The greatest resource that we have as a country is not our oil and gas reserve in the Niger Delta or the countless solid mineral resources strewn across our land from Abia to Zamfara. The most valuable resources that we have as a country is the over 170 million human beings that comprise Nigeria, which makes it the most populous country in Africa; this makes one out every three black persons on earth a Nigerian.
However, the true value of human capital resource is not in the numbers but in the state and quality of the mind of the people. The nations leading the world politically, economically, militarily and socially have one thing in common – they value the human resource. They invest a lot in human capital and respect the right and dignity of the human person. Today, India is fast becoming a global leader in science and technology. Indians are the CEOs of a number of global technology companies, from Google to Microsoft. Today, about 15 percent of startups in Silicon Valley are founded by Indians. Indians are said to be the biggest power players in Silicon Valley. Almost all the major US technology companies have technology pioneers of Indian descent. This Indian story is a product of a solid education programme and a well planned human capital development process.
Nigeria today has the highest number of out of school youths in the world. Nigeria is one country where you will find millions of children and teenagers who have never seen the four walls of a classroom. Nigeria has the highest number of millennia in the world who are illiterates. My heart breaks when I meet young people born after the magic year 2000 who can neither read nor write – whose only life skill is to dig, hew wood, fetch water, ride motorbikes, drive “keke napep” and cause accidents because they cannot read road signs.
According to a report Universal Basic Skills: What Countries Stand to Gain by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), “economic growth and social development are closely correlated to the skills of a country’s population.” Research shows the causal relationship between a nation’s skill – its knowledge capital – and its long-run growth rate, making it possible to estimate how education policies affect each nation’s expected economic performance.
Third world nations became first world nations walking the same old and sure path of education. Great nations know that making all the preparations ahead of the challenges and opportunities that tomorrow brings starts and ends in the classroom. It was the ruler of Dubai who said you can predict the future of any country by looking at the classroom. Nigeria today has the highest number of out of school youths in the world. Nigeria is one country where you will find millions of children and teenagers who have never seen the four walls of a classroom. Nigeria has the highest number of millennia in the world who are illiterates. My heart breaks when I meet young people born after the magic year 2000 who can neither read nor write – whose only life skill is to dig, hew wood, fetch water, ride motorbikes, drive “keke napep” and cause accidents because they cannot read road signs. I don’t want to start on the sorry state of classrooms in most public schools and the dearth of teachers.
The state of education in Nigeria is one that calls for the declaration of a state of emergency. It is time to come up with a national education philosophy that will shape the policies and programmes of government, and the participation of all Nigerians. With the right philosophy, we will have the best of us teaching the rest of us in all schools from kindergarten to post-graduate studies. Our classrooms will be a space for knowledge acquisition for problem solving.
At the core of the economic and social transformation of Singapore from the book Third World to First World is a solid, robust and aggressive human capital development drive, driven by a number of radical education policies. Government should channel its energy and resources toward educating the everyday Nigerian.
Nothing impacts and releases value like quality education. The state of education in Nigeria is one that calls for the declaration of a state of emergency. It is time to come up with a national education philosophy that will shape the policies and programmes of government, and the participation of all Nigerians. With the right philosophy, we will have the best of us teaching the rest of us in all schools from kindergarten to post-graduate studies. Our classrooms will be a space for knowledge acquisition for problem solving.
What our country needs now is a clear vision and pathway that will ensure that every Nigerian child gets a universal and quality basic education. Until this is done, the money budgeted to commence the schools meal programmes might as well be flushed down the drain.
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