37

eg

Ekpo, Koko Okon Akpan, A Historical Review of Educa-

tion in Nigeria with Emphasis upon Secondary Education in

Cross River State. Doctor of Philosophy (Secondary

Education/Curriculum Studies), December, 1982, 321 pp.,

37 tables, 8 figures, bibliography, 161 titles.

The purposes of this study are to describe the past

and the present systems of secondary education in the

Cross River State of Nigeria; to examine the goals,

achievements, and failures of each with special considera-

tion for the period from 1970 to 1981; and to make

recommendations for improvement of the secondary educa-

tional system in the Cross River State of Nigeria.

This study is concerned with a concise but broad

historical review of secondary education in the Cross

River State of Nigeria. An analysis of the historical

evolution of the federation reveals that the forces

underlying Nigeria's educational problems include the

piecemeal acquisition and administration of different areas

of the country, and with fragmented and disorganized public

policy during the Colonial period. For instance, the

policy of restricting Christian missionary activity in the

North, while giving access to missionary initiatives in the

South contributed to uneven social and educational develop-

ment between the North and the South, and resulted in

additional inter-regional tensions.

The review of the related literature consists of three

sections. The first section discusses education as it

existed prior to the Colonial rule. The second section

concentrates on the development of secondary education in

Cross River State of Nigeria during the British rule.

The third section is devoted to secondary educational

developments in Cross River State of Nigeria from 1960

to the present. It identifies educational administrative

measures, inspection, finance, structure, and organization,

the education of secondary school teachers, and the educa-

tional problems which influenced the system during the

period.

The recommendations call for programmes that would

lead to industrial and technological progress.

©1983

KOKO OKON AKPAN EKPO

All Rights Reserved

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

LIST OF TABLES viii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS i*

Chapter

I. INTRODUCTION 1

Statement of the Problem Purposes of the Study Research Questions Definition of Terms Delimitations of the Study Background and Significance of the Study Research Design Summary Chapter Bibliography

II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 25

Introduction Purpose and Value of Educational Planning Traditional Education in Nigeria Educational Developments During the

British Rule Educational Development after Political

Independence Summary Chapter Bibliography

III. TRADITIONAL EDUCATION IN CROSS RIVER STATE OF NIGERIA 65

The Curriculum of Traditional Education in Cross River State of Nigeria

Purposes of Traditional Education in Cross River State of Nigeria

i n

Teachers of Traditional Education in Cross River State of Nigeria

Summary Chapter Bibliography

IV. THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION SYSTEMS IN CROSS RIVER STATE OF NIGERIA: 1970-1981 83

Introduction Philosophy of Nigerian Education Objectives of Education in Cross River

State of Nigeria Structure and Organisation of the

Ministry of Education in Cross River State of Nigeria

Goals of Primary Education in Cross River State of Nigeria

The Development of Primary Education System in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981

Enrolment in the Primary Schools of Cross River State of Nigeria

Number of Primary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981

Universal Primary Education (U.P.E.) Scheme in Cross River State of Nigeria

Classrooms, Furniture and Equipment of U.P.E. Scheme in Cross River State of Nigeria

Fears About the U.P.E. Scheme Management of Primary Schools in Cross

River State of Nigeria Curriculum of Primary Schools in Cross

River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981 Academic Qualifications of Primary School

Teachers in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981

Criteria for the Selection of a Primary School Headmaster in Cross River State of Nigeria

Financing Primary Education in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981

In-service Education Programmes for Pri-mary School teachers in Cross River State of Nigeria

External and Internal Constraints in Pri-mary Education in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981

IV

Roles of Institutions of Higher Education in Primary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

Future Plans in Cross River State of Nigeria for Expansion, Growth, and Improvement in the Primary Education Programme

Development of Secondary Education System in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981

Goals of Secondary Education in Cross River State of Nigeria

Number of Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981

Enrolment in the Secondary Schools of Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981

Number of Teachers' Training Colleges in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981

Goals of Teachers' Training Colleges in Cross River State of Nigeria

Enrolment in Teachers' Training Colleges in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981

Admission into Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

World Bank Loan for Secondary Education Projects in Cross River State of Nigeria

Achievements of the World Bank Loan for Secondary Education Projects in Cross River State of Nigeria

Problems of World Bank Loan for Secondary Education Projects in Cross River State of Nigeria

Management of Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

The State School Board Structure and Organisation of the State

School Board of Cross River State of Nigeria

Functions of the State School Board Campus Administration of Post-primary

Institutions in Cross River State of Nigeria

Curriculum of Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

Curriculum of Secondary Commercial Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

v

Curriculum of Secondary Technical/Trade Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

Curriculum of Teachers' Training Colleges in Cross River State of Nigeria

Academic Qualifications of Secondary School Teachers in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1981

Academic Qualifications of Teachers in Teachers in Secondary Grammer Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

Academic Qualifications of Teachers in Secondary Commercial Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

Academic Qualifications of Teachers in Secondary Technical/Vocational Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

Academic Qualifications of Teachers in Teachers' Training Colleges in Cross River State of Nigeria

Criteria for the Selection of a Secondary School Principal in Cross River State of Nigeria

In-service Education for Secondary School Teachers in Cross River State of Nigeria

Methods of Teaching in Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

Guidance in Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

Instructional Spaces in Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

Equipment in Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

Laboratories in Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

Inspection of Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

Financing Secondary Education in Cross River State of Nigeria

External and Internal Constraints in Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

Higher Education in Cross River State of Nigeria

Roles of Insititutions of Higher Education In Secondary Education in Cross River State of Nigeria

VI

Future Plans in Cross River State of Nigeria for Expansion, Growth, and Improvement in Secondary Education Programmes

Summary Chapter Bibliography

V. SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS 207

Summary Findings Conclusions Recommendations to the Government of

Cross River State of Nigeria Recommendations for Future Studies Chapter Bibliography

APPENDIXES .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

250

308

vix

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I. School-age Population and Actual Enrolment in Primary Schools of Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1978/79 School Year 99

II. Number of Primary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria: 1970-1978/79 School Year 106

III. Number of Secondary Schools in Cross River State of Nigeria by Division: 1970-1976 138

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure Page

1. The General Organisational Patterns of All the Ministries of Education in Nigeria . . 101

2. Organisational Structure of the Cross River State School Board 169

3. Recommended Administrative Structure for Each Independent School District in Cross River State of Nigeria 170

4. The Administrative Structure of Secondary, Technical, and Commerical Institutions Including Teachers' Training Colleges in the Ministry of Education of the Cross River State of Nigeria 171

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Nigeria lies within the tropics between latitudes

4° and 14° north of the equator and longitudes 3° and 14°

east of the Greenwich Meridian (21, p. 1). It is bounded

on the west by the Republic of Dahomey, on the north by the

Niger Republic, on the north-east by the Chad Republic,

on the east by the Republic of Cameroun, and on the south

by the Atlantic Ocean (21, p. 1). Nigeria, well watered

by the Rivers Niger and Benue and their tributaries,

has an area of 356,669 square miles [26, p. 459], an

area equal to one-ninth of the United States or Texas

and California put together, or France, Belgium,

and Great Britain combined (10, p. 1). The population

of Nigeria is believed to approach 100 million (16,

p. 2). Its climate varies from tropical at the coast

to sub-tropical further inland. There are two well-marked

seasons: the dry season lasting from November to March

and the rainy season from April to October (21, p. 1).

Temperatures at the coast seldom rise above 90°F, but

humidity is high. The climate is drier further north

where extremes of temperature are more common, sometimes

reaching as high as 110°F and falling to 50°F.

