1. Books play an important role in literacy development and education standards. They provide structure for lessons, summarize information, and serve as a common resource for students. However, many Nigerian students lack access to books. 2. In the past, educational books were more available and affordable in Nigeria. But economic troubles in the 1980s led to a scarcity of books that persists today. The government's policy of free education exacerbated the problem by reducing commitment to education spending. 3. Nigeria's failure to implement a national book policy has led to uncoordinated indigenous publishing and poor book quality. Improving access to books is important for developing literacy and achieving educational goals.

1. CHAPTER TWENTYSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
L I T E R A C Y D E V E L O P M E N T W I T H O U T B O O K S
N K E C H I M. C H R I S T O P H E R
I N T R O D U C T I O N qponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
Literacy is considered a fundamental human right (UNESCO,
1975) because of its importance in man's survival. The "Declaration
of Persipolis" explains that literacy is "not just the process of learning
the skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, but a contribution to the
liberation of man and to his full development." Reiterating this VIew
of literacy, the Director-General of UNESCO (2003:YXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
1 ) adds a socio-
cultural dimension by noting in the preface to "Literacy - A
UNESCO Perspective" that "literacy is about more than reading and
writing - it is about how we communicate in society. It is about social
practices and relationships, about knowledge, language and culture."
However, this paper is not considering literacy in this broad
perspective, but is rather concerned with arrangement in place for the
acquisition of literacy as "a tool for learning" and "as one of the
foundations of other life skills" (UNESCO, 2003: 2 and 6).
Monitoring the development of literacy worldwide, UNESCO
discovered that while there is positive percentage decrease in adult
illiteracy the number of illiterate adults is on the increase. The high
illiteracy situation in Nigeria, as well as the desire to achieve the
millennium goals perhaps advised a bold step taken by the Nigerian
government since 1999 to eradicate illiteracy at all levels. Thus it
included adult and nomadic literacy programmes in the Universal
Basic Education (UBE) mandate. Basic education 1-9 is universal,
free and compulsory; and it is expected to "address comprehensively
the lapses of the Universal Primary Education (UPE) and the issues of
access, equality, equity, inclusiveness, affordability and quality"
(Osuji, 2004: 4). The UBE programme succeeds the Universal
Primary Education, which was started at various times by different
regions from 1957 before becoming a national progranune in 1976
(Oyelere, 2006, Onlinenigeria, NO).
The literacy level attributed to Nigeria is above average.
However, census literacy is not the same with the ability to read, write
and use literacy functionally. Besides, since illiteracy so much
coexists with poverty (Smith, 2006; Jones et a1., 2000), and poverty
j : '~ : '
239

2. persists in the society, it may be safe to expect that illiteracy level in
igeria is high, probably similar to the poverty level. It is possible
that the illiteracy level in the northern states of Nigeria assumes
similar dimension as the poverty level which the northern elite put atYXWVU
7 0 % (NTA News at Nine, 2
nd
March, 2 0 0 7 ) . The seerning
intractability of poverty and illiteracy in Nigeria could be attributed to~
a failure to understand the nature and constraints of access to
education for the "minorities" and the challenges they face (Gadsden
1990). Unfortunately, while "minorities" in developed countries refer
to a lesser portion of the society in low-literate environment, peopleJ
that fit similar .Iescription as the "minorities" are in the majority i
Nigeria.
There are indications that education at all levels in Nigeria is
falling short of developing functionally literate students or graduates.
The Nigerian educational system, as its other counterparts in Wes'
Africa, is plagued with many problems. Iyamu and Obiunu ( 2 0 0 6 1
summarizing Quanor and Azeez's (2001) research findings, list some
of the problems to include: "poor funding, ineffective management
inconsistent policies, differentiation, low school attendance
increasing dropout rate, poor and unattractive school conditions
poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly motivated teachers
inadequate infrastructures, ineffective teaching and learning." As th,
authors note, these and other problems have made "school in ,
meaningless, ineffective and unattractive" and "do not make impaq
on the quality of life" of the school learners or school leavers (Iyarn]
and Obiunu, 2 0 0 6 ) .* Of the various problems in the educations
system, this paper focuses on the issue of book availability in schoo
and its impact ();~literacy development.
2 4 0 SRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
T H E I M P O R T A N C E O F B O O K S I N L I T E R A C .
D E V E L O P M E N T
According to Okebukola ( 2 0 0 2 : 4), "at the heart of nation '.
development is literacy and at the heart of literacy is the book" - th l
book is also referred to as the bedrock of education (Okediran, 2002~.
Further, the development and socio-economic wellbeing of a nation i.'
closely related to its level of book production and consurnptioj
(Adelekan, 2002; Okediran, 2002; and Okebukola, 2002). Ho
important are books in literacy development? This may soun
preposterous; but since many Nigerian students are learning wi tho
books, it becomes an issue. According to Ornstein (1989: 106) it i
advantageous to use textbooks in the classroom as:
, .

