(TO KUTIGI AND OUR KINSMEN AT THE NATIONAL CONFAB 2014)
The
reality of the sorry state of the level of attention given to education in this
country stares me in my face each time I remember Daniel Defoe’s words that “We
never see the true state of our condition till is illustrated to us by its
contraries…” I believe so strongly in the philosophy that says that it is
good to be learning and thinking, for learning and thinking paves way for
intellectualism, and intellectualism is the mother of all knowledge and
inventions. Therefore, contrary to what it used to be in the past when
education was the pride of the nation, I am afraid this philosophy is gradually
eluding us as inordinate ambitions and material acquisitions have overtaken the
minds of the majority of the citizenry at the expense of education and
intellectual development.
One
of the indices of a developed nation is the presence of a vast literate and
educated citizenry. It is also an indisputable fact that an educated society is
a free, independent and healthy society, while a healthy society invariably is
a wealthy and powerful society. The rise of the Western Nations and the
emergence of the Asian giants as the world economic or super powers today is a
reflection of the huge and long term investments made in their citizen’s
education, personal and intellectual development by all stakeholders in these
societies.
However,
our greatest undoing in Africa and particularly Nigeria is that we have allowed
the disease of illiteracy and lack of education to ravage our whole system. Our
educational sector is totally enmeshed in dismal decay and heading for the
rocks. The resultant effect of an educated and stack illiterate citizenry is
the emergence of impotent, vision-less, selfish and heartless leaders. If it be
true that an ulcer will vitiate the entire body, and consequently risk the life
of the patient, then, we can absolutely imagine very plainly to what possible
danger the spread of illiteracy and intellectual despondency may eventually
lead us in this country.
Although,
concerted efforts have been made in recent past by the Nigerian Government and
some few concerned individuals and non-governmental organizations to arrest
this situation, yet, our educational sector is still enshrouded in the
increasing loss of interest in education, personal studies and reading culture
as well as pursuit of excellence among the present generation of Nigerian
youths, thereby ravaging our society’s homesteads.
For instance, we would
recall that some of the goals included in the declaration for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted
by 189 members states of United Nation in September 2000, Nigeria inclusive, are eradication of extreme
poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender
equality and empowering women e.t.c but unfortunately, Nigeria is still lagging
behind as there is a clear indication that two third of the goals have not been
met according to the United Nation’s 2012 Millennium Development Goals Report,
and with the myriads of problems facing the country at present, the biggest of
all, corruption and insecurity, it is still in doubt if Nigeria will be able to
meet these goals come 2015.
Conceptually,
the goal of achieving universal primary education in Nigeria in 2015 is very
bleak, because the signs are already boldly written on the wall. The indices
pointing to this fact is that the level of education has drastically reduced
over the past few years. Students from primary to the higher level no longer
have the zeal or passion to go through the process of education before they
could realize their dreams in life. The only language they now understand and
have been rooted deep in their consciousness is ‘MONEY', ‘MILLIONS’, ‘DOLLARS’, and ‘POUND STERLINGS’. The fact that many children in this country do
not have access to free basic education is mind-blowing, and so many if they
had any access to education at all do not actually have the financial means to
further their education, because they belong to the underprivileged class of
the society. They eventually as a result of circumstances beyond their control
find their way out of school to ply their trade elsewhere, and even many more
that are still in school have been unfairly denied the right and proper
motivations to direct their minds towards their studies.
The
reading culture among students at various levels of the educational
sector is
totally webbed in the abyss of indifference and crass laziness. The
effect of
this is that these students are being negatively motivated by inordinate
ambitions at the expense of their education in order to achieve their
dreams of
becoming millionaires in a very short while. They have resulted to
climbing
their way up the ladder through crook means. The instances of these have
been
manifested through student’s incessant involvement in various degrees of
crimes
such as examination malpractices, bribery, cultism, certificate forgery,
drugs,
political thugery, financial scamming and armed robbery, hire
assassinations among many others, and now in recent times terrorism
which suddenly rared its head in the cloak of the dreaded insurgence in
the North-east called Boko Haram.
I
must be honest and fair here to say that it is no fault of these
students that
they have become what they are today, but the blame should be placed at
the
door steps of parents, teachers, leaders and all stakeholders in the
society
for their indolent attitudes and gross irresponsibility towards securing
the
future of these students. Consequently, the bitter truth is that
majority of
them are only victims of circumstances. In view of this, our educational
sector
could be on a headlong dive into apathy, if not exigently overhauled and
redeemed from its present malady. It is for this reason, therefore, that
the
urgent attention of all stakeholders with common interest of the
nation’s youth
development at heart be critically redirected to reviving seriousness
and believes
in education as the only vehicle through which we can attain
self-emancipation, sociopolitical and economic freedom and advancement.
Now
let us at this junction, take a panoramic view of the Debate as a
transformational condiment of regenerating and reviving seriousness in
education. Hence, these perpetual banes that have engulfed our educational
sector as well as the entire system could be repositioned and redirected
towards charting a cohesive and acceptable standard course. Firstly, Debate,
which is a characteristic of the ability to convincingly articulate ideas
aloud, is an important skill for any citizen of a democratic society. If we can
say what we think, then, we are going to be able to persuade anybody else in
the citizenry to agree with us and follow our lead. And if we are able to
understand the basics of verbal persuasion, then, we are likely to dispel the
ignoramus and dangerous antics of somebody or some groups of people who always
play fast and loose with facts and try to rob us all of the understanding of
the truth of the reality of our conditions.
