In the midst of growing social media chatter questioning the value of formal education, Nigerian writer and social commentator Chinaza Favour delivers a no-holds-barred response to the viral claim that “school na scam.”
In a passionate and unfiltered Facebook post, she challenges the glorification of ignorance, defends the long-term value of education, and calls on young people to stop mocking what has shaped the very tools they use to express their discontent.
See her full post below;
SCHOOL NA SCAM?
On a normal day, I avoid sharing my opinion on trending issues online. I like to dey my dey, but you see this school na scam thing? I cannot keep my peace.
Let me understand something first.
So, because someone who did not go to school—whose source of livelihood will go down the drain if TikTok gets shut down today—decided to make an open spectacle of Master’s degree holders who are nobly seeking to make a decent living, school has once again become scam?
A society must be ridiculously rotten and debased for this to even be a conversation we are having.
School is not a scam.
What is a scam is convincing yourself that ignorance is some badge of honour, while publicly humiliating people who actually took time to build their minds.
Yes, education is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It was never advertised as such.
If you thought going to school meant you would instantly receive a mansion and a Benz on graduation day, maybe what you really needed was a comprehension lesson, not a degree.
Some of you have become so drunk on the cheap wine of internet clout that you no longer understand the difference between quick money and lasting value.
Yes, your favourite uneducated influencer is buying Benz and spraying money on their village people, but try and follow them to a visa interview.
See, school is beyond collecting certificates. Education expands your mind, sharpens your reasoning, and equips you with frameworks to approach life.
If you think school is scam, you probably did not attend properly or your brain went on sabbatical.
Let’s not even pretend that literacy is irrelevant because you can now earn dollars from shaking waist online. What happens if the algorithm wakes up tomorrow and decides you are no longer relevant? Who will you run to?
I hear you shouting that ‘skills are more important than certificates’, yes, you are correct.
But who told you education and skill are mutually exclusive?(And this is me hoping you understand what that means). You can have both. You should have both.
In fact, education even helps you learn new skills faster. Because when your mind has been trained to absorb, analyse and synthesise information, you are already miles ahead of someone who thinks ‘critical thinking’ is a brand of cooking oil.
Some of you are so loud in your ignorance that you think you are making sense. Meanwhile, the only reason you can write your long epistles insulting graduates is because someone taught you how to string letters into words. But no, school is scam. Because you have now found a shortcut to ‘relevance’.
Annnnnndddd!
You have the electricity to charge your phone, you are holding a smartphone, you have data to access the internet, and you are here on social media…all because of education.
How exactly did you think the technologies that made all these possible came to be? You think it is by luck? It was by people who went to school, studied, researched, experimented, failed, tried again, and built the systems you now use to scream that school is useless. The irony of this is loud and quite frankly, embarrassing.
I am yet to see any serious country where ignorance is the foundation for progress. If you want to see what happens when the least informed people have the loudest microphones, just look around.
And while we are here, let me talk to the educated ones who are now shy about their certificates because of the noise in the market:
You did not waste your time. You stretched your mind. You learnt problem solving from all those assignments, group projects, and presentations. You learnt discipline and time management (except you were busy copying and pasting your way through). That was not in vain.
But please, for the love of all things noble, find something doing so that these uneducated bunch will not even see you to mock. Use your degree DESPITE and BECAUSE of it.
DESPITE, because you can build skills and start businesses that may not need your certificate on paper, but will benefit from the way school refined your thinking. You can still leverage your exposure, your discipline, your research skills, your network, your problem-solving ability to carve your own path.
BECAUSE, because the knowledge you gained can be taught, monetised, transferred, or built upon.
If you survived the emotional trauma of Nigeria’s educational system, you already have resilience most people cannot buy.
Don’t dull yourself. Use your brain. Use your exposure. The world is too dynamic for you to sit idle and expect handouts because you once wore a graduation gown.
And if you are still in school, finish what you started. Make sure you graduate.
