Capability Approach and Adult Education Policy Design in Nigeria: A Normative Framework

This study applies Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum's capability approach to develop a normative framework for adult education policy design in Nigeria, arguing that the capability perspective offers a more humane, comprehensive, and justice-oriented foundation for adult education policy than the dominant human capital framework. The human capital framework, which evaluates education investment by its returns in productivity and income, is the dominant rationale for adult education policy in Nigeria's development planning documents. The capability approach, by contrast, evaluates education by its contribution to expanding what people can be and do, addressing freedom, dignity, and flourishing beyond economic outcomes. This study applies philosophical analysis, comparative policy analysis, and empirical capabilities assessment to develop and test a Nigerian Adult Education Capability Framework. Empirical data on capabilities central to Nigerian adult education stakeholders are generated through deliberative focus groups with 150 adult learners, facilitators, and policymakers across six geopolitical zones. The deliberative findings are synthesised with capability approach theory to produce a Nigerian-specific list of educationally relevant capabilities. The framework is applied to critique current UBEC programme objectives and indicators. Findings reveal that Nigerian adult education policy overemphasises literacy and vocational skills as productivity inputs while neglecting capabilities including political agency, cultural participation, emotional health, and social affiliation that adult learners themselves prioritise. The study contributes an original Nigerian Adult Education Capability Framework and recommends its adoption as the normative foundation for the next National Adult Education Policy revision.

Keywords: capability approach, adult education policy, Nigeria, normative framework, human flourishing.