Preach!

mdee1: This space has been payed for

Edit the "payed".

Great post @ op

"It's only in a country like Nigeria that a Tuface will be more popular than a Wole Soyinka" - Tai Solarin.

The problem is Nigerians mistake high cost of living/hyping of life to be civilization. Its ruining the system.

Nigeria educational system is a joke to start with (I.e, not encouraging).

I disagree with the main thrust of OP's article. How much do Nigerian entertainers earn anyway? The top 1% engineers, doctors, bankers, businessmen in Nigeria still make more money than Nigeria's richest entertainers. So as a market economy Nigeria isn't faring as badly as you paint here even if there's still a lot of room to improve. Politics is an obvious exception because of corruption. There are 99.99% of wannabe entertainers who will try and fail, and who we will most probably never hear about. For every tuface there are 100,000 also rans who will never hit the big time; so you can't generalize and say all our children want to be entertainers-- kids eventually realize the odds are terribly against you if your are not super talented or gifted. And a university education gives u a hedge/a safety net which you wouldn't have if you focused solely on comedy or music or sports. And while its easy to get drawn to the allure of celebrity life full of hype and make believe, stories of the odd celebrity who can't pay for his rent on his two bedroom apartment still abound. Meanwhile you have stockbrokers whom no one ever hears about quietly tabbing up over a 100 million a year. Kids eventually realize this

The media should be blamed the most for this. When all we promote today is entertainment entertainment entertainment, and sadly the human mind responds to what it sees the most. When we were growing up in the early 90s we had lots of educative programs on tv like tales by moonlight, cowbell quiz, it-takes-2, lots and lots of debate programs. Even at a time i was picked by my school to a quiz competition at RSTV.


I blame the media more

Before now students share and exchange textbooks, assignments etc but now students only exchange mp3 songs and videos. No wonder phone earpiece sells more...

Really nice...sad but true

nice one Op,ds really got me thinking

Will Anything Happen If The Govt introduces a Law making it Compulsory for all Corporate Organizations Sponsoring Talent Hunts to also Show Proof of Sponsorship of Educational Development in like Sum?

In my area, some children wants to be Militants or go into Bunkering.

You have said it all! God bless you!!!

Valid points.Have we not all been brainwashed? I cringe each time I get the reminder of the reality on ground. Just take some timeout and do a feasibility study of the nature of individuals getting married these days and you will get a better perspective that we are all doomed. The family unit which is the bedrock of a progressive society is in a state of mess. We all in one way or the other share in this blame and collectively we can correct these trends. Oya start by replacing your tv stands with book shelves......... And spending at least 2hrs daily of quality time with your kids.

I totally agree with you. But the question is, does a kid who is about sitting for an exam do? I think the OP hit some major points but didn't quite get it. Before that result was released, I knew what was coming. I saw the performance of 12 centres in English language and instantly knew we were doomed.

The major factor destroying the educational sector is social media.

Horayce: I disagree with the main premise of OP's article. How much do Nigerian entertainers earn anyway? The top 1% engineers, doctors, bankers, businessmen in Nigeria still make more money than Nigeria's richest entertainers. So as a market economy Nigeria isn't fairing as badly as you paint here. Politics is an obvious exception because of corruption. There are 99% of entertainers who try and fail, who we never end up hearing about. For every tuface there are 10,000 aso rans who will never hit the big time; so you can't generalize and say all our children want to be entertainers. And don't forget how the celebrity culture is full of media hype and make believe. Stories of the odd celebrity who can't pay for his rent on his two bedroom apartment still abound. Meanwhile you have stockbrokers whom know one ever hears about making over a 100 millio naira a year without as much as a fuss.

lonelydora: In my area, some children wants to be Militants or go into Bunkering.

While our girls turn aristos. This is a very dangerous trend even our religious institutions that ought to serve as our last line of defence also encourages them.

Very tru

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Great job OP.

Unfortunately, Nigeria as a nation seems not to see these multitude of problems some Nigerians see. Just as you said, a situation where the president feels proud shaking hands with musicians and beaming with smiles but feels indifferent when meeting professors and scientists calls for serious concern.

