By Usman Usman Garba
Education is often described as the engine of development, the gateway to opportunities and the foundation of national progress.
In fact, education is far more profound as it is a lifelong process of shaping the human spirit, refining behaviour, nurturing empathy and moulding character.
In a society where education is limited to only literacy and numeracy, it is tantamount to building a house without a solid foundation. True learning must touch the conscience before it fills the mind. It must inspire discipline, honesty, responsibility, patience, and respect for others; virtues that cannot be reduced to examination scores or classroom grades.
Across the world, nations that have achieved progress and stability did so because their citizens were shaped by values as much as by knowledge. They understood that a brilliant person without character is a danger to society, while a modestly educated person with integrity is a blessing to the community.
Unfortunately, in many places today, the essence of education is slowly fading. Certificates have become more important than competence. Degrees have become more valuable than discipline.
Parents celebrate academic results but ignore behavioural attitudes. Schools teach theories but neglect moral instruction. And society, overwhelmed by modern pressures, often forgets that knowledge without character leads to nowhere.
A vivid example comes to mind from the experience of Malam Mubarak Ibrahim, who once narrated how a parent’s misplaced sense of entitlement undermined the very purpose of learning. While delivering a lecture to a Level 200 class, he had already used nearly an hour of the two-hour session when a girl walked in—late, unbothered, confident to a fault, smelling of expensive perfume, and chewing gum loudly.
By principle, he does not stop latecomers from entering, provided they use the back door so as not to distract others. But this student ignored that simple courtesy. She walked in straight through the front door of the classroom, came up to the podium where he stood, greeted him casually, dragged a chair with visible arrogance, and sat down as though she owned the classroom.
Such behaviour would test the patience of any teacher. He paused his lecture and scolded her briefly before continuing. What followed was even more astonishing.
Later, he received a phone call from the girl’s mother—a quarrelsome woman who spoke with no filter whatsoever. She accused him of humiliating her daughter, insisted he had scolded her more harshly than any parent ever should and claimed the girl was now in a clinic for “high blood pressure.” She warned him never to repeat such a “mistake,” threatening to get him sacked and disgraced if he ever did so.
This type of parental interference reflects a deeper societal problem: when parents and guardians fail to teach discipline at home, they send children into the world unprepared for responsibility and respectful conduct.
If we want to rebuild our communities, we must restore the soul of education. Parents must teach discipline at home. Teachers must model the virtues they expect from students. Schools must integrate moral guidance into daily learning. And society must reward good character as much as it rewards academic success.
Go to our schools today (both primary and post primary; public and private), you may encounter such negative attitudes among some pupils/students like talking back to teachers or responding with irritation instead of courtesy; using foul language with classmates; showing arrogance or pride, especially when corrected or ignoring greetings or refusing to greet elders and school staff.
In one incident I witnessed while teaching, an SSS 3 student physically confronted his teacher after being questioned for repeatedly failing to copy notes or complete assignments for almost two months. When disciplinary action was considered, the school proprietress intervened, surprisingly apologising on the student’s behalf.
Education should make us better human beings before it makes us professionals. It should polish our attitudes before it sharpens our intellect. It should mould our character before it builds our careers.
Usman Usman Garba is a Public Affairs Analyst.