The
Nigerian
education system no doubt has shortchanged the teaching of oral
presentation in various levels of institutions and this can be reflected
in our
political dialogue and in dialogue on the streets. This in turn is a
reflection
of a national decline in public speaking ability. In Nigeria, you see a
number
of people getting increasingly uncomfortable addressing a jury, panel or
an
audience in courtroom, boardroom, lecture hall, town hall meetings or in
public
places. Whether you are a mother or father who strives hard to
positively train
your children to become somebody in future, a teacher who aims to
command the
respects of your students and be successful in your career or a leader
who
seeks the cooperation of your followers, the fact remains that you are
going to
need this skill somehow if you are going to achieve your objectives.
Public
speaking skills are important for all levels of people in nearly any
field or Endeavor. That is why the teaching of oral presentation must be
taken
seriously and be given more priority in all our school’s curriculum.
This I
believe will inspire more seriousness in education and instigate good
reading
culture among students in various levels. This will also help them to
focus
more on their studies, which is a potent ground for breeding new
generation of
matured intellectual leaders who can turn around the destiny of this
nation.
Secondly,
I make bold to say that even about 90 percent of educated adults in Nigeria
suffer from some form of gloss o-phobia.
This is a difficulty or fear of articulating the brilliant ideas they have
inside of them in the public. This fear is so huge, because it is the biggest
fear they have and you see the physical manifestations of this in about half of
them when they speak in public. This fear is more pronounced in a person who is
very introverted and nervous. There are some people who are naturally blessed
with oratory skills, but anyone and any student can still learn to develop and
master the basic rhetorical skills necessary to clearly convey ideas in public.
If we carefully look into the real world around us, we would find out that the
institution of rhetoric as an educational discipline and debate as a condiment
for reviving seriousness in education can never be over emphasized, because
this is the only radical factor that can inspire the mental and intellectual
development of the citizens of any nation.
In
addition,
politicians during election campaigns have to interact with the
electorates in their constituencies. Series of political debates will go
down
among different opposing parties to try to appeal to the electorates
through
their presented manifestos in order to win their mandate as clearly
demonstrated in the United States of America’s 2012
Election.
Lawmakers, executives and judiciaries will argue with one another, and
the
people afterwards will engage them in order to reach a common accord in
finding
a wholesale solution to a particular problem affecting the entire
nation, Lawyers
will talk to their clients in and outside of courtrooms, Business owners
and
executives will converse and rub minds with guests and colleagues at
seminars
and in boardrooms, marketers and customer relationship or service agents
will
connect and relate with existing and prospective customers in their
various field-works and space. Teachers and lecturers too will
definitely interact with
their students in classrooms, while graduates may never escape verbal
exchanges
at job interviews in various different places. In all of these
encounters, one
is going to be of much less use, if one fails to make any reasonable,
logical,
convincing and persuasive presentation or argument.
The
present generation of African-Americans was built on the premise of education
and intellectual excellence. During the period of racism in America, the Blacks
suffered immense racial abuse, discrimination, tyranny and oppression in the
hands of the white men. But once the Blacks have been able to acquire quality
education, mentally informed and intellectually equipped, it was so easy for
them to confidently challenge their white oppressors, fought for their
fundamental rights and liberated themselves from unjustifiable tyranny and
oppressions. Although, it was a silly, bloody physical confrontation at the
beginning of their struggle, but the Black educated elite later on, through
continuous organization and participation in various public speaking and
intellectual debates were able to persuade the white men to stop the
indiscriminate lynching of Blacks and eventually opened the eyes of the entire
world to the destructiveness of Racism and the madness of human dissipation.
Therefore, the institution of Debate and participation in public speaking
absolutely afforded every single Black Americans the opportunity to advance
their course and win the race against all forms of discrimination in the
United State of America.
Furthermore,
the integral roles played by intra and inter school debate competitions in
inspiring seriousness in education and redirecting the minds of the youths
towards academic excellence rather than pursuit of material acquisition is
imperative. Hence, Debate as a necessary vehicle through which we can
convincingly articulate and advance our individual and collective course in a
democratized society is paramount to societal advancement. Democracy itself is
as old as Debate; this clearly indicates Debate as an essential part of a
democratic society. That is the reason why before any crucial decision and policy
affecting people’s lives is made and finally implemented by the Government, it
has to be critically scrutinized, logically analyzed and constructively argued
out by all stakeholders. And that is the hallmark of a developed and civilized
nation.
Finally,
as pointed out earlier on, there is a national decline in seriousness in
education and public speaking ability. The decline may be due to a variety of
factors, including inadequate funding of the educational sector, parents and
teacher’s irresponsibility towards the mental and intellectual development of
school children, erosion of rhetoric as an educational discipline and
technological changes that have De-emphasized face-to-face communication
skills. Whatever the reason, the ramifications go beyond increases in the
number of student’s mass failure in examinations, employment of unqualified
teachers and lecturers, production of half-baked graduates, daft and
unintelligent leaders. Therefore, in order to combat this national decline, Debate must be brought back to all our
schools, inculcated in our academic curriculum and must be taken seriously and
sustained at all levels of the society.
In
conclusion, we have seen the primacy of the Debate and its viability of
reviving seriousness in education. The reality of having a literate and
educated citizenry starting with the youth is dependent on the society’s total
acceptance of a unified effort in instituting Debates in all the levels of our
society and sustaining it so as to chart a new course in redirecting our steps
to making Nigeria a true democratic, more civilized and developed nation.
Therefore, we need to wake up to the reality of the true state of our
conditions in this country, and make proactive efforts in order to make things
right. I am afraid, if we continue to leave our pot unwatched, we risk the
grave consequence of getting our food completely burnt out. And yes! You will
agree with me that a stitch in time saves nine which totally corroborated the
usual warning of our fore fathers that “It
is only a mad man that will go to sleep with his roof on fire”.
©Adeola
Goloba 2014
