By Lawan Musa D (Baba Lawan ) 08065078960
September 2025
Education is the backbone of any society. It is the foundation upon which nations rise, civilizations flourish, and industries emerge. Yet, in 2025, Nigeria—Africa’s most populous country—remains dangerously behind in building that backbone. What we are left with is a country that behaves like a primitive society in its approach to education, even as it pretends to be part of a fast-moving digital age.
This is not just an academic problem. It is a national crisis. And if Nigeria does not treat it as such, we risk producing another generation trapped between two worlds—neither fully civilized nor fully industrialized, a people scrolling through TikTok while sitting on broken classroom benches.
The Primitive Parallels
Nigeria is still struggling with challenges that belong to the pre-modern world:
Children sit on bare floors in dilapidated schools.
Teachers are unpaid for months, forcing them into strikes.
Ghost workers drain education budgets while classrooms lack chalk and textbooks.
This is education as survival, not transformation. In many rural areas, schools resemble glorified sheds, and students graduate without the ability to read or write properly. This is eerily similar to a primitive society, where knowledge is passed informally and only a few are “initiated” into higher learning.
The ASUU Agreement: A Broken Promise Since 2009
The crisis in Nigeria’s universities is not accidental—it is the direct result of government neglect. In 2009, the Federal Government signed an agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to revitalize public universities, improve staff welfare, and fund research infrastructure.
Sixteen years later, most of that agreement remains unfulfilled. Universities still operate with underfunded libraries, outdated laboratories, and overcrowded lecture halls. The result has been recurring nationwide strikes that paralyze the academic calendar, delay graduations, and demoralize both students and lecturers.
This is not just bad governance—it is sabotage of Nigeria’s future. When a nation refuses to invest in its universities, it refuses to invest in the minds that will power its economy.
The Digital Illusion
At the same time, Nigeria boasts over 120 million internet users, and its youth are some of the most digitally active in Africa. They dominate global conversations on social media, make trends go viral, and even mobilize for elections online. But this is where the illusion lies:
Our digital society is superficial. Young Nigerians are consumers of digital entertainment, not producers of digital innovation. Few have access to quality tech education. Most public schools lack computer labs, let alone coding classes. Universities still run curricula designed for the 1980s while the world has moved on to artificial intelligence, blockchain, and robotics.
A Nation Stuck Between Two Worlds
This is Nigeria’s tragedy: a society stuck between the primitive and the digital. We have the internet but not the power supply to keep it running. We have smartphones but no digital libraries. We have millions of graduates but not enough engineers, researchers, or innovators to power an industrial economy.
Editorial writers have said this for years:
> “A country that spends more on lawmakers’ SUVs than on children’s classrooms has already chosen ignorance over progress.” (Daily Trust, April 2024)
> “Education is not charity; it is national security. A neglected education system breeds insecurity, unemployment, and poverty.” (The Guardian Nigeria, August 2023)
These are not mere words—they are alarms. Boko Haram’s war on education was possible only because millions of children in northern Nigeria were out of school, abandoned by a state that should have given them hope.
The Missed Opportunity: Malaysia, Singapore, and India
Nigeria was once on the same level as Malaysia, Singapore, and India in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, those nations have transformed into global players in technology, manufacturing, and knowledge economies.
Malaysia invested heavily in technical education and built thriving export industries.
Singapore made education the centerpiece of its nation-building strategy, turning itself from a small trading port into a financial and digital hub.
India became a global leader in IT and software development, leveraging its universities to produce engineers who power Silicon Valley and Bangalore alike.
Nigeria, meanwhile, still battles with unaccredited courses, outdated laboratories, and strike-disrupted calendars. This is not destiny; it is a failure of vision.
The Cost of Stagnation
Every ASUU strike, every leaked exam paper, every stolen education fund is a nail in the coffin of Nigeria’s future. The cost is staggering:
20 million out-of-school children—the highest number in the world.
Over 33% youth unemployment, leaving graduates stranded and angry.
Mass migration (“Japa”), draining the country of its best talent.
No country can industrialize with this foundation. No country can join the digital economy with an analog school system.
The Way Forward – and Urgently
It is time for Nigeria to stop playing with its future. Here is what must be done—now:
1. Fulfill the 2009 ASUU Agreement: Fund universities adequately, modernize infrastructure, and honor staff welfare commitments.
2. Declare a National Education Emergency: Raise education funding to meet UNESCO’s 15–20% recommendation.
3. Overhaul the Curriculum: Replace rote memorization with STEM, entrepreneurship, and digital skills.
4. Fix Teacher Training and Welfare: Pay teachers on time, retrain them for the digital classroom, and restore respect for the profession.
5. Digitize the School System: Provide computer labs, e-learning platforms, and nationwide internet connectivity.
6. Learn from Malaysia, Singapore, and India: Study how they transitioned from agrarian economies to knowledge economies—and implement those strategies with Nigerian solutions.
Conclusion: The Clock Is Ticking
Nigeria has a choice to make. We can remain a primitive society pretending to be digital, or we can truly enter the modern age by building an education system worthy of the 21st century. The time for speeches has passed.
This is a direct call to action for the president, governors, and lawmakers:
Fulfill your promises. Fund education. Reform education. Digitize education. Learn from the nations that once stood where we stand. Or prepare to govern a restless, jobless, and hopeless population.
History will not forgive a country that chose ignorance over progress. The digital future will not wait for Nigeria.
Tags
News