The contributions of western education to development in Nigeria.
If a man is born blind, he may not appreciate what it means to see the light, but ones his sight is recovered he would definitely not want to be thrown back into perpetual darkness. Darkness, blindness or ignorance are terms that could be interchangeably used to describe the state of Nigeria before the advent of western education. No matter how beautiful or promising an environment may be, it would neither be seen nor appreciated in darkness. Light is needed to appreciate anything good, amend anything that is not good enough or throw away anything that is bad outright. Western education came with light appreciating treasures we had with us all the time but never discovered right under the ground. At a time, it was called the ‘black gold’. The discovery of crude oil in Nigeria would not have been possible without our embracing western education. The proceeds from crude oil have in no little way contributed to the development of Nigeria today. With western education came literacy, the ability to read and write which has immensely helped in the acquisition of knowledge and set the foundation for our educational system today. Western education brought with it other dividends of westernization like electricity, pipe-borne water, improved healthcare system, mechanized agriculture with improved yields, the internet making us a part of the global village, GSM technology making communication easier and faster, the list can go on and on. Western education also enabled us to celebrate the values in our traditional and cultural norms while also giving us the courage to eradicate or discard the barbaric aspects. It was western education that put an end to the killing of twins, the burying alive of certain people with a king when he dies.
Without western education, Nigeria would not have been as united as we are today, because western education brought the English language which is our official language and makes it easy for a nation with over a 700 languages to be able to interact. Western education also brought the game of football which causes all Nigerians to speak one language.
Any right thinking Nigerian would no doubt agree that the role of western education in the development of Nigeria cannot be undermined. We may not have gotten to where we are going but we will definitely get there, thanks to God, thanks to western education.
Akin-Odanye E.O