Optimizing Adult and Community Education for Actualizing Millennium Development Goals: The Nigerian Case

Developing communities: serving ACE through tertiary education

“…There is also stark acknowledgement of the deficiencies and the inabilities of educational and political systems in countries like Nigeria to meet the challenges of realizing the United Nations eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015 (Akandi and Awolowo, 2008). These eight goals include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and empowering women; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development.…”

“…Key features of ACE at an international level have been aptly summarized as follows:Dynamic, as it is rooted in the society it serves; continuous, because it draws from the cultural gains of society; functional, in that it offers the tool by which the individual is able to advance himself, his family and his community; democratic, because it gives equal learning opportunity to all; holistic, because it takes care of the whole person, his physical, emotional and psychological needs, civic and political responsibilities; efficient, as it serves the needs of the communities; diversified in terms of purposes, location, structures, processes of provision and funding sources (Akandi and Awolowo, 2008, p. 216).…”

“…Perhaps the tertiary sector could greatly assist by integrating and coordinating its own efforts at professional education across the many disciplines required for solving the problems inherent in the eight MDGs. Akandi and Awolowo (2008) argued that there is a serious need for integrating indigenous ACE with formal and current educational systems in order to achieve the MDGs in Nigeria. This paper takes this suggestion further by indicating that tertiary institutions are already assisting in the realization of the MDGs through their professional development degrees and awards and this effort could be enhanced if they become more purposeful and coordinated with ACE internationally.…”