I need a Project Topic!!!

 First semester of my Professional Diploma in Education (PDE) programme is over and now it’s time to start my project. A topic has already been approved by the department, but I still need to get an approval from my supervisor. So this morning I decided to go see him so we could talk about it. When I got to the department, I saw his car already leaving. I called out to him, he stopped and told me to get in.

Surprised, I got in and greeted him hoping he would remember me because I had already told him he was the supervisor assigned to me last week. He acted like he did and introduced me to the other guy in the car. Sorry not a guy, an old man.

“We’re about to go get lunch, hope you don’t mind joining us”. My supervisor said as he drove out of the school gate.

How can I mind that, I thought to myself.

“No problem sir”. I replied in a small voice.

And that was how we drove to a restaurant and before I knew it, a plate of pounded yam, ewedu mixed with some soup I don’t even know the name of and grasscutter meat was placed in front of me… Oh yeah…this project work is going to be exciting and I think I’m going to love my supervisor.

When we got back, he looked at the topic and decided it wasn’t a good research topic. I wanted to study the tertiary school results of students who did exam malpractice in their O’level and had high grades which would obviously not be reflected in their tertiary school results. He rejected the topic on the grounds that there was no way to determine if they actually did examination malpractice and if the reason they are failing presently isn’t as a result of other factors…

Anyways, now I have to search for a new project topic

P.S I don’t think I’m going to eat any other thing today…I just don’t want the taste of this grasscutter to leave my mouth…Hmm, my mouth still waters at the thought of it.  

He’s the same God

Sometimes when I read my Bible I get a bit scared and wonder at how amazing and incomprehensible our God is. When I read about how God smote Uzza who tried to support the ark of the Lord when it stumbled, the sudden death of Ananias and Sapphira because of a single lie they told, Gehazi becoming a leper because of greed, a king (Nebuchadnezzer) becoming an animal for seven years, and so many amazing other things, I can’t help but marvel. We all say He’s the same God yesterday, today and forever, which implies that the God who caused all these to happen is still the same God we’re serving now.

But then these days we only select the part of the Bible that favors us or looks delightful to read and claim all the blessings attached to it, and forgetting about the warnings and instances where he punished people for doing something we might see as ordinary, in the same Bible. Yeah, He’s the same God who caused a king to have insomnia until he blessed Mordecai, but we shouldn’t forget He’s the same God who allowed snakes to torment the children of Israel in the wilderness. He’s the same God who used a small boy (David) to kill a giant (Goliath), and also the same God who caused a nation (Israel) to be defeated in a battle because of the disobedience of one man (Achan).

Not trying to scare anyone, just saying no one should take God’s mercies and grace for granted, and just because we get away with certain things doesn’t mean we should continue in sin….

Everything is the Government's fault!

“Good morning ma”.

“Good morning my dear, how can I help you?”

“Ma, I came to enquire about a vaccine”.

“Okay, Sit down and wait for my supervisor”. I was in a general hospital and came to inquire if I could get the last dose of a vaccine I had started at home. I looked around the antenatal ward. It looked old and there were so many posters on the wall about vaccines and antibiotics.

“Is it a drug or injection?. The lady I met in the ward asked.

“An injection, ma”. I replied guessing she would be one of the cleaners and turned back to reading of the posters.

Few minutes later, “Is it hepatitis vaccine?”

“No ma”.

“Hmm, Okay o”. she said and I brought out my phone to check for messages.

“Have been to OPD?”

“No, ma” I replied again. Noticing she was probably just fishing for conversation, I added, I started the vaccine at home and I’m to complete the last dose today, that’s why I came”.

She looked at me sadly and said “Where did you start the vaccine?”

“Delta State”

“I don’t think you would get that vaccine here o”.

“Ha! Why Ma?”

“Hmm, you know this our state, we never get anything good, all the good things are sent to the surrounding states first before they get here”.

“Really?”. I asked smiling.

“Yes O, you know our governor, that man is not a good person at all. Since January, he has not paid salaries. How does he expect us to feed our our families?” She said bitterly.

