MyGeneration:

If you are an engineer you are one, nobody dae drag am with u. But anybody can be a banker even someone who studied sociology go date drag banking work with u. If banking degree is that useless then what's the use

Shut up

Engineer wey no get workshop, dat one na engineer?

vezycash:



Write a program to sort these items in alphabetical order, "salt, grain, money, buhari" - Why on earth should I do this? Most languages have sorting, encryption, graphics libraries in built. Teach me how to use them and I'll be able to be self employed or quickly get a job after school.

To get a job at Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook et al, you will have to do something like this on a whiteboard not a computer.

Electricboy:



how did you work things out ?? did you travel abroad ?? no further info

Abroad, no. I Started investing in self education . Started hustling legitimately and saving . I suffered bro.
But now, i work once in a week and make 200k n above monthly . Will double soon if i start up my third business by nxt month .

vezycash:


Wrong. We teach old out dated stuff. And even that old one, we don't teach well. I follow foreign curricula and read discussions by foreign students almost every week. The difference is like Heaven and Earth.

The fault's not solely our Universities. Our primary and Secondary schooling is mediocre. Both pupils, students and their teachers are D- levels. The amount of mark padding going on in our private schools is legendary.

You make many valid points but then ruin the whole thing by defending the culture of excuse-giving that madridsta007 has consistently and rightly criticized.

bluefilm:


Shut up

Engineer wey no get workshop, dat one na engineer?

Lots of people are ranting here who should be listening and learning. Who told you an engineer has to have a workshop? Are you mixing him up with a technician or a technologist?!

CodeTemplar:
1. To start with, Engineering is largely design oriented and not building or development as people like to claim.

2. The Nigerian University system is set up to produce research focused or academic focused graduates and most practical Knowledge we ignorantly ask for from the university system is suppose to be acquired in polytechnics and Tech Colleges.

3. Your lecturers too were taught theories and don't expect them to teach you practicals even if they put in extra effort to get the practical knowledge they posses themselves.

4. the university isn't a place for practical focused skill acquisition. Polytechnics and technical Colleges are.

5. The average Nigerian is delusional and expects too be spoonfed with great ideas and their implementations. As engineers, they give you a knowledge of engineering principles and it is left for you to use your imagination to create things out of the principles you have learnt. In accounting, student are taught its principles and nobody takes them to a real life accounting dept to work, It is up to you to figure out what goes in where as you work with those principles.

wow...this is the most intelligent reply sofar....
thank you somuch......
most people confuse engineers with technicians and site foremen....

MyGeneration:
The worst scam is banking and finance.

The fact that I am getting enough likes says a lot, I wonder why in some jobs only engineers are allowed to apply, only people with law degrees are allowed to be lawyers, only people who read medicine are allowed to be medical doctors and lawyers.

But come to the bank engineer is working as banker, even medical doctors, even psychology. Then what's the use of the banking degree. I find this totally unacceptable.

Banking and finance is not just a scam its almost use less in Nigeria

That is why the economy ain't growing.. an engineer running financial feasibility study for business plans, credit /loan worthiness of individual and corporate entities? A psychology graduate concocting numbers from nowhere to give investment advise to customers (entrepreneurs) based on gut feeling? Financial ratio, money/capital market analysis are abandoned just to approve loans based on "Oga said we should prepare the check for customer A, receive deposit from Customer B" that is why the economy is fv..ked up


If u don't know these things u simply can't apply it in the real world

Those engineers working in the banks are just tellers, or paper pushers, they and those who employed them don't know what they are doing

Jiang:


You keep degrading ur own people, just provide half the opportunity this Wilson kid has to Nigerian teenagers & students, am absolutely sure 30% of them will surpass his achievements. If you think Nigerians make nothing but excuses & aren't willing to learn, then you are obviously surrounded by d wrong kind of people. 3 out of every 10 Nigerian is willing to go to any length to learn. That's why immediately they leave d country, they even outshined d whites

The level of ignorance here is appalling. Where did you get your stats from? I teach for a living. I have taught engineering for decades. Your stats are complete hogwash, and I wonder why you're trumpeting them so confidently.