Because the day TikTok gets banned or people get bored of clown content, many of these loud mouths will crawl back to the same educated ones they mocked to help them draft CVs and proposals.
Also, just so we are clear, school is not necessarily a university. There are specialised programs, vocational schools, professional courses, and certifications. Go to school somehow. Learn something structured. Master a craft. Build competence.
I also have to add this:
I get intellectual orgasm when I see content created by people who are educated. It always hits different. The reasoning, the articulation, the depth! You will just know that this brain has been exercised beyond basic survival instincts.
It is why I will always champion education. Because when an educated mind picks up a camera or a microphone, what comes out is often substance, not just spectacle.
And in case you don’t know, some of your faves are either graduates before fame, or went back to school after. I’ll mention just a few for you.
🔹 Ayra Starr is a graduate of International relations and Political science.
🔹 Tems has a degree in Economics from Monash College, South Africa.
🔹 Asake holds a degree in Theatre and Performing Arts from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
🔹 Tiwa Savage has a degree in Business and Music from the University of Kent and also graduated from Berklee College of Music, one of the most respected music schools in the world.
🔹 Kizz Daniel graduated with a degree in Water Resources Management and Agrometeorology (Water Engineering) from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta.
🔹 Broda Shaggi holds a degree in Creative Arts from the University of Lagos.
🔹 Falz is a trained lawyer, called to the bar after studying Law at the University of Reading in England.
🔹 Tacha, even after reality TV fame, went back to get certified in Strategic Digital Marketing in the UK.
🔹 DJ Cuppy bagged her Master’s at NYU and later went back again to Oxford University.
Should I go on?
🔹 Davido, even with all the wealth and privilege, still got a degree from Babcock University.
🔹 Mr Macaroni is graduate of Theatre Arts from Redeemer’s University.
🔹 Layi Wasabi(the law) is a lawyer. One of my favourite content creators.
🔹 Brain Jotter is a graduate of Business Administration from the University of Lagos.
🔹 Don Jazzy graduated with a degree in Business Management.
🔹 Funke Akindele has a law degree from University of Lagos and has also taken short courses to improve her craft.
🔹 Banky W went back to school in New York to sharpen his skills in film and business.
🔹 Ebuka Obi-Uchendu has a Law degree from UNN, BL from Nigerian Law School, and a Master’s degree from Washington College of Law.
🔹 Genevieve Nnaji even after becoming a Nollywood legend, went back to school to study creative arts and production.
The list is endless.
Your faves who have really made it are finding their way into classrooms, lecture halls, and online courses.
Why?
Because, contrary to what some social media philosophers think, money without knowledge has an expiry date.
But go on. Keep chanting school na scam because someone who shakes waist on TikTok told you so.
And if you ever fall sick, please be consistent. Don’t go looking for the doctor whose education you have been insulting. Go and meet your fellow uneducated philosophers to prescribe solutions for you.
And to you who still believes that school no be scam, stay educated. Stay useful.
And please, stop giving people who cannot spell ‘education’ the pleasure of feeling superior to you.
End of rant.
_ Chinaza Favour
P.S: Ogochukwu Okolocha mentioned something I would like to highlight:
‘Only a very tiny percentage of musicians, actors, and influencers actually make it to the top.
Yet, nobody comes out shouting that music na scam. Or that the movie industry na scam. Or that content creation na scam’.
And I add:
Even the Peller guy you are busy using as your poster child for ‘school na scam’ is in the top 10% of content creators in Nigeria.
This is a level that most content creators will never get to, no matter how many skits they shoot on third mainland bridge. But do we say the industry he is in is automatically worthless? No.
Nigeria’s lackadaisical attitude towards education and employment schemes has given the proponents of this ‘school is useless’ narrative a foothold.
But like I said earlier, the main purpose of education is no longer just to help you find a job. It gives you a base set of skills, exposure, and critical thinking capacity to navigate life more intelligently and efficiently, IF YOU APPLY YOURSELF.
You people should stop vexing this fine girl, please.🤧😒
