Education doesn’t mean we’re civilized -By Adeyinka Ademola Abdulrasheed

Educational institutions are proper instruments of socialization only when socialization is understood as civilization, i.e., the process of realizing trans-cultural ideals. If education is seen as civilization, the weaknesses of educational conservativism and educational radicalism are easily recognized. The concept of civilization can thus serve as the philosophical underpinning for a moderate approach to the problem of socialization.

My personal studies revealed that a good percentage of Nigerian youths are sophisticated illiterates without any prejudice to their status as graduates, even of popular Nigerian Universities. Some of these people have a very low Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and that particularly was responsible for their myopic views of things.

Considering this sudden outflow of replicative ignorance, I couldn’t have agreed less with 2 face’s lyrical assertion that education is not civilisation. Of course, he is very correct with his theory. The spate at which some of these people syndicate ignorance and sell it at the cheapest bargain would unavoidably make any reasonable brain conclude that 2 face – though a non-graduate – is perhaps more intelligent and civilised than some of them. 2 face never graduated from any University but so many can vouch for his brilliance when it comes to sensible lyrics. He speaks sense and truth to power.

2 face aside, it is only in Nigeria you would see people with awesome educational pedigree, even some with Doctorate, disgracing and violating the sanctity of education. May be I should even ask if doctoral degree is now a beans that anyone could bag regardless of their exposure and level of civilisation. Everyday I always wake up to the ops of people in nice academic gowns flourishing the internet only for me to later see the same people in the photoshoot violating the chastity of what their personality represents.

This is really pitiable.
Now let’s come to trash something out. What do we even define as education? Is it only by passing through the 6-3-3-4 system and have all your certificates stucked in the plastic file? I’m still yet to find this out, because to me the above representation is the Nigerian definition of education. To 7 out of 10 Nigerians, education is just a singular pathway: passing through the four walls. Finished! An average Nigerian knows no other thing about education than that.

Majority of them don’t know education does not necessarily have to be western. Actual education is in the mind, body and thinking faculty. It is education that teaches comportment, sense and ethics. Education grows with civilisation; and they are like Siamese twins. They move together. Education is simply learning how to accept other people’s opinions and without visiting them with intolerance. Education is acknowledging many Gods and recognising other people’s right and entitlement to subscribe to any of them. Education is respecting other people the way you want them to respect you.

Education is thinking above the box and not having to narrow down your thinking to your comfort zone and believing everyone should think like you. Education is entering a clean convenience and leaving it the way you met it. You don’t learn all these things in class, remember?

Sincerely, If you are lacking some of these qualities, you are definitely an illiterate no matter the number of your degrees. And that’s what most of Nigerian youths are.