In as much as the number of academic institutions in Nigeria does not keep pace with the nation’s educational standard, it is expected that it will equally create some hiccups in the socio-economic and political lives of the citizens.

In the early 1960s, there were few higher institutions in Nigeria. They were competitive and actually conducted their affairs in an orderly manner. The level of discipline  among students in both at home and in school was high, which they exhibited from primary to tertiary levels. In those good days, students could easily assess and evaluate themselves either in class or during examinations. There were cases where some students who were confident of their performance called for their papers on the suspicion that they were going to be victimised. The few ones that failed as a result of their low performance remained very sober and shameful in the midst of their colleagues, friends and parents.

Natural remorsefulness was easily exhibited for falling below standard and it often served as a motivating factor in subsequent endeavours. These characteristics were evident because the education administrators were proven disciplinarians who were not only committed to impart knowledge and good character in their subjects, but were also not do anything that could bring shame to them.

In the 21st century,  however, study centres are scattered all over the country while tertiary institutions are in geometric increase. According to educational data of institutions released by the National Universities Commission (NUC), recently, there are about 107 universities both federal, state and privately owned.

One basic feature of these multiple study centres is that students are being admitted to study one course or the other in order to boost their psychological, physiological, mental, moral and social development. This is laudable indeed but how has this improved the intellectual ability of students?

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) prescribed four things that should guide our education in the 21st century. They are, learning to know; learning to be; learning to do; and learning to live together.

In the face of this geometric rise in the number of both primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in Nigeria,, the question is, how has our students fared? Can they defend what they have learnt and the certificates  they have acquired? The answer to this question is capital No.

This does not mean that we do not have intelligent ones among them, but in a society where first class graduates could not pass aptitude tests and where many graduates neither speak good English nor write simple sentences, it appears we are in trouble, real trouble.

I want to blame this rot in our educational system on sorting syndrome and other forms of malpractices. Most students are not committed to their academic work but they want quick results. And because both the lecturers and the supervisors are ready to extort huge sums of money from the students in exchange for high grades to the detriment of the society and the disadvantage of brilliant students, the system is made to go down the precipice. Today, the teaching profession which many people detested like a rag has suddenly become very lucrative. The once poor teachers are now riding on flashy cars at the expense of sound education. Of course, the employers of labour do not help matters. Most of them rely only on paper qualification without considering the practical knowledge of the applicants. It is shameful that our labour market is now full of ‘certificate graduates’ that neither make meaningful impact in their places of work nor contribute anything to the development of the society.

Without twisting words, our educational system is stumbling because we want cheap results without the requisite commitment and dedication. In a situation where every Dick, Tom and Harry wants to work in multinational oil firms or wants to become a top civil servant which requires sound education, people are in a hurry to acquire certificates at all cost and by all crooked means.

The question is, what legacies are we bequeathing to the younger generation? Except something urgently is done to reverse this trend, the future of Nigeria’s education is bleak.

I say this because the foundation we lay today would determine the progress we record  tomorrow.

There is therefore an urgent need to shift from quantity education to quality education in Nigeria. Only this can be Nigeria’s saving grace  among comity of nations.

Ominyanwa resides in Port Harcourt