Over the past centuries, education has been a means of
transmitting our culture from one generation to another, it has been a medium
through which newborns acquire a sense of belonging in a particular culture, it
is the process of bringing about a relatively permanent change in human
behavior.
Indigenous education is the ability of a newborn to know the
norms of the society which he was born into and the willingness to acquire such
norms as away of life.
As the oldest industry, it the instrument used by society to
preserve, maintain and upgrade its social equilibrium. A society’s future
depends largely on the quality of its citizen’s education.
Education has been view to extent to which an individual can
stretch his intellectual by learning the culture of his society.
In all human societies, education is meant to pass on to the
new generation the existing knowledge of their physical environment, to
introduce individuals to the organization of the society, given them skills for
performing their daily jobs and enjoying their leisure, as well as inculcate
sound morals in them for their own benefit and that of the society.
In other words, education is a process by which the society
assists the younger generation to understand the heritage of their past, participate
productively in the society of the present as well as contributing to the
future. Based on these reasons, education draws inspiration and nourishment
from a society, but in turn contributes to the growth, renewal an d development
of the society at large.
Sometimes, rather informal, society has ways of assisting
the younger generation to understand the past and often exposing various
values, ideals and aspirations of the society. They may be either
formal/western or informal/ traditional/indigenous.
Nigeria
education labeled traditional was progressive because of its emphasis on
functionalism. For example, it was the duty of a girl in the family of Nigeria society
to know the household chores, to learn a trade and pass it on to her children
and grandchildren.
Till date, the purpose of education can be done without
large emphasis on the tradition the impact and functions it had on the society.
Back then, the purpose of education was clear as the broad
day light, every individual understand the reason behind learning, it was the
preparation for adulthood, to be trained and train, a transit movement, a
continuous process that has no end.
Traditional education at the early stage dwelled on social
responsibilities, job orientation, and political participation, spiritual and
moral values.
Then, there was practical training like farming, sewing,
weaving, dancing, singing, wrestling carving, cooking, knitting and drumming
why intellectual training involve, the study of local story, legends and last the
environmental training which included riddles, poetry, proverbs, story-telling.
At the end of the training, the children got tested in a ‘passing out’ ceremony
to establish who was ready to move on to adulthood and who could be left
behind.
Those who excelled in
these areas were highly revered as their expertise was of immense benefits to
their society. an individual’s intellect in these directions was developed to
enable him fit into such professional groups as rain makers, herbalists,
hunters, cult leaders and priests.
The essence and purpose of education was to prepare and
equip children with the required knowledge. Skills, mode of behavior and
beliefs in playing their role in adulthood; to inculcate a sense of belonging,
to discipline the child in molding his character, to inculcate in him, the
desirable moral qualities such as sociability, solidarity, courage, humility,
as well as obedience. Islamic education started in Nigeria before the introduction of
western education.
It was noted that Islam was first accepted by a kanem ruler
named Umme Jilmi (1085-1097) later Dunama 1 and Dunama 11 in the 13th
century. In the early 14th century, Islam came to Hausa land through
traders and scholars from Wangarawa.
The Jihad of Usman Danfodio in 1804 helped to revive, spread
and consolidate Islam studies and extended sccess to education also to women.
Support for Islam education came from some leaders. For example, Abdullahi
Bayero (Emir of Kano) who built an
Islamic school which continued to grow and expanded in scoope and eventually
became Batero College,
Kano and later became Bayero university Kano.
Islam brought with it Arabic education and was therefore
perceived as having great spiritual values. The first known Muslim primary
school was established by the colonial government in Lagos in 1899, the first one the Muslim
established themselves was in 1922.
Many institutions have sprung up over the years in many
parts of the country for the purpose of Islamic education and practices.
However, the limitation of this education is the focus on Arabic which in many
parts of Nigeria
is not the language of literature and communication.
Hence, this gave birth to the emergence of European
education which was introduced into Nigeria in 1571. the catholic
through the influence of the Portuguese traders were the first missionaries to
set foot on the Nigeria
soil, they established a seminary on the island
of Sao Tome, off the coast of Nigeria to
train Africans for church work as priest and teachers. From Sao
Tome, they visited Warri where they established schools and
preached the gospel.
In September 1842, the second missionary which brought the
western education started in Nigeria
with the arrival of Thomas Birch Freeman, of the Methodist missionary society
and Mr. and Mrs. De Graft of the church missionary society. the first known
school was established by Mr. and Mrs. De Graft in Badagry and was named
Nursery of the infant church.
While the Methodist should be credited with the creation of
the first ‘school’ in Nigeria, it was indeed the church missionary society
(cms) that made the most important contribution to the education in the early
period.
In January 1845, a formidable team of evangelists arrived
Badagry with Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Ajayi Crowther (Egba ex-slave), and Mrs.
Townsend, the reverend and Mrs. Gollmer, Messrs Williams Marsh Edward Phillips
(who were teachers by profession), four carpenters, three laborers, two
servants and one interpreter.
They stayed in
Badagry for 18 months due to unforeseen circumstance and departed for Abeokuta, leaving two
others in Badagry. During their stay in Badagry, the CMS party formed a mission
station and two schools.
In 1846, a group led by Reverend Hope Masterton Waddell was
dispatched to Calabar, the CMS also extended their missions to other parts of
the country, Samuel Ajayi Crowther opened the first school in Onitsha in December 1858, for girls between six
and 10 years old.
The American Baptist missionary arrived in August 1850 in
Badagry led by Thomas J.Bowen and established their first station in Ijaye, Abeokuta and later
established another station in ogbomoso in 1854.
In 1854, another group with an American negro from Liberia, J.M Harden joined the Baptist group and
formed a Baptist mission in Lagos and later extended
its influence to Oyo, Shaki, Igboho and Ilorin.
The catholic also gained ground in the spiritual scramble
for Nigeria and established
the home mission in Lagos
in 1868 by Brazilian ex-slave.
The initial objective of the missionary bodies to Nigeria
was to carry out evangelical work that is, preaching the gospel to the natives.
Remarkable efforts were made by the various missionary bodies in building
churches and schools which were all used for the purpose of evangelism. The
basic content of instruction in schools was reading and writing which were
necessary for the understanding of the gospel.
Colonial education aimed at creating a small class of
skilled technical and administration functional and agricultural raw materials
plantation farmers, possibly perpetuating the continued domination of the
society by the offspring of members of the overthrown ruling autocracy. The
emphasis of the western education was on the 4Rs (Reading, Writing, Arithmetic and religion)
this new education prepared the recipients for the job opportunities as
teachers, church evangelists, clerks and interpreters.
Prior to Nigeria
independence, Nigeria
had only two established post-secondary institution. Yaba
Higher College
(founded in 1934, Now Yaba College
of technology) and the university
of Ibadan, founded in
1948. It was then a college of university
of London until two years
after independence when it becomes autonomous. More prominent universities
include university of Nigeria Nsukka, Obafemi
Awolowo University
(formerly university of ife), Ahmadu Bello university and Moshood Abiola
Kashimawo university (formerly university
of Lagos) were founded in
the tears that followed independence.
In 1970s, more universities were founded which include university of Benin,
founded in 1970), and new universities opened in calabar, Ilorin,
Jos, Port Harcourt, Sokoto and Maiduguri. In the 1980s, more universities
were opened as well as institutes specializing in agriculture and technology. A
number of polytechnics were also opened, which includes the Yaba college of Technology
in Lagos and
Kaduna Polytechnic.
