The Impact Of Nigeria’s Democratic Leadership On Educational Policies And Values: A Case For Sustainable National Development

Abstract

Education is a foremost plank for assessing the effectiveness of government. Since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, the education sector has witnessed a good number of developments, positive and negative. While admittedly, the educational policies of the democratic governments have not been shown to be radically different from what obtained in the military era, there are noticeable changes in many integral components of education policy attributable to the democratic phenomenon including funding, value system, access, job opportunity, and the passage of very important legislations. The paper discusses the impact democratic governance in Nigeria has had on education policy in the specific areas highlighted. A lot has been accomplished in the current dispensation but only a few pass the sustainability test. The paper identified ‘short-termism’ as a major drawback to democratic governance which combines with poor investment in education to hold back qualitative education in Nigeria. The paper concludes that the way forward is to address these challenges head-on.