There are Nigerian boys and girls who pay their own school fees and bills without any help from their parents but you people call them Yahoo Yahoo Boys and Run's Girls.

I totally agree with this article within its confine /scope of ' the rich overpampering their wards'.
However there are still millions of kids from abject poor background that are struggling to break through and mostly gets to the comfortable level, this is where the strength of Nigeria lyes. These kids are rugged, resilient, clever, street-wise, intelligent, experienced (both in all ramification),focussed and often become the professionals carrying the barner of Nigeria further than even the well behaved optimally pampered minute percentage from the rich men's kids. Ofcourse they are so many and thats why Nigeria is still able to bounce back and compete with the world, less we would have sank into a bottomless pit.

Ibime:

The OP sef is one of those "overpampered" ones, living rent-free in his parents "UK home" till age 25. What would those of us who've been paying rent since age 17 say if this one is complaining?

Abegi, why the lecture. At least the guy don realise im folly. No need to tell am again, no be im fault.

gmyguy:

The economy has been hard on many, i remember things going slow for my family growing up, a time, my dad borrowed our saved up pocket money to take bus to work!!! Those times were scary. I thank God today am a Doctor, although, not rich enough to drive my own car yet, but still, at least i can earn a living and help my parents out, now and then, so many things i've seen, and i know many people are suffering in this country, its just that Nigerians are ignorant, timid and largely conservative, if not, this country should be upside down, with what the poster says, i saw a little when i was in school, struggling to buy my books, pocket money wahala, etc, I eventually got a scholarship, and so did one of my brothers, when i graduated, i had to go begging to get space for internship!!!, but i said to myself, ''NO''. I didnt steal my degree, why did i have to find a way of being acquainted to the CMD to get a job, although i eventually got a job somewhere good, at half the salary i'd have earned working as an Intern, probably would have bought a Car, but it felt good, being Independent and nobody breathing down my Neck,m that they were responsible for my success!!!
30, being the new 18 is quite true, but the Nigerian educational system is responsible for that, I had to struggle after leaving school at 17, even that was a bit late, had some parenting issues, before getting to the University at 21 for medicine, but we thank God, the Struggle continues!!!

Well done, mate!

Don't worry. You will get there.

These bastards that run Nigeria have ruined a lot of lives and futures. Yet you will see our mugus here praying for them when misfortune hits them and requesting people like me to "respect the dead". Anuofias!

I will rather roll with guys like these than the mooorons I see in UK clubs driving exotic and expensive cars at 22 and ordering hundreds pound bottles of champagne and co like water to show they are the shitzle. Fcking ediots will even think they are better than the next person!

I have a friend whose parent has stolen ridiculously from Naija. The person has rejected all the wealth and has set out on their own earning low pay. That is why I respect the person alot and we get along like hell.

4llerbuntu:

GOD BLESS whosoever wrote this article!!!! x 1 million times.

i dont think i have ever seen much more sense in a post on nairaland in years even if its copy and paste.


believe it or not, these children are the same ones who will be fast-tracked into the top most positions in society and politics by the parents.

or what else do you think accounted for people like Dimeji Bankole?


truly, the elite class in nigeria is a complete total failure. of course, in a society that elevates wealth and avarice, it wont be viewed as such.
but common sense shouts it loud, the elite, ruling class HAS FAILED!.

gone are the days when truly great men and families beget worthy scions and descendants.

yes God must bless d poster so much,,.but you,,, you silly by youre comment,,if you talk about Bankole,,that 1 is a failure,,talk about Ikemba Ojukwe his father was a richest during his time but d money d riches did't not make Ikemba misbehave,, but my own view a good parents train their children very well in fear of GOD,but 10% of 100

maybe this is a UK thing. i have not seen this in the states.

Hmmm, interesting

OP has certainly not watched My super Sweet 16   .(that programe makes me sick).

I so agree with the poster on alot of levels but i think this is  not necessarily not  a nigerian parents issue. I thinkl it deals with parents from all over the world wanting to make sure they satisfy all their children's wants(not needs). And bite my head off if you want but POOR people are as guilty as well. I think its just down to the individual to be rational as a parent. I watched one documentary on Channel 4 (cant remember the name but it was one of this welfare poor people things)a woman that was on benefits borrowed a £1,500 to buy christmas gifts for her kids .She bought her son a game worth £200 plus.And you tell  me rich Nigerians set up their kids for falls later in life.I think  fault parenting is prevalent in all the classes as at least the rich can afford it?What values is a parent imparting to borrow to get Gifts at christmas?

