Educational Trends and Future in Nigeria
Dayo Odukoya, Ph.D
Introduction
Education is sine qua non to development worldwide. No nation thrives beyond the educational level of
her citizenry. Neither can an individual prosper beyond the level of his/her applied knowledge [wisdom].
No wonder, even the law affirms that a person who has lost his or mind is not fit to be counted as a
citizen. The easiest and most potent way of changing socio-economic level is acquisition of applicable
knowledge. It can be argued that more than 90% of the woes in the world today have their solution in
education. These statements go a long way to affirm the significance of quality education to overall wellbeing. This may also explain the pathetic situations in many developing nations in the world today,
Nigeria inclusive.
It is against the realization of the significance of education to overall human well-being and to national
development it was deemed necessary to explore the trends and future of education in Nigeria, among
other nations. In this exploration, therefore, the following domains are featured: Geographical and
Historical Background; National Policy on Education: Appropriateness and Implementation Challenges;
Pre-Primary Education; Primary Education; Secondary Education; Tertiary Education; Distance Learning;
Non-Formal Education; Leadership Turnover and Changing Education Systems; Publish or Perish
Syndrome; The Cankerworms of Cultism, Drug Abuse and Examination Malpractices; Free Education and
The Way Forward.
Geographical and Historical Background – Past Trends
Following the Napoleonic wars, the British expanded trade with the Nigerian interior. In 1885, British
claims to a West African sphere of influence received international recognition; and in the following
year, the Royal Niger Company was chartered under the leadership of Sir George Taubman Goldie. In
1900, the company's territory came under the control of the British Government, which moved to
consolidate its hold over the area of modern Nigeria. On January 1, 1901, Nigeria became a British
protectorate, part of the British Empire, the foremost world power at the time.
In 1914, the protectorate of Northern Nigeria and the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria were
merged by Sir Frederick Lugard. The whole country then became known as the Colony and Protectorate
of Nigeria. Lugard became its first Governor General and ruled till 1919.
By the middle of the 20th century, the great wave for independence was sweeping across Africa. On
27th October 1958 Britain agreed that Nigeria would become an independent state on October 1 1960.
Nigeria is currently estimated to have a population of 160 million people. Comprised of thirty-six [36]
states and the Federal Capital Territory, it operates a Federal Government System patterned after the
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United States of America. The map of Nigeria below displays the current geographical distribution and
structure of Nigeria.
Nigeria
Pre-Independence Era
Indigenous Education
Prior to the arrival of Islamic and Western Education, Indigenous Education was the informal type of
education offered within communities by community members who possessed specialized skills or
abilities in various fields of human endeavour. In those days, boys were brought up to take to whatever
occupation their fathers engaged in. In some instances, the boys were sent to other masters as
apprentices to learn other vocations and life etiquette.
Although occupations varied according to the geographical areas in Nigeria, the major ones were
farming, trading, craft work, fishing, cattle rearing, wine tapping, traditional medicine and blacksmith.
The boys also engaged in other training activities like archery, tree climbing and wrestling. Intellectual
training for them consisted of their sitting quietly beside their fathers at meetings and listening
attentively to learn the process of such tasks as arbitration of cases, oratory, wise sayings and use of
proverbs. Girls were often expected to stay back at home to learn domestic and other chores such as
cooking, sweeping, weeding the farmlands, hair weaving, decorations of the body, dye production (etc)
from their mothers. In spite of geo-political variations, traditional or indigenous education in most parts
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of Nigeria trained individuals to fit into their society by learning and practicing economic skills for selfsustenance; adapting to their role expectations; and contributing to the development of their society.
Mkpa (2013) submitted that, although the traditional education offered by the community was
comprehensive such that it provided training in physical, character, intellectual, social and vocational
development, it however had its limitations. For one thing, in the absence of writing, people depended
on the power of their memories to facilitate the retention and transmission of all learned ideas to future
generations. But memory could fail, and in the event of the death of a custodian of some useful
information or skill, all would be lost. There were, however, little or no cases of unemployment.
Islamic Education in Nigeria
In the early 14th Century, Islam was brought into Hausa land by traders and scholars who came from
Wangarawa to Kano during the reign of Ali Yaji (1349-1385). Before long, most of what later became the
Northern Nigeria was islamised. Islamic education brought along with it Arabic learning since Arabic is
the language of the Quran and was therefore perceived as having great spiritual value. Arabic and Islam
were taught simultaneously in primary schools. As a result of the political and social influence which
Islam and Quranic learning conferred on those who possessed it, many rulers employed Islamic scholars
as administrators.
