DANGER OF GROWING ILLITERACY IN NIGERIA.

The high rate of illiteracy partly accounts for the low level of development.
The National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-formal Education (NMEC), said recently that 35 per cent of the nation’s adult population was illiterate, and it has remained high because efforts being made to address the situation has never yielded the expected result. 
Considering the funds and efforts that the country has devoted to various mass literacy programmes, including the Universal Primary Education (UPE) Scheme that was launched with fanfare about 33 years ago, in 1976, it is indeed worrying that a high number of the nation’s population still wallows in illiteracy.
According to NMEC, literacy rate is the percentage of people from the age of 15 and above who can read and write simple statements on their everyday life. NMEC therefore considers it ‘shameful’ that in the 21st century, a country could have that number of illiterates and tasked states to ensure that the 774 local government areas were well equipped and empowered to improve literacy levels.
Nigeria’s literacy figures do not give cause for cheer when juxtaposed with literacy figures of countries, and the importance of education as the engine for national development. Literacy rates in countries like Cuba, Poland, and Estonia are as high as 99.8 per cent, while Barbados, Latvia and Slovenia have attained 99.7 per cent, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Report (2007/2008). That report put Nigeria’s literacy rate at 69.1 per cent.
What many do not know is that the high rate of illiteracy partly accounts for the low level of development in Nigeria, because the growth and development of any nation depend largely on the quantity and quality of all segments of its population. It is not that government is not doing anything. Over the years there had been serious efforts by the government to boost literacy level, with the setting up of strategic institution, commission and centres for learning across the nation.
But while some states indeed have worked hard to raise the literacy level among its population by ensuring that the dedicated centres are functional and that the target persons are aware of their existence, others have merely paid lip service to the burden.
Nevertheless, the aim of such institutions, agencies and centres are sometimes misunderstood because many of them have veered away from their responsibilities to the detriment of functional literacy population.  
Nigeria’s illiteracy rate burden, experts would say aptly supports the argument that the neglect of teachers and education has dire consequences for the populace. When education is neglected, a greater number of the people end up as illiterates who can contribute little or nothing to the development of society.
Literacy is so critical to national development that it should, perhaps, be considered only as next to health. It is tied to the quality of life of a people.
Also, the advantage of having a literate population is self-evident, as it will among many things enable the country to conserve resources. During elections, for example, the country shouldn’t spend much resource in advertisement. Having said this, we reiterate here that there is a need for investment in formal basic education, youth and adult literacy and non-formal education, in order to ensure that children, youth and adults have access to adequate educational opportunities, which will help them develop their literacy skills.
For now, Nigerian government is not doing enough in funding education, compared to countries like United Kingdom, Finland and Singapore. Even when the government cannot do it alone, it should be the greatest motivator and driver. With proper funding and education made compulsory, Nigeria’s literacy rate will definitely improve in the future.