₦airaland Forum

Gerrard59:
The numbers are negligible. That is the truth. But I am not surprised he is in the US - best place to thrive as a black professional. None comes close, not even sub-Saharan Africa.

Gerrard59 please i usually tell my friend about your posts and he needs your advice. He is a 25 year old software engineer working at access bank. Last week he just got visa to go to germany to study for masters. Now please advise him which option he should take. Option A: get a software job in germany since a lot of international companies there employ non-german speakers, learn the language there, integrate and get citizenship. Or option B: get a job there and visit usa during holidays in search of a woman to date and marry so he can quickly settle in usa.

Okunola Akolade was a good friend back then in oau the guy na bad programmer he was the best in Matlab c++ then. I think he just like lecturing he would v done well in the real world as well.

Well they are all Employees
Against the sermon of Entrepreneurship

Eriokanmi:
It's good to Japa but look for opportunities there and bring it back home. I graduated, top of my class in my time, also japad to school in America. I came back with opportunities and they keep adding up. Strive to be independent else, you'd end up building some else's empire and fortune with your precious time. A lot of members here are enjoying some of those benefits I brought home without noticing. I read of the most-recent one here, of which somebody posted a review and I smiled. If you want to japa on a schooling level, don't spend all your time schooling cos time waits for no man. As soon as you finish, get a job and grow on it. You fit do your PhD while working. If you wan be like us, search for opportunities and bring it back home.

Doing business in the Nigerian terrain could be tough but it still remains one of the greatest investment destinations in africa today. You can argue with the Chinese and Indians who keep thronging our land while the land owners are busy running away without any assurances of future.

I'm not saying this to support the government of the day. I hate them with passion. They're the reason we're this backward today. Instead of investing in the country they've wilfully destroyed, they're busy investing in Ghana, UAE, Malta, etc. If I say vote them out now, their hungry doggs will attack me as usual.

Sent you a PM.

Elidrisy20:
we have them is just that they don't show themselves, there's one Abba auwal of Kano state, who scores 9As in the 80s, they couldn't believe it, they send for him to come Lagos and re-write the exams, he wrote it and got 9As still, but currently he is in US

show themselves how? These people, did they show themselves?
The numbers are negligible

I don't know the source of this information, but this is not an exclusive list. I know people who had better results in 2009 than some on the list and didn't make it to the list.

This is motivating

Excellent result aids advances

May my pikin not be olodo like me Amin

Omo I just sighted my cousin 😀🤗.

A good number of them have left this country for us who F9 in Mathematics.

Hmm.

I spent some time this morning chatting with a friend and her young daughter.

I asked the daughter how she found her school and she said she didn't like it. She's going to JSS2 next academic year.

She talked about episodes of not getting enough food at the canteen, finding a fly or hair in their food. She said that that the quality of the food was poor.

She said that the students had been warned not to tell their parents anything negative but must make reports to stated officers.

She talked about the uncleanliness of the dining room which would only undergo deep cleaning when parents were expected.

She complained about a teacher who ended a term without taking eight topics and advised the class to read them on their own. And about teachers who would just come to the class to dictate notes.

Her mum said she wanted to talk to the school officials but her daughter asked her not to do it so she wouldn't be hounded.

As she listened to her child again, she said she would talk the religious body which owns the school without letting on that her daughter was involved. I told her it wouldn't work because they would know she got the information from an insider and would link it to her daughter.

This is a school which used to get the WAEC excellence awards. Things have deteriorated there even though their fees are very high, some of the highest in the country.

One must try to get updated on the situation in schools which they are interested in sending their children to and not rely on the messaging from schools.

Gerrard

This is when you consider that Android-enabled phones began proliferation in Nigeria around 2012 – 2014. What money cannot do, more money can do.

Money or more precisely CAPITAL, trumps all. Social or financial capital. This I know from personal experience. Nobody in my social circle had ever heard of FGC until a lady friend of my mothers brought a form to our house and said I was smart enough to take the Federal Common Entrance Exam. It was high risk too because my parents only had money to apply for ONE Common Entrance, so I had to choose between the State Common Entrance and the Federal Common Entrance. It was that close.

So I passed and did my secondary school at an FGC and scored seven A1s and one A3. Got direct admission to UNN but couldn't accept it due to money issues. By the way, I'm looking for my FGC school friend Tijani Lawani, a Kanuri from Borno State. He scored eight A1's on WAEC, yes he did. Last letter I got from him had him at ABU Zaria...I think that's the place.

