‘Higher Education First, Then…’ Lecture by ‘PanNigerian News’ Publisher for secondary school graduands

A VALEDICTORY LECTURE DELIVERED BY COMRADE SUNDAY BENJAMIN ADEPOJU, TITLED “HIGHER EDUCATION FIRST, THEN…” AT THE 2021/2022 VALEDICTORY SERVICE OF OWODE COMMUNITY GRAMMAR SCHOOL, OWODE, OGBOMOSO HELD ON TUESDAY, 23RD AUGUST, 2022 AT THE SCHOOL HALL

Protocols
It is a great honour and privilege to be part of the history that is being written today at the valedictory service of this great school; not only for being here but also for being chosen in the capacity of the guest speaker of the today to address the august graduands and audience today.

Let me start by congratulating you, my friends, who are graduating today from high/secondary school, an important level of education, for higher level. You are writing a history today because the journey that began around six years ago has officially come to an end today. You will recall that not all your colleagues that were admitted to this school and other schools are graduating or have graduated. You have been so chosen to form a part of this milestone. You have formed part of the 2022 history of this citadel of learning. So, I celebrate you all, our ‘giants’, who will be become champions in their careers and endeavours in the nearest future.

I want to sincerely congratulate, in this month of August, the august teachers, parents and guardians of these leaders that this school has molded, trained, nurtured and produced. From the Principal of the school to the Vice Principals, our distinguished teachers and non-teaching staff, you have all acted ‘in loco parentis’ (that is, in place parents) all the years. It is, in fact, needless to say that you have built nations.

Distinguished graduands, to stand the chance of living a balanced and comfortable life, you all need to pursue a post-secondary school education. Be that as it may, this must be combined with skills acquisition and development in the areas of trades and vocations. You will agree with me that survival in this country, Nigeria, requires skills development as this will provide a better chance for securing good jobs because organisations will want you to add values in your responsibilities.

Higher Education and Its Benefits
Allan Bloom views education as the movement from darkness to light. This means that education liberates people as the knowledge gained gives us some exposure and civilization. Through education, it is assumed that you have moved from ignorance to knowledge, illiteracy to literacy, and so on. Dear graduands, have you all moved from darkness to light, from illiteracy to literacy? Answer that sincerely and silently. And if your answer is not in the affirmative, please, do the needful by readjusting, regardless of the fact that you are leaving here today. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, education is “the action or process of teaching someone especially in a school, college, or university…it is the knowledge, skill and understanding that you gained from attending a school, college, or university.”

Higher education, also called tertiary education, refers to academic pursuit undertaken after secondary school. The foundation for higher education is secondary school which you have just officially completed today. The common higher institutions of learning, the world over, are universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and other monotechnics. Studying in the higher institutions of learning leads to these certifications: Diploma, National Diploma, Nigerian Certificate in Education, Higher National Diploma, Post-Graduate Diploma, Bachelor’s Degree, Master’s Degree, Doctor of Philosophy, among others. All of our celebrated heroes and leaders are relevant because they didn’t stop at secondary school level. Look at our dignitaries here today, that is what education has done to them.

My dear friends, please, discard the notion that there are no jobs for higher institutions’ graduates out there. Please, out-rightly discard it. It is common among a people who have resigned to the fate of hopelessness. Strive and acquire higher education first and make yourself resourceful and become a dream of industries, multinationals, government ministries, departments, agencies, commissions and lots more.

Nigerians and you my dear friends seated here today need to change the mindset about referring to foreign countries that don’t need degree qualifications to offer employments. They should understand that this is Nigeria where certificates matter. We can’t change this overnight; so we need to do whatever we can to sustain ourselves in the country. The only thing I can say that is gradually changing is that skills are becoming important too. So, very soon, certificates alone may not guarantee someone a job in Nigeria.

Besides, I don’t really know which of the developed countries encourage lack of tertiary education because most of them that I know seek highly educated immigrants that will join their labour force. Some German universities even went as far as offering free tuition to international students just because they need more graduates to work in their system. So, I believe it is not true that developed countries of the world do not value tertiary education any more. But I believe they want skills in addition to certificates. And that is the message that I have brought to you today and I want you to hold dearly to it till you actualise the goals which you might have set from ab initio.

I am not saying that everybody must attend a university before becoming successful. What I am trying to point out here is that there is a need to go further than secondary school education. Nigeria, as it is today, does not have enough in the curriculum for her secondary school leavers to acquire the needed skills and knowledge that will pull them through their career paths. Usually, the higher institutions are the places where Nigerians are introduced to life in the career world. So, if a person can’t make it to university, he/she should try out polytechnics, monotechnics, colleges of education and certificate awarding specialised higher institutions. There are so many of them in this country (approved and fully accredited).

