"Reactionary Education System in Nigeria Hinders the Achievement of Quality Education,” says UI Don

A Professor of Educational Management, Professor Femi Sunday Akinwumi, has said that the education system in Nigeria is geared towards addressing the pressures of the present, a reactionary system of education which hinders the achievement of quality education. 

He made this submission while delivering the 605th Inaugural Lecture of the University of Ibadan on behalf of the Faculty of Education.

The title of the lecture was: "Achieving Quality Amidst Quantity: The Paradox of Managing Education in Nigeria."

Professor Akinwumi stressed that the goal of achieving quality education will be hindered if the foundation of the education system in the area of curriculum design and implementation is, by default, tilted towards following or reacting to feedback from world trends, changes and crisis in the world. 

He stated that education is a key driver of the growth and development process of any economy, adding that tertiary education in particular can play a crucial role in raising the standards of human development, thereby strengthening the nation's human capital, especially in a rapidly evolving world.

Given this assertion, Professor Akinwumi noted that educational administrators and policy makers must be visionary and show determination in repositioning education in this present dispensation.

The Don said that this repositioning must embrace innovation, technology and research, given that innovation has become increasingly necessary as the reposition strategies of yesteryears to address present day challenges are commonplace and do not advance the Nigerian education system. 

According to him, one of the measures of repositioning education in Nigeria is the re-engineering of technical education which has long been neglected. 

He added that technical education offers students an opportunity to develop the skills, abilities, and understanding that will enable them to enter, perform and progress in business or technical occupations after graduating from school.

The Inaugural Lecturer decried the regulation of indigenous education, also known as traditional African education, in favour of the much-celebrated western education, stressing that the latter system, in some respects is not as functional as the former. 

He explained that indigenous education is the aggregate of all the processes by which a young child develops the abilities, attitudes and other forms of behaviours which are of positive values to the society in which he lives, adding that it emphasizes social responsibility, job orientation, spiritual and moral values, and political participation. 

Professor Akinwumi called for a bridging of indigenous education and formal education which according to him requires examining the lessons of the past in order to chart a way for the Nigerian education system. 

He also recommended a re-designing of the curriculum for broadness and relevance, saying that if we are to move forward using education for nation-building, we must collectively redesign the national policy on education to focus on nation building and national development. 

The Inaugural lecturer lamented that the Nigerian education system has been plagued by systemic dysfunction which is traceable to gross underfunding and bureaucratic bottlenecks that frustrate the efforts of technocrats when appointed into offices that have direct influence on the running of the education sector.

He highlighted inadequate financing, insufficient and irrelevant learning materials, including old and outdated equipment, books and journals; unqualified and poorly-paid teaching staff; outdated and inflexible managerial structures; irrelevant curriculum amongst others as causes of declining quality of education

Professor Akinwumi advised that to achieve the noble goal of quality education, the reconceptualization of education must be harmonious with policies and their implementation so as to make education learner-centred, relevant and embrace a broad curriculum, and be appropriately resourced and monitored. 

He called for improved teacher education and training, more purposeful learning and assessment, greater intentionality toward achieving the SDGs, adequate funding and infrastructural development.

The Don submitted that the Nigeria education system must begin to anticipate the future such that the future must be deliberately thought of and planned for and education must be envisioned to create the desired future.

The Inaugural Lecture was the second in the series for the 2025/2026 academic session.