Prim~ry E~ucation 'hi Nigeri~: What is it ali about?
            Wha.t IS'/eamedearly i,! lif.d~ resistant to change wliildhat"                 .
             which. IS learned later. In life IS most susceptible'to change:'
                                Bru~ner (1956).              .
  C.E.    Okonkwo                            .. ,     ,      UI"flli Vol. VII 2. 19fi5. lou;.",,1 of"
                                                            the .~acLfllJl ill A(tc. .cind -"Sociul ~.~.{      j'.
'Principal Lecturer in,Comparative Education;'              Umvenlty of Our C"~ '\a/llfllli        ..
                                                                                                        i('I1(
Alvan lkoku College of Edu.cat!on, Nigeria.
 Introduction                                 ."
 Reports of various Educational Revi~w Commissipns; ofvaTiou~ stuu.ie~ and
 of various conference papers, ..have asked questions' about Nigerian educat ion'
 in: general ahGi Nigerian primary education in particular. Such r~ports include
 Banjo (1961), Dike (1962), Ikoku (1964), Taiwo'(l968), T.iffen (966), Okonk-
 wo (1979}1 the Ford Foundation and the Federal Ministry ,of Educarion (1966),
 Bamgbose (1974), Afolayan (1974), UNESCO (1953); Ubahakwe'{I974) and
 the Commonwealth Education conferenc~ (l968), ,Amopgstothers;                                Fafunwa
 (1971) wondered what could be said tQ be the dominant socilil pUrpose of primary
 education in Nigeria, and: Tiffen (1966) Wf{)t~:,                 .
                                                      . '                                                      .
     One of the'basic dilemmas of/he Nigerian.Primary School is that iUs
    difficult to be sure what it is for .(p. I)                            ,                          .
This short and simple stud)( does not try to find an answer to any of the ilUmer.
 ous queStions raised' about primary education. Ratner, i~ tries to underscore,
 the need for a,serious effort to be made, ~ithout further delay, to starhearch~
 ing for answel,"Sto these questions. Basically, the papef"Sury~ys the cOIltentOf
 social studies texts used in Nigerian primary ~choOlsin order to find.out ",Mt ex.
 actly tho<:e who make educational decisiQns actually want Nigerian children to '
-read about.                            .,                  -.: ...                     _' . ~ .", .
  , , The decision to examine primary social studies te~tisbased'on;;(}b\1io~s
 considerations. Firstly, the concept of national unity: the, worJd'over':islneuJ~
 cated in the primary school. Primary texts in generaI' and sodal stud~ texts
 in particular are important because it is through rhepl that.each society strives
 to protect and perpetuate its traditions and aspirl?-tions (Solomon,) 1965;
 McClleland, 1961, Erikson, 1950). Secondly, as comparativ~ llducationists have
 pointed out, each educational system when closely studied ahd anal)'sedr,c                                v ...
 eals quite clearly the culture, concept and pattern or way of life of each and'
 every society (Mallinson, p. 8), Put differently, the nation~lcharacteristics                                of
 anygiven'nation    will  find their expression in the nation's ';hdo~and.the schools
 should be constantly used to strengthen and perpetuate. the.national charac-
 teristics and outlook. In fact, it is inthe school, particularly atthe'primary.lev-
 el, that a nation should come to a <•.'onsciousness of irs real, ~eing.' .                                      '
 Analysis o.f'texts
        In ~xamining the 'texts used in this survey, 0lle fungamentai assumption
 was made:that the frequency of themes an~ spa~e'aUotted .tot~em l:ltiC:inyt~~t.,:
 book gives an .ind.icationof -.yhat values.adults believe w be Importapt With
 regard to ,the education of chilqren,


   What do Nigerian Cblldren Read About?
 In the survey, five major themes were found to be emphasised in. the social
 studies texts used in Nigerian primary schools. These discussed European
 influences in Nigeria and the slave tra'de;life outside Africa; organisations for
 world peace; lifem Africa (outside Nigeria); and Nigeria as a nation.
  European Influences and the Slave Trade .
     Table 1 shows that themes focusing on,J!urQpean influences in Nigeria
and the slave trade were treated in 206 pages with a total of 41 readings.
Glowing tributes were paid to the works of Mary Slessor, Mungo Park, Mac
Gregor Laird, John and Richard Lander, Hugh ClappertoIi, Major Denham,
Dr. Oudney, Dr. Baikie, George Tubman Goldie, John Beecroft and Lord'
Lugard.
