Nigerian Educational System - Historical Background...

First, about the country Nigeria...

The geographical area now known as Nigeria came into being when the Royal Niger Company (formed in 1879) transferred its assets (Nigeria) to the British Government for the sum of £865,000 on 1 January 1900. These assets were then formed into the two protectorates of northern and southern Nigeria.
(*Note the term "assets". The people and their land with all their resources were nothing more than mere assets! Shiooor)

On 1 January 1901, Nigeria became a British protectorate and in 1914, the area was formally united as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria.

In 1929, The Royal Niger Company changed its name to - The United Africa Company (UAC). Later in the 1930s, UAC came under the control of Unilever Company as a subsidiary but was totally absorbed into the company in 1987. (In future posts, I will explore how the Royal Niger Company started).

In 1947, Nigeria was divided into three regions by the British: Northern, Eastern and Western. Later the Western Region was split into - Western and Mid-West. Each region had its own legislature and a colonial governor with a governor-general at the centre in Lagos.

In 1951, the regions were granted internal-self government. In 1960, Nigeria gained it independence from British rule.

The Yoruba Educational System...
Before the arrival of the British, education in Yorubaland was regarded as a means to an end and not an end in itself. Education was for an immediate induction into the society and a preparation for adulthood.

Great emphasis was placed on skill, responsibility, political participation, work ethics and moral values.

Education was practical, children learnt by doing - through imitation, recitation and demonstration.
The education was mainly in practical farming, weaving, carving, knitting, cooking and sewing.

Intellectual and cerebral training included reasoning activities, story telling, legend, local history, poetry, the environment (local geography, plants and animals), proverbs, riddles etc.

Recreational activities included acrobatics, dancing, wrestling, drumming etc. The traditional education was a fully integrated experience because it combined physical and cerebral training together for character building.

The Arrival of the foreigners...
The Portuguese merchants were the first Europeans to set foot in Nigeria towards the end of the 15th century. They visited Lagos and Benin in 1472.

In 1842, the first English speaking Christian missionaries arrived in Badagry and later set up a Western oriented school there in 1843.

The primary aim of these missionaries was to convert the Yoruba to Christianity through Western education. The ability to read the Bible, sing hymns and recite catechism could only be done in English at that time and mastery of oral and written English was considered essential for a good Christian.

The native belief was ridiculed. According to Lord Lugard (3): "...the people have no system of ethics, and no principle of conduct". This was the attitude of the missionaries when they established their schools.

From 1843 to 1882, the Colonial goverment did not interfer with the admninistration of these schools. The government was only interested in ensuring that the schools produced clerks and court interpreters.

Throughout the colonial period, the education was patterned after the system in England. The priority was on "English" both in thought and culture.

The mastery of English and the ability to speak it fluently and if possible with an Oxford accent was regarded as the epitome of excellence even if the speaker was an empty barrel, devoid of thoughts and ideas.

A stack illiterate who could speak the Queen's language was regarded as educated even if the person could not read or write but a well mannered and cultured Yoruba who could only read or write in Yoruba was considered and "illiterate" - ara oko

Yoruba culture and linguistic activities were banned in schools! English culture was promoted in every sphere of human activities. Effectively, a good and cultured British subject in Nigeria before independence was - a Christian, an eloquent speaker of the Queen's English who wore English clothes and behave like an English person. It was a very serious offence for a pupil to speak in the "vernacular" within the school premises!

This is the summary of the origin of Colonial mentality in our society today where speaking Yoruba is now akin to barbarity in some quarters. No amount of grammar can make you an English person even if you hold a British Passport.

Africa can only be developed in our own way. We should not chase the coat tails of something with a decades-long head start on us. Instead, we should be doing it our own way. Blindly copying wholesale other people's worldview and philosophy is not only futile but can be fatal. Let's copy responsibly what we lack from others to augment our own.

References:

1. History of Nigeria - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Nigeria

2. The Royal Niger Company - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Niger_Company

3. A. B Fafunwa, History of Education in Nigeria. George Allen & Union, London, 1974 pp 81