Abstract

Philosophy has taught me to question. To question the solution and the problem, the victim and the assailant. This paper calls into question the educational curriculum in most of Africa, however Nigeria will be the selected case study. Is it possible to create an educational curriculum that is completely African in its perspective? Such questions is what i seek to answer in this paper. Unlike most decolonization themed papers, this one seeks to question mostly the victim (the colonized).

Introduction

In my studies of African philosophy, I find one comes across the following question a lot: “How do we undo the damage colonization has done?” I later came to learn that this was called decolonization. A lot of discourse has gone into the decolonization of several aspects of Africa such as the government, the business industry and so on. However, very little effort has been put into the decolonization of the educational sector. This sector is where the future minds are bred; one would think if we cannot save us, we should save the future. Hence the students in the school system in Nigeria ought to be educated in such a way that promotes blackness or Africanness. Until now, I had never thought of the educational system in Africa to need reform because it was becoming more similar to what is done in the West. However, therein lies the problem; we do not educate the future generation about our history. In fact, an index based on how European or Western one can be, becomes a scale for success. If one can pronounce the words like the white man one will definitely go far in life; if we do business like the white man we will become as rich as them. The question then becomes how do we expect any of our attempts at decolonization to be successful, when we still socialize and educate the children in such a way that is Eurocentric and lacking in Africanness? An African with a Eurocentric edu-cation begins to question, what is Africanness? A second question is “what is considered African?” which I will address later. This discourse on Africanness, however, also allows us to ask the bigger question: Is it possible to create an educational curriculum that is African in its perspective? Africa constantly is playing catch up to the West; its place in the new post colonial world is still a place of destitution. In terms of research and development, Africa is still called the dark continent of technology and research because innovation in said areas do not come from there. We have focused so much on the betterment of our own personal way of life that we have failed to take a broader look as to how we are seen by the rest of the world. Our current predicament, however, brings into the question, whether or not the African perspective has something unique to contribute to education and scientific research. These are the questions that I aim to answer in the course of this paper.

Background

Education and research of all kinds is almost as old as humans on earth. Most that has changed in the past years is the approach or methodology used in specific instances. The educational sector in Nigeria is one that predates colonization; although there were no formal institutions like they are now, one fully expects that there was a way of teaching the children valuable knowledge that will aid them even after the teacher’s demise. Trends and development in the education and research sector in Nigeria have largely followed the same pattern as in other third world countries that once were under the influence of colonial domination. Much of the activity in the area of education and research has followed largely the colonial legacy which survived more than thirty years of post colonial experience in most African Countries. However, very little thought is given to how precolonial education was implemented and how education now influences the lives of the teachers and children outside the educational institution.

Before independence, there were very few fully accredited universities. These universities include: University of Ibadan in Nigeria, Legon University in Ghana along with Fourah Bay and Achimota colleges in Sierra Leone and Ghana respectively. The university of Ibadan operated as a degree awarding institution with its degrees bearing the name of a university from London. Today, Nigeria has over 30 universities with a somewhat active scientific community (Jimoh 2). Scientific research in Nigeria, like most places happen within the universities, but is sponsored by several different individuals and groups. Notable among the long list of sponsors however, is the Nigerian Educational Research Council (NERC). The NERC later merged with other bodies which eventually formed the Nigerian Education, Research and Development Council (NERDC). This organization decides largely what kind of research is done in Nigeria and they also decide what is worth learning in our schools and universities today. What I wish to call into question in this paper is the kind of research that is funded by this organization and the kind of knowledge that they deem important.

The philosopher Philip Higgs argues that “.....European values is seen as the index of progress” (Higgs 39). Using Nigeria as a case study, we talk about the need to be seen as different from the West. However, we still use Western values as a method of achievement; how can we be seen as different when every move we make towards becoming “better” members of the local society is geared towards becoming more Western? Even within Nigeria, a Western education is still valued more. If we teach the children that there is no value in our own history before colonization how then can we expect them to value themselves as Africans and not simply as the West’s under-developed counterpart? Hence, in a sense, Africans become less African with every generation because the more economic“progress” we make, the more Eurocentric values and practices we adopt and this adoption will eventually put our African values in a dirty cupboard where one feels ashamed of their modest but more African roots which is their past.

