Courtney Nuzzolo

Honors History
Mrs.Lucarelli
23 April 2018
TCA #3

“Primary school enrolment has increased in recent years, but net attendance is only about

70 per cent, but Nigeria still has 10.5 million out-of-school children - the world’s highest

number. Sixty per cent of those children are in northern Nigeria”. Nigeria faces one of the largest

struggles for their citizens, economy, and employment. Lack of education is countries has led to

corrupt governments and protests countless amounts of times. If Nigeria expects to run a

well-balanced country with little to no dilemmas between the citizens and the law makers, the

education policies are obligated to be modified.

In the 1900s, Nigeria began to fall under the control of the British. Just six years later,

Britain had complete control over the country. Like many countries in Africa, Nigeria was

affected by British imperialism. Countries were being torn apart by differences in rulers. Puppet

governments were established as an easier way for the British to control the government in

Nigeria. When Nigeria’s government was finally pushed out of jurisdiction, the British stepped

in and made many changes to the country. They established railroads, cities, a market for cash

crops, western education, and traditional languages. While this may seem beneficial, Britain

forced Nigerians to be accustomed to British ways of life. Nick Harkaway says, ​“The Brit abroad

is always the voice of caution. Persons of other cultures are known to be undisciplined, prone to

leaning out of car windows and cooking with garlic”. ​Similar to many countries, Nigeria was

accustomed to traditions and specific ways of life that the citizens were satisfied with; however,

these ideas were all changed due to the British. The natives of the country were overrun by
British rule and had no say in what would happen to their citizens. The Nigerians began to give

in to British rule when they agreed to sign treaties of protection with the British and accept

British citizens living in Nigeria. While some leaders were beginning to accept defeat to the

rulers, locals were outraged by this. Nigeria was split up into three groups during this time (the

Hausa-Fulani, the Yoruba, and the Igbo) all having their own tribe leaders. These groups rebelled

against British rule in their homeland, and were put down by the British army using force.

Education in Nigeria has always revolved around British ideals. Nigeria never got the chance to

truly figure out how they wanted to run their country. In an educational aspect, numerous people

have not received educational training or even possess any type of degree. Education is the

building block of children and adolescents to help their thrive in a world outside of textbooks and

classrooms.
 Since British imperialism striked Nigeria, they have not been able to be a self-sufficient

country. Education is fought for all around the globe. Whether it is for a specific gender, religion

or even age group, countless amounts of people are able to recognize learning as one of the most

important aspects of one’s life. Teaching a child useful information while their brain is still

growing and developing will allow them to be able to comprehend the ideas faster and learn

different ways to perceive information. If children are deprived of the chance to study basic

courses like mathematic or literature, they will lack the skills needed to live in today’s society.

The children whose education is being obstructed are mostly young girls coming from nomadic

tribes in Nigeria and poor families. Not only are the families out of money to pay for their

children’s education, but a multitude of them have not been exposed to education themselves as

children. According to an ​educational activist Malala Yousafzai, “Nigeria is the richest country

in Africa but has more girls out of school than any country in the world,” Yousafzai said.

“Studies are clear—educating girls grows economies, reduces conflict and improves public

health. For these girls and for their country’s future, Nigeria’s leaders must immediately

prioritize education”. This exemplifies how children are in dire need of a learning experience.

The wealth of Nigeria should be put towards education for their citizens to keep economy and

job market at an increase. Without new generations of children being educated, the country will

not be able to produce the profit it has now. Education has the abilities to enhance the future

well-being of plenty of children. Education has the abilities to enhance the future well-being of

plenty of children. While the ideas of education are restricted to many groups of people, it also

includes people with disabilities. People with disabilities are born with conditions that they can
not control. In many countries, like Nigeria, they are not treated the same as a young boy who is

considered ​normal​. Not only is the Nigerian government not education young girls, but also

people born with conditions they can not control. It is apparent that the educational system in

Nigeria is corrupt, but the amount of uneducated citizens is astonishing. ​The Joint National

Association of Persons with Disability (JONAPWD) President said this about education in

