₦airaland Forum

Nigeria’s education system stands today at a troubling crossroads. Once seen as a pathway to social mobility and national development, the sector now struggles with structural weaknesses that threaten its future. From indigenous learning systems to the modern university structure, Nigeria’s educational journey reflects both promise and neglect. To understand the urgency of reform, it is necessary to reflect on what education in Nigeria was, what it has become, and what it ought to be.

Before colonial rule, education in Nigerian societies was deeply rooted in community life. It was informal yet purposeful, designed to prepare individuals for productive participation in society. Knowledge was transmitted through oral traditions, apprenticeship, storytelling, and communal activities. Young people learned practical skills such as farming, fishing, weaving, and blacksmithing, alongside moral values like respect, discipline, and communal responsibility. Education was not confined to classrooms; it was embedded in daily life.

In northern Nigeria, Islamic education flourished through Qur’anic schools and centres of scholarship that produced generations of scholars versed in Arabic, theology, law, and philosophy. These intellectual traditions long predated Western schooling and played an important role in shaping governance and social organisation.


The arrival of colonial rule in the nineteenth century reshaped Nigeria’s educational landscape. Missionary schools introduced Western-style education centred on literacy, arithmetic, and Christian doctrine. While these institutions opened new opportunities, they were largely designed to serve colonial administrative needs. The system produced clerks, interpreters, and junior administrators rather than scientists, engineers, or innovators. Many of the structural patterns established during the colonial period continue to influence Nigeria’s education system today.

After independence in 1960, Nigeria attempted to reposition education as a tool for national development. Universities expanded, polytechnics and colleges of education were established, and successive governments introduced policies aimed at widening access. The vision was clear: a well-educated population capable of driving economic growth and social progress.

However, the reality of Nigeria’s education sector today tells a more sobering story.


Nigeria currently has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children in the world. UNICEF recently revealed that the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria has soared to 18.95 million. This statistic alone should alarm policymakers. Education is supposed to be the foundation of national development, yet millions of Nigerian children are growing up without access to basic schooling.

The contrast becomes even more striking when compared with countries like the United Kingdom. In the UK, education is compulsory for all children. Every child must receive full-time education from the age of five to sixteen. State schools are free, and in many cases, the standards of these publicly funded schools are far better than what many Nigerians describe as “international schools”.

If the same country that colonised Nigeria decades ago can guarantee free, quality, compulsory education for its children, a legitimate question arises: why can’t Nigeria do the same? Can’t we also make education compulsory for children in Nigeria? As long as the children of Nigeria’s ruling elites are schooling abroad, they care less about the children of the masses who gave them the votes and power to hold public offices.

This reality also explains why many Nigerian parents feel compelled to relocate abroad in search of better opportunities for their children. Yet the same political class that presides over the decline of the education sector often criticises young Nigerians for wanting to “japa”. How can anyone blame parents for seeking quality education for their children when the system at home continues to deteriorate?


Underfunding remains one of the most persistent challenges. In the 2025 budget, President Bola Tinubu’s administration allocated ₦3.52 trillion to education, representing roughly 6.1 to 7.5 percent of total government expenditure. While this marked a nominal increase from the ₦1.54 trillion allocated in 2023, it still falls far below the 15 to 20 percent benchmark recommended by UNESCO for developing countries.

The consequences of chronic underinvestment are visible everywhere — overcrowded classrooms, dilapidated infrastructure, poorly equipped laboratories, and overstretched teachers.

Perhaps the most troubling symbol of this crisis is the situation within Nigeria’s universities. Last week, Timothy Nubi, professor of estate management and sustainable housing advocate, disclosed that about 40 percent of Nigerian university lecturers now sleep in their offices because of the country’s worsening housing crisis. When the individuals responsible for producing the nation’s intellectual capital cannot afford decent accommodation, how will they be in the best state of mind to deliver at optimal capacity? This is troubling and raises fundamental questions about national priorities.

Leadership within the sector has also failed to inspire sufficient confidence. Some ministerial positions — particularly those tied directly to national development, such as the education ministry and power sector — require the expertise of technocrats and seasoned professionals. They should not be treated as political rewards distributed on the basis of party loyalty or patronage. Education policy requires deep institutional knowledge, long-term planning, and evidence-based reform. Without these, policies risk becoming cosmetic while the structural challenges remain unresolved. To be precise, I’m not impressed with the performance of Nigeria’s current Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa and his counterpart in the Power sector, Adebayo Adelabu who appears clueless and has practically abandoned his duty in pursuance of a governorship ambition in Oyo state.


The crisis is not limited to the federal level. Across the country, political decisions sometimes appear disconnected from the urgent needs of the education sector. Last week, there was a report that Plateau State governor Caleb Mutfwang presented brand new Exceed VX sport-utility vehicles to first-class traditional rulers to mark his 61st birthday. The gesture came amid calls from some communities urging the government to prioritise basic social infrastructure such as school buildings, with reports that pupils in some areas still learn in mud classrooms without chairs or tables. In a state where many public schools lack adequate classrooms and learning facilities, such optics inevitably raise questions about governance priorities.

Funding for basic education also reveals deeper systemic problems. The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), which coordinates Nigeria’s basic education programme, is funded through two percent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.


Yet a substantial portion of these funds remains unutilised because several states fail to provide the required counterpart funding needed to access the grants. As a result, billions of naira meant for improving public schools remain idle while classrooms deteriorate.

In 2026 alone, UBEC reportedly received an allocation of about ₦441.9 billion, yet a large portion of that amount was earmarked for salaries, leaving limited resources for capital projects and infrastructure.


This raises another critical question: who effectively monitors how education funds are utilised? While UBEC works with State Universal Basic Education Boards and internal oversight structures, accountability mechanisms often appear weak, allowing inefficiencies and delays to persist.

