Rant 103 - What's The Way Forward?
While growing up, we were deceived that formal education is the way forward because they believed back then in a system that works but I am sorry to say, it's not the way forward for this country, Nigeria. Don't get me wrong, I am all for people to get the formal education and I would do everything possible too to make my children have the best of them but I won't let them feel limited that it's an achievement that's worth celebrating.
You know while growing up, we were told to pick what we would love to become in life and then work towards it with the formal education. We have been conditioned to run the rat race right from the early ages so much that it has killed so many creative minds. I won't ask my children what they want to do in life, I would rather ask them what problems they want to solve. Asking children these opens up their minds to the possibilities of effecting a change in society rather than following the dogma.
A lot of people don't need a formal education (but I subscribe to the basic one - up to Secondary School or High School as others call it) to do the things they have in mind to achieve. I listened to an amazing man last week and he said he doesn't mind not being the smartest person in the room but he wants to be able to put smart people together and pay them to work for him. He said it's appealing to have smart people come together but it's hard to have them work together and that's where he would come in...leveraging on his ability to create a working environment for them so they can all function independently of others while still achieving the same goal for his dreams.
A lot of people, what they want to do requires education and by all means, I support them to get it but most people, it would be a waste of time for them to be forced into a line that isn't theirs because we just want them to be educated so they can have a means of sustenance. That's why most people hardly accumulate wealth or do great things because what they have is just a means of sustenance. It's not even enough for them, how can they make a change in the world?
A friend of mine told me how she was forced to go to university when all she wanted to do was to be on the screen. She would have used that time to go and educate herself better in that line rather than have overbearing parents force her to go in a particular line. If you live in this part of the world, you would understand that parents hold an influence on what you have to do in life. Most people are in school because they were told to not because they chose to and that's not only damaging for the system but for the future of those people too.
After being forced into the system they are not supposed to be in, the government won't make matters easier as well. You decided to study a 4-year course and the 4 years end up turning into 8 years yet your age is not on a pause. You keep wasting time, you keep getting frustrated and how can anyone perfectly think in such a state? I heard that there would be another strike now even though most institutions just resumed. The demands of the governing bodies aren't met by the government and that's the reason for another strike.
I know there is corruption everywhere and even the governing bodies are also putting the lives of these students at stake because of their selfish interest but the government are not helping matters. They would tell you that they are investing so much into education yet the students are getting frustrated day by day which hinders their growth. The youth are not better equipped as well to even start something on the sideline while they wait for the governing bodies and the government to reach a logical conclusion.
There was a grant I applied for and it has been 4 years now, nothing has been done on it. I have even spent on registration and facilitation with the nonsense documents they asked us to fill but to the government, it's just another source of revenue or someone in charge of that would pocket the whole money. They get enriched over the sweat of others which helped them to afford to send their children overseas to study in a better system that works. This is mentally draining.
Many things are going wrong with parenting styles and even the government and if care is not taken they would get worse and we would be raising terrible children for the future. I've always said that we don't need to leave a better world for our children but rather, let us leave better children for our world because, with better children, they can stand their ground and recreate a better world for generations to come. These current crops of leaders and humans we have, we are in too deep with corruption and our mentality has been scarred. If you ask an average youth to go into politics, the first thing he would think about is how to loot funds and it's scary.
I honestly don't know where to go from here...for the nation at large. There would be another strike soon and I couldn't help but feel bad for so many people whose lives have been unnecessarily affected by this. Where do we go from here as a nation and as people, generally? The future looks bright with burnt dreams.
Thank you for your time.
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Alot of folks are really waking up to a ge realisation that you don't have to go to tertiary education to succeed in life...... Some few even call it a big waste of time