OGHENAOGIE:
what u have shown here is a working system.... d issue is our foundational process of education primary secondary dat ought to be top notch is in shambles...lets face it...with a good secondary and at most ist degree or diploma one should be able to stand any ground and do big things...someday we has to reset this country or the country will reset itself....after d saturation point....

I pray for your generation. You guys have this "Entitlement" mentality.
They should give me. They should give me...
-
You need to change that mentality .
My wife was born in Okokomaiko, in Lagos. The bullsh1t capital of Nigeria.
She went to a bullsh1t school with bullsh1t everything. And their bullsh1t teacher told all of them that they are all stupid and foolish and all of them will end up useless in life.
My wife, then a little girl decided to start reading all her books. She purchased the prospectus of primary school and read all the books complete without waiting for teacher. No NEPA, no phone . no TV. She began scoring first position in class.

She used the same tactic in secondary school. Purchase the prospectus, gather the books, buy from market, collect from senior students. Read all. First position

She did the same for University.... She got 2.1 because her department didn't want to give her 1st class.

She joined UAC and was doing food quality inspection.. She's a a food tech graduate.
Somebody told her about scholarship for masters. She browsed the site and submitted her documents. And they gave her. €33,000 scholarship in Europe
..
Remember, her parents are still living in Okomomaiko the bullsh1t neighborhood.

She travelled yo Europe, and did the masters. And saved the money.

I knew here from Nigeria University. Before she travelled. I was overseas when when came there. We look ourself, informed our parents and married in UK.
-
Guy, stop expecting government to do.anything for you.
Find your level. With God all things are possible.
-
You need to be focused in this life and prayerful to God. Not just giving excuses everytime. Do your part, God will send help to you when it is needed.

AgreatMan:


The op is angry, n I get it too. He thinks he doesn't know shit, but he knows a lot. D problem is that we go to school thinking we will suddenly become knowledgeable after graduation but it is far from it. It is not same in Western world too. All new recruits still have to be retrained even of they were genious in uni.

I studied engineering too, n yeah, I probably don't remember most of what I learned in undergraduate. But if I get into a problem, I know how to solve it. It doesn't mean I will get my hands dirty to fix d issue, but I will fix it directly or indirectly. This I believe is the main essence of engineering, problem solving.

Take me for example, there is a possibility I might further my education later this year. I know I will need calculus but I don't remember any calculus from University. Will it be right to say because I didn't remember calculus my uni failed me? Nope. I only need to buy a calculus textbook, watch YouTube or even pay for udemy n my brain will be back as new regarding that subject.

In truth, things can be better if we have facilities n internet n electricity. But every year, thousands of our engineering graduates go for further studies abroad. A lot r employed abroad. If our institution were so messed up as he paints it, why r those schools n companies opening their doors to our graduates?

you just proved my point, your way of thinking is typical or most elite Nigerians, i never said what we are learning useless.. what is the point in learning so much theory without being able to do anything with it?
Knowing something is important, being able to apply it of the upmost importance
Should we go to school only to discuss thermodynamics or bernoulli principles ?
You can learn problem solving skill by playing chess, or solving puzzles etc
Why should we go to school, spend so much sleepless night FOR FIVE FVCKING YEARS only to learn problem solving skills. If that is your purpose for studying, trust me, there are easier ways to do it.

proffemi:


The level of ignorance here is appalling. Where did you get your stats from? I teach for a living. I have taught engineering for decades. Your stats are complete hogwash, and I wonder why you're trumpeting them so confidently.

Ah. My brother, don't go there oooooo, they will soon attack you ooooo
The average Nigerian is a statistician
They concoct numbers and percentage from nowhere to drive home their points... it's becoming a norm for Nigerians online to use stats based on gut feeling to impress others... real ignorance that stinks to high heavens

vezycash:


Stop talking nonsense. China had useless universities like ours for decades and 60 million of them starved to DEATH. What changed the country is practical. And by that i mean this:

Before USA brought factories to China, a family earned the equivalent of $1 per year. So the chinese people were eager to work for $1-$5 per month. Sweet deal for Chinese.