These are some of the issues that require convening a national conference to re-chart the course of our nation and embark on massive re-orientation; but instead of that we act as if there is no tomorrow celebrating mediocrity today.

Most of the blame is on our government but many parents have failed woefully in shaping the future of their children.

At the rate we're descending low, Nigeria will soon become forgotten in the areas that matter most.

Reason why kids need to be introfucef to the field of science and technology and be encouraged.

I'm an engineer also going for an Msc in subsea engineering at Cranfield University this October but guess worth what? I am also a DJ and i absolutely enjoy being both!!

Edited:damn this android autocorrect!

zicoraads: I totally agree with you. But the question is, does a kid who is about sitting for an exam do? I think the OP hit some major points but didn't quite get it. Before that result was released, I knew what was coming. I saw the performance of 12 centres in English language and instantly knew we were doomed.

The major factor destroying the educational sector is social media.

Wrong. Our educational standards started slipping way before faceboook and twitter. The signs of the decay were apparent even in the 90s through the early 2000s when i went to secondary school. From the stories our parents and uncles told us, they had it way better in the 70s and 80s. The story of our educational sector is that it's been been on decay mode since the british left its reins in our hands, it would be a stretch to ascribe it to a recent phenomenom as social media.

kristylopezz: Reason why kids need to be introfucef to the field of science and technology and be encouraged.

Science and technology isn't the only field in The world.

What ever happened to psychology?
Fine and creative arts nko?
Let us strive to develop every facet of our society.


It's this kind of rat race that flooded the labor market with doctors and engineers!!. Which in turn yielded low salaries few years down the line.

Ptoocool: BBA sponsored by Coca-Cola: $300,000 (N48m). MTN Project Fame: N7.5m & SUV. Etisalat’s Nigerian Idol: N5m & multi-million naira contract. Glo naija sings: N5m & SUV. Gulder ultimate search: N10m plus endorsements & SUV.

COWBELL Mathematics competition: N100k. Lagos State Spelling Bee: N50k. School scrabble: N25k. Cool-FM spelling game: A goodie bag filled with Amila drink. And someone is asking why there is so much failure in WASSCE?” That was a message I received on my phone some days ago.

My friend, Ayodele Adeyemi, told me a similar story recently. Someone saw the brilliance of his daughter and told her that she would be a doctor. The girl said no: She would be a musician. The person was surprised.

That story is not strange today. If you ask children in primary school or even secondary school whom would they like to be like in future, they would mention Davido, Whizkid, Omawumi, Don Jazzy, Genevieve Nnaji or Ali Baba. It is a good thing that our entertainment industry has become a source of pride to our nation and a source of livelihood for thousands of youths. Youths who could have been at jobs they hated or even derailed into crime have found themselves happily and richly employed. Rather than being mocked by society, they have become a source of envy and admiration. But therein lies the problem…

Since the entertainment industry has become a money spinner and a glamorous industry, every child wants to be in it. But, why not? Currently, the TV programmes with the highest prizes are in music or entertainment. Unknown faces become celebrities almost overnight. Their mates watch such transformation and are filled with envy and admiration. Children watch their intelligent uncles and parents go unnoticed, uncelebrated and impoverished, while entertainers – many of whom are not particularly book-intelligent – become the stars of the day.

On the contrary, how many big-budget programmes or prizes are dedicated to rewarding excellence in creativity or the like? Very few. The NLNG Prize for Literature was virtually the only big prize until recently when Etisalat Prize for Literature came on stream.
The doctors, lecturers, teachers, etc are frequently on strike over pay and conditions of service. Nigerian writers have to move to the United States or the United Kingdom to be appreciated.
Beside entertainment, politics is the other field that is very attractive because of the direct and indirect money that oozes out of it as well as the glamour that goes with it. It is more rewarding – financially and socially – to be a local government chairman than to be a professor. If you are lucky to be a senator, a minister or a governor, you are made for life! Beyond amassing a lot of money, you are also initiated into the political circle, which ensures that even when you leave office, you are made an ambassador, a chairman of an agency or the like. You would not like to go back to the university, your medical practice or whatever you were before. As a doctor, an engineer or lecturer, your money comes in trickles, but as a senator or governor, it drops into your account like a bomb regularly.
But if you can’t be a politician, why not be an entertainer?

