Put social scientists at centre of national planning for evidence-based policies, SSAN tells FG

The Social Science Academy of Nigeria (SSAN) has asked the federal government to place social scientists at the centre of national planning.

Chike Okolocha, president of SSAN, spoke in Abuja at the opening of the academy’s 2025 general assembly, themed ‘Nigeria After 1999: New contestations and transformation’.

Okolocha said Nigeria’s social, economic and security challenges require expert analysis and data-driven responses, not assumptions.

“Nigeria has competent social scientists who can see beyond narrow political constrictions to formulate genuine evidence-based policy options,” he said.

He said the government is sliding into an “anti-intellectual posture”, with policies and public remarks increasingly disconnected from research.

Okolocha referenced the 1982 removal of history from the curriculum and the 2019 claim that Nigeria had “too many doctors” as examples of decisions made without expert consultation.

He also faulted the recent comment by the minister of education that Nigeria had “too many social scientists” and should discontinue social science courses.

“If we are to reverse civic incompetence and irresponsibility, Nigeria needs to produce more social scientists, not fewer,” he added.

Okolocha expressed concern over the instability in universities, blaming recurring industrial disputes and poor funding for undermining knowledge production.

He questioned the proliferation of new universities despite declining admission standards, noting that falling cut-off marks contradict claims of an oversupply of qualified candidates.

He also faulted the recent reversal of the national language policy, which promoted mother-tongue instruction in early childhood education, noting that it was developed over a decade of expert consultations and had been adopted by several African countries.

Okolocha reaffirmed SSAN’s commitment to producing research to guide governance, saying Nigeria must embrace expert knowledge to address its development challenges.

Presenting the keynote address, Adam Ahmed, professor of security history and international studies at the National Defence College (NDC), said Nigeria’s shift from military to civilian rule remains constrained by authoritarian legacies.

He described the country’s transformation as “unfinished” and one shaped by ongoing tensions between democratic processes and illiberal practices.