By working in factories, designing things, welding, soldering, packaging... on actual, real products, many people of them got practical skills for building their own products.

Summary, many of these inventive chinese know absolutely NO THEORY as to why and how their stuff works. It's when their companies becomes BIG enough that they hire theorists to come help out. Heck, Chinese companies simply break open competing products, look for the parts and recreate it. Zero theory involved.

how dare you call chinese universities useless? Why do you blame their universities for the starvation of their citizens? Is that not stupidity. If they got practical skills by working in factories, are Nigerians not working in factories? Why are they not getting the skills? If you read and understand my argument, you would know the difference between transfering an abstract concept to practical reality and learning how something is made. They are two different things. Thats why in china, they can 'photocopy' a range rover because they know the theories that define how a range rover is built. The chinese not only got the theory but knew how to transfer it to practical. Go and read IEEE papers every paper written by the chinese is heavily theoretical, even my chinese buddies would tell you the only religion they know is mathematics.

Dothraki:
please go back and read my article. The system is fvcked up.
It is impossible for anyone to implement anything. University or polytechnic
You get put so much theories to your head your brain will discard everything since you are not taught how to implent it.

Its like pouring water to a basket, the moment you finish exam, everything is gone in your head..
An average graduate does not remember anything, what is the point of learning if you are going to forget it all at the end of the day?
People that think like you are Nigerian problem.
There is need to reform the educational system in nigeria..
We are not even talking about making innovation..
Lets just be copying what developed nation are doing.. let us be manufacturing substandard phones, tv and all. One day we will get there..just like china did.

There is need for reformation. How can anyone defend the old and outdated stuffs we learn in Nigerian universities.....

You are part of Nigerias problem. Honestly

you are very wrong,
engineers need more theories than practical.....when i hear people say ''we need practical not theory"... i just laff at their ignorance.
i did my masters in structural eng from UCL and we were not taught something diff from what we learnt here in nigeria.
we know some of of oyr lecturers can be lazy, but to say we are being taught old theories is pure ignorance.
knowledge is continous, so there is need for constant improvement, what u learn from 1st degree is more like an intro, u need to specialize(choosing an area of specualization).

for instance when u study civil engineering as a 1st degree, you will be introduced to
1. structural engineering
2. highway engineering
3. geotechnical engineering
4. railway and tunnel engineering
5. hydraulic and offshore engineerng
6. geoinformatic.... and so on, it is left for you to specialize.

Everything in naija issa scam

ogbonti:


Ah. My brother, don't go there oooooo, they will soon attack you ooooo
The average Nigerian is a statistician
They concoct numbers and percentage from nowhere to drive home their points... it's becoming a norm for Nigerians online to use stats based on gut feeling to impress others... real ignorance that stinks to high heavens

This thread itself is an appropriate microcosm of Nigerian engineering education. The ones who need to learn the most are the once who defend their misconceptions and ignorance the most, while spewing all manners of excuses. Right on this thread, I have read up to three posts from actual people who passed through the so-called scam system and then traveled abroad. If the point was education, the ranters here have enough to learn from right here, but nope, they'd rather *not* learn, and give excuses instead.

That is the story of education in Nigeria for you.

charliboy654:

Me n you dey the same boat, I started coding immediately I graduated, I regretted ever studying electrical electronics engineering, such a waste of time, planning on how to further in computer science related course.

I

Dollywood:
Educational system in Nigeria is trash, u only learn theories. In here we only read and study for grades don't expect much.. The country is backward the best way is to study engineering aboard for more outstanding practical knowledge. Pray for Nigeria

dat depend on you.....there are people who read to understand.
if you have done your masters degree, u will understand that it is your responsibility to study and research, what the lecturers do is to give u d scope and introductions.......u r not a baby that will be taught step by step .

maishai:


I guess you are are a bit knowledgeble in structures..WE ARE in the digital age...Take any good Course eg STATICS and Dynamics, go online to youtube, coursera and EDx, You will be amazed with the availability of top quality free lectures from the best professors in the world..... It is not far from what is taught in the walls of IFE, Nsukka and UNILAG...........