3. l. It provides an outline that the teacher can use in planning
the course, units, and lessons.
2. It summarizes a great deal of pertinent information.
3. It enables the students to take home in relatively easy
form most of the material they Deed for homework or to
study -f(~rthe next- class.
4. It provides a common resource for all the students to
follow.
5. It provides the teacher with ideas regarding the
organization of information and activities.
6. It includes pictures, graphs, maps, cartoons, and other
materials that can either be projected or simply referred
to as a means for enhancing understanding.
7. It includes other learning aids such as summaries and
review questions for students.
8. It relieves the te;v:~~r of preparing material for the
course, thus adding more time to prepare the lesson.
Consequently, Farrell and Heyneman (1989:5) conclude from
a review of many studies that "one of the more consistent indicators
of higher achievement is the availability. of textbooks and other
printed materials." Investigating the investment that boost learning,
Fuller (1986: 29) surmises that "the positive impact of instructional
materials - especially those directly related to reading and writing - is
consistent across several studies" and that "the influence of the
textbook program on achievement was greater for children with
parents who had received less schooling" (p.30). At the present stage
of Nigeria's development only a minority of school children have
parents that are functionally literate.
Moreover, "Book reading is essential to children's language
and literacy development" (Hammer et al, 1005: 196) and "literacy
learning is language learning" (Dunn, 2001). It is not surprising
therefore, that Tahir (2005) attributes upper primary pupils' poor
performance in tests in core sub:le~t areas to their low level of reading,
occasioned by poor access to books. According to him "majority of
the pupils could not read instructions in English" (Tahir, 2005: 28),
whereas they were expected to have learnt to read and to read to learn
by primary four.
The general purposes that books serve in teaching instruction
become more important in situations where many teachers areYXWVUT
. I
. I
241

4. insufficiently trained to independently design tasks for the classroom,
on the one hand, and on the other, large classes constrain individual
attention that students' deserve in their learning development. In
addition, unlike the counterparts in developed countries, many a
Nigerian goes to school usually completely ignorant of written
communication in the home language and home environment, only to
be confronted with written communication in a strange language
(English) as a means of communication at school. Thus, "lack of
support in reaching high standards will further victimize students
already harmed by gross inequalities in the educational system" (Lee
and Fradd, 1998:12 citing McLaughlin).
Despite the introduction of the UBE free education, the
educational system fai Is to show any improvement; in fact there are
reasons to believe that things are getting worse. This has encouraged
the proliferation of private institutions at all levels, where parents
hope to find better learning conditions for their wards. This to my
mind is privatization and commercialization of education. The
privatization of education through neglect of the educational system is
creating a class system, and thereby making education a privilege of
the haves and a means of producing and entrenching hierarchies and
orders (UNESCO, 1975) in Nigeria. This is an untoward trend in
Nigeria's development history, considering that it was by the means
of literacy that pre- and post-independence Nigerian leaders
discovered that "the Book had enshrined in it all the entrapping that
made the colonialist superior" (Onukaogu, 2002). Perhaps, the trend
in which, before independence and subsequently, various nation-
groups and unions, private individuals and religious bodies invested
in the education of Nigerian children through the establishment of
schools and sponsorships to higher education in Nigeria and abroad
should not have been truncated through the acquisition of schools ran
by non-governmental bodies. It is unfortunate that the government has
found it difficult to rescind or revise its decision to take over from
former school owners all responsibilities of educating its citizenry,
even though it is obvious that the take-over has failed, and that the
education offered is counter-productive in some people's lives. The
failure of government to exercise oversight functions on schools, as
former owners did, led to so much degradation in the system that a
former minister of education (Oby Ezekwesili) asked people to adopt
schools -- a parody of true ownership.YXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
,.
242

