Over the years, Nigerian children have through their exceptional education exploits been changing the narrative of the country from a corrupt and never do good people to a community of genius.
Recently, Ifeoma Amuche, a Nigerian student at South West University, Chongqing, China emerged as the best-graduating student out of more than 9,500 students and was chosen to make a speech on behalf of all the international students.
Amuche who hails from Eziabor village in Oko, one of the 16 towns that make up Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State had her primary education at First Hill Secondary School Umuchiana in Ekwulobia and Federal Polytechnic Oko, where she studied Library and Information Science before moving to China in 2019.
Many stakeholders believe that putting education on the front burner of the government’s scale of investment is critical to boosting the country’s economy and development.
Experts maintained that Nigerian students could attain their full potential if the country’s leaders are to make the right educational investments.
They argue that in foreign countries, there is an enabling environment for students to study that makes it easy for them to excel.
Stanley Alaiubi, senior lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt attributed the success of Nigerian students in foreign schools to stiff academic training, a curriculum tailored towards practical learning, and a conducive learning environment.
“Nigerian students excel abroad due to the stiff training the curriculum offers. The do-it-yourself with little or no assistance and a conducive learning environment helps bring out the best in them.
The spirit and willingness to excel are stiffened in students in Nigeria academically. However, with a favourable clime abroad, it comes out naturally, hence, Amuche is a case study,” he noted.
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Friday Erhabor, director of media and strategy at Marklenez Limited said that the education system in Nigeria does not allow students to excel.
“The truth is that when you give Nigerians opportunities, they will excel.
In foreign countries, the government provides a conducive environment for students to learn. All that lecturers do is to give students ideas to think about, they challenge students’ brains.
Our government should just put in place the basic infrastructure, motivate our lecturers and make the school calendar run seamlessly. This again boils down to funding,” he said.
In the same vein, Bamidele Okuwoga, a legal practitioner believes that Nigerians are generally very resourceful in many areas of human endeavour.
“Our local school system has deprived many generations of the needed opportunities for excellence due to unfavourable conditions and continually decaying infrastructure.
“Our public institutions of higher education are still lacking in innovation and quality products,” he said.
Okuwoga decried that primary and secondary education which should be the bedrock of a virile and progressive school system, are poorly run, shabbily managed, and miserably funded. He called for a complete overhaul of the system.
“There should be a better orientation for the students, proper planning and funding for the realisation of the needed development of the educational system,” he said.
China’s aggressive investment in infrastructure is one big factor in its rise to economic power. Education is another crucial aspect of it.
China made significant investments in education between the late 1940s and mid-1970s under Chairman Mao’s leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.
Today, China posts higher literacy rates, with more people completing grade school, high school, and college, compared to India.
In contrast to what is obtainable in China, the speed at which Nigerian students migrate abroad in pursuit of foreign education has continually been on an exponential rise.
Each year, there is a significant rise in the number of students moving abroad for education despite the huge costs of financing such moves.
According to UNESCO as of 2020, 71,753 Nigerian students are studying abroad. But, there are projections that this figure has increased to nearly 100,000 at the end of 2020.
In 2022, the UK’s Higher Education Statistic Agency reported that the number of Nigerian students studying in the country rose by 64 percent.
This is from 13,020 in the 2019/2020 academic session to 21,305 by the 2020/2021 session. Also, 14,438 Nigerians were enrolled at various institutions in the USA for the 2021/2022 academic session, while Canada has about 13,745 students in its universities.
Experts believe that a well-educated workforce is crucial for driving innovation, increasing productivity, and creating new job opportunities. This explains why countries like South Korea, Finland, and Singapore which invested heavily in their educational systems are now cashing out.
These nations have experienced higher levels of economic growth, lower unemployment rates, and higher average incomes.
