Contestations for Nigerian History Education in Primary and Secondary Schools: from Colonialism to Neocolonialism

Rhoda Nanre Nafziger

History education is a primary tool for the politicization and engendering of civic values and identity among young people. The negation of Black and African history has been used as a tool to undermine Black struggles in Africa and her diasporas. As such, struggles against globalized anti-Black racism, colonialism, neocolonialism and empire and towards emancipation and liberation have also been struggles for the teaching and learning of Black history. This study will examine the social, political, economic and cultural contestations for history education in Nigeria over 100 years from colonialism through independence (1888 ‚ 2018). Through the Spencer Fellowship, I will develop the manuscript of my first monograph: "In Service of Empire: Contestations for Nigerian History Education in Primary and Secondary Schools from Colonialism to Neocolonialism". In Service of Empire will be the first full length monograph that analyzes history and social studies curriculum development in Nigeria. It provides important insights into the politics of the policies and practices of postcolonial education policies in Africa and makes significant contributions to the expansion of global critical race theory and decolonial theory into current education debates and the future of pan-African curriculum globally.

About Rhoda Nanre Nafziger

Nanre Nafziger is an educator-organizer-scholar who serves her various communities through writing, research, teaching, and pan-Africanist organizing. Nanre's research contributes to debates and collective knowledge production in the areas of critical education policy studies, Black/African Studies in Education, decolonial approaches to education, global critical race theory, critical youth studies, Black/African social movements, social movement learning, youth participatory action research; and the role of civil society in education and democratic nation-building in the Global South. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Black/African Studies in Education at McGill University. Her work has been featured in Current Issues in International Education, Globalisation, Societies and Education, the Ibadan Journal of Humanistic Studies, The Conversation and Africa is a Country. Nanre's teaches courses on Global Education and Social Justice, African/Black Social Movements and Social Change and Gender, Education and Development.