“Knowledge is power.
Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every
society, in every family”…Kofi Annan (1938 - ) 17th Director-General of the United
Nations. Annan and the UN were co-recipients of 2001 Nobel peace prize.
Speak in intellectual gatherings
A few
friends and I were discussing about the current state of the Nigerian economy and
other events and one asked: “What is Nigeria’s problem…really?” Another person
answered without hesitating ‘corruption!’
In my
mind, I partly agreed to the negatively popular and seemingly shallow assertion,
but being a fan of ‘systems’ which apparently emphasizes the imperatives of
viewing from a multiple cause and effect outlook, I communicated my opinion on
the premise that if we want to truly get close to the crux of the matter, we
need to expand the horizon of our conversation.
We
live in a world where just a hand full of people have emotional awareness
enough to recognize the painfulness of being judgmental, which is of course typical
of people, especially in this fast paced era when self-centeredness has not
only come to the fore, but it also has seduced us in a bid that we might let it
stay.
“My people perish from lack of
knowledge”…Hosea 4: 6
Beyond Education
I’d say
without an ounce of doubt that Africa’s problem is lack of education. Don’t get
me wrong, we all know that most parts of Africa have been colonized by several
westerners enough to educate them, but how much speed has Africa been up to?
Although
education is multi-faceted, yet it essentially means learning. With the rate of
technological progress the white guys have achieved, it sure looks like they
hit the ground running, making every facet of development look easy.
As no
one needs to reinvent the wheel anymore, Africa has only been a follower of the
white man’s knowledge, inventions and discoveries.
Perhaps
its not a bad idea to actually follow one who knows the way, but it also isn’t
out of the ordinary to chart a new course. Apart from not following the super
script, which shows tested direction with virtue and loyalty, Africa has been
constantly chastised for appearing to act cowardly for not mapping out the rest
of her territory for massive development, but little do they know.
“Education makes a people easy
to lead, but difficult to drive, easy to govern, but impossible to enslave”…Henry Peter Brougham ( 1178 - 1868 ) 1st Baron Brougham and vaux. British statesman who became Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.
Is Poverty a relative term?
Africa
has been ravaged by poverty for as long as we can remember, surprisingly, it is
not by the type of poverty that you’d expect; it is simply the poverty of the
mind A.K.A. illiteracy, a monster of our own making.
Don’t
get me wrong; there is massive corruption in Africa, but to comprehend the
innate delinquency, we must isolate the thought of corruption so as to not
sound like everybody else, as popular opinions are usually shallow.
Holistically,
education encompasses many things, from subtle to belligerent. Lets assume
education entails going to school. In essence, while attending school, there
are loads of characteristic performances and behavioral patterns that you pick
up most times unconsciously. You’ll learn good and bad things, which can be
relative by the way, depending upon your perception and experience. You may be
lucky to learn empathy and also fortunate to find love. You will learn new skills,
and may also discover a talent or a hobby. At the end of school your grades
might not matter that much, but it is the life-changing encounters you made
that stays with you, molding you and influencing your response to real issues
through life.
“It gives one hope, this great strength of
Africa”…Stephen Lewis (1937 - ) Canadian politian, speaker, Broadcaster, Diplomat.
What is Africa’s Potential?
Look at
Africa and tell me she has acquired enough education to help her rule the
world. Sadly the answer is no, yet the white guys display everything that
indicates Africa being a powerhouse of resources that can power the world for
centuries to come.
No doubt, the diversity of African cultures and ways of life
exhibits her beauty and the admiration of both heart and art, however, it is
possible for Africa to look inwards and make a long overdue discovery of self,
beyond the apparently stereotypical education that the white man offers.
Africa
has only succeeded in emerging world’s number one consumer of everything
available, including trash, killing her economic viability, which is a total
embarrassment.
For
many years, Africa has been plagued with unnecessary conflicts due to greed for
wealth and power, which has ultimately infected successive generations that
have risen, diminishing unlimited potentials. Economies of
African countries have under-performed, Nigeria for instance is vaguely
referred to as the giant of Africa due to her size and massive population of
180 million people, unfortunately, she has not been able to translate the rare
advantage into much good news as about 70% of her population languish in both
illiteracy and poverty.
“With no education, you have neocolonialism
instead of colonialism, like you’ve got in Africa now and like you’ve got in
Haiti. So what we’re talking about is there has to be an educational program.
That’s very important”…Fred Hampton (1948 - 1969)
African American activist and revolutionary. Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther party.
Even
the educated ones could be referred to as half baked because the schools hardly
stay in session due to incessant strikes, there are no adequate infrastructure
to complement learning in schools, leaving students to study in harsh
conditions, and even the monies earmarked for both major and little projects
are grossly misappropriated.
We need
to see and embrace education from a different point of view, gently switching
our paradigm to accommodate a systems approach of reasoning, which dissects
education into attitudes, tolerance, exposure, enlightenment, empathy,
discipline, confidence and so much more.
Education
isn’t just a measure of intellectual capacity; it’s a movement of people wise
enough to choose to understand the world and her inhabitants, celebrate life
and have genuine love and good intentions towards humanity.
So what
is wrong with Nigeria and by extension, Africa? There exists failure to embrace
and maximize the full content of education, talk less of going on to conduct
further research to know more about her territory and heritage.
God
bless Nigeria, Africa, and the world!
Thank
you, and be awesome because you
truly are.
Akin
Abimbola.
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Sources: BBC, Brainy Quote, Google, Good reads, Holy Bible, Wikipedia
This article is an
original piece, which was reasonably researched, contains considerable opinion and
is composed in a unique style of the author.
The names in actual
stories are not real, and the stories in this write-up are fictional. Consequently,
people’s names appearing are purely co-incidental, except for quotes and news
that are typically referenced.
