kalokalo:

I have noticed that Nigerians never ever want to be responsible for anything!!! Virtually every problem in this country is blamed on the government.  It has always baffled me why so called "educated people" cannot see our problems what what they really are: opportunities seeking solutions in the form of products or services. Nothing stops the average Nigerian to use his brain to innovate. I'm not surprised that some people are blaming the government for our failure to innovate!

We would keep pounding yam the same way until Oyibo man made pounding machine for us
We would keep fishing the same way until,
We would keep farming the same way using old backbreaking labor techniques until,
We would keep shelling egusi seeds the same way with our bare hands until,

All an unemployed youth/graduate needed to do is put his brain to work to create an egusi shelling machine for example and he would be a millionaire selling his product and create jobs That is how innovations are done in other places. But no, he is on the street looking for a bank job and blaming the government for his personal mental unproductiveness.

We never strive to make our lives better, or easier or more convenient by using our brains. It has nothing to do with education. Most of the world's inventions were invented in their day by men who comparatively are not as educated as the average Nigerian of today. We need thinkers not [b]intellectual sandbags parading themselves as educated.[/b]

Ciao

Gamine:

I think the question is of what benefit is this 'Education' (Wherever you get it) to Nigeria.
Like they say, the greatest asset of a nation is its manpower.

[size=14pt] It doesn't matter how much ground Nigerians are breaking outside Nigeria[/size] ,
The question is [size=14pt]Howdoes this feed back into the nation?[/size]


So far people have mentioned EVERYTHING that is wrong with our Educational system
and it is the truth. Our system doesn't allow for proper thinking and an actual education.
The environment is so anti-change it is ridiculous. still, this shouldn't be the begining and end of us.

The mini-research i had to do recently showed that Nigerians, have the same brain and capacity
to Innovate, the same natural aptitude for creativity. But what is going wrong?

[b]As a people in Nigeria, we need to wake up, and stop the 'Follow' 'Follow' mentality
We are the biggest flock of sheep ever! Our greed is eating us deep.
Money!!, Money!!The Nigerian's religion[/b]Our ancestors were ingenious, what is stopping us??

Gbam.

I think the question is of what benefit is this 'Education' (Wherever you get it) to Nigeria.
Like they say, the greatest asset of a nation is its manpower.

It doesn't matter how much ground Nigerians are breaking outside Nigeria,
The question is How does this feed back into the nation?

So far people have mentioned EVERYTHING that is wrong with our Educational system
and it is the truth. Our system doesn't allow for proper thinking and an actual education.
The environment is so anti-change it is ridiculous. still, this shouldn't be the begining and end of us.

The mini-research i had to do recently showed that Nigerians, have the same brain and capacity
to Innovate, the same natural aptitude for creativity. But what is going wrong?

As a people in Nigeria, we need to wake up, and stop the 'Follow' 'Follow' mentality
We are the biggest flock of sheep ever! Our greed is eating us deep.
Money!!, Money!!The Nigerian's religion
Our ancestors were ingenious, what is stopping us??

warrior01:

Thanks, really tired of all this Naija bashing thread as if we've even made use of the 'little education ' we had.

[center]"Educated" to Feel Inferior:
"Will Africa ever Catch Up?"[/center]

by Bedford Nwabueze Umez, Ph.D.*, www.africamasterweb.com

Introduction

After reading my latest book, "Nigeria: Real Problems, Real Solutions," Dr. Nnanna Ukegbu, one of the most learned, enlightened and illustrious Nigerian thinkers, invited me for a talk (August 9, 2002) on a serious issue of common concern, namely, the apparent lack of progress in Nigeria and several African countries. Dr. Ukegbu, who is now completing a very powerful, thought-provoking book on African development, had this question to ask me: "Will African ever catch up?" After a brief pause, I answered him, "Yes, if and only if the African mind is liberated."

In this paper, I will briefly explain the relationship between development and liberated mind. Specifically, I will explain (a) how most of us, the Africans, were "educated" to feel inferior, (b) the terrible consequences of inferiority complex, i.e., low self-esteem, in Africa, especially in Nigeria, and (c) then present the ONLY powerful solution to revert this inferiority complex so that Africa can meaningfully grow and develop.

Although a perfect representation of African countries cannot be made using one country, I decided to focus on Nigeria to make my point. Nigeria is, in many aspects, a typical African country. It suffered slavery; it was subjected to colonial rule; it achieved political independence (1960) around the time so many African countries did; it is faced with the task of welding into a nation a variety of differing people. Besides, Nigeria is, by population, the largest African country.

