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Atoke’s Monday Morning Banter: The University Path to Nirvana

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Growing up is a scam. Forget what they told you – the realities of adulthood will make you pine endlessly for the days when the most tedious thing on your To-Do list was to identify the different types of rocks around the earth’s surface. One minute you’re wondering what colour of socks best matches your school bag, and the next minute you’re wondering whether you should do the ICAN (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria) exams to top up the Accounting degree you’re working hard to acquire.

For a substantial part of your life as a Nigerian, you’re raised to aspire to the hallowed halls of a University. At every level of society, there’s the pressure to ‘do well’ enough to attend University. In the 60s & 70s, it was a thing of intense family pride to say that one of yours was good enough to get into University. It is the unspoken precursor to having a chance of a good life. But how did we get here? How did we get to this place in our heads where we convinced ourselves that going to University (or ‘college; for you Americans) is largely essential to our path to success.

Unconscious conditioning: We saw how the learned folks looked, and saw it was good. Indigenous traders and farmers didn’t get the fancy name ‘professionals’. Engineers looked good. Doctors sounded smart. Lawyers spoke big English words. How does one become any of those? Well… University!

Poverty: 20 years ago, the only hope one had of getting out the poverty spin cycle, was by getting a higher education. Today, there is a little hope that if a degree in Pol. Science isn’t working for you, you can always send a YouTube link of your music track to Don Jazzy on Twitter. It was very difficult to break through the glass ceiling. At least with a University degree, there was a slight chance. It is for this reason that people fought, bribed and struggled to pass the Joint Admissions & Matriculations Board exams.

But what sort of education did we get in Nigerian Federal Universities? During my first year at UniLag, every class was a nightmare. We had to take course modules with other departments in the Arts & Humanities and I did not LEARN A THING! Here’s why: over populated classrooms, sweaty students, ineffective public address systems. I went through that first year struggling to sign attendance, and buy the right hand outs/books from lecturers. For a long time I didn’t know that signing attendance at one particular class was the way to pass the course. I’d get to the block, see it overcrowded and just turn around. I believed that I could study my way to an A. By the third run of the course, I had been advised accordingly. Things got better by the time we started doing pure Law courses, but it wasn’t without attendant administrative issues: broken seats, hot classrooms, bad ventilation. I remember one time when I complained about the Air Conditioner in our class not working, my friend in Arts block exclaimed: “You guys have AC in Law?” Apparently, I wasn’t appreciating what I had.

Through all of this, we still put these citadels of learning on a pedestal. We graduate and find that 8 years in Pharmacy school can at best earn you the same kind of lifestyle as that of someone who studied in half the time. Then, the scales drop and you realize “University wasn’t really the path to the promised land.”Atoke Cheerios
Personally, I don’t believe that the essence of your education is given at the University. {Remember I asked the question about the degree of education here}

Expecting the University to have a monumental impact on your education – in the absence of a good primary and secondary school – is akin to expecting a beautiful building to stand without foundation. I do believe that there are life changing experiences to be gained from the time at the University. Look, the MoHits team found Wande Coal while he was at University. Shaydee was discovered in University too. You might not be getting a lot of academic enhancements, but you may be well equipped to handle life outside.

Not everybody will become a success as a result of academic pursuits; and we need to stop shaming people into believing they’re less than they are (or have potential to be) because they didn’t go to University. Identifying your natural inclinations and talents very early in life will go a long way in helping you find happiness. Why go study Yoruba Education without an interest in it? That’s 4 years of your life, not to mention the costs incurred. Why go acquire an LLM in Oil & Gas Law because it sounds fancy? Or because “Oil & Gas is reigning”?
Our society needs a marked shift from the ideology that degrees maketh a man. We need to turn around from the mind set that so easily marginalizes us and limits us from reaching the height of our potential.

Basic education is good, and fundamental. It helps nurture and develop a person’s instincts; but I don’t think University is the hallowed heavens we have consistently touted it to be.

As I type this, I am silently chiding myself: I have two degrees and I’m shooting for a third. How hypocritical do I sound right this minute?

I don’t think I have all the answers; but I do believe that everybody has something in them that makes them special, with the potential for greatness. I mean…EVERYBODY!

Nurse. Web designer. Carpenter. Zoologist. Driver. Hair stylist. Agric teacher. Business Analyst. Gym Instructor. Spanish Translator.

Have a splendid week ahead. Be nice and considerate. The change we’re looking for won’t descend from heaven. It starts with us.

Peace, Love & Carrot Batons!
Toodles!

Photo Credit:  Dreamstime | Konstantin Sutyagin 

You probably wanna read a fancy bio? But first things first! Atoke published a book titled, +234 - An Awkward Guide to Being Nigerian. It's available on Amazon. ;)  Also available at Roving Heights bookstore. Okay, let's go on to the bio: With a Masters degree in Creative Writing from Swansea University, Atoke hopes to be known as more than just a retired foodie and a FitFam adherent. She can be reached for speechwriting, copywriting, letter writing, script writing, ghost writing  and book reviews by email – [email protected]. She tweets with the handle @atoke_ | Check out her Instagram page @atoke_ and visit her website atoke.com for more information.

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