The recent unrest in educational institutions over rise in school fees has exposed us as a people with no vision of our future and a people without strategy for future survival. Why do i say so?
Generally speaking, the west and east has been way ahead in technology and development. Most of the things africans use come from regions that are ahead developmentally and technologically. We rely on these countries for even the basic survival items like medicines and vaccines. Infact, compared to the developed world, africa is eons behind in every positive parameter. We lead in the negatives of poverty, disease and conflict.
One fact we cannot deny is that these countries made these advances from one major factor: EDUCATION. It is through education and research that these countries came up with technological solutions to all manner of challenges that humanity faced. From agricultural machinery to boost food production and fight hunger, medicine to fight disease, better weapons to secure themselves, information technology to ease communication, transportation infrastructure and machinery to ease travel, movement of goods and trade, etc etc. All this was possible because these people were interested and invested in Education. In africa we were busy cooking on three stones, visiting the medicineman and witches or the fake rainmakers and fucking raw like rabbits. The thing is, a cattle rustling pokot will never invent anything that can help the world. Buf if he is educated there is a chance that he may contribute something worthwhile to humanity.
In short, for Africa to stand a chance to progress, we need to invest in education. And by investing does not mean we make it expensive like we do here. We need to make education FREE and of good standard quality to give anyone willing to go all the way a chance to do so. A well educated population is way better for any nation than an illiterate one. For one, they make better leadership choices. Nairobi for example chose Sonko because majority of voters are the poor people living in slums. Most of those people lacked chances of moving up the education ladder, dropped out and as a result found themselves in the disadvantageous social class that they are. The same is replicated in many counties and wards.
Education also solves a myriad of social problems that we face today. It reduces early pregnancies currently caused by the high rate of school drop outs due to challlenges in getting school fees. With this even unhealthy population explotion is controlled. Also, reduction in street urchins who face similar predicaments. It also reduces general crime caused by idle youth who have nothing to do since they dropped out early to a life of misery and lack. Again education exposes one to choices of careers one might never have known would be good at. It boosts chances of personal innovation and self employment.
Think about it, how many potential doctors and engineers are rotting in the villages drinking cheap liqour and struggling to raise young but big families all because they never got the chance to pursue an education. What would african countries be like today had all those grandfathers and grandmothers we find in the villages today gotten a chance at pursuing a proper education to the level one would have gotten. Many simply lacked resources to pursue an education and simply concentrated onpeasant farming. You will agree with me africa would be different. Poverty beat us because majority were illiterate. Those who got a chance at education those days are the owners of the country today. They actually took advantage of the majority illiterate and looted or amassed wealth greatly from public coffers or from the public through investment.
The question you might ask is, where is the money, is it really possible?. My answer is, the money is there. None other than the president told us 2 billion is stolen daily. We also misdirect resources to unimportant ventures like rewarding politicians and undeserving govt officials at the expense of educating our populace. We procure useless items like those thin sticks that policemen carry and put under their armpits while saluting instead of procuring pen and paper. We fund useless agendas like bbi instead of building classes. WITHOUT EDUCATION we will never get to or even near mzungu or mchina.
Wa kusoma awe na chance ya kuenda hadi mwisho bila challenge ya pesa. Wa kushindwa akalime pia hiyo ni sawa since ni haki yake. But kusiwe na aliyeshindwa juu ya pesa. Hivyo ndivyo tukakavyo fikia mzungu au mchina na hata labda tuwapite. Tusipofanya hivi, story itakuwa ile ile eti africa the richest continent in natural resources but the poorest in wealth. Nonsense!!