In some sub-Saharan African countries, only one in three adults aged over 15 is literate. This number is determined by the rate at which individuals in different age groups understand simple general statements. The global literacy rate shows massive discrepancies between the rates in North America and Sub-Saharan Africa, as both occupy the opposing sides of the scale. North America has the lowest illiteracy rate, while sub-Saharan Africa has the highest adult illiteracy rate. In 2022, the global literacy rate was 87.01%, while the illiteracy rate in North America and sub-Saharan Africa was 1.36% and 32.28%, respectively.

The World Economic Forum notes that global literacy growth has gradually risen over the last few years, yet sub-Saharan Africa still presents the worst rates globally. In 2016, the adult literacy rate was 65%, while the youth literacy rate was 75%. By 2024, the figure had increased significantly to 86.3% for both sexes, with males presenting a rate of 90% and females 82.7%. Also, the gender distribution of literacy rates in many countries places women at a disadvantage. In 2020, global adult literacy rates were 90% for males and 87% for females.

A 2024 survey shows that the literacy rate for developed nations consistently stood at 96% for adults, while the least developed countries presented an average of 65%. Nigeria’s literacy rate in 2010 was 68.11%, but by 2021, it had grown by 13.9% to 77.62%. The latest data on Nigeria’s literacy rate in 2024 shows 59.57%. The chart below shows a steady but slow increase in the literacy rate in Nigeria.

How Can Nigeria’s Literacy Rate Be Improved?

Illiteracy is caused by several factors, including lack of access to education emanating from poverty, low enrollment rates, lack of adequate teaching and learning facilities for People with Disabilities (PwDs), lack of education funding/allocation, and outbreaks of conflict and violence. These factors make educational institutions unsafe for students and tutors to use. For this article, emphasis will be placed on low enrollment rates, outbreaks of conflict and violence, and domestication of the provisions of the Safe Schools Declaration.

Enhancing educational enrollment and implementing strategies to protect education from conflict is necessary for Nigeria's literacy rate to rise. In addition, intensifying the domestication of the provisions of the Safe Schools Declaration would go a long way in making educational institutions safe for teaching and learning.

• Increased Enrollment Rates: Although literacy is not significant to a given society's educated population, education has made the northern region a considerable contributor to the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria. Consequently, UNICEF has advocated for stakeholders in all the local government areas (LGAs) in the 12 northern states to ensure that over 2.1 million children contribute to the literacy rate. The more people enroll in schools, the greater their chances of becoming literate. With over 12 million out-of-school children, UNESCO notes that Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest level of education exclusion. More than one-fifth of children (6 and 11 years) and one-third of youths (12 and 14 years) are out of school, while over 47 million youth (ages 15-24) and over 180 million adults are illiterate. This devastating statistic shows that Sub-Saharan African countries need to tighten and strengthen their education policies to necessitate increased enrollment with each academic session.

One in three children in Nigeria is out of school (OOS). A closer look at the data shows that over 18 million OOS children are in basic education—10.2 million at the elementary/primary level and 8.1 million at the junior secondary school level. According to UNICEF, Nigeria has the largest number of out-of-school children, with over 18.3 million children not enrolled. While over 12.4 million children are reported to have never been inside a classroom, 5.9 million students are estimated to drop out.

As a result, the government continues to work towards achieving its plan to reduce OOS children by 15 million by 2027 and to increase the primary school enrollment rate to 90% by 2030.

• Improved Efforts to Keep Education Safe from Conflict: Conflict should be tackled because violence increases illiteracy rates. Violence affects many parts of Africa, and according to UNICEF, three in 10 young people (ages 15–24) in conflict-stricken or disaster-prone areas are illiterate. The World Bank’s latest report shows that Chad (27%) and Niger (38%) have the highest level of youth illiteracy in Africa.

A study shows that less than 30% of children in conflict-affected or warring countries can complete primary education. Since primary school is the stage where the foundation of literacy is laid, this impacts the literacy rate in these countries. UNICEF notes that every child needs primary education to grasp basic foundational literacy and mathematical skills.

According to the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, Nigeria is one of the many countries that witnessed a series of attacks on education. Between 2020 and 2021, over 1,980 students and educators were harmed, over 1,400 students were abducted, and several educational structures were destroyed as a result of violence. According to the 2022 "Education Under Attack" report, there were six attacks on education per day on average, with women and girls reported as the major victims. Likewise, schoolboys are often coerced or dragged into conflicts as militias or into the national army.

Many schools in northern Nigeria are affected by violence, and this has made the region the major contributor to the number of OOS in Nigeria. Consequently, UNICEF has advocated for stakeholders in all the local government areas (LGAs) in the 12 northern states to ensure that over 2.1 million children are enrolled in school.

• Intensify the domestication of the provisions of the Safe Schools Declaration: The Safe Schools Declaration, which emphasised global commitment to protect educators, students, and educational structures from the worst effects of armed violence, is a significant achievement in promoting global literacy. Upon its introduction in 2015, the UN member states were urged to protect education in armed conflict and to ensure that teaching and learning were not cut off in any social unrest. In 2018, Nigeria endorsed the School Safety Declaration (SSD), yet by 2021, 627 children in the northcentral had been displaced as a result of armed conflict; 1,446 students and 24 school personnel were abducted in the northwest; 51 schools attacked, and  10% of the schools accessed (64 schools) by a UNICEF survey were attacked by suicide bombers.

The Way Forward

The Nigerian government will have to take certain steps to shrink the widening gap between the literacy rate in Nigeria and other countries. First, the government should ensure stakeholders have easy access to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) fund. As of July 2024, 27 states could not assess a total of N 54.9 billion in UBEC funds, and at the time of writing this article, no updates have been made on this issue. This is due to the inability of the said states to comply with Section 11(2) of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) 2004 Act, which stipulates that to be eligible to access any government educational development project, states must provide a minimum of 50% of the overall project cost. This is to show its commitment to the actualisation of the project.

Second, more attention should be placed on conflict-prone areas. It is one thing to put them on the education emergency radar and another to transform societies to ensure that violence does not affect the few educational structures available in such places. Also, the Nigerian government would have to increase its efforts to eradicate the threat to education to ensure improved literacy rates. Strategic efforts should be taken to shield education in these areas from violent attacks and to ensure continuous access to teaching and learning opportunities for people in these vulnerable areas.

Finally, the government should increase support and reinforce informal education and unconventional teaching methods for accelerated education, which would help affected persons in conflict-prone or affected areas to become literate.

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