Deterioration of Nigerian Schools (1)

Many of our parents went to schools that deteriorated to this level (See video), in fact my secondary school was not very much better than this before various sections were demolished and rebuilt a few years ago.

Just imagine they toilets at this school, the stuff of nightmares, or they bare non existent libraries or they non existent computer room, or the absence of video or other aides to educate students, or the absence of landscaping or grass which indicates they lack of any coordinated recreation or sporting activities for pupils.

The video of the Principals office and the makeshift  filing system would help you understand why Buhari was unable to produce his graduate certificate from 1953 as all records end up getting destroyed by the elements, such schools rarely have year books to verify attendance and God help you if you lose your certificate, you will have to file numerous affidavits before an attestation, not a copy, signed by the Commissioner of Education will be issued to you after years of personal visits and bribes at the ministry of education. 

What always amazes me is how students persevere through this bleakness to become brilliant sought after world class professionals. I put it down to the indomitable human spirit to be successful and to overcome adversity. But for every brilliant mind to emerge from this system there are thousands who never get past this dysfunction.

Buried deep under all that education attained by the brilliant one is the foundation of inherited dysfunction from formative years in such an environment and which reveals itself in so many ways even when the get into positions of authority, because at their core is the tendency to view the state of these schools as normal.

The first question that needs to be asked is whether there is a budgetary allocation for maintenance and repairs.

The second question is the budgetary allocation made at the state or local government level.

The last most important question is what happened to those allocated funds, it is not hard to conclude that perhaps the allocation was just a line entry for appearances sake or finally that the money got misappropriated away from being used to maintain this school to ending up in the Governors or LGA chairman pocket for dash and entertainment.

As we lament they collapse of the building in Lagos that killed many school children let us not only focus attention on buildings that need to be demolished to prevent a future tragedies, but in the context of schools, declare an emergency in our public schools system to restore many of them to their colonial glory to educate our youth in a functional environment and to disabuse them of the shadow education that such environments are normative education.

God help the federal Republic of Nigeria.

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