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Dear God… Let This Exam Be As Kind As I’ve Been To My Students

After more than a decade in the academia, I can honestly say I’ve enjoyed almost every part of the profession be it teaching, mentoring students, interactive classroom discussions, projects supervision, and those beautiful moments when a student finally understands a difficult concept. Well almost every part… except one. Marking examination scripts...   Many lecturers already knows this struggle. Those tall piles of answer sheets staring back at you like they have a personal grudge... Often containing handwritings that look like footballers autographs, so difficult to read.  At some point you begin to wonder whether you are marking an exam script or trying to decode ancient manuscripts newly discovered by archaeologists from the times of Tsumburbura and Barbushe.  Then comes the internal debate between “Did the student really understand this?” and “Maybe I should give some marks for effort, for grammar, for neatness, etc” aka "let my people go."  Wel...

FIRE ALARM


The Nigeria we live in today is blessed with a population of about 65 million youth, most of who are claiming to be saints and yet our beloved country appears to be in worse shape than it has ever been in the past. The problems of the past regimes are gradually surfacing again, often transposed into all spheres of life with new one being introduced. The corrupt practices we hardly knew existed are gradually coming into limelight (thanks to social media & technology). Mass illiteracy, poor health and education system, bad roads, decaying agricultural sector, no electricity, staggering economy, unemployment and poverty among many other problems we are facing today. These are not issues that can be fixed by just voting in or out one political party. They are problems certainly bigger than the politicians and their political parties. Sincerely speaking, we are confronted with a disaster; a disaster more powerful than the Tsunami. Corruption and bad governance have transformed the entire nation in ways that are now threatening the way we live in it, with no one region better than the other. Although it is not my intention to talk in generalities, but the idea that corruption backed by bad governance is some entity that can be fixed overnight with a simple solution constitutes a bigger part of our problem. The problem of corruption contains multitudes, and its solution does not always come easy. So instead of laying some kind of design for our common future, I strongly believe that there is no way we can get there without tackling corruption. Now the million dollar question is how do we fight corrupt practices and bad governance?

What is your take on this, your contributions are needed. Don’t just read and claim to be a saint while our beloved country is in danger.

 

Sharfaddeen K Ilah

11/02/14

#bigskih

(A quote from Martin Luther King Jnr inspired me to write this blog)

Comments

  1. Our leaders today seem to have a lost their sense of purpose of why they were elected, appointed, or promoted to serve in a particular office. The forget the oath they took to serve with all sincerity. That's when greed sets in and they tend to gather useless wealth. Another reason is competition. Our leaders shamelessly compete over mundane things like building mansions, buying the latest cars, and others too numerous to mention. Our security agencies like police, custom, immigration, navy, and even the army are not helping matters. This is a sector of the Nigerian economy that should be very tarnsparent without any news of bribery but that's not the case. Finally, I refyse to subscribe to the rumours or believe making the rounds that we need a revolution to set things straight in our dear country Nigeria. I strongly recommend that all stakeholders should sit in a round table and take a decisive decision to end all manner of corrupt practices that is plaguing the country. All hands including politicians, the elites, religious leaders, the academicians, the youths, to mention but a few should be on deck to save our beloved country. I strongly believe in Nigeria and I Know that sooner than later everything will be set accordingly in Nigeria.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you very much Sir. This is another very important line of thought, really appreciate your contribution.

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