Since we have gained a somewhat rounded knowledge of how the educational and research departments in Nigerian education works, we are still left to answer the question: Can a curriculum that is truly African-central be created? and the secondary question: If such a curriculum is put in place, is a Nigerian education of any use to an individual immigrating to the West?

What is Africanness?

It is important to note that there is a difference between blackness and African-ness. Although both concepts have no agreed upon definition within the African philosophical community, it is generally accepted that Africanness belongs to the truly African (those born and raised in Africa) and blackness belongs to the emmigrated, particularly immigration to the West. However, the question we are concerned about remains: What does it mean to be African? Higgs argues that the term African is debatable on two grounds: the geographical imperative and the cultural imperative. The geographical significance pertains to the fact that the name itself is not indigenous to the people. Furthermore, the name by definition does not refer to the particular histories of the indigenous people inhabiting various parts of the continent since the beginning of time. In other words, the term is geographically significant but, historically, its meaning is questionable from the point of view of the indigenous African people (Higgs 40). As became evident, the geographical imperative alone was not enough to say that something or someone was African, as there are people and things that live in or are from Africa but posses no traits pertaining to the people of Africa. For instance, Art created by a non-assimilated white male in Africa should not and cannot be considered African as it is in no way influenced by the people or even the place, because of this loophole the cultural imperative was created. For is it still African, if it posits nothing in relation to Africa? The cultural imperative posits that for a work to be considered African, it must direct its attention to issues concerning Africa or issues that Africans are concerned about. However, I would contend that the cultural criterion should involve looking at problems and/or philosophizing with an African eye. Doing so is a perspective that is uniquely African. I believe more than being from Africa, one must philosophize or approach problems in a way that takes into great consideration how the African people will react and how the solution relates to values that are particularly African in nature. Based on this approach anyone can be African; the colour of your skin becomes of less importance when one can introspect and think critically in a way that is truly African. However, to fully grasp the depth of the African mind and its values, one cannot simply study Africa through a microscope like the West attempted to do with Father Tempel’s Bantu philosophy; one must be fully immersed in the culture. Hence, I propose a modification to Higgs’ geographical criterion such that one does not need to be from Africa. To be African, one must simply have lived in Africa long enough to know and understand the values of Africans, such that one can think about problems in such a way that projects the African eye.

Now that we have established what it means to be African, we can begin to understand the need for reform in the educational sector. Why do we choose to deny the future leaders and businessmen of the continent of something that we deem important to our well being and global standpoint? On one hand, one learns outside school not to say things that imply there is no God or that science can explain everything. On the other hand, in school one learns that science is the way to explain the unexplainable. Hence, there is a need for reconciliation between what one should take to heart as it could be beneficial outside of the educational institution and what should be discarded as invaluable knowledge that has no bearing on the African situation.

Decolonization and Eurocentrism

Decolonization is central to the discourse surrounding Africa and African philosophy in the past years. For the purpose of this paper, I will start by first defining what I believe decolonization to be, a definition that is shared by most African philosophers. The Ghanaian philosopher Kwasi Wiredu defines it thusly

“By decolonization, I mean divesting African philosophical thinking of all undue influences emanating from our colonial past. The crucial word in this formula-tion is ’undue’ ” (Wiredu 17). Obviously, it would be ludicrous to think that we can completely do away with our colonial past; hence, we attempt to do away with the undue influences alone. Colonialism was not only a political imposition; it was also a cultural one. Our values, religions and systems of education were gravely infected and perhaps destroyed, yet in the aftermath of this epic struggle we still rebuilt around our colonizers. We create for ourselves a nation that is implicitly Eurocentric, that believes that because the foundation of our civilization right now is based on what the white man left for us and continually gives us, then they must truly be superior to us.

If decolonization was the plague, Eurocentrism would be its legacy. The Kenyan philosopher Katongo Chilambwe states that: “These Western philosophers present views which in context and content, indicate that the European world is more developed in culture, social, economical, political and philosophical enterprise than Africa. This standpoint of viewing the world from a Euro-pean perspective and the belief in the preeminence of its culture is referred to as Eurocentrism” (Chilambwe 2). Eurocentrism was not just a view shared by the Westerners. After colonization, Africans began to see their world as Eurocentric as well. Thanks to globalization, we have to continually submit to the Western world if we want to be considered as developed or civilized. What can we do to change this dynamic? Afrocentrism vs Eurocentrism? I honestly do not know the answer to that question. However, because the answer is not known to us now does not allow for us to bury or ignore that the problem exists. One of the purposes of this paper is to propose an educational reform that allows for enlightened youths so that one day the problem may be solved.

