EDUCATION-DEVELOPMENT NEXUS: THE NIGERIA’S EXPERIENCE

Development as a concept and a process transcends individuals and society, thus, considered as a multidimensional process of change and transformation manifesting in economic growth, progress and prosperity in environmental, social, psychological, political and demographic components of society. It is about increasing the chances and improving the well-being of every individual to attain their full potentials in society, through human capital investment. Education has been equated to be the indisputable means of investing in people in order to explore their potentialities, creativity, innovation and self-consciousness. This conceptualises the concept of development as growth in the nation’s or societal income and economy with corresponding enhancement of material well-being of individuals in terms of basic necessities of life such as education, food, clothing, shelter, skills, freedom, self-discipline. It showcases some development issues in Nigeria and argued that provision of qualitative education to citizenry directly affects the level of society’s growth and development. The growth theory however lays emphasis on growth rate differentials across countries, the role of externalities in determining the rate of return on capital investments, and assuming that both public and private investments in human capital help in generating external economies and productivity improvements.