Demystifying Mathematics Phobia in Schools for Transforming Nigeria in Attaining Vision 20:2020

The quest by Nigerians to join the league of 20 industrialized nations by the year 2020 may be a mirage if phobia for mathematics learning in secondary schools is not taking into cognizance. Therefore, the actualization of vision 20:2020 hinged on qualitative and functional Mathematics education. This paper explores through research the various factors that cause phobia in learning Mathematics in secondary schools. A carefully designed questionnaire which was faced validated by an expert in the field of Mathematics education was administered for collection of data. The result revealed that there was significant influence on students phobia for Mathematics and factors like incompetence on the part of Mathematics teachers, absence of ICT facilities and Mathematics laboratory among others. It is therefore recommended that trained Mathematics teachers should teach Mathematics in schools, keep abreast of modern methods of teaching Mathematics thereby making every lesson significant to students. By this, Mathematical ideas and skills required for further study in transforming Nigeria will be developed in solving everyday problems for their personal and societal satisfaction.