The fact that social media has taken centre stage in the lives of people all world over can hardly be disputed; but for the sake of this discussion let’s focus on Nigeria. Helpless, and in all honesty, feeling utterly defeated, I’ve watched as our case has increasingly become a case of, “show me your Facebook friends and I’ll tell you who you are.” Our youths and adolescents no longer fancy going through the rigours of reading books but prefer to rely on snippets of information readily available on social media; and that’s enough for them.
The painstaking and gradual task that is the joy of acquiring knowledge is too arduous and in this day and age, is no longer necessary. Or so they believe. You can now ‘grab’ your info on the go. So they view the world through the shallow prism of social media which tells them what is ‘good’, what is ‘bad’, what is ‘useful’ and even more importantly to them, what is trending. This, by far holds a greater appeal to them than a good book, the traditional repository of knowledge.
A good book, which with subtle skill would gently invite them on a beautiful and at times maze-like journey to discover and develop their own value positions is despised. It therefore should come as no surprise that we find ourselves where we are as a nation. There’s no getting away from the fact that a society’s value system is inevitably determined by the tripod of family, religious institutions and its educational system.
Education, amongst other things, is the primary mode in which a society safeguards and transmits from one generation to the next, its values, beliefs and culture. It’s so critical that The World Bank describes its role thus: “Quality education, beginning with primary education, is fundamental to endow individuals with the capacity to successfully pursue their private goals, while at the same time equipping them with the knowledge and skills as well as values and attitudes, necessary to contribute effectively to their societies.”
Unfortunately and with the help of social media we now find that many young Nigerians are satisfied with merely receiving information which unbeknownst to them is the most basic form of education and does little to positively transform one’s thinking. And it stands to reason that a people and the society they live in cannot develop further than their level of thinking. I believe it was Albert Einstein, the most celebrated genius in modern times, who said, “Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current pattern of thought.”
And God knows we need leaders who can think differently to get this country out of its current mess. That’s why it saddens me to no end that we keep recycling the same old political leaders. A man who performed woefully as the Governor of his state oils his way to the Senate. What do you expect the quality of his legislation to be? I’ll leave you to answer that.
Ditto those who get appointed Ministers. Ditto those who have remained in the corridors of power for the last 20 to 30 years. How can we possibly expect them to proffer solutions to the myriad of problems they and their ilk created? The fact that we keep sprouting leaders who lack just about all the characteristics of leadership is evidence enough that there’s something lacking in our education system.
True and holistic education comprises of three tenets: knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Knowledge is the knowing of facts or the successful conversion of information. It’s therefore necessary we apply ourselves to moving from the level of just having information to becoming knowledgeable. It is the duty of the cardinal providers of education in society – parents, schools and religious institutions, to create in our children a hunger to become a solution to society’s challenges and problems. This hunger will drive them to seek knowledge.
It has however been said that, “any education worth its name must include understanding that we are not defined solely by what facts we know or what prizes we have won.” This takes us to understanding which goes beyond just knowing. It equips one with the ability to reason, discern and to interrelate. The lack of this produces what we call ‘educated illiterates’; those who are knowledgeable but whose behaviour betrays an acute inability to reason. A contradiction in terms you may say.
Last but not least is wisdom and the Bible tells us that this is the principal thing. You may ask, “But why is it that so many developed nations continue to progress even though they’re now almost totally bereft of religion? How can they be wise?” Simple answer. Long before they became so humanistic, they had already inculcated God’s principles in their laws, policies and way of life.
The way they think and treat each other is more Godly and more akin to his likeness so he will have little choice but to bless them. In contrast, the way Nigerians behave towards each other has often caused me to ask myself, “Do we truly love God or do we just observe religious rituals with the hope of appeasing him?”
Having said this, the situation in Europe was no better than ours currently is; but for the timely intervention of John Wesley in the 18th century and others such as John Knox, Martin Luther and John Calvin who whipped the policies of European countries in line with the tenets of God. They have never looked back since.
The initiator, John Wesley and his reformation team, through Christian teachings transformed England and by extension Europe by emphasizing values and ethics of diligence, faithfulness, productivity, excellence, patience, perseverance, love, honor, order, discipline and service. These are the hallmarks of transformational leadership. John Wesley can be said to be both directly and indirectly responsible for the emergence of a class of pioneer social activists who put the interest of their society first.
To develop their respective communities, they established various social amenities such as free schools to educate the poor, medical dispensaries and shelters for widows; all in line with the word of God which admonishes man in 1 Timothy 5:3 to, “take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her.” These conscientious social crusaders led the causes of both civil and religious freedom and thereby awakened the conscience of England to the evil inherent in exploiting the poor.
For the first time, through equal access to education for both the rich and the poor, every citizen hoped for a better future. Success was no longer the exclusive preserve of the monied class as a good education provided a path to escape poverty. John Wesley’s crusade brought a revival which soon produced irreversible socio-political and economic changes which not only tackled the twin evils of injustice and poverty head on but led to the emergence of a formidable middle class. This is a class considered so sacrosanct, it’s often referred to as the engine of any economically ambitious society.
Changing the nation…one mind at a time.
Oladapo Akande