"Educated" to Feel Inferior: How?

It was never easy for me learning in Nigeria. My parents, who never attended any school due to poverty, could neither read nor write. I lost my father at the age of three. To make the matters worse, those I looked up to, namely, my mentors, educators, and leaders were busy teaching me and other youths, probably inadvertently, to feel inferior and remain inferior. Essentially, I was taught, just as many youths in Nigeria are being taught today, to feel inferior and develop low self-esteem. Here are few examples.

I was thoughtlessly taught (and children are still being thoughtlessly taught today), that "oyibo bu ndi muo," (white men are naturally spirits)," "oyibo bu agbara," (white men are wizards by nature), and "America ilu oba" (which suggests that white man's country is naturally the land of kings). Similar phrases such as "dan bature," (which implies that white men are by nature civilized), and "or buter" (which symbolizes the natural lead of white men) are very common all over Nigeria.

I was thoughtlessly taught (as children are still being thoughtlessly taught today) that almost anything "black" is inherently evil. In fact, to our "educators," it is perfectly okay to use the word, "black" (the ascribed name to people with African decent), to describe evil. In accordance with this teaching, a bad person is the "black sheep of the family," and should be "black listed." In accordance with this teaching, illegal market is "black market" (as if only black people do business in such market). In according with this teaching, Satan (no one has ever seen) is "black" in color. In fact, to our "educated" teachers, frequent use of "black" to describe evil demonstrates a mastery of the "Queen's English," deserving an "A" in English essay composition. What an education! It is a pity!

Indeed, Nigerian African children and the general public are being thought, directly or indirectly, self-hatred and how to develop a sense of low self-esteem. Without question, there are deadly consequences resulting from this kind of miseducation, and to them, I now turn.

"Educated" to Feel Inferior: The Grave Consequences

We often hear that "the mind is a terrible thing to waste." I must add that the mind is a terrible thing to pollute. The minds of so many African children and that of the general public have been grossly polluted and destroyed by a powerful force largely unseen by unclothed eyes. That powerful force is inferiority complex (also called "mental slavery". Here is a brief illustration of the destruction caused by inferiority complex/lack of self-confidence in Africa and among Africans:

Let us present an African medical doctor and a non-African medical doctor to a sick African and ask him to choose the doctor to treat him. You are right, most likely he will choose the nonAfrican doctor. Why? Because he has been miseducated to believe that by nature white men are "ndi muo," "dan bature," and "agbara."

Invite an African to two meetings - one called by Africans and the other summoned by non-Africans. You are right again, that African, all things being equal, will attend the meeting called by non-Africans on time and attend the one summoned by his fellow Africans anytime he wants. Why? He dare not offend "ndi muo" by attending his meeting late. Notice that this "selective punctuality" on the part of so many Africans, particularly Nigerians, is what passive thinkers call "African time" (or "colored people time," in American context). To us at LAM, Liberating African Mind [www.LiberateAfrica.org], there is nothing like "African time." "African time is nothing other than "selective punctuality" ROOTED in inferiority complex.

By comparing the leadership styles of African leaders and non-African leaders, one also observes another handiwork of inferiority complex/lack of self-confidence. Specifically, one notices that while non-African leaders wisely refuse to invest their countries' money and resources in Africa, by practicing "charity begins at home," most African leaders are very proud to invest African money and resources in non-African countries. Why? In their miseducated minds, Africa is "unsafe heaven," while "America ilu oba" - the safe heaven. What a lack of self-confidence! What a leadership! It is a pity!

The bottom line is that a polluted African mind accepts that Africans are, by nature, normal human beings, while nonAfricans are "ndi muo." A polluted African mind believes that nonAfricans are "divinely" chosen to live in "ilu oba," the "safe heavens," while Africans are "divinely" relegated to "unsafe heavens." A polluted African mind does not know that "ndi muo," "agbara," "dan bature," and "ilu oba" are products of tireless research engineered by true compatriot leaders and elite. In fact, a polluted African mind does not know that George Washington, the first President of the US, did not have, for instance, Space Exploration Program. Nigerians, for instance, must know that the reason for lack of so many "ndi muo," "agbara" and "ilu oba," in Nigeria is that so many Nigerian leaders rob their own people only to deposit the loot in "ilu oba." As such, the money that could have been used to produce "ndi muo," "dan bature," "or buter," "agbara" and "ilu oba" in Nigeria is senselessly siphoned out of Nigeria.

