CLASS RELATIONS IN EDUCATIONAL DYNAMICS: A DIALECTICAL MATERIALIST INQUIRY INTO EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE WITHIN NIGERIA’S CAPITALIST FORMATION

Abstract

This dialectical materialist study examines class relations and internal contradictions in Nigeria’s educational dynamics within its peripheral capitalist formation, analysing secondary evidence across three questions: dialectical stratification by class; material interactions reproducing antagonisms; and historical political-economic shaping of relations and future contradictions. Analysis of policy documents, national statistics, international reports, and scholarly studies (1960–2026) paints a picture that is chiefly defined by persistent paradoxes. Despite formal universalisation (UBE Act 2004), ≈10.5–18 million children remain out of school, with private schools growing 39% (2017–2022) while public provision stagnates, in the process deepening commodification. Almajiri exclusion (≈9.5 million children), graduate informalisation (e.g., commercial motorcycling) and post-2023 subsidy shocks are all factors that have accentuated class-mediated absenteeism and marginalisation. Historically, gains have repeatedly been repeatedly negated. The negated gains include, but are not limited to, post-independence expansion entrenched disparities; structural adjustment retrenched funding; neoliberal reforms marketised access; post-UBE enrolment rose amid quality decline; and the contemporary crisis (2016–2026)-induced acceleration of youth exclusion amid capitalist volatility. The study, grounded in Marxist reproduction theories and dependency perspectives, argues an important point: incremental, access-focused reforms are insufficient and highlights the need for equitable public investment, strengthened regulation of private provision, targeted household support, closer alignment between education and labour markets, and the integration of education policy with broader poverty reduction and social protection strategies.