Time was when Nigerians in Nigeria used to think that a Nigerian education is superior to an American education and that our compatriots who went abroad for studies were those who could not keep up with the competition at home. That was the prevailing sentiment in the seventies and eighties.
We knew schoolmates who could barely hold their own in class but had earned a master’s degree (or two) from American universities. That now led us to conclude that a master’s degree from the United States is equivalent to a bachelor’s degree in Nigeria. That thinking still held sway among some Nigerians in the early nineties when my friend, “Aurora”, traveled to Nigeria with her Harvard colleagues. She called me upon her return to Boston and recounted with amusement the surprised reaction of her colleagues who encountered Nigerians still expressing symptoms of the Nigerian education pride complex. They said to her: Only in Nigeria would you have people who think that a bachelor’s degree from their country is equivalent ( some would even say ‘superior’) to a master’s degree from America.
My psychology professor exhibited his own Harvard university pride complex with a comment along these lines: You must support your assertion with solid documentary evidence. Harvard has the best library system in the world, so if you can’t find supporting literature in any of our libraries then it does not exist.
My hypothesis was: Africans do not suffer from anorexia nervosa because of the immunity conferred by our culture. He disagreed with me, arguing that it is the family that confers the mitigating factor. One day we argued back and forth as we walked from his office to the classroom. After that he gave me the permission to proceed with writing my paper. The B plus I earned from Prof Ducey remains a confidence booster for me to this day. He deducted points for, among other reasons, my not conforming strictly to the American Psychology Association style manual. But he did comment in writing that I had presented a passionate and compelling paper that should be turned into a book.
When at first I started attending classes at an American university I was intimidated by my coursemates, but that did not stop me from parading Harvard and MIT universities in my African clothes and a “Jesus” pin.
Thankfully my intimidation factor was broken when I received my first grade from an MIT professor. A or B plus, I don’t remember. All I remember is my grade was better than that of the person I had been paired up with for the assignment. I could tell the guy was well-educated and I was intimidated by him. When he saw both our grades he muttered something under his breath that expressed his displeasure at having the African just off the boat score a better grade than him. As for me, I sallied forth into the wonderful world of American academia propelled by the confidence boost I got from this experience.
Seeing the vast array of classes I could register for or audit at both MIT and Harvard was exhilarating. When I met the MIT president at our welcoming party I told him about the joy and frustration that comes with having so many great classes to choose from. The president intoned: Studying at MIT is like trying to drink from a fire hose, so you have to be careful.
Even though I had come to acknowledge some of the inadequacies of my Nigerian education, I retained some pride in it and in my journalism experience. To fill the gaps in my education I concluded I had to take classes in economics, psychology, anthropology, statistics and history. There was so much ground to cover.
My excitement at having my horizons stretched soon began to be dampened by the things I heard in class that conflicted with my African and Christian worldview. The natives are not so smart after all, I concluded. They are so brilliant but so dumb also. Summoning my best Nigerian accent I sometimes managed to express my disagreement with my highly esteemed professors.
American colleges have become more like hotbeds of liberal indoctrination since I finished with them. Unfortunately, many Africans in America are unwitting victims of radical liberalism because they don’t seem to know that the politicians and policies they support are driven by an ideology diametrically opposed to the worldview they grew up with. They, like American native liberals, can no longer debate issues. They prefer to hurl code words they pick up from the radical liberal media.
If only they will cling to their African and Christian worldview they won’t stray too far from the realm of reason. Nigerian education is not superior to American education, but our African native intelligence is superior to liberalism. Thank goodness I have listened to the brightest minds in America and found many of them wanting, so I am not deceived by the bright but dumb liberals who think they can intimidate people with their name-calling and moral superiority.
