The Sick Education

Education they say is not only the best legacy but is the civic right of every child that get to this mother Earth by chance or by choice. But the manner in which this sector of the Nigeria’s economy is directed shows that it is either the canker worm of corruption has eaten deep into the political psyche of our leaders or that people, especially the government, needs to be re-orientated about the necessity of education.

It worsens everyday and it seems as if the solution can only be a mere say or it is virtual. Every now and then, many non-governmental organizations propose and organize different forum to discuss the state of education in the world. Yet, the minister and other stakeholders in the education sector give a deafening ear to the foreseen disaster illiteracy will cause. Instead of finding headway, the government sap the wealth of the nation and reduce the budget of the sector to 8% as compared to the 27% budget dictated by the United Nation. To complicate the case, they begin to give the private school owners the license to bill an outrageous fee on the masses. A situation where a parent is to pay up to #50,000 for a nursery school student is simply an act of hegemony and nefarity.

Lagos, for instance, which has a population of more than 7.9 million, out of which more than 70% are youth, is a living experience of the consequences of illiteracy. The economic hub of the country is so busy, that the youths especially the children even join in the hustle and bustle. They are the marketers of clothes, soft drinks and pure water when they are supposed to be in the four-walls of the school. The government try to enact laws debunking this act of social and child slavery but what do you expect the parent who cannot even afford to pay his house rent bill to do when the government pays a menial salary to them? Even a one-child parent can’t afford the best education for his child. The university is also in this mess. Imagine a case where the government impose a bogus increase in the school fees by 150%! Many students will rather resort to hawking and doing all sort of “dirty jobs” to survive than schooling.

How beautiful will it be if we have a future where illiteracy and poverty is a mirage? It is an act of illiteracy that makes people in the Northern part of the country called ‘Boko-Haram’to continuously hem and mutilate people for no justified reason. If the government can just for once go back to the drawing board and restructure the education system, Nigeria will be a better place. A literate and educated society will bore an egalitarian society and it is this kind of society that can be moistened for peace and development for all.