     The child is told that Mary Slessor stopped the ,killing of twins, that
Mungo Park tried to find the mouth of the River Niger. that Laird waSthe first
man to sail down the River Niger from Lokoja totbe Island of Fernando Po,
that the Lander Brothers were the first men to discover the mouth of the River
Niger and that. Clapperton, Denham and Cudney discovered Lake Chad.
Beecroft's major ~chievement. was the p.lann.ip.gand execution of the
first recorded coup d'etat in Nlgeria-theovertbiow          of King Kosoko
(the Dba of Lagos in 1851); who refusee! to take orders' from tbe
British Government,. and the installation of Akintoye to' take his place
(Ilesanmi, Book 6, p.ll). Finally, to Lord Lugard two major achievements
were attributed. Firstly, it was through him that the British conquered and
brought under their control the entire Fulani Empire. 'Secondly,.in 1914
Lugard merged the Northern and Southern Protectorates to form a new countrY
he called Nigeria.'                               .'.
    Discussions on the slave trade, which flourished between 1485and 183~and
which was directed,at the dehumanisation of man by man. took up 95 pages m 15
readings.
   TABLE 1: Themes of Social Studies'Texts.
      Suliject                                      Frequency 01 ()ccurence
                                       No. of Readings        No. of Pages
      E~an       Influences and
      the ~lave Trade                         41                     206
      Life Outside Africa                     39                     191
      Nigeria asa Nation                      35                    104
      Or~tiom        for World Peace         2S                     101
      Life in Africa (OUtsideN"lJl'ria) .      10                    32
                                          2


    Ufe OutSide Africa
         Themes dealing witn li.f~jIt CO\lntries such as Great Britain, }i'rance, the
    U.S.A., the U.S.S.R., the Pec,ples Republic of Ch;na 'IDd Israel, were
   presented in 39 readings of 197 pages. Stories ,told about these nations leave the
   reader wondering what messagl~ they are intended to convey \.0 the child
  .r~ading them. For example, stories about Israel instead of telling the child how
   the Jews have come to tackle their .nroQler.ns.with Q~e resolve, love and unity
   among themselves, rather spend school time. ;recalling how an Air Force
    Commander namedYoni Natanyahu commanded the Air Force crew that flew
   to Entebbe in 1'976 to free hostages held by Palestinian Liberation
   Organisation supporters. (Iloeje and Okoro, Book 6, pp. 26-32).
         About' Brazil, the child is told that it obtained its indep~ndence from
   Portugal in 1822 and became a Republic in 1889 and that "Europeans came to
   W est A~ca to buy slaves to work inAm~rica, .Some of these slaves were sold in
   Brazil. TIte slaves were freed many years ago I:U1dtheir descendants form the
   Negro po~ulation of Brazil. It is interesting to note that most of the slaves who
   were sold in Brazil came from Nigeria ..... (lbid, p: 51). A concerned child will
   certainly WO\1derwhat is so "int',resting" about the fa.:t that former Brazilian
   slaves were descendants of Nig ~ria and not of Great Britain or France or
   Portugal.                                                "
         About the' United States, the child learns that the country was discqvered
   by a man named Amerigo Vespucci, that its' first President was George
   Washington, that like Nigeria it was a British colony, and that it. became
   independent in 1776. One wonders what use these pieces of information are to
   the Nigerian children reading them. If America is the gr~t nation that it is,
   school time could have been spent more productively telling the child about
   those factors that have held the country together until it became the great
   world power that it is t~ay •.
        Further, the child is {old that the Peoples Republic of China is, a country
   in the continent of Asia;' that the monsoon wind which blows across the
  .country affects it seriously \\uring the summer and winter seasons, that she
   shares common borders with .~e neighbours-SovietUnion,.India,                Bhutan,
   Nepal, Burma, Laos, Afghanist~,          Vietnam and the PaCific Ocean, and finally
   that she Sign,'ed the Strategt,.c AfrOS,~' ',tation Treaty with the U.S.A. for world
  peace.     :Thereisno      mention cf t e Cultural Revolution. and what poSSible
  lessons Nigeria       as  a developing      ation could learn from the Chinese
  experience.