What, then, ought education in Nigeria to be?


Education in Nigeria must be treated as a genuine national priority rather than a recurring budgetary afterthought. Meeting — or at least moving closer to — the UNESCO funding benchmark would demonstrate a serious commitment to human capital development. The sector requires leadership grounded in expertise rather than political convenience. Competent professionals with deep understanding of education systems should drive policy reform.

Also, transparency and accountability must become central to education governance. Agencies responsible for managing education funds must operate with greater openness, while state governments must demonstrate the political will to access and utilise available resources effectively.

Lastly, the welfare of teachers and lecturers must be addressed urgently. No country can build a strong education system while neglecting the very people responsible for delivering knowledge.

Nigeria has the talent, the population, and the intellectual capacity to build a dynamic education system. What it lacks is not potential, but consistent political will. If Nigeria fails to prioritise education today, the consequences will extend far beyond classrooms and campuses. They will shape the country’s economic future, social stability, and global relevance for decades to come.

A nation that neglects education ultimately mortgages its future. The future of Nigeria will ultimately depend on the quality of education it provides today; without decisive reforms, the country risks undermining the potential of an entire generation.

lawani:
Basic education up to o levels should be mandatory. O level should be hard to pass but once you pass you should be able to secure a scholarshipto the university. Unfortunately there are now A students who stay at home for years because university is too expensive!.

lawani:
Basic education up to o levels should be mandatory. O level should be hard to pass but once you pass you should be able to secure a scholarshipto the university. Unfortunately there are now A students who stay at home for years because university is too expensive!.

Fearurcreeator:
Student loan don dey nah

Fearurcreeator:
Student loan don dey nah

lawani:
Are you sure it is not by quota system? If everybody that qualifies can get it then it is something.

ambale:
A country where hardwork doesn't pay,

Where Professors rig elections for certificate forgers

Where they celebrate Yahoo fraudsters and call them content creators want anything good from their education sector, make una dey play abeg

richiemcgold:
We can never get anything right in this country except we fix the rots in our educational systems. This is not a curse; it is a reality.

Babasessy:
The Awolowo rebirth in the Southwest has inspired gongs, songs and rhetoric of sorts. But they have missed one point.

It occurred to me in Abeokuta last week amidst the big crowds and euphoria of the swearing-in of Senator Ibikunle Amosun as governor. In all the states from Lagos to Edo, where Awo has witnessed ideological resurgence, hardly a single family member has played a role.

So we have an Awo family without an Awo. That is an irony. But history overwhelms us with this sort of twist. Obafemi Awolowo toiled for his reputation. His roots were lowly, he toiled to school both home and abroad, launched into careers in law, business, journalism and eventually politics. He carved a niche for himself, and became the first methodical and charismatic leftist in our history.  Other leftists abounded but they did not inspire comparable drama and following.

He faced tribulations, went to jail, failed in elections, won a few, but he imprinted his ideas and legacy in the country, and no single mortal has beaten him in the history of this country. His greatest achievement was in the area of ideas, and that was how he fashioned a family. Most families are born of biology but his issued from ideology. That family suffered with him.

In a spoof of Jesus Christ, these were the men who followed him in his teachings, and endured with him in his temptations. So he formed a kingdom for them in the Southwest, in the old Western Region, presiding over his projects, his legacies and people.

In all of these, the family he had was not his flesh and blood. In another spoof of Christ, who were his family anyway? Those who were with him must be counted as his family. So, I combed in the ambience of Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), and I found none. I went to Ogun, I frisked the crowd under Amosun’s bower, hardly any. Around Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in Osun, I could not lay a finger. With Governor Kayode Fayemi in Ekiti, where are the forbears of Awo? Yet, I can hear the chants of Awo. Hardly in any of the inaugural speeches or any of their other public intervention would you miss the philtre and filter of Awo from these gentlemen. To parody Novelist Joseph Conrad, they are the sparks from Awo’s sacred fire, the messengers of the might within the man.

Already all of them are pursuing the legacy ideas of Awo: free education, free health services, infrastructural development, urban renewal and economic engineering.

Lagos has posted itself as the John the Baptist. The others are putting up valiant efforts, and the world of course is watching to see how well they will perform. It will call for great work, resourcefulness and cooperation. They are the real Awoists, and Awo was a man of rigour and vigour.

The Awo son that many expected to take after the father was Olusegun, who unfortunately died in a car crash. We shall never know if he could have pulled it off.  But the others have not shown much of the paterfamilias’ brio and depth. In the past decade, under this republic, they have blended with the wrong crowd. Even H.I.D, hobnobbed with Alao-Akala, who brought illiteracy to governance; with Oyinlola who turned the grace of office into a hell-hole of despots; with Daniel who could not arrest his quick fall into megalomania.

I wrote once that this woman whom Awo once described as the jewel of inestimable value has lost value to his cause. If he came back to life, he would have committed the extraordinary act of divorce after death. Even his newspaper, The Tribune, has so stumbled and fallen that it swims in Awo’s vomit.

                                                                             http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/columnist/monday/sam-omatseye/index.1.html

Opinedecandid:
Not just dysfunctional, but bastardized

bolaayenimo:
Professors now sleeping in their offices because they can't afford to rent decent accommodation. That made me cry. Imagine all the years of reading and research even with first class

bolaayenimo:
Professors now sleeping in their offices because they can't afford to rent decent accommodation. That made me cry. Imagine all the years of reading and research even with first class

bolaayenimo:
Professors now sleeping in their offices because they can't afford to rent decent accommodation. That made me cry. Imagine all the years of reading and research even with first class

bolaayenimo:
Student loan that they are giving to children of APC supporters. Abegi

lawani:
Are you sure it is not by quota system? If everybody that qualifies can get it then it is something.