Veteran Nollywood actor Jim Iyke has thrown his weight behind the popular "school is scam" argument, revealing that his real-world success has surpassed anything his formal education could have produced.
Speaking in an interview with media personality Joey Akan, the Nigerian screen idol said practical wisdom from family members, traders, and mentors shaped his understanding of how to navigate life and business far more effectively than anything he learned in a lecture hall.
"There is some truth to 'school is scam.' I am doing better than all my lecturers," he said.
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He argued that if the economic principles being taught at school actually worked, the lecturers would have been ‘successful.’
"How many of them are doing better? I met my professor recently, God bless his soul. We all knew who was doing better when we sat on that plane. I had to look back to greet him. He had to look forward to greeting me," he said.
He further argued that blindly applying academic teachings without adapting them to real-life situations would not have made him who he currently is.
"If I had taken everything verbatim and applied it in my pursuit, I wouldn't be here," he said.
Instead, Iyke credited the wisdom of traders, uncles, and his father for equipping him with the practical tools that drove his success.
"It's what the uncles spoke to me, the traders that barely went to school but amassed untold wealth, who told me 'go left' at all times and never 'go right.'
"The father who sat in front of me and told me, 'Forget all that book, this is the way to do it. This is a time to be ruthless. This is a time to confirm. This is a time to stoop to conquer. These are the books you should read," he recalled.
The actor also noted that wealth and academic qualifications rarely go hand in hand.
"Some of the wealthiest men in the world did not get it from the classroom. How many of them have PhDs?" he said.
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