THINKING BEYOND PAPER CERTIFICATION
SALAKO, Taiwo Hassan (H.O.T.)
desmondtee55@yahoo.com/08145495283
“In the digital economy of the 21st century, what you study does not actually matter; the world is interested in the excellence in you, what you have to offer.”
Adedimeji(2015).
Sadly, the reverse is the case in the contemporary Nigerian educational system where premium is solely placed on paper certification. Consequently, the mad rush by every Tom, Dick or Harry to get good certificates by any means, fair or foul, is justifiable in such an educational context as ours. It is believed that if you are to be employed, what you have on your certificate is always a yardstick to knowing how brilliant and intelligent you are. Students nowadays are almost always interested only in studying, or rather reading, a course for exam sake, and not in absorbing the pearls of wisdom and knowledge in the course. The result of the attitude is that students are not fully equipped with what it takes to stand out after graduation.
I strongly believe that everybody is born with the same number of brain cells; hence, regardless of race, tribe, gender or family background, no one has the right to be better than you until you give him or her the right to be. You possess what can make you stand out amongst many heads; it is left to you to make it manifest in you. The global world of the 21st century has gone beyond depending on what you actually have on your paper. Many people in this world have made it in life without actually making their lives dependent on what people think they are but they made it out of the zeal, the enthusiasm, the risk and the alacrity they have in setting the pace. Some people of this category include Aliko Dangote, Bill Gate, Mike Adenuga, Femi Otedola, Folohunsho Alakija, amongst others. It is in this time of ours we see some people who do not actually use what they studied in the university as a means of getting their “daily bread”. Many students would be surprised when in the future someone they had thought would practise law became a veteran theatre artiste. This prognosis is already a reality, even in Nigeria as we already have examples in the likes of Femi Adebayo and Funke Akindele.
At this juncture, it should be said loudly and clearly that the bus of life does not wait for people at the bus station to carry but rather it carries those who are already at the park waiting for it. This analogy validates that life, just like heaven, helps those who are ready to be helped and are ready to help themselves.
My friend, let your mind go beyond what you are going to have on your certificate; make yourself marketable for there is competition in life after school. There are many out there already waiting who have what you think is the best. What will make what you have sellable is the foregrounding feature in you; how different you can make your contribution look amongst many contributions. This world has gone beyond looking for you: it is interested in looking for what makes you different amongst many of those who think they are sellable.
Finally, I am saying you should do your best in achieving the best and try to add “pepper and salt” just in the right quantity enough to make you idiosyncratically stand out academically, economically, socially, politically, and in all ramifications. Thanks for your rapt attention!
“There are many holders of first class and second class upper degrees; make yourself marketable for the labor market is congested.”
Alabi (2015).