A way to Change

My primary aim is to open up discourse into educational reform not just in Nigeria, but all over the world. This paper is meant instigate reflection in the minds of everyone. For the white man to reflect on how he relates to the black man: is it from a position of unfounded superiority? For the African man to reflect on how he relates to the rest of the world: Is it constantly from a position of weakness? The educational reform I wish to propose is one that is to keep such questions in the hearts and minds of our future generations. At the very least, if we are not able to remedy the relationship today, we at least know that whoever is left will not be living in ignorant bliss and thus will continue to seek change. The educational reform I suggest is one that educates us on what once was and what is now; one that teaches Nigerians about Nigeria, not only as it was (history) but as it is now. If such a reform is to be put in place, it must thus reflect the values that Nigerians hold dear. My educational reform can be seen in two parts.

The first part of the proposed reform allows for the putting in place of history courses that teach how Africa was before and what has happened since colonization. If we do not know and understand our history, we are doomed to repeat it. Other courses that need to be put in place are language courses, as there is something to be understood about each ethnic group from their languages and modes of communication. However, the latter may be unfeasible in Nigeria as there are over 200 indigenous languages, but perhaps some should be offered and students be given the choice to select which ones they desire to learn.

The second part of the proposed reform is one that may be counterintuitive to most people. First, it is important to note that many Nigerians, myself included, are firm believers that knowledge is only as good as its usefulness. Hence, the second part includes doing away with knowledge that is not particularly important and often downright useless to the African/Nigerian predicament. This belief involves tailoring our science, research and the contents of the educational curriculum to things that are particularly beneficial to Nigeria and the continent of Africa as a whole. We do not need to be doing nuclear physics or Ichnology, when there are bigger issues to tackle such as constant and affordable electricity. In other words, what needs to be a priority right now are things that are going to directly benefit or change the African situation which include the bereft standard of living of most.

The sad reason we are still seen as destitute is because we are; unlike China5 for example, we have failed to recognize our needs and have poured resources elsewhere (i.e. personal gain). The reason we remain in such position, is because we fail to recognize how the rest of the world sees us and this failure is due to inadequate or complete lack of knowledge of both our own and global history.

However, if such an educational reform is put in place, it leads us to question the universality of education. One begins to think about questions such as: “Should education/knowledge be universal?” If not, should it be regionalized? If education and knowledge is suppose to be regionalized, then it becomes impossible for one to leave their country of origin as their knowledge and education is not applicable elsewhere. Although fields like law, geography and geology exist in which your education is completely subjective to the region or country one is situated, it stands to reason, Is there such a thing as universal knowledge? These are questions that have been pondered on by several philosophers over the years and frankly are not the subject of this paper, hence we will ignore the moral dilemmas that arise as a result of this line of inquisition.

Conclusion

This paper has been an inquiry into the habits and practices of the educational system in Nigeria. In the process, I have highlighted current issues and pro-posed a reform that gives the Nigerian educational curriculum what it has been lacking since its conception: Africanness. I have proposed what some influential writers in African philosophy believe it means to be African, along with some modifications that will better portray what I believe it to be. My modifications allow for the possibility of non-Africans in other parts of the world to gain the African eye and as a result understand the African perspective. The applica-bility of insights noted in this paper are ones that are not simply exclusive to Africa and Nigeria; they can and should be applied to other cultures, races and countries as well as Western countries. Although, when applying such an educa-tional reform to the Western curriculum, one must take into consideration that the larger goal is not promoting eurocentrism or Africanness in our institutions, but rather to change for the better the relationship between all races and coun-tries. The goal of this paper was to incite reflection and introspection that will instigate change for the better. As Nigerians, we grow up with a desire to leave our home and our country, thinking that there is something better out there. In a way the phantom of colonization still chases us with every move we make. It is as a result of said realization that we learn that there is a need to change the way we relate to the West or we will be doomed to repeat our mistakes.

Works Cited

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