It’s that time of the year again. When Nigerians wake up to the shocking UTME results and proceed to cry out in unison. “Only 12,000 students scored above 300!” “Over 1.5 million scored below 200!” Everyone is shocked. Again. Yet somehow, no one saw it coming. The same thing happened last year, and the year before that. But just like the story of “Who will bell the cat?”, nobody does anything. The schools stay broken. The students stay unmotivated. The education system stays confused. The outrage is predictable. So is the silence that follows. Until next year. Again.
Let’s not pretend. These results are not an accident. They are a mirror. A reflection of how little we value learning in this country. Education is not magic. It needs investment, effort, and planning. We can’t expect 16-year-olds to perform miracles in exam halls when many of them haven’t been taught well for years. Teachers are poorly trained. Libraries are empty. Parents are chasing grades, not growth. Churches and mosques are full, but most of these young people lack access to ICT facilities. A society that keeps failing its young people should not be surprised when the failure starts to show up in black and white.
So what now? More hashtags? More hot takes on Twitter? Or will you do something before next year? You may not run a school, but you can tutor a child. You may not be in politics, but you can support a teacher. Do something, no matter how small. It is better than nothing. You may not be able to fix everything, but you can be part of the solution. As someone tasked to watch over their world, you must care about things like this. Let’s do more than mourn the numbers. Let’s make a difference, before next year comes again.
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