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<p>By Zubair A. Zubair</p><div class="SnW13Z2K" style="clear:both;float:left;width:100%;margin:0 0 20px 0;"><script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>

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<p>This evening, Dr. Nelson Aluya shared a video link with me on Instagram, and out of curiosity, I quickly watched it. What I expected to be an ordinary historical clip turned out to be something deeply emotional and thought-provoking.</p>
<p>The footage was from the late 1950s and early 1960s, during the period leading to Nigeria’s independence. It captured scenes of Nigerian students in classrooms, laboratories, technical centers, and learning environments that reflected preparation for a nation believed to have a bright and promising future. What struck me most was the condition of the educational institutions at the time, especially in Northern Nigeria.</p>
<p>The classrooms looked organized and conducive for learning. The science laboratories were functional and properly equipped. Students appeared disciplined, ambitious, and intellectually driven. Education was clearly treated as a national investment, not merely as a social obligation.</p><div class="4Ky19nrv" style="clear:both;float:left;width:100%;margin:0 0 20px 0;"><script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>

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<p>Watching the video left me with one painful question: How did we get it so wrong?</p>
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<p>At independence, Nigeria was seen as a rising giant with enormous human and natural potential. Northern Nigeria, in particular, was being positioned as an important pillar for the country’s advancement in agriculture, science, innovation, and technology. There was a visible belief that education would shape the nation’s future and produce the skilled minds required to compete globally.</p>
<p>Decades later, however, many of those hopes appear abandoned. The same educational institutions that once symbolized excellence and promise are now struggling with inadequate funding, deteriorating infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms, outdated laboratories, and recurring strikes. In some schools today, students learn in environments that are far below the standards that existed before independence.</p>
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<p>That reality is heartbreaking.</p>
<p>What makes it even more painful is the realization that many of the people who benefited from quality education in the past are now among the leaders presiding over the decline of the same system that once empowered them. A generation that studied in functional classrooms and laboratories now oversees institutions where millions of young people struggle daily for basic educational resources.</p>
<p>Some people often describe Gen Z as lazy or unserious, but when one carefully observes the state of many Nigerian educational institutions, it becomes difficult not to sympathize with the frustration of young people. Students are expected to compete globally while learning in poorly equipped environments, facing unstable academic calendars, limited research opportunities, and little institutional support.</p>
<p>Yet despite these obstacles, Nigerian youths continue to demonstrate extraordinary brilliance across the world. From medicine and engineering to software development, research, entrepreneurship, agriculture, and innovation, Nigerians consistently excel whenever they are given the right opportunities and environment.</p>
<p>This is why education must once again become the backbone of national development. Countries such as China and India transformed their economies largely through sustained investment in education, technology, research, and innovation. No nation can genuinely aspire for progress while neglecting the intellectual development of its people.</p>
<p>As Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Those words remain profoundly relevant today.</p>
<p>The old video I watched this evening was more than a historical memory. It was a reminder of the Nigeria our leaders once envisioned, a nation prepared to compete with the best in the world through knowledge, discipline, and innovation. It reminded me that our present condition was never meant to be our destiny.</p>
<p>Perhaps this is why individuals like Dr. Nelson Aluya continue to advocate passionately for youth empowerment, educational advancement, and social development through initiatives such as Youth Together Work Together (YTWT), aimed at helping young people break barriers and rewrite the narrative surrounding Nigerian youth.</p>
<p>Nigeria still possesses some of the brightest minds in the world. What is lacking is not talent, but consistent investment, visionary leadership, and a genuine commitment to rebuilding the institutions that shape the future.</p>
<p>The tragedy is not that Nigeria lacked a dream.<br />
The tragedy is that somewhere along the journey, we stopped believing in it.</p>
<p>Zubair A. Zubair<br />
Journalist | Columnist | Developer | Activist | Farmer<br />
Writing from Kano, Nigeria.</p>
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