The fire that bakes Nigerian graduates half -By Jimoh Abdullahi

Ceaseless missiles of criticisms have often been rained on some Nigerian tertiary schools graduates and that criticisms have brought about a trite compound word “Half-baked”. Year -in and out, graduates with empty pods are turned back to the society by our various tertiary schools but what rally round the problem is multifaceted. However, the pettiness of the children right from their tender age is undeniable. Whatever quantity and quality of learning they receive, it will certainly be transparent wherever they find themselves in all their endeavours. The way “standard III” students do speak flawlessly and fluently in the olden days are quite amazing, which is far better than University Students of nowadays. This is not an auxesis, it is a bitter truth that pulls out the porosity in the decaying modern quality of teaching and learning in Nigeria. The children in primary schools, that is regarded as the foundation, are not getting what they deserve especially, in public schools where pupils will jam-packed a class. How could two or three naturally weak mistresses with insufficient energy and low incentive, project from their tiny voices amidst the powerful rowdy of the little children? And also there are no facilities that can aid teaching. Thus, a slow- learner or absent-minded among the pupils will forever be abandoned to grow up with his dullness. Who cares! 90% of the parents in Nigeria strive by all means to bundle their children or wards to private schools even, if such schools lack the ability to be given government approval, it rather pays them than taking their children to government schools where pupils will not be taken care of. 

Such lively-killed pupils from primary schools may be fortunate to be advanced to secondary school with his dullness, who do not get adequate and necessary knowledge from where he comes will continue like that. Virtually all government secondary school teachers in those rural areas and villages and some private schools in the urban centres greatly contribute to this particular problem, they want to be glorified without working for it. They expose their students to all sorts of corruption. Go to those villages where you can hardly find students in class. Even if there are students they would not see teachers on time, only the day their teachers wish to come to school. It does happen, go and confirm. Have you ever considered why “Miracle centers” dominante rural areas and villages? Though, the clandestine operation of those public schools teachers in the villages are not justified but they cannot manage stress of damn road with laziness but the greediness and curiosity to get fulsome praises from members of the public and secret “fresh kola nut” (Bribe) push them to be engaging in examination malpractices, they claim to be helping the students not without knowing that they are besmirching the society with their silly succour.

Students who passed through those kind of schools by God’s grace and connection not by merit will secure admission to either colleges of education, polytechnic or university depending on the capacity of his or her JAMB score coupled with giggling “As” and “Bs” in WAEC or NECO in one sitting. Management of higher institutions of learning and government also stylishly escalate the country’s predicament.

 In an attempt to drastically reduce the unemployment rate, the governing council of each higher institution of learning reviewed the academic curriculum by fixing entrepreneurship into it. So that, students can stand on their own without being looking for a job after the somnolent years in schools. Well, the initiative is good but not perfect, recently, a radio station” in Lagos state, aired this particular topic, where a mass communication female student from Auchi polytechnic was asked on how they were doing their own entrepreneurship course in the school she said, in her group there were many students with a sewing machine that their lecturer was using to teach them sewing but that is not the issue, but the dark side of the initiative is that, it rendered the main course that students go to learn in school as a mere secondary. Later, a professor from the department of philosophy at Lagos state university joined the program via zoom and he was asked on what was his view on the entrepreneurship course students are introduced to in school, he affirmatively said it was the best thing to do, since there is no white collar job outside there again, despite the fact that, the radio presenter asked the student to repeat what she said earlier before the professor. Also a student of Kwara state polytechnic was asked by this author on how many students are in his department, he said they are up to one thousand five hundred in number, just a department! And hardly the students will hear what the lecturer is teaching in spite of the public address system. As a result, students find it difficult to receive effective learning . It is no longer genuine that the class of university lecturers are currently in their perennial and destructive industrial action, students have been stranded in their various homes, without giving regard to studies again, some are learning trade or engaging in cyber frauds to keep themselves busy. When school finally resume, lecturers will go and take their extant lecture papers from where they are dropped before the strike, various school management will re-draft new academic calendar that gives no clemency to students mental health, lecturer will dictate junkies to students to cram and write it back in the examination, some lecturers will not even come to class, some final year projects of the students and thesis of PhD holders are plagiarised, nonetheless, those researches turned to project papers are just left to dust where they are packed without implementation. So, in a situation where these dung heaps of problems are what we are facing, how do you expect a country to progress and not depend on the westerners when its own education is treated as a mere side- hustle.

Jimoh Abdullahi wrote in via abdullahioyedemi100@gmail.com