The uselessness of education without enlightenment, by Solomon Tengu Micah
What is the value of an education that fails to educate? It is a question that haunts our nation, as we watch Nigerians who proudly describe themselves as educated still argue and divide themselves along primordial religious and tribal lines.
One would expect that a university education, which exposes individuals to diverse cultures, ideas, and perspectives, would be the antidote to such sentiments. Unfortunately, many leave the university with degrees in their hands but without enlightenment in their minds.
As the philosopher Dr. Okibgo rightly observed, “If you cannot reason beyond your tribe and religious sentiment, then your education is useless.” This truth is evident in the way some so-called educated people react to national crises.
Instead of calling out government failure in protecting its citizens, they reduce tragedies to statements such as, “They are killing our Muslim brothers,” or “They are killing our Christian brothers.” Such utterances reveal the weakness of an education that has not transcended primitive loyalties.
I am reminded of an exchange I once had with my mother. She casually remarked that certain men from a particular tribe could not take care of women. I asked her whether I behaved as though I was from my state of origin, and she admitted that I did not—because I had lived outside that environment. That simple conversation reinforced to me that our personalities are not determined by tribe but by environment, exposure, and education.
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Sadly, the Nigerian university system, which should serve as a factory of enlightenment, often does the opposite. As Professor G.Y. Sadiq of the Department of English and Literary Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, once lamented, “The university is supposed to be a place where you come with your problems and leave with solutions. Unfortunately, today, you come with your problems and graduate with even more.” This tragedy is visible in how some lecturers allow tribal or religious bias to influence grading and treatment of students.
When a lecturer fails a student simply because of their ethnic or religious background, they are not only betraying the ethics of education but also planting seeds of hatred that the student may carry into the wider society.
The consequences are far-reaching. If a student leader, such as a class representative, exhibits bias based on tribe or religion, what happens when such a person becomes a governor or president tomorrow? Leadership at the highest level would then also be driven by the same destructive sentiments. This is how societies collapse: when education produces elites who perpetuate division rather than unity.
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with expressing outrage at killings and insecurity in our country. But the framing matters. An educated mind should not reduce human tragedies to Muslim or Christian deaths, or to Hausa, Igbo, or Yoruba losses. Instead, an educated person should speak of human beings whose rights to life have been violated, and of a government that has failed in its constitutional duty to provide security.
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This is the difference between education as a certificate and education as enlightenment. The former produces graduates who can read and write but remain chained to tribal and religious biases. The latter produces citizens who see beyond sentiments and commit to building a society based on justice, equity, and humanity.
Until Nigerians learn to embrace enlightenment over empty certificates, our education will remain, in many ways, useless.
Solomon Tengu Micah is a young Nigerian leader, humanitarian, and advocate for mental health and social justice. He is the founder of the PHARIS Foundation and a United Nations Fellow and also the 54th President of the National Association of Students of English and Literary Studies (NASELS), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Email: solomontengu09@gmail.com.
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