Proliferating illiteracy in the universities: A Nigerian perspective

Abstract

The Nigerian educational system is in crisis. This paper aims to describe that crisis and demonstrate how this situation is contributing to a downward spiral in academic standards, and in particular its effect on decreasing literacy among Nigerian students. While recognising that the educational system is part of a much broader societal predicament, this paper nevertheless makes a number of recommendations for improvements to the Nigerian educational system, including a call for increased government funding of the education system, the need for constructive solutions to end cultism, and a multifaceted approach to entrenched social problems.