BE EDUCATED INDEED!
Dunmoye Femi
The word education was derived from the Latin word ‘educere’, which means, to ’dig out’. To
bring or dig out one’s talent and develop one’s
faculty of mind to do something is education.
Contrary to what many Nigerians would think
of,
education does not only mean “being to
school” but application of the knowledge gained from school positively to the society. To
be
called an educated person one need to
apply the knowledge obtained from school to
a particular plan of action.
The situation of this country, most especially the issue of unemployment
amongst our graduates is disturbing.
The reason why
millions of Nigerian graduates from our various
tertiary institutions still
wallow in poverty is because of lac k of applica tio n o f t he
knowledge gained from the institutions to solve the challenges encountered in life. It is
surprising to see a graduate with nothing to
offer even in his or her area of specilisation.
Some years back, Professor Wole Soyinka,
made a statement in his article written in one of the popular newspapers. He said, “The average students in Nigerian universities, are little better than illiterate”. Many people reacted differently
to
this statement. Some said it was because he is a professor, and is status had made him
arrogant. Now, many who were not in agreement
with professor’s
statement then, should
considered some of the students being churned
out
every year from our higher institutions of
learning across the country these days.
Many people who may be considered literally as illiterate today seems to be better than many of us who have spent many years in the tertiary institutions. The former applies wisdom which might not necessarily come from being educated. For instance, a market woman who sells in the market and makes money solves her financial challenges effectively than a graduate who is waiting for a white collar job. Our educational qualifications literally make us educated but will not give us skills which will be handy in tackling different kinds of life challenges.
Thomas Edison was an ignorant man but
ma
de f ort une .He had only a grade II
“educational degree”. During the First World War, Edison was called “an ignorant pacifist”, by a Chicago newspaper publisher. Edison charged the media house to court for libel. The attorney
for the media house pleaded
for
justification, and invited Thomas Edison to the witness stand, just to prove a point that he was an ignorant man.
The following questions were asked from
Thomas:
Who was Benedick
Arnold? And how many soldiers did the British send over to America
to destroy the rebels in 1776?
Edison replied, “I do not know the accurate number of soldiers the British sent over”. Eventually, Mr. Thomas became indifferent to these lines of questions, he pointed his finger to the lawyer who asked
the
questions and
said:
’If I really want to give answer to the foolish question you have just asked, or any of other
questions, you have been asking me, let me
remind you that I have a row of electric push
– buttons on my desk , and by pushing the
right button, I can summon
to my aid men who can answer any question I desire
concerning the business to which I am devoting most of my efforts to.
Now will you kindly tell me? Why I should
disorder my mind with general knowledge for the purpose of being able to answer questions
when I have men around me who can supply any knowledge I
required”.
Edison developed the faculty of his mind and transformed
his organised knowledge to
become one of the wealthiest men in America. The answer disgraced the lawyer.
So, an
educated man knows where to get knowledge
whenever the need arise, and how to organise
the knowledge to a particular plan of action.
It is a pity, many people who claimed to be educated in Nigeria
today, have nothing to
show
for it, after spending all these years in the higher institutions. What a wonderful surprise? A graduate of Electrical Engineering who cannot
solve a little problem in his
electrical gadgets has wasted the years, time
and
money spent in school.
People like Bill Gate, Thomas Edison, Henry ford, and
Mark
Zuckerberg who discovered th e mo st ef f e ct ive s oc ia l net wo rk ,t he Facebook acquired little education. Young boys in the entertainment industry, like Mr. 9ice
(Adigun), Olamide(aka Badoo), W izkid, Davido (aka Omo Baba Olowo) just to
mention, but a few are very young musicians,
but
they are millionaires.
The golden boy of Nigerian
football, Kanu Nwankwo, was named among the Nigerian
centenaries just of recent. Such a man with
ordinary secondary school certificate is being
given so much recognition. Aliko Dangote,
was named recently, as the richest man in
Africa, and also ranked
among
the
world richest man. What is their level of education?
The meaning of education to many of us is just to go to school, but it goes beyond this. I want to ask my readers this question.
What will
you
call
Mr. Thomas Edison, who spent just few months in school, and provided
electric bulb for the whole world; educated or
illiterate?
In conclusion,
Education can only expose someone to opportunities but not a yardstick
for being successful. This can be transformed to a success only when it is being directed to
s o lve a c h a lle n ge
lif e t h ro ws a t u s . Students, therefore, should know that education is beyond just going to school but the ability to think and discover ones talent. This will reduce
the
rate of unemployment in Nigeria overtime.
Dunmoye Femi , Cordinator at Green Light Tutors , Ilorin, Kwara State.
EDUCATIONAL QUOTES:
¨ “Live as if you were to die tomorrow,
L e a rn a s
if yo u
we re t o
live
forever”. Mahatma Gandhi
¨ “If you educate a man; you educate a
man but if you educate a
woman; you educate a generation”. Brigham Young
¨ “The world is a book and those who do
not
travel read only one page”. Augustine of Hippo.
¨ “Education is the most powerful weapon which you use to change the world”.
Nelson Mandela
¨ “An educated man is a man who knows where to get what he wants
without violating the rules of others”. Thomas Edison
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