Our educational system is supposed to equip the society with trained manpower that will drive development. That is one major function of education all over the world. It is also the major tool of civilization as it affords the society the opportunity to fill the minds of the young ones with acceptable norms and values.
The harvest the society expects after sowing so much in terms of money, energy and time in the lives of these young ones is an avalanche of skills, innovations and creative ingenuity that will lift the country to an enviable height. From every set of graduating students, we should have researchers, great artists, pharmacists, original thinkers and philosophers, people skilled in various areas. We should look up to the school system to provide replacement for retiring technocrats in various government and private establishments. Actually, the schools should guarantee that the old brigade will be replaced with people who are equipped with newer and more productive ideas of doing old things.
Unfortunately, what we get instead is a rich harvest of certificates that are mostly meaningless to the society. Because of the crazy quest for certificates, all kinds of anomalies are allowed to take place. Some people circumvent the normal route and engage in all kinds of oddities in order to acquire it. The undue importance given to the acquisition of certificates in our system is responsible for this craze. People in positions of authority predicate various opportunities and privileges on the possession of one certificate or the other. These people do not care about the person’s skills and abilities. This has given rise to certificate racketeering in different formats.
One institution that is largely responsible for powering the acquisition of spurious certificates is the miracle centre. I believe that this is one of those phenomena that can only thrive in Nigeria and other self-deceiving countries. A responsible society should not allow these centres to exist.
A miracle centre is a contraption put together by unscrupulous elements for the purpose of perpetrating high level examination fraud. It is called miracle centre because the massive fraud makes it possible for even an idiot to pass any examination and obtain certificates that he may not be able read out its content. This miracle centre syndrome has become increasingly popular and is almost assuming a legal status. I say this because they do not conceal their operations. They advertise their business on air, by posters, online, etc and yet no one molests them. Sometimes I wonder why the government just looks the other way while these miscreants make mince-meat of our educational system. Is it that the people at the helm of affairs are beneficiaries of such miracles or that their mouths are stuffed with the filthy money from the trade?
Obviously, the individuals who make it their business to dent the face of tomorrow through exam frauds are products of mis-education and so, naturally, they want to perpetuate the system that produced them. However, once in a while, we find well-educated people joining this dirty trade because of greed and avarice.
Miracle centres make mockery of our education and our governments at every level must see it as a sacred duty to deliver our young ones from this delusional factor that gives them a fake assurance of success without labour. Society does not change by preaching. There must be effective law enforcement to effect any meaningful change. Miracle centres must be driven out of business while more effort should be made to de-emphasize certificates and emphasize ability.
Our young ones must be shown that the miracle they pay for in these so-called miracle centres are the kind that fills the mouth with wormwood and the heart with bitterness. Such miracles must be shunned. In any case, true miracles are not bought with money.
Some noble-minded individuals have tried to fight this malady but it is not the kind of monster that can be fought with feeble weapons wielded by individuals. The government must deploy its paraphernalia and show that it means business.
How is it that these centres are recognized and approved by major examination bodies like WAEC, NECO, etc? Are there no standards required before centres are accredited? Most of these miracle centres operate in very unhealthy and remote environments that should not be associated with schooling, yet they are approved. Is this not a classical case of corruption? Please, let all hands be on deck to save this society from further decay.
Nnenna Ihebom