The political entity known as Nigeria came into

existence in 1914 (21, p. 1). Prior to this date the part

of the Sudanic belt which it occupies had a history that

was essentially of the movement and fusion of peoples, the

rise and fall of empires and the slave trade. Thereafter,

the history became that of the establishment of Fulani

rule over the Hausa communities of the north in the early

19th century and the gradual imposition of British rule,

which commenced from the south with the Cession of Lagos on

August 6, 1861 (21, p. 1). Nigeria came into being in its

present form when the two protectorates of Northern and

Southern Nigeria were amalgamated by Frederick Lugard (6,

p. 21). Flora Shaw, who later married Lugard, first

suggested in an article for the London Times that the sev-

eral British protectorates on the Niger be known collec-

tively as Nigeria (17). Any country is, in a sense, an

artificial creation. In the case of Nigeria, however,

union was so sudden, and included such widely differing

groups of peoples, that not only the British, who created it,

but the inhabitants themselves have often doubted whether it

could survive as a political entity (6, p. 23).

Nigeria, the most populus black state in the world,

became a sovereign state on October 1, 1960. Independence

from Britain was achieved through nationalistic

struggle—strikes, agitation, and mass protests.

There was no armed struggle (28, p. 1895). The civilian

administration that ushered the country into political

independence was elected through democratic elections held

in 1959 (28, p. 1895). That government handed over power

to a military government in January, 1966, after some

sections of the Nigerian army had mutinied in reaction to

widespread political unrest and violence in parts of the

country.

At that time, Nigeria was a federation led by a prime

minister at the centre and four regional premiers. The

general officer commanding the Nigerian Army took

power as head of the federal military government and

supreme commander of the armed forces. He tended to steer

the country towards a unitary form of government. This

was an unpopular move and after six months his government

was overthrown, and he and one of his military governors

and some army officers were killed (28, p. 1895).

Nigeria's second military government lasted nine

years. During this period, a civil war was fought to re-

unite the country after a section of it had attempted to

secede. The peace was won, because at the end of the

war, the government declared that there was no victor and

there was no vanquished. A general amnesty had been

granted and war victims were rehabilitated. There was

post-war reconstruction followed by an economic boom. By

now Nigeria had become a federation of twelve states in

response to demands for the creation of new states.

A third military government came into being in a

bloodless coup on July 29, 1975. It announced a four-year

programme that would terminate with the return to

democratically-elected government and the shifting of the

federal capital from Lagos to Abuja in the central part of

the country in response to popular demands. It also

created seven new states. The head of this government,

the late General Murtala Muhammed, was killed in an

abortive coup on February 13, 1976, after six dramatic

months in office and was declared a national hero. His

chief of staff, General Olusegun Obasanjo, was persuaded

by his colleagues to take charge of the government and

complete the programme embarked upon by his predecessor

(28, p. 1895). On October 1, 1979, the Military Govern-

ment handed over power to a civilian administration headed

by Alhaji Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari as Executive

President with Dr. Alex Ekwueme as Vice-president (8,

p. 44).

The Cross River State of Nigeria was created on

May 27, 1967. It is one of the twelve states that were

created by special decree by the then head of state,

General Uakubu Gowon. In a broadcast at 9:00 p.m. of

May 27, 1969, General Uakubu Gowon announced a decree

dividing Nigeria into twelve states as a basis for stabil-

ity (25, p. 47). On February 3, 1976, when seven new

states were created in the Federal Republic of Nigeria by

the then Federal Military Government, the former name—

South Eastern State of Nigeria was changed to the present

name—Cross River State of Nigeria (24, p. 131). The then

Military Government announced that states would no longer

be identified simply by their geographical locations but

would all be given names, to "erase memories of the past

politicalties and emotional attachments" (25, p. 131).

Cross River State of Nigeria lies within the Cross

River Basin between Latitude 4°25' and 7° North and longi-

tudes 7°151 and 9°20; East. The state has an area of

28,685 square kilometres, is bordered on the North by the

Benue state, stretches into the Atlantic Ocean in the

South, shares common boundaries with the Cameroun Republic

in the East and the Imo and Rivers states in the West

(22, p. 561). The population estimate of Cross River

State is four million and the capital is Calabar (23,

p. 251).

Three major ethnic groups are easily identifiable in

Cross River State of Nigeria. These are the EfiM/

Ibibio/Annang group located in the South. The origins of

the Ibibio are shrouded in mystery and obscured by con-

flicting traditions. They are sometimes referred to as a

semi-Bantu group, indicating their linguistic affinity with

the Bantu Congeries of languages in Central, Eastern and

Southern Africa (12, p. 25). It is most probable that

they migrated to their present area from the Cameroun

uplands to the east and from the Cross River estuary, moved

upriver as well as westwards until checked by other tribes

(12, p. 25). The Ibibio language includes many dialects,

the principal ones being Ibibio proper (Uyo), Efik

(Calabar), Annang, Enyong, Eket-Ibibio and Andoni or

Ibeno (12, p. 26). A curious and persistent belief among

many Ibibio people is that they are related in some way to

the Jews of Europe and Asia. Instances are cited of

similarities between Ibibio and Hebrew in sentence struc-

ture, idioms, proverbs and word usage. Common social

customs, such as certain forms of purification, have also

been noted (12, p. 26). The Ejagham group is spread over

the North but divided into two sectors by an intermediary

group—the Ekoi. The Southern sector of Ejagham comprises

the Quas in Calabar Division and the neighboring people

of Akamkpa Division while the Northern sector is made up

of Etung—spreading people of Ikom, Akajuk, Nkum, Nkim,

Mbube, and parts of Ogoja. In the Ekoi group are the

people of Biase, Bahumono, Yakurr, Agbo, and Mbembe Clans

(22, p. 561).

Education in Nigeria is no longer a private enterprise,

but a huge government venture. It has witnessed a pro-

gressive evolution of governmental intervention and

participation. The federal military government favored

university expansion to remove geographical educational

imbalances, to foster national unity and to train high-level

manpower. The National Policy on Education describes the

way the Federal Government plans to achieve part of its

national objectives using education as a tool, and the

policy states that education is adopted as "an instrument

par excellence for effecting national development" (11,

p. 245).

The policy states that Nigeria's philosophy of educa-

tion is based on the development of the individual into

a sound and effective citizen and that equal educational

opportunities for all citizens of the nation at the

primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, both inside and

outside the formal school system should be provided (11,

p. 245).

There is an assumption that a relationship exists

between planning and change. This assumption is under-

scored by Morphet's statement that

Change can occur without planning, and planning can be accomplished and have no tangible results. But as educational leaders attempt to develop more effective plans that are designed to bring about needed changes in educational environment, they will

need, to a greater degree than before, to understand the intimate and interdependent relationships that exist between planning and change, and to find ways of capitalizing upon the inherent strengths of these relationships (20, p. 91).

Nigeria, like most other developing nations, is

attempting to change at a speed greatly exceeding that

attained by most developed nations. While political,

economic, social, and technological changes took place

gradually and sometimes by change in the older nations,

the emerging nations are resorting more and more to

systematic planning to effect change, and are placing

considerable demands on the educational system to produce the

manpower needed for national development (15, p. 9). This

is not to say that the most astute planning will solve all

educational problems, but that lack of planning or ineffec-

tive planning would be a waste of resources. It cannot be

assumed that education alone will bring about needed pro-

gress and development, but undoubtedly education does

improve the quality of life. Developing nations then can

no longer afford to leave the education of their youth to

chance.

To underscore Nigeria's reliance on education as an

instrument of change, the former Federal Commissioner for

Education, Col. A. A. Ali, declared during the inaugural

ceremony of the implementation Committee on National

policy of Education in Lagos that

The new national policy on education was aimed at making education an instrument of socio-political as well as economic change, with far-reaching con-sequences for individuals and the society. . . . The essential character of education should be seen in its capacity to meet declared national objectives, including the inculcation of national conscious-ness, unity and the right values and attitudes (27, p. 2181).

African leaders have witnessed the powerful influence

that education has on underdeveloped countries such as

their own, and they regard education as a powerful change

agent. Education, they felt, was the magical "something"

necessary to produce citizens of appropriate quantity,

skills, and attitudes. A Nigerian leader once said,

"In the New Africa education must be accorded priority

number one; it is the 'open Sesame' to all problems" (4).

