Ebube Dike

THE ROLE OF THE YOUTH IN IMPROVING NIGERIA’S EDUCATIONAL SECTOR

That we can do a great deal for the sorry state of Nigerian education with more money is generally accepted. Which would go a long way in increasing the salary of teachers; reducing class size by ten (10%) percent, or increasing the number of teachers by the same percentage. But the occasional visitor to the Nigerian schools would note some changes that would cost much less, nothing at all, or even save money – and yet would improve at least the educational environment in Nigerian schools, should the youth be seen as empowered as objects of change and development needed in the educational sector.

                Youth comes with vitality and strength. One cannot mention development without mentioning the young vibrate youth; because they are the backbone of every society. According to the United Nations; youth is time between childhood and adulthood. And the process called youth are within the age bracket of fifteen (15) – twenty five (25) years of age.

                The prominent role the youth has to play in the educational sector in Nigeria cannot be over-emphasized, as the youth also include secondary school students and the university graduates and undergraduates like myself. We do not have to wait on the government to provide us with the necessary infrastructures before the change we need in the educational sector is seen. And the journey to this epoch transformation begins with self.

                We have to play our own role in the educational sector as we have become privileged to attend school. All tanks to the white men who brought in education and our parents who have supported the idea. It is one thing to be in school and it is another thing to pass through it.

Like an adage says “what is worth doing, is worth doing well”. Education is good, but having a sound education is awesome. Therefore, the only way to have an awesome education is to graduate with good results which only can be attained by studying. Most students in our present generation prefer every other activity in school except the sole aim of schooling which is to study. We cannot be called scholars if we do not study; even the Bible advises that we should study to show ourselves approved.

If Wole Soyinka, Chimamanda Adichie and the Late Chinua Achebe did not study in the young days of their youth, they would not have attained the insurmountable heights they have attained today.

Unlike the scholars of those days, the youth like myself cannot even say my times table off hand  without consulting the back cover of my 60 (sixty) leaves exercise book or my calculator, we cannot even spell and write words correctly without referring to our dictionaries or our personal computers like handsets and IPads. We now prefer to study on the net which could divert our minds to some pornographic contents or even expose us to misinformed articles written by hunger authors and worst of all damage our precious sight due to the constant exposure of harmful rays from the computer/digital device screen; instead of study in a well-equipped and conducive library like the Professors Kenneth Dike’s library in school, which has helped a lot of students with their research and assignment.

                The youth see to the welfare of their fellow youth in school. Through their participation in the students’ Union Government, the needs of some less privileged youth have been met. The Union’s leader like Comrade Noble Eyisi in Nnamdi Azikiwe University here, has added seeing to our welfare through the reduction of the bus fare inside the school and the failed reduction of the food price. Even the Executives like the amiable secretary General Comrade Arinze has helped improved to an extent the educational sector through his intellectual competition on hold today.

                This should be an eye-opener to certain youth on campus whose family wealth or personal wealth have become an avenue to commit atrocities in school by joining cultism and spending extravagantly in club houses and food joints on their fellow youth instead of sponsoring intellectual contests in their various department and facilities with some money.

With the experience of youth outside the walls of the school, they make good academic contributions. There is no much formalities about education, because we receive education everywhere. We get education through socialization in schools, homes, churches, markets and gatherings. In as much as social life can distract a student from his studies, students who are opportune to work, while in school, due to some financial problems or personal reasons work harder to meet up with his/her academic needs and still perform better in the course he/she is studying. In addition to that, their experiences in their place of work, especially, works relating to their choice of course like a student of Banking and Finance working in the bank, serves as a bonus to the student as he has been exposed to the practical aspect of the course, unlike the students, who study strictly without working. To prevent distractions, students who work should try hard to create a balance between studies and work.

The value system of youths goes a long way in improving the academic system too. Late Chinua Achebe, a popular literature explained in his book “There Was A Country”, the high value of education in his generation. He had gotten admission into two different universities from which he chose the one that best suited him. Back then, educated people were highly revered. Now, the reverse is the case; many students just come to school without gaining the necessary knowledge. It is also important for youths to know that no discipline is higher than the other, and if by peradventure we feel ours is simpler than professional courses, we might as well come out with a first class or second class upper in the so called inferior course to obtain certificates and go away. That is why the cases of exam malpractice and corruption in the educational sector have increased rapidly.