“See”, she went on counting with her fingers, “January, Febuary, March, April and this is May, nothing. If someone does not have anything doing on the side, how are we going to survive, ehn?”.

Wondering how the issue of my vaccine got to her salarynot being paid, I encouraged her by saying “Eyah, that’s not fair o”

“My daughter, it is bad o, but thank God, the incoming government has decided to close all borders so that no governor would travel out till handover”.

Not knowing if that was true or not, I added a “Really” to make her know I’m paying attention.

“Yes O, after eating all our money, they want to run, e nr go better for any of them, thieves!”

“I heard one of the governors sef has paid all the salaries of his state” She continued after a pause. “But I know our own will never pay, that is why this state will never get better, have you ever seen a tap in this place?”

“No, ma”. I replied since that was obviously what she wanted me to say.

“Ehen na, they are all spoilt and have not been repaired, now we only manage boreholes and wells”

While i was busy wondering if there were any difference between boreholes and taps, she continued, “Everything is just going bad o and worse every day, and it’s just because of this our government”.

Finally her supervisor came in and the talkative lady stepped out.

Five minutes later, I was done. I came out and saw the lady again

“Did you get the vaccine, my daughter”

“No ma”

“You see, what I told you, don’t mind this government jor”

He raped her and she raped him back

I was walking down a street in school with two of my colleagues and I was complaining about how hot the sun is in this state when we came across a guy. He was dressed shabbily and looked a bit mad, had beards all over his face and was generally unkempt. As we walked past him I prayed silently he wouldn’t accost us, but then also grateful for my male counterparts who I’m sure would protect me from him if he did when suddenly he hailed one of us.

The colleague he hailed turned and answered him in a familiar way.

“Do you know that guy?” I asked after we had gone a few paces ahead.

“Yeah, I do. I even know his mum, she works here”

“Really, what happened to him?” I asked.

“A woman put him in that position”

“How come?”

“He wasn’t always like this, but his love and insatiable hunger for women landed him in this position. He couldn’t stay away from anything under skirt and one day he raped a girl. She placed a curse on him and since that day he has been insane, and now whenever a girl mistakenly falls into his trap, he beats her up mercilessly”.

“Yeah, he raped her and she raped him back” my other colleague added.

I tuned back to look at the young man and wondered how he threw away his future because of his lustful desires and shook my head sadly.

Are you an illiterate??? Find out!

What is Education?

The meaning of education can be looked at in two dimensions; in a broad sense and in a restricted sense.

In a broad sense, education embraces all the experiences which an individual acquires including knowledge, skills, and attitude. These experiences may be acquired within or outside an organized school system as well as those received outside it and range from advice given by parents and elders that the individual makes use of from the first few days at the beginning of life and the last few days, towards the end.

In a restricted sense, education refers to those learning experiences that are provided by or sanctioned by the state, that are transmitted in institutionalized settings and are concerned to provide a broad understanding of the world. This form is also concerned with transmitted knowledge, skills and attitude that are sanctioned and considered worth having in the society which the individual lives.

In whatever sense, education is needed for the survival of the society and aims in making learners less ignorant and well informed. Education is from the society and for the society. It refers to all the experiences that help to shape and change an individual positively, to enable him or her to be useful to his or her society.

Being an educated person does not rest solely on certificates. That’s not even relevant anymore due to the dubious ways most of such are acquired. Hence, who is an educated person? Rather, who is an illiterate?

ü You’re not educated if you can’t apply the skills, knowledge and attitude you’ve acquired to make your society better.

ü You’re definitely an illiterate if you divert funds given to you for the benefit of the society to personal use.

ü You’re not educated if you finish eating a snack, or finish drinking satchet water and not dispose the waste properly. Illiterates throw waste out of their car windows when in a moving vehicle.

ü  You’re also not educated if you zip down your fly and urinate anywhere, anyhow in your environment.

ü You’re not educated if you can’t bring a positive change in your society.

ü If you do not know the roles, rules, relationship and culture of your society, you’re an illiterate.

ü If you don’t have respect for worth and dignity of other individuals in your society, illiteracy is your middle name.