Tunde is a 15-year-old SS2 student who only goes to school because his parents make him. To him, school is just routine. Math feels like punishment, English is “too much grammar,” and when teachers ask what he wants to be, he just says, “I don’t know… maybe I’ll just make money somehow.”
He does assignments when he feels like it, copies notes before exams, and spends most of his energy joking around or on his phone. For Tunde, education is just exams and promotion, not preparation for life.
What is Education?
Education is not just “going to school so I can write WAEC, NECO, or JAMB.” It is much more than that.
Education is the process whereby a person is cultured, taught, and equipped with knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to contribute meaningfully to the development of society.
It is the process of developing a person’s mind, character, and abilities through learning, training, and experiences so they can live wisely, reach their full potential, and make positive contributions to the world.
Think about crude oil in the Niger Delta: raw, it is messy and not very useful. But when refined, it produces petrol, diesel, kerosene, and many other valuable products. That is exactly what education does to you—it refines you into someone who offers value.
Education refines you into someone who offers value.
Why is Education Important to the Nigerian Student?
1. The Purpose of Education to the Educated
Education benefits you directly in many ways:
•Transformation of the Mind: an educated mind reasons better and dreams bigger. Without education, your thinking may be limited to “survival mode.” With education, you can imagine solutions for Nigeria’s problems—like unemployment, electricity, insecurity—and play your part in fixing them.
•Equipping with Skills and Abilities: with education, you acquire practical skills like problem-solving, communication, and ICT knowledge. For example, a Nigerian student who learns coding may later build an app that creates jobs and helps thousands of people. Education gives you tools to create value.
•Building Character and Discipline: waking up early for school, respect for teachers and seniors and juniors, doing assignments, and preparing for WAEC are not punishment—they are training for real life. These habits build self-control, consistency, and resilience. In Nigeria, where many fall into shortcuts like bribery or fraud, education trains you to succeed the right way.
•Preparation for Leadership and Service: tomorrow’s governors, doctors, inventors, teachers, and pastors are today’s students. Education prepares you for responsibility. Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nigeria desperately needs educated leaders with integrity.
•Expanding Your Capacity: education removes the “I can’t” mindset. A girl in Sokoto or a boy in Bayelsa may only imagine subsistence farming or trading, but education opens doors to careers in medicine, modern agriculture for food security and export, engineering, aviation, or technology. Education enlarges your vision.
Truly, friends, education, including schooling, plays a key role in shaping your mind, refining your talents, and moulding your character for a great future.
As you prepare to resume the new session, reflect: How seriously are you taking your education?
If this article has motivated you to take deliberate steps to make the best use of the opportunity you have in education, engage the comment box and let us know how!
Series by: Academic Mentorship Team, The Prime Project.
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