The baton is in our hand; it’s high time we arose and said no to cheating and sorting. Its time we have a positive attitude towards learning. It is time we valued the knowledge we acquire in school, not the paper “certificate” we’ll obtain in the end. It is also important to note that lecturers who fall into the youth age bracket can go a long way in encouraging the right value system by saying no to sorting and cheating and by encouraging hard work by giving students’ scores due to them.

The youth should beat the parents’ choice, especially in terms of course and university choice. The aim of man is to achieve comfort and peace of mind. This means that when we follow others’ choice, we may end up being uncomfortable and disturbed for the rest of our lives. Most youths follow their parental choice of course and school which has left a billion graduates in Nigeria jobless and a graduate of a particular course like law doing music in the society like Charly Boy and Chimamanda Adichie who against the choice of their parents to study medicine has become a prolific writer today. She made her choice and she has peace of mind. Now, it is up to the youth to rise up to the occasion and say No to parental choices that affects our passion and talent. It would have been disastrous for me if my parents had forced me to study medicine when I am crazy about fine and Applied Arts.

                I strongly believe that when the youth make the desired right choice of discipline, I believe they will become better, attend lectures and participate actively in school without following shortcuts and being nonchalant about the goings on the school because their dreams have been dashed.

                                                                                                            OSINACHI OKAFOR

THE PERFECT CRUSH

Oh! What novelty to a brand life

What asperity to a crude and yet so tender,a youthful exuberance

And so great a naïvely response to that nature call

In a resounding silence, I respond

Not to the soothing of the soul

But to damage of an already sore heart 

I now regret, but I then did not

"Crush" that is what the dictionary calls it

Withstanding my resistance, he puts it upon himself to keep trying

Against all odds, he keeps night for this daisy

Waiting for the right time to pluck

Before a prying eyes picks

In his waiting, a flood drives him away

For him to find his daisy missing on return

"Life must go on" he painfully murmured

And go on, he did

But just as master karma would predict, the daisy came calling... it was wrong timing!

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My saviour Not My Saviour

I longed for answered to my unanswered prayers...

Night after night, I cried my eyes out for my desires.

Day after day, I starved myself against my worthless cravings.

But...

When I thought all hope was lost,

When I have given up on myself,

That moment I dashed my dreams and burnt my inaccurate records,

That instant I made myself subject to my secret idol,

I was sent a helper!

The answer to my ceaseless prayers!

With a doubtful heart, I followed him; like a sheep led by its shepherd.

Occasionally, the goat in me would still show up and tell me how arrogant I am and remind me of what my frenemies think of me.

While trying to please my helper, I plaque my inner senses.

Even when I fail, he still sees my brink of success.

I cannot but call him my saviour, because that is what he really is.

He saved me from my lost self.

He is truly a saviour sent from My Saviour.

SOMEONE I MET (25/05/2014)

We all meet people every day.

In the mall, school, church and even in our homes.

Most of them are just casual, others important!

Many acquaintances, most we tag "friends".

Well, I met SOMEONE...

SOMEONE that made me go back to my long abandoned dictionary to check again the definition of a friend.

SOMEONE that affirmed the honesty of the Bible when it says "a friend sticks closer that a sister".

SOMEONE that came casually, but would not go the same, because I choose to retain him not as a lover though#.

Yes, HIM! That gender that can never be totally trusted.

Needless to say, He has given me a good reason to not just pick up my pen, but the courage never to drop it.

He has reviewed to me, just like mum always does, who I really am and could be.

He, who has shown me, not just the many ways to fish but countless fishes.

He just rekindled the little flame that seems invisible.

That burning desire to make all of my dreams come true.

SOMEONE who has been sowing countless seeds inside of me with his advices.

SOMEONE who believes in me and wants my numerous potentials not to waste.

Could he be God-sent?

Someone God has sent to lift me up from my obscurity?

Someone who has come to put an end to that state of anarchy raging deep within my soul since I lost my zeal

Or could he be a pretender trying to be a con man and an opportunist?

Whichever way... if his sown seeds bear fruits, that SOMEONE would be blessed to have made a thousand dead cells rise again!!!.

Grotesque

With faces wrinkled into the future

As though devoid of mother's love.

But as not being sure about the motion,

All blames has got to be on Mother Nature

For moving such a motion

In the creation of this creature

Who without a good stature

Tries to maintain perfect posture.