Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa (23 September 1923 – 11 October 2010). He was the first Nigerian Professor of Education. He was a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

Educationist, Scholar and Former Minister for Education. As Minister, he was in charge of the biggest

school system State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary educational institution, schools that educate all students without charge. They are ...

in Africa.KENNETH B. NOBLE, "Nigerian's Plan: Adopt the (250) Mother Tongues." The New York Times, May 23, 1991. He is known for his early writings on the need to re-appraise the inherited

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

epistemological system in Nigeria and to introduce relevant

cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...

goals, subjects and local

languages Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

into the system, in order to accommodate the developmental and cultural pattern of the country.Birgit Brock-Utne; Whose Education for All?The Recolonization of the African Mind. Falmer Press, 2000 He is also a notable authority on the History of Educational Planning in Nigeria.

Early life and education

Born on September 23, 1923, in Isale Eko, Lagos, Fafunwa had his secondary education at the CMS Grammar School, Lagos between 1937 and 1943. He obtained a B.Sc. (Magna Cum Laude) in Social Science and English from Bethune Cookman College (now Bethune-Cookman University, Florida, United States in 1950 and had his M.A (Cum Laude) in Administration and Higher Education in 1955. He earned a Ph.D. in education from New York University in 1958, becoming the first Nigerian recipient of a doctoral degree in education. He was a co-founder of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria.

Career

He started his career in 1961 at the

University of Nigeria The University of Nigeria, commonly referred to as UNN, is a federal university located in Nsukka, Enugu State, Eastern part of Nigeria. Founded by Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1955 and formally opened on 7 October 1960, the University of Nigeria has thr ...

(UNN), Nsukka. During the

Nigerian civil war The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...

, he left the east and moved to Ife, and taught at the

Obafemi Awolowo University Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a federal government-owned university that is located in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife ...

.Dr. Obasi, "Thoughts On Babs Fafunwa," (2). Daily Champion, January 24, 2007 He became a professor of education in 1966 and held the position of Dean, Faculty and Head, Department of Education at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN. Due to his brilliance and hard work, he rose to the position of Acting Vice Chancellor at both UNN and University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). He was also Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council, University of Calabar. He was at several times, President, Association of Teachers Education in Africa, Director, International Council on Education for Teaching, Washington D C. He retired from active teaching service in 1978 to start the first tutorial college in Nigeria in 1982 and was Minister of Education between 1990 and 1992. While at

Nsukka Nsukka is a town and a Local Government Area in Enugu State, Nigeria. Nsukka shares a common border as a town with Edem, Opi (archaeological site), Ede-Oballa, and Obimo. The postal code of the area is 410001 and 410002 respectively referr ...

, in collaboration with his colleagues at the education

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

, the department drafted a proposal to admit grade II teachers into a new two year degree program at the Faculty of Education. The proposal was subsequently adopted and in a few years led to the emergence of the Nigerian Certificate of Education and further broadened the acceptance of Colleges of Education in the

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

system; today a lot of the colleges are affiliated with universities. He also continued an

innovative Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...

tradition, already in existence at Nsukka, when he began to implement a

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

for granting a bachelor's degree in education, the first faculty in the country to do so. A process which will further expand the career potential of many teachers. In 1977, a long time proposal of his to incorporate native languages into pedagogy was finally accepted. Today, most Nigerians learn at least on
Nigerian language
Fafunwa and a few other African educationists, had argued that embracing whole heartedly without evaluation foreign systems of

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

and

epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...

, can create the potential for epistemological dis-

orientation Orientation may refer to: Positioning in physical space * Map orientation, the relationship between directions on a map and compass directions * Orientation (housing), the position of a building with respect to the sun, a concept in building de ...

. Introducing, cultural objectives and environmental familiarity will provide a continuity and balance into the educational advancement of a child and his place in his

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

. Babs Fafunwa died in the early hours of 11 October 2010, at a hospital in Abuja, the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory and was buried in Lagos.

Selected works

*A History of Nigerian Higher Education, Macmillan. *History of Education in Nigeria, 1970. *New Perspectives in African Education, 1967 *Education in Mother Tongue: The Ife Primary Education Research Project, 1970-1978 (Editor) *Up and On: A Nigerian Teacher's Odyssey, 1991. *Memoirs of a Nigerian Minister of Education, Macmillan (Nigeria), 1998. *Sense and non-sense in Nigerian Education, 1998

Early life and education

Career

Selected works

References

Further reading