Seventeen Years in School, Yet No Skill: Time to Fix Nigeria’s Education System By Ismail Sani
Nigeria’s educational system urgently requires fundamental reform. For decades, the system has focused largely on theoretical learning while paying insufficient attention to practical skills. The result is a growing population of degree holders who are unemployed, underemployed, or unable to contribute meaningfully to national productivity.
Each year, Nigerian universities and polytechnics produce hundreds of thousands of graduates. Estimates suggest that the number may exceed 600,000 annually when all tertiary institutions are considered. Unfortunately, the country’s economy is unable to absorb this large and steadily increasing pool of graduates. Many remain unemployed or underemployed, not necessarily because opportunities do not exist, but because the skills they possess do not align with the needs of employers.
At the heart of the problem is an educational structure that places excessive emphasis on academic certificates rather than practical competence. A typical Nigerian student spends six years in primary school, another six in secondary school, and four to five years in university. After nearly seventeen years of formal education, many graduates leave school without acquiring a practical skill they can rely on for self-employment or entrepreneurship. In many cases, the most visible outcome of these long years of schooling is fluency in English—a valuable asset, but one that cannot by itself guarantee economic productivity.
This reality makes many graduates unattractive to private sector employers. A business owner who invests substantial capital in an enterprise cannot afford to employ individuals who cannot add measurable value to the organisation. Unlike the public sector, where recruitment may sometimes reflect social or political considerations, the private sector operates strictly on productivity and efficiency. Every employee must contribute directly to the growth and sustainability of the business.
For many young Nigerians, however, the ultimate ambition after graduation remains government employment. Yet the public sector cannot continue to absorb the growing number of graduates entering the labour market each year. In truth, many government institutions are already overstaffed.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed this reality. During the lockdown, most public servants were asked to remain at home while only a limited number of essential workers reported to their offices. Despite this drastic reduction in staff presence, government activities continued with minimal disruption. The experience demonstrated that a significant portion of the public workforce is not essential to the day-to-day functioning of government. In many cases, recruitment into the civil service appears driven more by the desire to provide employment opportunities than by genuine productivity needs.
Such a system is clearly unsustainable. Many civil servants spend up to thirty-five years in government service and retire without acquiring any practical skill outside their routine office duties. Their livelihoods depend almost entirely on pensions and gratuities. When salaries are delayed or pensions remain unpaid, they often face severe financial hardship because they lack alternative sources of income. This situation also partly explains why corruption sometimes thrives in public institutions, as some officials attempt to secure their future while still in office.
Nigeria’s heavy dependence on imports further highlights the urgency of skill development. The country imports a vast range of goods—from machinery and electronics to everyday household products. This dependence increases the demand for foreign exchange and contributes significantly to the persistent pressure on the naira.
A nation with a large pool of skilled technicians, artisans and innovators would be able to produce many of these goods locally. Local manufacturing would not only create employment opportunities but would also reduce pressure on foreign exchange and strengthen the national economy.
Read Also:
Fortunately, Nigeria can learn valuable lessons from countries such as Japan, China and India. In these nations, technical and vocational education forms a core component of the educational system. Young people acquire practical skills early in their academic journey, and vocational training is integrated into mainstream education rather than treated as an option for those who struggle academically.
Japan, for example, maintains strong links between vocational institutions and industry, ensuring that students receive training that prepares them for real work environments. China has developed a vast network of technical and vocational schools that produce millions of skilled workers who sustain the country’s manufacturing sector. India has invested heavily in technical institutes and vocational training programmes that have helped establish its global reputation in information technology, engineering and medical sciences.
Interestingly, many of these countries achieved technological advancement without placing excessive emphasis on English language proficiency. Technical knowledge is often taught in local languages alongside English where necessary. The lesson is clear: valuable skills can be acquired without devoting the greater part of one’s education to mastering a foreign language.
Nigeria must therefore rethink its educational priorities and move away from a purely certificate-driven system toward one that places strong emphasis on practical skills. The Federal Government’s recent introduction of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes aimed at establishing skill acquisition centres across the country is a commendable initiative. However, the pace of implementation remains slow and the scale of the programme is still inadequate for a country with a population exceeding 220 million people.
At the same time, billions of naira are spent annually through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) on new buildings and foreign training programmes for university staff. While these initiatives have their benefits, a significant portion of these resources should be redirected toward establishing and equipping modern skill training centres within Nigerian universities. Such centres could provide hands-on training in manufacturing, technology, agriculture, digital innovation and technical trades, ensuring that graduates leave school with practical abilities that translate into employment or entrepreneurship.
Universities should establish well-equipped skill acquisition and innovation centres where students can learn practical trades alongside their academic studies. Skill training should become a mandatory component of university education so that every graduate leaves school with at least one marketable skill.
University curricula should also be reviewed to phase out programmes that contribute little to national development. At the same time, lecturers must undergo continuous professional development to enable them to deliver practical and industry-relevant training. Experienced industry professionals should be integrated into the educational system to complement academic instruction.
Furthermore, the establishment of properly equipped skill training centres should become a mandatory requirement for the accreditation of new universities. Any institution seeking approval to operate as a university must demonstrate its capacity to provide practical skill training for students.
Nigeria must abandon outdated educational models that no longer serve the needs of its society. Education should not merely produce graduates who spend years waiting for government jobs that may never come. Instead, it should produce innovators, technicians, entrepreneurs and skilled professionals capable of creating wealth and building industries.
No country can achieve meaningful development when millions of its young people spend nearly two decades in school only to graduate without employable skills. The time has come for Nigeria to rethink its educational philosophy and transform its universities into centres of innovation, productivity and skill development.
If decisive reforms are implemented, Nigeria can harness the energy, creativity and resilience of its youthful population and transform them into a powerful engine for national development.
Ismail Sani Writes from Abuja
