EFFECT OF WESTERN EDUCATION ON AFRICAN CULTURAL VALUES, THE NIGERIA'S EXPERIENCE, FROM LATE 19TH-20TH CENTURIES TILL DATE

Abstract The paper examines the effect of Western education on African cultural values, the Nigeria’s experience, from the late 19th- 20th centuries, till date. The study uses descriptive and qualitative analysis, and also cultural imperialism, imperialism and modernization theories to buttress scholarly views about western dominated cultures on Africa cultural values. The work evaluates western education that was brought into Africa as a conscious British policy to undermine the gradual pace of African development and destroyed the African Cultural Values which encompasses wide range of beliefs, customs, and traditional practices across African continent. The study ex-rays Pre-colonial Africa before the 15th century as knowledge, skills, and attitude were passed from generation to generation, and also Nigeria pre-colonial experience that covers through the stone age, late stone age, middle age and iron age, which witnessed pre-colonial industries in Nigeria through the production of pottery, metal work, salt, cloths, leather, canoe building, and calving e.t.c. The research work identifies the effects of colonialism on Africa cultural values, as the arrival of Europeans into Africa brought the missionaries and Christianity who introduced western education that distorted and corrupted the sensibilities of Africans, and the church was made free to handle the colonial educational system in Africa, the Nigeria missionaries used Western education to make their presence welcome and lasting. The study analyzes the effect of post-colonial Western education and the indelible effect on socio-cultural, economic, political lives of Africa’s advancement, and also the impact of Western education on Africa, and Nigeria in particular. The work concludes that western education only came to distort African cultural values and replaced it with alien cultures and norms. The study recommends ‘compulsory African Cultural studies’ at various levels of education in Africa, and Nigeria in particular.