Abstract
The focus of this paper is educating the rural women for sustainable development; reassessing Nigeria’s First Ladies’ pet projects, 1983-2008. Though an ambiguous term, difficult to define coherently, Sustainable Development has been defined as the “ability to make development sustainable”. This paper, therefore, discussed the efforts and achievements of Nigeria’s First Ladies at improving a lot of the rural women through formal, non-formal and vocational education which they do by instituting various programmes referred to as pet projects. It looked at the sustainability of the development that took place in the rural areas in these years. For an objective assessment of these projects, written documents were collected and oral interviews were conducted. While applauding the efforts of these ladies, some flaws at the level of implementation and, especially, the incessant change of government had not allowed consolidation of achievements for sustainable development. Recommendations were also made to make such projects relevant for sustainable development and impact the lives of rural women and the society at large.
Akanbi, G. O. (2010). Educating the rural women for sustainable development: Reassessing Nigeria’s First Ladies’ ‘pet projects’ 1983 – 2008. African Journal of Historical Sciences in Education, 6(1), 5-19. (A Journal of Historians of Education Development Society of Nigeria)