Education is the bedrock of development and for any country in the world to be able to attain sustainable developmental phenomena; we have to make education first on our priority. We might begin to question the relevance of education in the fight against corruption. We are obliged to make it clear that poor quality of education has contributed to the alarming rate of corruption that we are contending with in Africa today. Let us begin with the quote of Derek Bok “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance”. [5]
COST OF IGNORANCE
Now we will continue from where Derek Bok stopped.
What is ignorance and the cost of ignorance?
We will not give you a specific definition of ignorance, but we will rather tell you about the cost of ignorance and that will create an absolute image of ignorance in your mind. Insurgencies, ethnic crises, religious crises, political violence and many more are costs of ignorance. The effects of these things are costly and they have affected the growth of our economy in Africa.
EDUCATION AND SELF-RESPECT
We have also seen several cases where citizens worship those who have embezzled tax payers’ money or who have been involved in one form of corruption or the other, seeing them as demi-gods. It is rather unfortunate that it is mostly the uneducated ones among the citizens that fall victim of such foolishness. Therefore, we have to pay keen interest on education so we can correct this societal problem.
The self-dignity and self-respect that naturally appears when a man or woman is educated will prevent such people from stooping so low to worship thieves, who have stolen from the tax payers’ money so as to increase their status in the society and thus oppress the people, whom they are supposed to lead. Hence, at this developmental stage in Africa, we must turn the table round from the point where education is been acquired by the people to the point where it is been required by the society. Once this is done, corruption is gradually on its way out of Africa. Instead of the people chanting the praises of the so called “demi-gods” who have stolen their money, they will begin to chant their condemnation i.e. no more thugs in the society.
We must turn the table
round from the point where
education is been acquired
by the people to the point
where it is been required by
the society.
INCLUDE MORAL LESSONS ON ANTI-CORRUPTION IN THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM.
Without mincing words “corruption is very infectious”. In fact, it is epidemic in nature and it spreads like wild fire. Therefore, as we are fighting corruption at the top, we should also include it in our school curriculum because of our children, so that their generation will not turn-out to be like ours. To be candid, there is no place in the world where corruption can be eradicated within few years, but fighting corruption is a long-term task. So, before this ugly monster called corruption becomes mature in our children, we have to kill it quick by including moral lessons on anti-corruption in the school curriculum from primary level to tertiary level. The purpose of this is to make them squash the “Corruption-Prone Mind” and develop a “Corruption- Immune Mind”.
MAKING EDUCATION AFFORDABLE AND ASSESSABLE
Whether it was deliberate or unintentional, the educational system in Africa has been weakened and this has given rise to corruption. As a matter of urgency, all African countries need to implement free and affordable education for her citizens if we want to get our continent off the clutches of poverty and corruption.
Corruption is a psychological illness that is pandemic in Africa and one lasting guaranteed way to get out of this mess is free and affordable education for Africans in their various countries. If we are really serious about eradicating corruption in our dear continent then, making education our priority should not be an option. For this to be a reality, government of every country throughout Africa should devote a substantial amount of money on education from the budget as stipulated by the United Nations because most Africans are poor and one way to get out of poverty is education. If this is not addressed, corruption will continue to ravage the African continent.
The fruit of
corruption is poverty
THE FRUIT OF CORRUPTION IS POVERTY.
Poverty and Corruption are bosom friends; that sound hilarious, right? It may sound hilarious but it is the truth, because when corruption is prevalent in any society, it leads to an uneven distribution of wealth that results in what we call a triangular society where minority is lavishing in plenty and majority is gasping for little. The microcosm of the population (people at the helm of affairs) are stupendously rich while the majority of the population are wallowing in abject poverty.
Triangular society is a
society where minority is
lavishing in plenty and
majority is gasping for little.
Diagram Showing a Triangular Society
GAMBLING WITH EDUCATION IS GAMBLING WITH THE FUTURE OF OUR CONTINENT.