   Organisations    'for World Peace
        Themes that discussed organisations for wOdd peace took up 107 pag~s in
  25 readings. Major organisatioQll stressed incht.Ped the United NatIOns
  Organisation , (UNO) and itS agencies, the Commonwealth of Nations, the
  Organisation of African Unity (DAU), the Economic Communities of West
  African States (ECOW AS) and the European Economic Community (BEe).
        The child is told that the UN which, was formed in 1945 has five
  permanent members-the            Soviet Union, U.S.A., France, Great Britain and
  China-each        of  which has a veto power. It has six major organs and. six
. specialised agencies. The major organs are the General Assembly, the SecUrIty
  Council, the Economic' and Social Council, the TrusteeShip Council, the
                                                 3


  International Court of JustiCeand the SecretarIat. The six agenCiesnamed are
  the World Health Organisation (WHO),. the United National Educational,:
  Scientific and' Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the Food and Agricultural
 'Organisation (FAO), the Uni¥ersal Postal Union (UPU), the International
. Labour Org;upsation (ILO) and th~ United Nations International Children
  .EmergencyFund (UNICEF) (Ilesanmi, book 6, pp. 48-51) •
..       The Commonwealth of Nations ,is .presented to thecbild as the most
   successful example of international cooperation in the world. Its members are
   independent nations which were formerly colonised by Great Britain, the great
   bond between,them being the English language. Th~r laws and administration
 . are influenced by. English common law and way of government and their
   education follows ;ilmost the'same pattern as in Great Britain (Iloeje- and
   Okoro, Book 6, pp.,89-91) ...
         The OAU, formed in 1963 to unite all independent African s:ountries, is
   presented as an organisation that functions through three main organs. These
   are: the Assembly of H~ads of States and GOvernments, the Council of
   Ministers and the Secretariat. Of particular interest is the comparison drawn
   between the problems of the OAU and those of the UN. Thus. the OAU.is
   poor because its members are poor, while the UN is an affluent organisation in
   spite of the fact that some rich member nations do not pay their dues regularly.
   Most member nations of the OAU do not abide by the decisions. of the
   organisation. particularly when such decisions are not in the best hlterest of.
   some world pow~rs. Similarly, some world powers violate the decisions of the
   UN when such decisions go against their own individual interests. The OAU
   cannot raise a force to liberate African. states that are not jet independent,
   whereas the UN can easily raise a force at any time. Fi.riaUy..the stability of the
   UN is in no way affected by instability among the governments of the
   member.nations of the OAU (Ilesanmi, bk. 6, pp. 39-43;48-50).
    Life in Africa (Outside Nigeria)
          Themes dealing with life in Africa (outside Nigeria) ~e nresented in 32
      pages of ten readings. Some of the cOuntries discussed are Benin; Togo,
      Ghana, Niger, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone•..
          The child is told that in -Ghana.9.5 million people occupy a land area of
  . 238, 537 sq. kms; that these people belong to such ethnic groups as Akan. Ewe,
    '~a:-Ad:mgb~ Guan, .Gurma, and Mole.Saphari; and further,.that Ghana'is
     diVIdedmto 'eIght regiOnsnamely Ashanti, Brona.Ahafor. Central, Eastern,
      Northern, Upper Volta and Western...
          About the Ivon' GQast,he is told that 6 million people occupy a land area
      ofJ330...227i~q.kIDs.; an~ that its population is made up of manY etlmlC groups
      some of WhIChare: Agm.AshantI, "Dan-Gouro, Monde. Koua-Koua Drumen,
     Senoufo and Voltaic•.                                                  , ,        .
          Si~rra Leone is presented a& a small country of three million people
     'QeCUPY1!l8 8; land area of 71,744 sq. ~ms. Like Ghana and the ivory Coast, its
     populatl0~ ISmade lIP of many ethnic groups some of which are:theereotes,
     th~ ~andingo, the Mende, the Korankas, the Limbas. the Susu and' the
     Temnc~,Tht! pr~ntation of other African countrlesfoUows strictly the same .
     pattem(Onibonoje, Book 6. chps; I-II) ..
                                                4


    Nigeria as a Nation
   '. As Table (1) shows, Nlgeria asa nation is discussed in 3S readings of
 ,104pages'(or 23Ofo of total ScDOOJ. time). Sub-them.es discussed can be
 examined, under, two headingS namely-themes that centre on symbols of
 Nigerian llationaltsm and Nigerian Unity; and those that highlight differences
 between tIle various ethnic or tribal groups.
