By Adamu Usman Garko
The emphasis being enthused on the need for education in today’s world is definitely a clarion call appropriately channeled, and this will clearly ignite an alert for any right thinking individual not on this path already to go in hot pursuit of education before it becomes too late for him. Education is the most important thing any youth/person should primarily focus on so long as he means well for himself and his society.
It is an indisputable fact that education is the number one index of elevation of one’s status in our transitory world of today. While it may take you quite a long span of servitude-cum-cringing loyalty to other mortals like you, to reach some, in fact, less important stages in life, with a worthy education characterised by hardwork and consistency, you are just a click away from whatever ambition, no matter how lofty, you have envisioned for yourself.
Education has revealed different continuum of scenarios where the sons and daughters of nobody eventually became people of relevance in different strata of life: local, national or even global acclaim. This however came to be when their educational achievements are paired with focus, vision, patience, contentment and proven ability to remain steadfast. The primacy of focusing on acquiring education no matter how daunting the challenges may be, is what differentiates this ideology of the place of quality education in determining one’s success.
While the truth is that not everyone can aspire and afford to attend the very best and qualitative schools in the world, that vacuum could be easily filled with one’s unrivalled ability to dedicate high portion of his time to personal development. Today we are in a global village where everything you might need is available on the internet: Google, YouTube, Wikipedia, etc. There is nothing that students in Havard and Oxford are being taught that you cannot access free of charge with low-budget smartphones even if you live in a mud house.
This also leads our exploration into how we even use our phones. With high-powered information a click away from us, it is most disheartening that majority of us tend to grossly misuse this medium by rather spend time on the Social media spaces throwing insults all about and lamenting about lack of opportunities, while in fact you live in a space where opportunities stare you in face but you lack the initiative to grap them appropriately for your upliftment and relevance in life. It is even more sickening to understand that the large category of people that waste their time with their smart phones instead of using them for good, are not those from well-to-do families.
It is baffling that these people have failed to realise the truth that if you are not from a wealthy and well-to-do family, education remains your only sustainable rescue from the gloomy tentacles of poverty and irrelevance. With a worthy education, a qualitative one at that, you can bring yourself up to a statue where you could rob minds with great people who ordinarily you may never have got the opportunity to have contact with. No one is denying you an opportunity or employment. If you don’t have any, it is your fault. You are your greatest enemy, the one holding yourself down through your apathy towards good education. In the sophisticated world of today, no one would love to have a liability as an employee.
Talking about employability and the issue of qualitative education, it is not even about the acquisition of certificates alone. Beyond the tradition of producing graduates, half-baked or poorly educated youths with certificates who cannot be trusted with things they have gone to universities to study, you need to invest in your personal development to make yourself worthy ambassador and an important asset in the field you have chosen. Understand where you can study having in cognizance the financial implication, understand the stages of education you can pursue at different times, and unapologetically research more personally and devote your time to being the best you can be there.
The future of the world will not be the replica of the past you know. The world is pragmatic and we are transitioning into a new system and society where the most educated and highly productive wields power in virtually every section of the society and the world at large. Don’t let anyone deceive you by telling you that you don’t need education to be rich or reach any enviable position in life because you have seen the previous generation getting this privilege. No, that was something attainable in the fast fleeting past.
Today and tomorrow, the narrative is changing, and in just few years, your ticket to relevance is the quality of education you are able to claim as yours.
Adamu Usman Garko writes from Gombe State.