There is no doubt that if the government of every country in Africa prioritizes education, it will contribute immensely to the alleviation of corruption in our continent. We have to stop seeing education as money-making venture and begin to see education as a pre-requisite for our socio, political and economic development.
It is parochial when people say free and affordable education is a mirage and that it is not workable. Perhaps, they should visit countries like Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland etc. and see how the government spends so much in financing education with several scholarship opportunities for their citizens and even foreigners. Therefore, the government should look elsewhere for revenue generation because it is a crime to humanity for a government to see education as source of income, especially in under-developed and developing nations in Africa. It is so sad that because the government has seen education as a business venture, individuals and even religious organisations have followed suit, charging exorbitant amount of money as tuition fee in the same country where an alarming population of graduates are unemployed.
it is a crime to humanity for a
government to see education
as source of income,
especially in under-developed
and developing nations like
we have in Africa
We really have to understand that education is the bed rock of development in any country, and it has no substitute, so we cannot shy away from this responsibility.
We think one of the problems we have is that in terms of the policies governing the educational sector, most African countries compare themselves with countries like United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada etc. forgetting the fact that these are developed nations and they can afford to do away with free education but even at that, they still have many scholarship opportunities for the exceptionally brilliant ones among them and even for foreigners too.
These countries are not ignorant of the fact that gambling with education is gambling with the future of the nation. Therefore, every country in Africa should still embrace free and affordable education. This can be in the form of scholarship opportunities for citizens and even research grants for tertiary institutions.
We have to start from the primary level, because that is where we can lay the foundation for good and qualitative education. Therefore, free education should run from primary to secondary up to tertiary level. At the tertiary level, the government should pay keen interest on financing research and development because that is the engine room where the control of a nation’s progress can be made.
Research and Development
(R&D) is the engine room
where the control of a
nation’s progress can be
made
The adoption of free and affordable education by the government might be expensive and burdensome. Hence, the government can partner with the private sector (Corporate Social Responsibility) to be able to achieve this. We believe if this can be done the future is secured. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommended that 26% of the annual budget of developing nations should be on education. [6] If the government of every African country can implement this we will not be where we are today in Africa in terms of literacy level.
The wealth of a nation does
not lie in the value of natural
resources the nation is
endowed with but rather it
lies in the value of its human
resources
Every nation in Africa should begin to move in the direction of investing in the minds of its citizens, and one of the ways this can be achieved is through education.
Education being the bedrock of
development simply means
empowering the citizens with the
capacity to bring about
development
Although, there are some African countries that are not rich in terms of natural resources while some are. Hence, our economic growth rate should not just be determined and dependent on the value of our natural resources alone, but we need to look further into the minds of the people by investing in the people (human resources).
The mind of a man
is the most valuable
asset a man
possesses
INVESTING IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
No nation in Africa should be limited by the amount of resources it has. Therefore, a nation that is not rich in terms of mineral resources should look into the area of Research and Development. Such countries with little or no mineral resources can begin to focus on developing new inventions that will transform the world and shake the international market. Today’s world is moving from mineral resources driven world into invention driven world, e.g. petrol vehicles are being replaced with electric vehicles, which may reduce the value of crude oil in the international market.
The world is moving from
mineral resources driven world
into inventions driven world
HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT
There are still many discoveries yet to be made in science and technology, finance, tourism, medicine etc. Therefore, instead of public officers spending fortunes on acquiring luxury cars, magnificent houses and other frivolities; let us imbibe financial discipline and channel those funds towards human capacity building because in it lays the true and sustainable development.
The true and sustainable
development lies in people
development and not just in
developing policies and frameworks
Human Resource Development plays key role in human capacity building, it is beneficial to the individual and even the society. For example, there are corporations of this world that their turnover or budget is more than some country’s turnover or budget. These corporations are owned by individuals who by one way or the other have benefited from the human capacity building programmes of their country.
The government will benefit from such individuals through the payment of taxes, mopping up the unemployed populace, rendering corporate social responsibility and many other obligations they have towards the society where they operate. If the government of African nations can envision these, investing massively in research and development will be a duck soup for them.