Education, experts argue, transcends the ability to read and write. Rather, an educated fellow is someone who has the ability to identify a problem and then solve it. A popular sentiment among Nigerians, especially old folks nowadays is that the standard of education has fallen to ridiculous levels. These old people will recount their days of education with nostalgia as the perfect age when students were students and teachers behaved as teachers. Most of the elders will swear by all the gods in the land that today education is dead. That what students have now is the long lost handicapped cousin of the education they had in the days of yore.
A former minister in Nigeria even concluded that Nigerian graduates are unemployable and Gen. Ibrahim Babangida once said that today’s youths are not ready for leadership positions. But many in that generation also disagree.
A good example is found in the autobiography of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo “AWO”, wherein the pioneer premier of the old Western region confessed the academic inadequacies of some of the teachers that taught him in primary school. It took Chief Awolowo’s better exposure to discern such deficiencies of his former tutors.
There are many examples similar to that perfectly concealed in the argument of “education for a golden generation”.
But in many African cultures, elders are accorded mythical wisdom that cannot be challenged by children. Whether it is right or otherwise, is a function of cultural position.
No institution is proving these people wrong better than the students of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB). The ivory tower sits atop 10,000 acres of land. With such expanse of land, there are many roads snaking across the institution.
These roads, owing to constant usage are bound to wear off. That is the story of many universities… bumpy roads that make commuting a nightmare both within and outside the tertiary institutions. This situation sometimes makes foreigners wonder whether these roads lead to universities as claimed or scrap yards.
But the undergraduate students of FUNAAB have found an ingenious way of dealing with the wear and tear of the roads. They have made a solemn oath to themselves that all roads shall receive the anointing of their blessed hands. What makes their effort more commendable by all Nigerians is that the Engineering students of the institution are not limiting their efforts to their campus; the road leading to their school is also receiving adequate attention.
They are making a bold statement that the present generation of Nigerians are not as hopeless as some would have us believe. They are reminding the older generation that in the midst of the chaos daily besetting education in the land, something laudable can still be produced.
It is a case of practising what they profess. A recent visitor to the place would be fascinated by the amount of energy the students have exerted into fixing their campus road which had for a while been begging for attention. This reporter had visited the institution before and the road to the ivory tower immediately after leaving Abeokuta – Ibadan old road was to say the least, terrible.
The commercial buses commuting the students to and from the school bear the testimony of the daily war they encounter on the road. The buses are rickety and the interior feels like bakery ovens.
Perhaps it was a combination of these factors that spurred the students to approach the school authorities with a resolve to make a difference in their own little way and save thousands the stress of incessant migraines occasioned by bumpy rides.
According to their VC, Professor Olusola Oyewole, the students approached the school authorities with the proposition that they could have the road fixed if some equipment could be provided for them. The university bought into the idea and the result has been unbelievable.
The VC was particularly impressed that the students thought big by not confining their efforts to the four walls of the university. The main road leading to their school is a link to many rural communities especially Alabata, their immediate neighbour. This means that by repairing the road, many surrounding communities are benefitting from their noble gesture. Being farmers, their perishable farm produce will not have to rot away on account of lack of motorable road. Talk of good neighbours!
“I am proud to inform you that the efforts of my students at repairing roads is not confined to our campus. The road leading from Camp to our school gate had for sometime been in terrible shape. Everybody travelling on the road in recent past would confess that the experience has not been the best.
“Today, the story has changed owing to sheer ingenuity of my students. They have done a professional job worthy of commendation. At first people had their misgivings on the ability of undergraduates repairing roads.
“I mean, that is forgivable when you consider a host of factors. It has not happened before, so the fears were indeed founded. But the students have proved to all of us that they can do it,” the VC said with pride.
Exuding confidence as he shook hands with some of the young engineers on site repairing the failed portion of the campus road, the institution’s head stressed the need for Nigerian students to task their intellect and challenge themselves to take up leadership positions by contributing to the development of the land.
“The future starts now. I am so proud of what these young engineers are doing. Kudos must also be extended to their lecturers who first and foremost have taught the students well and equally have created time to supervise the project. The country is for the youth to build and my students are showing signs that, with the right tool, Nigerian students can compete favourably with their counterparts across the globe.”
The VC also called on the Nigerian students to challenge themselves by taking a cue from the worthy effort of FUNAAB students saying students across the country should put their learning into practice.
“At FUNAAB, excellence is our hallmark. We encourage them to put into practice what they are being taught in the class.”
The students, in their assorted engineering gear -overall jackets, boots and helmets- looked every inch engineers. They explained to the visiting reporters that their chief motivation was service. They said dissipating energy on making the roads motorable gives them joy and satisfaction. They confessed that the project has been challenging but were glad that the school authority listened to them when they proposed the project.
According to one of them, Adeoye Victor, they derived joy in repairing the roads. At the same time, he reasoned that their effort would go into their CV and that according to him might prove vital in the future when time came for employment. He recounted how he was instructed to put all tasks he undertook during his industrial training in his task manual for future reference saying the FUNAAB road project would also appear in their CV.
“This is like doing additional Industrial Training. All these efforts will be documented in our CV and you never can tell how valuable that can be in employment situations. It happens that when there are too many candidates for a job, efforts like this appearing on CV may prove a vital advantage.”
Adeoye appreciated the support of the school authority saying the equipment provided by the school for the work was a sign of the belief the school had in the quality of education their lecturers provide in the school. He disclosed that they were challenged by the poor state of the road hence their intervention. He then called on government to encourage young people through initiating programmes designed for the economic advancement of Nigerians, especially youths.
“ There are potentials in this country. I strongly disagree with the sentiment that our generation is an unproductive one. On the contrary, there are many students with great ideas to transform this nation but lack the capacity. Government at various levels should initiate programmes that target youth development. It is in the interest of government to help us in our drive for success. Here we have made a bold statement that we can compete very well with our counterparts around the world given the right training and enabling environment. If youths are productively engaged the issue of insurgency will die a natural death.”
These undergraduates are ready, in their own little way that they are capable of being proficient engineers. The question is: will the authorities concerned look in their direction and encourage them to unleash their engineering nohow or will it be the case of another talent wasted?
source: http://leadership.ng/features/376620/funaab-students-construct-roads
0 Response to "FUNAAB: Where Students Construct Roads"
Post a Comment