Perhaps the biggest problem facing Nigeria today is its massive illiteracy rate; with recent (and embarrassing) revelations that while global illiteracy levels are on the down swing, that of Nigeria continues to rise. According to the federal government, an estimated 35 million Nigerians are illiterate.

We have cause to believe that this figure is a gross underestimation of the true reflection of things.

UNESCO puts the figure closer at 50 million Nigerians; and the fact that the country sits comfortably among the nine countries in the world with the highest illiteracy rates is ample proof of where we stand.

We believe that things are even worse than as presented above; for among the so called literate Nigerians, a substantial percentage are functional illiterates.

Functional illiterates are those university graduates whose reading and writing skills are barely adequate, or sometimes inadequate, to manage daily living and employment tasks. For further proof of how bad things really are, a survey of the comment boxes of several high-traffic websites in the country paints a vivid picture of the level of functional illiteracy that confront us.

Irina Bokova, the director general of UNESCO, in her speech at this year’s anniversary of the International Literacy Day, which holds on September 8 annually, said that illiteracy in the world has fallen over the past two decades, thanks to international efforts and work towards the Millennium Development Goals.

“Today, 84% of the world’s population can read and write, compared to 76% in 1990,” she said. “In 20 years, the illiterate population has been reduced by more than 100 million people. This is still not enough. Behind these figures there are still serious inequalities…Even in economically developed countries, the proportion of the population lacking basic reading and writing skills is too high. This is a serious obstacle to individual fulfilment, to the development of societies and to mutual understanding between peoples.”

Nigeria, if it has any hope of attaining a significant percentage of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2020, has no business being in this group of nine.

On Monday, the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, wrung his hands at the latest statistics, while addressing journalists as part of activities to mark the 2013 International Literacy Day. However, Mr Wike was quick to point out that the federal government needs help in addressing this troublesome issue.

Of the estimated 100 million youths that make up around 60% of Nigeria’s population, more than 80% are unemployed while about 10% are underemployed. Data provided by the National Manpower Board and Federal Bureau of Statistics in 2012 indicated that only about 10% of the graduates released into the labour market annually by Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions are able to get paid employment.

Mr Wike is right. It is time the millions of functional illiterates that are churned out of the country’s abysmal educational system adopted some form of self-help...

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We CANNOT blame the government for this. GEJ is the best thing to ever happen to Nigeria, so I don't care that some kids cannot read.

STUPENDOUS8888: We CANNOT blame the government for this. GEJ is the best thing to ever happen to Nigeria, so I don't care that some kids cannot read.

GEJ? Not Abacha? I tot he promised us nine new universities? Instead he has shut the few open ones!!

It calls for concern that we have a university teacher as President and illiteracy rate is on the increase. Could it have been worse? We have a lot to do as a nation.

Tank God say ℓ̊ don graduate...........