The debut Novel “Corals of Youth, by Margaret Olele means different things to different people, but nostalgia is the atmosphere that emanates from it.
The early days of Nigeria’s existence as an independent nation coincided with the early days of a young Margaret Olele, who was brought up during the upheaval of the country’s civil war.
This story as well as the many more stories of her childhood constitute the make-up of her book, “Corals of Youth.”
Corals of Youth goes far and beyond the basic description of an author mainly giving its audience a back story of their life, it also highlights certain themes that give the reader a better understanding to the Nigerian economic past during the period of the 1970’s to the 1990’s.
One major theme Olele highlights in the book is the economic climate of Nigeria and its change over the years to its the current state in 2024. According to QZ, in the 70s to the early 80’s, the Naira exchange to the dollar was 90 kobo to $1. The effects of the economic stability in the country had an effect on all sectors of the society, including the educational sector. In a part of her book, Olele revealed the prestige Nigerian universities had back in the day in addition to the fact that Nigerians rarely went abroad to further their tertiary level of education. This trend was something that began to occur when the value of Naira started to take a turn for the worst following General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) tenure in office, which saw the naira exchanging for N17 to $1.
The educational spend Nigerians will go on to incur over the years in international studying because of the economic downturn in the country showcase the extortionate prices and the harsh realities many families in the country have had to sacrifice for the greater good of their children. According to The PIE Network, it was reported that Nigerians spent about $1.38 billion in funding students to acquire accreditation from Universities abroad in 2022. What makes this report interesting is the fact that the value for 2022 was the lowest amount spent by Nigerians on foreign education since 2016. The report from Nairametrics for the previous year of 2021 showed that Nigerians had spent $1.88 billion between January and September of that year.
The exorbitant prices spent by Nigerians to further their education abroad in 2022 account for more than the total capital importation for the country in the 4th quarter of 2022. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the value was at $1,060.73 million, and that itself was a 51.51% decrease from the previous year.
The failure of the educational system coupled with the economic hardship of the country is one of the issues Olele depicted in this new book. In addition to the unpopularity of foreign education during the 1970’s to 1980’s, Olele stated that foreign education for Nigerians during the period only represented failure on the student for not being able to hack it in the country’s educational levels.
Olele’s economic themes goes on in the latter parts of the book as she reflected on the lessons her father shared with her following his purchase of a UAC stock in her name. In this instance, Olele learns at a young age that having shares in a company shows that a person is a part owner of a company, with certain opportunities coming with the ownership. This discovery led her down the path of purchasing more stocks to receive dividend during the earning cycle of the company. She also shared that her father set up a consulting company after retirement.
The theme of being a self-made entrepreneur has become the story of many Nigerians today. Many within the country have been able to formulate successful global business brands. These examples abound in the Nigerian startup space, where the likes of Flutterwave, created by Olugbenga Agboola and Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, have become a billion dollar empires by providing businesses in Nigeria and Africa with viable payment solutions. This is also the same story with other tech startup companies like Nomba, Moniepoint, Moove, Lemfi, and so many more, who have leveraged on the gaps in Nigerian society in order to provide services to people in areas around the country that need to be serviced.
Corals of Youth presents itself as an educational vessel that covers all aspects of history, culture, family, friendships, and more importantly the theme of economic independence. The book is a must read for Nigerians to reminisce on the past and to have a clear understanding for a better pathway to the future of the nation.
For more information on the book, visit the website.
