Adult Education, Democratic Citizenship, and Political Engagement in Nigeria: A Longitudinal Study

This study provides a longitudinal investigation of the relationship between adult education participation, democratic citizenship development, and political engagement in Nigeria, contributing to the globally limited longitudinal evidence on this relationship and the first such study in the Nigerian context. Adult education theory posits that education for democratic citizenship produces informed, critically engaged, and active citizens who contribute to democratic deepening. In Nigeria, where democratic consolidation remains fragile and civic participation is constrained by disillusionment, poverty, and limited rights awareness, adult education's citizenship education potential is particularly important. This study follows 400 adult education programme participants and a matched comparison group of 200 non-participants across all six geopolitical zones over three years, collecting data on democratic citizenship knowledge, civic engagement behaviour, political efficacy, and political participation at baseline, 12 months, and 36 months. Fixed effects panel regression, growth curve modelling, and instrumental variable estimation are applied. Findings reveal that adult education participation produces significant positive trajectories in civic knowledge and political efficacy over three years, with the effect accelerating after 24 months of programme exposure. Voting participation and community meeting attendance show significant programme effects at 36 months but not at 12 months, confirming a lagged behavioural change pathway. Civic education programme content quality moderates the citizenship effect, with explicitly rights-based content producing stronger effects than functional literacy-only programmes. The study contributes original longitudinal evidence on adult education's citizenship development pathway and recommends civic education as a mandatory module in all Nigerian adult education programmes.

Keywords: democratic citizenship, adult education, political engagement, longitudinal study, Nigeria.