The standard of education in Nigeria has deteriorated to a minimal level that calls for attention. This trend is a matter of great importance as Education is the bedrock of Man.
Education as defined by Dictionary.com is the act of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgement, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life. In Nigeria today, efforts are made by many to be educated. Meanwhile, there are many schools where people get formal education. In my analysis, I will look at the Universities.
The University level of Education is the level where the student is exposed to life as it really is, at least in this part of the World. That is why in Igbo Language which is one of the three most popular languages in Nigeria, University translates to ‘‘MAAHADUM’’ this word when transliterated means, ‘‘know it all’’. Whit the above explanation, it means that in the university the student is meant to learn everything that goes on around them, Good, Bad, and the Ugly.
In Nigerian Universities, this transliteration so much affects the school system to the level that things have gone too bad and we can hardly call it Education, judging from the definition we have from Dictionary.com. The Nigerian Education in the University level can be defined as ‘’the taking advantage of the students by their lecturers for grades’’ This taking of advantage can come in terms of cash or Kind for female students who have Male lecturers. That is the level of the Educational system in Nigeria.
As can be expected, whenever things are going wrong in any society, a group of well meaning individuals will always show up to remedy the situation. In our miserable and dilapidated Educational system, the condition is not different. The church and some other individuals are trying hard to help us get a highly standardized education. Am going to focus on the impact the church has made in rescuing this situation.
The Church in Nigeria is a religious Organisation that has a great influence on the poor masses even more than the government has. Things said in the churches get more listening ears than things said on political platforms or other platforms. The platform of the church can be said to be the deciding factor of what the people believe in and how they live their lives.
In Nigeria, the Church is able to pay for any services it requires through the charity of its members. Be it projects, celebrations and the upkeeps of its ministers. In the case of building schools, things are not different; the members of the church contribute money, through freewill donations and at some cases through imposed levy. There are many poor masses that cannot afford a three square meal in Nigeria. But they go to the church and freely donate huge sums, saved for ages for the building of Church Universities, with hope that God will bless them for donating in the church and also perhaps that their children will grow up and might study in such schools one day.
But looking at the Universities owned by the Church, it will be obvious that the reverse of the hope of the poor masses is the case. Because their Children can never attend such Universities they contributed to construct, as a result of the fact that the cost of attending them are very High. What is then the hope of the poor masses in Nigeria. Is the Church really remedying the situation or are they making things worst.
From my experience with students that came for a higher education, many of them quite poor, from Nigeria, they excelled for 2 reasons. First, they had a good underpinning of education from the British system and second they tried very hard to succeed, often through several disciplines.
It is up to you and the other young people of Nigeria to stand up to the church and to the corrupt government officials and change things for the better in higher education in your country. Good luck and keep writing. Awareness is power to the people.
Ron