The Politics of German Language Programme Funding in Nigerian Universities: A Political Economy Analysis

This study analyses the political economy of German language programme funding in Nigerian federal universities, examining how budgetary decisions, external funding dependencies, bilateral political relationships, and institutional interests intersect to shape the resources, staffing, and sustainability of German language education. While the academic and professional value of German language education in Nigeria has been documented, the political and economic conditions that determine whether German language departments receive adequate support remain critically underexamined. The study adopts a critical political economy framework and employs a combination of documentary analysis of university budgetary records and governmental education funding reports spanning 2015 to 2024, in-depth interviews with 25 university administrators, German department heads, and bilateral education funding representatives, and comparative case analysis of German language departments in three federal universities in different geopolitical zones. Findings reveal that German language programmes are consistently underfunded relative to science and technology departments, and that the bulk of German language departmental resources derive from external German institutional funding through DAAD and the Goethe-Institut rather than from Nigerian federal allocations. This external dependency creates vulnerabilities related to shifting German foreign aid priorities and bilateral diplomatic relationships. The study develops a political economy model of foreign language programme sustainability and proposes a national funding framework. Keywords: political economy, German language programmes, funding, Nigerian universities, DAAD.