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The emergence of the Asia Tigers did not take much time to achieve, even when these countries do not have what Nigeria has in terms of human and natural resources. Nigeria as a country has lots of resources, including physical resources, but we lack is leadership that is willing and determined to invest in quality education I believe we can achieve the Vision 20:2020 if only we can turn our attention to science & technology education which is very elevant and downplay other things like commerce. In essence, all I am saying is that achieving the Vision is very possible if we focus on quality education, (especially in science and technology) and pursue it consistently. This must start now. This was the view of the immediate past vice-chancellor of University of Education, Oye Ibidapo-Obe on Vision 2020 and its attainment. A cursory look at the performance in the results released recently by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) will further put question mark on the country’s quest to be among the best 20 economies in the world by 2020. For the first time in the past five years, concerned Nigerians have come out openly not only to criticise the dismal state of the country’s education system, but expressed great concern over the poor performance of secondary schools, especially in external examinations. Going by WAEC, only 356,981 or 25.59 percent of the 1,373,009 candidates (755,955 males and 617,054 females) obtained five credits passes and above in English, Mathematics and at least three other subjects. Of those who passed, 116,729 candidates were science-based; 33,024 in social science and 100,632 in the Arts. Since the release of the school certificate results by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) in September, there has been growing public concern at the deplorable state of education in Nigeria, even as the presidency has ordered a probe into the poor performance to avert future occurrence. Described as the worst results and calamitous in the last 10 years, the abysmal performance extended to Unity schools, even when it on record that 70 percent of the votes allocated to the federal ministry of education are yearly spent on the Unity schools. This development, it was gathered, has put the jobs of some principals on the line. While most close industry watchers pointed accusing fingers at the government for lack of substantial investment in quality education, others could not but put the blame on both the students and teachers, including parents. The results therefore suggest that the country is not only grooming a generation of youths whose future is bleak but also points to the huge rot in entire education system. Given what this year’s poor results portend, one needs to start from the premise that education remains an important, immortal legacy for every citizen. Education is the only thing that can propel a country forward. This premise means that sustainable education is not just any education but target education in terms of the growth of the nation’s economy. Even the United Nations acknowledges that to achieve appreciable development and half poverty by 2015, education is key. It is on record that countries like Singapore spends 20 percent of its huge budget on education; Malaysia spends 21 percent. Aside from this, in its 2010 budget, the Malaysian government has made the far-reaching commitments to education with an equivalent of N1,350 trillion (RM 30m or $9b) budgeted for primary and secondary education, among other investments in education sector. A seemingly disappointed analyst, who expressed grave concern over the poor state of the country’s education system, captured the burgeoning development this way. “In a world that is becoming increasingly competitive, we are placing our youths at a disadvantage with the kind of poor education they are getting now. How can they compete effectively with their students from other countries, including those from Africa with better education? In the circumstances the objectives of Vision 2020 are going to be even more difficult to achieve as Nigeria will not by then have produced the engineers, doctors, accountants and managers that the country needs to achieve accelerated economic development”. Moved by the current situation, the Lagos State government has taken a fresh approach towards addressing the problem with the recent launch of the reading time initiative, which was unveiled recently by the State’s deputy governor cum commissioner for education in one of the secondary schools in the state. Sarah Adebisi Sosan, while launching the initiative said: “The truth is that the reading culture in Nigeria is poor. Most of our students do not read anymore. Instead, they spend time watching television or films, listening to music, playing video games and surfing the internet for unproductive programmes. Consequently, they do not prepare very well for examinations, even during the examinations; they cannot read and understand simple instruction. Consequently, they fail woefully”. Part of the initiative was the designation of Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays for an hour reading session after school hours, an effort aimed at reversing the total decline in the quality of education among public schools in Lagos State.