Born Confused (This is more focused on Nigeria)

The keywords here are "born" and "confused".I would like to give the various dictionary meanings to this terms.First,let me talk about 'born'. The British dictionary defined the word "born" as 'to come out of a mother's body and start to exist or having started life in a particular way'. Also Merriam Webster Dictionary defined "born" as 'brought into life by a process known as birth','having certain qualities or characteristics from the time of birth','brought into existence'. Now looking into the definition of "born" from Macmillan Dictionary,it says,the word means 'used in emphasizing that someone has a natural ability to do something well or to behave in a certain way.

Moving on to the next term "confused",i would also want to site various dictionary meanings.Merriam Webster Dictionary(1828) defined "confused" as 'unable to understand or think clearly'. The Free Dictionary,defined the term as 'being unable to think with clarity or to act with understanding and intelligence'. Also,American Heritage Dictionary of English Language,fifth Edition published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company,defined the term as 'feeling or exhibiting an inability to understand;bewildered;perplexed.Collins Thesaurus of the English Language-complete and unabridged 2nd Edition defined it as 'mentally uncertain'. In my own definition,"born" is brought into existence through birth" while "confused" is a state of "not been certain,or decision focused". This whole definitions of both term gives us this simple explanation which is "man is brought into this world two dimensional". When i say man is brought into this world two dimensional i mean,man(human beings) when born and gets to a stage of knowing what is right and wrong and being able to make a decision regarding life,cannot be specific(there is always another idea in his mind) which he could use as his main decision too.

The British and the Americans have been able to coin out an acronym in reference to Indian-Americans(ABCD- American-Born-Confused-Desis) and British Born second and third generation Asians (BBCD- British-Born-Confused-Desis).Now let me give you in details what i mean by "Born confused" and how it relates to the Nigerian man,the African man and the world as a whole.I would like to put it in the 'real-life scenerios' and we would go from stage to stage.First let me start by when a child is born and the stages followed according the Nigeria educational standard by the parents/guardians.

At as when a child turns at least 3 years of age it is expected by the Educational system of Nigeria that the child should be enrolled in a school where he/she can start learning.This stage is called the Kindergarten/Creche where they play and learn from one another.After this then we have the Pre Nursery/Transition stage,at this point they show the child different shapes,different objects and what they look like and they try holding their hands to show them how to write down some English Alphabets.Moving on,we have the main Nursery stage.At this stage,the child gets through 3 various classes here and it is expected that within this three years the child would be able to know the 26 letters of the English Alphabet and also know how to count figures from 1-100.Then we have the Primary stage were the essential tips of calculation are been taught to the child and also various positive habbits and words are also introduced to the child.This few stages are classified under what is known as Foundation.When the child has been able to pass through all these four foundations,the Secondary school is been introduced to the child and under this secondary school,we have two sections(Junior secondary School and Senior Secondary School) and under each section there are three classes that the child has to go through.In the Junior classes,the child does all science and art minor subjects so as to have knowledge of all and know where best he/she falls into.Then when he/she gets to the Senior classes,the child picks his/her area of Concentration,either art or science.After all these,external examination bodies like WAEC/NECO/JAMB/CAMBRIDGE/ILETS/TOFEL/SAT/etc come in to examine them to see if they are fit enough to go into the Higher institutions like the UNIVERSITY/POLYTECHNICS/DIPLOMA SCHOOLS/etc.If the child takes the exams and makes it thru he or she is considered fit and is welcomed into the higher institution.At the Higher Institutions,it is expected that the child has not just learnt academically but that he or she is also enlightened on various phases of life and how well to tackle situations.At the higher stage,everyone both male or female pick courses they would love to study and become in future.Most courses are four years like DIPLOMACY,COMPUTER SCIENCES,EDUCATION,POLITICAL SCIENCES,etc while some are five years like LAW,AGRIC SCIENCES,etc some are also six years like MEDCINE,etc.In the Higher Institutions,we come across so many things from lecturers and other students,we engage in so many activities like Talk shows,seminars,concerts,church services,etc.After our expected years have been concluded we do projects and defend our courses all this helps us to express ourselves,give out what we've learnt to gain more,etc.

When all this has been done we do what is known as "NYSC- National Youth Service Corps", this is where we render our services to our nation in various ways "conducting elections,teaching in governments school,working in various companies,etc".It is also a time we get physically trained,etc.It lasts for a year.For the law graduates,we go to LAW SCHOOL which also lasts for a year and after that we get "Called to Bar".While for others they go for practice i.e they put into practice all they've learnt all these years in school and where they get it wrong,they get corrected.After this,they go and get jobs.In all,these stages help to give the child knowledge of things and keep the child grounded in all fields of life endeavour.

To be a good society,our little ones and every elderly ones need to go through this because it is the best way to bring up a stable society.It is due to the fact that most people are not enlightened,that is why they make the women feel like they are inferior and the best and only place they fit in is in the kitchen and bearing children.When a girl doesn't have an idea that as a girl she is entitled to education,she will not request for it or seek for it.When a woman doesn't know her worth,she would just stick to the opportunities given to her by her husband.

Anger,strife,conflicts,threatening one another and all evil vices can never be able to clear your pains rather it would be adding to it because when you remember the bad act you carried out you would end up hating yourself,how would someone easily put bomb around the body and go to a place and kill others and kill himself.This is because he doesn't see the value of his life.What ever has happened has been done and cannot be reversed but it can be corrected and stopped.Have you sat down to ask yourself this "yes this person hurt my family or hurt me and i am trying to take revenge but all this while,have i been able to hurt that person directly? how satisfied have i been? how has my hurting others helped me?

As regarding leadership,you cannot be a perfect leader but you could be near perfect.Try to balance up all areas.Help the women and the children,i am calling on all Nigerian Leaders to tackle this issue of gender discrimination.I love my country,i love my people and i love the whole world,let us join hands together and make right what is wrong.