GeoJournal 20.

1 3 7 - 4 3
9 1990 (Jan,) by Kluwer Academic Publishers

37

Geography in General Education in Nigeria

Okpala, Julie, Dr., University of Nigeria, Department of Education, Nsukka, Nigeria
ABSTRACT: This paper traces the development of geographic education in Nigeria and examines the views of geographers, other academics, students and the public at large about the importance of geography. Geography's value is immense despite the non-professional nature of the discipline. Nevertheless, there is a need to define geography's status and ensure career prospects for students. The Nigerian Geographical Association (from classroom teaachers to top geographers) must promote geography, improve its status in schools and universities, and continuously restructure its content and methods to address pertinent social needs.

Development of Geography as a Discipline in Nigeria The Colonial Era: Late 1800s to 1950s Geographical education in Nigeria started in the second half of the 19th century. It was among the primary school subjects essential for producing interpreters and court clerks for effective administration of the colonial government. Geographic studies were included in secondary education, which started in 1859, and in the university in 1948. At the secondary and university levels the geography was dominated by British influence both in personnel and philosophy. The teachers were mainly British, the textbooks were the same as those used in British schools, and regional geography was the main focus. For example, the first university in the country, the University of Ibadan, used the same programme as its affiliate, the University College London. The programme was tailored to the needs and interests of British students. The philosophy of geography at Ibadan was ideographic and was designed "for a society in which there was the urgent need to produce graduate teachers for secondary schools and administrators for the civil service" (Alao 1978).

The Independence Era: Preparation for Independence and the 1960s In preparation for national independence among West African colonies, an examining body at the

secondary school level, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) was formed in 1954. This was a regional examining body for the British Colonies Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, the Gambia; and Liberia. By the 1960s geographers in Nigeria (Ologe 1984; Willmer 1966) were criticizing the fundamental objectives, content and methods of school geography as inadequate for the needs of Nigerian children. For example, using the WAEC school certificate examination syllabus as the only guideline for teaching was criticized. Willmer (1966) condemned the teaching of geography in schools which was geared solely to passing the certificate examination. He suggested that for geography teaching to be meaningful in schools, the syllabus should be prepared by the teachers through the Geographical Association and then sent to the examining body for incorporation into the examination syllabus. The late 1950s and early 1960s witnessed a steady growth for geography in Nigeria. The founding of The Nigerian Geographical Association occurred in 1957. In the early 1960s the indigenisation process led to the opening of four universities and each had a department of geography as one of the foundation disciplines. In 1962 the first University College at Ibadan became a fullfledged university. A remarkable improvement during this period was the number of Nigerians who acquired higher degrees in geography and were qualified for teaching in universities. The proportion of the expatriates in universities began to diminish and by 1968 the majority of faculty members were Nigerians.

38

GeoJournal 20.1/1990

The 1970s into the 1980s The Civil War (1967-1970) led to a rethinking of the role of education in building a united Nigeria and significant changes occurred in education. A National Policy of Nigerian Education, was formulated in 1977 and revised in 1981. The objectives were: inculcation of national consciousness and national unity; - the inculcation of the right type of values and attitudes for the survival of the individual and the Nigerian society; - the training of the mind in the understanding of the world around and; - the acquisition of appropriate skills, abilities and competencies both mental and physical as equipment of the individual to live and contribute to the development of his society (Federal Republic of Nigeria 1981).
-the

Emphasis was placed on pupil-oriented strategies such as games and simulations. During this same period, university geography moved gradually from the regional approach towards environmentally-relevant, issue-based course units. This was accompanied by a rapid growth in the number of higher education institutions in the country. By 1989, there were thirteen conventional federal universities, four universities of technology and eight state universities.

Geography's R o l e in General E d u c a t i o n

With a national policy formulated, each discipline planned its content and learning experiences leading to acquisition of knowledge, attitudes, and skills required for effective living in Nigeria. There was emphasis on relevant education in the multiethnic society with its socioeconomic problems. In school geography, a significant change in the 1970s was the emphasis of study on the home region. The geographic studies of North America, the British Isles and South East Asia w e r e removed. During the period following the mid-1970s there was a need for relevant educaton and vocational independence. In 1976, a new educational system, the 6-3-3-4 plan (6 years primary, 3 years junior secondary, 3 years senior secondary and 4 years university) was introduced. The new educational system brought three significant changes to school geography. First, in the old programme, geography was a five year school certificate subject, though concentrated in the last two or three years. In the new system, geography became a senior secondary subject with social studies being compulsory in the junior secondary school. Geography in the old programme was optional within a group of general subjects with history, economics, government, religious knowledge, and literature in English. In the new programme it was an elective to be chosen in place of history or literature in English. Secondly, there was a National curriculum revision. For the first time a national curriculum in geography was structured with the objectives, content, methods and evaluation clearly specified as a guide to teachers. Thirdly, new concepts were introduced into school geography. The theoretical framework of the curriculum emphasized utilityoriented learning and problem-solving. Issues of environmental concern such as environmental resources and hazards, were included in the curriculum and fieldwork was emphasized. Continuous assessment was a trademark of the new programme, and fieldwork was allotted 25% of the continuous assessment grade.

