Poor human capacity: Investment in qualitative education as panacea to perennial degradation
Deficits in education in Nigeria remain a sour subject; the discourse of which pose different sides of concerns and reservations. The profile of human capacity in the Country remains at a low ebb. The demographic representation of the Country, with reflection on the education deficits among the people, poses stronger challenges for development. Such deficiencies are, by and large, inconsistent with the quest for development. The case of the nexus and bearings of socio-economic development to the human population remain cogent. Studies have shown the strong cord between the profile of human capacity of a population and the profile of socio-economic status.
In Nigeria, the underdeveloped categorisation of the Country along the ladder of definitions of socio-economic development cannot be argued not be unrelated to the depth of poor human capacity of the population. It is known that the profile of deficits in education speaks volume against the desideratum of the yearnings of development in the Country.
While some of these deficits have been borne by unbalanced structures of the socio-economic and political characters of the Country, the problem has further been worsened by some cultural misconceptions. In Nigeria, it is largely known that while education for male children has recently been receiving some upward encouragement, though not at the pace of desideratum, the case for the girl-child is still much shrouded with lamentations. Again, beyond socio-economic and political forces, cultural strings have compounded to worsen the narratives. The provisions for the education of girl-child appear to be suffering along the lines of huge deficits. While enlightenment have seen upscaling status in the Country, particularly for the South, the narratives are still far behind the demands for the desired socio-economic development. The profile of education deficits among girl-child in the Northern part of the Country appears to be counterproductive for development. This is not, however, to say that the Southern part of the Country is free from the scourge.
As awareness over the need to close such gaps becomes more pronounced with sensitisation giving reflections of the potential contributions that proper human capacity development for the girl-child through appreciable up bringing hold, the need for a wake towards deliberate efforts to institute frameworks to accommodate the need in the development course of the Country becomes paramount. In this light, the campaign for the struggle for special attention for the education of the girl-child in the Country has recently continued to generate attention.
In this reflection, Wife of the Nigerian Vice President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, had recently stressed the need for adequate investment in girl-child education to tackle challenges often faced in the society. Osinbajo who gave the submission in her address at the two-day Mass Literacy for Less Privileged and Almajiri Initiative (MALLPAI), Foundation 2021 Literacy Day with the theme: “Promoting Literacy for better education in Nigeria,” held on Saturday night in Abuja, had decried the situation where the girl-child appeared to lag behind the male-child in capacity development. According to her, more needs to be done to bridge the gaps in education between female children and their male counterparts.
In her averment, she was quoted: “When a girl is educated, she can read and she can write; when she is educated, she is aware of the law, she knows love and when her signs say danger. When a girl is educated, she is aware of her potential; she can read about Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of the World Trade Organisation. An educated girl sitting on a chair in Kebbi or Kano, in Osogbo or Osodi, in Awka or Uyo, understands norms and expands her mind. She is not a doctor, but knows a bit about medicine because she can read; she is not an engineer but she knows a bit about buildings and how machines work. An educated girl achieves her potential and relies on all of us when we limit her in any little way. Imagine if Dr Stella Adedavor, a doctor was never educated and imagine if Nana Asamoah, a poet, was never educated.”
On a general ground, Wife of Kebbi State Governor and Founder of the non-governmental organisation, MALLPAI, Hajiya Aisha Bagudu, had called for adequate investment in the proper education of children to keep them away from crime. She narrated thus: “When MALLPAI started with Almajiri, we had challenges then and now. People do not see such children, they just see a nuisance; but for us we see the child not the nuisance. We do not see through such children, we see them as human beings; some of them have started working, some have come back to work with MALLPAI Foundation.”
In his submission, the Minister of State for Education, Mr Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, had taken the perception of his position on education beyond the conception of classroom. According to him, misperception about education being limited to the just classroom was contributing to the deficits.
He was quoted, “Education is not just a classroom thing; the entire gamut of the educational system consists of so many life skills that are inherently endowed in any society. Literacy is not only as it pertains to English language. You can also have literacy in other languages; literacy refers to the ability to communicate in education in one language and to do so in written and oral forms.”
The deficits in education among the Nigerian population is far too alarming. The prevailing narratives draw the Country closer to disturbances than it does to prospects of development. It has become pertinent for the Government to take concerted efforts toward strengthening investments in education with cogent policy directions which are consistent with the desideratum to foster development in the Country. As it has been established that the human capacity profile of a population is proportionally reflective of the socio-economic status obtainable, it is pertinent for the Government to strategically pay stronger attention with emphatic policies to give investments in education a special place in the Country.
The need for such deliberate necessity to be codified with reflections in the budgetary and administrative operations of the Government from the Federal down to the Government of the Components units of the Federation is essential. The recent turbulence the Country is presently enmeshed in is not unconnected from its poor human capacity. The need for investments in education as a strong index for human capacity development with reflections on the macro socio-economic status of the society is key. With the lopsided profile which has seen the rising gender scale in education in the Country reflecting huge disparities between the male and girl child, a development which have been noted to pose its threats on the society, it is important for the Government to be deliberate in such efforts at upscaling investments in education to give parity to gender reflections. The need for sensitisation on the part of the Government, Non Governmental Organizations, religious, and socio-cultural bodies to enlighten more Nigerians on why investments in the education of their wards is a necessity, remain sacrosanct.
