By Toheeb Idris
3mins read.
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” — Malcolm X. As this famous quote underscores, “Education is an important element in the struggle for human rights”, it highlights the significance of the educational sector in the transformation of socio-economic activities of a nation.
Today, Nigeria educational sector has dilapidated. The financial difficulties caused by Nigerian leadership are indicative of the root of our country's problems. Strikes in higher education institutions have consistently been caused by unmet agreements, insufficient academic funding, mismanagement of financial resources, non-payment of staff salaries and unfavorable government policies.
However, some people could still be asking who is to be blame? Sincerely, the government particularly the federal government, which President Muhammadu Buhari is steering its wheel. The is due to the government's perceived inadequacy in creating and executing effective programs and policies needed for a significant overhaul of the education sector. It begs the question: can one create a brick without the necessary resources?
Although any potential solutions to address the issues within the education sector may exist, it is likely that the implementation and execution stage will prove to be the downfall of the entire process. The most disheartening aspect of this situation is that those responsible for the current state of the education sector often have their own children studying abroad.
The ongoing indefinite strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is a warning sign that the education sector in Nigeria may produce the worst graduates in history. Time lost during the strike cannot be recovered, and as the proverb goes, "where two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers." The students are the proverbial grass in this scenario, suffering from a lack of access to timely and quality education, which is unacceptable by any serious-minded government. It appears that the government has little concern or commitment to improving the state of education in the country to an international standard. However, credit must be given to the Lagos State University (LASU) management for not participating in the ASUU strike.
Nevertheless, it is the citizens who bear the harder burden, crust and taste of this dilapidated educational sector. Nigerians complain so much about general hardships in the country: lack of electricity, very high unemployment, high and rising cost of living, as well as very low personal and family incomes. Families and breadwinners are constantly concerned about the persistent increase in prices of commodities, which never seem to stabilize, coupled with an inflation rate of approximately 17 percent as of mid-June 2022.
The same country that is grappling with insecurity has apparently become a philanthropist overnight. N1.15billion naira was used to purchase vehicles for Niger Republic to aid their fight against insecurity, the same Nigeria that is plagued with ASUU strike. The Minister of Education has recently stated that there is simply no money to put towards ending the strike, so where is the N1.15bn coming from?
Nigeria is currently facing an unbearable level of economic hardship, characterized by substantial income inequality, high and continuously increasing cost of living, and inadequate social support. Therefore, urgent action must be taken by those in charge of the country to reverse these negative trends before they get out of hand. As the saying goes, "a stitch in time saves nine."
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