Vaizey, although he was referring to Western coun-

tries, remarks that "even in absolute terms, education is

a big industry; but in terms of its demand for highly

trained people it is the largest single occupation" (4).

Education has become a major, if not the major,

concern of the new independent states of Africa. At

almost every point in the modernization process, education

is the critical factor, for without it, Africa's people

would be unable to enter the modern technological world.

For millions of Africans, education is the key that will

open the door to a better life and higher living standards,

10

The control and planning of education has become an area

of crucial magnitude (8, p. 3).

The importance of education cannot be over-emphasized.

In 1978 the General Conference of UNESCO said, "By the very

complexity of the problems which it must help to solve,

education must be conceived in an interdisciplinary context

as a factor of multidimensional development of which man

is both the end and the instrument" (24, p. 1819). In the

"Special Report on Education," (24, p. 1819) the World

Bank clearly delineates the significance of education.

First, education is a basic human need. "People need

education to acquire a broad base of knowledge, attitude,

values and skills on which they can build a better life"

(24, p. 1819). Thus,education enhances people's ability

to learn, adapt to social and cultural activities (24,

p. 1819) .

Second, education is a means of meeting other basic

needs:

Education influences and is in turn influenced by access to other basic needs—adequate nutrition, safe drinking water, health services, and shelter. In this context, one remembers the argument of experts that health programmes could be accelerated more by teaching the people basic principles of hygiene than by sophisticated medical science. Also, if children are better fed they can learn better, which would improve their overall benefits from education (24, p. 1819).

11

Third, all development programmes depend on education

for the simple reason that they all require skilled workers

at all levels to manage capital, technology, services, and

administration in every sector (24, p. 1819).

In this "special report on education," (24, p. 1819)

the World bank laid emphasis on the fact that despite

significant improvement in the enrollment of children in

all spheres of education, the developing countries still

have a long way to go in solving the problems of education.

Nigeria, with its introduction of Universal Primary

Education (UPE) in 1979 did initiate momentous thrust

in eradicating illiteracy. The effort has transformed

the country into a demanding and changing society. There

are numerous basic issues that revolve around this trans-

formation. It may be interesting to determine the extent

to which the present administrative machinery is sufficient

and capable of coping with the problems of educational

change.

It was the ingenuity of the military government in

Nigeria that ushered in a free primary education as a

weapon against illiteracy, and also brought about a new

educational policy to guide the future of the people in

attaining the goals of education. Thus, the planned

changes in education had the interest and the backing of

those at the top of the political ladder. This affirmed

12

the contention of Schramm of the importance of the involvment

of political leadership where changes and innovation are

planned (13, p. 165).

An addquate secondary school system in Nigeria is a

major problem, but it is not a top priority item. Top

priority has more frequently been given to expanding

elementary education and to establishing universities

(9, p. 298) .

Nigerian education is in a period of transition. The

contemporary form of education in the new nation reflects

the British concepts on which the system was developed

prior to political independence. Education is now being

"Americanized," although the nation is still experimenting

with ideas borrowed from many different countries of the

world (9, p. 298).

Secondary education in Cross River State of Nigeria

consists of five years (called "forms") at the end of

which students take the west African school certificate

examination. After completing this examination, students

who wish to attend universities usually must take an

additional two years' work ("sixth form") and pass the

Advanced Level Certificate Examination (9, p. 298). It

is assumed by Nigerian educators that this middle step

between the secondary school and the university is no

13

longer necessary, and it is being phased out. Further

research will help to validate its assumption. Secondary-

education in the Cross River State of Nigeria is neither

free nor compulsory (9, p. 298).

It is hoped that a historical review of secondary

education in the Cross River State of Nigeria will bring

to light some of the old and new problems, and thus some

major suggestions and recommendations may be made which

could contribute to the solution of the problems.

Statement of the Problem

The problem of this study is to complete a historical

review of the educational system of the Cross River State of

Nigeria with special emphasis on secondary education.

Purposes of the Study

The purposes of the study are

1. To describe the past and present system of

secondary education in the Cross River State of Nigeria;

2. To describe the curriculum design and instruc-

tional activities of secondary schools in the Cross River

State of Nigeria;

3. To describe the qualifications of secondary school

teachers in the Cross River State of Nigeria;

4. To examine the goals, achievements, failures and

problems of secondary shcools in the Cross River State

14

of Nigeria with special consideration for the period from

1970 to 1981?

5. To draw conclusions and make recommendations for

improvement of the secondary educational system in the

Cross River State of Nigeria.

Research Questions

Specifically, this study will explore the following

questions.

1. What were the purposes of traditional education

in the Cross River State of Nigeria before the introduc-

tion of western education?

2. What are the current purposes of secondary

education in the Cross River State of Nigeria?

3. What is the nature of secondary curriculum and

co-curriculum activities in the Cross River State of

Niger ia?

4. Who attends secondary schools in the Cross River

State of Nigeria?

5. What are the qualifications of secondary school

teachers in the Cross River State of Nigeria?

6. How is secondary education financed in the

Cross River State of Nigeria?

7. Which individuals or groups influence the initia-

tion of educational policies in the Cross River State of

Nigeria and to what degree?

15

8. What is the influence of selected individuals or

groups on the development of educational policies in the

Cross River State of Nigeria after policies have been

proposed?

9. What is the influence of selected individuals or

groups on the final approval of educational policies in

the Cross River State of Nigeria?

10. What future plans are under way in the Cross

River State of Nigeria for expansion, growth, and improve-

ment in the secondary education programme?

11. As a result of this study, what recommendations

might contribute to the improvement of secondary educa-

tion programmes in the Cross River State of Nigeria?

Definition of Terms

Terms used in this study are defined as follows.

Secondary grammar school.—This secondary school is

designed for children thirteen through seventeen years of

age who are college-bound. The programme takes five years

to complete with a strong academic bias, in the English

tradition, leading to the West African School Certificate

Examination (19, p. 158).

Secondary commercial school.—A secondary school

designed for children thirteen through seventeen years of

age who are career-bound. It is characterized by

16

instruction in commercial vocational subjects. It is

therefore a kind of vocational school from which graduates

go immediately to work (19, p. 158).

Secondary technical school.—A secondary school

designed for children thirteen through seventeen years of

age who are career-bound. It is a kind of vocational

school where graduates go immediately to work as techni-

cians in government departments.

Comprehensive secondary school.--A secondary school

designed for children thirteen through seventeen years of

age. The school has each of the programmes that are

offered in secondary grammar schools, secondary commercial

and secondary technical schools.

Chairman.—This is the chief administrative officer

of the state school board that oversees the welfare of

secondary schools and teacher training colleges in the

Cross River State of Nigeria. By the American pattern, he

is the state superintendent of schools.

State School Board.—This is the board appointed by

the Cross River State of Nigeria Ministry of Education

that employs and assigns teachers at the post-primary

school level. This is similar to the state school board

of an American school system.

17

Educated Nigerians.—The term is interpreted to

include all Nigerians who complete either the first six

years of training in primary schools and obtain Nigerian

First School Leaving Certificate at the end of the six

years; those Nigerians, who, after obtaining their First

School Leaving Certificate further their education for

five years in secondary schools and obtain the West

African School Certificate after a successful completion

of their programmes; and Nigerians who have University

education and obtain either a bachelor^, master^, or

doctoral, degree (7, p. 41).

Local government area•—This is a geographically

delineated unit divided into subdivisions for administra-

tive convenience. A comparable term in the United States

of America is the county (2, p. 10).

National certificate of education.—A post-secondary

professional teaching diploma awarded after three years of

satisfactory work.

General certificate of education.—This is a certifi-

cation of academic achievement administered by the West

African examination council offered in two tiers:

"ordinary" and "advanced" levels--grade 12 and junior

college graduate equivalents in the United State of

America respectively (2, p. 10).

