9 - Eastern or Western Paradigm: The Struggle for MethodologicalDominance in the Study of Islam in Universities inNorthern Nigeria

Summary

We would not allow someone who did not acquire all his/her BA, MA and PhD degrees in Islamic studies to teach Islam in this University. We will also not allow someone who has studied Islamic studies from a university in the western countries to teach in our university because he/she must have been indoctrinated with western thoughts and ideas that are probably detrimental to Islam.

Introduction

This chapter examines the dilemma and confusion that those studying Islamic studies in secular universities in northern Nigeria find themselves and the struggle for dominance among diverse interest groups within and without the system. The chapter problematises the complexity of situating Islamic studies in secular universities in northern Nigeria. The complexity of situating Islamic studies in secular universities in northern Nigeria started right from the British occupation of the region, which was established to model higher institutions in the secular West, to moderate the understanding of Islam. Another reason for British establishment of western-style secular education in Nigeria was to achieve social change and as a means of ensuring political and economic independence of the citizens of the country. It is also a convenient way to produce citizens that will accept the British logic of a modern and plural state in Nigeria. Nkulu Kiluba emphasises that colonial administrative and political interest was also part of British interest in establishing tertiary education in Nigeria. The first tertiary institution established in Nigeria was the Yaba Higher College in 1932 (an upgraded version of the Kings College Lagos), and most of the graduates worked for the British as civil servants. On the other hand, the British are also accused of using tertiary education to achieve westernisation and other colonial interests. The new form of education was also accused of ‘inculcating the attitude of the educated person as superior to the less educated’. The first public research university established by the British in Nigeria was the University of Ibadan (UI) (now in Oyo State, a Yoruba-dominated area) in 1948 as a campus of the University of London, which became an independent university in 1963. This was followed by the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in Enugu State in 1960. It was initially started by Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1955 and officially opened in October 1960 after independence.