The changing face of agricultural education in Nigeria: challenges and prospects

Education as a philosophical concept has been difficult to define. What is education? What is Education meant to do in/ and for people and how do we know that education is taking place or has taken place? These are pertinent questions which are generally asked. Answers to these questions have over the time varied from one culture to another and even in the same culture varied over time. Generally, education and the educative process remain dynamic; consequently, the expected end of education and the educative process remains for life now and preparation for future living. Education for future living is embedded in futuristic conception of the immediate culture and projection of what type of life is expected of the learners or young recruits of the society. Futuristic education has gained attention of many scholars (Toffler, 1974; Kauffman, 1976; Peretomode, 1993; Igborgbor, 2000 and Egun, 2009).

One of the cultural values Nigerian education is expected to transmit is the learning, training and practice of Agriculture. Agriculture most times described as the mother of all sciences has occupied man for a very long time as he depended on it for most of his primary needs--food and shelter. Other sciences which emerged from Agriculture--Chemistry, Biology, even Physics and Mathematics including the Social Science of Economics have all reversed to influence the growth, development and practice of their parent science. Education in Agriculture and Agricultural Education has come a long way in Nigeria. Agricultural practices ab initio in Nigeria has been a way of life passed from parent to the young through imitation or what may appropriately be regarded as apprenticeship mode of teaching (Fafunwa, 1974). Common features of this type of agricultural practice remain peasantry, subsistence and most especially being dominated by aged people. This feature and it's implication long attracted the attention of Mama (1991) when he stated that there is the danger that Nigeria might face near extinction of its farming population resulting from incapacitation of her farmers by age and death.