18

Delimitations of the Study

The present study was limited to Cross River State

of Nigeria because generalizations to all nineteen states

in Nigeria would be meaningless, as the system of secondary

education in each of the nineteen states is unique.

The study was also limited to the materials available

through the United States Library of Congress in Washing-

ton, D.C., U.S.A., the British Library, London, of which

the British Museum is a part, the leading United States

universities connected with the development of education in

Nigeria, the Ministry of Education of Cross River State of

Nigeria, and the Nigerian universities. The study was also

limited to the materials available through government

publications, educational laws and decrees, unpublished

theses and dissertations, articles in the professional

journals, reports of UNESCO, Nigerian educational research

institutes, the Nigerian Chronicle (the Cross River State

of Nigeria Daily Newspaper), and the Nigerian Daily Times

(Nigerian Daily Newspaper). The study was also limited

to the materials available through the World Bank study

of Nigerian Education, and interviews.

Cross River State of Nigeria was selected for this

study because it exhibits many of the characteristics of

the educational systems in those nations classified by

economists as "developing nations." Also it faces

19

problems in human resource development similar to those

that other developing nations face.

Background and Significance of the Study

This study is concerned with a concise but broad

historical review of secondary education in Cross River

State of Nigeria. The relevant literature is replete

with references to the Nigerian system of education and

the problems facing the system. An analysis of the

historical evaluation of the federation reveals the

forces underlying Nigeria's problems to include the

following: sociocultural and religious diversity, the

piecemeal acquisition and administration of different

areas of the country, and certain aspects of public

policy in the colonial period (3, p. 9).

Nigeria is characterized by social, cultural,

linguistic, and religious diversity. The piecemeal

acquisition of the country by the British and the system

of indirect administration served to maintain the

identity of each of the regions, so that local centre of

leadership and loyalty solidified before political

independence. Certain aspects of public policy, for

example, the policy of restricting Christian missionary

activity in the north while giving free access to mission-

ary initiative in the south, contributed to uneven social

and educational development between the north and south

20

and resulted in interregional tensions (14, pp. 238-239).

The effect of the British influence on the education of

Nigerians has been a subject of much discussion (1). A

need arose for studies in this area so that educationists

would be aware of the particular characteristics associated

with the development of education in Cross River State of

Nigeria. Such studies would aid educationists in their

endeavour to lead the young nation at the local, state

and federal levels, to examine the purposes, goals, and

limitations of secondary school set-up in Cross River

State of Nigeria and thus reveal the weaknesses and

problems of the system, and to make available any sugges-

tions concerning the improvement of the secondary educa-

tion system in Cross River State of Nigeria.

Research Design

This study was designed to review the history of

secondary education in Cross River State of Nigeria.

Thus, it was a descriptive research.

Data were collected, evidence was synthesized in

order to establish the facts pertaining to the study, and

conclusions were drawn concerning the past and present.

Finally suggestions were made regarding the secondary

education system in Cross River State of Nigeria.

21

Summary

The preceding paragraphs provided the following: a

brief political history of Nigeria and that of Cross River

State of Nigeria, a statement of the problem, the purposes

of the study, questions to be investigated, the definition

of major terms, limitations of the study, a brief back-

ground and significance of the study and the research

design.

The next chapter contains the development of major

concepts and a review of related literature. Chapter

Three deals in detail with traditional education in Cross

River State of Nigeria. Chapter Four is a description of

the primary and secondary education systems in Cross River

State of Nigeria from 1970 to 1981. Chapter Five contains

the findings, conclusions and recommendations. A general

bibliography is appended.

CHAPTER BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Adeyinka, A. A., "Impact of Secondary School Education in the Western State of Nigeria," Comparative Education, 9 (October, 1973), 151-155.

2. Ahuwan, Abasiya Magaji, "Needs Assessment: An Analysis of Institutional Goals in Post-primary Schools in Nigeria with Special Reference to Kaduna State," unpublished doctoral dissertation, North Texas State University, Denton, Texas, 1981.

3. Ajala, Oyewole Olayioye, "A Historical Review of Secondary Education in Western Nigeria: 1842-1976," unpublished doctoral dissertation, North Texas State University, Denton, Texas, 1977.

4. Biobaku, S. 0., "Africa's Needs and Africa's Universi-ties," West African Journal of Education, Vol. viii, No. 2.

5. Coombs, Philip H., What is Educational Planning? UNESCO, International Institute of Educational Planning, 1970.

6. Crowder, Michael, A Short History of Nigeria, New York, Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., Publishers, 1966.

7. Ekpenyong, Jackson J., "Development of Educational Institution and Social Change in Nigeria: 1953 1973," unpublished master's thesis, North Texas State University, Denton, Texas, 1976.

8. Ekpo, Koko Okon Akpan, "Qualifications of Secondary School Teachers in English-speaking Africa—An Overview," unpublished doctoral dissertation, Carolina Christian University, Chester, Virginia, 1980.

9. Encyclopedia Americana, 1970, Vol. 1, pp. 298-299.

10. Fafunwa, Alliu Babatunde, "An Historical Analysis of the Development of Higher Education in Nigeria," doctoral dissertation, New York Univeristy, 1955.

22

23

11. Federal Military Government of Nigeria, Supplement of Official Gazette of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 61, No. 4 (January 24, 1974—Part A), by Federal Ministry of Information, Lagos, Nigeria.

12. Floyd, Barry, Eastern Nigeria: A Geographical Review, London, Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 196 9.

13. Havelock, R. G. and Huberman, A. M., Solving Educa-tional Problems; The Theory and Reality of Innovation in Developing Countries, UNESCO, Switzerland, 1972.

14. Ibim, Geoffrey Mark, "Federal Government and the Development of Education in Nigeria: 1951-1965," University of California, Los Angeles, 1968.

15. Ibiok, Joseph F. D., "The Development of a Model Plan for Evaluating Higher Education Planning in Nigeria," unpublished doctoral dissertation, North Texas State University, Denton, Texas, 1980.

16. Ighoavodha, Frederick J. 0., "Keynote Address Pre-sented to the Nigerian Students Union, Denton Chapter, Denton, Texas, during the Nigerian Independence Anniversary celebration, October 4, 1980.

17. Kirk-Greene, A. H. M., "Who Coined the Name Nigeria?" West Africa, December 22, 1956.

18. Knezevich, Stephen J., Administration of Public Education, New York, Harper and Row, Publishers, 1969.

19. Lewis, L. J., Society Schools and Progress in Nigeria, Oxford, Pergamon Press, 1965.

20. Morphet, E. L., Jesser, D. L., and Ludka, A. P., Planning and Providing for Excellence in Educa-tion, New York, Citation Press, 1972.

21. Nigeria Diary, Federal Ministry of Information, Lagos, Nigeria, 1973.

22. Nigeria Year Book, A "Daily Times" of Nigeria publica-tion, 1979.

24

23. Nigeria Year Book, A "Daily Times" of Nigeria publica-tion, 1980.

24. Obe, Ad'obe, "Special Report on Education," West Africa, West Africa Publishing Company Ltd., London, (September 22, 1980), 1819.

25. Ojiako, James 0., Thirteen Years of Military Rule, A "Daily Times" of Nigeria Publication, Lagos, Nigeria, 1979.

26. Paxton, John, Editor, The Stateman's Yearbook: Statistical and Historical Annual of the States of the World for the Year 1875-1976, New York, St. Martini's Press, 1975, pp. 459-460.

27. West Africa Magazine, West Africa Publishing Company, Ltd., London, (October 24, 1977), 2181.

28. West Africa Magazine, September 29, 1980, p. 1895.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Introduction

The Cross River State of Nigeria is one of the educa-

cationally backward states in Nigeria. This fact has

been accepted by successive administrations of the state

since its inception. At the commencement of the third

state development plan (1975-1980), the State's education

under development was still clearly manifest in acute

shortage of high-level and skilled man-power, particularly

in the administrative, professional and technical cadres,

as well as in low enrollment ratio, particularly at the

secondary and tertiary levels of education (6, p. 48).

