A Nigerian child that thinks the favourite sports of Nigerians is karate. And one that doesn’t know the current president of Nigeria not to talk of the governor of Lagos State/their state. Watching children of middle class parents play the Nigerian Citizenship Game made it glaring that there is a major gap in our children’s education.
The same game played by children from less privileged backgrounds revealed a different result. For those that could read, they fared significantly better in the game. They knew how many states there are in Nigeria and the capital of Nigeria. Also, these kids displayed a strong level of resilience. They didnt give up easily when they encountered difficulties questions and were eager to keep trying games till they got it right and high scores. Thomas Edison who invented the light bulb said “the most certain way to succeed is to just try one more time.”
As parents, we need to ask ourselves some difficult questions. Are we providing the right foundation for our children to be leaders of Nigeria of the future? Are we doing a bit too much for them thereby crippling important character traits such as drive, determination, perseverance and can do attitude? Are we imbibing the notion that anything Nigeria is not worth learning about or bothering about? Are we teaching them not to have pride in being Proudly Nigerian because they attend British/American schools, have American passports and would mostlikely go abroad to school?
Food for Thought.