Geography is an academic discipline and not professional training in the traditional sense in Nigeria. In an era of emphasis on professional training, geography and geographers might not be accorded any significant place in Nigeria. Contrary to this, there is considerable evidence that the relevance of geography is appreciated by geographers, students, other academics and the public.

Geographer's Views of the Discipline Nigerian geographers (Okunrotifa 1973; Ofomata 1971; Ologe 1984) agreed that geography, unlike such professional disciplines as engineering, medicine, architecture, pharmacy or law, did not lead directly to a profession, but that the discipline did make valuable contributions to individual and national development. Ologe (1984) argued that:
Its main virtue lies (instead) in the intellectual discipline which it gives through its systematic and regional courses. These provide not only basic background knowledge that can lead eventually to a wide range of vocations but probably more importantly, a general attitude of mind in which a problem is viewed from as many different angles as possible.

Ologe (1984) identified four ways which geographical education could be considered of practical value to society. These were acquisition of useful knowledge, useful skills, useful mental abilities and training for citizenship. These were similar to views expressed more recently by geographers and geographical associations in other parts of the world, as exemplified by the Australian Geography Teachers' Association (1988) and The Geographical Association (Bailey & Binns 1987). With regard to acquisition of knowledge (Ologe 1984) identified three major aspects of geography; man's physical environment; man's socio-economic organization; and area studies. He further explained that knowledge gained in such areas could be put to use in evaluation and management of land resources. On acquisition of useful skills, Ologe (1984) furthered the argument of Balchin (1983) by identifying four basic communication skills (literacy, numeracy, graphicacy and articulacy). He believed communication skills were

GeoJournal 20.1/1990

39

important and argued that these could be improved through geography and put to use in many areas of human endeavour. With regard to acquisition of useful mental abilities, he emphasized that geographers by the virtue of their training learn to make reasoned or critical judgements, and to see problems not in isolation but in their total contexts. The holistic view of geography was valued. Also, geographers practice the art of tackling problems and are therefore versatile scholars. He pointed out that geographers are capable of giving a good account of themselves in many different situations. Finally, Ologe (1984) claimed that geographical training engenders spirit of citizenship, particularly with regard to appreciation of the interdependence of peoples and places on the earth's surface9 He argued that geography can infuse the qualities of good citizenship in multi-ethnic and environmentally diverse countries like Nigeria. He summarized the practical values of geographical education as follows:
9 . . a well trained geographer should be, and usually is a broad-minded citizen who is knowledgeable about man's relations with his environment and about the socio-spatial organization of society. He has a critical, inquiring mind. He is skilled in compilation and use of maps and strategies and is capable of writing sound colhztive and interpretative reports. These are qualities which are in great demand in all careers concerned with management of human affairs whether in legislative work, in executive positions in general public administration, or in planning. (Ologe 1984)

Students' Views of Geography

Secondary Level. While extensive nationwide research has not been carried out on students' views about geography, there is evidence that students appreciate the value of geography for everyday living. Nevertheless, as an academic subject, geography lacks popularity among secondary students. Research on students' attitude towards geography has shown that few students write on geography in school certificate examinations. Reasons which students have for disliking geography (Okpala 1988) include: (1) the wide scope of the subject; (2) geography is not regarded as a scientific subject in the Nigerian educational system; (3) poor results in school certificate geography; (4) geography is unrelated to their future career; and (5) poor teaching. Concerning the status and career prospects, in the Nigerian secondary school geography is viewed neither as a science, nor as a profession. The concern regarding the wide scope of the discipline results from the attempt to include far too many current and environmental issues within the curriculum. Compounding this are the conditions of teaching materials and staff relative to the implementa'tion of the curriculum. Alaba (1988) found that many teachers lacked appropriate qualifications for teaching. It was reported that out of 25 teachers in 19 senior

secondary schools, 36% were qualified both academically and professionally, while 46% were qualified not for senior, but for junior secondary classes and primary schools. Seven schools had only one geography teacher, and that person was qualified for primary school. Five teachers had never attended a seminar or conferences organized for geography teachers. On materials for teaching, the researcher found that none of the schools had all the necessary materials. The seriousness of the situation is best understood by observing the proportion of schools that lacked equipment. The percentages of schools that did not possess the following equipment were: wall maps and atlas (5%); thermometer (25%); topographical sheets (26%); wind vane (37%); globes (37%); rain-gauge (63%); and compass (74%). When materials were not available for teaching, the classes were likely to be less interesting for students. Tertiary L e v e l Students. At the tertiary level, while geography is not viewed as a profession, students have many career prospects in the discipline. The traditional view was that geography was mainly a subject for teaching. Information from the University of Nigeria Nsukka (Eze 1972) showed that 93% of 86 graduates of the University before 1972 went into teaching. Reports on undergraduate geography students' career awareness in Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in 1971, 1979, and 1983 showed greater diversity of careers by 1983 (Ologe 1984). The careers and percentages of students who selected them are shown in Tab 1. The data in Tab 1 reveal four changes regarding geography in Nigerian tertiary education. First, there has been a diversification among the career paths, with a major shift away from teaching. Second, there has been a certain amount of broadening of the perceived job market. Third, urban and regional planning has emerged as a main career path. Fourth, fewer students study geography without some notion of career direction, as indicated by the decreasing response to the "Don't know" category.

