LET'S TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE|

While registering for JAMB, I applied to University of Jos not because I wanted to school there, it was basically because I couldn't apply for the school I wanted to go to.

University of Jos was the only University in Nigeria I knew, as at then. (I'm not very proud of this). It was not my dream school, in fact, all through I was preparing for schooling beyond the shores of this country. I had this firm believe, and I still do that I DON'T DESERVE THIS EDUCATION PROVIDED HERE. We all don't. It is also my firm believe that this system is not for me.

So what school did I wanted to attend? It was MIT. Before my SSS 2, I had known more tertiary institutions abroad than in Nigeria and that influenced my career thoughts. I was thinking in terms of Cambridge, Yale, Harvard, etc.

That I did not get to attend MIT was my fault and still the system's fault. I tried hard to get information on how to apply for schools abroad but there was virtually nothing in sight. I didn't know a single thing on how to do that and my school was like every other school, they didn't do anything about that. So, it was just that my ignorance that held me back.

When last year I saw a scholarship to Edinburgh that required only 3 A's, I felt like crying. In SSS 3, my dream was stunted, I began to imagine schooling in Nigeria, I stopped working hard, I got grades that were far below my capacity. I didn't read. I gave the system what it wanted, it was happy, it celebrated me and gave me admission. I felt I was doing it a privilege by accepting it, indeed it is.

And so every year, I think about the 1.5 million students who write JAMB and have to stay stuck because they know nothing about career. 3 of my classmates, that year, applied the same course, the same university and almost copied each other's names because they didn't know anything else.

The biggest tragedy of this is that I have been twice a valedictorian, twice a senior prefect and always amongst the top in the class. So, if I could be this ignorant, how much more of those who are somewhere below in the ladder of academic success? How deep is their ignorance about their career choices and future prospects? How far has the system crippled their minds too?

Every year, I think about this and cry, just like I am doing right now.

We are starving and killing our future with ignorance.

We are where we are because of what we don't know.

Many students still have wrong subject combinations, they don't know the best schools that offer their choiced courses, and they don't know THEY CAN GET FULL SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDY BEYOND THE SHORES OF THIS COUNTRY.

So this year, as another 1.5 million students become victims of the broken system through JAMB, I want remind myself, and you that we have to change the system. We have to do more career talk, real one. To educate the students about the schools available and the best ones for their courses.

I once wrote a full list of courses taken in University, I didn't insert Medicine and Surgery- there are better courses. We need to tell our sisters and brothers this!

And we have to tell those who like me KNOW THEY DON'T BELONG HERE THAT THERE IS A WAY OUT, There are countless FREE scholarships that will take you out of this country. And bring you back, if you wish. For some, where we are born is not really where we belong. You can still attend Harvard!

Don't let ignorance kill your dream, seek knowledge and ask questions.