Britain and the politics of the establishment of universities in Africa, 1860-1948.
Date
1993
Authors
Nwauwa, Apollos Okuchukwu.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Dalhousie University
Abstract
Description
This study constitutes a history of the imperial politics surrounding the emergence of universities in British tropical African colonies between 1860 and 1948. It demonstrates why earlier African demands for the establishment of universities which began with James Horton and Edward Blyden in the 1860s failed as a result of official British opposition while the idea received imperial approval from the 1940s onward because of the British concern to avoid imperial decay. The earlier British opposition down to the late 1930s reflected the indirect rule system, limited government and financial parsimony--all of which were consolidated in the 1920s. Hinged on collaboration with the African chiefly elite, indirect rule was opposed to the educated class, and hence the idea of an African university was anathema to colonial establishments. During this period, the demands for a university emanated almost exclusively from African educated elements. The Colonial Office remained indifferent while officials on-the-spot were generally resistant.
Between 1940 and 1948 there occurred a decisive shift in London and the Colonial Office plunged into action and was not only willing to promote but to push actively for the establishment of universities in Africa, particularly during and immediately after World War II. This change took place in the midst of the war and opposition from officials on-the-spot. It occurred largely as a result of the growing imperial apprehensions that unless Britain developed the economic and social welfare of the colonial peoples, which in turn demanded political devolution, the empire might disintegrate. The "slummy" conditions of the colonies resulting partly from the depression of 1935/36, and culminating in the West Indian riots between 1935 and 1937, convinced imperial statesmen that colonial reforms were needed. Since a purposeful colonial development required the collaboration of a larger African educated elite, the question of the provision of universities became vital. Once the educated Africans observed that London had begun to switch from collaboration with the traditional class to place more reliance upon them, they quickly seized the initiative. From then on the educated elite began to determine not only the nature of progress leading to the eventual establishment of three university colleges in Africa between 1948 and 1950 but also to agitate for ultimate transfer of political power. This work argues that the university question was central to the whole process of British colonial reforms and decolonization in Africa.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dalhousie University (Canada), 1993.
Between 1940 and 1948 there occurred a decisive shift in London and the Colonial Office plunged into action and was not only willing to promote but to push actively for the establishment of universities in Africa, particularly during and immediately after World War II. This change took place in the midst of the war and opposition from officials on-the-spot. It occurred largely as a result of the growing imperial apprehensions that unless Britain developed the economic and social welfare of the colonial peoples, which in turn demanded political devolution, the empire might disintegrate. The "slummy" conditions of the colonies resulting partly from the depression of 1935/36, and culminating in the West Indian riots between 1935 and 1937, convinced imperial statesmen that colonial reforms were needed. Since a purposeful colonial development required the collaboration of a larger African educated elite, the question of the provision of universities became vital. Once the educated Africans observed that London had begun to switch from collaboration with the traditional class to place more reliance upon them, they quickly seized the initiative. From then on the educated elite began to determine not only the nature of progress leading to the eventual establishment of three university colleges in Africa between 1948 and 1950 but also to agitate for ultimate transfer of political power. This work argues that the university question was central to the whole process of British colonial reforms and decolonization in Africa.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dalhousie University (Canada), 1993.
Keywords
History, African., Education, Higher.