It is no news that world power is slowly and evidently shifting from the West to the East. The Key issue here is Education, formal or informal. Education is the greatest form of empowerment and the foundation for any lasting growth or development in a nation. While the western countries are de-emphasizing the relevance of education in the lives of their youths, the East, on the other hand has discovered the importance of education in the sustenance of their future.
This has given rise to massive funding of the educational sector of these eastern nations, especially China and India. The result of this is evident in the global economy of today. The western countries have unconsciously celebrated entertainment above education thereby destroying the foundations on which their founding fathers built.
President Obama kept warning against the drop in the importance placed on getting an education in most of his speeches, alluding to the painful fact that the American labour force is grossly overpriced. Jobs today are speedily moving eastward where there is an equally effective and efficient labour force at a much cheaper cost.
Bill Gates speaking at the TED conference in February2009 gave some staggering statistics for education in the U.S;
-over 30% of U.S kids drop-out from High school
-over 50% of minority kids in the U.S drop-out from High school
-kids from low income families have more than a 25% chance of going to prison than completing a college degree
These statistics are alarming but if something is not done in the educational sector of Nigeria and the current trends of the Nigerian youth, the above will be nothing compared to what we will see as a nation. Nigeria as a developing nation should place high priority on the education of her future, the youths. It will be a great injustice for Nigeria to undermine the relevance of education in nation building and adamantly follow the facade and glamour of the entertainment industry.
The average Nigerian youth is seen today but not heard. This is because he has very little to offer. The Nigerian youth has been flooded with the charm of entertainment;
• soccer,
• musical concerts,
• reality shows,
• home videos,
• pageantry,
• Comedy shows.
These however, have their place in the development of any nation but not at the expense of education.
The Nigerian youth is more than entertainment; he wants to be educated and educated at the highest levels and standards. On this lies the hope of this nation but year after year we see government, corporate bodies spend millions upon millions on entertaining the youths at the expense of their education, forgetting that in the coming years these 'uneducated' ones will be saddled with running the affairs of these bodies.
I believe that a greater part of these millions should be invested in educating the Nigerian child, in provision of world class education facilities, renovation of existing structures and providing substantial scholarships and grants for deserving scholars. It is said that Nigeria has over 22billion naira in her education trust fund but it is presently inaccessible to our ailing educational institutions, how sad.
It is time we as Nigerians took up the responsibility of educating our future. This is something we can all do in our own little way by helping the child next door. Every major revolution starts with the people not the government.
Please never forget this;
It is up to us as a nation to either SET with the West, having never risen or RISE with the East to greatness and relevance in the world today.
''Please give me entertainment and I'll be excited for a season but give me an education and I'll be empowered for life''. It's up to us Nigeria.
Thank you and God bless Nigeria.
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