Structural Determinants of Adult Education Inequality in Nigeria: A Multi-Level Analysis

This study conducted a multi-level analysis of structural determinants of adult education inequality across Nigeria, examining individual, household, community, and state-level factors that systematically stratify adult education access and outcomes. Adult education inequality in Nigeria is a complex, multiply determined phenomenon whose structural dimensions have not been empirically analysed at multiple levels of analysis simultaneously, representing a significant gap in national adult education scholarship. Using data from the Nigeria Living Standards Survey and Nigeria Education Data Survey supplemented by original data collection across purposively selected communities in all six geopolitical zones, the study applied hierarchical linear modelling and multilevel logistic regression to decompose variance in adult education participation and completion outcomes. Approximately 34 percent of variance in adult education participation was attributable to state-level structural factors including state GDP per capita, adult education budget share, and non-formal education infrastructure density. Household-level poverty and gender role norms explained an additional 28 percent of individual participation variance. Community-level social capital and geographic remoteness accounted for 18 percent. The study reveals that structural inequality in adult education operates through multiple hierarchically nested mechanisms, necessitating multi-level policy responses that simultaneously address individual capacity, household constraints, community barriers, and state-level resource allocation failures. Original contributions include the first published multi-level model of adult education inequality in Nigeria and a structural inequality index calculable at state level for policy benchmarking. Keywords: adult education inequality, multi-level analysis, structural determinants, Nigeria, educational equity.