I worked for 2 years in the USA before starting my university journey, took SAT and scored good enough that the top state school in my State, which is among the top 3 state Ivy, cold called me and offered admission without me even applying. Couldn't accept, again because of money issues...and due to lack of family experience and guidance. IGNORANCE is the opposite of CAPITAL

My journey and informed observation of the world around has confirmed to me that success is only the immediate visible results of long term family investment and progress over multiple generations. Same generation ascent from the lower class poverty to upper middle class is NOT a norm. A look at the backgrounds of famous musicians, athletes and business people can confirm it.

Secondly, the big failure about Nigerian high achievers is their lack of company creation. Na so so work for this big company or that. Indians are the same but goodness, look at the companies and economic value and DEVELOPMENT they've created.

I dare say Nigerian academic striving is like Nigerian religiosity. It's done to fulfill the requirements of the colonial system that captured us. Like I keep challenging Nigerians, ask your parents why you're Christians or Muslims, HOW or WHY your grandfather or whoever converted from their original tribal religion. There's little ability among these high achievers to create companies or improve their country. Like one of them told me....why would I do that, that one is too hard Come to think of it, their natural tribalism also means their patriotism is fake or non-existent.

Everyone needs a Jesus if you know what I mean. Maybe that's the real message of the gospel, who knows...and heaven is actually a big shopping mall.

ThothHermes:
The point of this thread is that good WAEC grades is somehow linked to a thriving career. This is not really true.

The students listed mostly attended schools like Loyola Jesuit and other highly ranked colleges. Most of them could also get out of the country immediately afterwards. Why? Their family background. Their parents placed a premium on academic achievement and/or were able to afford expensive schools and tertiary education abroad.
These students WAEC grades are an effect, not a cause. The cause is family background. If you can, try to find out about their siblings and you'll see that they are also academic and career high-fliers.
PS: An advantageous family background also opens you up to opportunities which will make it easier to get good jobs, especially in a country like ours.
A child born in Mushin to parents struggling to put food on the table and attending the government school around the corner is most likely never going to be able to accomplish this.

Thanks. You made the point better than me and my over personal stories. In fact I think at a certain level academic achievement is inversely proportional to wealth creation. The most successful person in my social circle didn't attend university yet employs over 30 people with university degrees. And he started his company while he was an illegal immigrant.

Good Luck to Nigeria.

Gerrard59:
Your signature says you are job hunting. Did something not tell you after reading through this thread that there is a link between having good grades and a thriving career? Those companies you admire, na people like these dey work for there. You can see it for yourself.

The point of this thread is that good WAEC grades is somehow linked to a thriving career. This is not really true.
The students listed mostly attended schools like Loyola Jesuit and other highly ranked colleges. Most of them could also get out of the country immediately afterwards. Why? Their family background. Their parents placed a premium on academic achievement and/or were able to afford expensive schools and tertiary education abroad.
These students WAEC grades are an effect, not a cause. The cause is family background. If you can, try to find out about their siblings and you'll see that they are also academic and career high-fliers.
PS: An advantageous family background also opens you up to opportunities which will make it easier to get good jobs, especially in a country like ours.
A child born in Mushin to parents struggling to put food on the table and attending the government school around the corner is most likely never going to be able to accomplish this.

Gerrard59:
My sympathies.

As it is, no country can compete with the Chinese in manufacturing, not even the West. They grudgingly admit it. The best is to go to China to buy those goods and sell them to Nigeria. As your capital increases, open a factory in China and sell to the world. Inverters, aka solar related? Bros, sorry, you cannot compete with the Chinese.

As for friends or government funding, see, this life na as you waka come. Your best bet is family and as income improves, friends and the banks will come in. Non-family members need to see workings, not just cho cho cho (no harm intended). My advice is to enter China and suspend any innovation or invention. The Chinese have LOCKED everything in solar manufacturing.

