Financing Strategies for Sustainable Adult Education in Nigerian States: A Policy Review

This study reviews financing strategies for sustainable adult education in Nigerian states, examining the mix of government, donor, community, and private sector funding mechanisms and their adequacy for meeting national adult literacy targets. Nigeria's adult education system is chronically underfunded relative to need, with UBEC grant resources supplementing generally inadequate state government allocations. In the absence of sustainable domestic financing, adult education programmes are vulnerable to interruption when donor funding cycles end. This study uses document analysis of financing data from six states across Nigeria's geopolitical zones, covering budget allocations, UBEC matching grant performance, donor funding contributions, and community resource mobilisation records for 2018 to 2023. Key informant interviews with 30 education finance officials supplement the document analysis. Findings reveal that no state surveyed allocates more than 2 percent of its education budget to adult education, well below the UNESCO-recommended 3 to 5 percent. UBEC grant access is constrained by counterpart fund matching failures. Donor funding, while significant, is concentrated in a few states with active NGO ecosystems. Community resource contributions are informal and unreliable. The study concludes that current financing arrangements are structurally inadequate to meet adult literacy targets in any state studied. It recommends a National Adult Education Financing Framework that ring-fences minimum state budget allocations, rationalises UBEC grant criteria, and establishes public-private partnership mechanisms for supplementary adult education investment.

Keywords: adult education financing, sustainable funding, Nigerian states, UBEC grants, education budget.