Path to inclusive education in Nigeria: Revisiting the Awolowo model

The International Day of Education is celebrated on January 24. The theme for this year’s commemoration – “Learning for Lasting Peace” precisely manifests the affinity between a peaceful society and inclusive education.

Sadly, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in its 2022 report revealed that one in three children in Nigeria is out of school: 10.2 million at the primary level and 8.1 million at the junior secondary school (JSS) level. The ultimate significance of education in shaping sustainable development for any country is inextricable. I find it imperative to take a mental flight to the past to revisit Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Universal Basic Education model in the Western Region and what modern Nigeria can glean from it to effectively address the challenge of access to education in the nation.

Awolowo has carved for himself an imperishable niche in the annals of Nigeria. The introduction of concerted, coordinated, and carefully orchestrated education policies of the government of Western Region under his mastery has left an indelible impact on education in Nigeria. He believed that education is a fundamental right for children – he was determined to transmute the pains of his childhood deprivation into a creative force for inclusive and equitable education in Western Region.

Under Awolowo’s leadership, Universal Primary Education was launched in Western Region by 1955. A notable feature of this educational revolution was the surge in numerical growth of schools at all levels. The grandest expansion of this epoch was at the primary school phase, as the number of primary schools rose from 3,550 in 1952 to 6,670 in 1958.

Similarly, the foresight of Awolowo with respect to making education free and accessible to all is evident in the western region’s budgetary allocation on education.

Between 1954 and 1966, education gulped the largest allocation of the Western Region’s recurrent expenditure.

Expenditures on education can be rationalized by the potential value which may accrue to sustainable development through education. I regard the Free Primary Education Policy of Awolowo in Western Nigeria between 1952-1966 as a socio-economic investment.

Awolowo’s educational revolution in the Western Region is largely seeded on two fountains; his firm philosophy that education is a fundamental right and an inter-generational social investment; and second, his affirmative action as reflected in the Western Region’s budget matched his profession, beyond tokenism.

By UNESCO’s guidelines, Nigeria should spend between 15-20 percent of its annual budget on the education sector. However, less than 10 percent was earmarked for education in the 2024 budget. How tragic!

Nigerian executive and legislative politicians urgently need a renewing of their minds by revisiting Awolowo’s fountain of educational philosophy. Only through this can their blind be shattered to get cracking on prioritizing and implementing inclusive and equitable education policies across Nigeria.

Chief Awolowo is no longer with us – but his legacy is, and it falls in the lot of present governments in Nigeria to make quality education accessible to every Nigerian.

Joshua B. Oyebode is a final year law student of Obafemi Awolowo University, a recipient of the EON Scholarship for Chief Awolowo’s Impact and the Lead Director of Community Aids and Social Empathy Initiative (iCASE), a registered non-profit organization that works towards access to inclusive and equitable education as a socio-economic right for marginalised people and communities.

Oyebode is a student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife