What if the only thing school taught you was how to pass WAEC and barely finish NECO? Phrased like this, it might seem completely ridiculous, but that’s exactly the situation we find ourselves in.

We spend years in school studying topics and courses we almost never use. When I was in secondary as an art student, I made sure to memorise the important dates in Nigerian history, from when the protectorates were amalgamated to when there was a civil war.

Ask me today if I remember any of those things.

That’s because I only read them to pass my exams, and the school only cared about me passing. They don’t put much thought into whether or not I need those lessons to survive.

You might argue that all those lessons weren’t useless, and you’d be right. I never said they were useless anyway, but most of them are only relevant in specific areas of study.

Someone going into politics for instance might treasure those government classes, or maybe someone going into law. But what about the fashion designer in the class, what are they supposed to do with that information?

What about the painter? The Animator? The interior designer?

We could go on and on, but the point is, we never learn the things we actually need in Nigerian institutions (I can’t speak for those abroad).

It's a common fear in higher institutions that a person graduate with the highest distinctions and honours…but stay jobless for years.

So perhaps what I’m saying and what youth have been saying for a long time – teach us things that matter.

How do I pay taxes? How do I invest in stocks and bonds and all those funny terms you only hear about outside school?

I mean if you’re going to tell me not to depend on my years of study, why study at all?

“Don’t depend on school alone oh. School is not the answer to everything.” It’s repeated in our ears over and over again by both the people sending us to school and the people teaching us.

Education should be a way out.

If we’re going to spend all that money, it should be worth it.