The Role of Nigeria Students in Creating a New Nigeria
By Chineke Cajethan Goodluck, 2014
When we undertake a rational inquiry into the early times to the presents time from the most primitive and simple to the most complex ways of living, we are strongly impressed by the fact that wherever men had lived together there has been some group and individual interest in education, knowing fully well that from existence approach of man’s existence in the world according to Martin, Heidegger, he stated that man came into the world, not by his own making but he is what he make of himself. It is on this note that the role of Nigerian students in creating a new Nigeria lies solidly on the view of creating an educational value into the Nigerian system of education and the society at large, where every individual will see the need to be educated, because educated person cannot be like with un-educated person.
Thus the question, who is an educated person? Succinctly captures this truism that presupposes that there is an uneducated person out there who also intermingles with the educated person. The educated person is so, because there is a quality which he or she possess, that is closed to the uneducated person. Hence creating values to Nigerian system of education and the need for one to be educated, it is a way forward in creating a new Nigerian, knowing that whatever characteristics human beings have in common cannot be used as a distinguishing factor. Let us examine what education stand for.
What is Education? Considering the meaning of education or what education stand to be, I think peters was unequivocally right in saying that the task defining education is extremely difficult, like his words, it is easy to define terms such as geometry and triangularity but it is neither easy nor desirable to define education. Education he feels, forms a family of ideas united by a complicated network of similarity which overlap and crisis-cross. This notwithstanding, some scholars tried to put what, in their views is the definition of education, we shall view all of them and see the extent to which they succeeded. Langford defined education as an activity, which aims at practical results in contrast with activities, which aims at theoretical results. He went further to relate education to other activities, which aim at practical results such as politics, manufacturing and farming in contrast with activities which also aim at theoretical results such as physics and psychology.
This is highly contestable, for if politics, manufacturing, farming and education are all practical activities, which aim at practical result such as, how can any of them be differentiated from the other. Again, does that mean for instance that an old farmer in the remotest part of a village who does not know how to write his name could be called educated? I think in this sense that the activities which he called theoretical physics and psychology are avail closer to what we may called education.
Plato in his comment said, “By education I mean that training which is given by suitable habits to the first instincts of virtue in children when pleasure and pain are rightly planted in non rational soul” the particular training in respect of pleasure and pain which leads you to love and hate what you ought to love and hate is called education. This definition is un satisfactory more than the previous, why? Because if education is that which leads one to love or hate what he ought to love or hate it means that all men are educated because the idea of what you ought to love or hate has a moral connotation which is innate in every man, and we state clearly in our introduction that any quality common to all human beings should not be used as a distinguishing factor.
A good definition settles issues without raising another. But we saw that the above definitions of education raised many issues more than settled. We would have placed an educated person into what education is, if we had succeeded in finding a good definition of education. Since we found none, let us reasonably look into catalogue of person we have met and think of them as being educated. If we succeed then we must have succeeded in knowing what education is as well.
What makes a person Educated? Knowledge is the only thing which makes a person educated and all other things make him more appreciated. The problem we have with this truth is that knowledge is common to all human beings and we have already agreed that anything common to all human beings cannot be used as a distinguishing factor. Thus Socrates maintained “The most valuable thing a man could have is knowledge and such knowledge is to be obtained by removing individual differences and discovering the essentials upon which all men would agree” the pertinent question now is what kind of knowledge makes a person educated. Dr Ahumbile Chukwuma in his book “philosophizing in education” (1998) addressed this question properly where he said, literacy is the only answer to this question, for there seems to be no other way of acquiring knowledge which is peculiar to the people we know as educated and what this implies is that education begins when literacy begins and whatever knowledge people have whose origin cannot be traced to literacy is not the type we associate with education, and literacy is the condition of being educated.
In Nigeria, the historical values of education is traced to the Nigeria primitive era, when the values of culture were handled with respect and honour. These values in Nigeria context simply means those intrinsic and extrinsic positive ideas and actions which education impacts in one and also reflected in human endeavours, which entails those worth while things which we can achieved through educational practice and being educated is a value that is acquired by the person who under takes. As he engages in the task of receiving the experiences that begin with his ability to read and write these values get into and affect the state of his mind. We call them, “intellectual values” and begin to describe the person who acquired that as educated, implying by this that his mind has developed in a way different from that of the uneducated.
