Challenges and Solutions to Primary and Secondary Islamic Education in Western Nigeria

Abstract

This study discussed the challenges primary and secondary education in western Nigeria faces and the solutions needed. A problem which started from the colonization of the country by the British empire, the Christianization agenda by the colonizers, the inferiority complex that followed, and the lack of zeal to see or believe that western education can be presented in an Islamic point of view. There is also the problem of employing knowledgeable and qualified Muslim teachers whose primary objective is to impact knowledge into their students rather than the financial gains that comes with it. Teachers by circumstances who know little about pedagogy and al-Islām. Proprietors of Islāmic schools are to invest in their teachers by organizing workshops for them at least twice a year, inviting Islāmic pedagogists to train them, thereby boosting their confidence, increasing their knowledge and work input, and reducing the inferiority complex they might have towards the western education; which is unnecessary since Islām came with all branches of knowledge ranging from economics, human relations, sciences, agriculture, trade etc. and actualized by earlier Muslims especially in the golden era when the Muslims ruled in Andalusia Spain and in Baghdad. One of the ways Muslim teachers can improve and be dedicated is through mentorship. They gain experience through this which complements their knowledge. Proprietors should put Islam first before financial gains, and parents must be sincere and willing to allow their children learn according to Islāmic perspectives. The lack of zeal by leaders in the Islāmic world in implementing the findings by Islāmic educators in relative to the Islāmization of western curriculum and knowledge is a major setback in the Muslim world. The qualitative research method was the main source of information for this thesis sourced from books and research papers written on pedagogy by renowned educators in Nigeria and other countries. KEYWORDS: Islāmization, Pedagogy, Western Nigeria, Education. Table of Content DECLARATION .........................................................................4 DEDICATION ...........................................................................5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...............................................................6 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................7 1.1. Background / significance of the study .........................................9 1.2. Statement of the problem ........................................................10 1.3. Aims and objectives ..............................................................11 1.4. Research questions ................................................................11 1.5. Limitations of the research .............................................................................12 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE .......................................................12 3. METHODOLOGY ....................................................................16 4. ORIGINALITY AND SIGNIFICANCE ..........................................17 5. ISLAM AND KNOWLEDGE...............................................................17 5.1 The virtues of knowledge and danger of ignorance......................................19 5.2 The golden era of Islāmic knowledge.............................................21 6. EDUCATION IN WESTERN NIGERIA AND EMERGENCE OF ISLAMIC SCHOOLS.27 7. CHALLENGES FACING ISLAMIZING EDUCATION IN WESTERN NIGERIA......35 7.1 Islāmization of knowledge.......................................................37 7.2 Incompetence of Islāmic teachers..................................................................47 7.3 Financial Commitments of parents..................................................................54 8. CONCLUSION .......................................................................59 9. BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................68 10. Appendix A. Interview transcript ...............................................75 11. Appendix B. Survey responses ...................................................79