INNOVATION IN FINANCING GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN 21st CENTURYNIGERIA

It is a common knowledge that governments of various nations particularly developing countries including Nigeria find it difficult to dedicate 26% of their annual budgets to education as specified by United Nations Education Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) standard, hence it is obvious that such governments can no longer adequately fund education to meet the desired sustainable development of the 21st century. Therefore, there is the increasing need for collaboration between public and private entities to ensure education is well funded to meet the expectations of citizens. It is against this background that this paper focuses on “Innovation in Financing Geography Education in Nigeria for Sustainable Development in the 21st Century”. In order to achieve this goal, the paper highlighted the concepts of innovation in financing education, geography and education. Similarly, the paper looked at the role of geography education in the society and the concept of sustainable development. Also discussed were innovation in financing geography education for sustainable development and challenges that limit the level of innovation in financing geography education in Nigeria. The paper concluded that to achieve sustainable development through innovative financing in geography education more mobilization of resources through existing and new financial sources must be adopted going forward. Amongst others it was recommended that the government should create an enabling environment for a more holistic collaboration between the public and private sectors in order to enhance and improve geography education to meet the challenges of the 21st century.