  Symbols of Nigerian Nationdsm          ancI Unity.
                                               "         ' '
       A total of 12 readings ir1.~Opages focUssesonJhose,ingredients considered,
 as essential elenrents of Nigeriannanonalism and unit~ '. These are listed as
 the Nigerian national @them., the national flag, the coat of arms, the Nigerian
 Army, Air Force and Navy, the Police Force, the Central Bank, the Nigerian
 Railway Corporation, the Nigerian Airways Corporation, the National
  Electric'Power      Authority, the Joint Ac.Jmi3sionsandMatriculations Board,
 tlieUnity Scnools, the NationalYouth Service Corps, the Niteria Educational
 Research Council. tbe NatiPnaf Museum, the National Universities. the all'
Niaeria Festi~~ of the Arts and the National "pledge(Iloeje ana <Boro, BOokS,
 UnitsS and 9; Oriibohoje, Bdolc '5njp. 89-92)' ,
       The child is told that these instruments and institutions symbolise peace,
 prosperity, greatness, happiness, faith. unity and strength of Nigeria for
 Nigerians. Unfortunately, however. no clue is given anywhere in the ~extsas to
 how these instruments and institutions have tried' to achieve or even to
 contribute towards achieving these admirable objectives. The cblld is
 undoubtedly aware of the shouts of tribalism, ethnocentricism and nepotism
that follow virtnally every appointment to the chair of any of the national
 universiaes, or the aJ}pOIntmentsof members of the boards of directors of
 federal corporations. Perhaps he even knows about the victimisations andlor
 protections on tribal and ethnic grounds that have hecol)le part of the culture
 in Federal "and State Government establishments (since his father, uncle,
 cousin or nephe~may have been a victim). illaddition, there are constant cries
 of neglect from' tribal and ethnic 'minorities'. In spite 9f this situation, the
"child is told that theaation's coat of anns stands for unity and faith, and that
 the nation's flag is a symbol of truth and justice ..
, ," Besides, it has yetto'be shown that the Nigerian child learns anything ,
 about his country by merely retiting parrot-like, m..eaninglesswords in English
 in the name of the National Anthem or the 'great' pledge of loyalty to the
 nation. The National Anthem, the.child is told, reminds all Nigerians that they
 are bJ.:othersand sisters. The pledge of loyalty, on the other hand, talks of
 honesty, honour, glory, and unity (Ilesanmi, Book S, pp. 59). The child is, of
 course, living in a Nigeria where bribery and corruption that have tribal and
 ethnic. undertones, ,have become institutionalised by people whom he saw
 reciting'the 'great' pledge at the swearing-in ceremony befare they took up
 positions of  trust. Tl1e fear is that thet:hild may start thinking that the school is
 eitIier-an inStitution" built specifically to tell lies to children and that the pOor
 teac~m a partner ill the «ime, or. that the school involves mere flights of
,fancy and.has practieally no~lodowith              life, notinNige1'ia anyway •
                                              .5


 Differences between tribal/ethnic    groups
      Twenty4hree readings in 64 pages hi~~              ~~~ differe!1ces between the
various tribal and/or ethnic groups. The co~stituent. tribal gr0';lps are
presented as being different . in virtUally everything; phY~ICal expressI~n and
 complexion, styles of dressing and attitudes towards constItuted authon!y. For
 example, Haus'a-speaking people ar~. presented as. tall, slen~erly budt and
 ebony black in complexion. They wear baggy trousers, flo~ng gowns ~d
 either turban their heads or wear soft felt caps. They ~~ o~ent,             easy-g<?mg
 and law-abiding. The Yorubas are presented as d~tmgwshable                    by tnbal:
 marks fond of expensive clothes and ornaments, polIte, respectful and have
 high r~gard for age and positions of authority. The Igbos are shown ~o ~ of
 medium height, dark in com~lexio~, h~ving 8: broad. nose and t~~ck lIps,
 western in their dress, busmess-hke m theIr dealings, aggressIve and
'hard-working. They rl.!n an egalitarian society in ,,:hich !mphasis is placed o~
 individual self-expressIOn and self-fulfilment (Ombono]e, Book 5, pp. 5-15,
 (Iloeje and Okoro, Book 5, pp. 5-7).
