PRE-COLONIAL
AND POST-COLONIAL SYSTEMS OF EDUCATION IN NIGERIA; THE MISS-OUT AND ITS
SOCIETAL EFFECTS
By
Udeme Okono (Counseling Psychologist)AICRM, B.Ed, PGD, M.Ed (in view)
Preamble:
Many less informed European authors have erroneously assumed
that there was no education in Nigeria prior to the coming of the Europeans.
Toffler (1971:8) for example noted in this regard that:
“Africans have no fixed belief but a
multitude of habits and baseless fears… absolutely no inheritance of knowledge
either in moral or creeds”.
Well-informed observers have agreed that there was education
in Africa in general long before the coming of the Europeans. It has been
called by several names: indigenous, tribal, pre-colonial and pre-European
education. Irrespective of the label one may use, it is clear that pre-colonial
Nigeria had a system of education which differed significantly in many respects
from the British system which was planted in Nigeria by the colonialists.
The appeal of
traditional Nigerian education has been enhanced in recent years. Interest in
it is expressed from many quarters, especially as many Nigerians came to
appreciate practical or what Nwafor Orizu called ‘horizontal’ as opposed to the
British literacy or ‘vertical’ education inherited from the colonial masters
which does not seem to meet the needs and aspirations of a new generation of
Nigerians.
A
Description of Traditional NigerianEducation
Every society, whether
simple or complex has its own system of transmitting the culture of the society
to the youths. Transmission of the culture of a society from one generation to
another is what is called education. Merril (1969) describes this as a process
of preparing individuals for life in their immediate environment. As a process
of influencing the development of an individual, education therefore involves
the cultivation of the individual’s potentials physically, mentally, morally
and spiritually.
Pre-colonial/traditional
Nigerian education had four main areas of interest:
1.
Economic
Aspect: These consisted of those things that equipped the
individual to exploit his natural environment to provide food, clothing,
shelter and protection for himself and for his dependents.
2.
Social
Aspect: These involved proper upbringings of the child to
enable him become a worthy member of the society and to live functionally with
others.
3.
Religious
Aspect: These religious aspects of the indigenous education
catered for man’s moral and emotional needs and enabled him to form his
attitude to life and the world in general.
4.
Cultural
Aspect: These cultural spheres of interest led the
individual to creative activity which fostered in him aesthetic sensibilities
in the use of language, facility in music, art, ornamentation and dexterity in
dancing and ceremony.
Goals
Traditional Nigerian
education was very pragmatic, designed as a gateway into the life of the
community. There was little room for theoretical abstraction. It inculcated in
the individual a sense of responsibility to become a contributory member of the
community and to share the value and culture of the community.
From the foregoing, it
is clear that traditional Nigerian education was a means to an end and not an
end in itself. The purpose of education was for the benefit of the entire
community. It was essential that each new generation should know how to take
care of their environment for the benefit of the society.
Curriculum
Prior to the
introduction of formal education, boys were brought up to take to whatever
occupations their fathers engaged in. In some other cases, the boys were sent
to other masters to learn various vocations and life etiquette. Although
occupation varied according to geographical areas in Nigeria, the major ones
were farming, trading, craft work, fishing, cattle rearing, wine tapping, traditional
medicine and black-smithing. The boys also engaged in such other training
activities as archery, tree climbing and wrestling. Intellectual training for
them consisted of sitting quietly beside their fathers at meetings and
listening attentively to learn the process of such tasks and skills as
arbitration of cases, oratory, wise saying and use of proverbs. All these
stimulated their sense of rationality. Girls were often expected to stay back
at home and learn domestic and other chores such as cooking, sweeping, weeding
the farm lands, hair weaving, decoration of the body, dye production and the
like from their mothers.
Generally therefore, in
spite of geo-political variations, traditional or indigenous education in most
parts of Nigeria trained individuals to fit usefully into their society by
learning and practicing economic skills for self-sustenance; adapting to their
role expectations and contributing to the development of their society.
Although
the traditional education offered by the community was comprehensive such that
it provided training in physical, character, intellectual, social and
vocational development, it however had its limitations. For one thing, in the
absence of writing, people depended on the power of their memories to facilitate
the retention and transmission of all learnt ideas to future generations.
Memory could fail and in the event of the death of a custodian of some useful
information or skill, all was lost. However, there were little or no cases of
unemployment.
Islamic
Education in Nigeria
Record shows that Islam
was first accepted by a Kanern ruler, Umme Jilmi (1085-1097), subsequent rulers,
Dunama1 (1097-1150) and Dumane11 (1221-59) continued the tradition of Islamic
learning such that by the end of the 13th century, Kanem had become
a Center of Islamic learning (Fafunwa, 1974:53). Before long, most of what
later became the northern Nigeria was Islamized, Islamic education brought
along with it Arabic learning since Arabic is the language of the Quran and was
therefore perceived as having great spiritual value. Arabic and Islam were
taught simultaneously in primary schools. As a result of the political and
social influence which Islam and Quranic learning conferred on those who
possessed it, many rulers employed Islamic scholars as administrators. The
Jihad by Uthman Dan Fodio helped to revive, spread and consolidate Islamic
studies and extend access to education also to women. Thus, before the arrival
in Nigeria of the western type education in the 19th century,
Islamic learning had been established. Islamic studies had also penetrated the
western parts of Nigeria before the arrival of the jihadists, but the jihad
strengthened the religion where it was weak. Support for Islamic education came
from some northern Nigerian leaders, especially Abdullah Bayero (Emir of Kano), who on his return from
Mecca in 1934 introduced new ideas by building a law school for training
teachers of Islamic subjects and Arabic as well as English and arithmetic.