5. B O O K A V A I L A B I L I T Y , E N G L I S H A N D E D U C A T I O N
S T A N D A R D S qponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
There is no doubt that Nigeria needs to educate its teeming
population. However, there have been more pronouncements on the
issue than planning, economic commitment to the cause and actions.
Political propagandas of free education advocated in many states have
been inimical to book business and provision over the years,
especially when such civilian regimes were followed by military
rulers that were not so inclined. The UBE programme in enforcing
free education without making prerequisite provisions has also
exacerbated the problem of an education that is accompanied with
little literacy development. Several problems in the education sector
can be linked to free education propagandas, including lack of
commitment to education by some parents and students, apathy to
spending on education by parents, apathy towards book buying by
parents, poor culture of studying and reading by students, and
J
publishers sidetracking of bccksellers in the supply of books to
governments, thereby taking away from booksellers the core of their
book business. Generally, publishers are happy to fill governments'
orders and collect monies in bulk. However, there have been instances
where new regimes refused to pay for book purchases made by a
former government, leading to publishers incurring great losses (up to
42.3 million naira or 20% of total turn over of sector) during the
1979-83 civilian era (Nwankwo, 1992). In addition, books supplied
by state governments, especially in the northern states, may have
found their way into the market (in the south).
The book situation was not always bad in the Nigeria's
educational system. Until 1976, availability of educational books and
books for general reading did not constitute as much problem as it
does today, since they were largely imported and controlled by the
multinational publishers or their agents. In addition, indigenous
publishers were already establishing their footholds in the industry
arid were expanding publishing genres (Uwalaka, 1997). Books were
available and people lacking 'financial support indulged in manual
labour to generate enough money to purchase educational books.
There was hunger for knowledge and there was dignity in labour.
Unfortunately, today, interest in books, reading and acquisition of
knowledge (as distinct from certificate) has diminished tremendously.
Onukaogu (2004) laments that: "the awful economic problems that
made Nigerian elementary school classrooms devoid of books have
243

6. · qponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
;"',
not changed." It needs be pointed out though, as trends in recent years
(1999 - 2007) indicate, that good national economic fortunes do not
necessarily translate into people's wealth, the people are still
impoverished. Despite debt pardon :and good turns in the nation's
fortunes, the free book provision espoused in the UBE scheme is yet a
mirage, a philosophical policy, not a reality, and this in a nation
without a book policy.
Books were available and affordable sometime ago.
Okebukola's (2002:4) recalls that in his days in primary, secondary
and even tertia!CBA
j levels, his generation "had access to the best books
in all the known areas of academic endeavour ... Not only were they
available, such books were also affordable." However, the book
became a scarce commodity from the early 1980s as the country
grappled with its economic woes and adjustments (Okebukola, 2002
and Uwalaka, 2000). In fact by the mid 1985, printing paper and
stationery were at their premium as working capital shrank, the
exchange rates maintained an upward swing and import policies
where hostile. In the present dispensation, return to the pre-recession
status quo has been tedious, especially because as a young nation, the
country has no experience. to fall back to guide the restoration of
damaged economic, cultural and psychological structures. The book
situation today may be worse than ventured by Okediran. Okediran
(2002: 13) posits that 60% of students from primary to tertiary do not
meet the book need, estimating a book deficit of about 10 million as
at 2001. However, the deficit would have been much higher
considering that the enrolment figures for primary school were
between 17.9 l,,·:.l.6 million from 1999 to 2003, much higher than the
writer's base of 14.5 million primary enrolments. Moreover, Higo
(1988) observes that by mid 1980s school libraries became a thing of
the past, even in urban areas. Therefore, Okebukola (2002) boldly
declares the last two decades of the zo" century a period of book
famine in Nigeria.
"Primarily through lack of will on the part of the Federal
Government, Nigeria has neither a National Book Policy nor a
National Book Development Organization or Commission, explaining
why indigenous book development has been unplanned and
uncoordinated." (Ike, 2004: 3). Consequently, poor book quality is
attributed to the absence of a book policy that spells out a benchmark
to be followed (Tahir; 2005). Furthermore, Tahir, the former
Executive !Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Council,
,'•...,
244