You may be right. However, one thing you may have forgotten is this: With most Nigerian lecturers, those who successfully copy and paste what the lecturer thought them pass. Those who do oversabi and add their extra have issues. And this happens even in private universities.

That's the reality of our situation.

maishai:

You mentioned bridges, Do you know that some of the most beautiful problems solved in engineering are not mega structures, check out your spanner, the bolt and nut, screws, threading........This are the basics,the first principles, they are ugly and boring but they make the gigantic structures thick

You're right about the little tools - I'm yet to hear of any engineering class in the country doing metal works - you know, basic engineering. HP started as a tool maker.

As for making excuses for the useless theories universities give answer this:

Out of the following three students, who will become able to drive a car at the end of their schooling:

The who has read all about cars, knows the theory behind driving, can name the car parts, understands the role of friction, injection motors, drag, heat...

OR

The one who is seated in the passenger seat and ONLY watches as the instructor drives and knows some theory behind cars.

OR

The one who knows nothing about car theory. Seats on the driver seat, starts the car and drives with the instructor seated by his side?

nullboss:
Which uni teaches cyber security?

FUT Minna

jesmond3945:
how dare you call chinese universities useless? Why do you blame their universities for the starvation of their citizens? Is that not stupidity. If they got practical skills by working in factories, are Nigerians not working in factories? Why are they not getting the skills? If you read and understand my argument, you would know the difference between transfering an abstract concept to practical reality and learning how something is made. They are two different things. Thats why in china, they can 'photocopy' a range rover because they know the theories that define how a range rover is built. The chinese not only got the theory but knew how to transfer it to practical. Go and read IEEE papers every paper written by the chinese is heavily theoretical, even my chinese buddies would tell you the only religion they know is mathematics.

Simple english. All their knowledge was useless before americans brought factories over. On the topic of factories, how many factories do they have in Shenzhen alone, not to talk of the whole china. As for their math skill, they had the same math ability before Americans came over and that didn't help them produce anything.

As for photocopying range rover, if I gave covenant university + OAU + Unilag + Uniben five good years, they wouldn't be able to do the same thing.

CodeTemplar:
1. To start with, Engineering is largely design oriented and not building or development as people like to claim.

2. The Nigerian University system is set up to produce research focused or academic focused graduates and most practical Knowledge we ignorantly ask for from the university system is suppose to be acquired in polytechnics and Tech Colleges.

3. Your lecturers too were taught theories and don't expect them to teach you practicals even if they put in extra effort to get the practical knowledge they posses themselves.

4. the university isn't a place for practical focused skill acquisition. Polytechnics and technical Colleges are.

5. The average Nigerian is delusional and expects too be spoonfed with great ideas and their implementations. As engineers, they give you a knowledge of engineering principles and it is left for you to use your imagination to create things out of the principles you have learnt. In accounting, student are taught its principles and nobody takes them to a real life accounting dept to work, It is up to you to figure out what goes in where as you work with those principles.

My friend, the system has its flaws. Quite a whole lot don't know exactly why we integrate. Many don't know why we change from time to frequency domain and vice versa. A lot more don't even know the direct application of Laplace, Fourier and Z-transform. Our lecturers bore the hell out of us with these things we can relate with. We write the curl of E in electromagnet wave theory but what exactly is that?

That you design doesn't exonerate from know the operations of a project. In fact, We only design after we've understood, holistically, how the system should operate. In essence, you can can't design and supervise a project you lack basic knowledge of. It will fail. That explains a lot about the quality of our graduates.

People who were never on the field should not be allowed to lecture.

Let me tell you, i graduated not long ago with 2.1
I am far from lazy. I work 16~19 hours a day.
I am sure i make more money than most of you who are calling me lazy, i live in my own house and drive a 2014 venza.

Not here to brag but, lt pained me so badly because i will never be able to use 90% of what i have learned in university.
All those sleepless night, night classes, mosquitoe bites and all only to obtain some piece of paper that my brain have already discard what i have learned

There is no technological innovation from Nigeria, most of the design job(the main reason why we go to school ) will be given to foreigners, yet people will still come here and still defend it. Its a game over for nigeria.
We cant even replicate foreign innovations let alone develop one for ourselves.
No wonder universities keep shurning out more graduate than the market can ever take

Anyways i am glad i realized the uselessness by 400l and i am glad i looked for alternative instead of depending on the failed system.

