Is School Really A Scam?

The Insight

By Lateef Adewole

“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

Some days ago, one of our staff, an intern actually, came back with a disturbing opinion from where we sent him to procure some materials we needed for a project that our company was working on. He went to Alaba International Market, in Lagos, to buy those items. On his return, I overheard him discussing with his colleagues and asking if school is a scam?

On my probing further why he was asking such strange question, I found out that it was what he heard at the market. It happened that on getting there, he met two very young boys of his age, who are the owners of the shops from where he went to buy those items. As young lads, they engaged in tete-a-tete, where one of the boys told him that he left school in second year in Junior Secondary (JS2), and decided to join the apprenticeship programme that the Igbos are known for.

He said he believed that before his mates, who continued with their schooling could finish senior secondary and possibly proceeded to higher institutions, he would have graduated from his apprenticeship programme, opened his own shop and starts his own personal business, and begin to make his millions, while his mates who should have graduated by then, if ASUU strikes will allow them, may be, also gone for their NYSC and begin to look for jobs that are not there or that they are not sure of getting from the few ones available.

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He said all these with so much confidence and exuded pride in the process. He even boasted that in that market, all the rich people he was seeing, with massive businesses, multiple shops and numerous gigantic warehouses housing billions of naira worth of goods, did not go to school. And that they still employ graduates, with first degree, Masters degree and even PhD.

I could see a lot of dejection written all over the face of our intern as he relayed all these. To me, all he said was not new. My worry however was who the story was told to; our intern. This is because, this is a young boy who decided to make use of his time to get trained in a vocation in our organisation, while he gets prepared to take JAMB, in his bid to further his education in the university. What kind of message would such be to him? What would have been running through his mind since he heard that story? How much interest would he have and how desperate would he still want to go to school again?

These and many more questions were what were going through my mind. Sadly, this seems to have become our reality as a society today. Going to school is no longer valued as it used to be. This is because, premium is no longer placed on it as a requisite for becoming “important” in our country again. Now, many people who are recognised and celebrated are people of questionable characters, who would have been hiding in the past.

I have learnt of many other instances where education has been so ridiculed anyone will be discouraged from going to school. Some months ago, I read an appeal by a good samarithan on social media, who posted the picture of a young man engaging in labourer work in the ongoing construction site of Dangote refinery, in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos. The accompanying narration was that the young man, in his full regalia of tattered and dirty labourer clothes, is a graduate of Accounting from a university in Nigeria. He claimed that the young man, after unsuccessful in securing a job, went further to do Masters degree and has even completed his PhD. Yet, no job! That was heartrending.

The other instance was some years ago. Coincidentally, it still had to do with Dangote group of companies. The company placed an advert for drivers for their trucks. They were shocked, first, about the number of applicants who applied and who were graduates. Thousands of them. It was reported that hundreds of them had at least one Masters degree. And that there were three PhD holders among the applicants for truck driving.

When I matched all of these with the Alaba Market’s Igbo boy story, with numerous others that I know of, I couldn’t but feel so downcast. After listening to that intern, I went back to my office and sat down for hours, ruminating on what has befallen our country and all of us as a people. Where has our virtuos past gone? Our past, where it is the greatest pride of any family to have their children educated in schools, up to the university level.

Let me make something clear, I am in no way deriding the “Alaba boys” and their likes. Even in the past, they had their place. However, while they take their own position in our society even then, they would never have ridiculed going to school like that. No one would ever take pride in dropping out of school just because they want to pursue money, like the boy did. And was proud of it too. What then has changed?

I grew up knowing a society that valued education (going to school). Many rhymes were composed as daily devotional songs for children of school ages as some forms of reminder and encouragement about the importance of education. People who were highly recognised and revered were educated people. A student in the university then was a poster child of his family and community. Going for National Youth Service (NYSC) was like winning medals. It is still the education that takes people out of their localities, whether within the country or travelling abroad. Mostly, people make those trips to acquire more education. Now, that seems not to be. This is due to many factors that have plagued us as a people. Let me x-ray a few.

Lost values. The core of many other factors that are responsible for how education is perceived today is the lost of value that our society now placed on it. Education is no longer seen as a means to greatness. Money, no matter how it is acquired, is what we now worship. In the olden days, even if you have plenty money without education, you will be called “money-miss-road”. That was how important education was then. Now, who cares? We have lost our values, our value system has collapsed or it has terribly degenerated.

Definition of success. What we consider as success now is the amount of money you can flaunt, irrespective of what you do to get it. This is why too many youths have taken to look for it desperately by hook or crook. The consequences of which are what we experience now in the escalation of criminalilties. From defrauding others through internet scams called “yahoo”, they have graduated to “yahoo-plus”. This is money ritual, pure and simple. They get involved in all sorts of heinous practices to get money, including killing fellow human beings. Armed robbery and kidnapping are on the rise.

In the olden days, questions were asked as to the sources of wealth of people. If a single person is suspected of being a money ritualist in a community, such a person will be avoided like a plague, but not now. In fact, parents of yahoo boys and girls now have associations. Parents do not ask where their children get money they lavish again. Rather, they also benefit from it and even take them to spiritualists for fortifications. Going to school and being well-educated is no longer the definition of being successful.

