THE DILEMMA OF CAREER CHOICE

THE DILEMMA OF CAREER CHOICE

BY

ABUBAKAR, KABIR AMINU

I can still remember vividly when, as a young primary school pupil I used to sit down glued to our television set every blessed evening in order to watch the then veteran newscasters at NTA twisting English and maneuvering the language as if they were native speakers.

Not that I duly understood the content of the televised news or has sense enough to follow national issues up to date, but because I had developed a habit of liking whoever can command good English. My mentor at that time was a Social Studies teacher in our primary school; he was vocal, fluent and we used to call him “son of the queen”.

I can also remember an uncle of mine who is late now, who was very good in English, at least, from my own judgment as a child. The gentleman, who was a lawyer by profession, spoke English more fluently than his mother’s tongue. From these perspectives, I developed the interest of choosing a career that will make me very competent in English. I therefore made up my mind that I had to study law since my mentor read it and commanded this good English.

Unfortunately, it so happened that in our Islamiyya School one of the teachers told us one day that, lawyers are going to be put in the Hellfire on the Judgment Day! From this false verdict of the poor Mallam, I was left in a dilemma of whether to go on with my ambition and be prepared for the consequence (Hellfire) or change my mind and forget about the dream of my life (good command of English). As a child, you normally have to comply with whatever you are told by an elder or teacher especially a religious teacher who is regarded by the society as a source of moral teachings. So, I changed my mind. I was left with no other choice or alternative, I did not know whom I should consult. Fate has to be left to play its game on me. It was only when I was an undergraduate that I came to realize that the verdict of that Islamiyya tutor was totally incorrect.

Accept my apology dear reader if I carry you too much into my personal experience. But, I believe most of the youth today are victims of similar if not worse cases. They are denied to read the courses of their choices for one reason or another.

Most of us studied courses we never wanted to, most of us are reading what we were not interested in, most of us are just ‘pursuing’ the courses for the sake of it and because we do not have other choice. We read courses because our parents want us to read them, or because a particular teacher in our secondary school drummed it into our mind that our intelligence is too good for the courses we initially wanted to study, or because we just want to pass through a university and have a degree, the field notwithstanding. You can site more similar reasons.

I wonder why a father would swear that his daughter must read medicine or nothing at all, while the poor teenager wanted to go for History. Why on earth should you tell your student not to read Business Administration because the humble student was the best student in the school with nine A^s? Are you sure you are doing the right thing? Why do you have to tell your niece that it is the tradition of the family to read Architecture when the young lady can not draw a straight line? Why do you think that if your brother read Hausa the only job he can get is teaching? In fact, the questions are a thousand and one while the whys are endless.

I know of a medical doctor who after graduating successfully from the Medical School, opted to painting because that was his childhood dream distorted by the firm decision of his no-nonsense father that he has to become a medical doctor by all means. I was told by a friend the story of an Accountant who used to curse his uncle for compelling him into reading Accountancy at the detriment of the course he prefers (Linguistics). When I was serving in Abeokuta, my roommate at the Corpers’ Lodge was an Electrical Engineer. He told me several times that he wanted to go to the Army, but his darling mother disagreed because she does not want him to be killed in a war! The stories are indeed, endless.

Although, I always give our elders who are of this habit of ‘child intelligence abuse’ excuses, but I want to state here categorically that, some of them use their personal selfish interest to compel their children to become what they want them to be and use them to brag about having a son who is a medical doctor, a pharmacist, an engineer, an accountant, an architect, a quantity surveyor and etc.

However, I prefer to believe that elders force the younger ones to read courses of their choice (elders) because they think it’s in the best interest of their wards to study such course(s), because they want their children to read the most appropriate course(s) and choose the best profession(s) so that they will have a brighter future, have an edge over their competitors, have better chances of excelling materially and otherwise and live a stable life.

Yet, we have to come to terms with the fact that this line of thinking brings a lot of serious and negative implications into our educational and social settings.

One recent example worth citing here is the case of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria’s Post UME test conducted in June 2009, which saw a record-breaking seven thousand plus candidates that sat for the test seeking admission into the university to read medicine while the university can only admit 120 students into the program!

My advice to teachers, parents and elders is to be objectively oriented guides, insightful consultants and unbiased advisers not imposers, selfish and autocratic. They should recognize their ward’s interests, talents and natural gift. They should focus on helping the young ones in realizing their natural skills and potentials.

Let us advice our dear ones on how to choose careers that tally with their hobby. No course is less important than any other; the society needs experts in any field ranging from Accountancy via Geology, Literature to Zoology. It is only because our country is a unique one in any sense, especially when it comes to misplacement of priorities and abuse of law and order, which is why we want to shy away from some professions and strive for others.

Let us unite and bring a tangible change, let us know that all courses are interrelated in the real life of the society. Our guidance and counseling masters in primary and post primary schools should discharge their duties properly. Parents and elders should realize that success is transcendental and thus, is not measured materially, but by the good contributions one is able to bring to the human society.