Tamaño de fuente: 

Nigeria and African continent generally was one of the first areas in the world to be colonized by the imperialistic European powers. The response to the colonization by Africans was almost the same. The African people tried to resist the imposition of Europeans’ hegemony on them but could not because the imperialists had better weapons and better organised than African people. Despite efforts to resist them, almost all of the African people got divided into arbitrary colonies that did not match the lifestyle of the pre-existing groups in each area. The areas that constitute modern Nigeria today had existed separately with distinct political, economic and social system which was disrupted by the British imperialists who first formally occupied the Lagos areas in 1861 and extended to the Northern and Southern areas in 1900 after the whole areas was ceded to British control at Berlin conference in 1884. The people living in the areas were not happy with this development because their freedom has been curtailed by the British imperialists; the traditional head of each community was made accountable to the colonial government. Apart from this, there existed inequality between Europeans and the Nigerian natives which worsen the situation. Despite this situation, efforts made through traditional means to get freedom did not yield result. However, what played major role as findings revealed in the decolonization was Western education. Through it, the people were able to fight against social injustice and inequality imposed on them by British Colonialist. The attempt to educate people of Nigeria was first carried out by Christian missionary movements through the efforts made by freed slaves from European countries that came back home. Although, the education provided at this period was elementary it assisted a lot in the decolonisation process. The turning point in the education provision in Nigeria came with the recommendation of Phelps-Stokes report of 1922 which criticised both Missionaries and British government for not giving quality education, this criticism led British government to demonstrate more interest in the provision of education to their colonies including Nigeria. With this, people became more educated and exposed, they demanded for social justice, equality and self-rule through press releases and conferences, dialogue and negotiation. Their level of intelligence to dialogue and negotiate for independence convinced the British colonial government to grant them independence on October 1, 1960. Historizing the colonization, decolonization process and post colonization of Nigerian State therefore, this paper admits that education played a domineering role in the emancipation of Nigeria from colonial rule. It also commends the British imperialists and   Christian Missionary movements that collaborated to educate Nigerian populace. The paper concludes by advising the post-colonial government to open access to quality education and develop all-inclusive curriculum that will liberate Nigeria from abject poverty and ignorance especially the Muslim populated region where religious bigotry is recycling the inhabitants in ignorance, poverty and diseases which threaten the security of the region and make Nigerian State to be in security surveillance of the whole world.