Implementing Nigeria’s Universal Basic Education Act: The Case of Adamawa State

Nigeria’s Universal Basic Education Act, 2004 (UBE Act) states that basic education should be free, compulsory and universal. (UBE Act, 2004). However, its implementation in Adamawa State has been significantly disrupted by the Boko Haram insurgency, which has caused mass internal displacement. The return and resettlement of previously displaced communities provide opportunities to implement the Act fully, and in doing so to improve access to and the quality and continuity of education in the State.

The Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC) programme considers existing factors influencing educational provision at policy and local levels in areas affected by conflict and crisis. The programme aims to guide interventions that will improve policy-practice coherence, which will lead to greater access to and improved quality and continuity of education in these contexts. Nigeria is one of six countries involved in the research programme. The focus here is on the factors that enable or hinder the implementation of the UBE Act in Adamawa State.

There has been very limited research to date on the provision of basic education in this context of return and resettlement, which limits the opportunities for policy-makers and others to make evidence-informed decisions on basic education. ERICC seeks to fill this research and knowledge gap.

This policy brief summarises the findings, implications and recommendations of research conducted in Madagali Local Government Area (LGA) in northern Adamawa State. A comprehensive evidence review was conducted to identify evidence gaps (Mishra et al., 2023), complemented by extensive consultations with federal and local stakeholders in Nigeria (Akogun et al., 2023) to understand the educational context in Adamawa and draw out recommendations. Further research will inform the design of interventions to improve the provision of basic education in the State.