The rank of eminent Nigerians calling for a radical and extensive review of the nation’s educational curriculum swelled over the weekend, with Pastor Wole Oladiyun, Senior Pastor of the Christ Livingspring Apostolic Ministry (CLAM), Omole, Lagos, decrying the obsolete and irrelevant nature of the curriculum.
According to Pastor Oladiyun, one of the reasons for Nigeria’s limited success in technology and innovation is the wrong content and focus of the educational curriculum, especially among students of tertiary institutions. Pastor Oladiyun, a Civil Engineering graduate of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), lamented the poor quality of graduates produced by Nigerian tertiary institutions.
“Our educational curriculum needs to be changed and amended urgently to make it relevant to the contemporary needs of the country. There is no point producing graduates that are not employable” he said on Sunday during CLAM’s thanksgiving service held to round off the one-week apostolic revival tagged “Solution Nights”.
According to Pastor Oladiyun, an MBA degree holder of the Business School, Netherlands, most of the courses students are forced to study in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions are “grossly irrelevant”, thus making them not fit-for-purpose.
“We need hands-on graduates. There is no point in producing graduates that are not marketable. Many graduates are not articulate, they are not analytical. Their knowledge and command of the English Language are poor, and they lack the requisite skills that a modern society needs”, he added.
He opined that the Federal Government must overhaul the curriculum in all our tertiary institutions so that Nigerian graduates can be useful for themselves and the country.
Pastor Oladiyun also spoke against the widespread practice of parents dictating to their children some specific courses they must study.
He advised parents to desist from forcing courses on their children. “Allow them to evolve. Our lives are different from theirs. Let them follow their passion. There are gifts in every child. Let those gifts evolve. Don’t force them to take after you”, he pointed out.
According to him, parents should concern themselves more with praying, mentoring, coaching, and counseling their children.
Pastor Wole Oladiyun, who is very passionate about youth development, also took the time to offer a piece of strong advice for youths.
He urged them not to be narrow-minded, and to have a well-rounded, broad view of the world that incorporates positive and contemporary perspectives.
His words: “Make the right choices prayerfully. Let the Holy Spirit, not the society, not your friends, choose for you. Broaden your knowledge; read widely. Listen to financial news. Embrace financial education. Make your minds viable. Rejig your minds. Stop packaging yourselves without strong substance”.
“Do something productive every day. Make use of the internet for your development. Maximize opportunities in Fintech, Edutech, Agric-business, etc. Learn animation and graphics. Learn ethical hacking. Read to broaden your knowledge”
Pastor Oladiyun recommended his new book – Choices and Consequences – to all youths, saying they need to acquire the right knowledge that will connect their destinies to the right sources of help.
