The Nigerian public education system is quite...for lack of a better word, unappealing. I'm sure most of us have a first-hand experience of how bad it is. When I finished my first degree I swore I wasn't going to go to another Nigerian school after all of the stress experienced at my previous school. A year later I tried applying to a Nigerian school for a Masters program and I didn't get in.
I went on risky road trips and even got duped in the process of securing a place in that school. I take it as the universe's sign that that wasn't for me because it was a hasty decision on my part. This school was too much of a drag with everything and I eventually ignored their mail invites because my plans changed.
Earlier in the year, I enrolled into a postgraduate diploma part-time program for the heck of it. It was cheap, would last a few months, and give me another option for a career path in the end. I began the program and I was filled with regrets the first day of class.
I knew schooling here was bad but I didn't realize it was that bad. The first day I was paying money that had no purpose attached to it and I got to find out it was just a bribe. Worse is, that was only the start of future bribes. It brought back memories of when I was sent out of the exam hall in one of my WAEC exams. It was a pay the bribe or get out situation. That was my first true taste of being a Nigerian.
In my undergraduate years I never bribed anyone even though I wasn't unaware of how to go about it. The thought of paying for grades makes me feel very dirty and the fact that there's no way around it in my current school is very daunting.
This school feels like a sham and I'm embarrassed by both the authorities and the students. We're given unrevised texts and a curriculum older than the institution. There's no change, no improvement, just same old same old. It felt like wasted effort from the beginning and it doesn't help that at the end of the program I'd wait an indefinite number of years before I'm awarded the diploma.
I felt like a fraud there, everyone was a fraud. Grown adults pay for grades, mothers have a full book of answers under their hijabs during exams, the tutors would let people use these materials for a fee, how Nigerian.
I also have the worst paranoia each time I have to go down to school because of the security issues in the state and I don't think it's worth putting my life on the line for.
It's hard for me to let go of something when I'm already invested in it. I paid my fees, went for the sham classes and spent time studying for forthcoming exams. After much consideration, I know this isn't for me and it's best to channel all my focus on a better plan. I'm reminded why I chose not to put myself through an unrewarding system of education that gives me just a piece of paper for my troubles.
So there, I'm a dropout. This doesn't make for a cool story like that of a Harvard dropout but yeah, it is what it is.