Support for Islamic education came from some Northern Nigerian leaders, especially Abdullahi Bayero,
(Emir of Kano), who, on his return from Mecca in 1934, built a School for training teachers of Islamic
subjects and Arabic as well as English and Arithmetic. The school continued to grow and expand in
scope until it metamorphosed into Bayero College, Kano, which became part of Ahmadu Bello University
and presently Bayero University, Kano.
The Western-Type Education
Western education began in Nigeria with the arrival of the Wesleyan Christian Missionaries in Badagry in
1842. Western Education was a more formal education compared with the Islamic education. The use of
English language, which was the Nigeria official language, further gave western education an edge.
Between 1842 and 1914, about ten different Christian missions had arrived and begun intensive
missionary and educational work in Nigeria. Although education in the 4Rs (reading, writing, arithmetic
and religion) was predominant, the new missionary education prepared the recipients for new job
opportunities, as teachers, church evangelists or pastors, clerks and interpreters. Emphasis was also on
character training. Initially, most of the missions established primary schools with little or no emphasis
on secondary and higher education.
Following agitations by influential church members, rich merchants and immigrants living in Lagos, the
CMS Grammar School Lagos was established in 1857. Western education developed faster in the South
than in the North of Nigeria because of the skepticism of the Muslims about the motive of Christian
missionaries. By 1914, it was estimated that about 25,000 Quranic schools were already in existence all
over Northern Nigeria. Thus, the arrival of Christian Western education met stiff opposition. However, in
some parts of Northern Nigeria, the Christian missionaries did succeed to establish schools, at times, in
collaboration with Government.
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Much of the educational works in Southern Nigerian, prior to 1882, were done by the missionaries
almost without government assistance. However, from 1882, Government began to make bold
interventions by promulgating codes and regulations, guidelines and policies on organisation and
management of schools. Government also began to appoint inspectors and to make grants to schools to
ensure quality.
The West African Examination Council, (WAEC) was set up in 1952 as a corporate body charged with the
responsibility of conducting examinations in the public interest in West Africa. Such examinations were
to qualify candidates for certificates which were equivalent to those from similar examining authorities
in the United Kingdom (Adeyegbe, 1992).
Furthermore, in 1959, the Federal Government set up the Sir Eric Ashby Commission to identify the
high-level manpower needs of the country for the future. The Ashby Report prescribed that education
was indeed the tool for achieving national economic expansion and the social emancipation of the
individual. It therefore recommended the establishment of four Federal Universities in the country.
Post Independence Era
As a British Colony up till 1960, the system of Education in Nigeria could not but derive from the British
system. There were several attempts at making the curriculum relevant - attempts which culminated in
the National Curriculum Conference of 1969. The Federal Government set up a Committee in 1973 to
study the recommendation of that conference. Government's views on the report of the committee
were published in 1977 in a White Paper entitled "National Policy on Education". This Policy was revised
in 1981 to reflect the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution of 1979. The Policy laid down certain
expectations on quality of education. However, there were serious problems in implementation.
As part of the post independence events, five universities were eventually opened as follows: University
of Nigeria, Nsukka (1960), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1962), University of lfe, lle-ife (1962),
University of Lagos, Lagos (1962), and University of lbadan, which was first established as University
College, lbadan in 1948. University of Benin was later established in 1972. As at 1999, Nigeria had fortyone universities made up of twenty-five Federal, twelve State and four Privately-owned universities.
In 1977, the Joint Admission and Matriculations Board (JAMB) was created to regulate the admission of
students into the universities, taking cognizance of available spaces and federal character. Student
enrolment in universities had risen from a mere 1,395 in 1960 to over 250,000 by 1998/9 session.
Current Trends
Assessment of the National Policy on Education
In my earlier publication titled ‘Formulation and Implementation of Educational Policies in Nigeria’, it
was reiterated that even though Nigeria has expressed a commitment to education, with the belief that
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overcoming illiteracy and ignorance will form a basis for accelerated national development, there
remain inequalities in access to education. Millions of poor people are still being excluded from the
processes and outcomes of education.
