Education Of The Mind And National Development

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The development of a nation is directly proportional to the mental strength of its people. A person with creative mental ability produce a developed nation. Hence, the destiny of a nation lies in the hands of its people. No nation can build itself. It is the responsibility of its people to build it. Suffice me to say that any under-developed nation has itself to blame and the developed nations have their people to thank. In the light of the above, we can simply assert that our mental capacity as a person has kept us the way we are.

One of the ways of going forward and saying bye-bye to poverty is for us to fill our mind with the right EDUCATION. Education in this context can be seen as knowledge. No person can act beyond what they know. In fact, the difference between two or more individuals is simply the quality of education they possess. The more quality the knowledge you possess is, the more respect you command.

Gone are the days when people rely on their physical strength for survival and societal impact. Gone are the days when battles are won on battlefields. Welcome to the era where your placement in life is solely determined by the quality of the knowledge at your command. It is expected that we follow the signs of the times. Since we are in an era where quality knowledge is the order of the day, it is foolishness to still continue to wallow in the abyss of physical strength.

One major function of the mind is THINKING OR REASONING. Thinking is part of the human nature. In other words, every individual is expected to think. The world today is product of productive thinking. Individuals have boggled their minds to produce mind- blowing results. Through thinking, scientists, industrialists, economists and great people have made the world a better place for us all. No doubt, everyone to a large extent has experienced one form of the effect of productive thinking or the other. The world is a world of thinkers.

When I was in the primary school, I remember my teacher once told me that civilization started in Africa. Yes, Africa! Then, though young, I felt so proud to be African. That feeling registered in my mind that Africans were the first productive thinkers the world ever had. But as time went on, I discovered that though civilization first started from within us, we are now being termed the Third World. This discovery humbled me and took off that pride I once had but interestingly, it got me into fathoming what went wrong. What was it that took off from our once glorious position in the world stage?

The role of thinking can never be substituted for anything, be it religion, tradition, culture etc. Mental development is the foundation for civilization and societal development.

The journey to success and failure starts from the mind. One of the reasons that I think is responsible for our being dethroned is that we have left our priced quality of productive thinking for something less glorious and other nations cashed in on that and overtook us.

Having discovered that the mind differentiates us (humans) from other living creatures, it is expected that we utilize the potentials of the mind to its maximum. Every action embarked upon is a product of the mind (whether consciously or unconsciously). The main reason why we have been held back in terms of development is simply because our people have not maximized the potentials that are inherent in their mind. We have failed in way or the other to engage our mind productively. We have also forgotten that it is our personal responsibility to stir our mind productively else it will remain dormant and inactive. Remember, an inactive mind can never be productive.

Our approaches to issues differ. In fact, the way through which we perceive the problems, challenges, tests and situations that surface around us on a daily basis determines how we put our mind to work. That is to say, if your mind tells you that a particular problem is insolvable, you will not bother to put your mind to work to be able to solve the problem because you have already been overwhelmed that it is insolvable. It also works the other way too. If your mind tells you that the same problem can be solved, then you will have the impetus to at least put your mind to work in a bid to derive its solution.

Thoughts are powerful. Thoughts are products of our mind. Frequent use of the mind enhances its effectiveness.

Nowadays, wars are no longer won on battlefields but in the minds of the people. The good news is that we (young Nigerians) still have a wonderful opportunity to turn the table around in our favour IF ONLY WE ACQUIRE THE RIGHT TYPE OF EDUCATION.

BY EGBONIMALI AGBOJE SHADRACK

A writer and activist, based in Asaba, Delta State.

[email protected]

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