It's all down to inferiority complex, bane of the black man.
Even for those of us in Naija, some parents prefer to put their kids in some posh schools where the kids are more or less mandated to go on summer field trips in Orlando or Paris.
What rubbish. I can never release my kids to go for such trips.

And the one about Branson and travel class . . . well, I fly first and business officially. But I cannot use my own money to buy more than an economy class ticket. Any personal trips, me and my family dey siddon for economy together. Trust me, i have enuf miles to upgrade anytime, but I never bother to.

I don't believe this is a widespread issue. Its like less than 1 percent of the population.

obowunmi:

I don't believe this is a widespread issue. Its like less than 1 percent of the population.

Yip.

^^^ Hi Mr. AJ, how are you today ?

@ aikuda
did you just say children of the poor loaf around and wait for manner to fall from heaven??
let me explain life to you
I have hawked plantain for my mother,I have hawked soap made by my mother to sell for her
I have been an "oraka"(pool table racker),i have worked at a buka,I have worked at a cafe,i have worked in a bank,i have worked as a wash man and all these i did before i reached 22 and bear in mind that i have my ond and my hnd in accountancy and finance,my dad(my his blessed soul rest in peace) worked for daily times all his life and the last 35 months while there he was not paid his salary while my mom was a caterer(local buka o)soap maker,plantain seller and we(the children) had to basically make life as good as possible for us.i grew up amongst rich kids and i can recall the envy i had in my eyes looking at the kids of these rich men just having all they ever needed without even blinking their eyes and you tell me that children of the poor loaf around
your statement is really annoying and a slap on the face of those down trodden in Nigeria by rich parents and their kids like you

my sweet 16 is basically the adbnormal and not the norm.
dont get me wrong,we have kids here who will drive you nuts with what they do but in naija,wow! children of the rich will slap you in the face without thinking twice

^^^^ don't take anything here personal Mr. man --- people are just commenting. I don't think you should take personal offense because many commenting here, no matter how arrogant they may sound are not children of the rich.

AjanleKoko:

It's all down to inferiority complex, bane of the black man.
Even for those of us in Naija, some parents prefer to put their kids in some posh schools where the kids are more or less mandated to go on summer field trips in Orlando or Paris.
What rubbish. I can never release my kids to go for such trips.

And the one about Branson and travel class . . . well, I fly first and business officially. But I cannot use my own money to buy more than an economy class ticket. Any personal trips, me and my family dey siddon for economy together. Trust me, i have enuf miles to upgrade anytime, but I never bother to.

Thank you.

I know people that pay N800K to send their 4 year old to nursery in Nigeria.

I just thought it was plainly daft!

Someone can go to school and be successful in making enough money to afford that and yet does not know how to do a simple assessment of "value for money".

obowunmi:

^^^^ don't take anything here personal Mr. man --- people are just commenting. I don't think you should take personal offense because many commenting here, no matter how arrogant they may sound are not children of the rich.

not taking it personal just miffed that someone actually said that

Not just Nigerians don't worry, people should get rid off this stereotypes thinking American, French or whatever foreign schools in our countries are better than public one
Sometimes these people have such arrogant behaviour but it's because of us we gave them to much importance for me

some kids here(rich or poor) will drive you nuts mush more than any rich nigerian kid would ever do and i do believe that different countries have different issues with kids.
meanwhile,these japan gals can play o

I think this same topic has been discussed here in the past

@ Mr Milehigh
I am sorry if my comment sounded like i was being insensitive
what i was trying to say was that some poor peple (probably not in Nigeria) borrow money to give their children what i would not necessarily count as necessities so as not to allow their children feel left out from some stupid commercial trumped up traditions like Christmas(am a a christian and christmas is not just about gifts).

You should see how kids in the west demand one toy or game and their kids will be queing at argos(for what now ) even if they cannot afford it

Very few valid points but mainly stupid opinions. In the authors job, he may come across a few idiots but out of a population of 20 million children (my estimate) the opinions of a recruitment agent is hardly representative moreso without a research data. So what is contained in the article is just one persons opinion.

If I work hard and I am lucky to be able to afford first class, I should make my kids fly economy or maybe in the authors opinion make them go by boat just so they know life is hard. I will take care of my kids and give them the best I can afford. The most important thing is bringing them up the right way. One poster said he will send his children to public schools in Nigeria just so they can experience what he experienced. What a selfish parent.

I will suggest to the author to buy his/ her kids tokunboh clothes, make them walk to school carrying their desks on their head and give them no lunch money. When they are 18 kick them out of the house, maybe they can get a job selling gala in traffic and they might just be able to pay their way through teacher training college.

