For a long time now, the government provision of nursery schools has been completely relegated to the background in the Nigerian educational system. It was not until the evolution of the National Policy on Education in 1977 that nursery education was recognized as a worthwhile introduction to the nation's educational system. Prior to this development, nursery schools were regarded by the general populace as bourgeois facilities meant for the children of the educated elite and political leadership. The rationale for this conception can be considered from both the economic standpoint and with respect to the complete lack of direction and policy evident within the government. As a result, the provision of nursery schools and day care centers became almost exclusively the preserve of individual entrepreneurs who saw the prevailing condition as an opportunity to amass wealth from the working class and the helpless urban population. It was within such a climate of affairs that Nigerian universities pioneered the provision of nursery schools alongside staff primary schools, as a service and not a business concern. (Author)