INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA

This study examines the effect of investment in education on sustainable development in Nigeria. Education has been recognized globally as a veritable and strategic venture pivotal to the economic transformation of any nation. The study made use of secondary data sourced from the Ministry of Education, National Universities Commission (NUC) and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression method was used to analyze the data obtained to show the relationship between enrolments and funding. The result shows that the education sector contributes significantly to sustainable development as measured by the Gross Domestic Product although the sector is still underfunded most especially the basic and senior secondary levels in view of the geometric increase in yearly enrollments and poor infrastructural facilities. The study recommends that the government at all levels should invest more in education and also collaborate with the private sector through the Private Public Partnership (PPP) initiative to accumulate the much-needed funding that will pave way for technological development. It will also guard against brain-drain and significantly alleviate over-dependence on aids from the developed nations and educational organizations.