I agree with you about the cost of production in China been something miraculous. Where I'm investing is in the fact that by the time those goods arrive Nigeria, a 5kva inverter for instance that I can sell for 300k is sood for 600k. To be honest the inverters are a bit fine in appearance. But the working and efficiency is the same as what's imported. If Nigeria wants to move forward with this dollar naira exchange thing, then she must fully utilise her human resources by restricting the importation of things we can make locally. Nigeria can't be a dumping ground for everything and still be screaming dollars dollars dollars. And from the dynamics, the generation of educated and brilliant Nigerians are gradually thining out either by virtue if time or japa, this generation making millions from Yahoo, nfts and crypto have almost nothing to offer the international societies intellectually or technically. This means there is really no way the Nigeria ship will not sink within 50years. If you notice it, we are actually chatting on a page where scholars in waec and jamb are all abroad doing well. If they remained in this country, we would have seen taxi drivers and people whose careers or dream are buried in the mud among them. This is bad omen. In UK and Ireland in the past months, we are seeing trends and patterns that say that one day, our people will be turned away enmase from these places we are seeking refuge in. And we will be identified by our color. It happened in south Africa.

We are moving at an alarming speed towards the same state of affairs we see on the tv when countries like Somalia, Chad, NIGER or Kenya is shown. What in the name of God can redirect this boat?

Gerrard59:
COMMENTARY

Discussion:

1. In my previous research, I aimed at studying if there is a link between stellar grades at secondary school, university entry scores and stellar grades at tertiary level with a flourishing career. As clearly seen in this research, there seems to be straightforward path from high WASSCE grades to stellar performances at university level and a thriving career path. From 2009 – date is over a decade and almost two decades. This tells current secondary school students, guardians, well-wishers and parents that having stellar grades leads to an excellent life after school. Apparently, school is not scam as ignorantly peddled on social media. You can see it for yourself: raw facts and figures, not fats and figos.

Moreover, research into the top JAMB scorers in 2009 will provide more insight to know if these scholars scored high in JAMB. Basically, the aim is to find out if students who attained high grades in WAEC go on to perform excellently in JAMB. So, if a high proportion of WASSCE scholars go on to make a First Class in their university education and there is consistency, it means one’s WAEC scores can predict the person’s performance in the university ceteris-paribus.

As summarised by a Nairalander, Crofton, in the previous study: “most of the top JAMB candidates make excellent WAEC result, from time to time there are people who underperform in WAEC but do well in JAMB and vice versa, but usually top JAMB candidates are proven in their secondary schools already! ” This study and the previous one have proved him to be correct. Source: https://www.nairaland.com/7763389/top-jamb-scorers-where-today/2#124406607

2. While it is just a study rather than year-on-year studies, by comparing this with my previous research, it gradually solidifies my foundational thought that all things been equal: high WASSCE grades = excellent CGPAs = thriving career.

3. Loyola Jesuit College is Nigeria’s top secondary school!

Nice research and the kind of info that should be gracing the front page.
A lot of points in your commentary.
Sure, there's a correlated relationship between academic performance and a thriving career. Academic performance often serves as a foundational stepping stone towards a thriving career. Strong academic records typically demonstrate essential skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, and discipline. These qualities are highly valued in most professional settings.
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This tells current secondary school students, guardians, well-wishers and parents that having stellar grades leads to an excellent life after school

No, you're taking the comparison too far. Having stellar grades does not lead to an "excellent life" after school. There are many with good grades with poor life after school life. There are many of us who failed woefully in school but leads better life than those with stellar grades.
Excellent life have nothing to do with grades in school. It should be better put as "having stellar grades can lead to an excellent career" which I already stated above.

One point you should also note is the sample schools.
From the list, many of the schools are private schools. Loyola Jesuit College charges about N3 million as annual fees. Any parent who can afford that won't have problem sending his kids oversees for further studies.

Last year about 20 students of Dowen College were in Florida for vacation, this year about 10 students from Chrisland Schools were in Florida. There are many private schools where the students go on intl vacations annually. The truth is even with an average result from WAEC, it's not difficult going to school abroad when you have the financial means.

As I have preached relentlessly on Nairaland, the United States is the ONLY place where black professionals thrive and excel.

This is incorrect. Maybe you should rephrase your statement. There are thousands of black professionals who have thrive and excel in many different countries. There are many individuals who I personally know who thrive and have excelled outside of the US. In fact some have to leave the US to achieve a higher level of professional success.

IbeOkehie:
Gerrard

Money or more precisely CAPITAL, trumps all.

