EDUCATIONAL SITUATION IN NORTHERN NIGERIA (PROVINCE)

 INTRODUCTION

Western-type education, which was first introduced within Lagos (Badagry and Abeokuta) in 1842 by the Christian missionaries, soon became widely spread to the various parts of the Southern Nigeria. But the case was quite different in the north where Islamic religion and education had been firmly rooted already. This unit examines the forces that hindered the early arrival of western education in northern Nigeria and efforts made to change the trends.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of the study, you should be able to:

• State the three basic factors that affected the early introduction of western education in northern Nigeria; 
• Discuss the efforts made by the colonial government and its agents in encouraging the development of the education in northern protectorate. 

 BRIEF EXPOSITION OF EDUCATIONAL SITUATION IN SOUTHERN NIGERIA UP TO 1926 

Right from the entry point of western education in 1842, through the Wesleyan Methodist Mission and other missionaries that joined the southern part of Nigeria embraced it. This was, perhaps, partly because the coming of the missionaries was on invitation from the Yoruba emigrants. Another possible reason could be that, apart from the traditional education, there was no significant influence of any orthodox religion or culture in the area. There was yet another view which suggested that the people of the southern part of the country lacked a central authority, and so each tribe or community existed on its own. Hence, there were series of inter-tribal conflicts, among them.

Whatever be the case, the south benefited greatly in the early educational development in Nigeria. But the history was different in the North. Neither the ordinance of 1882 nor 1887 had any reference to the North because there was no single school in the area before or after any of them.

 Geographical Factor

Unlike the Islamic education, which came from the Sahara regions of North Africa to Northern Nigeria, Western education came from our coastal areas. The first to benefit from it were those along the areas close to the coast. The missionaries, who brought the education, therefore settled first within the southern zone before venturing into the north. Also, the climate and desert nature of the north made movements difficult for the missionaries.

 Political Factor

There was a well structured political system in the North, under the authority of the Sultan of Sokoto. That made the people to be united and argue against any move to distort their culture. Such central power was lacking in the south. For instance, it took the consensus of both the Northern Emirs and the colonial administrators before secular education was introduced in the area. Before then, the south had gone far ahead. 

 Religious Factor

This appeared to be the most crucial factor. As early as 11th century A.D. Islam had already come to some parts of the northern Nigeria. By 1804 it had been popularized in the area by the Uthman Dan Fodio’s Jihad. Before the missionary entry to the south in 1842, Islamic religion and culture had been well grounded in the north. The religion came with its education. So to the Muslim dominated Northern Nigeria the acceptance of western education was like accepting defeat. They protested it. (Amaele, 2003).

 Exercise 1:

What other factors could you consider to have hindered the educational development in Northern Nigeria?