African children have been repeatedly told lies, and the liars never, for one day, reflected upon the horrible consequences of their lies. They never realize that if a lie were told repeatedly, sooner or later some people would start believing it to be true. Just as a determined and concerted effort to tell a child that he is silly is likely to get that child thinking and acting silly, "educating" African children to develop low self-esteem and feel inferior has produced so many Africans who have, consciously or unconsciously, accepted that they are ordinary humans while nonAfricans are "ndi muo," "agbara," and "dan bature," divinely planted in "ilu oba."

The Solution: The Right Education

Active thinkers know that pollution of African mind, i.e., miseducating Africans to develop a sense of low self-esteem, has produced and continues to produce terrible consequences in Africa and among Africans. It is not normal for people to turn against themselves; it is not normal for leaders and elite to turn against their own people. Now is the time for African leaders and elite to start asking WHY things are the way they are in Africa instead of telling everyone HOW terrible things are. By asking WHY, solutions will naturally emerge. For instance, questions similar to those below will help move Nigeria forward:

Is there a relationship between research and "ndi muo?" Is there a relationship between research and "agbara?" Is there a relationship between research and "dan bature?" Is there a relationship between research and "ilu oba?" Is there a relationship between the legacies of slave trade and colonialism (i.e., slave and colonial mentalities) and the robbery of Nigeria by a substantial number of its leaders only to deposit the loot abroad? Is there a relationship between the robbery of Nigeria by most of its leaders only to invest the loot abroad and high unemployment rate in Nigeria? Is there a relationship between high unemployment rate in Nigeria and mass exodus of Nigerians to foreign countries? Is there a relationship between investing Nigerian money abroad and growth in negative developments in Nigeria, e.g., corruption, mortality rate, "419," armed robbery?

My fellow Africans, PRACTICAL answers to serious questions like those above will definitely produce "ndi muo," "dan bature," and "agbara" in Africa; in fact, they will produce AGAIN the class of African "ndi muo," "dan bature," and "agbara" who built the first known skyscrapers - the pyramids, and developed the first means of written communications, the hieroglyphic writings, long before the slave trade and colonialism. Nigerian children, for instance, cannot become "ndi muo" and "agbara" by miracle if their leaders continue to neglect education. In fact, "agbara," "ndi muo" and "ilu oba," will not emerge in Nigeria by miracle when teachers are being starved, libraries empty, research thoughtlessly abandoned, and universities senselessly shutdown for several months each year due to strikes. [Note: I have appealed, and will continue to appeal, to Nigerian government to summon, without further delay, series of National Economic Summits to discuss the terrible consequences of looting Nigerian treasury and investing the loot abroad, and start, on a collective level, to invest Nigerian money in Nigeria as "ndi muo" leaders and elite are doing in their own countries.]

Conclusion

African youths must be told the truth, and that truth is that what makes white men "ndi muo," "agbara," and "dan bature," is nothing other than tireless research, and with massive investment of African money in Africa by African leaders and elite, Africa will definitely produce "ndi muo" and "agbara" in large quantity as it once produced long before slavery and colonialism. Furthermore, African leaders and educators must stop using "black" as a symbol for evil and start teaching their children that black is beautiful just as any color.

All told, "Africa will can catch up" if and when African mind is liberated, for a liberated mind is a thinking mind that has the foresight to produce "ndi muo," "dan bature," "or buter,' and "agbara," and make his country "ilu oba."

Gamine:

I think the question is of what benefit is this 'Education' (Wherever you get it) to Nigeria.
Like they say, the greatest asset of a nation is its manpower.

It doesn't matter how much ground Nigerians are breaking outside Nigeria,
The question is How does this feed back into the nation?

So far people have mentioned EVERYTHING that is wrong with our Educational system
and it is the truth. Our system doesn't allow for proper thinking and an actual education.
The environment is so anti-change it is ridiculous. still, this shouldn't be the begining and end of us.

The mini-research i had to do recently showed that Nigerians, have the same brain and capacity
to Innovate, the same natural aptitude for creativity. But what is going wrong?

As a people in Nigeria, we need to wake up, and stop the 'Follow' 'Follow' mentality
We are the biggest flock of sheep ever! Our greed is eating us deep.
Money!!, Money!!The Nigerian's religion
Our ancestors were ingenious, what is stopping us??

Gbam.