      -The various tribal/ethnic groups are also pr4SeI1ted as having different
 works of art, different life styles, different traditional systems of government,
 worshipping different gods (Iloeje and .Okoro~ Book 5, Unit 2), speaking
 different languages which belong to'different linguistic family groups (some
 areJliid to belong to the Niger-C~ngo family, some to. t~~ 1-fro ..As~atic J.an1lly
 and others to the Nile-Saharan family (Onibonoje, Book 5 Chapter 2). Finally
 there is disunity in the country dating back to I1istorY: "There was no unitY
 among the various kingdoms/tribes in the area now known as Nigeria."
       A close.and careful look at texts other than those used in social studies
 reveals that the experience is exactly the same. In mathematics, for example,
 the child is confronted with problems on '~papering walls" allowing ~or
 windows, doors and fireplaces. The child has only seen walls plastered WIth
 mud and, more recently, a mixture of sand and cement,. and floors covered
 with rectangular grass mats. As for fire places, .the only one he knows about ~
 a three-stone support which his mother uses in cooking. Secondly, he is asked
 to imagine two water pipes filling a cistern with water. and ,3 third pipe
 emptying it. all turned on simultaneously, and to estiUUlte, given their
 dimensions. when .the.cistern.would.be        fillc(:LwitIt.water.Jn   the iust place,
 what is a cistern? Secondly, why could it not be just a waterpot? Besides, is it n~
 madness to turn: on the waste.pipe and at the.     same  time try and fill the cistern 1:
       Thirdly, there are problems on trains rushing past each other at varying
 speeds, instead of drawing up at the platform one at a time as the child knows
 they do in Nigeria. They do not stop to fill up at the stand pump. but rather
 scoop up water from between the rails at many cubic feet per second
 (Larcombe, 1957, P.arts II and Ill). Nigerian trains do not do this. There is
 only one track and the trains wait at .the stations for one train to pass the other
 and there is no water in between the lines to be scooped It;up. Naturally, the
 child concludes that mathematics involves, like m~t other subjects he is taught
 in the school, mere flights of fancy. and has nothing to do with life in Nigeria.
       The case being made here can best be understood when one reads through
 the list of reference books rq:ommended for teachers and school reference
 librari~ in Nigerian primaryschools it) the _GldtkliM6 OIl rrtmm'YSdrfNlI
 CurrleuIIIm ~Y!heNfgeria~~                  ~Council(l97i)              •.For ~e,
 under the beading "Cultural and Creative Art" aU the reference. texts have
                                             6


been written by cultur8.J.outs'iders with backgrounds that do not pretend to have
the slightest knowledge of Africa. Some of these teltD are Andrews (1954),
Peter (1958), Ward (1947), Batchelder (1956), Cole(1940),Loweilfeld (1952),
Mearns (1958), Read (1958), Breda (1954), Weiss (1956), Slade (1957), Newick
 {1953) and Suitfield~Wells (i963).
,- In' additlon,while the committee that prepared the Guidelines spent a
good time discussing in fine detail the 'English langUage curriculum, it did
 nothing- in the directi@ ot drawinj ll.R a prJ)gramme f!Jr the teaching of
 Nigerian languages. In. fact, it was cTearly ~ta~J~ the Gwdelip.es that: "The
 committee deliberately avoided drawing up a comprehenSive v~ar.
 programme because it was outside its terms of reference .. :'(p. 87). Thjs, in
 spite of the fact that the National Policy on Education (1969, 1977) considered
 it to be ":n the interest of national unity that each child should be encouraged to
 learn C'll.e.J.lfthe.thtee]1laior langu~~ other.than his own mother tongue. In
this co!mection, the government considers the three major languages in Nigeria
 to be Hiulsa;Igbo and Yoruba.'~           ,.,
    Conclusion
  It is obvious from the facts stated above that, both in content and context,
  {post of the is.sue$!:Ii$m.s~ in the school texts deal with situations outside the
   itll~ative    premise ~~ the, ~jg.!?rian primary school chil~. Thusl. for the
   Nigerian child education and bfe' can never become one, smce the books he
  readS extol no IdealS' orms-society and paint n9 vivid pictUres of his honie.