Peace

jesmond3945:
how dare you call chinese universities useless? Why do you blame their universities for the starvation of their citizens? Is that not stupidity. If they got practical skills by working in factories, are Nigerians not working in factories? Why are they not getting the skills? If you read and understand my argument, you would know the difference between transfering an abstract concept to practical reality and learning how something is made. They are two different things. Thats why in china, they can 'photocopy' a range rover because they know the theories that define how a range rover is built. The chinese not only got the theory but knew how to transfer it to practical. Go and read IEEE papers every paper written by the chinese is heavily theoretical, even my chinese buddies would tell you the only religion they know is mathematics.

Simple English HAD. And you're a product of Nigerian education system - see?


All their knowledge was useless before americans brought factories over. On the topic of factories, how many factories do they have in Shenzhen alone, not to talk of the whole china vs. how many in Nigeria?


As for their math skill, they had the same math ability before Americans came over and that didn't help them produce anything.

Google "Great leap forward" and "Hundred Days' Reform," "Hundred Flowers Campaign," and other disastrous and stupid reforms their theory focused government did until the Americans came.

jesmond3945:

The chinese not only got the theory but knew how to transfer it to practical.

By your logic, Nigerians should be able to achieve the same thing cos we have the theory. So why do they have knowledge transfer and we don't?

Maj196:
I studied civil engineering and i lost the zeal when i got to 200L... The only time i enjoyed d course was during my IT in Julius Berger. Now am fully into computer programming and am loving it

Boss!!! We happen to be from thesame field. I really want to know this programming stuff. I've started with python but find it very daunting.. Any advice for me..

The Nigerian educational system has a teaching problem, not a curriculum problem.

For engineering, the basics haven't changed. The laws of motion, thermodynamics and co are still the same as it was in the past.

The maths (Vector analysis, Differential equations are still the same). The problem with the system is we are taught to pass, not taught to know so over the years, the system has graduated people who "know" things but don't know the value of those things.

As someone who has studied in Nigeria and outside Nigeria, I can tell you authoritatively that there are folks who study computer science in the West that don't know how to code. I know this because I did assignments for them.


The Nigerian educational system is a slave - master relationship
between students and lecturers why in the West, its more of a family relationship( I had a lecturer in the UK who wanted me to collaborate on a research with her. ) Whenever I was stuck in my project, my UK supervisor would tell me to go have fun (clubbing, get drunk) because all work and no play wasn't good for me.


We do need to update some of the curriculum, but it not as drastic as the op is making it out to be but the real change needs to be in teaching methods.

uuzba:

I pray for your generation. You guys have this "Entitlement" mentality.
They should give me. They should give me...
-
You need to change that mentality .
My wife was born in Okokomaiko, in Lagos. The bullsh1t capital of Nigeria.
She went to a bullsh1t school with bullsh1t everything. And their bullsh1t teacher told all of them that they are all stupid and foolish and all of them will end up useless in life.
My wife, then a little girl decided to start reading all her books. She purchased the prospectus of primary school and read all the books complete without waiting for teacher. No NEPA, no phone . no TV. She began scoring first position in class.

She used the same tactic in secondary school. Purchase the prospectus, gather the books, buy from market, collect from senior students. Read all. First position

She did the same for University.... She got 2.1 because her department didn't want to give her 1st class.

She joined UAC and was doing food quality inspection.. She's a a food tech graduate.
Somebody told her about scholarship for masters. She browsed the site and submitted her documents. And they gave her. €33,000 scholarship in Europe
..
Remember, her parents are still living in Okomomaiko the bullsh1t neighborhood.

She travelled yo Europe, and did the masters. And saved the money.

I knew here from Nigeria University. Before she travelled. I was overseas when when came there. We look ourself, informed our parents and married in UK.
-
Guy, stop expecting government to do.anything for you.
Find your level. With God all things are possible.
-
You need to be focused in this life and prayerful to God. Not just giving excuses everytime. Do your part, God will send help to you when it is needed.

