Education is key or at least should be key.
But what happens when a coveted key, one which many will give their hides for turns out to be for a lock that will not budge because it has been ravaged by rust?
What happens when a key hailed for its ability to unlock potentials as if by magic turns out to be useless at the end of the day because of how little one can do with it?
In truth, the wonders of education can never really be overemphasized. More than just about any other thing, education has the power to pour light into the endlessly large halls of darkness that the mind otherwise is.
Indeed those countries who have finally managed to successfully find the formula for holistic national development never stop paying tributes to the profoundly alchemical power of education.
Nigeria’s struggles to satisfactorily advance on the path of development in spite of its prodigious potentials is well documented. A country cursed with bad leadership as with leprosy has often found almost impossible what other countries break very little sweat to get.
As an extravagantly gifted country has painfully struggled largely because its affairs have largely been left to crooked cooks who continue to prepare and dish poison disguised as abrosia, many aspects of its national life have struggled.
Education has painfully struggled in this time. ‘School na scam’ sung one of Nigeria’s more contrarian musicians some years ago to indict the system and give vent to the misgivings many young people unfortunately nurse about education in Nigeria.
For many young people, there is simply no point and with the sirens of internet fraud colloquially known as ‘Yahoo Yahoo’ blaring out deafening songs to lure Nigeria’s young, education in Nigeria seems at once a luxury and a drudgery.
With Nigeria’s number of out-of-school children (OOSC) soaring to 20 million, for many of those who have the luxury of ever setting foot in a classroom, it is drudgery from the beginning.
Dilapidated classrooms and disgruntled teachers combine to whip up a nightmare in many schools. It is often not long before people give up.
In 2022, amidst the scandalous dereliction of the current administration and the dilatory tactics of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Nigerian students shed eight months of their academic calendar sat at home due to a strike action. Nigerians heaved a national sigh of relief when the strike action was finally called off.
For the students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka(Unizik) who live at Ifite village in Awka the Anambra State capital, a nightmare of prodigious proportions is afoot.
With the security architecture of the southeast and particularly Anambra State disintegrating by the day, cultists in Awka have taken it upon themselves to unleash mayhem on the students.
On Friday January 19,2023,the cultists were said to have had a field day when they attacked some hostels in the area, beat some students to a pulp, raped others before making away with their valuables.
It is indeed a sad turn of events. For the students forced to live outside the school compound by the inadequate accommodations provided within the schools, their safety has been compromised by rampaging criminals who are giving security agencies a run for their money.
How much more difficult can the drudgery that education is in Nigeria get? How much do Nigerian students have to give up in their quest to obtain an education? What more do Nigerian students have to do to get an education in less dramatic circumstances in the country?
What is being done to contain the worms that are causing education in Nigeria to wither in Nigeria ?What is being done to contain the wolves devouring education in Nigeria.
Students in many parts of the country are no longer assured of their safety in the same way they are no longer assured of the quality of education they get in schools at the hands of disgruntled teachers and decrepit infrastructure.
The many students who somehow defy the circumstances to make something out nothing work a miracle of sorts.
In a country where public officers do nothing while the education system collapses only to send their wards to foreign schools with public funds, the way and manner education has been sabotaged in Nigeria is all too glaring for all to see.
It is also noteworthy that as long as education continues to struggle in Nigeria,the terrorists who have made it their life’s work to ensure that education does not really work in Nigeria will continue to claim victory of some sorts.
Boko Haram which has proven to be the heinous herald of terrorism in Nigeria began its campaigns of death and destruction by assailing the supposed perils of Western education.
Other terrorist groups have since taken a cue and have ramped up the pressure on Nigeria’s education system.
The travails of education in Nigeria point accusingly at a country that has successfully managed to jumble up its priorities.
For such a country, it is indeed a long way to the redemption education can so richly provide if given even half a chance.
Kene Obiezu,
Twitter:@keneobiezu