Among others, higher education attainment brings the following benefits:

Improved career opportunities and greater advantage in job hunt. People that have higher certificates have added advantages when it comes to getting competitive jobs, especially if they have experience, desired skills and professional certificates.

Learning from people’s experiences. This is actually very necessary. When you go to a tertiary institution, you will be exposed to both the mistakes and successes of others. This means that you will have the opportunity of discovering and avoiding wrong decision making. In other words, you will learn how to try out new paths towards success.

Deeper knowledge of your field. Of course, you will have an intense study into your area of specialisation.

Acquisition of academic certificates. A lot of people will say that there is nothing in a higher school certificate. But that isn’t true because someone that has a post secondary school certificate can easily fall back on it when he needs to change his source of income. For example, if someone that is self-employed encounters some challenges in his business, he may decide to find a paid job with his certificate until he could sort himself out.

Peace and stable political system. This may sound paradoxical. But the fact is that illiteracy, ignorance and poverty contribute immensely to the failure of the political system. Poverty, which is as a result of limited job or trade opportunities of many citizens, has reconfigured the mindset of voters to money bag politics. This has, on many occasions, landed us in the mud of having incompetent hands in government offices. We will be able to hold our leaders accountable because we are in the light. We will establish leaders that will promote economic freedom as defined by late sage, Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo, who says “Economic freedom exists when a political sovereign country, which is independent of outside control or direction, organises the exploitation and deployment of its total resources for the benefits of its entire citizens under a system where the forces of demand and of supply and of marginal unity are controlled and cannalised for the common good.”

Better status in the society. As far as we know, Nigerian society respects knowledge. And the easiest way to showcase your knowledge is by obtaining certificates. In fact, in Nigeria, the higher your certificates, the greater your respect in the society will be.

You are an authority. If you happen not to study a course in the university or any other school of higher learning, people will not really trust your ideas and judgments on related matters.

Good self-esteem. I know that if you have an argument with someone that didn’t attend a higher institution, he will be quick to remind you that he won’t be intimidated by you because you went to school. I’ve also seen people that went to tertiary schools because they want to obtain certificate to boost their status in the society, not because they want to look for a corporate job or use the knowledge they gathered.

It broadens individual’s knowledge and experience.

Salaries of graduates of higher institutions of learning are higher.

Having certifications of higher institutions of learning will stand you out in politics because you never can tell whether or not you will aspire for leadership position in politics.

As it is, curricula of higher institutions of learning are now gradually tilting towards being skills-based.

After Higher Education, Then, What?
As it has been introduced at the beginning of this lecture, attendance of higher education institutions does not, on its own, translate to success. Other things like skills, character and moral uprightness should be added to it with a view to succeeding in this life.

All of you seated here are endowed with skills and it is up to you to discover them. I have seen university students sponsoring their younger ones’ academics. It is because of vocations. In a secondary school here in town, 90% of the corps members have trades/vocational skills like fashion designing, leather works, catering and decorations, photography, and others. I told one of them I would enroll for photography and film production training. That one studied Theatre Arts in the University. One of them told me that her goal in life is to have standard eateries that will be second to none around the country. In other words, you all have to think big and dream big.

Dear granduands, you need to imbibe good moral values, have good character, and uphold the tenets of honesty, truthfulness, obedience, hard work, diligence, politeness, respect for people and their opinions, as well as other virtues of the society. And don’t forget the German proverb which states: “When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, nothing is lost; but when character is lost, all is lost.”

Conclusion
Distinguished chairman, ladies and gentlemen, may I, at this juncture, round off this lecture by reminding these graduands that they have not graduated today but that they are beginning again. In fact, I have just awarded you with a B.A. certificate (Begin Again). And that is why Orrin Hatch said, “Graduation is not the end; it is the beginning.” You have just finished O’Level as it is being called. So, see what you just finished as zero level; begin again; move to higher institutions of your dreams and come out as champions.

Steve Jobs said, “Your time is limited; so, don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” Adlai E. Stevenson tells you this: “When you leave here, don’t forget why you came.” This quote by Mark Twain is also for you: “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did.”

Relating to this, “Carpe Diem” is a Latin phrase meaning “pluck the day” or “seize the day” and it was used by a Roman poet, Horace, to express the idea that one should enjoy life when one can.

Carpe Diem
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.

This has been translated to Yoruba as:
Ja Itanna To n Tan
Ja itanna to n tan
To tutu to si dara
Ma duro d’ojo ola
Akoko n sare tete.

Thank you all for your attention and congratulations, once again, my dear friends.

….Sunday Adepoju works(ed) with the Nigerian Tribune as a journalist; PanNigerian News as Publisher and Editor-in-Chief; Ogbomoso Insight (now The Insight) as a journalist; University of Calabar’s Department of Mass Communication and Digital Media as a lecturer; Glabens Communications as a consultant; public and private primary and secondary schools as an English language teacher….

He was educated at the prestigeous Department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.