Jim Iyke Drops Bombshell: Classroom Theories Didn’t Make Me Successful

Veteran Nollywood actor Jim Iyke has stirred fresh debate after asserting that there is “some truth” to the popular claim that Western education is a scam.

In an interview with Joey Akan, Iyke argued that many people, including himself, have outperformed their former teachers in life and career. He recounted meeting one of his late lecturers on a plane, noting that both instantly recognised who had become more successful.

According to him, his achievements were not shaped by classroom theories but by practical wisdom from uncles and traders with little formal education. These mentors, he said, taught him when to be ruthless, when to conform, when to stand firm, and which books truly mattered.

Iyke added that many of the world’s wealthiest individuals did not build their fortunes through academia, stressing that he currently employs a PhD holder.

He concluded that while opinions may differ, the claim that “school na scam” carries some validity.

He said: “There is some truth to ‘school na scam’. I am doing better than all my lecturers. I once met one of my lecturer, who is now late, on a plane and we both knew who was doing better. If I had taken everything him taught me verbatim and applied it in my pursuit, I wouldn’t have been successful.

“I will tell you what worked. It is what the uncles, the traders who barely went to school, told me. They told me go left at all time and never right. The father who told me to forget theories and know when to be ruthless, conform or stand my grounds and what books to read.

“Some of the wealthiest men in the world did not get it from classroom. How many of them have PhD? I have a PhD holder who works for me. We can argue all we want but school is partly scam.”

— Oluwarantimi Oludase