The decline of the oil market in the early eighties, combined with the Structural Adjustment Programme
(SAP), led to drastic reductions in spending on education. The results were unpaid teacher salaries,
degradation of education facilities at all levels and strikes in universities/public schools, culminating in
further decline in quality of education and literacy rates.
The poor state of education in Nigeria is aptly captured in the National Empowerment Development
Strategy as follows:
‘…the delivery of education in Nigeria has suffered from years of neglect, compounded by inadequate
attention to policy frameworks within the sector. Findings from an ongoing educational sector analysis
confirm the poor state of education in Nigeria. The national literacy rate is currently 57 percent. Some 49
percent of the teaching force is unqualified. There are acute shortages of infrastructure and facilities at
all levels. Access to basic education is inhibited by gender issues and socio-cultural beliefs and practices,
among other factors. Wide disparities persist in educational standards and learning achievements. The
system emphasizes theoretical knowledge at the expense of technical, vocational, and entrepreneurial
education. School curricula need urgent review to make them relevant and practice oriented’
The former Nigeria Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo recently affirmed this point in the speech
he delivered during the 2012 convocation ceremony of the University of Nigeria. He reiterated that the
outlooks for education in Nigeria and the education environment are bedeviled with many problems,
some of which appear intractable and are like recurring decimals. He further explained:
‘In spite of the achievements of our education sector, four serious problems still persist in thwarting our
efforts. These are (1) Access – In spite of more institutions, the problem of access still persists at all three
levels of education. With regard to technical education, the situation is very critical as the middle-level
technical human capital necessary for industrialization is grossly lacking. (2) And for Quality – this is a
serious problem that compounds the poor access. The quality in some of our schools is deplorable and we
now face the specter of ever poorer performance in national examinations even with more money spent
on schools. (3) And so also with Purpose or education for what? And here we are, confronted with the
pervasive poverty of applied problem-based approaches that should contribute to national development
and national unity; for example, building more schools has not yielded the expected results all the time.
(4) Relevance, beyond purpose of functionality – There is relevance to our culture, orientation, core value
and the future.
With improved access, better quality, purpose-driven and greater relevance in our educational
endeavours, many of the problems of these times will begin to disappear.
An objective assessment of the problems and solutions of Nigerian education in the context of
development shows that proffering solutions has never been a problem. Many solutions abound, but the
crux of the matter is LEADERSHIP - Leadership to see solutions through to logical conclusion without
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policy somersault. In other words, we need consistency and continuity. LEADERSHIP is not authority or
elected office or a top administrative position, as many of us often think … Rather leadership is about
“mobilizing people to confront their predicament and solve their most pressing problems. The focus is
not on getting people to follow but on getting people to face reality and think and act responsibly,
thereby enabling their organizations and communities to address their toughest challenges and make
meaningful progress.” Today, more than ever before, Nigeria very badly needs REAL LEADERSHIP in all
spheres of our corporate existence, but particularly in the education sector, where skills, attitudes, and
performance abilities are acquired. No development is possible without these vital elements’
Coming from a former Head of State, this is an exceptionally frank talk. Maybe coming rather late, yet
one cannot but be impressed with the openness and sincerity of General Obasanjo. Truly, there is hardly
nothing more to say on Nigerian education. The General has succinctly elucidated the crux of the
Nigerian education challenge. What we should be addressing now should be the way forward.
This point nonetheless, it is pertinent to lay the foundation for recommendations on the way forward. A
quick review of the National Policy on Education and related segments of the education system are
quite necessary here.
Review of National Policy on Education
National Objectives of Education
As stated in the recent and past editions of the National Policy on Education [NPE], the core national
objectives of education are to build a:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
free democratic society;
just and egalitarian society;
united, strong and self reliant nation;
great and dynamic economy;
land full of bright opportunities for all citizens.
From my training and understanding, a well stated achievable objective should be S.M.A.R.T. This
implies that the objective should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and have definite Time
frame. A critical analysis of the national educational objectives stated above shows none of the
objectives fully meet the SMART criteria. Words like free, just, self reliant, great, dynamic bright
opportunities are just too nebulous and controversial to meet the specific criterion. Use of such words
hardly allow for reliable measurement. It is also apparent that none of the objectives have clearly
defined time frame of achievement. There are clearly more important issues cum pressing needs that
should have been included in the national educational objectives; for instance the issue of science and
technology productions that will translate to tangible national development
Objectives, like dreams, purpose and visions, are the drivers of all human endeavours. The articulation
and implementation of objectives often determine the success and failure of individuals, families,
communities and nations all over the world. It is not surprising then why little or nothing significant
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seems to be achieved in the Nigeria Education system in the past fifty [50] years of independence.
