CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
For a start, I argue that colonialism, slave trade and missionaries are the pioneers of Western civilization in Africa. This is true to the extent that colonialism serves as a vehicle of western civilization in Africa. Colonialism, perceived in this context, is a forceful imposition of foreign rule over indigenous traditional political setting and foreign dominance and subjugation of Africans in all spheres of their social, political, educationally, economic and religious civilizations.
Western civilization began to creep into African socio-cultural settings, first, with the contact of Europeans with Africa, a consequence of Berlin conference in the quest for imperial theft of African resources and, later, consolidated by the unstoppable wave of globalization. It is important to stress that colonialism distorted and slowed the pace and tempo of cultural growth and trend of civilization in Africa. One of the most profound consequences of colonization has been how the political and economic rape of the colonies has also led to what sometimes seem to be an unbridgeable cultural gap between the nations that were the beneficiaries of colonization and those that were the victims of the colonial assault. The era of colonial pillage and plunder led to the relative stagnation and often precipitous decline of traditional cultural pursuits in the colonies.
Westernization could also be referred to as part of civilization; many countries believe that civilization represents western culture because civilization naturally originates from them. Many western technologies, cultures and customs like dress codes, hair styles, vehicles, buildings, music, language, educational development and materialism are introduced to different parts of the world.
Western influence and westernization have led to the extinction of indigenous languages and cultures of many societies in the world. Nigerian educational growth and development have suffered base on the adoption of western civilisation and values.