BRIEF HISTORY OF HIGHER INSTITUTION IN NIGERIA

It is quite interesting to know that you are a lover of knowledge. Education is simply the search and acquisition of sufficient and valuable information that equips our minds with the ability to think out solutions to problems. As you are about to take a step further towards studying in higher institution such as university, polytechnic or monotechnic in Nigeria, it is pertinent to read at least a brief history of these institutions in other to have a background knowledge of their origins and the foundations on which our higher institutions are built on, since you will spend some years there after being admitted to study a course of your choice.

Just as you were taught by your history teacher, both primary and secondary schools in Nigeria were first introduced by the Christian Missionary, with few others later introduced by our colonial government. The CMS Grammar School, Lagos, founded on 6th June, 1859 is the first secondary school in Nigeria. The King’s College was later founded on 20th September, 1909 and The Queen’s College in 1927, both located in Lagos and more others were later founded few years later. At that time, there was no higher institution in Nigeria except some post-secondary schools such as the Central Agricultural Research Stations (CARS), established at Moor Plantation, Ibadan, and another one at Samaru, Zaria, The Centre for Veterinary Medicine at Vom, Jos and the Nigerian Railway in Lagos as the centre for engineering training; all these institutions provided sub-professional training for Nigerians. This went on until the arrival of some educated Nigerians who had their education abroad and return home to demand for the best from our colonial masters for Nigerians.

Following serious agitations by educated Nigerians in 1929, our colonial government was compelled to consider the establishment of higher institutions in the country and the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates which ushered in Sir Eric R. J. Hussey as the first Nigeria’s Director of Education geared up the establishment of higher institution in the country. In 1930, Sir Eric sent a proposal to the Nigerian Parliament, requesting for a three level of education in Nigeria, which are primary, secondary and vocational higher education. He believed that vocational higher education level will eventually develop to the standard of the British university. In his proposal, the duration of primary school was reduced from its initial eight years to six years, while secondary school level was still for six years.

In 1932, the proposal earlier made by Sir Eric gave birth to the Yaba Higher College, Yaba, as the first higher institution in Nigeria that will train Nigerians to become professionals in fields such as medicine, engineering, veterinary medicine, teachers training, agriculture, forestry, commerce and survey. Before the official opening of the college which took place in 1934, some students were already heading to their third year of studies in the college in different fields. However, the Nigerian nationalists were strongly against the establishment of college instead of university, expressing their preference for university over college, on a ground that certificates from the college can only be use within Nigeria to work as junior staffs in the colonial civil service, and also criticized the curriculum of the college as being very narrow and inferior to that of the British universities. A continual criticisms of the college by some educated Nigerians, The Nigerian Youth Movement and the Daily Times newspaper which described the college as an “Inferior brand of education” jointly gave birth to the first university in Nigeria in the year 1948, while the former Yaba Higher College, Yaba became the present Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) in 1947.

Written by: Emmanuel Matthew
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