Building a future-ready education system for Nigeria’s youth
By Precious Ebere-Chinonso Obi
Nigeria stands at a critical juncture. With over 45% of its population under the age of 18, the nation’s greatest asset is its youth. Yet, this demographic promise is on the verge of becoming a demographic disaster if the education system fails to evolve. The world is being reshaped by technology, artificial intelligence, and a globalized economy, rendering many old skills obsolete. The pressing question is whether Nigeria’s education system is equipped to prepare its children for this new reality.
The evidence suggests it is not. The system, largely unchanged for decades, remains focused on rote memorization and high-stakes examinations, rather than fostering the critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability required in the 21st century. To secure a prosperous future, Nigeria must urgently embark on a fundamental transformation to build an education system that is truly future-ready.
This transformation requires a seismic shift in philosophy from an education that teaches students what to think to one that teaches them how to think. The current model, where teachers dispense information and students regurgitate it, is inadequate. Consider the data: a 2022 World Bank report found that 70% of 10-year-olds in Nigeria are in “learning poverty,” meaning they cannot read and understand a simple text. This foundational failure locks children out of higher-order learning. A future-ready model would prioritize project-based learning, where students design solutions to local problems, and cultivate critical literacy to discern fact from misinformation in our digital age.
Furthermore, integrating technology must move beyond theory to daily practice. It is not enough to have a computer science class; technology must be a tool for learning in every subject. While the federal government’s “Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE)” has distributed digital devices, the challenge runs deeper. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, only about 55% of Nigerians have internet access, with a significant urban-rural divide. A future-ready strategy must pair device provision with a national commitment to affordable internet and stable electricity in schools, ensuring that a child in a rural community has the same digital opportunities as one in an urban center.
Crucially, a future-ready curriculum must blend foundational skills with durable human competencies. While improving literacy and numeracy is non-negotiable, we must also deliberately cultivate skills that automation cannot replicate. The World Economic Forum’s “Future of Jobs Report 2023” consistently identifies analytical thinking, creativity, and resilience as top skills for the workforce.
Nigerian students need classrooms that are laboratories for these skills where collaboration on complex projects is the norm and failure is seen as a step in the learning process.
None of this is possible without the most crucial element: the teacher. We cannot expect educators to facilitate modern, interactive learning if they are demoralized and under-supported. Data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics highlights the scale of the challenge, indicating that Nigeria needs to recruit and train hundreds of thousands of new teachers just to meet basic primary education needs.
Building a future-ready workforce requires a national mission to elevate the teaching profession: through competitive salaries, continuous professional development on modern pedagogies, and granting teachers the autonomy and respect they deserve.
Finally, the walls between schools and the real world must come down. Stronger partnerships with industry are essential. Companies can help shape curriculum, offer mentorship, and provide internship opportunities that give students tangible work experience and connect learning to livelihood.
The path forward demands more than just policy tweaks; it requires a collective national mission, driven by unwavering political will and significant, targeted investment. The goal is clear: to create a system where every Nigerian child, regardless of their background, can finish school not merely with a certificate, but with the competence, confidence, and character to thrive in a complex world and build a more prosperous Nigeria for all. The time to act is now.
- Precious Ebere-Chinonso Obi is CEO of Do Take Action and independent consultant on edtech, climate change, public policy, and women’s procurement empowerment.
