FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES IN NIGERIA EDUCATION SYSTEM

The fundamental issue in the education system in Nigeria is the content of instruction, developed for the nation by the colonial masters about 1900 AD.

Scattered forms of curricula were written for Nigeria’s Education system, mainly in   Primary and Secondary Schools between 1914 with minor modifications till date. The early Tertiary Institutions, The Yaba College as well as the University College Ibadan were patterned after British Institutions.

On the surface, there was nothing wrong with curriculum that was duplicated all over the British Empire, since, for example, the students enrolled in the University College could only complete and graduate in the University of London. The emphasis for tertiary institutions in Nigeria was to produce teachers for secondary schools, administrators for the civil service and priests and those to be trained ass managers in some local organizations.

The British curricula was severely influenced by the Industrial Revolution in Britain, which began with improvements in the production of iron in 1709, when for the first time, coal was used instead of charcoal in iron smelting. The iron and coal industries grew side by side in the 18^th Century and the invention of the steam engine (James Watt’s Steam-Engine) was sold to customers in the 1776. A new form of power took the place of traditional wind and water, making enormous output possible. This was the curriculum Nigeria received, starting from nothing- a post-industrial revolution curriculum for a pre-industrial country. One hundred years after, we still remain pre-industrial.

Industrial revolution, once begun, never stops. Our curriculum which deals more with theory than operation, the content and style of delivery, the lack of adaptation of content to our natural resources, all conspire to make industrialization difficult in Nigeria. For as long as we do not make the necessary review of content and style, industrialization will continue to elude our land; manufacturing would be difficult for us, as we even pretend to classify assemblage process as manufacturing. We will most likely continue in trading and remain consumers of other nation’s goods.

Our economies will be determined by trading rather than production and productivity.