Political education through the university: a survey of Nigerian university students

Abstract

The higher institutions are known for where ideologies are formed. They also serve as instruments of motivating
students. Tertiary education in particular is fundamental to the construction of knowledge and knowledge itself has
become a vital factor for political education. Nigerian students are politically active and have in no small measure
influenced policies within their universities and in the nation as a whole. Nigerian universities have produced a lot of
activists that are presently influencing the Nigerian political landscape. These activists have been known to have
developed their political ideologies and activism while in the university. The major objective of this study is to
determine whether in reality universities play a role in political education of students. A number of factors, such as,
curriculum, media, peer influence and lecturers’ influence are also used to determine the agents of political
socialization of the students within the university. The study also highlighted which of the agents seem to have the
greatest impact on the students’ political education within the university. The study design is survey research using
a questionnaire tagged “Political Education of Students in the University” (PESUQ). The study population is
Obafemi Awolowo University. The university is selected because it is deemed to be one of the most politically active
among Nigerian universities. The study sample is 1,000 students. 536 new students and 464 old students were
selected through a disproportionate stratified random sampling. The questionnaire is divided into two sections. The
first section is the personal data of students while the second section addresses students’ agents of political
education.The study was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics; such as mean, frequency, T-test and
chi-square to test relationships, using the SPSS package. Findings revealed that the students are politically
influenced in the university system. However, more old than new are influenced. In the same to the male students
are more politically socialised than female. It was also found that the main agents of students’ political education
are the curriculum, the students union and the lecturers.