The Nigerian Publishers Association (NPA) has appealed to the Federal Government to review its proposed textbook ranking policy, emphasizing the need for broader stakeholder consultation and transparency before implementation. NPA National President, Mr. Lukman Dauda, made the appeal while addressing journalists in Lagos on issues affecting the book industry, education, publishing, and the future of learning in Nigeria.
Dauda stated that while the association supports reforms aimed at improving quality, accountability, and learning outcomes, the ranking aspect could introduce unintended consequences for the publishing industry and textbook access across the country. He recalled that the Federal Ministry of Education, through the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), announced the policy on April 27 as part of efforts to standardize textbook selection nationwide.
According to Dauda, the policy was presented as a measure to improve learning outcomes by ensuring only selected textbooks are adopted in schools. Following the announcement, the NPA studied the proposal and rejected it, raising objections to the ranking framework. After the rejection, the NPA welcomed NERDC's invitation for engagement, hoping that meaningful consultation could address concerns and lead to a balanced policy outcome.
The engagement provided additional details on the proposed implementation framework and timelines. Dauda explained that publishers would be required to submit books for assessment after paying prescribed fees, and only submissions meeting the minimum threshold would proceed to a ranking stage where books are placed in order of preference. He noted that implementation timelines were fixed before stakeholder consultations concluded, raising concerns about whether contributions from publishers and other stakeholders would meaningfully influence the final policy.
The NPA President maintained that the existing textbook evaluation process conducted by NERDC has provided an objective framework for assessing instructional materials over the years. He argued that the current system should be strengthened rather than replaced entirely. "Where weaknesses exist within the current evaluation framework, they should be addressed through improvements instead of introducing a ranking system with unintended consequences," Dauda stated.
He reminded that Nigeria's educational environment differs significantly from countries where similar ranking policies have been adopted. Nigeria has about 60 million students and more than 200 active educational publishers serving learners across public and private schools nationwide. "Nigeria's educational realities require solutions tailored to our circumstances rather than direct adoption of models developed for smaller and less complex systems," he said.
Dauda warned that ranking textbooks could create market distortions by concentrating opportunities among a limited number of publishers at the expense of others. Such an outcome could discourage investment in educational publishing, reduce competition among firms, and negatively affect employment within the educational publishing sector and related industries such as printing, distribution, and bookselling.
The NPA President also noted that many publishing firms are still aligning learning materials with the newly introduced national curriculum, which was rolled out barely seven months ago. Adequate transition periods are required for implementation so that publishers can revise, develop, and produce books that fully reflect the new curriculum content. Dauda expressed concerns that limited implementation timelines combined with a ranking system could create shortages of textbooks if only a few publishers are expected to meet nationwide demand.
He said no small group of publishers could realistically produce and distribute sufficient quantities of books for 60 million students within a short period, and such a situation would worsen access problems for schools, teachers, and parents. He also raised constitutional questions, noting that education falls within the Concurrent Legislative List of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, requiring cooperation between the federal government and state governments on education policy. Dauda asked whether adequate consultation had been undertaken with state governments before the federal government moved to dictate textbook selection through a ranking system.
On affordability, Dauda questioned whether assessment and ranking charges to be paid by publishers could increase costs within the educational value chain and ultimately affect parents and students. He said any reform aimed at improving access and affordability should carefully examine policies capable of increasing costs across the educational ecosystem, from production to distribution to retail. As an alternative to ranking, Dauda proposed maintaining rigorous evaluation standards while approving all textbooks that successfully meet prescribed national curriculum requirements and benchmarks.
Dauda concluded by calling on the Federal Ministry of Education, NERDC, state governments, educators, school proprietors, parents, and other stakeholders to sustain dialogue before implementing the policy. He said inclusive consultation would help develop reforms that address quality concerns while protecting the diversity, competitiveness, and sustainability of Nigeria's educational publishing industry.
