THE DYING HONOUR OF EDUCATION

When you look at the Nation, sometimes you want to ask yourself that "What did we do to deserve this?!" When one looks at the state of things in the country, you hardly see any area that can host your gaze if you are looking for 'good'. If you look at the political sector, the stench that will meet you will wrench meal from your stomach, if you look at the power sector, you just see that Nigerians are mostly on their own. We even have started getting used to looking for individual solutions to all our power problems. The only aspect we may not be able to pave way for ourselves is the fuel things we have not found the substitute for just yet. We look at the religious sector and we shake our heads at the various money extorting techniques of our preachers today. Some preachers who does not even have a clue as to what Christianity are all about leading our prayers and teaching ways to the heaven they don't even know. Economically we are only progressing on paper and not experientially. The sector we all look forward to as the solution to all these mess, educational sector even leaves a sore taste in the mouth. The educational sector needs to be saved or we can watch our Nation recede into an utter gloom that will beat our imagination.

Of course it is no longer any news that the standard of education in Nigeria is nothing to write home about as we continuously drop down the ladder of educational standard in the world. In fact recent news stated that Nigerian Doctors have been blacklisted in the UK and you want to wonder are we that bad? Taking into consideration that the larger part of lecturers and Chief academic administrators we have now went through the best period of higher education that Nigeria ever knew, you ask how much they are transferring this legacy down the line to the up and coming generation. Some of this administrators when lecturing you will tell you that schooling was more enjoyable in their times and that education has lost its value and when you wait for them to make decisions you only want to ask, "are you okay upstairs Sir/Ma?"

Students were a strong voice in those days. They could stage protests against national issues that does not go dowm well with the common man. In fact, students led the clamour for the independence of the Nation, Nigeria. Students were made as comfortable as possible and treated as human beings in those days. It was easy to want to read and be the best in your field. In those days, Nigerian graduates were respected on the international scene. Just hold ID cards of schools like University of Ibadan or Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and you are treated with astute respect anywhere you go to. Students who will progress to postgraduate studies were treated with utter respect and taken care of very well. You do not get to worry about cooking as you go to eat at the cafeteria free, you do not worry about tidying your room as cleaners will do that for you, in fact, certain parts of their laundry were taken care of by the school. Water and light were always available for living and study and the institutions made sure these two were not lacking in the halls of residence. Today though, these things are missing.

Today students has almost lost that voice. That voice calling that their rights should not be violated, that voice asking that things be done rightly, that voice seeking to set things right for the coming generation...all seem to be going down. Nowadays, lecturers can afford to maltreat students without any remorse as they see themselves as the judge and jury of everything. School authorities can afford to put off lights in hostels when study is going on just because they want to 'save cost'. School authorities can expel students without any fair hearing or clearly stating the students' offense and giving them a fair hearing. Today, a community can just pick student and lynch them in the name of 'anything'. Youth Corps members are now even scared to pay any unnecessary sacrifice for the good of all as that will just almost amount to nothing. Education is losing its respect. Now a wealthy man can pay some group online and earn a doctorate degree for nothing. So much is the degradation of this educational value that certificates from other nations stand more than the indigenous ones. Even leaders in the country dare not send their children to universities in their own locality or even country. You can hardly see a child of a top political office holder schooling within the country. Today, education in Nigeria is dying...

Due to the lack of respect for this sector and its produce nowadays, the young generation even feel there is no need to engage in too much study. lecturing is just another job opportunity like banking to many. We apply for lecturing jobs not because we love academics but because it pays... We proceed to postgraduate studies because we have not gotten employment not necessarily because we want to know more in our field to be able to teach, and it just gives an additional chance of securing employment. The reading culture is dying and most people read from compulsion rather than interest. In fact some even read only to cure boredom but they can sit with movies for endless hours. Yes! the young generation is losing focus in a measure but the older generation set it in motion and are ensuring that the younger generation lost interest in this sector. Do you know that students hardly get things they are entitled to nowadays without fighting for it from their school authority? And you want us to keep on being the best. Even the federal Government will only release money that will end largely in the pockets of the school administrators.

 

Who will save this sector? Who will save this nation?