President Goodluck Jonathan may not feel cool when shaking an
engineer, computer scientist or professor, but when he is shaking hands with a musician like D’Banj or an actress like Genevieve, you will notice that his smile will be broader. Why? He is shaking hands with a star. Unlike before when our entertainers just had enough to take care of their basic needs, today’s entertainers earn up to N5m for a 10-minute solo rendition of two of their songs on stage. For those who have up to four shows per month, even if they earn a million naira per show, that gives them N4m monthly. Many CEOs of top companies don’t earn that. And this amount excludes the money made from commercials, endorsements, celebrity appearances, fees to act as a judge at shows, album sales, and any other private businesses the celebrity is involved in.

So, it is not surprising that many of our young ones want to be entertainers. In their views, excluding the money and glamour in entertainment, it does not look as strenuous as reading and sitting for exams to be a pharmacist or a professor. Being a musician is fun. You stand on stage (in the limelight) while others huddle together in darkness, watching you. You don’t need to have all A’s or come first in your class. But once successful, you overshadow your siblings and parents. Your parents and siblings are identified from your standpoint: Omawumi’s mother, Omotola’s husband, Okocha’s sister. You travel from one city to the other or from one country to the other, stay in the best hotels, eat the best foods, and drink the best wines – all the time.
No wonder, parents railroad their children into entertainment. They organise three or four of them to sing, put it in CDs and send the children to filling stations and shopping malls to sell the CDs. Some parents push their children to participate in all music competitions in the land. Those who are wealthy use their wealth or connection to push their children to be featured regularly in the media.

At the auditions of reality shows, there is no manner of people you won’t see. Even those who croak like toads participate, believing that they are the next “Tu Baba” or “PSquare.” It is all because of how lucrative the entertainment industry.
TV stations have also caught the virus. While new all-music channels and programmes are springing up, almost all the local channels have dedicated the hours of 12 noon to 2pm to music.
It is a great thing that our entertainment industry is booming. Many African countries are envious of our achievement, but we need to emulate the US in our national development. The reason the US is different is that it is not a one-product economy. While it is the headquarters of entertainment in the world, it is also the headquarters of academic excellence and research. It consciously encourages its doctors, engineers, scientists, lecturers, broadcasters, writers, etc, to be the best by providing a wonderful environment. It does not create the impression that a senator is better than a professor by paying the senator higher than the professor, or giving the senator more rrecognition than the professor.

Even though it glamorises the actor or musician, it does not give the actor or musician any impression that he is better than the police constable or primary school teacher. Politics is not made so lucrative that every media person prays to be appointed a politician’s press secretary. Many broadcasters actually earn more than politicians; so politicians can’t talk down on them or buy them over. The street cleaner does her job with pride. She knows that one day she can write a book on strategic street cleaning and it will become a bestseller that earns her millions of dollars and fame. She does not need to become a musician, a politician, a contractor, or a girlfriend to a politician before she can become successful as a street cleaner.

That is how a robust economy is built. It is an economy in which people have the potential to excel, to be rich and get national recognition in whatever field they operate in. That way, children who have the proclivity for research or teaching are not discouraged by such fields’ low-rewarding prospects and get lured into music or acting. Those who will sing will sing. Those who will act will act. But the nattion must not make those who should be in other fields to jump into entertainment or emigrate, just because they believe that their natural field is unappreciated.

God bless you,you wrote my thought out. You can see how many people have contributed so far.Many of our youths wants career in entertainment,neglecting the core of development.I was talking to a young girl in church on Sunday,she said she wants to study English,after making seven credits in WASCE.We all need reorientation,God bless Nigeria.

OP HAS SAID IT ALL!

Am I supposed to read all?