There is dire need to review/re-articulate the national educational objectives and consequently the
entire policy document.
Frequent Changes in Policy
Politics and frequent changes in government tend to negatively affect the implementation of the
National Policy on Education. Professor Ajayi, one time Provost of Federal College of Education (FCE)
Osiele, Ogun State in Nigeria made this observation:
"Within the eight years (1991-1999) that I served as Provost, the nation passed through five different
regimes (Babangida till 1993, Shonekan for less than four months in 1993, Abacha 1993-1998, Abubakar
1998-1999, Obasanjo 1999-2007). Within this period I had to operate under eight Ministers of
Education. The same thing happened at the state level. Each of the Presidents, Ministers, Governors and
Commissioners had their own different conceptions and policies on education that they tried to
implement during their tenure. With such instability in the system of governance, coupled with constant
changes in "Ministers of" “Ministers for” and "commissioners for," one should not be surprised at the
level of the crises the nation's education system has witnessed over the years and the inconsistency and
often contradictory nature of the educational policies and practices. Its one step forward and two steps
backward."
The same experience tends to apply to the system of education.
A New System of Education
Presently, the Nigerian government has come up with another system of education tagged 9-3-4 system.
The first one known as 6-3-3-4 was never fully implemented, and now this. Mrs. Bola Mosuro, the
Proprietress of Access Universal College, Lagos lamented:
"Our problem in this country is that we often pick and drop policies as we want. In the United
States the two tier secondary school system is still in operation delivering wonderful results. There is
nothing wrong with the 6-3-3-4 system. We simply have not implemented it well and now we have
picked another one."
While change is necessary for growth and development, untested and sudden changes could be
catastrophic to a nation.
Nigeria’s Philosophy of Education
In Section 1 Sub-Section 5, the NPE states that the Nigeria's philosophy of education is based on the
development of the individual into a sound and effective citizen. The policy further stressed
‘the full integration of the individual into the community, and the provision of equal access to
educational opportunities for all citizens of the country at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels both
inside and outside the formal school system’.
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With an estimated human population of 160,003,542, illiteracy is still as high as 60%. No Nigerian
Newspaper has a daily print run of 500,000 copies. There are thousands of educated but unemployed
Nigerian youths who cannot pay taxes. These people cannot be described in the words of NPE as
"effective citizens." There are also few educated elites who have looted the treasury so massively that
they could hardly be described as "effective citizens."
These are foundational issues that require urgent interventions for Nigeria to move forward as a Nation.
Policy on Language
In Section 1 Sub-section 10 the policy talks about the importance of language. It says
"government appreciates the importance of language as a means of promoting social interaction and
national cohesion and preserving cultures. Thus every child shall learn the language of the immediate
environment … Furthermore, in the interest of national unity it is expedient that every child shall be
required to learn one of the three Nigerian languages, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. For smooth interaction
with our neighbours it is desirable for every Nigerian to speak French. Accordingly, French shall be the
second official language in Nigeria and it shall be compulsory in schools."
Thirty years after, French is only being learnt in a few public/private primary and secondary schools.
Many Nigerian schools have no French teacher.
Policy on Pre-Primary Education
The National Policy on Education has also been poorly implemented in the area of pre-primary
education. In Section 2 the policy says
"The responsibilities of government for pre-primary education shall be to promote the training of
qualified pre-primary school teachers in adequate number and supervise and control the quality of such
institutions."
This is another aspect of the policy that has not been implemented at all levels, especially at the federal
level. The Lagos State College of Primary Education [LASCOPED] is perhaps the only institution in
Nigeria that specializes in the training of pre-primary school teachers.
Primary education: Universal Basic Education (UBE)
Universal Basic Education is the foundation for acquisition of further knowledge, skills and competencies
in diverse fields. It involves a variety of formal and non-formal educational activities. The UBE Scheme
was formally launched by President Olusegun Obasanjo on September, 1999.
Problems confronting UBE
i.
Increase enrolment in the face of scarcity of resources.
ii.
Inaccurate Data
iii.
Negative Societal Attitude
iv.