This situation would appear to have arisen and persisted

principally as a result of past neglect of the geographi-

cal area now known as the Cross River State of Nigeria in

the provision of educational facilities and economic

infrastructures for the economic well-being of its

inhabitants (6, p. 48).

The history of Nigeria necessitates a need for

assessing its educational goals. Ogunsola (36, pp. 105-

127) has synthesized and revealed four distinct eras

in the development of education in Nigeria from its

25

26

inception: 1890 to 1925—The Period of Experimentation,

1925 to 1948--The Period of Attempted Reorganization,

1948 to 1966 The Period of Consolidation and Independence,

and 1966 to present—The Period of Evolution of National

Policy on Education. Okafor (37, pp. 1-5) further

explained that these periods each had its organizational,

racial or other imperatives which determined the specific

objectives it pursued.

The dilemma that faces educational planners in

Nigeria has been articulated by Ndamukong (27, pp. 8-12),

where he stated, "We have reached a point where many roads

converge and it is vitally important for the future of our

educational system that we choose the correct road forward."

Other contributions about the educational problems were

cited by George (17, pp. 54-56), stating that the problem

over current trends in education was due to ineffective

planning and coordination. He emphasized that education

should endow pupils with the capacity to contribute

effectively as citizens and workers in social development.

Purpose and Value of Educational Planning

Ibiok (19, p. 15), writing in 1980, stated that

before 1950 the term "educational planning" was scarcely

used, but that in the last twenty-five years the popularity

of that term has soared. He further stated that people

who are concerned with the future of education all over

27

the world are showing such renewed interest and concern

for the orderly development of educational systems that a

large body of professional literature has developed and is

roughly doubling each year. He emphasized that educational

planning, as it is known today, is not only growing rapidly

but its discussions are being extended to cover a wider

range of topics, and questions, such as economic develop-

ment, manpower, curriculum, teaching techniques, finance,

and fiscal policy. For our purposes, the function of

educational planning may be defined as a process of study

and foresight which generates action to achieve desired

educational outcomes (19, p. 16).

Coombs warns that whatever educational planning is,

it is certainly not a miracle drug for aiding educational

systems nor, conversely, is it a devil's potion that breeds

only evil (8, p. 14). What seems to give educational

planning such popularity among political leaders, legis-

lators, administrators, teachers, students, and assorted

citizens according to Ibiok (19, p. 16) is the common

recognition of educational planning as a key tool of

economic and social development.

Poignant argues that education should have a

privileged position in the national plan because it trains

future workers and aims at raising production and the

standard of living, thereby improving every aspect of

28

human society (40, p. 47). He says that education is a

long-term national investment and that the future active

population of a country will derive the benefit of an

expanding flow of better-educated and trained young

people. This, he says will gradually transform the

intellectual and vocational structure of the population.

The higher skills of the active population will make

it possible for production techniques to be constantly

improved and for the steady progress of economic expansion.

He concludes that "the advantages of this type of invest-

ment are not restricted to the sort economists try to

calculate, but are felt in all spheres, whether social,

domestic, cultural or democratic" (40, p. 47).

Several other authors arguing in the same vein, trace

the relationship of education and educational planning to

economic development. Fernandez (15) says that educa-

tional planning has a special place in national develop-

ment. After reviewing the planning activities in Latin

America and elsewhere, he makes a rather strong ideologi-

cal justification of educational planning as a tool of

development.

McCusken (25) made a study of the educational system

of the Republic of China in 1962 and found that it played

a significant role in the economic development of the

Republic. Rodriguez (41) studied the long-term needs

29

for economic development of Puerto Rico and concluded that

the system must be expanded to meet the commonwealth's

trained manpower requirements and recommended the

establishment of an educational planning body. Vaizey

(47) in consideration of education as an economic

phenomenon supports the manpower approach to educational

planning. He sees a direct relationship between educa-

tion and economic development. Dennison (11), attempted

to measure the contribution of education to economic growth

with particular reference to the United States. The

Japanese Ministry of Education acknowledges the "quanti-

tative and qualitative" contributions of education to the

economic growth of Japan, relating this contribution to

the increase in public expenditure in education (21).

As Ibiok points out, the common notion among authors

seems to be that nations should increase the proportion of

their resources devoted to education because of the rela-

tionship of education to national development and economic

growth (19, p. 18). He further states that educational

systems all over the world seem to be in the "man—power

business" because they are called upon to meet the ever

expanding and increasingly sophisticated human resource

requirements of national economies. It should however

be pointed out that no studies have yet revealed a clear-

cut casual relationship between the volume of investment

30

in education and successful national development (19,

p. 19). As Harbison points out, education of the wrong

kind may even impede growth (18, p. 33). Thus, the single

most important reason suggested in the literature for

educational planning for both industrialized and under-

developed nations is for efficient allocation of resources

to produce the needed manpower to help keep the economy

going.

No longer is education viewed as a non-productive

sector of the economy which absorbs "consumption expendi-

ture" but it is now viewed as an essential "investment

expenditure" for economic growth. Coombs observes,

Wearing this impressive new investment label, educa-tion is able to make a more effective claim on national budgets. But to justify the claim, educa-tors themselves would have to become more manpower-minded. They would have to plan and try to govern their student intakes and outputs to fit the pattern of manpower requirements certified by the economists to be necessary for the economy's good health (8, p. 22) .

The literature, though thin on the relationship of

education and educational planning to social development,

as distinct from economic development, does have some

arguments in favour of educational planning for non-

economic reasons. According to Ibiok, man is a social

animal, but he is tending more and more to be an economic

robot, and therefore education unquestionably must

31

contribute to the vital non-economic dimensions and forces

of national development (19, p. 20).

Authors with a background in education and sociology,

nurtured on the liberal, humanistic tradition, prefer

to argue that without planning, the educational systems

continue to leave large reserves of ability in the popu-

lation educationally underdeveloped. They prefer to

fight for bigger budgets and more investment in education

on higher ground, arguing that education is the right of

every person who can benefit from it (19, p. 20). In other

words, the moral conception of education in the twentieth

century is the principle of formal equality of educational

opportunity.

The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and

Development) has sponsored several studies on the social

objectives in educational planning. Anderson (28, p. 31),

Vaizey (47), Weinberg (48), and Hayward (28, p. 202) deal

with the concept of education as a tool of social develop-

ment and have carried out several studies to support equal

educational privilege and opportunity. They see a need

for expansion of educational opportunity and observe that

"educational expansion has not led automatically to more

equal participation as between the social strata" (38,

p. 26) .

32

Ibiok (19, p. 21) points out that the nature of a modern

industrial society requires that citizens undergo an

education which is essentially intellectual in content

in order that they may become useful citizens. Thompson

and Fogel (44, p. 16) state that universities cannot

determine social mobility as such; but they can contribute

to it, and that in dealing with education we are dealing

with "values."

Curie (10) and Bernier and Williams (3) make the

same non-material argument for educational planning, with

Bernier stating that education then, beyond all other

devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the

conditions of men the balance-wheel of the social

machinery . . . it gives each man the independence and the

means by which he can resist the selfishness of other men.

It does better than to disarm the poor of their hostility

towards the rich: it prevents being poor. . . . Moral

education is a primal necessity of social existence

(3, p. 274) .

The thinking among supporters of the social objectives

of education then is that if education helps the economy's

slave (19, p. 21), educational planning should aim at

developing the recipients first and foremost as individuals

and not as a manpower statistic (19, p. 21).

33

According to Ibiok (19, p. 21), both the economic

development and the social development proponents agree

that in order to cope with the concrete and enormous tasks

that face educational systems all over the world, we must

approach them "planfully." He further points out that

sociologists and others concerned with social development,

have some very convincing arguments, but they still have

some distance to cover in translating social and human

development objectives into sufficiently specific terms

to be operationally useful for educational planning and

programming.