Aigbofa:


These folks are Nigerians and I believe there are many more you've never heard of.

http://www.canadianimmigrant.ca/immigrantstories/health/article/7421

i am talking about Nobel Prizes in the sciences not useless categories like Peace and Literature.

davidif:

WOW! SO WE SHOULD SIT BACK AND CLAP HANDS FOR OURSELVES AND PAT OURSELVES ON THE BACK FOR A JOB WELL DONE ABI? When i see a country like Israel with only 6 million people and hardly anything else become so developed and lead most of the world in science and technology and i see our own Nigerians with all the schooling and i am asking myself the question IN WHAT WAY HAS EDUCATION CONTRIBUTED TO OUR SOCIETY? Now everybody is making me out to be the bad guy. Na wa o, you people are real enemies of progress. The aforementioned Israeli's realized that there small population was a huge disadvantage to them so therefore they decided to get the very best out of every citizen in there country and this meant spending HEAVILY on education especially in the field of scientific research (hence the ridiculous number of Nobel Prize winners) and that's the reason why they are developed.

Education is CRUCIAL to development in any country but yet Nigeria with all the "education" we've had we are still an under-developed country which makes me ask the question, of what use is education to most Nigerians? where are Nigeria's Broadcom's, Genentech's, Pfizer's and co.? we have none. This companies would not exist without advances in sciences from academia. If an educational system cannot develop the country, then of what use is it?. This are valid questions that we should ask ourselves, yet you folks are all up in arms that i am anti-Nigerian. Arrant nonsense.

We would keep pounding yam the same way until Oyibo man made pounding machine for us
We would keep fishing the same way until,
We would keep farming the same way using old backbreaking labor techniques until,
We would keep shelling egusi seeds the same way with our bare hands until,

All an unemployed youth/graduate needed to do is put his brain to work to create an egusi shelling machine for example and he would be a millionaire selling his product and create jobs That is how innovations are done in other places.

the greatest asset of a nation is its manpower.
It doesn't matter how much ground Nigerians are breaking outside Nigeria,
The question is How does this feed back into the nation?

So far people have mentioned EVERYTHING that is wrong with our Educational system
and it is the truth. Our system doesn't allow for proper thinking and an actual education.
The environment is so anti-change it is ridiculous. still, this shouldn't be the begining and end of us.

warrior01:

I believe the likes of the OP is the problem we have in Nigeria. They never believe in themselves, It is always greener at the other side. If I may ask 'are you not a Nigerian? What have you done to contribute your quota to the development of the country? Do you think running away to another man's country and being an arm chair critic will ever solve the problem? If I may even ask you 'what have you invented on your own to distinguish you from everyone else or are you not a human being?
Sincerely, Op, your mentality sucks because you would rather look for whom to blame rather than taking on the problem and solving it.

davidiflink=topic=512462.msg6764068#msg6764068 date=1284637087:

Everybody is just going Gidi!! Gbam!! and whatever to Gamine's comment, without really considering the import.
All of us Nigerians of today, with our Western appetite to life? Let's get real. Can we even work with our hands? Are we not waiting for Mr Government to show up and do everything?

By the way, OP, wasn't it you and some other chaps some months back singing the high praises of an Ivy League MBA? Now you are back to science? What happened?

tensor777:

Well there seems to be a rather stereotyped disposition of some posters here to blame individual shortcomings on the government or the "system" whatever that means. That in my view is just a spineless cop-out.

AjanleKoko:

Everybody is just going Gidi!! Gbam!! and whatever to Gamine's comment, without really considering the import.
All of us Nigerians of today, with our Western appetite to life? Let's get real. Can we even work with our hands? Are we not waiting for Mr Government to show up and do everything?
By the way, OP, wasn't it you and some other chaps some months back singing the high praises of an Ivy League MBA? Now you are back to science? What happened?

Kobojunkie:

But many of us already work with our hands and have long given up on waiting for MR Government to show up and do everything even in Nigeria. Matter of fact, many of us CONTRIBUTE thousands of our time and money to development that MR Government in most of Africa and Nigeria continues to ignore! 

tensor777:

Well there seems to be a rather stereotyped disposition of some posters here to blame individual shortcomings on the government or the "system" whatever that means. That in my view is just a spineless cop-out.

Innovation has more to do with being willing to ask difficult questions, thinking outside the box and being willing to experiment and  take risks.

In essence it has much more to do with upbringing and culture rather than any formal education system.

