The Ibibio Union and Educational Development of Ibibioland: 1928-1966

Pages 71-97
Keywords: -

Abstract

The Ibibio Union was established by the Ibibio people in 1928 as an instrument of development and social mobilisation. Although the Union recorded landmark achievements in many areas of national life, this study is concerned with its contributions to the educational development of Ibibioland. The Union established a Teachers’ Training College in Uyo, in the 1930s following the failure of the colonial government to establish either a technical training institution or a grammar school in the area. It also initiated the first community based tertiary educational programme in the country – the Ibibio Union’s scholarship in 1938, for the training of six Ibibio scholars overseas, built the Ibibio State College at Ikot Ekpene in 1946, The paper discovers that the Union’s educational schemes contributed significantly to nation building and filled the gap that was created through inadequate educational services by the missionaries and colonial government. Adopting a historical narrative method, the study challenges ethnic unions and individuals in modern Nigeria to learn from the example of the Ibibio Union and contribute to the development of the education of their respective communities.

How to Cite

Harvard Style

Akpan, U.J. (2017), "The Ibibio Union and Educational Development of Ibibioland: 1928-1966", in Niger Delta Research Digest Vol. 12, No. 1, pp71-97, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17319186.

320 views | 114 downloads

Related Articles

The study examines the need for promoting sustainable development in the Niger Delta region in the Nigerian state: current challenges and the way forward. The study adopted a qualitative case study approach and data utilized in this study were obtained from primary and secondary sources. While primary data were derived from focus group discussions, the secondary data were obtained from relevant textbooks, journals and other documents. The findings show that resource management policy gaps, poor commitment to the implementation of resource management policies, violent’ military activities as well as weak development agenda are constrain factors to sustainable development in the Niger Delta. The paper recommends inclusive development agenda and diversification away from oil. These are in tandem with sustainable development.

The Niger Delta, like many other parts of Nigeria, has become a region of almost unending conflicts in recent times. These conflicts which are mainly caused by bad government policies and the exploitative activities of the various multi-national oil companies operating in the area, have introduced bad blood (hatred) and disunity between communities and peoples in the region. This paper examines the consequences of these conflicts and disunity on the civic education of the youths in the area. The paper contends that the conflicts and the hatred and disunity caused by them have made many of the youths in the area misfits as they are the ones that do the physical fighting. The paper also recommends some measures – the proper orientation of the youths through lectures, symposia and seminars; creation of employment opportunities to keep them occupied; and the teaching of history at levels of education to show them the connections between them and others – that could end the conflicts and disunity in the region. When the conflict and disunity cease, the youths can then be properly educated to become good citizens.

As a literary text, Barclays Ayakoroma’s Castles in the Air suffers a dearth of critical insights and exploration from a linguistic standpoint, which is vital for a comprehensive description and characterization of the text. Using M.A.K. Halliday’s systemic functional model, particularly the textual, ideational and interpersonal metafunctions, the study, therefore, investigates the stylistic value of code-mixing and code-switching in the text, with particular focus on the sociology of language in a bilingual or multilingual text. The study reveals that code mixing and code switching enable interlocutors to be down-to-earth, instantiate bonding and solidarity with particular groups/classes of people, thereby excluding others, capture emotional and psychological states, and impart or emphasize specific messages or moods in given informal discourse situations. The study foregrounds the twin concepts as a cardinal part of the complex Nigerian linguistic and cultural environment which Ayakoroma deploys to nativize and contextualize meaning in the text. It demonstrates the fact that the linguistic choices of a writer are products of sundry social and contextual variables.

This paper is an assessment of the gradual rise of the British owned Royal Niger Company (RNC) to power in the Niger-Benue confluence area and the schemes it devised in outwitting other European trading companies on the River Niger in the 19th century. Historical approaches were adopted as methodology for this paper. These included primary and secondary sources from archives and libraries. Relevant materials were carefully studied and analyzed using historical methods. The paper agrees that the discovery of the mouth of the Niger by Richard and John Landers in 1830, and the realization of the navigability of the river from the Gulf of Guinea to the interior galvanised Britain into scrambling for the ownership and control of the Niger-Benue confluence area. The paper unravels that the Eurocentric claims that Africans on the banks of the Niger knew little about the river than fishing on it before the arrival of the Europeans is no longer tenable. In the course of their exploration, the Lander Brothers came into contact with the lieutenants of the Attah Igala in the confluence area. The explorers acknowledged them as “the war chiefs of the river.” The Attah Igala had chiefs on the river that were collecting duties and tolls on his behalf. It took the amalgamation of British companies in the area to be able to earn monopoly against other European companies. A charter signed with the RNC for it to deploy force to be able to take absolute control of the area from the local chiefs.

Skip to main content