Nigerian nationalists and the development of technical and vocational education in Western Nigeria, 1951 – 1960

Abstract

Extant studies on the development of education in Nigeria weigh overwhelmingly towards literary education as rendered in the primary and secondary schools. University education has also featured to a considerable extent. Interest in technical and vocational education has been very lean and could be listed among the neglected themes in historical studies in Nigeria. In order to address this lacuna, this study examines the development of technical and vocational education in Western Nigeria from 1951 to 1960, employing the historical method, with information obtained from the National Archives, Ibadan, official reports and some relevant books. The study reveals that Nigerian nationalists catalysed the developments recorded during the period through their agitations for education reforms. The period witnessed the establishment of trade centres at Oshogbo, Ijebu-Ode and Oyo; Women Occupational Centre at Abeokuta; several secondary modern schools; and the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Ibadan. These institutions promoted skills acquisition, which equipped their recipients for self-employment and for engagement in the private and public sectors. It could also be gleaned from this study that Nigerian nationalists, besides their struggle for political participation, were agents of educational development and advocates of skills acquisition as a means of combating unemployment. In all, the paper provides insight into a neglected but critical, aspect of education in a developing economy.

Keywords: Nigerian Nationalists, Technical Education, Vocational Education, Western Nigeria