The Igbo and Educational Development in Nigeria, 1846 - 2015
S.I.Okoro Ph.D
Citation : S.I.Okoro, The Igbo and Educational Development in Nigeria, 1846 - 2015 International Journal of History and Cultural Studies 2018 , 4(1) : 65-80
The Igbo inhabit what is presently referred to as South East Geopolitical zone in Nigeria. They also make up a sizeable chunk of the population of another geopolitical zone-South South. These areas were located in the colonial- inspired Oil Rivers Protectorate and the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. Between 1906 and 1914, a Protectorate of Southern and Northern Nigeria stood side by side each other as the main administrative divisions of the colonial state. At the behest of the British Colonialists, a Western type and missionary-inspired educational system was introduced and accepted by the dominant ethnicities of Igbo and Yoruba of the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria; while the Hausa/Fulani Muslim - dominated Protectorate of Northern Nigeria rejected this education. This paper aims to analyze the development of the Western type educational system in the South East geopolitical zone (Igbo Area) of the country over the years since its implantation. It also seeks to determine what strides and challenges that have attended this development, and how the compatriots of the Igbo have viewed and reacted to this trend. The paper relies mainly on documented secondary sources and the publications and findings of such educational regulatory agencies as the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), among others, to reach its conclusions.