Graduates cannot get jobs and you are asking an 18 year old with no qualifications to combine education with a job in Nigeria? Are u on hydro? Where are the part time jobs in Nigeria? Government declared minimum wage in Nigeria is N18,000. Most unskilled workers in Lagos earn less than that doing more than 60 hours a week. Now tell me how much a student will get for doing even 20 hours a week to the detriment of their studies.

I will be fair to author and will assume he/ she penned the article after dealing with a spoilt brat in the office otherwise it will be a case of lacking in the upstairs department.

milehigh06:

not taking it personal just miffed that someone actually said that

If being miffed about what someone said isn't taking it personally, I don't know what is.

norrisman:

Very few valid points but mainly silly opinions. In the authors job, he may come across a few idiots but out of a population of 20 million children (my estimate) the opinions of a recruitment agent is hardly representative moreso without a research data. So what is contained in the article is just one persons opinion.

If I work hard and I am lucky to be able to afford first class, I should make my kids fly economy or maybe in the authors opinion make them go by boat just so they know life is hard. I will take care of my kids and give them the best I can afford. The most important thing is bringing them up the right way. One poster said he will send his children to public schools in Nigeria just so they can experience what he experienced. What a selfish parent.

I will suggest to the author to buy his/ her kids tokunboh clothes, make them walk to school carrying their desks on their head and give them no lunch money. When they are 18 kick them out of the house, maybe they can get a job selling gala in traffic and they might just be able to pay their way through teacher training college.

Graduates cannot get jobs and you are asking an 18 year old with no qualifications to combine education with a job in Nigeria? Are u on hydro? Where are the part time jobs in Nigeria? Government declared minimum wage in Nigeria is N18,000. Most unskilled workers in Lagos earn less than that doing more than 60 hours a week. Now tell me how much a student will get for doing even 20 hours a week to the detriment of their studies.

I will be fair to author and will assume he/ she penned the article after dealing with a spoilt brat in the office otherwise it will be a case of lacking in the upstairs department.

I actually think this is the silly opinion.

I am sure a lot of psychological research will show it will be far much harder for an affluent parent to teach their kids to appreciate things whilst "giving them the best they can afford" than if they experienced it.

I wonder how a child can appreciate fully the value of money when money is always available easily.

I wonder how a child can appreciate fully that life is hard, when they live in a mansion, fly first class, eat whatever they want as long as they can order the chef to make it, go out in luxury cars driven by chauffeurs and end up mainly socialising with kids of people of similar affluence.

I am sure a lot of research on human thinking and behaviour will reveal we are more likely, on average, and are programmed to remember and learn pain and suffering more than we remember and learn from happiness and ease.

I am sure a lot of research on human thinking and behaviour will reveal what we learn is strongly influenced and better influenced by our environment (including peers) or the environment we learn it in.

Teaching your kids is a learning process for them.

You now took it down to the silliest by suggesting that those that do not intend to spoil their kids should abuse them by making their life a misery as if their is no middle way.

i think some persons agree or disagree with the poster depending on the degree to which he/she is affected by the concepts raised by the poster, If only we could drop '' personal'' , U kno what i mean

Mr poster you re just jealous of dis kids.i can spoil my kids as i want, so if e vex u, go hug transformer.

@omodapson. the greatest truth is the bitterest. You can not be truer than this. As a parent all these issues worry me and am alarmed that we are raising zombies as the next generation in this country in the name of child care and love.

During the days of our fathers and forefathers who were not educated, we all turned out to be good recording firsts all over the world in all academic and professional endeavours. These older generation parents cared only for the educational progress of their children nothing else, the belief is with good education no heights are unattainable.

What happened today is a reverse of that, we cared less about the education of our children even with the billions we spent on sending them to private educational institutions home and abroad. We created distractions for and around them in the name of providing comfort, we bothered less if at all about their academic progress, and bought exam results and certificates for them.

Look around you and see the past time of Nigerian youths, facebook, twitter, skype, yahoo, blackberry, ipod, online dating sites, dstv or hitv, TV series, big brother africa, maltina dance hall, who wants to a millionaire, naija sings, Nigerian Idol, project fame, the list is endless.

Evenings that are meant to study have been converted to periods to while away watching, listening and engaging in all these irredemably damaging programmes and actvities. Students dont read anymore and parents dont care any less. In the pursuit of money and status, we have succedded in destroying the future of our children.

Schooling is now an avenue to compete how much richer the parents are. Some parents pay for school bus services but will never allow the children to use them prefering to chauver drive them in big exotic automobiles.

During examinations parents compete to hire "mercenaries" to sit exams in place of the students, where that fail they pay to get results. Admission racketeering booms because parents will pay any amount to get the child into school with the poorest of results.

