afam4eva:

How come it is the white man that decides who is an illiterate and who is not. What variables did they use cos i beleive illiteracy varies from culture to culture

Rolllllllllllllllllllllllllllll eyeeeeezzzzzzzzz.

Sometimes I just wonder. . . . O.M.G

FL Gators:

THANK YOU JARE!!!!


All these ppl are just being patriotic. Them think say their villgae begins and ends with the global world.

How can they be patriotic, when these sort of actions have kept us from developing?

I mean, we go about thinking we are the "Giant of Africa" and we are "amongst the best in the world".  .   .   .   . yet when we are cut down to size like we saw in the world cup, these same people end up looking for something else to blame, instead of dealing with the fundamental issues we have.

My point? Be patriotic, but at least engage common sense.

ElRazur:

[size=13pt]Be patriotic, but at least engage common sense.[/size]

Now that is just too much! Imagine that, demanding too much from my people!! How dare you?? Why don't you ask them to put aside their egos, and stand for what is right at all times, while you are at it? Sheeesh!!!

No need to get hysterical, folks.

The funny thing about statistics, it depends on who's looking

Check out the graphic from Mckinsey's recent Africa development report.

My comments about this so-called E9, I think it's more or less countries that have similar development indices.
Nigeria, given its huge population, is always going to be grouped with some of the BRIC nations, Brazil and India I can see feature on the least. Not surprising.

Comparatively, I think we're not doing badly in Africa.

kobojunkie will not kill me

FL Gators:

kobojunkie will not kill me

I love Kobo.

AjanleKoko:

No need to get hysterical, folks.

The funny thing about statistics, it depends on who's looking


Comparatively, I think we're not doing badly in Africa.

Yes data can be interpreted in several ways, but no matter how much you try to put a spin on this particular one, one thing keeps coming up, there is high illiteracy in Nigeria. That one na the koko wey we suppose focus on.

ElRazur:

Yes data can be interpreted in several ways, but no matter how much you try to put a spin on this particular one, one thing keeps coming up, there is high illiteracy in Nigeria. That one na the koko wey we suppose focus on.

68% literacy is hardly high illiteracy.
It means, in layman terms, 32% of a 150m population are illiterate. Hardly a national catastrophe, considering that Incredible India is at 59% literacy (almost half of Indians are illiterate).

We're not doing great. But we also are not doing that badly. Hardly a national emergency yet. We are, after all, a developing country.

AjanleKoko:

68% literacy is hardly high illiteracy.
It means, in layman terms, 32% of a 150m population are illiterate. Hardly a national catastrophe, considering that Incredible India is at 59% literacy (almost half of Indians are illiterate).

We're not doing great. But we also are not doing that badly. Hardly a national emergency yet. We are, after all, a developing country.

Are you kidding me? 68% is considered a B+/A- when grading paper. How can that not be high?

Another example is this, if 68% of Nigerians are killed in ethnic cleansing, I wonder if that will be high enough for you?

My problem here is that, instead of us focusing on Nigeria, we are forever trying to compare with others. This is counter productive, because we get the false sense of security that we ain't doing too bad, when evidence suggest that we are.

Malaysia and Ghana all got their independence in the same decade as us. Malaysia is way developed than us, and so is Ghana. Using the term "developing nation" to sugar coat it or soften the blow won't work with me. The thing wey no good, no get another name, but no good.

Another funny 'statistic'. China's literacy is put at 90%, despite the fact that English teachers are among the highest paid professionals in China
I guess the lesson there is simple. Don't make only English your official language. After all, South Africa has eleven.

Literacy is not about ENGLISH language! It has little/nothing to do with that.

I think the 69% literacy rate is overly generous - I'd put the figure closer to 40% since many of the students in 'school' are still illiterate.

DIS IS AMAZING.
HABA

I wonder what one will call an islamiic ''scholar'' that supports the act of paedophilia,literate or illiterate?