Ibiok (19, p. 22) then concludes by stating that

systematic educational planning is necessary for the

following reasons:

1. To cope with the increase in student numbers

provoked by demographic expansions,

2. The almost universal acceptance of the principle

of equality of educational opportunity for all,

3. The need for skilled manpower for economic growth,

4. The need to minimize wasteful imbalance within

the educational systems and to allocate and utilize

available resources efficiently and effectively,

5. To alleviate many non-financial bottlenecks like

shortage of staff, faculty, and physical facilities,

34

6. Long-range planning provides a commonality of

understanding about the mission and goals of the system

(and institutions) and the strategies to implement them,

7. Planning helps direct energies away from the non-

essentials to the essential activities,

8. It makes evaluation possible in objective terms

simultaneously with implementation,

9. Planning assists in generating funds by strength-

ening the institutional and systemwide case with the

granting agencies, governmental and private,

10. It helps to ensure the survival and growth of

the system and component institutions.

Traditional Education in Nigeria

According to Fafunwa (14, p. 17), traditional educa-

tion in Nigeria differed from place to place chiefly

because of social, economic, and geographical imperatives.

Ajala (2, p. 15) points out that the education of the

child in Nigerian society began in infancy, just as was

true in European, Asiatic, or American society. The

history of Nigerian education is a reflection of the

country's richness in culture and tradition. Research

indicates that some sorts of systems of education had been

in existence in Nigeria as early as 1472 before the arrival

of European influence on the Coast of Africa south of the

Sahara. This was not only an important source of

35

inspiration to the people but a remarkable portal for the

Europeans to channel their ideas and new philosophies.

Since the people had already embraced some forms of

education, what came with the Europeans was the continua-

tion and extension of what had been known and accepted.

Through time many of the attributes of the early education

had been modified, altered, and changed, yet, the present

system of education in Nigeria has never been completely

divested of those natural elements which were responsible

in alerting the people to act in consort in the past in

response to a given situation. Even with the change in

educational orientations in this era, culture still

exercises no less influence in the social and economic

spheres in the country. The Nigerian value system today

is nothing more than the redefinition and the extension

of what existed before based on the context of today's

societal demands. The parents were responsible for the

early childhood education of their children (14, p. 18).

Fafunwa identified what he called the Seven Cardinal Goals

of traditional education and stated that traditional

education was made up of the following features: Physical

training, development of character, respect for elders and

peers, intellectual training, the poetic and the Prophe-

tic apsects, vocational training, community participation,

and cultural heritage (14, pp. 20-49). Fafunwa concluded

36

by stating that traditional education, in spite of criti-

cisms by European and American writers, was not any more

conservative or any less progressive than any other

system (14, p. 48). He added that there was much that the

Nigerian educational system as it existed in 1974, could

learn from the traditional educational system (14, p. 49).

Njoku (33) points out that the first school a child

attended was the home, and early childhood education was

entirely in the hands of the mother. She further states

that precolonial Nigerian society stressed educating for

practical needs of life and for full participation in

all the tribal activities—political, social, economic,

and religious. Parents, relatives, elders, and peer

groups were in essence teachers according to her (33).

Each person knew the customs and traditions of the tribe

and generously cooperated in the education of the children

(2). Research indicates that what the child was taught

was meaningful to him. It prepared him for active

participation in all the activities of the community.

All of his education related directly to his environment

(33, pp. 11-37) .

Research indicates that prior to the arrival of

Europeans in Nigeria, the young were trained to uphold

customs and tradition, to respect natural laws, and in the

art of trade. The mission of education in existence was

37

to produce good community leaders knowledgeable in civic

responsibilities. Thus the important challenge to the

educational system was the promotion of social loyalties

and of preserving the ideals of institutions of faith

of the time. The functions of education at that time,

was simply that of sophisticating the young minds in the

morals and in the ethical conducts of the time. There-

fore, all efforts of the educational endeavour were to

promote status quo.

However, from this simple beginning the greater

things grew. The formal educational system which came

to Nigeria with the coming of European missionaries

became established. The great test of it all was the

acceptance of the change in orientations with little or

no resistance. This situation came about because the

nature of change that came was incremental according to

research. Research further indicates that what was in

existence was never thrown away as unfit to make way for

the new start. Rather what existed before was accepted

and blended into the new system through gradual modi-

fication.

Educational Developments During the British Rule

It was trade in slaves that brought North Africa,

Northern Nigeria and Southern Nigeria together with the

38

Europeans in early part of sixteenth century. The rapidly

increasing demand for slaves as West Indian and tropical

American plantations production began to boom, encouraged

the Europeans to have a close contact with Nigeria, where

they found a large number of slaves they needed (13, p. 6).

Ekpenyong (13, p. 6) points out that, in the 1620s, the

number of African slaves reaching the Americas was about

7,000 to 8,000 a year. In the last quarter of the seven-

teenth century the average American import of slaves was

25,000, and the total number of slaves imported during

that century was estimated at about 1,300,000. In the

1780s, 70,000 slaves were being landed in the Americas

each year (49, p. 768). The volume of slave trade in

West Africa grew rapidly from its inception around 1500

to its peak in the eighteenth century. About 6.3 million

slaves were shipped from West African slave ports and more

than 4.5 million slaves from 1701 to 1810 (28, p. 48).

Ekpenyong (13, p. 7) writing in 1976 pointed out

that missionaries began to go to Nigeria in order to

educate and Christianize the people and to help check the

adverse effects of the slave trade. He went on to say

that when the slave trade was legally stopped by the

British government in 1807, both the missionaries and the

British government worked hand in hand in establishing

schools and legitimate trade in Nigeria. According to

39

Ekpenyong (13, p. 7), the legitimate trade (or non-slave

trade) included such commodities as palm oil, palm kernels

and ivory, which the Europeans exchanged for guns, gin and

rum.

Ekpenyong (13, p. 8) points out that the efforts

of the Christian missionaires were more intensive than

those of the non—slave traders. Through their extensive

evangelical activities, the missionaries played a very

critical role in the field of education in Nigeria.

Unlike the legitimate traders, they did not limit their

endeavours to port towns, rail or river lines or commercial

centres; they penetrated into the most remote areas in

the interior with the determination to remain there until

Christianity was firmly established (13, p. 8).

In the mid-1940s, the Wesleyan Methodist missionaries

and the Church Missionary Society began work in Southern

Nigeria. During the next half—century, these pioneer

missionaries were followed by the Church of Scotland,

Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopalians and the Roman Catho-

lics in 1900. Research indicates that, by the end of

World War I, fifteen European missionaries and American

evangelical groups were operating in the southern pro-

vinces and the middle belt of Nigeria. Coleman noted

that, more than 600 European missionaries assisted by

nearly 5,000 Nigerians, had established close to 3,000

40

churches, and Christendom claimed more than 800,000

communicants by the end of World War I (7, p.. 94). Coleman

points out that the impact of missionaries was first felt

by the Yoruba, Ibo and the Ibibio-Efik (now in Cross River

State of Nigeria) ethnic groups (7, p. 94). According to

him, although the Ibo and Ibibio-Efik groups had very

few converts between 1880 and 1885, the number of converts

grew rapidly from 514,395 in 1920 to 3,915,500 in 1953, and

50 percent of their population was Christianized. Because

of the impact of Islam among the Muslim North group, there

were no Christian missionaries in that region.

The Yorubas had been exposed to Western education

at a much earlier date than any other group in Nigeria.

They were the first ethnic group in Nigeria that had many

religious stations and Christians as early as 1875 (42,

p. 66) .

The Ibibio-Efik groups in the Cross River State of

Nigeria are the next ethnic groups that felt the impact

of missionaries during the later part of the nineteenth

century (13, p. 11). The basic social unit among the

Ibibio-Efik has been a single extended family or a

kindred composed of several families.