  African s.ocietyil1.general aJ.lQ. Nigerian society in particular are presented to
  th~ child ~s ~ull~ and in disarr,ay.~         O~.o an~ .:aCQW~ art ~ted            as
  spmeless l~tItUti.OPS ~witl1no s.Y~temof ~hics ~d no .Pf1!1C1    PlCfl:r f ~d-yct~ '"
   ... N!geria's ethnic andtribaldiffer~ces,t!l'Ce:x;~"          w~e ~9SCthings ~hat
 ,keep.t~em together are de-emphasized (See Okonkwo, 1981c). The child is told'
  that the only institutions "that really function are tliose Controlled by'forces
  outside Africa. Such institutions include the UN, the BEe and the
  Commonwealth of Nations. The heroes of Nigerian! African history are such
  Europeans as Mungo Park, Mary Slessor, John Beecroft, Lord Lugard,
  MacGregor Laird and even Israel's fYani .Netanyahu. The slave trade is treated
  as if it were t4e best thing that .1uippeiied to Afrial, amd . .Afri.canJ., Evmthe
  appointment of who should be a chief in Nigeria is c:lecided by Europeans. In
  addition, the child is told that English is a more usefullanguaae to him. than
  Rausa, Igbo, Efik. Yoruba or Swahili. It is not surprisins, therefore. that one
  Nigerian educationist describes EDalish as Ua language which seems to raise
  the person who is acquainted with it in the scale of civili3ation" (Spencer.
 1971)~
                                                                 an
       .P"maIIy, the child ends up learning tittle or DOlmns at about life in other
  Ain~ countries ?ther than their popUlation and how RWly triball1'oupings
  each IS endowed With. He learns. however, that America was discovered by a
  ~Jl3 ~         Amerigo Vespucci; that Brat.il becaA1e a RepQblic in 1189; that
   .       _es commonborders with Burma. Bhutan, NeIMd Md Laos, and. bu'
  Slgnedthe Strategic Arms UuIitations Treaty with the United slates.
                                               7,


. Recommendations
        Ail over the world, there IS a realization that onlytbrough the right
.education can a better order of society be built (Singh, 1966). Education is not
 something in mid air, cut off from the daily life of the child or from his future
 work as a citizen. Education, Kandel (1933) writes, is a living thing and
 spontaneous .only i£it is ~spirtld by the cultural foundations of the people
 whom it seeks to serve. Real education, particularly at the primary school
 lev~l, must be based on the actual.enWQJ!JP~nt and exJ2eEi~ncesof ~e. ~il.d
 and must fit him for the work he willbe called upon to do after school life. It
 must deal with absolute and concrete facts that tHe 'child himself can verify.
 Themes discussed at this stage must be consistent and avoid all forms of doubt
 or ambiguity. Most importantly, they must deal with facts that will help the
 child to develop a positive view of himself and his society.
        Given this background, I will hazard two fundamental recommendations.
 First, a more serious and earnest effort should be inade to effect a tqtal
 i"eappraisal of the nation's entire education system (more .importantly, as it
 affects the primary school stage), with a cltiarer statement made about content
 and the medium for articulating and communicating education. There is no
 doubt, that t.he stteQ&tllof~y. ~tion ..~ be det~rmiq~ fn)mjts,edu~ation
 sys.tera.. .F'or emlJlpfe, 'tRe.-st~engthof Its 'education system has contnbuted
 immensely to th~ 'l<\mericanisationof milUQ1).S pf immi.wants. i~ the .United
 States. Thus, even thoughthere are some 50,000 school districts in the United
 States, there is a sense of national educational purpose cOJll:n}0n'      to all. and
 articulated through tbe national language. 'Moreover, the apparent success of
 tile.Soviet Union at national ir,.tegration js a rerIeeuori of the strength of its
 education system, which, again, is articulated through its national language. It
 is therefore obvious that "if 1'{igeriais to aChIevethe peace, strength and unity
 that Nigerians dream and sing so much about, the role of an ,indigenous
 language as a force in national integration, cannot be overlooked.
         Put more succinctly, I am recommending that one Nigerian language be
  developed for use in all primary schools in the country • In addition, I must'
  stress the need for implementing, without further delay, the recommendations
  of the NatiOnol PoUcy on Educa#on (1977) with regards to the teaching of
  vernacular languages. For education at'the post-primary and tertiary levels, I
  \\-ill only re-echo the recommendations of Moumouni (1968) and Soyinka
 {1977).Themechanics of teaching the languages involved can easily b.eworked
  out if only the spirit is willing (see Mwingira 1969)•.
