The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs – 4) focuses on quality education. The importance of this goal to the growth of any nation cannot be over emphasized. Education helps to provide the knowledge, skills, attitude and technological competence to transform any nation for the better.
Consequently, the purpose of SDG – 4 is to ensure that every child has the right to quality education irrespective of gender, age, social, economic, racial, religious or traditional background. It is on record that in some countries, including Nigeria, children, especially females, are denied access to education and they are discriminated against on the basis of gender, religion or traditional practices. For instance, in some parts of Nigeria female children are given out in early marriage or betrothed to a man in their teens. Others are made to beg to earn a living, thereby constituting child abuse (Almajiris).
In 2020, it was reported that 59% boys and 51% girls completed primary education, while 42% boys and 36% girls completed secondary education. The most recent report by the World Bank in 2021 reported school enrolment to be 87%. According to the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), only 61% of children between 6 and 11years regularly attended school and only 35.6% of children 36-59 months old receive early childhood education. The report says it is even worse in the Northern part of Nigeria, perhaps due to reasons already advanced.
In 2023, UNICEF estimated that 20.2 million children were out of school in Nigeria. Despite this out of school crisis, states and the Federal Government failed to accord education its priority in the scheme of things, especially in the national and states’ budgets. Between 2010 and 2021, the literacy rate in Nigeria grew by 13.9%.
However, in 2021 the literacy rate only increased by 0.13%, which is quite insignificant. In 2021, Nigeria was ranked 160 out of 165 countries, using the SDG index. In 2024, Nigeria ranked 191 in education with 62% literacy rate.
The UN’s SDGs stipulate that every child has the inalienable right to quality education. That is why the UN made it an important world movement to promote inclusive education for boys and girls, including children with disabilities.
To achieve this, the UN encouraged collaboration between partners including governments of different countries in order to transform the education system.
Unfortunately, the Federal Government of Nigeria appears not to be committed to the realization of the SDG in education. For instance, in the 2024 Federal Government budget of N27.5 trillion, only N1.438 trillion, representing 5.23% of the total budget, was allocated to the education sector, which is a far cry from the UN benchmark of 25% of total annual budget.
In Nigeria, the education sector is confronted with inadequate infrastructure and teachers, teacher training, overpopulated classrooms, etc. It is surprising to note that in the 2024 budget N1.1 trillion was allocated for recurrent expenditure (personnel and overhead), while capital expenditure for the entire education sector, including Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) was allocated a paltry sum of N330.3 billion. This is a sign of lack of commitment on the part of Nigerian leaders.
In the past 10 years, the education budget by the Federal Government has not been encouraging. For instance, in 2016 education was allocated N369.6 billion, representing 7.9% of the total budget. In 2017, education got N550.5 billion or 7.4% of the total budget. In 2018, it was N605.8 billion, representing 7.04% of the total budget. In 2019, it was N620.5 billion, or 7.05% of the total budget. In 2020, it dropped to N671.07 billion or 6.7% of the total budget.
In 2021, education got N742.5 billion or 5.68%. In 2022, there was a considerable increase in the education budget as it got N1.18 trillion or 7.2% of the total budget. In 2023, it was N1.08 trillion or 8.8% of the total budget. From available statistics, it is obvious that the education budget since 2016 – 2024 has been fluctuating between the ranges of 6 and 8% of the total annual budget. This is quite inadequate going by the UN benchmark of between 25 and 26%.
Therefore, the education budget deserves greater attention and commitment from the Federal Government.
Meanwhile, there is huge infrastructure decay in Nigerian schools, which has compelled many students/pupils to learn under dilapidated classrooms. Children are seen in many schools learning under the tree as a result of dilapidated buildings. Others learn while sitting or on the bare floor due to the lack of tables and chairs. With the continued under-funding of the sector by states and the Federal Government, it is obvious that the country will not be able to make a significant impact on the SDG-4, which emphasizes the provision of quality education to citizens.
However, the Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, in September 2023 informed the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, that Nigeria requires additional 20,000 schools and 907,767 classrooms across the country in order to be able to accommodate the over 20 million out-of-school children.
Other problems militating against the effective implementation of the UN SDG on quality education in Nigeria in recent times are insecurity and corruption. There has been a series of reports on kidnapping of school children, especially in the North. On March 7, 2024, about 227 school children were kidnapped in a school in Kuriga, Kaduna State. There are reports that in the past 10 years more than 1,680 school children have been abducted while at school and outside school. 180 of them have been killed in attacks on schools. 60 school staff members have been kidnapped while 14 of them have been killed. Among the 276 Chibok School girls abducted by terrorists, only 100 of them were released. The rest of them were either killed or taken into forced marriage or as sex slaves.
The Nigerian government seems not to be willing to end insurgency and kidnapping. Instead of allocating funds and paying greater attention to insecurity, they are concerned with the purchase of SUVs and Presidential jets. Nigerian leaders by their conduct, action and utterances value themselves over and above the citizens. They prefer their personal comfort to the security of the entire citizens. This of course negates the objectives of SDGs.
Another problem in the education sector is corruption. There are reported cases where funds meant to execute projects in schools are either diverted into private pockets or the projects badly executed.
For Nigeria to make a significant impact in the provision of quality education, the Federal Government must as a matter of urgency allocate a substantial amount of its annual budget to education. The capital expenditure must be higher than the recurrent expenditure.
Furthermore, corruption must be eliminated in the disbursement and utilization of funds in the education sector. Adequate resources must be provided for the recruitment of more qualified teachers as well as for their continuous training. The government must collaborate efficiently with states, while the private sector should be partnered to provide the essential infrastructure in schools across the country. Importantly, there must be concerted effort to combat insecurity in schools. The local communities must be involved in securing the schools in their locality.
Agbama is a civil servant and writes from Benin City, the Edo State capital