That's what the media wants everyone to believe. We're now living in the Information Age: Knowledge is Power. Access to information is a powerful tool for success. It allows people to make informed decisions, innovate, and stay competitive in various fields. My success is not because I'm smart or brilliant but I took advantages of opportunities that were available to me. Between 2012 and 2014, a friend and I assisted over a hundred Nigerian students gain admission to a uni in Illinois. Some years ago Amazon & Google were looking for Nigeria developers to sponsor and I assisted 4 individuals. That was possible through information and these were like a dream come true for these individuals. I always tell everyone "be prepared so that you can take advantage of opportunities when they arise"

ThothHermes:
The point of this thread is that good WAEC grades is somehow linked to a thriving career. This is not really true.
The students listed mostly attended schools like Loyola Jesuit and other highly ranked colleges. Most of them could also get out of the country immediately afterwards. Why? Their family background. Their parents placed a premium on academic achievement and/or were able to afford expensive schools and tertiary education abroad.
These students WAEC grades are an effect, not a cause. The cause is family background. If you can, try to find out about their siblings and you'll see that they are also academic and career high-fliers.
PS: An advantageous family background also opens you up to opportunities which will make it easier to get good jobs, especially in a country like ours.
A child born in Mushin to parents struggling to put food on the table and attending the government school around the corner is most likely never going to be able to accomplish this.

You made a valid point which I also wanted the OP to recognize. There is a corelated relation between academic success and career success but the equation changes when you look at the relationship between academic success and business success. Just like IbeOkehia stated above a dropout can create jobs for the brilliant minds.
With respect to poor families, the easiest way to attain some level of financial success is through academic/business success.

Duplicate

studyless123:
That's what the media wants everyone to believe. We're now living in the Information Age: Knowledge is Power. Access to information is a powerful tool for success. It allows people to make informed decisions, innovate, and stay competitive in various fields. My success is not because I'm smart or brilliant but I took advantages of opportunities that were available to me. Between 2012 and 2014, a friend and I assisted over a hundred Nigerian students gain admission to a uni in Illinois. Some years ago Amazon & Google were looking for Nigeria developers to sponsor and I assisted 4 individuals. That was possible through information and these were like a dream come true for these individuals. I always tell everyone "be prepared so that you can take advantage of opportunities when they arise"

You made a valid point which I also wanted the OP to recognize. There is a corelated relation between academic success and career success but the equation changes when you look at the relationship between academic success and business success. Just like IbeOkehia stated above a dropout can create jobs for the brilliant minds.
With respect to poor families, the easiest way to attain some level of financial success is through academic/business success.

All those people you helped is an example of social capital. I even wrote emphatically above that "Ignorance is the opposite of Capital" I suspect you just read the first line of the comment and posted your response. You missed some nuance.

What you wrote about the possibilities of the information age is very correct though. Many top musicians and actors got where they are by leveraging on the social & financial capital of family experience. However, the availability of instant mass communication enables contestants on say, American Idol or even independent Youtube musicians to leap into great success without having any such "capital".

It's all good. What matters is the long run outcomes for collectives.

Good Luck to Nigerians.

If you like, continue to say school na scam! Education is a great equalizer. Due to competition, you just have to stand out!

IbeOkehie:
All those people you helped is an example of social capital. I even wrote emphatically above that "Ignorance is the opposite of Capital" I suspect you just read the first line of the comment and posted your response. You missed some nuance.

What you wrote about the possibilities of the information age is very correct though. Many top musicians and actors got where they are by leveraging on the social & financial capital of family experience. However, the availability of instant mass communication enables contestants on say, American Idol to leap into great success without having any such "capital".

It's all good though. What matters is the long run outcomes for collectives.

Good Luck to Nigerians.

You're on point. You always wish Good luck, I wish you the very best as well.

Motivating update.

Gerrard59:
4. The majority were women! Women everywhere!!!! Talk about beauty and brains!! Twale to Nigerian women! I love you all! 23 out of 37 = more than 60%!

5. While Medicine (7) has always been a popular course, engineering (11) and business/economics (9) disciplines overshadowed it. In my previous study, the popularity of Medicine also waned over successive years. However, further research will be needed to solidify this as a fact and to know why. On the other hand, only one person pursued a degree and career path in Law. Another Nairalander, Sreamsense, had this to say about my previous research: “This your research means engineering remains most highly intelligent and brilliant students at JAMB/WAEC level despite dealing with harder subject combinations even a bit higher than that of medicine; many brilliant (first five/six) students you listed here on yearly basis end up studying engineering and related courses like computer and cyber security” Source: https://www.nairaland.com/7763389/top-jamb-scorers-where-today/4#124410579 Again, this study has proven him to be correct.