A professor once got into a boat & a convo ensued btw him and the boat owner:-
Professor:young man,did you go to school?
Boat boy:no prof i cldn't afford it
Professor:ah!Half your life is gone.

Suddenly a storm hit & the boat swung dangerously,threatening to capsize

Boat boy:prof can you swim?
Professor:no i can't!
Boat boy:ah!All your life is gone

Make your deductions.

CONGRATULATION NIGERIA

WE MUST BE IN TOP 10 IN BAD THINGS

I FELT SORRY FOR BEEN A NIGERIANS

redsun:

I wonder what one will call an islamiic ''scholar'' that supports the act of paedophilia,literate or illiterate?

Actually, they are now considered to be LITERATE

ElRazur:


Are you kidding me? 68% is considered a B+/A- when grading paper. How can that not be high?

Another example is this, if 68% of Nigerians are killed in ethnic cleansing, I wonder if that will be high enough for you?

My problem here is that, instead of us focusing on Nigeria, we are forever trying to compare with others. This is counter productive, because we get the false sense of security that we ain't doing too bad, when evidence suggest that we are.

Malaysia and Ghana all got their independence in the same decade as us. Malaysia is way developed than us, and so is Ghana. Using the term "developing nation" to sugar coat it or soften the blow won't work with me. The thing wey no good, no get another name, but no good.

Malaysia, yes. Ghana . . . don't make me laugh, mate.
Ghana is not 'developed', not by a long stretch. You can't even compare South Africa to Malaysia in terms of output, let alone Ghana.

debosky:

I think the 69% literacy rate is overly generous - I'd put the figure closer to 40% since many of the students in 'school' are still illiterate.

Has illiteracy's basic definition changed from being able to read and write? Do you need to be able to solve partial differential equations to be 'literate'?Language doesn't even have to be English.
I guess all the old Yoruba folks who can read the Bible in their language are all 'illiterate'. Even Crowther was 'illiterate'.

ActiveMan:

CONGRATULATION NIGERIA

WE MUST BE IN TOP 10 IN BAD THINGS

I FELT SORRY FOR BEEN [/b]A [b]NIGERIANS

Look at this one, let me guess, you were counted amongst the stats.

69% is not good by any measure. There is a lot of room for improvement. If you want to be the best, don't compare yourselves to the worst.

AjanleKoko:

Malaysia, yes. Ghana . . . don't make me laugh, mate.
Ghana is not 'developed', not by a long stretch. You can't even compare South Africa to Malaysia in terms of output, let alone Ghana.

Huh? Erm okay, I have a feeling Ghana must be since they have more basic amenities in place than us, I guess they must be because they have a higher GDP, I guess they must be because they are still in the world cup.

I guess all the old Yoruba folks who can read the Bible in their language are all 'illiterate'. Even Crowther was 'illiterate'.

Bad example, Samuel Ajayi Crowther is not one. After all, he translated the Bible from English to Yoruba. You will need a high level of literacy to pull off such a feat.

@Gators
At least he can type and post stuff on the Internet. And you could understand him.
I wonder what some of you guys would say if you worked in the Middle East, as I once did. You guys will assess Arab literacy in the GCC countries as 5%, I'm sure. The average Arab chap can't even string a proper English sentence together. Even Egyptians with Masters degrees.

@Elrazur,

You crack me up, man!

Sure, they are still in the World Cup. Our boys stink, no doubt. But. . . amenities? GDP? What have you been reading?

Ghana's GDP is US$6bn.

Nigeria’s First Bank, Nigerian Breweries, and Zenith Bank International—ranked 37th, 40th, and 48th, respectively, in the African Business’s ‘Africa’s Top 250 Companies’ for 2010'—have a combined market value of US$8 billion. That’s US2 billion more than Ghana’s GDP!

AjanleKoko:

^^
At least he can type and post stuff on the Internet. And you could understand him.
I wonder what some of you guys would say if you worked in the Middle East, as I once did. You guys will assess Arab literacy in the GCC countries as 5%, I'm sure. The average Arab chap can't even string a proper English sentence together. Even Egyptians with Masters degrees.