What beats my imagination is why dont we have any scholars or professors as all this telecommunication brand ambassadors instead its the so called celebrities...S.M.H

Horayce: I disagree with the main thrust of OP's article. How much do Nigerian entertainers earn anyway? The top 1% engineers, doctors, bankers, businessmen in Nigeria still make more money than Nigeria's richest entertainers. So as a market economy Nigeria isn't fairing as badly as you paint here even if there's still a lot of room to improve. Politics is an obvious exception because of corruption. There are 99.99% of wannabe entertainers who will try and fail, and who we will most probably never hear about. For every tuface there are 100,000 also rans who will never hit the big time; so you can't generalize and say all our children want to be entertainers-- kids eventually realize the odds are terribly against you if your are not super talented or gifted. And a university education gives u a hedge/a safety net which you wouldn't have if you focused solely on comedy or music or sports. And while its easy to get drawn to the allure of celebrity life full of hype and make believe, stories of the odd celebrity who can't pay for his rent on his two bedroom apartment still abound. Meanwhile you have stockbrokers whom know one never hears about quietly tabbing up over a 100 million a year. Kids eventually realize this

The Op is not wrong in his thrust because it's true that entertainment is too celebrated and accorded higher ranking in Nigeria.

Your assertion is not also wrong either but the fact is that the media and the society are not helping matters the way these celebrities from the entertainment industry are being celebrated and promoted at the detriment of engineering, science and technology.

Ptoocool! Plz I need your permission to include this in my dept's magazine. Pls dont say no

truth be told this is fast becoming a problem when everyone starts singing who then does the listening?? had to drop my dream of being a rapper for reasons like the once stated above.the truth is this issue is out of our hands we can only pray the next generation has a different view on life,,

Horayce: I disagree with the main thrust of OP's article. How much do Nigerian entertainers earn anyway? The top 1% engineers, doctors, bankers, businessmen in Nigeria still make more money than Nigeria's richest entertainers. So as a market economy Nigeria isn't fairing as badly as you paint here even if there's still a lot of room to improve. Politics is an obvious exception because of corruption. There are 99.99% of wannabe entertainers who will try and fail, and who we will most probably never hear about. For every tuface there are 100,000 also rans who will never hit the big time; so you can't generalize and say all our children want to be entertainers-- kids eventually realize the odds are terribly against you if your are not super talented or gifted. And a university education gives u a hedge/a safety net which you wouldn't have if you focused solely on comedy or music or sports. And while its easy to get drawn to the allure of celebrity life full of hype and make believe, stories of the odd celebrity who can't pay for his rent on his two bedroom apartment still abound. Meanwhile you have stockbrokers whom know one never hears about quietly tabbing up over a 100 million a year. Kids eventually realize this

On point! The question here really boils down to parenting and their ability to cater for the kids.

In-lieu of the subject matter it is absolutely false to believe that being an entertainer equates to a good life. From a personal point of view being one who associates with people from all cadres, it's shockingly unbelievable to know that the amount of well payed, learned people to the few really top entertainers is like a ratio of 80:3. But of course peeps from the political sectors are a different story altogether.

Coming from a background of sports in the hope of pursuing a career through that path, it took good counsel from my parents as well as the financial capability to ensure that my education was top notch which eventually turned out to be the Lifesaver.

Its tough looking at what our society has degraded into, but a lot still has to be done from the home front to make sure these kids are properly guided, so they don't make wrong decisions for their futures.

?,

Horayce:
Wrong. Our educational standards started slipping way before faceboook and twitter. The signs of the decay were apparent even in the 90s through the early 2000s when i went to secondary school. From the stories our parents and uncles told us, they had it way better in the 70s and 80s. The story of our educational sector is that it's been been on decay mode since the british left its reins in our hands, it would be a stretch to ascribe it to a recent phenomenom as social media.

No doubt that our education standard has ever been on the downward slide. However, no one should be in doubt as to how much additional damage the birth of social media has contributed to the rot. With social media we now have geometric regression as opposed the arithmetic regression that it used to be.