7. "qponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
observes that the delay in releasing a National Book Policy developed
since 1992 indicates how books are rated in the society. Although
many practitioners and scholars in Nigeria have drawn attention to the
importance of developing and implementing a national book policy,
professional associations in the book industry fail to present a united
front.
UBE and UPE (in 1970s) are landmarks in Nigeria's effort to
create a literate society and reduce poverty. To what extent have
various educational policies and programmes contributed to the state
of the school system? Have they made it more effective or less so?
One feature of many Nigerian policies is that they often come too late,
but then aim to bring Nigeria tip to the same state with the rest of the
world by. .doing everything at the saine time, rather than strategize
their implementation in rnartageabje vphases. As Emenanjo ( N D )
observes, ."Ih educational matters as in other areas, Nigeria is one
nation that is very high and rich in policies but very low and deficient
in implementation.". '.
Concerning the progress of education in Nigeria, it seems that
discipline and Iearning were bettermanaged when schools were run
by their originai owners (Ahanotu, 1983) - whether goverhment,
missionaries/churches or communities, as the case was. Since
government took schools over, starting from 1970 in former East
Central State (Ahanotu, 1983), standards have been falling due to the
failure to ensure provision of facilities and teachers, and poor
monitoring and evaluation of the education system. The situation was
exacerbated in 1979-1983 period, when political office holders could
riot deliver on their 'promise of free education; and then was
compounded by economic recessions and failures of the structural
adjustment programme during the military rule. While free education
programmes encouraged those who could not attend school due to
cost to have access to education, facility -provision was compromised
to accommodate the surge. Perhaps, the inadequacies in the school
system should have been remedied first before embarking on a nation
wide implementation of the Universal Basic Education. The problem
of having unqualified teachers handle large classes where most
children lack books, sometimes exercise books as well, is tantamount
to wasting the youth.
The politicization of education under the. present democratic
dispensation (starting from 1999) in the declaration of free education
is a welcome, but the managers of the system do not put their children
2 4 5

