Child Literacy in Nigeria: LiPAN Urges Greater Political Resolve
The Literacy Promotion Association of Nigeria (LiPAN) says that raising child literacy in Nigeria will demand greater commitment from political leaders, together with a strategy that tackles the problem from multiple angles. The association made the call at its 20th Biennial Conference, where speakers warned that millions of children remain out of school and that reliable data is still lacking.
The conference was held at the International Conference Centre, ICC, of the University of Ibadan. The Department of Communication and Language Arts at the university co-organised the event with the association.
What the global data says about literacy
Dr. Da Rosa Issais, head of the UNESCO office in Nigeria, co-wrote a paper on early literacy called "Policy Pathways for Universal Early Literacy". Figures from 2024 support the two main claims he makes.
- Roughly 739 million adults and young people worldwide lack basic reading and writing skills;
- 40 per cent of young learners are yet to reach the minimum standard of reading proficiency.
Dr Issais also revealed that 272 million boys, girls and teenagers of school age were not enrolled in 2023. UNESCO estimates that about 20 million of them are in Nigeria, one of the highest totals in any country.
Out-of-school children and the need for reliable figures
Even so, he accepted that reliable data was needed for child literacy in Nigeria to improve. The Federal Government, he observed, had announced a household survey covering the whole country, the Learner Identification Number and an improved Education Management Information System, all meant to establish the real number.
Asked how grave Nigeria's truancy problem really is, he answered: "UNESCO and its Institute for Statistics put the number of Nigerian children and youth outside school at about 20 million, which is among the highest anywhere. I wish to be measured and just here.
The Honourable Minister of Education has correctly observed that many of these numbers are based on estimates drawn from population projections, not a real headcount, and the Federal Government has launched a nationwide survey of households, alongside the Learner Identification Number and an improved Education Management Information System, to determine the true number. UNESCO welcomes this move.
Whatever the final figure proves to be, even one child unable to read is unacceptable, and improved policy rests on stronger data.
Publishers call for political will and better books
Speaking for the publishing industry, Alhaji Lukman Dauda, who heads the Nigerian Publishers Association and is Managing Director of Evans Brothers Nigeria Limited, noted that even though children do read widely, the kind and standard of books and other materials within their reach is still a serious worry.
Alhaji Dauda complained that the necessary political will was missing. He called on the government to give greater political and financial support to the supply of suitable reading materials that children are able to put to real use.
Professor Nkechi Christopher, National President of LiPAN, said in an interview that the way the government shapes literacy policy should be guided by compassion.
Teaching methods and the way forward for child literacy in Nigeria
Reading approaches such as storytelling and phonics were among those explored in other papers delivered at the conference, alongside forming words by combining letters and results drawn from field research.
Professor Chukwuemeka Onukaogu, a former chair of the Board of Trustees of the body, praised the conference. He also encouraged the adoption of further approaches that bring teachers and parents into the effort to motivate children to read, which he sees as central to child literacy in Nigeria.
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