutions the right way.
The education being offered today in many schools is abhorrent. I challenge you to go to your nearest NYSC camp, and interview graduates there. You will find many graduates who cannot make coherent sentences in English or communicate a rational thought. Some of them cannot even operate a computer to use professional applications like Microsoft word and Excel. The structures of education have failed in many ways such that many graduates have to be retrained by companies to become productive at their jobs.
The current government is preparing a student loan initiative to help those who cannot afford education in the tertiary institutions but this will do very little in improving the standard of the education itself. The root of the education moss is far deeper than most people think. The colonial administration before independence in 1960 set up an educational system that served the needs of the civil service. That was why the emphasis was on administration.
They set up Grammar schools in Ibadan, Abeokuta, Oshogbo, Offa and similar colleges including teacher training schools in the north and the east. They set up an institute of administration in Zaria, that later became the Ahmadu Bello University. These academic institutions were to train civil servants to serve the interest of the British colonial administration here. They did not bother about setting up technological institutions that could become the bedrock of Nigeria’s future technological advancement.
Unfortunately, post-independence leaders who took over from the departing British colonial masters, did not think about the future. They were more concerned with how to appropriate power for the domination of their tribes over rival ethnic groups, instead of laying the foundation of technological advancement of the country, like India, Singapore and other peer Asian nations did.
Of course, ethnic strife ensued owing to intense power play amongst the different political leaders, leading to 30 months of civil war. We are still contending with the consequences of that war till today.
With the level of massive distractions from ethnic and religious conflicts, little attention is paid to development oriented education that is driven by technology, innovation and competence. Everything regarding appointments revolves around tribal representation and religious affiliation, even in academic institutions where talent and merit should be what matters most.
In the face of a rapidly changing world, young people now have access to more information on internet and they see the opportunities that are abundant abroad. The geniuses we have, after being trained in health and engineering studies now flock abroad to further their studies and contribute to western economies. If something is not done quickly, we will soon have a country with faux intellectuals who contribute nothing to economic development other than political debates on television.
It is sad that in 2023, our most revered intellectuals are people who made names for themselves in the golden age of Nigerian education excellence like Prof Wole Soyinka. Intellectuals that have come after him like Chimamanda Adichie have left the shores of Nigeria to improve themselves abroad and market their skills to foreigners. It is sad that we do not have many intellectuals of note in sectors of technological innovation who live and contribute to Nigerian excellence. We have become too consumerist and complacent.
In recent times, we have seen some of our young people doing good things in the Information technology space. This is driven mostly by the internet, a force which has allowed many serious students learn online and build valuable skills that they employ at companies like Flutterwave, Andela, Paystack and the likes. The Nigerian government must think of ways to immediately support schools and unconventional learning institutions, to drive this country forward into a technology revolution as we have been seeing in India and China. With enough support and financial investment, the country could nurture brilliant technologists and engineers who can take the country to great heights.