8. in public school. It is obvious that sympathy for the poor and
powerless is not matched with action - some students sit on
unplastered floors, some under leaking roofs and too many do not
have access to books (author's personal observation). Chang (1997:
92) observes that: "The role of books in imparting scientific and
technical knowledge, in structuring the way experiences are
remembered, and in providing a form of relaxation for a small but
possibly influential sector of the population is intangible." It is not
enough to herd children to school in the name of free education.
Books are a crucial denominator in literacy development.
Perhaps ::J. little explanation is needed on the issue of book
availability in Nigeria. On the whole, when compared with developed
countries, Nigeria is neither a book producing nor a reading society,
though it ranks high in Africa as a book producing nation. However,
at the level of textbook publishing forprimary and secondary school
education, one will still agree with Higo (1988) who notes that
although the publishing houses in the country are inadequate, there is
growth in authorship. Similarly, Obanya (ND) observes that there are
textbooks and creative writing in Nigerian languages. In essence, the
basic books needed for primary and secondary education are available
in terms of existence; but they are not accessible or adequately
provided. Books are therefore not available to the individual.
Incidentally, the situation today in many classes, after the
commencement of UBE is similar to Anthony Read's (1990) findings
on book availability ratio: "1) a very high proportion of primary
schools had a textbook availability ratio of 1% or less; 2)
mathematics, English and science subjects had the highest availability
ratio of 30% at the secondary school level, but sales were dwinpling
by 30-35%" (Uwalaka, 2000). Poor book ratio was not peculiar to
Nigeria, but many other nations have taken decisive steps to solving
the problem. Unlike in China where according to Searle and Mertaugh
(1988), the book policy ensures that books are available when due, all
students have books, there is a distribution arrangement and costs are
shared between govemment and people, Nigerian publishers and
those that want books for their children bear all the costs. The World
Bank document also notes that "It continues to be Government policy
to provide investment capital for educational publishers and printers
for items in excess of 50,000 yuan" (Searle and Mertaugh, 1988: 5).
There is no government assistance or regulation on the production or
distribution of books. Unfortunately, the Nigerian governments at all
246
1

9. . '
P u b lis h e r b o o k ty p e P rim a ry s c h o o l le v e l
1 2 3 4 5 6
A T e x tb o o k 7 5 ,3 6 9 7 5 ,0 1 1 6 8 ,9 6 9 6 6 ,8 0 3 4 6 ,0 7 6 4 4 ,3 0 1
B 5 0 ,0 0 0 5 0 ,0 0 0 4 9 ,0 0 0 4 6 ,0 0 0 4 6 ,0 0 0 4 6 ,0 0 0
A W o rk b o o k 5 ,8 7 6 5 ,8 8 6 4 ,4 6 7 7 ,2 4 0 6 ,5 7 3 5 ,2 4 3
B 5 0 ,0 0 0 5 0 ,0 0 0 4 9 ,0 0 0 4 6 ,0 0 0 4 6 ,0 0 0 4 6 ,0 0 0
A s u p p le m e 2 7 8 1 ,0 5 9 7 6 8 1 ,0 8 8 1 ,2 5 9 1 ,4 5 0
B n ta ry 6 ,0 0 0 6 ,0 0 0 6 ,0 0 0 6 ,0 0 0 6 ,0 0 0 6 ,0 0 0
re a d e rs , .
T o ta l 1 L ~ ,~ ~ J :
. 1 2 5 ,0 1 1 1 1 7 ,9 6 9 1 0 6 ,8 0 3 9 2 ,0 7 6 1 0 6 ,3 0 1 qponmlkjihgfedcbaZYX
levels are usually more concerned with investing in the media that
promotes their image rather than those that would promote learning
among its citizens.
Another example is the Philippines. Around 1989 it had one
textbook per student in each subject (Farrell and Heynernan, 1989: 6)
having started a multiyear textbook project in the mid 1970s with the
aim to provide a textbook to every two primary school pupils in core
curriculum area. In 2002 the government of the Philippines is still
collaborating with publishers: "Meetings are conducted with the
private publishers and printers to share NBDB's directions and to
identify collaborative undertakings with the private sector"
(ACCUIUNESCO, 2000). Similarly, Farrell and Heyneman give other
examples of nations that embarked on textbook projects at the
realization of the importance of textbooks. Today, Tahir (2005), the
Executive Secretary of the UBE programme in Nigeria helplessly
regrets that the nation is yet to implement the National Book Policy
because it does not seem to appreciate the importance of books in the
country's development. Nigeria wants to have high literacy rate, be
reckoned with as a nation taking the development of its people to
greater heights, but is no: factoring books into the arrangements for
education of the children forced to school. This is despite publishers'
expression of their doubts that they would be able to produce more
than 18 million books for millions of children in the school system
which ill 2003 was 24,563,004 (Osuji, 2005: 19). The statistics of
two of the five major publishers' sale in theCBA
2 0 0 5 /0 6 session gives
indication of how much books are purchased:cbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
Sales in three categories of prim ary E nglish. educational
books by tw o m a jo r publishers (2005106 session)
Source: From data collected by author.
Rather than compensate for the absence of a book policy,
political propaganda of free education advocated in many states has
247
" t
'~ .
, .

