European Journal of Education Studies ISSN: 2501 - 1111 ISSN-L: 2501 - 1111 Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu Volume 3 │ Issue 8 │ 2017 doi: 10.5281/zenodo.852530 POLITICS OF ADULT EDUCATION IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD Oluremi Eyitayo Oni Department of Continuing Education & Extension Services, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria Abstract: Politics in Adult Education involves ways in which knowledge is acquired, the dispensing of the knowledge and how to make use of it under different situations. Oni (2017} acknowledged the centrality of knowledge to education. Besides the sponsorship of diverse information, knowledge helps to check wastages, conservativeness in one hand, and on the other hand, promotes the ability to function better. As a field of education concerned with serving the populace with education this paper considers politics in Adult Education in the light of the potentials of positive transformational ability of education. This is exemplified under different sub-headings like, the historical and contemporary adult education, political aspects of adult education, suitable adult education programmes for a community what could promote political stability, and the place of distance learning. Keywords: adult education, contemporary world, education programmes 1. Introduction The ultimate end of education cannot be overestimated. Among these are selfimprovement, self-discovery and the ability to priorities and look for resources that are needed for one self. The primary concern of education is the seeking of knowledge and showing how best to maximise such knowledge for personal benefits, family improvement, community development and the general benefit of humanity and other living beneficiaries. This is to say that, education has a direct and indirect influence on character modification. Every potential in a person is prompted to its optimal level of performance (Oni, 2003). Politics in adult education involves interactive ways in Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. © 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group 729 Oluremi Eyitayo Oni POLITICS OF ADULT EDUCATION IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD knowledge acquisition, the dispersing of the knowledge gained and how to make use of it. That is why as educated people, our approach to issues is based on knowledge. This knowledge helps to check wastages in human efforts, money and other resources. That is why literacy is important to knowledge while ignorance slows down and in some cases even prevents progress. Literacy promotes increase in knowledge at a more rapid way than illiteracy. Illiteracy is very dogmatic, extremely conservative and does not easily adapt to changes even when such changes are necessary. Illiteracy often includes inability to read, write or compute in any known language. Even though illiteracy is not synonymous to stupidity, nevertheless it limits its victims to a world of ignorance and incapacitates them from discovering and developing their potentials to full capacity. Reading and writing helps those so endowed to improve on their mental acuity and other natural and acquirable endowments. One functions better as a social being as a result of the ability to read coded information and to express oneself via writing. These promote confidentiality, better and refined self-expression. Similarly, where the people are literate and could read, it will be difficult to manipulate or cheat them. Adult education tries to balance the system by ensuring that people have what to do and engage them whether literate or illiterate: vocational, spot and other activities that will make individual to relevantly get involved in one’s community. All activities at the disposal of the people in the community are meant to have them meaningfully engaged: active at work-place, preservation of public properties, and social involvement in places such as swimming, sport, watching activities displayed, payment of levies and others. All these activities make for social interaction, and the more interaction with one another, the better for unity and team work towards progress. Perhaps, a good illustration is football leagues where a homogenous group has to face a heterogene0us group. As good as individual might be, the team that share the game will perform than the one – man- show opponents. The National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) in Nigeria where all graduates of the tertiary institutions are deployed to serve the nation in communities (states) other than theirs has so far proved to unite Nigeria more than State and Local Government Areas (LGA) creation. Adult education is all out to ensure everybody is carried along irrespective of age. So age is no barrier. For downloading the full article, please access the following link: https://oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejes/article/view/1001 European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 8 │ 2017 730