BY PROF. B. CHIMA ONUOHA
Students of tertiary institutions should see themselves as being very lucky and privileged. This is because, of all the qualified candidates for higher education in the country, they belong to the less than twenty to twenty-five percent that get admitted. Their studentship denies others the same opportunity to acquire knowledge, which is known to be power. Again, parents make a lot of sacrifices and undergo deprivations to enable their wards, sons and daughters to be in school. Teachers deny themselves leisure and better incentives and more conducive working environments outside the system, in order to make students useful to themselves, their families and the society at large.
It is against this backdrop that Nigerian students are expected to reciprocate all these self-denials, sacrifices and deprivations. How can they do this? Simple! They owe it as a duty to attend all their lectures and on time too; do all class assignments and participate in tests and study hard. They should maintain a reasonable level of good public relations which may be useful in times of troubles or problems; avoid playing on people’s intelligence especially that of their teachers; avoid all forms of hanky-panky – all activities that portray them as being ‘sharp,’ I mean ‘negative sharpness’. Students must be obedient, respect all constituted authorities, and be law abiding. They must not belong to bad groups such as secret cults, pimping and tarting clubs, robbery group, etc. They should not allow themselves to be used as thugs or rigging personnel by the political class. They should see the following as plagues: exam leakages/malpractices, laziness, telling lies, rudeness and ingratitude, stealing/armed robbery, rape, fighting, indiscipline, ‘chicken wing’ theory, smoking and drug abuse, riots, hired assassination, etc., which must therefore be avoided by all means.
Students should aim at long-term success which is value driven and entails a lot of hard work and perseverance. They should endeavour to forget the _abi nobi certificate we want syndrome._ Cheap certificates have been found to be short-lived. How? The high unemployment rate in the society has made the few available job openings to be highly competitive. Job seekers are made to take serious aptitude tests and undergo interviews. It is therefore those who have prepared well right from school that will usually find their level, by doing well in these tests and get employed. But some would say how about ‘connections’ so common in our warped system now? Just prepare, because ‘connections’ will not work forever.
On setting your feet on campus, a serious minded student and future leader should target graduating in first class, or second class upper division (for a University); a Distinction or Upper Credit, for polytechnic or college of education. Ensure to score a minimum of “B” in all your courses.
In summary, student should endeavour to:
1. Cultivate good study habits and be studious
2. Get actively involved in group discussions and examination revision sessions.
3. Get actively involved in games, sports, and exercises, to be mentally and physically alert and kept busy;
4. Regularly argument your lectures by constantly going to the departmental, faculty, and school’s libraries. You must be a friend of the library;
5. Always visit bookshops and buy good books and journals relevant to your course of study;
6. Spending money on books and journals will be more beneficial, strategic and enduring, than on clothings, regular hairdo; and for the boys, regularly taking girls out, buying birthday and other gifts for them, sometimes, at the expense of your own feeding, books and school fees;
7. Learn to compute your grades. Do that every semester and session. Monitor your grades religiously;
8. Make the grade of “A” your target in every course and religiously work toward achieving it. An average Jewish student has the mindset of scoring 100% in every exam. Nothing is impossible for a determined person. Some geniuses are born, while others are made. Who says you could not be one of them?
9. Learn to stay on campus always and study. Resist constant travels to home or for outside social engagements. They do not add anything to your intellectual capability or wellbeing;
10. Avoid friends or class mates that can lead you go astray;
11. Our undergraduates or even graduates know little or nothing outside their disciplines. A graduate _must know_ a little of every subject matter on earth. Form a habit of reading good newspapers, magazines, journals, books outside your area of study, biographies; listen to radio and television; watch educative films; etc. In fact you must be an expert in current and international affairs.
12. Shun all fads that will not add any value to your studies, career and overall personality. These include: sagging, tattoos, body piercing, house party orgies, social media freaking, “runs”, “hook-up”, “thirst trapping”, campus car racing, etc.
13. Avoid short-termism. Embrace delayed gratification. Aim at long-term strategic positioning and enduring success.
14. Be prepared and ready to compete with your counterparts intellectually and professionally, anywhere in the world, like the Jewish students.
15. Learn to impart before departing… be relevant to the society and humanity.
16. Be a role model to the other youths and younger ones in all your behaviours.
In conclusion, as an academic who has spent all his working life in the academia, actively involved in human capital and character development, this epistle, if imbibed and internalized, will make good students, great graduates and successful and impactful people in the society and better leaders of all hue. And to the glory of God.
This is my innocuous message as a teacher and father.
*_Onuoha, Professor of Management and development, wrote from University of Port Harcourt