EFFECT OF POLITICAL INSTABILITY ON IMPLEMENTATION OF NIGERIA POLICY ON SECONDARY SCHOOL
EDUCATION
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The problem of political instability on implementation of Nigeria policy on secondary education cannot be fully comprehended without briefly highlighting the circumstances and environment within which education system functions.
Education cannot be divorced from politics because, one of the crucial issues characterized in the relationship between education and politic, is the likelihood for the political powers to use the educational system as the main instrument for promoting the political interest, the values and beliefs of the government in power. This is why any political group that comes into power quickly punches on the educational system by way of promising great expansion and support for education, dictates what the schools should be and not. It is possible that in some cases, the goals and interests which the political powers may want to provide may or may not be ideal for the society. But the educational system by virtue of its political context must follow itself to the new demands of the government in power. Be that as it may, Nigeria as an environment within which our educational system functions today was founded by Mrs. Flora Shaw, a wife of Frederick
Lugard. This entity described as Nigeria today begins with the amalgamation at Lagos by John De Cra in 1951. Nigeria has been regarded as the early twentieth century colony that gained her independent in 1960 and became a republic nation in 1963. That is a nation without a monarch as the head. Moreover, Nigeria is popularly known as multi-ethnic society due to various groups with different speaking languages that live within its borders such as ethnic, religious and linguistics groups. Among these groups there are dominants ones; Hausa in the Northern region, Yoruba in the Western region and Igbo in the Eastern region. Among the minor ones are Ijaw, Ibibio. According to Ikelegbe (2004) the Nigeria-colonial state that the British set up emerged from conquest, force subjugation and domination. It did not flow from the people that were compelled to be Nigeria and they did not have any role to play in it for a long time. It was therefore an alien contraption.