UNESCO’s National Programme Advisor on Education, Dr Mohammed Alkali recently revealed the results of a UNESCO survey that showed that despite improvements to the country’s education system, 95 million Nigerians remain illiterate.
This statistic is alarming for a number of reasons. Illiteracy has adverse impacts at both an individual and societal level. People who are illiterate are far more likely to live in poverty, facing a lifetime marred by poor health and social vulnerability. Economically, the impacts of illiteracy are also sizeable; workplace productivity, unemployment rates and even national GDP are all affected by a country’s literacy levels.
Reducing illiteracy should therefore be viewed as an investment, rather than a cost, for both the governments and households. Overcoming illiteracy in Nigeria will require a long-term commitment from governments, NGOs, educators and parents. We can no longer look to just one group to provide solutions or outcomes.
Working together to implement reforms and programmes that can lead to real change are a matter of national urgency. The future of our country and our people will be closely tied to achieving widespread literacy. Failing this will miss a great opportunity for Nigeria and its citizens. Mustard Bakare is Managing Director, Pearson Nigeria. He wrote from Lagos.
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