Reconstructing Nigeria’s educational ideals: a philosophical blueprint for sustainable policy reform

Abstract

Relevance. Nigeria’s education system, once envisioned as a transformative tool for national development, has suffered persistent policy inconsistencies, underfunding, and ideological disorientation. Despite successive reforms – ranging from the Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme of 1999 to the current National Policy on Education (NPE, 2013), the nation continues to witness low literacy rates, infrastructural decay, and declining moral standards. The purpose of this paper is to interrogate the philosophical roots of Nigeria’s educational crises and proposes a reconstructive framework anchored on indigenous humanism, ethical reorientation, and epistemic relevance. Methods. Employing the method of critical and conceptual analysis, the study explores how the disjunct between Nigeria’s educational ideals and its socio-cultural realities fosters a cyclical paradox. Novelty. Findings reveal that Nigeria’s educational vision remains largely derivative, imported, and detached from local epistemologies. The study reconstructs the normative foundations of education by integrating African communitarian ethics with Deweyan pragmatism, thereby outlining a blueprint for sustainable reform. Conclusion. The paper advocates a reconstruction that emphasises education for moral character, civic responsibility, and productive self-reliance rather than mere credentialism. The study concludes that without a philosophically grounded educational ideal – rooted in African humanism and practical rationality – Nigeria’s reforms will remain cyclical and ineffective. It recommends a triadic reform approach: reorientation of educational purpose, realignment of policy with indigenous values, and restoration of philosophy as the moral compass of educational design.