By By Kenny Ola
The reality that recently dawns on Nigerian education arrives not with noise, but with poise, a gospel that preaches education beyond mere acquisition of knowledge and character. This reality further undergirds the fact that nothing can escape the firm grip of evolution, a quiet term that explains change not just as a constant manifestation, but as an inevitable dish that every worldly phenomenon must have a taste of. Destiny currently ceases to be projected through brilliance alone, but through academic disciplines. The popular expression that show me your friend and I will tell you who you are, has been reconstructed to read thus: “tell me your major and I will tell you how far you would go in life.” Nursery rhymes have been thoroughly edited to reflect only science-related professions, not to undermine other professions, but to depict what the reality truly demands. No student wants to be like their teachers. And if it is not a science department, no parent is ready to embark on financial expeditions. That is not selfishness; it is a thoughtful exercise of financial prudence, an incisive move that renders education not just as a means of knowledge acquisition, but as a gateway to financial breakthroughs.
Intelligence is no more appreciated once it resides in arts and humanities. Graduates in arts and humanities are now made to appear like second class citizens in a country that once benefited and is still benefiting from the teachings of historians, the thinking of philosophers and the writing prowess of men of letters whose towering intellect becomes the only formidable force that challenges the misguided perspectives the white men hold against Nigeria and its residents at a time software engineering was helpless and cybersecurity was oblivious of its security potential. Academic success attained through humanities education is by chance but the one recorded in STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is absolutely certain.
Departments of legal studies abound with brilliant but frustrated students whose honour is tied only to becoming lawyers. Competition is intense. Space is limited. Yet, those intelligent students manage to take Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) on several attempts just to share the spotlight with their STEM contemporaries. Innovation suddenly defies public consideration once it is not minted out of STEM or legal education. And its relevance echoes only when the government realises that franchise is demonstrated by the people, not the machines. Students of arts and humanities now find an intermittent solace in the wry byword: “you can work anywhere”, a gesture that uncovers their reluctance in the face of a reality that hits fiercely without consent.
The relevance of humanities education has become too recursive that it has gradually begun to lose its substance. Yes, recursion is productivity. However, it loses its spark when it consistently breeds the same outcome. As a result, lectureship in humanities departments demands not just brilliance, but politics. It requires more than intelligence but measured tact viably sufficient to position one ahead of others. And the appointment consequently wears the face of an individual whose triumph isn’t defined by merit alone, but by negotiation. This is often the situation when education cannot be productively channelled to diverse means of survival. In humanities departments, inaugural lectures are constantly held. Publications effortlessly birth academic elevation. Yet, frustration deepens. Agitation grows. Freshly minted graduates are faced with gruelling realities that are never justified in the publications. Is this really what humanities education stands for?
Nigerian entrepreneurs understand the situation better that business profitably flourishes without friction where massive demands abound. In the hands of Nigerian entrepreneurs, limited space becomes a weapon. The existence of fierce competition in professional courses becomes a stepping stone to a more meteoric business career. And the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes a quiet tool for personal enrichment. Professional and AI-related courses are now loudly advertised, not just for national growth, but for business advancement. Schools of nursing are thick with students who are unable to gain entrance to public institutions. Schools of computing are crowded with young minds who strongly believe in the promise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that the future belongs to those who build technologies. And, consequently, society quietly withdraws its respect for those that preserve the life of the country to witness the emerging trends.
In Nigeria, software engineering, cybersecurity, data science, artificial intelligence are not merely perceived as academic disciplines, but as alternative replacements of classical courses. Then, one wonders where lies the true essence of education when it deflates classical knowledge for contemporary discoveries. The recent reality of humanities education further reinforces the Yoruba saying that: “Ekisa na ti lo igba ri.” Loosely translated as: Rags too were once trending clothes, a saying that justifies time, not just as a fleeting moment, but as a phenomenon that dictates the longevity of relevance.
Education is an all-embracing enterprise geared towards shaping minds, cultivating positive values and building hands for vocational advancement. Education begins to lose its substance when it resists change, trends and transformations. Arts and humanities must move beyond knowledge-based teaching to practical-based education. Students of arts and humanities must be taught not just to know but to do. When education is solely bookish, its significance is rarely rich and its relevance often amounts to one-way survival which is the classroom. Academics must also help the curriculums out of the excessive pressure of conventions. Curriculums should reflect change, not neglect. They should depict progress, not gaps. They should solve contemporary human problems, and not just state them.
The emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) should be seen as a complement, and not as a threat to classical knowledge. Discrediting classical knowledge for modern innovation is not education. It is sheer ignorance. And that is how a country rapidly grows, not by dismantling one form of education for another, but by a thoughtful synthesis of traditional knowledge and contemporary discoveries.
The enduring truth is that the future belongs not only to those who build machines, but also to those who shape meaning, preserve culture and communicate realities through performance. And for a country to thrive better, it needs more than technologists. It requires more than legal practitioners. It demands the ingenuity of those who weave the foundation of the country into history, into meaning and into performance.
Kenny Ola is a communications specialist based in Lagos. He can be reached via [email protected]
