Abstract

Education remains the key to human development. It is seen as the driving force for meaningful developments in
every human society. The goal of any educational system is to provide or develop a balanced individual capable
of surviving in his environment and contributing meaningfully towards the survival of that society to which
he belongs. Adult education is one of the principal professions that can take adequate care of socio-economic,
cultural political and environmental problems of the adults. The success of adult education in terms of
achieving its goals as stated in the National Policy on Education cannot be over-emphasized. Adult education
changes the social and psychological minds of adults more than any other profession, instills lost hope in
them and liberates them from their prejudice of seeing themselves as not beings that are capable of learn.
Consequently, this paper appraised the difficulties of adult education in Nigeria. The paper maintained that in
present times, there are better prospects for adult education to move forward with globalization trends, because
the key to the development of any nation lies in the quality of adults that nation has. It is the adults who will
transform the nation, not the children. Therefore in conclusion, adult education must be a pacesetter to other
professions in the developmental drive of any nation. Similarly, policy makers and the planners of adult education
programmes in Nigeria need to incorporate innovations into adult education, while government should as well
provide adequate funds to take care of adult literacy.