Appropriating Colonialism: Complexity and Chaos in the making of a  Nigeria-centric Educational System

Joan Osariemen Oviawe

The persisting colonial legacy beclouding the Nigerian education system ensures that, post-independence, education in Nigeria still suffers from the twin crisis of identity and relevance. As a result, the prevailing colonizing epistemology that frames pedagogical and curricula ethos have led to the colonization of the Nigerian mind. This study explores the making of a Nigeria-centric educational system by employing the theoretical frameworks of post-colonial theory and indigenous epistemology and uses Critical Discourse Analysis as a methodology for data gathering and analysis. Additionally, the study draws from Chaos and Complexity theories to support the indigenous epistemological framework used to establish an intellectual lineage between indigenous and western knowledge forms in the creation of a new and hybrid educational system called Nigeria-centric. This study also argues that to re-imagine Nigerian education is to engage in a decolonization of the mind, as a form of epistemic disobedience against the epistemological imperialism and epistemicide engendered by neo-colonialism and colonialism. It advances a reclamation of core elements of the indigenous system of education that were useful pedagogical tools before the advent of colonialism and combining them with valuable components of western education to create a hybrid system that is culturally responsive, pedagogically regenerative, quality-based, skills-enhancing and technologically advanced. Finally, the study describes a Nigeria-centric educational model with five main characteristics namely: complex, interdependent and interconnected, oral/written, contemplative/scientific, global and functional. This model is neo-indigenous and promotes inclusiveness while empowering students to master the skills necessary for them to lead productive and self-sufficient lives. The idea of a Nigeria-centric educational system implies a move towards a philosophical, pedagogical, and curricula framework that is emancipatory, cultured, transformative, localized and empowering. This type of re-imagined education will occupy an important space in society as the site for cultural reproduction, transmission and social change. It will be situated at the nexus of a decolonization of the Nigerian mind and the advancement of sustainable development which will help to build a cohesive national identity, one where each of the ethnic nationalities that constitute Nigeria can "see" their patch-work in the mosaic that makes up the country.

Appropriating Colonialism: Complexity and Chaos in the making of a Nigeria-centric Educational System

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