That's the story of ur wife, everyone might not be lucky as she was. Saying we shouldn't expect things from govt is totally wrong. Are we animals, don't we pay tax, demanding our right from govt to make life easier is not a crime. Or in the UK that u are, govt don't provide basic amenities for her citizen?

BananaTree:

My friend, the system has its flaws. Quite a whole lot don't know exactly why we integrate. Many don't know why we change from time to frequency domain and vice versa. A lot more don't even know the direct application of Laplace, Fourier and Z-transform. Our lecturers bore the hell out of us with these things we can relate with. We write the curl of E in electromagnet wave theory but what exactly is that?

Your teacher ought to make the links for you, but lets accept for the sake of argument that he didn't. What stops you from helping yourself the way some students do? What do you do on YouTube?What about the dozens of free MOOC resources on the subject online?

Dothraki:
please go back and read my article. The system is fvcked up.
It is impossible for anyone to implement anything. University or polytechnic
You get put so much theories to your head your brain will discard everything since you are not taught how to implent it.

Its like pouring water to a basket, the moment you finish exam, everything is gone in your head..
An average graduate does not remember anything, what is the point of learning if you are going to forget it all at the end of the day?
People that think like you are Nigerian problem.
There is need to reform the educational system in nigeria..
We are not even talking about making innovation..
Lets just be copying what developed nation are doing.. let us be manufacturing substandard phones, tv and all. One day we will get there..just like china did.

There is need for reformation. How can anyone defend the old and outdated stuffs we learn in Nigerian universities.....

You are part of Nigerias problem. Honestly

My dear we don't even understand the theorise in-depth, if you do , then you will know how practical the theorise are, am not talking of cramming.

Dothraki:
Engineering undergraduates study old theories from Way past generation, that is of little relevance to modern engineering. The university system teach so many calculation, and almost nothing on how to apply these mathematics to solve real life problems.

Many of theories learned aren't useless jargon, since we arent taught how to praticalise most of those knowledge, 99.99% of all engineering graduate would have forgotten what they learned by the time they graduate.
We only remember what is useful to us, what help us get through, or things we do constantly. Everything else, our brain trashes it.

Its quiet disturbing Most of the engineering student only read to pass. Which makes one question, are we in school only to pass some paper? If so, modern technology would not have existed at all.
Our primary purpose of studying engineering is to apply scientific discoveries to solve practical problems in the society. But unfortunately the system only made us to study only for grade.
Without practicing what we learn our brain will eventually discard everything as useless

An average engineering graduate does not remember 90% of what he learned in five years, I tried to go through some of my jottings from 300l, i was suprised because it all seem strange to me.. i couldn't remember a thing from the calculations l did with my own hand. A friend of my who have have a very much good grade have the same experience.

Apart from the abstractions of studying engineering in nigeria, most of the curriculum is old, we spent so much time studying theories that should be thought as a mere history. No wonder there havent been any groundbreaking engineering achievement from Nigerian universities

Majority of the engineering jobs that involve applying engineering maneuver will be given to foreigners. Innoson motor employs foreigners to do All of its engineering design, our Nigerian graduate work as if they are
mere technician. Engineering graduate will never apply most of the theories they learn at school. lot of our graduate who are lucky to find job in engineering companies work as a maintenance engineer. Whenever they need new designs or innovation, they hire foreigners to do the job, this is quite sad in my opinion. They have made mockery of 5 years of lifes. Quite sad

Honestly, u are the problem of Nigeria. The theories you are taught here is the same thing obtainable in any universities worldwide. I'm an Engineer & I'll be sincere ...many Nigerian students are lazy probably because of poverty or perhaps the urge for instant gratification(flexing & yahoo). they don't want to learn. As a matter of fact, they want to be spoon fed. Go back to those theories u so hate & start looking at them if u av forgotten because u need alot of them if u want to be an engineer

obailala:
I am a qualified and experienced engineer who studied in Nigeria for 5 years, did a 1 year masters overseas and I currently work overseas. The truth is that there's no difference between me and my colleagues who were born and who schooled abroad.