In spite of their swaggering, the youths knows next to nothing, they only read entertainment magazines and cram songs and lyrics of musicians. They study these lyrics more than they study a text book on English Grammar.

The recent JAMB results is a pointer:

Total candidates:       1,493,604
Below 200 marks          842,851
200 - 249 marks           495,426
250 - 269 marks           67,732
270 - 299 marks           31,444
above 300 marks            2,892
suspicious results           7,504
exam malpractices         15,160

So upon all the billions spent sending children to all these private schools, hiring private teachers, attending exam coaching classes, we can only get 0.19% of the total candidates scoring 300 and above, while 56.43% failed outrightly.

When I got admission into the University of Ibadan as a 19yr old, none of my family members followed me to that institution. The only time any member of my family came to the campus for me was when I was packing out of Kuti Hall after my convocation as a graduate. They only came to carry all my luggages after spending 7 years of rigorous academic years in the period of Anti SAP riots and other heighted students' demonstrations.

Todays parents dont allow the children to grow, face challenges and take survival decisions on their own that is why at 30yrs old, these children remains attached to the parents' apron strings.

All I can see on this thread is people using their own values as a yardstick to judge that of other people.

You use the Royal family as an example?? Those kids are public figures, the republicans are on the necks of the Royal family . . . all that is a front for the anti-royal section of the public. Doesn't count as a good example.

Richard Branson?? Yeah right. . . his children fly working class, but the fact that he's got an island doesn't count huh??
I'd gladly ride a bike up north and back if it means I come back to chill in my dad's Island.

You think we spend too much by flying first class?? Check out the kids of the big-shots in the UK economy. Or try the Arabs.
Ever heard of trust-fund babies?? Or the Hilton family?
Yes we do spend a lot on kids, but to assume that we're the only ones that do it is just baseless. Neither is the assumption that I'll turn out less successful if I fly first class.

At the end of the day, all you've done is tell us what you consider the ideal way to raise a child and imposed it on everyone else. We all know there is no manual for proper parenting, stop attempting to script one with your life.

eldee:

Richard Branson?? Yeah right. . . his children fly working class, but the fact that he's got an island doesn't count huh??
I'd gladly ride a bike up north and back if it means I come back to chill in my dad's Island.

What are you suggesting? To train your kids they should not stay in the same house or accommodation?

Or you have some info that he gives them some exclusive, spoilt use of the island?

@ damisu
noted and sorry for misreading your words,it baffles me what xmas has been turned to over here
even xmas is small,what of 45yr old who gets mad cos no one gave her a bday gift,
\the way people value gifts here sometimes is a shame.some actually believe it is a right they get a git every bday,mothers day,fathers day,xmas,memorial day,independence day na wah o,sure if osama and his madmn had not carried out 911,some would have been asking for salah gift too


Insert Quote
Quote from: eldee on Today at 04:55:53 PM
Richard Branson?? Yeah right. . . his children fly working class, but the fact that he's got an island doesn't count huh??
I'd gladly ride a bike up north and back if it means I come back to chill in my dad's Island.

read very well,his father owns the island,not him buying one like what you are expedcted to do in Nigeria even if you have not seen the 4 walls of a school before

Most of these kids are likely going to end up running  down companies and government agencies in Naija. No wonder, we cannot boast of a national company with billions of assets that has been passed down generation to generation . Most annoying thing  about these parents who have built successful businesses, is that they support their kids to go into politics where it's easier to steal money.  What kind of jobs would Theophilus Danjuma's kids do since their dad made $500 million from one oil deal and did not know what to do with it?They can only become senators, ministers and governors and run things down because they have no appreciation for hard work and real life experiences

i won't say i am rich

but quite comfortable i am 17 years old and my dad won't give me money for anything unless its school related,

i know other rich nigerian kids in my situation also

not all Nigerians with money spoil their kids


my case is even weird cuz my pops grew up in a rich family, but he is a serious cheapskate. i hates it at first but now i love it thought me to be independent

@ eldee,i wont say OP is generalizing on just naijans,i might be wrong in saying that but if I was to go ahead and guage the hiltons with our own rich kids, ummm,we gat natin on those psychos
but on a general basis,child to child,rich or poor,naija kids are way over pampered(not talking in terms of material things alone)
I left the house at 15 and i could remember my mother almost going berserk cos i was leaving home and basically i left not cos i was chased out but simply cos i just wanted the independence to build myself and i can say it has helped me in  a lot of ways. but i can say same of my younger ones who stayed home for a whileeeee longer than I did,though they are doing good,glad about that,but you can tell that something is missing.like i feel if they were here solo anywhere they would find it a little harder than i did,just my own 2 cents but still,our children in naija are really not being helped by being shielded from a lot of things