₦airaland Forum

^-- Are the teachers at the private schools bad? Probably not eh, since if they were nobody would spend their money there?

If so, then this suggests a fix.

At the original question, yes they do.

Lol. This reminds me of how in Spanish-speaking cultures, Jesús is a common name.

I'm tempted to name my son Jesús. Who could resist voting for Jesús in Nigeria?

SEFAGO:
First of all which native language? Yoruba, Igbo or hausa? That one is going to cause a civil war lolz.  Second have you examined the structure of African languages. They are primitive to the core. How are you going to explain Newtons laws of physics in Yoruba? You will have to use a lot of analogies that might not be easy for the average student to understand. African languages- sorry to say- lack the complexity to use as a tool for scientific instruction.

This I disagree with. There is this guy, Kayode Fakinlede (a PhD research chemist somewhere in Jersey) who also writes very good Yoruba educational material. He has spent some time indigenizing scientfic measurements and basic concepts from math into Yoruba (inequalities, exponents, etc.)

So it can be done. But it would just take an assload of time/money/effort, and ultimately be reinventing the wheel.

Interesting new posts.

If what @misaac describes is typical, likely the educational system will need to be destroyed and rebuilt from scratch if we want it to be more effective and competitive  

@SEFAGO: Yeah, Williams is one of those schools that gives financial aid even to foreign kids with no money. That is the main reason I'd want to realign education even further with the West, to make it easier for Nigerians to study there for free. Btw I'm surprised you know about Thomas Jefferson, I guess you must have spent some time in the DC metro area.

@chiogo: He was joking, hence the Larry Summers reference.

SEFAGO:
Cheating is so wide spread in Nigeria. I am 100% sure that no one can claim they have not cheated or seeked expo before even fstranger . The even cheat for common entrance.

Hmm. What about at the university level?

Rare:
(ii) Incentive to students: Why not map some university scholarships to performance in WAEC exams?

(iii) If the WAEC certificates had some immediate labour market value; would students joke with it? Heard it was so once upon a time; and is still so in some countries, where a high school education can get you a decent job.

Two good points. However, the latter is going to be extremely difficult to do in Nigeria, just due to our crappy economy and high unemployment rate.

@PhysicsQED: WTF happened to all those states? Today, they pretty much have nothing. Just kinda surprising they have nothing to show for what they once had.

Missy85:
thought you were studying in the US, but I see on this thread that you are in abuja?

Yep, wrapping up grad school in a couple years. I visit Abuja when I have time/money though, family is there.

PhysicsMHD:
The right answer is clearly the repeal of all sharia related  laws or courts that contravene any other REAL law.

One cannot selectively apply "states' rights" when it suits one (to be able to enforce Sharia) against the provisions of standard federal law, which do not allow for the stoning to death of adulterers or the death sentence for adultery, among other things, but then assert that others cannot claim states' rights to 50% or greater derivation of proceeds from state resources against the current governmental arrangement. It's just power-drunk hypocrisy.

If the North wants Sharia, they MUST go for confederation, true federalism, or separation. Of course they won't do any of these.

Do the Sharia laws currently violate the laws of the land? I don't completely understand how the Nigerian legal system works, but I thought that many existing decrees and acts from the military days are still in force. Not to mention common English law, perhaps some tribal laws, etc. So in the example of stoning to death of an adulterers, is that clearly, clearly a violation of the Nigerian federal laws or constitution?

I'm certainly not pro North, but it isn't completely clear to me that they are hypocrites on this issue.

fstranger1:
Why cant we use the Chinese, the Japanes, the German, the Russian and the British and the American models, where we pass information and instruct pupils in a language they are most familiar with, rather than impose a foreign way of thinking on them. Like i said, the experiment has been done before and it was pretty successful. And it has now been implemented in Norway and the country is the better for it.

These groups all have lots of math/physics/science material in their language. We do not. If we want to do this, it will cost money. I'd rather spend the money on something else. Generating an entire K-12 Yoruba curriculum would cost an enormous amount, on the order of $30 or 40 mil+ 

I'd rather just leverage existing work than waste money reinventing the wheel.

Also, what happens when it comes time for the students to switch over to English language classes, say at the university level? Let's just teach the subjects in English for now. Maybe 100-200 years from now, if/when we get rich we can move it to the native tongue.

BTW, back in the day a lot of these mathematicians and physicists wrote their work in Latin, French and German rather than English. So if you are a sharp kid from Massachusetts somewhere in the 1800s and want to learn math, you won't really have the opportunity to learn advanced math in English. It has only been recently, with the preeminence of the US economically and its heavy investment in sciences (and being fortunate enough to poach lots of the best scientists in the world due to WW2!) that English became king.

fstranger1:
Truth be told, with the system as it is now, i would not want to gamble with the future of my kids. Yes, i would do exactly as you have articulated above because it would be stupit to do otherwise. Doing otherwise tantamount to trying to stop a train with a bicycle.

Agreed.

Again, I am not looking at individuals. my radical approach is an attempt to help the students failing WAEC and NECO while at the same time trying to lift my people to an enviable position in the comity of nations.