A lot of Nigerians harbour this defeatist idea that they only teach (useless) engineering principles in Nigerian universities and nothing more; this mindset also causes so many of us to lose confidence in ourselves and lose our self worth. I had this mentality also, but when I left the shores of Nigeria to work overseas, I got to realise that those so called 'useless' principles I was taught in my Nigerian university days is exactly what they teach people all over the world. Every other knowledge and skill you add to your portfolio is based on personal effort and proactiveness; you get to be a proper engineer, not by what you are taught in school, but rather by the experiences you gain on the job.

In summary, nobody is really taught to be an engineer in school, you are only taught principles; it is then left to you to make the best out of those principles.

Best I have read here.

vezycash:


Stop talking nonsense. China had useless universities like ours for decades and 60 million of them starved to DEATH. What changed the country is practical. And by that i mean this:

Before USA brought factories to China, a family earned the equivalent of $1 per year. So the chinese people were eager to work for $1-$5 per month. Sweet deal for Chinese.

By working in factories, designing things, welding, soldering, packaging... on actual, real products, many people of them got practical skills for building their own products.

Summary, many of these inventive chinese know absolutely NO THEORY as to why and how their stuff works. It's when their companies becomes BIG enough that they hire theorists to come help out. Heck, Chinese companies simply break open competing products, look for the parts and recreate it. Zero theory involved.

why i strongly disagree with you on the point that the theory knowledge is a scam
I agree with you on the Chinese method , for decades the Chinese did not learn any theory, they learn engineering exactly the way u describe it over there , it is the reason why for decades and till now there are plenty plenty fake product all come from none other than China , and because the Chinese does not understand the theoretical aspect that made up the product , the product don't usually last and always fail very quickly , however overtime the Chinese has gone Back to drawing board and are now master of the theory themselves , thou first learning the practical gives them an edge , as u can see there are plenty smart led tv on jumia costing a fraction of the same size lg or Samsung ... same with phones , u will even see a nameless Chinese phone with a dam 32 gig internal memory for fraction of it's price

while practical has made China a haven for tech developments theory ha made USA and EUROPE paradise for tech developments , look at Nokia (former Nokia in the days of java and symbian) they are rock solid product from finland in Europe , and other american product HP , DELL, APPLE , MICROSOFT, IBM , INTEL, AMD TEXAS INSTRUMENT ,their rise to success is theory not practical , however following the american way is a very tough problem

the same Pascal and fortran and assembly language u were been thought now as a computer science student is same that bill gate and Larry page and Steve job were thought , they added C and C++ to it , JAVA was not taught in American University until the 21st century meaning that those guys learn it on their own and use it to do something great like Android apps and enterprise application,

they use C and C++ to develop operating system all from the student ingenuity and not something that was taught in school

why the same is hard to replicate in Nigeria is the bad leadership and economic condition

I assure you if bill gate was worrying about what to eat , where to charge his laptop, how to have access to a computer , electric light to read and practice his idea instead of candle , there is high chance we will not have Microsoft window today

simply put , the Nigeria student has so much to worry about that leaving very little of his brain to worry about innovation

the economy and the leadership is the problem not the theory
if u can afford a laptop without breaking bank or suffering for the next three month , afford internet connection , no electrical worries , as student , u should have given us African version of Google

srrrr:

I'm facing same issue. I'm studying electrical/electronics too and it's like I've wasted 3 years of my life and 2 more to come. I want to go into some advanced courses like data science, machine learning and AI, but it will take years to learn.
So I came up with a plan to learn some skills that will give me some money b4 I further. I'm currently doing android programming with java, but I feel there are no android jobs in Nigeria. I have some other options like Networking, UI/UX, and graphics. My plan is to get a job or start making money as an indie developer b4 or as soon as I graduate, then save enough to further abroad.
Since you have some experience which will you recommend.

U are in the right path already, and am not more experience, I only graduated last year, currently doing my service, I realized I was wasting my time studying elect engineering at yr 3 too. In coding I do web development ui, ux and backend, also plan on getting a job, save n leave the shithole.