The British government in Lagos Colony first concerned

itself with education in 1877, when it approved an annual

grant to support mission schools. In 1886, the

41

administration of Lagos Colony passed an education

ordinance that granted the government of the Colony some

control over mission schools (28, p. 177). After a decade,

(1906) about 126 primary schools with an enrollment of

about 11,872 pupils and one secondary school (King's

College in Lagos) with about 20 pupils had been established

in Southern Nigeria (32, p. 169).

Crowder contends that the missionaries, by educating

the Nigerians, played a very powerful role in changing

their social and traditional status (9, p. 132). According

to Crowder, before the end of the nineteenth century,

education in Nigeria had been conducted in various parts

of the nation.

Coleman (7, p. 107), writing in 1958, pointed out

that in most cases, education in Nigeria was based on

reading, writing and calculating in the English language.

He further stated that, the curriculum later included

British Empire history, European geography and some

practical courses in gardening, sanitation, and personal

hygiene. It is regretable that African history was con-

sidered either non-existent or unimportant by those well-

meaning teachers, who emphasized European wars, Colonial

campaigns of pacification, the evolution of the British

Constitution, and the growth of the British Empire (7,

p. 115). Most readings in English literature were taken

42

from Shakespeare and the Bible. Thus, it is quite common

m Nigeria today to find semi-educated people, doing

menial jobs, who can name the principal English cities,

quote the Bible, and recite Hamlet, but who have little

knowledge of the geography, proverbs, folk tales, or

prominent leaders and historical events of their own

country (7, p. 115).

The importance of the missionary monopoly of educa-

tion lies in the evangelical approach of mission schools.

These schools, and perhaps mission hospitals and clinics,

were powerful instruments for rapid Christianization (and

hence Europeanization) of the Nigerians (7, p. 113).

In Cross River State of Nigeria, there were very few

schools during this period, most of which belonged to

popular religious bodies like Catholics, Methodists,

Presbyterians, Qua Iboe, the Salvation Army and a few

others (6, p. 9). Buell (4, p. 728) contends that in

Cross River State of Nigeria as elsewhere in British

Africa, education was left mostly to the missionary

organizations which established village schools, under

village teachers, primarily with a view to training the

natives in the principles of the Christian religion. He

points out that at Calabar, the capital of Cross River

State of Nigeria, the Scottish Mission maintained an

industrial school of high order, the Hope-Waddell Training

43

Institution (4, p. 728). Writing about the Hope Waddell

Training Institution, Oduah and Jennings (35, p. 135)

point out that this institution is the oldest secondary

school in Nigeria. Its former principal, Sir Francis

Ibiam, became the Governor of Eastern Nigeria in 1960

(35, p. 135).

The government was willing to leave the bulk of

primary education to the missionary bodies, which it

assisted by grants-in-aid. Such schools were called

"assisted" schools (4, p. 728). Buell (4, p. 728) points

out that an education code prescr ibed the subjects to be

taught by such schools. According to him, the determina-

tion as to whether or not a school should be given a grant

was based upon the report of a government inspector. In

computing the standard of efficiency, the inspector was

guided by the ratio of instructors to pupils, the manners

and cleanliness of the pupils, the examination, and the

adequacy of the school plant (4, p. 728). These inspectors

were frequently criticized as being unfair. To any infant

school satisfying the qualifications, a grant of six or

eight, or twelve shillings for each unit of average

attendance over the age of four years was paid; in the

primary schools, the grants ranged from fifteen to thirty

shillings; and in secondary schools, from thirty shillings

44

to three pounds. Likewise, the government made similar

grants to the salaries of native teachers (24, p. 456)

Nsima, in his article stated that the original

philosophy of most schools in Cross River State of Nigeria

was centred on character training and learning the three

R s (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic). The students were

tied down on the learning of subject matter. Group

activities were regarded as a menace to religious prac-

tices/ since most schools were church-related (34).

Hollis A. Moore, Jr., writing in 1954, stated that

only 10 percent of Nigerian children were attending any

school. There was also the problem of getting girls into

schools (26). The federal government of Nigeria began

free primary education in Lagos in 1955. The government

of the Eastern Region (of which Cross River State of

Nigeria was a part) began a similar programme in 1957

but had to reinstate the requirement for fees in 1958

(28, p. 180).

Despite the expansion of educational facilities, in

1955, Nigeria was only educating 800 undergraduates and

12,000 secondary school students a year, and most of

these came from Southern Nigeria (to which Cross River

State belongs). The need for more clerks, technicians,

administrators and professionally qualified men like

medical doctors and engineers, for employment both in

45

government service and in commerce, was a constant problem

m the post-war years and severely hampered the execution

of governmental development plans (31, p. 42). in its

expansion of educational opportunities, the government

was submitted to great pressure by the nationalists, who

thought of education as a panacea for most of their

country's ills. These nationalists, once they began

to assume control of government policy, were determined

to ensure that there would be places in schools for all

Nigerian children (39).

Educational Development After Political Independence

On the achievement of political independence in

1960, Nigeria was faced with the paradoxical situation

that her rapid but uneven expansion of educational

facilities had confronted her with two problems: on the

one hand the governments had to decide what to do with

the vast number of unemployed school-leavers, and on the

other they had quickly to provide the higher level of

manpower—administrators, professional personnel, techni-

cians, teachers, officers in the police and army and the

judicial services which had previously been supplied by

the Colonial power and without which they could not

pursue their ambitious development schemes (18,

pp. 210-16). To consider the latter problem, the Ashby

46

Commission on Higher Education was appointed in 1959

submitting its report in 1960, in which it advocated an

expansion of educational facilities at the secondary,

technical and university level that would cost the

federal, and regional governments nearly 50 percent of

their recurrent budgets (20). Furthermore, it insisted

not only that the primary educational system at that time

be maintained in the South, but that primary education be

extended in the North, so that in fact there would result

an even greater output of primary school-leavers seeking

jobs that did not exist. This improvement of educational

facilities was accompanied by the important if less

spectacular extension of other social services. Hospitals

more than doubled in the post-war period. A teaching

hospital was established at Ibadan, the most advanced in

tropical Africa (8, p. 308). Crowder points out that this

teaching hospital even had departments for the training

of psychiatric and medical social workers (9, p. 308).

Kimble in his research in 1960, on Nigerian educa-

tional development in particular and in tropical Africa

as a whole, found out that the attitudes of African

parents toward the education of their daughters were

unfavorable to white man's schools because several aspects

of teaching in those schools dominated by the whites did

not conform to the original Africans' way of life—

47

attitudes toward land and Kin, valuation of leisure and

regard for the world of spirits. Kimble says:

• . . most parents contend that all a girl needs to

indus?rvSin a S c l e a n l lness, good manners,

capable of Sf eaching^her .' ̂ y ^ e ^ s ^ '

lessadocilePandl1:fflf l n d e e d t h e^ might not make her wifely duties *(2^ ^'loo) ^ P - f ° ~

48

The scarcity of adequately qualified teachers was obviously one of the main problems (16, p m "

In 1969 Yesufu conducted a research on the Nigerian

school system and its development. He noticed that the

traditional educational pattern introduced by the European

missionaries has contributed in no small measure to the

failure of social and economic progress in Nigeria.