Basically, my own philosophy is that you have to ask yourself, "if these 100K students were all my flesh and blood, what would I do to best use the resources available to me?" in that case, the solution is pretty clear.

So you have to think about it from an individual/local level if you want your solution to be good.

Onlytruth:
Let me ask you then. Who is most delusional? Someone who thinks that Sharia can thrive in a secular country in the 21st century or someone who doesn't?

The Sharia issue is something I have mixed feelings about. I've never lived in Utah, but that state is heavily dominated by the LDS (Mormon Church). Their religion is not the law of the land. . . but even things like simple alcohol is very difficult to get, I am told.

Yet despite this, things function splendidly in that state.

I'm obviously against non-Muslims being taken to Sharia courts, even in a Sharia state. But if it Muslim/Muslim only affairs, should I be opposed to it? I'm a secularist, but I'm also a federalist. In this, secularism and federalism conflict, I think. . .

Hard to say what the right answer is.

@fstranger, be real with yourself. If you move back to Nigeria and are a wealthy doctor, are you going to give your kids some kooky experimental indigenous high school education? Or will you pony up the $15K a year to send your kid to one of the American International Schools in Nigeria (or schools of that caliber)? And after they finish there, you'd presumably want to send them to the Harvards, Stanfords, Princetons of the world, right?

If it is your own blood, your own kids, you know that you aren't going to do crazy experiments with them. You'll give them what works, what will lead to them having a good life.

asha 80:
Sorry bros but we are not beating anybody at their own game because it is simply not going to happen.  

Speak for yourself, your own tribe, and your own people. Don't speak for mine.

fstranger1: I found out from my dad that his driver is actually a distant relation of ours. The driver is 25, I'm 25. My paternal grandmother and his grandmother are cousins.

The ONLY difference between him and I is that my great-grandfather said, "Hey, let me put down this sh1t which doesn't work and master what the white man has learned!"

For all I know, in the time of my grandmother, the driver's family was richer and more respected in my town than mine.

Future generations are at stake. You don't want your descendants to be cursing your name because you fvcked up and got caught up in some silly pride.

fstranger1:
The problem with your approach is that you want the easy way out. Some one you want us to forever be tied to the apron strings of the west.  Last year on PBS, Charlie Rose had as his guest the President of Yale and Charlie Rose asked him about recruitment  of international student and the Yale president said that they are recruiting from Asia. And when pressed further by Charlie Rose, he said that Asia is where the 'most' talented students are.
And you and I know that non of the Asian countries use English as their medium of instruction. We need to work on being interdependent of the west, not depend on them for every little thing.

Implicit in your 'abraod' argument is the 'irritating' notion that we are inferior to Whites and we need them to survive. The earlier we take our destiny in our hands, the better for us as a nation.

Dude, I don't have any ego. If we are inferior to the whites right now, so be it. Let's learn everything they know, master it, and beat them at their own game. I have no morals, principles or ethics in this affair. All I want is as much education (and the subsequent benefits of said education, namely power) as soon as possible.

Everything else is irrelevant to me. I'm not a pan African, Africanist, Black Panther, or any of that type of sh1t.

tensor777:
However on a more regular level the more you speak, read, and write English the more competent you become. Practically this would involve pleasurable activities like reading novels and watching high quality classic English films.

Novel reading is good. You don't even need to watch high quality classic films. Watching Baywatch or US cartoons is honestly good enough, lol. The main point though is to IMMERSE yourself in the language, rather than shying away from it.

I got to a fairly high level of comfort with Spanish in about 8 months by listening to Spanish-language radio, reading Spanish newspapers, talking as much in Spanish as I could.

fstranger1:
Talking about aligning with the west, we can eat our cake and have it at the same time. Teach pupils in their native language and make English class mandatory up to secondary school level and anybody willing or nursing the ambition of going to the west may then major in English language at the post secondary school level.

No. Immersion is the best way to do this stuff. If we want to be good at English, we'll have to spend all of the school hours working on it. Any half measures, "eat our cake and have it" is likely going to lead to disaster.

Let's not be egotistical about this stuff. There are are some things that work. Let's do them rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. English language is something which people in China and Korea spend lots of money trying to learn when they get older. I have no desire to throw away this little advantage we have. If anything, I want the advantage to grow.

asha 80:
why the emphasis on abroad?

Well, I'm trying to take advantage of the existing education infrastructure (and funding!) available abroad. Lots of universities in the US for example have academic scholarships, even for internationals. Though of course usually you have to be exception to get these scholarships, even at the crap universities in the US.

Still though, if I'm charge of Ekiti State, I transition the system over to one that models the US one so my students are better able to compete for admissions and money from that country. Whatever monies they get means more money is freed up to educate those who cannot get scholarships to the US.

Onlytruth:
I don't think that language and religion is really a big deal, LAGOS is a proof to that. If you have only Yoruba Muslims, you would never know that Muslims can be violent.

Lebanese, Turks, Moroccans, Iranians in my own personal experience are pretty agreeable Muslims too. Even the present situation in Iran in which a religious government is in power is mostly the fault of America.

