E.F WILLIAMS
It's no more a diehard belief that Manna falls from the sky these days. However, this will only fall for those who cultivate Manna farms on the clouds above. Whatever one sows, he shall reap, as declared in the Holy Scripture.
Corruption has never been earnestly tackled and dealt with since its annexation in the hearts of Nigerians as it has in the present administration. But as many felons and different other means of immoral activities evolves, the fight seems to be an effort in total futility. You cannot combat corruption by indicting corrupt miscreants and economic saboteurs while at the tail end, providing a safe breeding space for future rogues and fraudsters.
A larger percentage of youths today condone corrupt practices as they see more benediction and advantage in it than they do in virtue. Many can hardly strain corrupt practices from morality as ignorance, selfishness, and greediness tends to eclipse wisdom, knowledge, and hard work. Sequel to that, many see public office as a bonus, an indolent opportunity of getting rich rather than rendering unreserved and selfless service to the society.
Oftentimes, we wonder where we got it wrong, but truth is told, we have sown the wind, and now, we are reaping the whirlwind.
Knowledge and awareness are undoubtedly the keys to a successful fight against corruption and the only place that this is formally acquired is the school. There's nothing as sensitive to a child's mindset and morals as our educational system, be it school, home or mass media, and once it goes wrong, the future is in jeopardy.
A school is a place where the future is built, where young minds are trained, mentored, fostered, and fortified for leadership and followership responsibilities. Nevertheless, as sensitive as our schools are, they have been in total negligence, making the youths prone to corrupt practices. Considering the investment the nation has solely incurred on its future leaders, education to be precise, one will be left in dismay and suspense as to how will anything good come out of the public schools we have today. Aside from the fact that schools have no friendly learning environment, let alone qualified and adequate teachers and teaching materials, exam malpractice has practically eaten deep into the fabrics of the system, in which almost every child is exposed to it, and the impression it leaves on them is undoubtedly negative and injurious. Sadly enough, the schools we have today are becoming more of corruption training grounds or recruitment centers than the center of excellence they once were.
The lack of confidence by teachers in what they trained owing to the substandard education they feed their students, results in 'laying in ruins what they built by engaging these same students in exam malpractices during external examinations.
Gradual demoralization, which is causing students to be pessimistic is ongoing in sequence in our schools, beginning right from the primary school level. Where a child, an epitome of virtuousness, a symbol of naivety and innocence, who supposedly is to undergo stages of mentorship and moral development, at a very tender age, extortion was made from him directly or indirectly, on his First School Leaving Examinations, The Common Entrance Exams, to provide him with answers to the exams questions to ace his marks.
I might have been taken as a child who knows not much of what was happening then, but I remembered vividly what occurred during my Common Entrance Exams. I felt bad about it, seeing teachers hard-earned labours being destroyed by insensitivity and corruption, even with their own hands. Answers were provided to everyone in an examination meant to single out the best into the state special schools and the Federal Unity Colleges. Though, I was worried that those who I am far better off might get a higher score, which did happen, hence reaping the benefit of hard work with no work done.
As if that isn't enough, the Senior Secondary School Examination has been the commonest of it all. Many of us have undergone this or similar or even much worse during our SSCE exams where school authority requests additional charges to the exam fees to be used probably to hire experts who are to solve the questions and settle supervisors and invigilators during the exams. And those who refused to pay for such crime are singled out in a different examination hall, strictly supervised in which a cough or yawn can implicate them. We become fond of it and prefer schools that engage in corrupt practices in the SSCE examinations, which are otherwise known as miracle centres.
The higher institution is not left out. Although, one has choices as immoral practices here are not open. But what many learned from previous experiences is that corruption pays and one can buy his way out of all school hardship. With this in mind, the indolent feeble-minded ones try to manipulate their ways in and out of the institution unjustly, while others labour to get their hard-earned certificates. We may have all come across the off scour some institutions produced as graduates, who mostly buy certificates, buy or offer sex for marks, or engaged in other malpractices throughout their study years. They have found an easy ride and can hardly let go - addiction. Upon graduation, they are awarded certificates, which in reality is an award in immorality. And by the time the schools release them into the society, the labor market, corruption has become part of them. They buy appointments or engaged in politics, and when they find themselves in power, they take all means to feed themselves to brim in greed, and no amount of laws or control models (BVN, TSA, IPPIS, etc.) can stop them as they apply the methods of physics, math, philosophy and all they acquired to detour it, being unproductive and certified fraudsters.
As fraudsters in public offices found guilty are prosecuted, their replacements come with the same motives and intentions to those ousted. These go on and on in the cycle. The old replaced by new recruits with new techniques. This precisely defines our future, and our educational system is the architect of it all.
As long as our schools continue to convey its products through corrupt practices, hence producing socially degradated breeds, corruption stands to be our greatest threat both now and in the immediate future.
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