The reasons why education is the way forward in creating a new Nigeria: being Educated, is a value as said above and educated person cannot be like un-educated person, let us examine why education is a necessary faction. It is creating new Nigeria. The cardinal part of Nigeria sector that need urgent rebranding in her educational sector, education is given the least priority in Nigeria yet understood as chief factor to observe, reconstruct and transmit the ideal fruits of human creativity, education will be a vital form of living if it is carried out following Dewey’s instrumentalism, that is education as are instrument for achieving national objectives.
The first national development plan in Nigeria which was launched in 1946 after the Second world war, known as the ten year plan of development and welfare was not successful because Nigerians were not educated enough to involved in the formation of the plan.
The next major economic plan launched in 1962 was the first after independent, it was called the first national development plan with sex different basic aims excluding education. Off course the plan encountered setbacks for several reasons. This was found on the part of the planners who ignorantly under-estimate the income growth and sales of the country’s economy. However, foreign experts who came for our goods and not for our good formulated part of the plan.
After the Nigeria civil war which ended in January 1970, instead of educational development, more attention was completely directed to nation reconstruction and rehabilitation perhaps based on political interest. At this time, the Nigeria mind which suffered the greatest trauma was left uncorrected.
It follows to say that a nature cannot thrive or develop if the mind is left unaided off course, peaceful and harmonious co-existence will definitely lack. In order to correct this problem a plan was launched in November 1970, to cover the period until 1974 the general aim and purpose of the plan were similar to those of first plan with five cardinal objectives yet the country could not be truly unified without education.
These are the aims of an educated nation. It is said that education, in its broadest sense, is the foundation of a nation and the property of a society or country solely depends on the educatedness of the members. And we can see that the nation, our dear country Nigeria cannot be socially or politically un-rutted when these are immense differences and inequalities in education between one part and another and the nation cannot be strong when a great majority of her citizens live in ignorance these days and age when knowledge means strength. No nation can claim to be self-reliant both until it can and make use of it’s own potentialities. No economy can be great and dynamic until there is enough high – level and intermediate manpower available to direct a disciplined and responsible labour force, all these three levels of manpower are products of education and training.
The battle against illiteracy in Nigeria is not new, it could be traced from 1976 when chief Obafemi Awolowo, the early Nigerian nationalist instituted a free primary education scheme which is called the Universal Primary Education (UPE) throughout the western region for all children born in 1955. The intention was to eradicate illiteracy, however the scheme lasted for a short while and was abandoned due to lack of funds, it was hoped that UPE will go a long way to transform the educations sectors since it was organized on a national level which the federal military government assumed full responsibilities for it.
Education is essential in the development of a nation in so far as it opens the spirit of understanding and patriotism to ones country. Today, Nigeria new face of education is suffering in the hand of political gimmicks because political policies are given more priority than education. This was however demonstrated by former president Olusegun Obasanjo following his refusal to implement the agreement reached with (ASUU) in 2001. Among the issues raised was the funding of University infrastructural development and university autonomy. Nigerian students are expected to graduate with high grades, develop sense of patriotism as well as contributing to the nation’s coffers therefore adapting to the modern skills of educational trend that seeks to be in compliance with the socio-political and economic development of the nation which does not isolate the intrinsic value of education
From the points discussed above why the educational growth is the way forward for creating a new Nigeria which lies the values of our national building and growth because unless priorities are put to education the outcome of the development process would be a disaster. Albert Schweitzer laments that western civilization is a disaster because the development centered on materialism. The essential feature of civilization does not lie on material achievement but in the moral and spiritual development of people through education. Nigeria should recognize education as a very powerful instrument for social change in process of dynamic national building. Government commitments however boost the standard of education, capable of ensuring that every citizen is given full opportunity to develop himself and his community. By so doing, the country’s educational programmes will seek in a very radical way to transform the educational scene of this country by improving and expanding substantially existing facilities, Imputing adequate finance and other resources. Therefore creating a new Nigeria, by the Nigeria student entails the re-branding of educational sector of Nigeria and the need for her citizens to be educated in other to achieve successful socio economic political needs of the country.