50 Years of Nigeria's Education: Challenges and Prospects

50 YEARS OF NIGERIAN EDUCATION: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS

ABSTRACT:
The fifty years history of Nigerian education is fraught with mixed statistics. On the one hand are fascinating statistics of an education system that has produced some of the world’s best brains in different fields of knowledge. On the other are disturbing statistics of an education system that today is at its lowest compared to standards in Africa and elsewhere in the world.   This paper draws attention to the challenges inherent in the nation’s education 50 years into her nationhood, and the silver lining in her clouds. Noticeable among these challenges are: poor funding, poor or inadequate infrastructure, deteriorating number of quality faculty, non-conducive learning environment, inconsistent and politicization of education policies.
This paper notes with great conviction that if these militating factors against the achievement of high standard of education in the country are squarely addressed, the prospects of Nigerian education comparable to those of the highly developed world are achievable earlier than imagined. It affirms that if government demonstrates the political will by investing heavily on education, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, there would be a re-enactment of the nation’s era of academic boom of the 60s and 70s when Nigeria was the epicenter of academic and intellectual activities in Africa.

INTRODUCTION

The issue of Nigerian education raises so much dust today. Whereas there are many people who no longer believe that education can solve their problems because of so many graduates who are either unemployed or under-employed, there are others who say education has become too expensive to give to their children. Reflecting on the subject of Nigerian education therefore, gives cause for worry because of the damning reality.   Today no Nigerian university or secondary or primary school is among the top 200 in global academic ranking. This is attributable to a...