Financial problem
v.
Poor Implementation strategies etc.
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Policy on Public and Private Universities
In 1960/61 there were only two universities in Nigeria while the total student population stood at only
1,395. This figure rose to 32,282 in 13 universities by 1975, 116,822 in 27 universities by 1983 and
180,871 in 31 universities by 1990. Despite this development, the population of qualified students was
far from being catered for. Out of over 1 million Nigerian students that applied for university admission
less than 25% could be absorbed. This was due to the poor implementation of the policy which had long
ago recommended greater expenditure on education to create more space for the youths. As reported
on the website of the Nigeria Universities Commission [NUC] as at 22/2/13, there are currently 50
Private Universities; 40 Public or Federal Universities and 38 State Universities. Altogether, there are at
least one hundred and twenty-eight [128] duly registered public and private universities in Nigeria. The
number is increasing by the year. The question is: is this translating to real development in the country?
If not, why? These are serious food for thought.
Unreliable Data
According to Mkpa [2013], perhaps the greatest administrative obstacles to achieving the set goals of
the National Policy on Education have arisen from the use of inadequate or unreliable data in making
major policy decisions by various Governments. Such decisions have usually been based on purely
political whims without sound professional justification, planning, or pilot testing. Examples include the
adoption of free education at all levels in 1979 by some States. Not too long ago, there was also sudden
spurt in the set-up of State universities and polytechnics; all at a time when payment of primary and
secondary schools teachers was near impossible. Similarly, the issuance of Primary School Leaving
Certificate following a statewide summative examination was abolished with no justifiable reason.
Distance and Open Learning
Open and Distance learning is an educational system that allows people to learn with no barriers in
respect of time and space, age, sex, race, tribe, state of origin, and entry qualification. Distance and
Open learning developed from correspondence courses to a full-fledged modern day technology-driven
self directed learning which involves learners who are often in locations remote from the institution or
facilitator.
Constraints to Distance and Open Learning Programme
 Learners' Problem: The problems of new intake that have not experienced the sweetness and
bitterness of taking up a distance or an open learning programme often start with the mixed
feelings exhibited by the learners.
 Facilitators Problem: No educational programme can succeed with weak facilitators. The tutorial
facilitators have greater part to play.
 Administrative Problem: There are problems of record keeping and effective management.
 Financial Problem: There is danger of commercialization of the programme when the
government fails to give sufficient fund to assist the programme, especially in this dispensation
of privatisation.
 Level of Nigeria Technology: The programme requires a high level of sophisticated information
and computer technology as well as consistent supply of electricity. These facilities are often
lacking in Nigeria.
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Cultism
This has become a wide spread phenomena among students of both secondary and tertiary institutions
in Nigeria. Our education curriculum needs reorientation towards solving this threatening situation in
the country.
Drug Abuse
Drug abuse has become a common practice among the young ones at all levels of the national education
system. Schools, mosques and churches and social organizations in the country need to rise against this
destroyer of our future nation builders.
Publish or Perish Syndrome
The current trend in many tertiary institutions is the ‘publish-or-perish syndrome’. In other words,
promotion in the Nigeria tertiary institutions is now tied to a number of publications in ‘international
journals’. Consequently, it is becoming so easy to become professors as some smart lecturers now
device all conceivable means to publish at all costs. The bottom-line of this drive is that quality is
watered down. This practice should be discouraged. With so many computer wizards and report
writing software, millions of papers on the internet, and ‘hungry’ journal publishers springing up every
day to take advantage of the situation in the academia, it is so easy to publish now more than ever
before. This is definitely a weak criterion for determining promotion in the academia. The promotion
criteria in Nigeria tertiary institutions need urgent review to facilitate overall educational development.
Examination Malpractices
Another debilitating factor currently affecting educational development in Nigeria is examination
malpractice at virtually all levels of educations – pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary
institutions. In the bid to market their schools, a number of private schools go to the extent of helping
pupils in tests and examinations in order to enhance their performance. Some inflate pupils’ scores.
