Nigeria’s burden of 46m adult illiterates

A disturbing portion of the report reveals that some 46 million adult Nigerians are illiterates. This fact puts the country in the category of some ten countries with more than 10 million illiterate adults. At 46%, the number of illiterates is just about a third of the entire population of Nigeria put at 160 million. […]

A disturbing portion of the report reveals that some 46 million adult Nigerians are illiterates. This fact puts the country in the category of some ten countries with more than 10 million illiterate adults. At 46%, the number of illiterates is just about a third of the entire population of Nigeria put at 160 million. The figure undercuts claims by various government agencies that illiteracy was being wiped out in the country.
Reasons for this appalling situation are not far to seek. They include inadequate investment in education and lack of commitment to combating illiteracy on the part of government. Nigeria has consistently fallen short of the UNESCO stipulation that at least 26% of every country’s yearly budget be earmarked for education. This failure has given rise to perennial crisis in many sectors of the education, such as the ongoing strike by university lecturers that has grounded public institutions since July 1.
Some 37 years ago, the education policy of nine years of free and compulsory education was launched, aimed at giving every Nigerian the knowledge of numeracy and literacy. The same programme was re-launched some 25 years ago to further give impetus to it. The policy was meant to ensure that no school-age child drops out of the system until they have completed the mandatory junior secondary school. A common sight in major cities and villages, across the length and breadth of the country are children who should be in the classroom, roaming the streets, clutching begging bowls with their begging bowls. Those who are a little fortunate could be seen peddling sundry wares, assisting their parents and guardians in eking out a living, when they should be in school.
Similarly, another education policy was the one under the aegis of national Commission for Adult Literacy and Non-Formal education targeted at improving adult literacy in a non-formal setting. In a sense therefore there has been no shortage of policy; what was lacking is the will and commitment to bring these policies to fruition and the persistence to stay the course. The poor performance of the education sector is ironic because it is one of the sectors replete with many parastatals, many of which are actually duplications that guzzle much needed funds that should have been used elsewhere.
The immediate measure to take to ensure the goal of all these policies are achieved is to rationalise and streamline the multiplicity of organs under the education ministry in order to make them more purposeful and goal oriented, in line with a recent report on reducing government agencies. Democracy and good governance can be further strengthen and enhanced when the citizenry can exercise their voting rights when they fully comprehend the import of the choices they make. Related to this is the fact that illiteracy spawns poverty and vice versa as the two are gripped in a vicious cycle of self-reinforcement. For instance, a largely uneducated people would not take advantage of opportunity available for self-improvement, which denies them ability to earn higher wages to better their circumstances. The goal of achieving literacy among the people therefore is an imperative that must be pursued with vigour and commitment and not by sanctimonious platitudes without the concomitant dedication.
Towards beating illiteracy in Nigeria the World Bank, in its first tranche has pledged $150 million credit to Anambra, Bauchi and Ekiti states, with federal government support. The fund should be judiciously utilised by applying it to its purpose, so that the experience gained from these three states would be models to apply in other states.