Adult Education and Civic Participation in Local Government Areas of Cross River State

This study examines the relationship between adult education participation and civic engagement in local government areas of Cross River State, South South Nigeria. Civic participation, encompassing voting, community decision-making, and local governance engagement, is a cornerstone of democratic development. Adult education programmes that include civic literacy components have been theorised to improve political knowledge and participation among previously marginalised populations. This study uses a survey design, collecting data from 210 adult education graduates and non-participants in Calabar Municipal, Ogoja, and Bekwarra local government areas. Civic participation is measured using voting frequency, community meeting attendance, membership of community organisations, and political knowledge scores. Logistic regression and chi-square analysis are applied. Findings reveal that adult education graduates demonstrate significantly higher civic participation rates across all measured dimensions compared to non-participants. The strongest effects are observed in community meeting attendance and membership of women's associations, cooperative societies, and community development unions. Political knowledge scores are significantly higher among programme completers who received dedicated civic education modules. The study concludes that adult education programmes with explicit civic literacy content meaningfully improve community participation in Cross River State. It recommends that UBEC-funded adult education programmes in South South Nigeria incorporate structured civic education modules aligned with local governance realities to maximise civic empowerment outcomes.

Keywords: adult education, civic participation, local governance, Cross River State, civic literacy.