Education is the act of receiving new knowledge on something or something a person does not know.
Hundreds of thousands of years, children educated themselves through self-directed play and exploration. Long before the Europeans arrived, education had been part of Nigerians. The Children were taught about their culture, social activities, survival skills and work. Most of these education processes were impacted into the children informally; a few of these societies gave a more formal teaching of the society and culture.
European Education was introduced into Nigeria in the 1840s. It began in Lagos, Calabar and other coastal cities. During the Colonial years, Great Britain did not promote education, the schools were set up and operated by Christian Missionaries.
The British colonial government only funded few schools. The policy of the government was to give grant to mission schools rather than expand the system. In the northern part of Nigeria, which was predominantly Muslim populated, Western-style education was prohibited. The religious leaders did not want the missionaries interfering with Islam. This gave way to establishing Islamic schools that focused primarily on the Islamic education.
Today, adult literacy has been estimated to be over 78 percent for men and 64 percent for women. These statistics were made based on estimate literacy in English. That excludes the literacy in Arabic among northern Muslims. It is therefore not erroneous to call Nigeria a nation dominated with educated persons. Prior to Nigeria’s independence, Nigeria had only two established Post-secondary Institution. Yaba Higher College (founded in 1934, now Yaba College of Technology) and the University of Ibadan was founded in 1948. It was then a College of the University of London until two years after the independence when she became autonomous. More prominent universities which include University of Nigeria, Obafemi Awolowo University (formerly University of Ife), Ahmadu Bello University and Mohood Abiola Kashimawo University (formerly University of Lagos) were founded in the years that followed the Independence.
In 1970s more universities were founded which include: University of Benin (founded in 1970), and new universities opened in Calabar, Ilorin, Jos, Port Harcourt, Sokoto and Maiduguri. In the 1980s, more universities were opened as well as institutes specializing in Agriculture and Technology. A number of Polytechnics were also opened, which include: the Yaba College of Technology in Lagos and Kaduna Polytechnics.
In 1980, the estimated enrollment in the primary schools was 12 million, Secondary and technical colleges 1.2 million, teachers colleges 240,000 and Universities 75,000. One would expect that with such an estimate, the Nigerian education in Nigeria three decades after would have greatly improved. Unfortunately the reverse has been the case.
Education is important to Nigeria in the sense that; most people in Nigeria do not know how to speak neat English, most people from the east do not speak English without adding their local language no matter who it is they are talking to, while some people mix Queen English with pidgin language, others just speak English carelessly without knowing what it means, they also put words where they are not supposed to be. All this is because they lack the knowledge. If people are being taught nice and neat English they will all be able to communicate with each other fluently without fear of misunderstanding.
Most citizens of Nigeria lack the technical know how, that’s why they do not get jobs and at the same time increasing the level of poverty in the country. The government should bring up at least few adults schools for people that were not opportune to go to school, in order to decrease the rate of illiteracy and at the same time reducing the rate of poverty by making people get the technical know how, so they can now work where it is needed.
If people are not being educated properly there will be no good leader for tomorrow, an illiterate or someone that does not know the duty of a president cannot come out of the thin air to become president, education has to be done in order to get proper future leaders.
Education has much importance to Nigeria; when people are educated they will know things about the country, the laws governing the country and the rights of a citizen, most people do not know their rights because they lack the knowledge.
Most people in Nigeria are always crying about lack of job, if they are well educated about entrepreneurship they will know that a person can start up a business and learn to maintain it, if citizens are educated on how to open and maintain a business there will be less jobless people and at the same time the poverty rate decreases. ###
By Tamunotonye Duke
