It is often said that 'if one wants to hide something from african, one should hide it inside a book' and statistic has shown it that less than sixty percentage of African read good books.
I recognise, of course, that the above statement maybe true, but my problem is not whether african read books or the quality of books we read. My problem is, how our best brains are being exploited, contributing to our underdeveloped state and we never seem to notice. I recognise that we have leadership problem and Rome is not build in a day but if we take pragmatic approach toward solving our problems and ensuring that all hands are on deck, I am sure we will attain the peak of development.
Before I proceed, I'll like to share an example of how one of our best brains sent abroad by Sokoto state government was exploited.
"Jelani Aliyu, an indigene of Sokoto State in northern Nigeria who is a leading automobile designer in America today. Aliyu’s story illustrates the problem with educational systems that focus more on theory than practical, more on quantity of schooling than quality of schooling; more on non cognitive skills than cognitive skills. Upon completing secondary school, Aliyu enrolled at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, to study for a degree in architecture. However, he was frustrated by the pedantic, Ivory Towerian intellection of the programme at ABU which focused more on theory.
Aliyu dropped out and enrolled at the Birni Kebbi Polytechnic which offered more practical courses. He earned an Ordinary National Diploma in architecture in 1988 and was the overall best graduating student in the school.
With a scholarship from the Sokoto State Government, he proceeded to Detroit in the Midwestern U.S. state of Michigan and enrolled for a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Transportation Design at the prestigious College for Creative Studies, one of the world’s 60 best design schools, according to the Bloomberg Business Week magazine.
He graduated in 1994 and got hired by General Motors, the world’s second biggest car manufacturer and America’s biggest. In 2007, Aliyu designed the Chevrolet Volt described by General Motors as the future car and “American Revolution". Today, Aliyu is GM’s lead exterior designer at its Michigan headquarters. He has never returned to work in Nigeria since he was educated in the United States with Nigerian
public funds"--- 'curled from globaleducationconference'
I've always thought that education or mass literacy is the only tool Africa needs to alter tangible change, economical and technological because we are normally look down upon in the international community due to the abject poverty and lack of effective leadership, without thinking about the exploitation of our people.
However, it now appears to me that we have moved from the level of mass illiteracy to the point that we now need to be making a change by taking advantage of our best brains (educated mass) for an holistic reforms. Like 'globaleducationconference' has highlighted that growth of any society is largely dependent on the capacity of its human resources to confront challenges and find solutions that are useful and familiar to the society.
For Africa to achieve any meaningful development over the next few years, individual countries must begin to develop well thought out policies that will ensure not just mass literacy but also a full utilisation of the educated mass for economic and social growth.
Undergraduate of Mechanical Engineering.
emmanuel.adeyemi40@gmail.com
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