Some even conjure scores. It is now common practice for Teachers, feigning as invigilators or
supervisors, to assist students in public examinations. Cases of writing on rubrics, copying from
notebooks and textbooks, while the ‘settled’ supervisor close his or her eyes to the unwholesome
practice, are prevalent. Cases of impersonation during examination are not ruled out either. It is a tall
list. This evil practice is eroding the little gains of educational development in Nigeria. Consequently
many students could hardly defend their results. Such could hardly cope in tertiary institutions; hence
they were often forced to perpetuate their cheating practice to sustain the tempo. The long term
consequence of this evil practice is that the nation is gradually being eroded of its inventors of
tomorrow. It is a very dangerous situation that needs urgent redress.
‘Free Education’
In the bid to impress the electorate, some Politicians promise heaven and earth. One of such popular
promises in Nigeria is free education. The current Universal Free and Compulsory Basic Education tend
to further encourage this practice. The first pertinent question is ‘how free is the free education?’ In
many of these free education schools, pupils and students are still requested to make a number of unofficial payments. Some of these requests at times force some of the students to stay at home. This is
not even the issue to worry about. The more worrisome effect of the ‘free education’ is the eroding of
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quality at the expense of non availability of basic teaching and materials as at when needed. To worsen
it, Teachers in some of these free education states are hardly paid adequately and on time. These
tendencies further negatively impact on quality delivery of the ‘free education’. It is a known fact all
over the world that free things often have low value. Basic education is foundational. We cannot afford
to toy with the destinies of these youngsters and consequently the educational development of the
nation on the platform of political games.
Overloaded Curriculum/Scheme
Yet another challenge in the Nigeria Education system is overloaded curriculum. Overloaded curriculum
is more applicable at the Junior Secondary School level where the fledglings who are just emerging from
the Primary schools and are clearly still in the concrete operations stage of cognitive development, are
saddled with sixteen [16] subjects. Furthermore, the content of some of the subjects are far above the
level of cognitive readiness of the students. Even more pathetic is the fact that quite a number of the
topics in the curriculum/scheme are out of place. For instance, the depth to which the eye, ear and
teeth were treated in the current Junior Secondary [JS] 1 Home Economics scheme is almost at the level
of Senior Secondary [SS] 3 Biology. This is placing unduly high cognitive demand on the youngsters. The
focus of home economics in such topics, especially at the Junior Secondary [JS] 1 level, should be merely
on how to care of the eye, ear, and tooth and NOT delving into their internal structures. Furthermore,
the curriculum hardly motivates students and teachers to apply the knowledge gained to solve real life
problems as done with the British Curriculum. This is tantamount to waste of time and resources since
the real essence of education is to solve life’s problems. The educational curriculum is the strategic plan
for fulfilling the core National Educational objectives. If it is therefore faulty, this may as well be the
root of the educational woes currently facing the country/continent. It calls for urgent review.
Future of Education in Nigeria
Going by past and current trends, the following are possible projections of the future of education in
Nigeria:
National Policy on Education and National Educational Objectives
It is expected that in the next few years, a visionary leader will emerge in Nigeria who will have good
understanding of the dynamics of education and national development. One who will call for the total
overhaul of the current National Policy of Education, make the national educational objectives truly
SMART and implementable, infuse the right curriculum at all levels, put in the necessary infrastructure
and build the necessary human resources that will facilitate the implementation of the policy. This way,
a self reliant Nigeria is expected to emerge within a short period of time.
Private Sector Dominance
If the expectations on the Federal Government of evolving a pragmatic leader did not materialize, it is
imperative that national educational and developmental transformation will take place through the
private sector. This may happen simultaneously with the Federal Government’s effort as envisaged
above. However, with or without the Federal Government support, Private sector is bound to forge
ahead in blazing the trail of educational and national development at the pre-primary, primary,
secondary and tertiary levels of education. Creative, innovative and productive students and teachers
are already emerging from the private institutions.
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There is an exodus of best brains from the public institutions to the private institutions. This is because
the private schools have better infrastructures, research motivation and conditions of service. With
each passing year, the private institutions are recording better result and technological outputs. A clear
example is Covenant University, where, in less than ten years of operation, the students and faculty
have produced electric motor car that does not use fuel, among many other innovative inventions.