10. been inimical to. book business and provision aver the years. Since the
present democratic dispensationYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
( fr o m 1999), many parents of
children in public schools decline buying books far their children
because government promised to. supply free books. Far example in
Oyo State, there are indications that in the early years (1999 -2003),
students were not told what textbooks to. buy because it was
politically incorrect to. do.cbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
sa, and so. same teachers peddled same
vanity publications far use in the subjects taught. By the second four
years, it had became clear that free books programme was not just a
political party's agenda but a national policy, This was however not
backed up in time with action, at least in same states. In a survey
conducted c: ,.CBA
'/0 . J unior Secondary Schools in Oyo State in April,
2006 (second term), no. students in JSS 1 to. JSS 3 indicated that any
of their books was given them by government (on-going study by
. • ! I
author). In fact mary instructional materials used by teachers were
awn copies, By February, 2007 (second term) it was found in a
village close to. the capita} of the state, Ibadan~' that only English
textbook had been distributed to. the primary school children and only
exercise books to.' th~ JSS students. It is not dear what was
responsible far the state of affairs. But there are indications that a
serious issue,' the supply of school textbooks, is .unnecessarily
politicized and that where two. elephants fought the grass (students)
suffered. ' "
After his restoration following an unlawful impeachment that
ushered him out of office to. be replaced by his deputy, Senator
Lodoja accused his deputy Chief Christopher Alao-Akala of financial
improprieties, 3, major one of which was money laundering through
the purchase of school textbooks from publishers, There were denials,
but investigations indicted the deputy governor and The G uardicl11
(LawaI, 2007) quotes the secretary to. the state government as saying
that the two. publishers indicted in the case had refunded part of the
excess payments to. the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crime
Commission). It appears t~at government free book projects which
aught to. favour publishers hurt book publishing in many ways rather
than enrich publishers. Publishers lose the potential patronage fr o m
parents, and while schools are not supplied adequately, the copies
bought may not be paid far in time or at all (Nwankwo, 1992).
Increase in the e~iablishment of universities makes education a
stable business which shau'ld support publishing. The truth, however,
istnat I]1any are learn~ng without books or are using materials
2 4 8

11. produced by their lecturers, which would usually not have been
assessed or produced in the highest standards. There are no tertiary
publishers that produce books for these burgeoning institutions.
The impact of schooling without books is all conspicuous:
primary and secondary students that cannot write letters for their
illiterate relations as it was before the 1980s, graduates that cannot
write their own application letters, etc. Ogundipe (2004: 223)
observes that "our tertiary students' knowledge of functional or
communicative English is apparently insufficient for productive
learning .. - Since they cannot achieve meaningful reading, they often
gain little or no knowledge from the printed texts." Ogundipe arrived
at this assertion from study findings that polytechnic students tested
on literal, critical, interpretive and creative reading, were only
somewhat proficient in literal comprehension. A "similar result was
obtained in a research on SSCE graduates' (with at least a credit pass)
reading ability in Yoruba (Maternilola, 2004). The tnajorcause of
these poor performances is poor contact with books, and in English,
exposure to only poor models of the language as well. Learners learn
poor models at home, the community and at school, causing people to
raise alarms such as this one:
The teaching of English ... had reached such poor levels that
university faculty complained they could not understand the written
work of their students. By 1990 the crisis in education was such that it
was predicted thatYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
b y the end of the decade, there would be
insufficient personnel to run essential services of the country. It was
hoped that the publication of critical works and international attention
to this crisis might reverse the situationcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
before N igeria lost an entire
generation or m ore of its skilled labor force.
(http://www.onlinenigeria.com/educationlindex.asp?blurb=555
Perhaps the last clause (italicized) in the excerpt should read
before N igeria lost an eritire generation or m ore of its potential labor
force; reason being that children are drawn away from informal
education associated with Nigerian societies but their capacity is not
:developed in ways significant to meet the demands of the business
world. It should be stated that if a situation in which children learned
farming skills, indulged in apprenticeship in different occupations
(truck driving, building trades, indigenous crafts, etc.), studied in age-
based schools in which. boys where instructed by elders on the
responsibility· of adulthood
(http://www.onlinenigeri.a.com/educationlindex.asp?blurb=555), etc.
249
I

