USA Africa Dialogue Series - 'School Na Scam' Why University Students Must Return to Campus Toyin Falola's Clamor for Nigeria to wake up from its decades of slumber, from its one hit and ten misses.

One thing that both the Union and the government need to be concerned about is the increasing disillusionment of Nigerian youths with the profitability in education. As it stands, a large percentage of Nigeria's young are not enrolled in school. There's another large group which has been denied admission due to issues touching on excess applications, affordability, and lack of interest. If the government and other stakeholders appreciate the importance of education as a socioeconomic driver, they will not present Nigeria's growing number of disillusioned youths — mostly the undecided and those on the cusp of choosing — with even more concrete reasons to distrust the system and to seek other avenues of occupation — which are not always profitable to the country in the long run.

Education, as defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary, is the "action or process of teaching someone, especially in a school, college or university," where learners gather knowledge, understanding, and skill. This same knowledge, experience, and skill also formed the substance of education in Nigeria in the traditional (pre-Western) sense. The society, from an early stage of its evolution, realised the vital role of imparting the knowledge of established traditional moral values and norms, which has ensured its survival, growth, and progress through to upcoming generations. It was for this reason that the erstwhile 'informal' mode of education chiefly involved the acquisition of survival skills and those of social cohabitation. It also emphasizes the importance of becoming and growing — the process of striving to attain godliness and living in harmony, essential to contributing to the betterment of society.

Hence, from an early stage in the individual's development, he/she is tutored on how to become a productive and responsible member of society through familial indoctrination, peer group societies, and guild associations. This way, from their teen years, individuals become incorporated into the community, developing a sense of place and directing their energies towards establishing themselves in their chosen occupations, and performing functions critical for the society's advancement. Indeed, this will inform the Yoruba's old poem composed by J. F. Odunjo, while deploying the literal tool of a pun: "Ise loogun ise/mura si ise ore mi/ise laafi di eni giga," translated: "Work is the antidote to poverty/work hard my friend/it is the key to greatness." Thus, with this, following the well-tutored home training from birth till teenage years, in the absence of formal education, youths are enrolled in an apprenticeship school where they learn the advanced skills needed to earn them a living. By so doing, it is pertinent that moral upbringing is not enough, but life skills to keep them engaged and yield returns are as well a part of their education. This prevents them from being idle and becoming a nuisance to society, instead, they become valuable assets that stimulate the growth of their communities. This practicalities yet another famous adage in Nigeria, with the Yoruba version being: "Owo ti o ba dile ni esu ma n be lowe," translated as: "an idle hand is the devil's workshop."

READ MORE: https://tribuneonlineng.com/school-na-scam-why-university-students-must-return-to-campus/

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/97bd3cbc-9d3b-4151-a7a6-bbd86311560bo%40googlegroups.com.