THE ANTITHESIS OF BEING EDUCATED IN NIGERIA
Somewhere in the South-South. He went about his job with every air of commitment. Not minding the asphyxiating heat under a mild sun, he struts his stuff with a proud gait. Remembering that i had a shoe to mend, i beckoned on him and then handed him the shoe. Pronto, and like famished trader who had waited all day with no patronage, he snatched the shoe & then swung into work with feverish gusto, while flashing a glee.
I immediately struck a convo with him in his native language-Hausa. His name, Kamisu Hassan, and hails from Jahun LGA, Jigawa State. His State was of particular interest to me, being the host state of my Alma mater, the prestigious FGC, Kiyawa. Asked if he knew the town, Kiyawa, he responded in the affirmative and then went further to recount how he too had attended a Government Secondary School, and then proceeded to the Jigawa State Polytechnic where he bagged an OND. Simply jaw dropping, isn't it? All this while, he had been reeling his xperience in the Hausa Language, while puncturing it with fluent English expression at intervals, hence giving a tone of credibility in his claim.
His story got even more pathetic when he revealed that had he been able to secure the 'paltry' sum of N35,000, he would have been a HND graduate. This was at a time when the sleazy Saminu Turaki held sway as Executive Governor of the poor State.
Asked if there were no scholarship scheme or welfare policy in place to assist brilliant indigents in the State by then, he affirmed the existence of such scheme but howeva wished it away as being sectional as it was only for the privileged few.
Now a cobbler, with a wife and a child. One begins to wonder how Kamisu copes like numerous others of his ilk who, despite obtaining a higher education certificate, takes to odd jobs, having regard to the harsh economic reality of the country. He however expressed optimism in the Buhari/Osinbajo Administration and xpressed even greater hope in the Mohammed Badaru Abubakar-led government in Jigawa State, which according to him is more geared towards improving the lot of the indigent in the state.