A Review on Quality of Education and Its Implication on Governance in Nigeria

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION    

 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

There can be no doubt that at the heart of every developed society is a sound educational structure that has been painstakingly and deliberately crafted around the society’s culture, from curriculum development to classroom instruction. The governments of the developed countries of the world began developing policies and implementing them in time to enrich the process of teaching and learning in such societies, and as a result, they are far ahead of Nigeria and indeed other African countries in terms of technological and scientific advancements, let alone other areas of human learning. But this development is in fact a great cry from the Nigerian situation. According to Windzio (2005), the absence of a noticeable degree of effective governance in Nigeria despite the high educational level of its leaders is a significant evidence that leadership’s array of diplomas doesn’t matter, but the individual character and behaviours. For instance, a professor who teaches fundamental information in school, when granted a political position behaves like a motor park hawker. With such circumstances, one may claim leadership is not all about academics but character, because prior presidents in Nigeria with lesser educational level have shown to be more competent and were able to construct logical ideas which enhanced all-round national growth. Additionally, they governed with a greater emphasis on the public interest than current leaders with higher educational qualifications. According to some educationists, such as Lenshie (2013), political leaders who have high educational credentials but misbehave did not earn them scholarly. As a result, they exhibit dishonorable behavior in positions of political leadership. Other individuals have summed up the lack of good governance in Nigeria by stating that the majority of individuals in leadership positions are never prepared for the job. Furthermore, the political system is so corrupt that securing an elective office is as simple as having the right godfather; belonging to the political party in power, whether at the national or state level; and during an electioneering campaign, all that is required of one is to climb to the podium, rain abuse on opponents, shout your political party’s name, and dance. Such a system can never produce effective leadership. Notwithstanding the multiplicity of causes for the absence of effective governance in Nigeria, the highly educated Nigerian leadership is still not functioning as anticipated of well-read leaders with global mentality, because everything in the polity is ascribed to politics. When politics trumps policy, leadership deteriorates – and this is the disease that afflicts the average Nigerian political leader. The politics we are talking to is when a political post becomes a chance for personal enrichment and it is connected with pride, arrogance and larger than life attitude. Another element that leads to the terrible administration in Nigeria is; the society often pushes national leaders to turn into to regional, ethnic or religious champion after serving at the central. In addition, some members of the Nigerian society want their individuals in authority to have or to do certain things even if they are incorrect; only because one person did have or did it previously. Despite the established fact that highly educated leaders develop good policies for economic growth in their countries, they influence international public opinion towards their countries and easily attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to their countries, including separating their personal interest from the public good, it is puzzling that the more highly educated Nigerians ascend to political power the more the country experiences bad governance (Peters & Nemakolam 2019). (Peters & Nemakolam 2019). The average Nigerian leader can benefit from assistance in mending his character. “There is a popular adage that positive character traits can be taught as well as learned. The society needs to condemn the arrogance, vanity, ego enrichment and bigger than life mentality connected with public service. Nigerian society should honor leaders who devote more energy to attainable economic goals, public goods, and infrastructure provision. And not to celebrate leadership that is preoccupied with trivial politicking and narrow personal interests, which frequently have a detrimental effect on the provision of sound governance. There is no question, the educational level of whomever wants for a public post in Nigeria important, but individual excellent character and behaviours are vital for listening  and servant leadership.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Governance has evolved into a critical concept in international development over the years. Governance assessments vary according to the researchers’ interests, needs, and culture. Some focus exclusively on public sector corruption, while others examine human rights and democracy across civil society, the private sector, the judiciary, and government institutions. Numerous studies (Peters & Nemakolam 2019) have demonstrated that having leaders who are well-read, competent, and exposed to the right leadership skills, exposure, and behavior helps a nation’s economic growth and governance quality. According to Amanchukwu (2011), it is a general belief that a well-educated leadership is a competitive advantage for any nation and there is a correlation between good governance and leaders’ level of education. However, it appears as though this theory is ineffective in Nigeria. So what went wrong? Is it the caliber of academic credentials? Is it the system? Is having more educated leaders responsible for Nigeria’s current sophistication of corruption? It is widely known that the majority of Nigeria’s current leaders attended the country’s best schools or studied abroad. And the Nigerian governmental system’s laws, codes of conduct, and regulations are modest enough to guide those in power. Thus, what could account for our leaders’ inept governance style? Although many of the discussions on good governance are concentrated on the desired objective of nations’ political development though the basic issues and principles of good governance are not new. The most prevalent aspect of good governance debate is on anti-corruption which often assesses the capacity of government to be accountable, just, fair, effective, efficient, participatory, transparent, responsive, consensus-oriented, and equitable. However, the researcher tends to examine quality of education and its implication on governance in Nigeria.

  OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to investigate the quality of education and its implication on governance in Nigeria.. Specifically, the study will seek to:

1. Examine whether high quality of education is a determinant of good governance.
2. Determine whether education system and academic qualification of leaders can impact their method of governance.
3. Ascertain whether having more educated leaders will equate to improvement on good governance in Nigeria.
4. Investigate whether leader’s low quality of education will have any significant effect on good governance.

 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research is guided by the following question in line with the research objectives:

1. Does high quality of education determines good governance by those in leadership position?
2. Does the education system and academic qualification of leaders impact their method of governance?
3. Does having more educated leader equates to improvement in governance?
4. Does leader’s low quality of education have any significant effect on good governance?

 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Effective governance could be described as one in which the government of the day is both sensitive and responsive to the overall development of the state.findings of this study will be helpful to government, policy makers, curriculum planners and researchers.To government, policy makers, curriculum planners, the result of this study will provide a framework for improvement on the quality of education. It will reveal the need for those who are in leadership position to obtain high quality education so as to enable them govern well. Empirically, the study will add to the body of existing literature and serve as a reference material to teachers and student who wishes to conduct further studies in related field.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of this study borders on quality of education and its implication on governance in Nigeria. This study covered respondents like political office holders and seekers and youths in Nigeria. Variables of interest were education and good governance. While education is independent variable, good governance is the dependent variable. The study is however delimited to selected Local government in Bauchi State.

 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Like in every human endeavour, the researchers encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. The significant constraint was the scanty literature on the subject owing that it is a new discourse thus the researcher incurred more financial expenses and much time was required in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size covering only political office holders and seekers and youths in Bauchi State. Thus findings of this study cannot be used for generalization for other States within Nigeria. Additionally, the researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work will impede maximum devotion to the research. Howbeit, despite the constraint encountered during the research, all factors were downplayed in other to give the best and make the research successful.

 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

The following terms were used in the course of this study:

Education: This is the process of facilitating learning or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and habits.Educational methods include storytelling, discussion, teaching, training and direct research.

Good Governance: This refers to the processes for making and implementing decisions. It is not about making correct decisions, but about the best possible process for making those decisions.

REFERENCES

Amanchukwu, Rose N. (2011). The Challenges of Quality Education and Good Governance in Developing Economy. African Journal of Education and Technology, Volume 1 Number 3 (2011), pp. 103-110