KNOWLEDGE IS POWER; IGNORANCE IS NO EXCUSE!

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As you grow old to become more aware and conscious of all that is going on around you, it’s important to develop a great level of sensitivity because it will help you to avoid lots of mistakes that could be damaging to your person or to people around you. You are taught a lot of things that will assist you in your endeavours by your parents, friends and families; you learn a lot from the school you attend and from your teachers. You also get few life’s lessons from the books you read, the songs you listen to, the movies you watch and the people you listen to. At times, you get some of these things by accident. It really does not matter where you get it from as no one will bother you with that question.

However, if after spending an ample time in the world and you have not been able to put the bits and pieces together to develop a reasonable level of cognitive complexity, it will then be very difficult for you to impart or pass on what you have learnt and acquired to the new generation.

It has generally been accepted that no one is an island of knowledge. That is why you will not be pressured or castigated by anyone if you do not have an answer to everything. Nonetheless, you are encouraged to know something about everything and everything about something. You will not only be doing yourself a lot of good if you take it upon yourself to know more beyond what you are taught in the four walls of the classroom, but also you will be contributing to the development of the world. If you reach the level, your counsel or opinion will often be required before any decision is reached or taken by a great number of important people that move the world in a certain direction.

More often than not, people end up pursuing careers or taking up job offers that are distinctively different from the courses they studied in school. If these people are too fixated to explore or gather some more information outside their field of study, then, veering into other areas will be near impossible. It is however possible to read all that you can, on the Nigerian history, read about the number of local governments in your state of origin and know more about your native language and culture. You can also read about the opposite gender and stay informed, so that you do not find yourself ignorant of some basic and important subjects in a gathering of scholars or even the uneducated people.

Know that everything you learn today or yesterday might not come in handy tomorrow, but it could, the day after or the next or even years after you acquired that knowledge. Such precious knowledge might save you from a total embarrassment or help you to nail a job or contract. Knowledge is power!

WRITTEN BY:
Mustapha Sakirat Modupe,
University of Ibadan, Oyo state.

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