Criteria for leadership. How is education expected to be valued when the very lowest level is required to be a leader in our country. Just recently, there was a bill to raise the minimum qualifications for political offices like presidency, governorship and others to first degrees and equivalents. That bill never saw the light of the day. It was killed before even taking off. A situation where you only need a primary school certificate or simply the evidence that you can read and write, for you to become the Nigerian president, isn’t that madness? What kind of leaders do we expect to emerge from that?

The truth is that, Nigeria has gotten to a very reasonable literacy level now that it is no longer excuse to make such absurd requirements as the minimum qualifications to be in political offices. Isn’t it ludicrous that you require to have a degree and have done NYSC to be employed in many public and private organisations. Yet, who leads the whole country or subsets of it only needs primary school certificate. How can a society develop like that?

In many western countries and even in Asia like China, Singapore, etc, they try as much as possible to present the best among them, well educated, competent and highly intelligent, to lead them, both in elective and appointive positions. In United Kingdom, most of the people who became the Prime Minister usually passed through some educational routes. There are certain elementary and high schools noted for producing the PMs, Parliamentarians, and other political office holders. Same with some universities. Similar situation exists in the United States of America, Canada and many European countries.

Worse still, it is not that we lack people in such top quality categories but they will never be allowed to get to those political leadership positions, except by accident, particularly at the highest level: the presidency! There seems to be a deliberate policy to edge them out.

Poor quality and standard of education. Even when children are interested in going to school, has the quality and standard of education we now have encouraged anyone? The standard has been on nosedive for years now. The quality of soft and hard contents in our schools are not inspiring. Dilapidated infrastructures. Poor teachers’ working conditions. Outdated curriculum. Lack of teaching materials. Empty workshops and laboratories. And so on. It is no longer something students are proud, unlike in the past, when students showcased their institutions as source of pride to the world. This encouraged younger ones to want to follow in their footsteps. That is not the case now.

We saw the video recorded by a parent last year when she visited her child in an hostel in a leading university; the great University of Nigeria (UNN), Nnsuka, Enugu State. Many rich people would not put their dogs in such accommodation provided for our leaders of tomorrow. Similar situations exist in many other university campuses across Nigeria. Imagine university students sitting on the floor to listen to lectures, what kind of education do we expect such students to receive? Half-baked or non-baked! Let me not start with the perennial ASUU strikes, most of which were predicated on the above problems too.

Lack of job opportunities. Even when such students struggled through such dilapidated school system, and finished their NYSC, what next? The joy of every student, and their parents, is for them to graduate, secure a good job and start living good life. This was an incentive to go to school. But, where are we in this regards today? The hope of getting employment after many years in school has been getting dimmer year after year. It is as if it is non-existent now. Only the children of the political office holders, their friends and families, and cronies, get all the “juicy” jobs, especially in the public sector.

The recruitments are often done through the back door without merit. Sometimes, adverts are placed just to fulfil all righteousness when they already had their chosen candidates. How can the children of the ordinary citizens be encouraged to go to school? Many continue to roam around the streets looking for just about any job, in order to survive. What is joy in that? Why won’t the “Alaba boys” make jest of graduates and those who continued to go to school while they dropped out, since they now roll in millions and even employ graduates? This is what has befallen our country.

Many who managed to secure jobs are poorly remunerated. Their take-homes could not take them anywhere. They continue to wallow in poverty, after suffering for many years going through school. It takes a minimum of 16 years to get a degree (6-3-3-4). That is a long time in the life of a human being. Not to talk of some other degrees that take 5 to 7 years in the higher institutions. And the a Masters degree of 2 years and PhD of 3years or longer many times. How can we allow all these to go to waste with our national attitude towards education? So sad.

All said. There is desperate and urgent need for a revolutionary paradigm shift in our national orientation, value systems and educational policy. We cannot be doing the same thing over and over but expect different results. That is insanity. If we truly desire progress, then, leadership of the country must act now. Sadly, because many people in authority are the first culprits of all the problems so far identified, the chances that they will act is very slim. Such was the case with the minimum qualifications for political offices proposed at the House of Representatives few months ago that was killed!

But if our leaders think they can continue like this, maintaining the status quo, the consequences will be daring and far reaching, and it will consume everyone including them too. That is what has been happening with the banditry, terrorism and general insecurities across the country, as been witnessed now. “Omo ti a ko ko, ni yio gb’ele ti a ko ta”. When education is disincentivised as it is now, many will prefer to opt out and engage in anything that will bring quick money, no matter how illegal. Kidnappers rake in hundreds of millions of naira in ransom payments. Which work will anyone do to make such money? Why won’t youths shun schools to join criminal gangs? These are parts of the consequences.

The typical Nigerian “big man and woman” used to be safe from all of these criminals before, so they were less concerned. Now, the chicken has come home to roost. No single person is safe again. We are all vulnerable. Many important personalities were among those kidnapped in the last week train attack, including the just released Acting Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture. He just escaped with his life by the whims. Hundreds are still in their custody. Many were killed. Many were wounded. These are parts of the consequences.

So, it is foolhardy to blanketly state that school is a scam. In sane society, people who get to leadership positions are carefully chosen. And their level of education, among other criteria, is critical. Such societies do not worship money because poverty is not weaponised as we have here. They are very deliberate about their value system. The earlier all these issues are looked into in our own case too and addressed, the better for all of us.

May God continue to protect us and guide us aright.

God Bless Nigeria.

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