Collapse of Nigeria’s economy tied to fall in education

The endless crisis witnessed in Nigeria’s economy is said to be a result of the collapse of the country’s education system many years ago. This is as school authorities have been put on alert over lurid and unsavoury content in some key subjects.

A professor of medicine, Aniekan Ekere, who spoke as guest lecturer at the 2017 graduation ceremony of Showers Christian High School in Igbo Etche area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said the collapse of educational system decades ago threw up poorly educated leaders who turned round to massacre the economy.

The professor shocked the audience when he identified two key mistakes made decades ago that later ruined the system. He said three universities were established in Western Nigeria instead of one recommended by a panel, thus triggering a rush to catch up.
The other he mentioned was the introduction of campus fraternity in the University of Ibadan in 1958 by someone who might not have meant harm, but an action he said led to proliferation of campus cults and intra-cult warfare to this day.

The professor said the consequences of both incidents had led to explosion of universities and cultism that led to poorly educated and wrongly oriented leaders, who had created new values different from the one good education had established.

Ekere said whereas only 1395 university students were admitted in 1965, a total of 25,000 were admitted in Nigerian universities by 1999.

Other experts said the creation of a federal civil service and employment quota from regions forced those without enough educated persons to mass-produce educated persons, thus lowering the standards as merit fled.

The guest speaker identified three phases of education in Nigeria as pre-literate era, Islamic era, and Western era. “Pre-literate era was apprentice-based. Skills were resident in families and this was passed from father to child or to those that came to serve them. Result was that everybody was employed, and crime was little.
“If this system was allowed to evolve or improved upon, it would have become an indigenous system of education and the best. Islamic system came into existence in the 11th Century through Kanem. This era came to Hausa land in the 14th Century. Usman Dan Fodio pushed it down to Western Nigeria. This was built around Arabic language.
“Western era came through the Methodist Church in 1842 and by 1844, missionary primary schools came at Badagry. This attracted immigrant teachers. By 1857, the CMS Grammar School came.”

The chairman of the board of Showers group, an engineer, Anthony Akpan, said; “Showers Group is saddened by revelations about subtle introduction of unsavoury content in some subjects in school. We assure our parents that this school will never be part of such practice. Schools should look at syllabuses critically before adopting them for their students”. This was in reaction to news that some books were exposing children to same sex liberties and other forms meant for adults with free will.

He said education is the only weapon that can change the rot in the society. “Showers has decided to up the education game of Showers Christian Schools by exposing the students into strategic studies and decision-making outside their core courses. This is to prepare them to future challenges”.

His wife, Emilia Ekama Akpan, said the school insisted on zero tolerance to cheating or sorting. She said he students make waves in universities around the world with superlative performances, all because of the foundation of self-reliance.
Ignatius Chukwu