12. =-=====_ =_~ _~._=.cbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
=_=._=k"="4~_=
.."._~·_
---~~
is no longer adequate in today's information-based world, it should be
replaced with something more profitable to the individual and nation,
not less.
Many inadequacies that pervade the educational system are
not being adequately and systematically addressed, such as poor
qualification of teacher. Awobuluyi CND) observes that teachers are
not qualified to teach the language as they learned the language
insufficiently and have no training in contrastive linguistics that
would serve as background for correcting problems arising from
mother tongue interference. In addition, syllabuses and examination
demands from the learners by the curricula and syllabuses designers
are considered overambitious. In a similar vein, Emenanjo (ND)
asserts that English is one of the worst taught subjects in Nigerian
schools. "Most teachers of English, including those with 'paper'
qualifications are unqualified to teach the English language." Thus,
Awobuluyi is objectively pessimistic that the standard of English can
be improved since Nigeria cannot afford to employ trained native
speakers to teach in Nigerian schools. However, little efforts by the
Reading Association of Nigeria and the present British
CouncillNigerian .
Teacher Institute's Continuous Profession Programme (ELT) could
perhaps be magnified to make a difference eventually.SRQPONMLKJIHGFED
C O N C L U S I O N
It is pertinent to ask certain questions as a guide for designing.
and providing for education programmes in Nigeria. We may begin
with these:
1. Should Nigerians be literate?
2. Why do Nigerians have to be literate?
3. How ,w.illliteracy be achieved?
4. What are required to achieve literacy?
5. Who are those involved in the achievement of literacy?
6. Are books necessary for the development of literacy?
7. What should be done to provide adequate books?
8. Should the literacy programme be phased out to allow the
development of adequate books and the means of distribution?
9. Who are to be involved at the different stages (e.g. Xinhua in
China, Malaysian have mechanisms for shared cost)?
10. Can every government afford the books needed, and if not how
can cost be shared?
250

13. 11. Can state and local governments afford their portions of the cost
of educating Nigerians within their areas of jurisdiction?
It is not that free. education is not feasible in Nigeria, rather,
those that run the system still need to develop the humanness required
to ensure that another person's child or any Nigerian child should not
be left behind. A Nigerian philanthropist with concern for the poor,
Mr Rochas Okorocha, has shown us that free education is attainable,
and his private venture forces us to ask "What is FREE in UBE?" Mr
Okorocha educates the children of the poorest of the poor, providing
them with qualified teachers, all facilities and materials, necessary
meals and transport fares to ensure that they attend school (pre-
campaign programme on NTA in 2007). The students in his school
have the enviable qualities admired in children of the rich in elitist
schools. Short of these, "Free" in the UBE programme should be
redefined.
Since Nigeria exhibits the tendencies of a parochial society
where egoistic hedonism holds sway and the passion required to drive
true development is still low, parents should be involved in the
education of their children so that they could shoulder the monitoring
responsibility. If we consider the former Executive Secretary of the
UBE commission's (Professor Gidado Thair) seeming helplessness on
the issue of National Book Policy, it appears that the ordinary
Nigerian is defenceless against unfavourable attitudes and postures in
high places. If those inYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
t ~ · . ' posirion to effect changes sound helpless,
who then is "government?" and who are those positioned to bring
about necessary changes to the system? It seems obvious that the best
person that can help the situation is tile individual (parents) - because
meaningful education has been privatized, not by a policy but by
"body language," or better still through neglect.
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