First University Graduate in the Family: Blessing or Curse?

First University Graduate in the Family: Blessing or Curse?

Nigerians place a very high premium on education. Translation: they like to acquire degrees.  A lot.

If you enter the sitting room (parlor) of a typical Nigerian family, in addition to family pictures, you are likely to see one or more school certificates prominently displayed for the whole world to know that Baba Bisi too went to school.  And graduated.

At the most basic level, I would say that you are not considered truly educated unless you have a Bachelor's degree.  In fact, some people will argue with you and say that a Master's degree is the minimum requirement to be considered truly educated.  I am sure if there were more advanced degrees than PhDs, Nigerians would pursue them too.  But until then ....

Continue Reading

Pastors of Campus Fellowships in Nigerian Universities After Graduation

Pastors of Campus Fellowships in Nigerian Universities After Graduation

Someday soon, I will write about my experience with American campus fellowships.  It was a culture shock, to put it mildly, and I attended quite a few.  But today, I wanted to discuss campus fellowships in Nigerian universities.  I am sure you know them, but let me give a few examples anyway:

Continue Reading

Nigerian Student Wahala No. 6: A Carry-Over Means Failure

Nigerian Student Wahala No. 6: A Carry-Over Means Failure

In continuing with our series, today's topic deals with carry-overs.  In Nigerian polytechnics and universities, a 'carry-over' is synonymous with 'failure.'  If a student fails a course, he or she has to re-take it the following semester, or another subsequent semester. So, to 'carry over' a course, means to re-take the same course.

Continue Reading

Nigerian Student Wahala No. 5: Avoiding Sex Predators Doubling as Lecturers and Professors

Nigerian Student Wahala No. 5: Avoiding Sex Predators Doubling as Lecturers and Professors

I have to admit that I don't know which is worse: a cultist pressuring a girl to be his girlfriend and/or for sex, OR a lecturer pressuring a girl (his student) for sex. But for today, we'll focus on the latter.  It should also be noted that lazy students also use this knowledge in their favor, i.e. they approach lecturers and offer to sleep with them in exchange for good grades, when these students have not done the assigned work.

If you know anything at all about the inner workings of education in Nigeria's higher institutions, then you'll know that this has been a problem for more than a decade.  It was a problem when I was in school, and it still is a problem now.

Continue Reading

Nigerian Student Wahala No. 3: Gaining Admission into School

Nigerian Student Wahala No. 3: Gaining Admission into School

At every level of Nigeria's educational system, there are certain "hiccups" that prevent students from gaining admission to school.  I wanted to discuss them briefly in Part 3 of our ongoing series, Wahala of the Nigerian Student.

Continue Reading

The Old Man who Preys on JAMB Students: True Story

The Old Man who Preys on JAMB Students: True Story

This is a true story.  It is my story.

"There is an old man who takes JAMB every year.  He has taken the exam countless times and he still hasn't passed it.  If he sits near you, and you don't let him copy your answers, he will snatch your exam paper, tear it up and say 'See you next year.' "

Those words (or a similar version of that silly assortment of words) were uttered by a wicked friend months before I sat for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board exam, otherwise known as JAMB, many years ago.  I'm talking more than 10 years ago.

See you next year.

Continue Reading

Nigerian Student Wahala # 2: Surviving Cultism and Academic Union Strikes

Nigerian Student Wahala # 2: Surviving Cultism and Academic Union Strikes

Special thanks to everyone who is following this series.  I appreciate the feedback and support :-)

In continuing with our series, another set of "wahala" (problems) faced by Nigerian students comes in the form of a two-headed monster (I made that up.  The monster probably has more than two heads.  Share a picture if you see it live):  Cultism and Academic Union Strikes.  This typically affects institutions of higher learning a.k.a universities.  Let's tackle them one by one.

Continue Reading

Coming of Age in Nigeria: Secondary School or University Affair

Coming of Age in Nigeria: Secondary School or University Affair

Coming of age basically means the process of growing from childhood to adulthood.  During the period students spend in schools pursuing formal education, many things change simultaneously.  These changes take place all the way from nursery school to university.  The most obvious change, perhaps, is the fact that their bodies undergo changes from childhood to adolescence and eventually, adulthood.  But what about their mental development? At what point do they discover who they really are?

Continue Reading

Reform or Overhaul: What Nigeria's Education System Needs

Reform or Overhaul: What Nigeria's Education System Needs

Nostalgia.  Sadness.  Hope.

Those three words describe the range of emotions I experienced when I saw this picture.  Here's the story.

Auditorium at Distance Learning Institute (DLI), University of Lagos // Flickr

Continue Reading

SCHOOL SPIRIT: Do Nigerian Students Show It? | Featured Artiste: Ogecha

SCHOOL SPIRIT: Do Nigerian Students Show It? | Featured Artiste: Ogecha

According to Wikipedia, School spirit is "emotional support for one's educational institution." [Source] Contrary to your opinion, it is has NOTHING to do with Madam Koin-Koin, bush babies, and other unexplained mysteries that plague the Nigerian school landscape.  (Really, Relentless? School and landscape in one sentence? Must be this heat wave).  Madam Koin-Koin would win the title for The School Spirit, which is not what I wanted to discuss here today.  (Aside: I wonder if she wears Louboutins.  If you see her, you can ask her).  I was thinking of school spirit in terms of showing support for your school.  

[Image Source]

Continue Reading

Simbi goes to school [Featured Artiste: Psalmos]

Simbi goes to school [Featured Artiste: Psalmos]

Simbi / Image Source: BBM

Remember Ali and Simbi from your primary school textbook? Well, the picture on the right should refresh your memory.  Let’s assume for today that Simbi has graduated from secondary school.  The next logical step for her to take is to go to the university, right?  Once upon a time, Simbi had no choice, but to go to a public university (federal or state), since private universities in Nigeria were more or less non-existent.  Fast-forward to 2011.  Simbi can choose to attend either a public or private university.  Okay, let me snap out of this third person narration mode for now. 

One problem we can all agree on that plagues Nigerian universities is cultism.  It used to be that this was a problem that was peculiar to public universities, and that the private universities were “squeaky clean” and did not have cults.  But the reality is that regardless of the affiliation of the private universities (e.g. Bowen University is owned by the Nigerian Baptist Convention, and Babcock is owned by the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Nigeria), there is a growing problem of cultism in private universities. It does not matter whether the cultists in private schools are ex-cultists who were rusticated from public universities or whether some students feel that their learning experience is not complete without cultism (hence the need to create cults in an otherwise “cult-free” environment).  What matters though is the implication of this trend for private universities in Nigeria.  

Continue Reading