The importance of education to human beings cannot be over emphasized. Education is a human right that should be accorded to all human beings solely by reason of being human. Education is an important factor in every individual’s life; it is the key to a better future. It is generally believed that the standard of education in Nigeria is falling. This is because most of the things a primary school leaver in the years gone by can do, cannot be effectively done by secondary school students of today. An example is letter writing. The problem of education emerged from the neglect which the sector suffered from in the 1980’s leading to the gradual erosion of the system.
A research was conducted to find out if the standard of education in Nigeria is really falling using the survey method. 50 questionnaires were distributed to students in 5 universities, 3 private schools namely; Caleb University, Covenant University and Babcock University and 2 private schools; university of Lagos and Ogun state university.
After a careful analysis of the data gathered, it was discovered that 76% of the students agreed that the educational standard in Nigeria is falling while the remaining 24% said nothing is wrong with the educational standard in Nigeria is not falling.
According to the students; most of the causes of the falling standard of education are things that can be controlled. Inadequacy of funding, lack of teaching tools and modern classrooms, corruption, constant strikes, poor numerations and the acute shortage of qualified teachers, have all contributed to the fall in the standard of education in Nigeria. Every student has his own opinion concerning the reason for the falling education standard.
One of the respondents, a student of Ogun state university said “Government is largely responsible for the falling standard of education. Government change policies concerning education frequently, leaving both teachers and students confused. They also do not equip classroom and laboratories appropriately to enable effective learning. Corrupt officers who misuse institutions funds go unpunished. Exam malpractices, which is one of the major causes of falling standard of education has not been tackled by government. Look at the TSS issue, frequent strikes and the present universities’ school fees increase.” Another student from the University of Lagos added that “the government does not pay enough attention to the educational sector as they ought to; we are the leaders of tomorrow we are taking over from them, if we don’t have enough education how will we cope? Do they want Nigeria to be destroyed after their reign?”
Another of the respondents said “in the nearest future will we be able to harvest the critical/creative minds necessary to manage the democratic process if we do not invest in human capital development? Or can we compete in the globalized world of the 21st century? If a nation does not face its education development seriously, then there is no hope for such society.”
According to the information gathered, Nigerians respect paper qualification above performance in the fields. Hence, cognitive, affective and psycho motor domains are supposed to be measured on the field. Due to this, students do whatever they can to get good grades including joining cult and threatening their lecturers, cheating during examination, offering their selves, bribing and other despicable acts. Another problem we have in this country is our leaders, Merit is no longer regarded as it is now” who you know” and not “what you can deliver” instead of putting people that are actually interested in education posts like commissioner of education and a member of the education board, they put people they know and can control.
In conclusion, we can all agree that the standard of education is Nigeria has drastically reduced and it’s still reducing, the government needs to realize that education standard for Nigeria is low. the best university in Nigeria, university of Ibadan is ranked 6304 in the world and 57 in Africa. things need to change.
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"Coming In From The Cold" In California, USA May 22, 2012
There is a Yoruba proverb that says, literally, that "a house built with saliva will be destroyed by the morning dew." Nigeria is such house.
The Nigerian government is a corruptionist one. Corrupt, corrupted, or corruptible behaviors are the norm. The destruction of our education, especially of southerners, was orchestrated by the north when they had the mantle of power. The pace of education in the south was incomparable to that of the north. They knew education was the edge we had over them and they were ready to slow us down or destroy that edge. They succeeded. Remember Ali must go?
Our youths of today don’t speak well and they don’t write well; a lot cannot even spell correctly. If you cannot express yourself well, how can you communicate well; and if you can’t communicate well, how can you be understood well? A few of those who write well in this medium are mostly of the old school; I know.
When you don’t know the difference between “there” and “their”, or “here” and “hear”, or “brake” and “break”, or when to use “should”, “could” or “would”, or when some people use a sentence such as “you could have wrote”, instead of “you could have written”, then you start to wonder if these youths (not all) can even do debate without "blowing up” the hall with “jagba-jantus” grammar.
I knew Nigeria has gone down for the worst when motorcycles (namely, okada) became a mode of public transportation – in a country with so much richness in human and natural resources. There was no such thing when I first left Nigeria in the late ‘70s and when I came home for my NYSC program in the early ‘80s when Colonel Obasa was the NYSC director or head (or whatever he was).
Today, I remember a Yoruba song that we used to sing in primary school, and it goes thus - “ko’le-ko’le, ko’le s’ori apata; ile iyanrin, a ba ‘yanrin lo; ko’le-ko’le, ko’le s’ori apata”. Which means, “build your house on the rock, because if you build it on sand, it will flow away with the sand (i.e., collapse) eventually.”
Our foundation is that of sand; a corrupt foundation. Unless we rebuild quickly, sooner than later, Nigeria is bound to collapse. There is nothing iffy about it.
Let me finish with a quote etched in limestone on the engineering building at the University of Wyoming – it states that “the control of nature is won not given”. Our country has been totally stolen from the rest of us. It is our responsibility to win it back because it will not be given back freely. Nigeria "jaga-jaga".
In Yoruba, we say proverbially that “Kii s’oju boro ni won fi ngba omo l’owo ekuro” – meaning, there is no gentle way to get the palm kernel seed out of the hard kernel shell; it must be cracked (i.e., using force). A word is enough for the wise.
Before they relinquish our country into the hands of their children and cohorts, let the cataclysm begin now. Do not say I did not warn you. Only cowards die many times before their death. These thieves are human beings like me and you, with blood running in their veins too. Whatever can befall me can befall them too.
So, whoever doesn't believe that our educational standards have fallen in Nigeria must either be from the north or stupid. So, Babangida, "what can you fit to do" - Ngwo-ngwo grammar.
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