6. Nigeria has good schools. I say this because one of the reasons we have had a growing proportion of Nigerians relocating, aka japa, is because “they want to secure their children’s education” or as those in the UK peddle “they want to offer their children good education”. Sorry, but from what I have seen so far (this research aside), I dare say it is better you enrol your child in an above average private school in Nigeria than a state school in the UK. The majority of these Nigerians, presumably, can afford an above average private school in Nigeria, but cannot or would find it difficult to do the same for Private or Public Schools in the same UK. So, the belief that the free education the child receives in a state school in the UK is better than the above average private school in Nigeria is falsified. The best schools in the UK are private and public, both of which are expensive for the average immigrant and very selective. For those who might not understand the differences between state, private and public schools in the UK. Here is an excerpt:
“State schools are funded by the government and adhere to the national curriculum. There are no fees, and all children aged 5 to 18 in the UK are entitled to a place at such a school. Private schools, also referred to as independent schools, do not receive money from the government and instead fund themselves through school tuition fees paid for each pupil. The term ‘public school’ can cause some confusion as, outside of the UK, it is used to describe state schools funded by the government. In the UK, public schools are the most prestigious private schools: Eton and Harrow being among some of the most famous examples. All public schools are private schools, but not all private schools are public schools” Source: https://stpetersprep.co.uk/news/what-difference-state-public-private-schools/
In fact, what I will advise these parents in the UK to do is to conduct your research into the top schools to know how many black children born and bred in the UK attend these schools. So, for instance, go to Imperial College, seek to know the background of the black students at undergraduate level. If the majority are directly from Africa and elsewhere but the UK, it means something is not right with the education black children who reside in the country receive. Replicate this study across the other top schools. Focus on Russell Group of Universities (Shey you said you left Nigeria because of your children’s future?) 🙄

7. Again, the church has proven ab initio that it owns and manages the best schools in Nigeria. From my previous research and the picture about the schools with the top WASSCE scores in 2016, the church has shown that they produce the most academically brilliant students in the country. This is the same in the US, especially for Jesuit Colleges. Expectedly, church owned schools in the abroad are significantly more expensive than regular schools and more expensive than fellow private schools. See why I said those in the UK have to think twice about the “free education” their children receive? In fact, to japa folks, if you cannot afford the top secondary schools in the abroad, I implore you to send them to Nigeria, especially at above average secondary schools whose names are shown in my studies. Special shout-out to the Catholic Church and Winners Chapel. The Bishop @ Ota is doing something right! Equally, the reverends are also good at what they do, literally for a living.

8. Covenant University is Nigeria’s top private university, no ifs or buts! I stated the same in my previous research and even mentioned how I predicted its rise.

Yes oh. Let’s invest and encourage our girls to study stem and other good course… if a girl is well equipped intellectually and financially… demand for urgent 2k will reduce

Brilliant minds and wonderful achievements... padi padi doings will not let them have good and meaninful competitors in indistries by now. Then you complain of brain drain!

lorhema:
Hmm.

I spent some time this morning chatting with a friend and her young daughter.

I asked the daughter how she found her school and she said she didn't like it. She's going to JSS2 next academic year.

She talked about episodes of not getting enough food at the canteen, finding a fly or hair in their food. She said that that the quality of the food was poor.

She said that the students had been warned not to tell their parents anything negative but must make reports to stated officers.

She talked about the uncleanliness of the dining room which would only undergo deep cleaning when parents were expected.

She complained about a teacher who ended a term without taking eight topics and advised the class to read them on their own. And about teachers who would just come to the class to dictate notes.

Her mum said she wanted to talk to the school officials but her daughter asked her not to do it so she wouldn't be hounded.

As she listened to her child again, she said she would talk the religious body which owns the school without letting on that her daughter was involved. I told her it wouldn't work because they would know she got the information from an insider and would link it to her daughter.

This is a school which used to get the WAEC excellence awards. Things have deteriorated there even though their fees are very high, some of the highest in the country.

One must try to get updated on the situation in schools which they are interested in sending their children to and not rely on the messaging from schools.

Quite sad!

Why no mention the name of this particular school, I am interested. Don't worry, you have no fear, it's an anonymous forum