Colonialism and Education: The Challenges for Sustainable Development in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examined colonialism and education; the challenges for sustainable development in Nigeria. It reveals that during the colonial period, that the type of education introduced did not meet the aspirations of the people. It was manly for the electives. The colonial powers only need those reliable natives they could hand over power to and not the people who could actually manage the economy and the resources in the country. The policy of the colonial education was not geared toward achieving sustainable development in the country; rather it was to plant the seed of discord between those who acquired it and those who had not. This paper concluded that in as much as it did not aim at under mining the advantages of colonial western education in Nigeria, but western type of education policy and curriculum did not consider development of the native a major issue. To over come that issue however, the paper suggested ways forward.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n5p163