Social order, education and democracy in Nigeria: Some unresolved questions

Abstract

The democratization drive in contemporary Nigeria is undoubtedly, a serious project. Education of the citizenry is pivotal in this process. To be more succinct, the efficacy of democratization drive, including its sustainability, is unquestionably dependent on the enabling capacity provided by education. It is this enormous potential of education that makes it prone to manipulation by powerful forces to serve vested interest - a trend that is increasingly being reinforced in contemporary times. This trend calls for proper analysis, about which efforts have been made. However, the tendency is for most analyses on education and democracy to be rendered in a manner that ignores the character of social order, which affects and is affected by education and democracy. This paper is a departure from this trend. Orthodoxy is challenged by showing the nexus and interface between social order, education and democracy in Nigeria. It is argued that, in the final analysis, the social order, more than anything else, determines the kind of education and democracy a society gets. With a focus on Nigeria, the paper raises some questions begging for answers: Is the provision and acquisition of education a neutral issue? Is the status quo, in terms of content and direction of education, appropriate for our purpose? To what use have powerful social and political forces put education; for meaningful and sustainable democracy or self-serving class end? These and other questions forms part of the unresolved questions this paper attempts to deal with. Key words: Social order, education, democracy.