However, one major problem of this educational tradition is the focus on Arabic
which, in many parts of Nigeria is not the language of literature, instructions
and correspondence.
The Western Type of Education/ Post-colonial Education-
The educational tradition began seriously in
Nigeria with the arrival of the Wesleyan Christian Missionaries at Badagry in
1842.It has obviously been the most successful in meeting the overall formal
educational needs of consumers for the present and the future.
Between 1842 and 1914
about ten different Christian Missions had arrived and begun intensive
missionary and educational work in Nigeria. Schools were built and missions
struggled for pupils/members such that there was a proliferation of primary
schools established by different missions. Although literary education in the
4Rs(Reading, Writing ,Arithmetic and Religion) was predominant, this new
missionary education prepared the recipient for new job opportunities, as
teachers, church evangelists or pastors, clerks and interpreters. Emphasis was
also on character training. Most of the Missions established Primary Schools
and initially, little emphasis was laid on Secondary Schools and Higher Education.
Following agitations by
influential church members, rich merchants and emigrants living in Lagos, the
CMS grammar school Lagos for example wasestablished in 1857. The Western-type
education developed faster in the South than in the north because of the
skepticism of the Muslims about the impact of the Christian missionary
education.
Much of the educational work in Southern
Nigeria prior to 1882 was done by the missionaries almost without government
assistance. However, from 1882, the government began a bold intervention by
promulgating codes and regulations, guidelines and policies on organization and
management of schools. Over the years, government got fully involvedand started
establishing schools up to higher levels. Missionary education was the
association of Education with Evangelism
The
Miss-Out!
Education in Nigeria
does not seem to have lived up to expectations in the past three decades.
The aim which was to
educate citizens to become useful to themselves, their families and the society
at large has been assaulted by neglected forces.
As opposed to the
traditional/pre-colonial system of education, the western-type system of
education has been subjected to a mere acquisition of certificates. Certificate
that holders cannot even articulate the knowledge gained in the process of
acquiring them.
Traditional Nigerian
education was not compartmentalized, i.e. there was no fixed structure called
classroom and the students were not streamed into classrooms.Education took
place everywhere – home, market place, playground and farmlands. Thus, it was
cheap. The total community saved as an agent of education capitalizing on every
occasion and happening in extending opportunities for teaching and learning a
lesson. The co-operatives endeavor therefore mobilized the energies and talents
of all members of the community towards the education of the children
Pre-colonial education
had the advantage of being rooted in the community it served. Generally, it was
an induction into the society and a preparation for adulthood. It was an
integrated experience. Emphasis on social responsibility, job orientation,
political participation, spiritual and moral values, therefore it made the
youths effective citizens. The education acquired helped them to contribute
their quota towards the survival of their communities. The high sense of
morality inculcated in the youths ensured order in the society and mutual
respect for one another and respect for constituted authority, while political
participation promoted group solidarity as it homogenized the people. Hence,
patriotism was not just a topic of discourse but part of the citizens' everyday
obligation to the society.
Furthermore, vocational
education was run on apprenticeship basis and was a time-honored device for the
training of young people. Usually, the children were not trained by their
parents but by their relatives, craft men in particular fields or friends in
order to ensure discipline and concentration. One reason for the success of
apprenticeship system therefore was the active participation of the learners.
Instead of sitting passively in rows while the teachers taught, the learners
had a type of training in which they practiced their new skills under the
supervision of the teachers.
Pre-colonial education
(Islamic education specifically) laid emphasis on continuous learning
throughout life instead of graduating after finishing a designated number of
years of schooling. Islamic education was based on the community. Consequently,
the result of teaching and learning were easily judged by the degree to which
such results were reflected in the living pattern of the people.
Finally, pre-colonial
education emphasized greatly on CHARACTER EDUCATION. Character
education/training had to do with imbibing the right attitude to work and
learning, respect for elders, honesty and trustworthiness, contentment,
patriotism, self-reliance and general discipline.
Societal Effects
The major concern here
will be the lack of character training and its effect on society.
The lack of character
education has brought on us great calamity; general moral decadence,
frustration, discrimination in the comity of nations, unhealthy
rivalry/competition, damage in the economy, insecurity, disloyalty and the list
goes on.
The problem with
incorporating character education into the contemporary education system raises
the question; ‘Who will set the pace?’
Character training
should begin from the home front but in a society where parents are more
engaged in the struggle to make ends meet and laying little emphasis on
parenting; a community where elderly people mind their own business to avoid
being hurled with insults and even being called names because they poke nosed,
behooves on us the need for an attitudinal re-orientation at all levels.
Carelife Character Foundation
has been at the forefront of this struggle with a commendable campaign trying
to get the teenagers and youths back to the basics right from primary and
secondary schools, but the task is enormous. The National Orientation Agency as
well as a pocket of NGOs are doing their best equally but again, the tasks is
enormous, hence this clarion call for all hands to be on deck in order to
achieve a paradigm shift; an attitudinal change. The uniqueness of CARELIFE
CHARACTER FOUNDATION is that this NGO targets lives from a tender age,
knowing that capturing them young is the best time to initiate any successful
impact to lives.
In conclusion, the principle of communal existence should
be preached i.e. the principle that nobody should exist for himself alone.
Education should not be
a mere acquisition of certificates but an acquisition of knowledge. It should
also be all – inclusive and vocation-based in order to reduce the crave for
jobs and in turn increase the number of employers. Continuous assessment should
cover character observation and should be done from elementary to tertiary
level.
Ibia, E. I. (2009)
History and Philosophy of Nigerian Education.
Mkpa, M. A. (2004)
Overview of Educational Development: pre-colonial to present day.
All correspondences to carecharacter@gmail.com