General Obasanjo’s Perception of the Future of Nigerian Education
General Obasanjo presented an insightful summary of the future of education in Nigeria in his speech at
the University of Nigeria 2012 Convocation. He submitted among others:
‘This country cannot continue to wobble along like a stalked and wounded lion, walking to its death. We
have immense resources – There were 37.2 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Nigeria as of 2011,
ranking the country the largest oil producer in Africa and the 11th largest in the world; solid minerals in
barites, gypsum, kaolin, talc, diatomite, bentonite, limestone, clay dolomite, bismuth, molybdenite,
granite, magnesite, marble, feldspar, mica, phosphate, fluorite, lyanite, quartzite, silica sand, gold, coal,
bitumen, considerate, iron ore, lead, zinc, manganese, limenit-rutile, wolframite, lithium, tantalite, and
silver, all located in different parts of Nigeria; renewable energy from solar, wind, water/hydrogen, sea,
biomass and geothermal; and, most of all, the growing size of our population, 160 million today. This will
be an asset ONLY if we start now to work seriously and assiduously on how this large population will be
the quality, united and purposeful workforce. United Nations projections show that we are on course to
be the fourth largest country, in population, by the turn of the next century. Without commensurate
growth in educational access, quality, purpose and relevance, we will be ill-prepared to take advantage
of this demographic opportunity which can easily turn catastrophic indeed, in the absence of real
leadership. Now I want to conclude by offering some solutions to the challenges we face.
First of all, we must accept that government alone cannot provide all the solutions to our problems and
challenges. Government must provide conducive environment, act as vanguard, mobilize, encourage and
prevent unwanted disabilities, disempowering and destructive tendencies. In short, there must be good
governance. However, this is also an era of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in all fields of development,
including education. In fact, the term PPP originated in the US practice of “joint public-and private-sector
funding for educational programmes”.
In addition to joint partnerships in education, we must institutionalize systematic performance reviews
and assessment of all key areas of our education system. The annual lamentations about poor
performance in WAEC and NECO examinations will remain empty and futile until we have reward and
punishment systems to encourage improvements among students, teachers, administrators, schools, and
communities. The Kenyan system of publicly announcing the ranked order of performance for candidates
and schools is worth adapting here so that we can celebrate excellence and condemn poor performance.
I believe that salaries paid to teaching staff and administrators in education institutions must reflect the
performance and grading of such institutions on the national scale as provided by an independent
monitor and quality control organization.
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Our education institutions turn out annually thousands of employment seekers. The time has come when
employment creation must be the main focus of these institutions and must begin to turn out
employment creators. That will enhance employability.’
Way Forward
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There is dire need to review/re-articulate the national educational objectives and consequently the
entire policy document. Scientific evidences from pilot studies should accompany every accepted
and documented policy.
The curriculum at levels of education should be urgently reviewed for appropriateness, relevance
and overall effectiveness in order to catalyze national productivity and development.
Frequent change in policies with changes in political leadership should be looked into. It is adversely
affecting educational development. Perhaps a statement on this could be entrenched in the
nation’s constitution.
Government should endeavour to implement the National Policy on Education to the letter.
Haphazard or half measure implementation will not only lead to wasted investment but will further
worsen the situation. Political leaders at various should be sensitized on this issue.
Promotions of lecturers in tertiary institutions should no longer be based on publications alone.
There are so many cut-and-paste syndromes going on out there. Rather, promotions should be tied
to production of innovative solutions, in form of relevant goods and services] to prevailing national
problems.
There is need for more God fearing and professional educational researchers in the country who will
work tenaciously to provide reliable statistical data. This is essential for effective decision making
and for planning/implementation.
Governments should stop politicizing education in the name of free education. What is worth doing
at all is worth doing well. Every foundation deserves a solid and pragmatic treatment. Basic
Education deserves nothing less.
Government should stop paying lip service to corruption, which has spilled over into examination
malpractice. This cankerworm is fast eroding the growth and development of the nation. It must be
stopped with immediate alacrity.
The cankerworms of cultism and drug abuse, which are indeed related, should be stamped out by all
means. They are destroying the fabrics of education in the country.
References
Adeyegbe R. (1992): West African Examination Council . Accra: Annual Research Report
Mkpa, M.A. (2013): Overview of Educational Development: Pre-Colonial to Present Day. Online:
http://www.onlinenigeria.com/education/?blurb=534
Obasanjo, Olusegun (2012): Speech Delivered at University of Nigeria at the 2012 Graduation
Ceremonies of University of Nigeria. Nsukka, Nigeria, January 26, 2012
Odukoya, Dayo (2010): Formulation and Implementation of Educational Policies in Nigeria. Mali:
ERNWACA Strategic Meeting
--------------------------------------Odukoya [2013]
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