Reconceptualising Education for Sustainable Development in Post-colonial Nigeria under the Nyesom Wike’s Administration, 2015-2023

Abstract

The global context of education has brought a new attention to education policy and practice. This ‘global character’ of contemporary education has become evident in educational policy and discourse, including the practice of teaching development education, and education for sustainable development. The education of today is crucial to enhancing the ability of the leaders and citizens of tomorrow to create solutions and find new path to a better, more sustainable future. However, the Nigerian state, in the early post-colonial dispensation in comparison with its counterparts in sub-Saharan Africa, could not perform creditably well in the area of making education to be sustainable. Aim of this paper is to see how in the real democratic governance system good leaders need to enhance good quality education which would further lead to an increased economic growth because the Sustainable Development Goals decided by the United Nations include a goal centred on learners gaining the necessary knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development. The paper employed the use of primary and secondary sources as its methodology in examining Nyesom Wike’s administration reform processes within education and education for sustainable development. It submits that education is central to learning and to a more sustainable future and that the responsibility for a more sustainable future is borne by governments, civil society and individuals. Therefore, the paper recommends that government has to pay due attention to the development of education across all levels so that education will keep empowering learners to assume responsibility for creating and enjoying a sustainable future