By Young Erhiurhoro
The subject of education in Nigeria, and other countries in the world, is usually treated as a national issue because education is seen as a national project and priority of every child in every country. It’s usually in the Exclusive List in the national budget of a country. Even in most advanced countries, education is practically regarded as the fundamental right of every child. But here in Nigeria, education is the fundamental right of every child only in the constitution, and as a legal term.
Therefore, when such an important issue comes up for discussion or debate, everybody, both young and old should pay keen interest and give it undivided attention. Your contribution matters as a parent, president, governor, member of the national and state Assemblies, local government chairman, councilor, community leaders, teacher and even the child if truly the fate of education in this our country mean and matters to you. As a Nigerian citizen, you can only remain mute and pay deaf ears to such a national debate over a national subject if only you have a hand in the fall of education in the country.
Unfortunately, the fall of education in Nigeria is not a problem of this 21st century. It has started long before this very era. And the fall is not peculiar to one particular state or ethnic group. The fall of education has continued to affect all the states of the federation and all ethnic groups. At this time, media bigots and praise singers have written much on pages of newspapers of how President Tinubu and the 36 governors of the federation have raised the standard of education in the country by releasing funds to build more primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in their states and areas of mandate. For instance, in Delta state, our ears are flooded with the “Echoes in the Dark” of how the state governor is converting polytechnics to universities, secondary schools to polytechnics and even primary schools to schools of health technology.
Just few days ago, local government chairmen in Delta state have started celebrating their one hundred days in office. Many are being applauded of how they have visited primary schools in their local government areas and tried, even with limited funds to raise infrastructure in those primary schools. Their media aides are painting everything beautiful when some of these primary schools in the state lack teachers, classrooms, desks, chairs, tables and books. If you really want to know the fallen standard of education in this country especially in this Delta state, then just create time to pay unscheduled visit to some of these primary schools in rural and riverine communities across the state. You must conclude that the commissioner for education (basic) in the state should be removed immediately. There was a media report recently issued about a particular primary school in Sapele local government area where the school children sit on bare floor to learn and yet; political loyalists and government beneficiaries are clapping and dancing everywhere of how local government chairmen have done the monumental projects within their one hundred days in office. Shame on you!
Very importantly, like what I said earlier, the fall of education in Nigeria is almost becoming uncontrollable in this 21st century especially in this present era when the media technology has gone beyond expectations. Today, many children in the country have taken education as a scam and a waste of time especially with this new introduction of “yahoo business”. This yahoo business has again weakened the base and foundation of education of our children. The yahoo business has become a virile and infectious disease in the brain of every child in this country. It’s now a household name that every little child, even those below five years continue to sing every morning once they wake up from beds. It’s no longer news that children in primary schools have abandoned schools to joined this yahoo business without restriction or punishment from their parents. Rather, many of their parents are happy that they have children that can be counted amongst yahoo boys in their families and communities.
More disturbing and worrisome is that, these little children will have the gust to leave house and tell their parents they want to join their chairmen for their normal yahoo business transactions especially during the night. Instead of these parents to call them to order and caution them over the bad attitude, they will happily pray for them to have breakthroughs in their various yahoo business transactions. Many of them in their various cliques can have sleepless nights everyday, just for them to make it without delay. It’s there, you will hear words like “bomb” and “hammer” especially when the financial transactions are successful at the end. To make the business boom and thrive heavily, the chairman may introduce his boys to hard drugs and into smoking, unknowingly to many parents. In most cases, parents especially mothers with the nostalgic attitude to make their children succeed in life, usually move from one church programme to another and making series of vows on how their children can succeed in the yahoo business.
Stories are even abound of where church pastors have made alter calls to these young children to drop their android phones which they use for the yahoo business and attach a certain amount of money to the phone if they really want God to answer their prayers in earnest and without delay. Our youths would run a marathon race to drop these phones in the alter. This is the reason why so many people are accusing many of these pastors as the brain behind the fallen standard of education in Nigeria and lack of moral discipline and social justice in our homes. Today, we now have “yahoo pastors” in different Churches. When a pastor that supposed to be a role model, a teacher and a guiding light to these children, have suddenly turned to join the part of evil in the society, then we don’t even need them to preach to us again about the end of the world or system of things in this cursed generation. It’s even more worrisome that some of these “yahoo pastors” didn’t have good education as well. They usually cover up their faults and weaknesses during preachings with the false prophecy that, “God calls me into the ministry”.
However, the yahoo syndrome is a myopic mentality that is strongly built in the hearts of our children in this age. Many of them now look at education as a waste of their precious time. The time that could be well enough to have breakthroughs, make huge wealth and attain greatness in life. Why such a time should be wasted in pursuing degrees that can’t give you food on your table at the end of your graduation from the higher school or university? This is the myopic mentality that is already embedded in the thoughts of many children from day to day, even when some of these parents find it expedient and compulsory to force their children to school. Yes, no doubt, many of these children have made wealth from this online business and Facebook operations in recent times. There are many of these yahoo boys that have picked huge sums of money in rural communities like Ogor, Evwreni, Unenurhie, Uwheru, Ohoror, Agadama and many others in Delta state. The story is the same all over the country. But can this sudden success quantify the importance of education in the lives of our children? The big answer to this philosophical question is “No”. In the same way, many of them today are suffering the negative impacts and effects of this yahoo business. Many have become mad in the streets because of hard drugs and smoking. Some are roaming in the streets now because they mis-managed the wealth they achieved, believing that tomorrow is another day.
Education is undoubtedly important in the life of every Nigerian child. This is why the federal government must do something serious about this yahoo business. If the present government really have the interest to build these young children into leaders of tomorrow to take over the government of this country, then it must make it mandatory to invest heavily on the education of our children in this country. Like what some persons have rightly observed about our political leaders whenever the subject of education is raised, they said that, all our political leaders have taken their children abroad for schooling, building empty blocks as schools for the children of the poor. They are ready to spend the nation’s resources to give their children the best of education. They usually invest heavily on the education of their children to build them into their bright future. This is why, today as many of them are quitting the political scene, their children are stepping into their big shoes immediately. Many of them are in Delta state here. They always prepare the smooth ways for their children to pass without any hiccups.
Let me round up this national debate on the subject of education so to say, by re-echoing the fact that, education have fallen abysmally into the mud in this country. What we are seeing today as education in Nigeria is just a mere shadow and vain beautification of what education is in many of the western and industrialized countries. This is just one of a thousand reasons why we still remain where we are today as a country after independence in 1960. Our government have succeeded in building empty blocks known as schools in every community to cover up their excesses and shame in looting and corruption. Since the schools are not functioning as expected, the children have therefore decided to pass the “back door” to achieve that which the government have denied them through poor or lack of education in the country. This scenario is like one of these radio adverts of these herbal homes which says, “what you are looking for in Sokoto is in your shokoto.” Let the government give education the priority it deserves in the country.
Young Erhiurhoro;Kjc is a reporter and a member of the Urhobo Historical Society.
