By Kunle Awosiyan
They are all university students of Engineering alongside Chatur, aka Silencer, the only African among them from Uganda. He can memorise anything to score high grades.
With all his “cramming” method, he ended up working for the genius, Rancho after their university education.
Unknown to Chatur, he thought he was the most successful among his peers having come out with first class and working with a conglomerate with fat wages.
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However, Chatur received the shock of his life when he finally realised that Rancho actually owned the company he worked for.
Rancho came top of the class but refused to collect the certificate because he was actually helping his master’s son who could not cope with engineering to acquire “paali”.
He got the best of certificate for those who value “paali’ more than practical innovation but moved out of the country to establish a research institute to solve the pressure most professors put on students in universities without necessarily solving many of their problems.
I remember Professor Viru in the movie, a very brilliant academic who will never compromise his archaic method of teaching.
Full of theory with no sense of practical innovation but his daughter’s pregnancy and sudden power outage at the hospital during delivery humbled him.
It was Rancho, his student, who he thought was too rascally that came up with an innovation that eventually saved the daughter. Viru had killed so many students with academic pressure. He would tear their answer sheets, he would reject their thesis and would also attend their burials.
He derived pleasure from seeing students falling out of engineering class. He wanted the world to see him as the best ever but there was a Rancho who knew better, a genius, yet humble. He changed things and made students saw life from different perspective. That they should work on their passion and turn it to occupation instead of pushing so hard “cramming” books to become what they were never created to be.
Yes, “Paali” is good if you really understand the profession that is certificated and signed on it, for me, that is the way it should be. But the best is to keep the “Paali'” if what it endorses for you is not clear and pursue a clearer career
To Professor Kingsley Moghalu, it is about the quality of what the lecturers had given that will define the quality of the graduates.
My advice for our youths is to please take it easy and not allow the coming pressure to disrupt their emotion. I advise that they should not commit suicide when the pressure is becoming too much. Please do your best and leave the rest.
For eight months, believe me, knowledge has moved up and away from where your lecturers left it. For lecturers who have spent their eight months on research, (so rare), their students will enjoy new ideas.
However for those who have joined in political activities and unionism, I’m sorry,their students must expect a download of obsolete knowledge.
For both the lecturers and students, please go and see “Three Idiots”, I recommend it to change your mindset about knowledge driven world.
- Kunle Awosiyan, a media analyst lives in Lagos