I don't see any other tribe trying to hold on to power (even unfairly in most instances) in Nigeria except the Hausa/Fulani.
In a sense, I would blame them for Nigeria's failure to be a united strong country.

They are worse off in the North than in the South, in almost every aspect of life   Lower life expectancy, lower education levels, poorer, etc. Honestly, it is their leaders who are to blame, not really individual Hausa or Fulani commoners. I think keeping this distinction in mind is very, very important.

@Missy85: I agree almost entirely with your second comment. I'm not a racist, supremacist, bigot, etc. And any lingering hatred/misunderstandings I've had have been erased by extended stays in PH, Abuja. . . basically coming to understand that others are human beings, not demons or bogeyman.

Still though, even if you aren't a racist/bigot, that doesn't mean that you don't have a "team" you are playing for. I think for 99% of Nigerians, even the ones who are not bigots, that team is not team Nigeria, so much as team Yoruba/Edo/Urhobo/Ekiti State/Ilesha town/etc. Ultimately, most allegiances are local, I think; under 1% of Nigerians truly, truly play for team Nigeria (and personally, I question if any of them actually do. . . a lot of them play for team "capitalism" or team "my pocketbook" instead).

koolchicco:
Just after a couple of months? I wonder what she'd look like after one kid then.

Best to marry a skinny girl and fatten her up through pikin, I suspect

philip0906:
Until d authorities realise this,things will remain d way they are,but ironically,it will not affect the I.Q of d students who are living in d computer age

Speaking of which. . . I don't know what poor people feed their families in Nigeria, but if they eat too much garri and not enough vegetables, fruit, beans, protein and clean water, then you probably will not get great academic results. You need a quality balanced diet for overall physical health, development of the brain and human potential. Slightly off tangent, but I think important.

homerac7:
pedestrian perceptions of OBJ is not relevant on his competence as international envoy, rather his weight to influence desired result wt d parties involved. Didn't he influence d AU sponsored Abuja accord of Sudan warring parties dt gave birth to d document dt made d ongoing historical referendum possible?

Even d so much despised IBB Ws called in when d chips were down in Gambia few years ago and he did an excellent job.

OBJ is a senior man figure wt current west African figure who also is a contemporary in relative term of reign. He probably has first hand knowledge of events and closeness wt d people involved, hence his nomination and not Abubakar, IBB, Gowon, or other. But in d Gambia case, IBB Ws personal friend to d president there, and was so considered to b influential enough to step in as d envoy.

+1. I don't like OBJ as a Nigerian political figure and I almost believe he hates Yoruba people. But as an African or international figure, he is very, very good. People need to keep this in mind.

Pretty par for the course in fbook to add someone you just met, or don't know very well. I do it all the time (especially if a cute girl).

Up to you though, e no be by force

@Missy85, if you don't mind me asking, what are you? You seem too detribalized (unlike me, for example) for me to easily tell.

asha 80:
however is quite funny that in nigeria you learn more about europians than about ourselves and our histories at least in the early stagies of our education.

eg leafs that are regarded as medicinal in our immediate enviroment are not taught about to us so we can learn more about how they work and why they work but we seem to know about chloroquine when we are in primary school.

Err, the Europeans are WAYYY ahead of us. Even Singapore, Dubai that were behind us in 1960 are now way ahead of us. Why should we be staring at our own navels rather than spending time catching up? Let's leave sentiment aside and try to progress quickly.

fstranger1:
Well genius, the UK has a different curriculum from what the US

And the French curriculum is different from what is obtainable in other other western countries.

So yes, we can have a home grown curriculum designed for our peculiar need!

Why reinvent the wheel? Designing a good curriculum costs time and money. I'd just rather copy excellent curriculum from elsewhere, IMPLEMENT it properly, and spend my limited resources doing other stuff.

fstranger1:
Also the other thing is that should we switch to our indigenous language instead of using English language?


It doesnt seem as if we are making any head way with English language as the chosen medium of instruction.

I have a feeling that things would become more intuitive to students if they are taught and examined in their native language.

If anything, I want more English and more alignment with the West. Like, if I were in charge of education in Ekiti I'd scrap WAEC and replace it with the equivalent US standardized exams. Start preparing kids from a young age to do well on them, so that they can more easily go abroad for schooling. Weakening our progress in English in any way or form is almost suicidal, at this point.

Long story short though, I don't want this to be a lockstep sort of thing! Not trying to be tribalistic or something, but if somebody wants to abandon English and do things in his own language, that is his own business. Don't force me and my state, people to do the same. Let everybody decide for themselves what they want to do regarding education.

Nobody takes ezeuche seriously when he says he is speaking on behalf of the Ibibios, tho. At least, I don't.

There isn't really any dual nationality in Nigeria. You've got to pick one team (Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, etc) and stick with it.

alj harem1:
[so ezeuche that is half ibibio half igbo is accepted as igbo but me half kanuri half igbo, i am not accepted,,, what double standard is this

Descent is patrilineal in most societies. However, If you lived all your life in Igboland and viewed the world as most others do, I think you'd be accepted.

Unfortunately, you don't satisfy any of these requirements, so they don't consider you Igbo