For example people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates developed their groudbreaking  products and services in their spare time and not under the tutelage of any  government educational system

davidif:

kobojunkie,

, If Einstein, Steve jobs or Bill Gates had gone to some of the primary and secondary schools that we went to, its arguable that we would have ever had about them. Maybe they would have been "local champions" (JET scholars) rather than world beaters. ,

andromida:

what really is the benefit of education to Nigerians? good qxn.
I think the basis of this is to analyze how education has been of benefit to Nigeria.arent most of our politicians educated?
There are also lots of naija in the diaspora receiving quality education,how has it impacted on Nigeria?
Education does not only take place in classrooms it takes place everywhere.
Producing great thinkers like you are clamouring for does not necessarily come from sitting in harvard classrooms and reading books although i must admit it has its benefits.
Our problems in naija may not be to be using iphones,latest internet technology e.t.c the thinkers will be thinking of how to meet the needs they see everyday.e.g how to patch tire and sell that technology afterall it is technology and it has met a need.To a large extent the environment determines the product.

I also think that slavery in the US must have contributed to the innovation. the americans had slaves doing the labor so they had more free time to pursue their interests etc. many industrial innovations came at around the same time in the 18th century if you notice. this period also had a high number of slaves
if i had a slave who made my living for me, heck i'll have all the spare time in the world to come up with an invention. lol i won't have to worry about food etc.

darwin for example was encouraged by his father to become a professional. instead, he went off to some island to study birds!!!! that would seem very ridiculous and useless to anybody. but the result of his work has changed the world we live in today. darwin came from a rich family. most people in naija don't so the chances of them doing what darwin did is very slim.
Also, did you think  aristotle and socrates or plato were making money from their books? most likely not. although their works eventually became foundation for how many developed countries their governments etc. and contributed to civilization

oyinda.:

of useless knowlege" but i'll post a link if i find it.


innovative ideas generally come from research and work that aren't really lucrative (although there are exceptions). that's why rich people are more likely to be the ones who are into it. they don't need the money.
darwin for example was encouraged by his father to become a professional. instead, he went off to some island to study birds!!!! that would seem very ridiculous and useless to anybody. but the result of his work has changed the world we live in today. darwin came from a rich family. most people in naija don't so the chances of them doing what darwin did is very slim.
Also, did you think  aristotle and socrates or plato were making money from their books? most likely not. although their works eventually became foundation for how many developed countries their governments etc. and contributed to civilization

SEFAGO:

African-Americans always make this claim a lot. Slavery did not contribute to any innovation. Slavery was abolished before the Second industrial age in which America grew its fastest- America just started to show its face significantly in the international era after Great Britain got their arse whipped by their German neighbors. While Britain was busy fighting world war their richest colonies were breeding independence movements. Moreover, the industrial revolution started in the late 18th century in Britain and emerged in the later in the 19th century in America.

A more compelling point is that slavery slowed down industrial progress in the United States since slaves were available to do manual labor and their was no need to invent elaborate machinery. Britain had long abolished slavery while their brothers in America were just beginning to enjoy the benefits of slavery.

This is intrinsically flawed on three levels: a nonparallel comparison, inherent anachronism, and cultural differences.  For one social science/humanities ideas are not in the same league as hard science research (Which lets be honest requires more IQ and more research time as well as resources)  Grin. Infact social science/humanities ideas cannot be disproved- who can argue or prove the body of work of any philosopher? Secondly, Darwin's work was basic science research and observation (I admit though quite a feat in his time) and Aristotle/Plato/Socrates might have laid the foundation of philosophy but their work has been consistently challenged by modern philosophers. Current day research is more high-level- [b]Nigeria does not even have the research grants to fund any high level research. [/b]Infact Nigeria has no well organized research funding organization that disburses grants to professors in Nigerian Universities. They even have this in Kenya- please and we call ourselves the giant of africa Grin. TRich kids likely do not have the brain power to do some of these research. I can count how many rich Nigerians I know at Imperial College and Oxford for example. Sadly, I do not expect much from them, but more from those poor people who hustled to get abroad.

the third problem is that Socrates, Darwin and co lived in societies where their activities were heavily encouraged. As previously pointed out, except you want to starve in Nigeria- you have to go out and hustle.

tensor777:

That actually is a very profound observation. Most original creative thinkers have the disposition of inventing new things for their own sake and not just because their product or service would have commercial application.
Presumably if money were their main motivation they would lose the incentive to continue inventing after their first big financial breakthrough and start enjoying their life in a tropical island as say the bank robbers do.
No these guys are motivated by the thrill and adventure of discovery not mere material things even though in today's world these discoveries can and do bring financial breakthrough to their inventors 

AjanleKoko:

This is overflogged jare. Spineless being the operative word there. It's easier to duck and blame everything and everybody for your personal failings. As I said earlier. A lazy workman blames his tools. A good workman fixes his tools. Period.