© Numero Unoma
Monday was International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Being Nigerian, it is a day that lies close to my heart, because there is really no reason for any Nigerian whatsoever to be living in poverty to the extent to which some of us inevitably do. So many of us, too many of, wayyy too many of us Nigerians live in abject poverty and deprivation. Ours is a country blessed with endless natural assets and wealth. Our population is historically diverse, resilient and young, our natural resources abound. From fertile land and a steady supply of water, to an abundance of mineral resources, and over 220 days of sunshine per annum, there are no reasons why everyone in Nigeria should not be at least minimally comfortable, and should have no less than a secondary school education.
Somehow the many riches of our country have not, and still do not to translate into all the aspects of a state that empower its people, things like education, health and wealth. Bob Marley once famously said “emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds”
But how do we free the minds of the millions who are oppressed, whose insurrections have been suppressed and whose feelings remain repressed, all because of a poverty of the mind that is born of a thing as fundamental as miseducation, or for that matter, a total lack of education at all. Well, I guess the short answer to that question would be…education. A slightly longer answer would be…it’s complicated. Because if we imagined the mammoth task t would take to document people’s current literacy levels, to repair educational infrastructure, to re-write curricula, and to rollout implementation, then one wonders how the country s to be run in the interim. And by whom.
The truth is, Nigeria does not lack institutions of education. When I was young, lecturers and professors from al over the world flocked to Nigeria as part of their career development. It meant that our students were exposed to a culturally and demographically diverse teaching staff, whose expertise reflected in the high standard of graduates we produced back in the day.
I grew up myself in a place called Academia. It was a beautiful peaceful place with generous gardens and houses that were spacious and airy. The hectic hustle and bustle of city life never made its way into this hallowed and gated community, where life’s pace ebbed and flowed with the waxing and waning of the student population, and crime was next to non-existent. Academia was a thriving community of teachers, mentors, gurus and surrogates. Surrogate mothers, surrogate fathers, surrogate siblings, in fact it was one big surrogate family. For me, Academia was located in Benin City, but it had ‘franchises’ al over the country, in places like Lagos, Ibadan, Ife, Maiduguri, Zaria, Nsukka and Port Harcourt, to mention but a few.
Anyone who grew up in Academia understands the relationship between that microcosm and the real world out there, better even than some of the actual professors and lecturers themselves, who were our parents. This is especially true of the children of Nigeria’s academic staff up until about 1984, a year that stands out in significance, because back then, the president was the head of state. Confused? I meant that literally. In 1984, today’s president was the head of state of Nigeria by virtue of the coup d’etat that heralded the birth of the then new year of 1984.
As though through some strange Orwellian manifestation, 1984 was the year in which democracy was crippled in Nigeria, and ever since then she has walked with a noticeable limp. Big Brother has truly become a thing since then, just ask the folks at DSTV (*wink wink). George Orwell must be writhing in his grave. Bad jokes apart though, the thing about a badly limping democracy is that its debilitation impacts every aspect of life, starting with the economy, and ending with the very last ripple that the limp causes. And where democracy is undermined, education must surely suffer in due course. Likewise where a crippling democracy will increase poverty in the economy, that poverty soon begins to creep from the pockets of constituents into the minds of their children, and if not halted, it gathers strength and momentum, as it passes from generation to generation. Poverty of the mind is the greatest poverty of them all. (keep scrolling) >>>>
Poverty of the mind is further exacerbated by policies or regimes that muzzle freedom of expression among artists, and of speech among the media. Young minds are also impoverished when they are stopped suddenly in full stride by an academic staff strike, and even moreso when said strike lasts more than just a couple of weeks. When students have all of an uninterrupted stretch of eight months rendered nul and void by industrial action, then what have the government and the academic staff communicated to them about how important they are, and how has the whole episode shaped and programmed their young minds? Importantly, how badly does such an episode derail our youngsters just when their light shines the brightest? Whatever anyone’s answer to these questions, it is a wonderful demonstration of unrivalled philistinism, coming from our so-called elders and statesmen. Ugh!
Campuses are hotbeds of sex, truth and lies. But also of unflinching trruth. They feel a lot like little republics of their own. There s something about entering into the gates of a campus that represents stepping into another word. Just like outside, Academia has its politics not dissimilar to the real world outside, complete with politicking and campaign trails, elections manifestos and terms of office. Sycophants align themselves according to speculation over perceived advantages to be had, and aspirants must engage with their ‘constituents’ in such a way as to secure thier votes in the election.
Those who rise to the top take on an air of power for the term of their office, and float around on the buoyancy of a cloud of authority, wielded over both staff and students alike. Not to mention the apparently ordinary man on the apparently ordinary street. Campus life s comfortable and safe…and prredictable…and seldom do academics make the cross-over between the Muppet Show of politics in Academia, their little comfort zone, and cruel and big arena of real world politics.
The safety and security of Campus life has over the years kept many intellectuals from contributing to the betterment of the ‘real’ political arena. Ergo, the ordinary man on the street. I blamed my father’s generation many decades ago, for letting happen the infiltration of our political elite by any thug who either had a gun, or who had the power to hire himself guns. Is this what we have come to? The honest answer is a resounding yes. It is. Indeed, and unbelievably, this is what we have come to. Let that sink in.
Education is at once the redeeming crucible and also the ultimate weapon of mass destruction. When you do it well, it liberates, and when not, then it chains. Right now Nigeria is in chains. The chains of illiteracy and miseducation have us in further chains of mental slavery.
But here’s the thing, it’s not too late. Well kinda sorta. There’s no denying that to play catch-up now s something that cannot be done in a hurry. The question is though, do we need to go and re-educate our entire population before we can move forward into a better and brighter future? Well, yes and no. Yes, re-education is definitely a long-term necessity, but in the interim short term, a sharp short reorientation would be a good catalyst for the change we need from the upcoming election.
For now, my fellow Nigerians, please educate yourselves and each other online. Find out what’s really going on in Nigeria. Find our what’s REALLY going on in the rest of the world. Ask yourself what you want from the next chunk of your lifespan, after some people have come and manages to waste away eight whole years of your life, ours lives. Make and informed decisions, do a SWOT analysis beforehand, argue it out over a beer or a stout, or a glass of vino. Or something ‘soft’ if you don’t indulge.
Let’s be clear about this: the one and only way we can eradicate poverty is to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery. Your PVC is the key to the freedom of your minds, and of your children. Wield it well, wield it wisely.