ENTERTAINMENT: AN ESCAPE FROM REALITY

Those were the words of a wise individual who cherished the need for education in the society. There is a shift of paradigm in the world in a manner that has never been known in history. The focus of the world have shifted from the need to engage intellectualism to just entertainment. 

Intellectual prowess and it’s development are beginning to become outcast news, uninteresting and boring to a growing child whose major desire ought to be the development of his intellect. Young high school students and even college school students now have majority sports and entertainment role models which no doubt is not in itself bad, but this sports, entertainment role models have played down the need for education, they are becoming a threat to intellectualism as they carry the false gospel of telling the youth to follow their passion without having them being committed to personal capacity building. This false gospel has led to many students abandoning classes in high schools for basketball courts, when questioned they would confidently reply they want to be like LeBron James. He followed his passion. This tender minds begin to forget that everyone cannot make it to being a basketballer neither can everyone be a musician. Each one must be committed to mining out his own purpose and steadily pursuing after it. All this process emphasis the need for education.

In Nigeria, if the total amount of money spent on entertainment is spent on education we would surely have a free education for all. I fear for the society that in 20 years the world will be churning out more entertainers and sportsman than intellectuals in the society which might be detrimental to the progress of the society. The majority of our country and her colonial master’s jurisprudence was built on principles developed by ardent intellectual philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato, Socrates e.t.c. This will no doubt die at the rate which the society is going. It isn’t a mere coincidence that the popular Big Brother Naija show is scheduled to start February same month the election is taking place. This might just be a plot of using entertainment to escape reality.

This is not a gospel for every one to be nerds or academia but as a wake up call for the world to commit young minds to self discovery and intellectual capacity building. Let entertainers, sportsmen e.t.c. begin to emphasis the need for reading and development of intellectual capacity to young minds, teaching them the principle of hardwork, commitment and other positive virtues rather than the Get-Rich-Quick Gospel. This may be the only way to saving our society. 

The society should also ensure true education is giving out. Education need not be formal. Education is the enlightenment of mind, giving theoretical solutions to solve practical problems in the society. The world should deviate from certification rather it should judge students by their degree of enlightenment and their ability to proper practical solutions to incumbent problems of the world. This might just be what could save it.

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