Africa in general and Nigeria in particular is still suffering from the devastating impacts of colonialism. One of these is our defective education system.


It is pertinent to point out here that the original system of education laid down by the Brits for Nigeria was manipulated to produce just "literate negroes who can read and write the white man's language". This was aimed at raising mid-level civil service manpower who acted as supervisors to the unskilled negro workers.


It's quite pathetic that since the Brits left, no government - be it military junta or civilian regime - has deemed it fit to revamp our education system. Successive generations have grown with the mentality of "go to university, graduate and get a good paying job and live large".


It's a known fact that Nigeria is in dire need of technology - driven industrialization. The type learnt in an education system built on home - based scientific innovations and practicals. We need schools that will produce engineers who can fabricate nuts, pharmacists who can utilise the leaves and trees around to proffer solutions for ailments, agriculturalist who can soil their fingers growing foods.


We need to toss away the clearly outdated syllabuses. Develop new and updated syllabuses that will encourage radical thoughts and home - grown solutions to our mirage of problems. The "certificate brandishing culture" must be severely fought and erased. It should be about what do you know and can bring to the table?


Quality and innovation - driven education systems unarguably played a major role in the rapid advancement of Asian tigers like China, Japan and Taiwan et al, India, Malaysia etc. We have over 160 institutions of higher learning that keep churning out Ill-educated graduates using archaic tools.


Nigeria has the labour. Nigeria has the market. We just need the will and the technical know - how.



It starts with jettisoning the dead-on-arrival education system. Colonialism has ended. Why keep its relics?

Its long overdue as it affects the stability and unity of the nation which in turn has allowed the rich children to send their ward's abroad or private institutions. While also giving room for laundering

we have said this over and over.

speeches have been made
notes have been written
educative seminars have been held .

yet government have been and still sleeping. take the JAMB exam as a case study .instead of thinking of how to improve on the CBT, fat pot-belle men decided to bring back ppt ..SMH