MRS LECTURER (1)

I could never have chosen or decided to be a lecturer. Perhaps because I subconsciously knew it was not going to be an easy job (that sounds great, no?) but more than likely because as a student, I did not see great models of who I wanted to become amongst my lecturers. At the time, many lecturers were poor dressers, even worse speakers and even though I dared not say so at the time, the worst sort of teachers. Perhaps this was why they were termed lecturers.

Lecturing is An exposition of a given subject delivered before an audience or a class, as for the purpose of instruction according to my 'friend', Google and a Lecturer is 1. One who delivers lectures, especially professionally and 2. A member of the faculty of a college or university usually having qualified status without rank or tenure according to The Free Dictionary.

This is why I know there are no lecturers in the Universities in Nigeria, or to be fair, very few. Many do no exposition whatsoever of their subject matter and I am very well convinced that fewer still, instruct. Forgive me for sounding like a Judas among the twelve but its getting to the point where I am worried that the continuing decay in the education sector will be so entrenched that anyone who attempts to change it will be prosecuted (and I meant in the law courts, not persecuted that some people do in the name of the Lord!). 

We all complain about the state of our education sector (second only to the politics of our nation) yet we all do nothing as individuals or a pressure group to attempt to improve or stem the tide of the degeneration. Forgive me if you are one of the minority who is trying to stop the avalanche of ill in this sector, or you are overwhelmed by the magnitude of rot, while you do your bit, you ought to be screaming and flailing as though you are drowning in a mighty ocean (which incidentally, you are!). Reasons are not far-fetched. 

Examine with me the education of our children: many of the babies start to attend creche from 3-6months which is the length of time employers grant their mothers as maternity leave. So baby starts to attend creche at 6months, graduates to nursery school at about 3years of age, enters the Primary School system at age 5, leaves Primary School at age 10, at which time the child enters Secondary School, leaves at age 16 to study a 4-6year course and by age 20-24 is a graduate.

Unfortunately, the child described has gone through all of these stages without the benefit of an education, never encouraged to attempt acts which encourage milestones as a baby, entrusted to caregivers who have patented old wives tales as scientific methodology for child raising, moved onto job-seekers who 'settled' for teaching after years of searching for a means of livelihood, who constantly take out their frustrations on gifted & special kids who 'talk back' determined to stifle the 'stubborn' streak in these kids while at the same time, eroding all the creativity that the young (g)'uns are blessed with from their creator. 

Many of these very highly skilled 'teachers' are great at massaging the egos of tired parents who can muster no energy/interest to find out how educated their children are, as long as they can slave for peanuts that they can then throw at the educational upliftment of their children and be able to tell their friends of how expensive the 'Montessori' or 'International' school their kid is at and how the kid surprised them yesterday with a word like 'metaphorical' while never bothering to find out if the child knows the meaning or to find its meaning out for themselves (Google is your friend too!). 

All that matters is the child is 'going to school'. 

In secondary school, the child is herded into a class with others irrespective of the ability and skills, and if fortunate to be accepted in one of the seemingly 'better' schools, is thrust into secondary education with a handicap masquerading as a class name....JS1D, where D stands for Dummies as against JS1C or E ( C for conquerors and E for excellent!). What's in a name, you ask? Can't tell, but hullabaloo about UNILAG vs MAULAG is a reference case! Such a child is then enabled by assigning the dullest teachers (denoted as patient) and the most uninteresting methods that stifle, if not kill, whatever curiosity there remains in the child to ensure that he/she NEVER has an independent thought ever again and begins to be a potential Nigerian citizen of the world, able to criticize and evaluate but never able to make the leap to actually do the right thing!

By graduation, this one is ready to take on the lecturers, those who should 'expose a subject & instruct' and who, sadly fail to either expose or instruct. Rather, they shovel and attempt to enable to befuddle the entire world. Fortunately for them, their students are willing subjects whose preparation for this stage of 'education' has been thorough. Thus there are lecturers who are unable to comprehend their subject matter, talk more of explaining it to their students. Lecturers who are unable to manoeuver through the basic skills of comprehending and utilising the tools of learning and will not even attempt to cover their ignorance by acquiring the knowledge to be able to acquire the knowledge of the skills they need (phew!).

And like all (no, most) lecturers in Nigeria (hen! abi ya own different?), I became one without an understanding of what it entails or an orientation and so I had to make up the rules as I went along. Few years in, I am more aware of why the Nigerian lecturer is educationally challenged. I am lucky because I have wonderful examples from both sides of zero around me (positive & negative) and so I have found it easy to learn what to do to be a lecturer and what to do to be a le(ech)turer. Only those in the inner caucus know the distinction.

I should thank Ifemidayo (@odex4real), he made me look critically at lecturing and how lecturers are constantly failing their students in more ways than one and so, not to be Nigerian in my ability to criticise and not profer solutions to identified problems, I will ask my friend to look at my 'how to' write-up and infuse it with the necessary zest and zing that will make it appealing to the lecturers who would like to effect change in their ability to 'expose a subject & instruct'.