The World As I See It
As I picked up my laptop to draft this article, a thought crossed my mind whether the Nigerian antipathy to research and development is in obedience to some religious instruction, or if a fatwa had been declared on any government in Nigeria that dares pay any attention to funding and facilitating research efforts. This thought inspired the title as the best excuse I can conjure for what might be intellectual laziness on a national scale.
Continue reading “Thou Shalt Not Undertake Research”
The iconic painter, Pablo Picasso, is acclaimed to have said that “Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” If there is any validity to Picasso’s claim that a properly implemented plan is the only route to success, what then do we say to individuals and institutions that act like planning is anathema to success. Maybe such persons know something the rest of the world is ignorant of, or maybe the ignorance, wilful or accidental, is in the other direction.
Continue reading “Nigeria’s War Against Holistic Planning”
George Bernard Shaw’s timeless admonition: “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance”, seems an appropriate entry point for this article. This front archway could even be extended with Thomas Sowell’s admonition that “It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” Being ignorant is one thing, but coming to a point where you acknowledge your ignorance surely requires a knowledge acquisition journey. Continue reading “Where are Nigeria’s First-Class Graduates and Professors”
Benjamin Franklin once said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” Uncle Ben’s quote may have been triggered by someone or some persons whose excuses really pissed him off. Now, I’m surely not pissed off enough to say that an expert excuse creator cannot gain expertise in any other useful areas, but I’m just sufficiently pissed to want to write a blog post about excuses. Continue reading “A Somewhat Subdued Rant”
“Beware of Greeks bearing gifts”. This admonition by Virgil was inspired by one of humanity’s most famous acts of treachery—the Trojan horse left at the gates of Troy. What was thought to be a gift was in fact the beginning of the end for Troy. The Trojan horse tactic has been reproduced severally throughout history, although not exactly with a wooden horse. Sometimes, the famous horse may be in the form of government policy, one of such potential policies being the new fee structure for Nigeria’s unity colleges. Continue reading “The Murder of My Alma Mater”
In the Bible, Jesus gave a parable about a person who lost one sheep out of a hundred. This person could not accept the loss of even one sheep—one percent of his sheep. He went out to find it, and rejoiced at its discovery. This parable tallies with the “no one left behind” policy of many armies, and countries that do anything possible to locate and rescue their citizens. Coming to Nigeria, eleven million Nigerians are missing, and no one is concerned. Continue reading “In Memory of Eleven Million Missing Nigerians”
Developed countries attained their present status by making the best of their human resources, and training them to become productive members of their respective societies. In Nigeria, despite the hubbub about moving from third world to first world status, our human capital development strategy is abysmal. Why else would our ivory towers be bastions of neglect and reprehensible evil? Continue reading “Evil in the Towers”
At face value, education is “hyped” as being very important. Civil society organisations and other groups routinely buttress the value of education, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where millions are related to poverty. Even the usually detached government has decreed compulsory basic education. Despite all the uproar about education, some persons still see it as valueless. For them, formal education is an albatross best avoided if one has the means. Continue reading “Education’s Relative Value”
One of my students in the final secondary school level spoke the words above. Although these words were spoken in a rural area in northern Nigeria, they are representative of the educational inclination of a considerable number of parents across Nigeria. Continue reading “My Father Doesn’t Care”
Different cultures have diverse mindsets about education. Sometimes, these views are convergent; at other times, they are as divergent as parallel lines that can never meet no matter the reference direction. In Nigeria, the various approaches to education from the North to the South span diverse shades of the colour spectrum, from black at one extreme, to white at the other extreme. Continue reading “Education meets Culture”
Jilomes 