         Secondly, if it is true, as some educationists and sociallpsychologists claim,
  that what is learned early in life is resistant to change, I am recommending that
  the wri~ng of ALL class and reference texts to be used at. the. primary and
  post-primary levelsbe effected in its entirety by cultural insiders (see Okonkwo
  1979aand 19818). In this direction, I must add that the Federal Government
  should make funds available' for research, seminars, conferences and
  workshops directed entirely towards the development of relevant school texts.
  In the meantiule, the writing of the few texts done by indigenes has been
  undertaken by people who have wanted to niake quick money and the result is
  that no~ous attention was paid to content. As has been shown by the texts
  analnedin this study, a few clever people have merely reworded SOUle aspects
  ot' texts used; dQring the colonial period which told stories afxm.t Africa from
  the Eurol*U1's point of view (see Okonkwo 19818). Unfortunately;tOOst of
                                               'g


 these indigenous authors are in positions to influence the acceptance of the
 texts by various state governments and even by the Federal Ministry of
 Education.
        The merits of this recommendation cannot be over-emphasized for, if it is
 accepted, it will be possible to eliminate all irrelevant material from school
 texts and thus bring education home within the imaginative environment of the
 learner. In addition, it will then be possible to teach the child those
 fundamental cultural beliefs and traditions commonly shared by all the tribal
 an':l ethnic groups in Nigeria and even in the Sub':Saharan continent of Africa
which, hith~rto, have been de-emphasized (see Okonkwo 1978, 1979a, 1981b,
 1981cand 1982c).
        It is only by implementing these recommendations that we can get the
 child to grow up, learning at the same time how to solve the problems around
 him by himself and how to relate constructively to people around him. At
 present, our educational offerings discourage .creativity and i'nitiiltive, and
 instead create for the child a situation of utter dependency such that'he always
 has to turn to other people such as his teachers or parents, or even to some
 supernatural power, for solutions to his problems. This tendency, which
.results from unfamiliar and poorly articulated educational content and
 experiences, carries through to adult life.when the child turns to non-existent
 American and European 'experts' to analyse and solve his, as well as Nigeria's
 problems.
                                     BmLIOGRAPHY
   1. Afolayan, A. "The Six Year Primary Project in Nigeria." In: A. Bamgbose, ed.
       (1974) ...
   2. Afolayan, A. "Experimenting on the use of an Indigenous Nigerian Language
      (Yoruba) as the Medium of Primary Edtq::ation: The Six Year (Yoruba Medium)
      Primary Project." In: E. Ubahakwe, ed. (1974), pp.. 173-20 7
   3. Bamgbose, A. ed. The Role of the Mother Tongue in Education in Nigeria (Paris:
       (Pl'!l'is:UNESCO, 1974)                                        .
  4. Banjo Report. Report of the Committee on (he ~evlew oIthePr/mtlry Education
      System in Jf~tern Nigeria (Ibadan: Gove~ent Pritlter. 19(1).
  5. Commonwealth Education Conference (Fourth), Lagos., Nigeria. Report.
      (London: HMSO, 1968)                                  ....
  6. Dike Report. Review of the Educational Systemrn EltsttrJI Nigeria. Official
      Document No. 19of 1962(Enugu: Government Print~, 1962).
  7. Erikson, Erik H. Childhood and Society (New York: W.W. Norton & Co.,
      Inc., 1950), p. 90.
  8. Fadeiye, Defe et al.llesanmi Social Studies F(}r Nigerian Primtlf')' Schools Books 4,
  - 5 and 6 (Ilesa: IlesanIni Pres$ Ltd., 1975an.d1976).
  9. Federal Republic of Nigeria. National Policy on' Education ~o~:               Federal
      Ministry of Education, 1969and 1977)..                                    ".
 10. Fafunwa. Babs A. "The Need for a Systematic Curriculum Development Process
      in Nigeria." In: Nigeria Educational Research Council (1971).
 11. Ford Foundation (English Language Survey). English Language Teflching in
      Nigeria - An Assessment of the Situation and Recommendations for Action
      (Lagos: Ford FoundationIFederal Ministry of Education, September, 1~.
 12. Ikoku,Report. Reyiew o[ the. Educational System in Easte.rn Nigeria (Enugu:
      GoveriunentPrinter,I9(4) ...             ' ..
 13~.Iloeje, N.P. & Erne N. Qkofo. Bnin1Pltg SocUfI Studies Books 4, S. and 6 (Lagos:
      MacMillailNlICria Publishers Ltd ..  lrm.
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