FUNCTIONAL LITERACY AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA: CHALLENGES AND POLICY DIRECTIONS TOWARD 2030

Abstract

Functional literacy refers to the application of reading, writing, numeracy, and increasingly, digital competencies in every sphere of human life. For Nigeria, with her large population, functional literacy is vital to human capital development, poverty reduction and democratic stability. Today, it is sad to observe that while enrolment in primary education has grossly increased, functional literacy acquisition is hampered. Furthermore, reports from UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (2023) identify Nigeria as one of the countries with the largest populations of illiterate adults globally. The global push by the United Nations in 2023 toward the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 4, which commits countries to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities reinforce the urgency for policy reforms to integrate literacy. This research, therefore, is aimed at investigating the place of functional literacy in national development, identifying those barriers to its achievement in contemporary Nigeria and suggesting viable measures to improve and implement the policies toward 2030. In view of this, the study adopts three sociological theories, the Functionalist theory founded by Emile Durkheim in the 20th Century which states that functional literacy is central to the achievement of the social, economical and political stability of any society. Theory of Human Capital by Gary Becker, Adam Smith and Theodore Schultz (1964) argues that literacy is central to labour productivity and modernization theory by Max Weber and Karl Max (1950) links literacy to democratic participation and social mobility. Data collected involved government reports, National Policy on Education and global reports on SDG 4, AU Agenda 2063.Findings show that there are challenges such as inequities, poor financing, weak teacher capacity, and lack of quality learning materials. The study, therefore, recommends evidence-informed policy directions; the alignment of functional literacy policy with labour-market demands, digital literacy frameworks, and inclusive financing mechanisms as indispensable tools for improving functional literacy and accelerating sustainable national development agenda via 2030.