Nigeria, ​“Research has shown that children with disabilities constitute more than 50 percent of

the over 10 million out of school children in Nigeria despite the provision of free and

compulsory of basic education for all children”. This conveys how schools are not equipped to

teach all types of people. Gender and the factors that constitute to someone being ​normal​ have

played a hand in classrooms of Nigeria. The educational policy of Nigeria does not support

children with disabilities. Written in a Policy Framework for Inclusive Education in Nigeria

“Where programmes targeting various marginalised and excluded groups do exist, they have

functioned outside the mainstream- special programmes, specialized institutions, and specialist

educators. Notwithstanding the best intention, too often the results have been exclusive: ‘second

rated’ educational opportunities that do not guarantee the possibility to continue studies, or

differentiation becoming a form of discrimination, leaving children with various needs outside

the mainstream of school life and later, as adults, outside community social and cultural life in

general (UNESCO, 1999)” . The extremities that parents have to go to just for their child to have

an education is the reason why the policies need to change in Nigeria. Children with disabilities

are excluded socially and academically in Nigeria. Today’s society in Nigeria for uneducated

children will not prepare them for the future. Young girls, children from war torn families and

those with disabilities have no control over their academic life. The laws in Nigeria must change.
 For the future of education in Nigeria, one can only hope it will thrive. However, the past

years have shown to have no improvement on the education of millions of children in Nigeria.

The acts of many parents have shown to the government that education of children is vital to

their future. The forthcoming years in an educational aspect will see changes that can lead to a

brighter future for the children and the country’s economy. Many have seen the educational

struggles that Nigeria faces. For instance one article states, ​“It may not be far from the truth to

say that Nigeria is plagued by so many evils today due to her comatose Education sector. It’s

high time we all stopped apportioning blames as to who did what to bring Nigeria’s education

sector to her knees”. The first step to solving an issue is identifying the problem. The article

makes it evident that there are people who care about the millions of children who have not been

exposed to any type of learning situation. Numerous obstacles are keeping the children from

being educated, but with the help of educated people in various countries, Nigeria can rebuild

their educational fields and allow for their future country to thrive. The citizens need to take a

stand to help their children have jobs in the future. Another article claims, ​“To truly address

Nigeria’s problems, citizens must hold the government to its core function of providing them

with adequate public services (including a decent education). Funding for basic education must

be increased to significantly improve the infrastructure of public schools, modernise the

curriculum while emphasising instruction in science, technology, engineering and maths, and

ensure that the best teachers are deployed en masse”. While Nigeria faces many problems that

are capable of being fixed, they also face a struggle for the citizens’ representation in

government. If people were to hold the government accountable and show them that their

policies for education are causing millions of children to be uneducated, Nigeria will triumph.
 Works Cited

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“Fixing Education System Is Key to Solving Nigeria's Problems.” ​African Business Magazine​,
23 Jan. 2018,
africanbusinessmagazine.com/sectors/development/fixing-education-system-key-solving-
nigerias-problems/.

Williams, Janice. “More than 10.5 Million Kids in Nigeria Aren't in School.” ​Newsweek​, 25 July
2017, ​www.newsweek.com/nigeria-education-children-school-country-641696​.

US Census Bureau Public Information Office. “Newsroom Archive.” ​Nearly 1 in 5 People Have
a Disability in the U.S., Census Bureau Reports - Miscellaneous - Newsroom - U.S.
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www.unicef.org/nigeria/education.html.

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www.vanguardngr.com/2016/10/nigerias-education-sector-can-great/.

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“The Children.” ​UNICEF Nigeria - The Children - Education​,

www.unicef.org/nigeria/children_1937.html​.

Vanguard. “Why Children with Disabilities Lack Education in Nigeria - JONAPWD.” ​Vanguard
News​, 4 May 2016,
www.vanguardngr.com/2016/05/children-disabilities-lack-education-nigeria-jonapwd/​.
“Why Nigeria's Educational System Is in Crisis - and How to Fix It.” ​BBC​, BBC,
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3RbFXDdBw3g0HQG0fpyD0xF/why-nigerias-edu
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