Yesufu writes:

process of change is partly due to the fact t-hat-many of the African leaders are attemptfng to solve their problems with an antiquated tool, which in

^ ™ education

Recent literature on social change and Nigerian

education indicates that Nigeria's educational system

today strongly advocates major social changes in the

secondary school curricula. Ekpenyong (13, p. 37),

writing in 1976 stated that, in the past, secondary

school curricula dealt with non-technical subjects such as

the teaching of English language and its grammatical

structures, computations involving heavy numbers applied

to the "four rules" namely, mechanical addition, sub-

traction, multiplication and division. According to

Ekpenyong, who is a sociologist/anthropologist, the modern

educational system should teach environmental subjects

that relate to the lives of Nigerians. These subjects

49

should include agriculture in the rural area, technical

subjects that would alleviate the problem of unskilled

workers in the urban areas, social sciences that would

enable the Nigerian citizens to interact socially within

the community and to emphasize social and cultural

development in the near future (13, p. 38). Tims, (1974,

after studying the educational system of Nigeria, sees

the need for a change in the secondary school curriculum

and suggests:

f e d e r a ] ' , n / ^ e f P a n d i n 9 secondary education, both ederal and state investment should concentrate

on increasing facilities for the teaching of science

related ' • • S c ience should be elated to the local environment and the academic

and' * b e a d o P t e d t o emphasize the social, n ft?? development of the individual (45, P. OO). v '

In 1966, the latest period for which reliable country-

wide statistics were available, children attended classes

in 14,907 primary schools (43). Although this figure

indicated a 3.8 percent reduction in primary schools

since 1960, it probably reflected consolidations of smaller

schools (28, p. 180). By 1968 enrolment had risen to

an estimated 3.1 million pupils, or about 30 percent of

all children of primary school age. Voluntary agencies-

missions, private individuals, or community organizations-

provided schooling for various segments of the primary

age group in each of the states. Most primary-level

50

teachers were Nigerians, and many of them had little more

than a primary education themselves (28, p. 181).

The absence of a uniform system in teacher education

in Nigeria is a great handicap to the nation's educational

policy and development. The chairman of the Committee

on National Policy on Education, Professor Sanya Onabamiro

said recently that this situation has introduced dis-

parity in the quantity and quality of teachers turned out

yearly by the various states of the Federation (29, p. 16).

Answering a question on an NTA (Nigerian Television

Authority) Ibadan programme--'"X-Ray," Professor Onabamiro

said:

A uniform system m teachers' education might soon

w a s 1 ^ 1 0 ? 0 l n u h e C o u n t ry- He said his committee was not happy with its findings during a recent tour

first s c h o o l V n t h S C ° U n t r y w h e n ifc discovered that irst school leaving certificate holders were teach-

( e l e n e n t « y school

According to Professor Onabamiro, (29, p. 16), the

quality of grade two teachers in the nineteen states of

the Federation was not adequate. Onabamiro, a renowned

educationist, warned that the situation could jeopardize

the Country's educational system as well as other areas of

development (29, p. 16).

Professor Onabamiro who is also the chairman of the

Committee on Alternative Sources of Funding Education, in

Nigeria, hinted that, the proposed sixth form system for

51

post-primary institutions would be implemented as from the

1982/83 session. This system, he explained, would ensure

that students would undergo manual skill alongside with

academic work within the first three years (29, p. 16).

Those with academic aptitude would proceed to the senior

secondary schools while those versed in craftmanship

would proceed to technical secondary schools (29, p. 16).

Classes in the lower grades in the primary schools

are conducted in the predominant local language of the

area, and English is introduced usually in the third or

fourth year. Other subjects taught in the primary schools

are geography, history, arithmetic, nature study, hygiene,

cooking, needle work, handicrafts, religious studies,

physical education, handwriting, and drawing (28, p. 181).

A syllabus provided by the state government and keyed

to a Nigerian background is followed by each school.

Textbooks adapted to the Nigerian educational system

have already replaced earlier books of British origin

written for British pupils. The first School Leaving

Certificate (elementary school diploma) is awarded

at the end of the programme and is a prerequisite for

admission to secondary schools or teacher training

institutions (28, pp. 181-182).

The Ministry of Education has responsibility for the

overall development of education in Cross River State of

52

Nigeria. Following government's decision to take over all

schools in Cross River State of Nigeria (with the exception

of institutions such as Bible colleges and vocational

training institutions)the amount of responsibility for

the management and maintenance of standards has increased

tremendously in recent years (6, p. 1).

For effective administration of secondary schools

and teacher training colleges in Cross River State of

Nigeria, the state school board was established in 1969."

It was later established as a statutory board under Part V

of South Eastern State (now Cross River) education edict

No. 5 of 1975 (6, p. 41). The Cross River State school

board employs and assigns teachers to secondary and

teacher training institutions (6, p. 41). The chairman

is the statutory head of this board which oversees the

implementation of policies in secondary and teacher train-

ing institutions.

As was mentioned earlier, the overall administration

and control of the education system in the Federal Republic

of Nigeria is vested in each state's Ministry of Education.

Policy matters are largely handled by the Ministry of

Education which is also responsible for the inspection of

schools, examinations, certification of teachers and

finance.

53

With the rapid expansion of both primary and secondary

schools m Nigeria, the importance of the schools' inspec-

torate in ensuring the attainment and maintenance of uni-

form and high standards of education throughout the Country

cannot be overemphasized. The federal schools inspectorate

has offices in the nineteen states of the Federation (12,

p. 78). Efforts are currently being made to recruit

inspectors in subject areas of need such as technical

education, Arabic, agricultural science, home economics,

and Nigerian languages (12, p. 78).

The Fifth National Conference of Inspectors was held

m December 1979 with representatives from the nineteen

states Ministries of Education attending. The Conference

considered through lectures, workshop, symposia and school

visits, various ways in which inspectors can ensure quality-

education in an ever increasing student population and

over-enrolment of classes (12, p. 78).

The second major form of school inspections carried

out during this period are full general inspection of

schools. in these inspections, subject specialists

carry out very detailed inspection of every aspect of the

curriculum of selected schools for four days so that

broad patterns of teaching and learning in different

locations in the country are identified. This is most

useful to state Ministries of Education in the formulation

54

of policies on major aspects of school management, organi-

zation and administration.

The report of the inspections also provides useful

feedback on the physical facilities, resources, textbooks,

training needs of teachers and school principals and on

general school discipline.

The Joint Consultative Committee on Education (JCC)

has approved the core-curriculum for primary school science

produced by the science education unit of the Ministry of

Education. its science equipment centre organised a

workshop in Kaduna in 1979, with the main objecitve of

training a group of qualified technicians from each state

m the handling and training of laboratory assistants

(12, p. 78). In-service workshops on the junior secondary

mathematics syllabus were also organised by the science

education unit on a zonal basis at five different centres:

Ife, Lagos, Owerri, Kano and Jos (12, p. 78).

In Cross River State of Nigeria, the objective of the

p ogramme was to provide enough classroom accommodation,

equipment and facilities for all children who would attain

the age of five as of September 1975. In the first year

of the programme, the number of children of primary school

age in Cross River State of Nigeria was estimated at

585,228 (6, p. 5).

55

The Universal Primary Education Programme has been

successfully launched and steps have been taken, and are

being taken, to amend shortcomings. Plans have reached

advanced stages for the provision of junior secondary

schools in each state to absorb about 40 to 60 percent

of the UPE products in September, 1982. This is in

accordance with the new educational structure of the

country's six years of primary, three years' junior,

three years' senior secondary schools and four years'

university education (46, p. 2120).

Though UPE at primary level was successfully

launched, there were, of course, difficulties and problems-

particular ly in the areas of manpower, equipment and

financial resources needs (46, p. 2120). When the programme

was introduced in September, 1976, some classrooms were

conducted under the shade of trees, in community halls,

temporary thatched huts and so on, in order to make up

for the short falls. Tables and chairs, textbooks and

other writing materials were not adequate (46, p. 2120).

The greatest impediment to the success of the

Universal Primary Education (UPE) scheme, is teacher

production. Efforts have, therefore been intensified to

produce trained teachers of all categories. At present,

there are 250 Grade II teacher colleges in Nigeria with

a total enrolment of 240,000 (12, p. 78). There are also

56

50 institutions offering Nigerian Certificate of Educa-

tion (NCE) courses in different subject combinations with

a total student population of 3,500 (12, p. 78).

Increasing the supply of