AJ let's be honest with ourselves - do the arabs study in English all their lives? Nigerians have no excuse for our abysmal level of communication in a language we learn all our lives.

Ask the same Arab to read/write or converse in Arabic and he'll show his level of intelligence.

FL Gators:

Look at this one, let me guess, you were counted amongst the stats.

ROTFLMAO!!

FL Gators:

Look at this one, let me guess, you were counted amongst the stats.

oMG . . . that is so WICKED!!! ROFLMAO

Ajanlekoko

Them no get nepa problem.

I am not sure if it is GDP or the other one, can't remember. The one that measures the income in relation to population and development. Anyone know what the heck am on about?

@debo,

You and Elrazur seem to think I am defending Nigeria. I don't work for the government, unfortunately.
Of course, literacy is very important to national development. I do not contest that for a second. I also don't say we have done well. But for me, Nigeria has not done badly. And I'll tell you why I think so.

Have you guys ever interacted with Indians outside the UK, US, and Canada? They only speak Hindi. Go to the Gulf. Maybe Dubai. Nigerians kuku go there a lot.

In Dubai, Indians can only be found as labourers and taxi drivers, because of their terrible English skills. All the indoor jobs that require some level of literacy (Macdonalds, Pizza Hut, hotel front desk, shop attendants) are all Filipinos.

Yet India outstrips China as the world's largest supplier of skilled manpower, and the largest outsourcing destination for software. I was in China in January, and visited Huawei's R& Center. Who were the guys (in China) doing all the software development? You guessed it, Indians!
Yet China has statistically a higher literacy rate than India. What are we saying sef?

AjanleKoko:

@Gators
At least he can type and post stuff on the Internet. And you could understand him.
I wonder what some of you guys would say if you worked in the Middle East, as I once did. You guys will assess Arab literacy in the GCC countries as 5%, I'm sure. The average Arab chap can't even string a proper English sentence together. Even Egyptians with Masters degrees.

When will you Nigerians stop comparing yourselves to other people? Lol that's one of the many reasons we're not progressing. Because alabi is in step one, it's okay for Ikechukwu to remain in step 2 and not progress.

Anywaz, because you're an engineer, as I'm also aspiring to be one, I'm going to give you a lot of respect aha

^^
I believe there is a term for what you state there.
It is known as benchmarking.

Economists and Marketers use it to know exactly where they stand relative to the environment in which they operate. Savvy?

AjanleKoko:

Have you guys ever interacted with Indians outside the UK, US, and Canada? They only speak Hindi. Go to the Gulf. Maybe Dubai. Nigerians kuku go there a lot.

In Dubai, Indians can only be found as labourers and taxi drivers, because of their terrible English skills. All the indoor jobs that require some level of literacy (Macdonalds, Pizza Hut, hotel front desk, shop attendants) are all Filipinos.

Hindi is the Lingua franca in India. So an indian who can read and write hindi is considered literate.

Savvy.

Kobojunkie:

Hindi is the Lingua franca in India. So an indian who can read and write hindi is considered literate.

What about people who can speak and write Yoruba or Hausa? or Ibo?
I can at least speak of Hausa. Even the BBC recognises that the language is widespread enough to have a Hausa service. Or Google, that has Hausa, Ibo, and Yoruba versions.
Most of the old folks I know in my village go to church and read their Yoruba Bibles.
Even Shuwa Arabs in the North-East of Nigeria speak and write Arabic very fluently.

Are these people not literate?

@ AJ

Like you said, Indians in Dubai are representative of the underbelly of Indian society - their lowest castes are the ones who go to work as labourers. The best dominate in their areas of endeavour.

Are we exporting labour the way India is doing? No.  

We are not excelling in any area and are simply dropping lower in the reckoning of nations.

Kobojunkie:

Actually, they are now considered to be LITERATE

Are they?Then literacy can otherwise mean stupidi ty.