Views of Geography by other Academics

There is evidence that other academics are increasingly realizing the importance of geography in general education in Nigeria (Ede 1976; JAMB 1988-89). Ede (1976) argued that agriculture and geography are complementary. He compared results in the School Certificate Agriculture Course of 267 secondary students who studied agriculture with geography and 231 who did not include geography. There was a positive relationship between geography and agricultural science grades. Erie (1976) recommended that secondary students should be encouraged to enroll in both subjects for greater achievement and that a credit in school certificate geography should become a requirement for entry into agricultural sciences in the university.

40

GeoJournal 20.1/1990

Tab 1 Career choices among of Ahmadu Bello University, first year geography students

In some cases geography has become a cognate requirement for physics, chemistry, biology, economics, mathematics, and statistics. Also geography as a degree programme is studied in combination with programmes such as soil sciences, tropical meteorology, remote sensing, urban and regional planning, and government.

Views of Geography by the Government and the Public

There is evidence that the value of geographical studies is acknowledged by the government and the public in Nigeria. At the secondary school level, the value of geography has been recognized as a preparation for living. During the former 5 year school programme, geography was an optional subject. In the current six year programme, it has been uplifted to a core subject, though as an elective for the school certificate examination. The importance of geography to the country is more obvious when jobs taken by graduate geographers and special duties and functions which geographers perform are considered. Ologe (1984) reported sets of systematically collected data on careers of geography graduates from Ahmadu Bella University (ABU) between 1965 and 1975, and between 1976 and 1979, as shown in Tab 2. Tab 2 shows that the proportion of geographers who went into teaching decreased, and graduates increasingly entered urban and regional planning. The fact that the University has a Department of Geography and Regional Planning further explains these trends in urban and regional specialization. Ologe (1984), in justifying further the important role which geographers play in nation building, also produced a comprehensive list of positions which geography

graduates hold or have held in Nigeria. The areas were: Traffic Manager, Nigerian Ports Authority; Town Planning Officer; Naval Officer; Marketing Officer for Business and Commerce; Lecturer in Geography Cartography and Town Planning; Land Officer; Land Use Planner (Agricultural Development Project); Hydrologist - State Water Board; Economic Planner State and Federal Government; and Chartered Surveyor. Geography graduates also served in administrative posts as bank manager, management consultant, senator, registrar of cooperatives, police officer, vicechancellor, and ambassador.

Teachers: Requirements for Teaching, Benefits and Problems

Secondary Teachers. The minimum qualification for teaching secondary school geography is a bachelors degree in geography/education (combined) or geography honors plus a Post Graduate Certificate in Education. While geography teachers are trained in the country's thirteen conventional universities, a university of technology and six colleges of education, there are shortages of qualified teachers. As a result, holders of higher diploma certificates and Nigerian Certificates of Education (NCE) in geography who were prepared for teaching in the primary and lower secondary classes, may teach advanced level geography in school certificate classes. Tertiary Teachers. At the tertiary levels the minimum qualification for teaching is a bachelors degree, but the faculty member must begin the masters in a specia ! area and later complete a doctorate. In tertiary teaching there are two areas of specialization, namely academic and pedagogy. Within geography departments, faculty with

GeoJournal 20.1/1990

41

Tab 2 Careers of geography graduates of Ahmadu Bello University Careers

1965-1975 Careers 49.4 17.7 15.7 4.8 2.0:

1976-1979 46 43:2 33.0 '7~3 6.5 4:0 3.3 0.8

General Administration Urban and ' , RegionalPinning BusinessManagement

Soil and Rural Survey Cartography /ouma/ism

0.8 0.4 0.4

(6~og~t%4)
specialist training teach courses. In the Teacher Education Departments, where geography classroom methods are taught, the only requirement for teaching is a first degree in geography/education. Benefits and Problems Geography in the Nigerian secondary school systems is not considered a science. Geography teachers struggle with teaching the subject using practical approaches, but they are frustrated by a lack of equipment and incentive. While science laboratories are well equipped, geography teachers must manage with few, sometimes outdated, regional and topographical maps (Ifedigbo 1977). Geography teachers do not receive science teachers' allowances and administrators do not readily sponsor geography teachers to conferences as they do science teachers. Attendance of geography teachers at conferences and workshops is therefore generally low. At the tertiary level, the versatility of the discipline and specialization benefit teachers of geography. By the nature of their discipline geographers complete research with academics in various related fields. They are involved in national projects where the application of specific geographical skills are needed, such as the National Atlas Project, planning the new Federal Capital Territory at Abuja, and integrating rural development and river basin management. other fields appreciate the importance of geography and its link with other disciplines. Nevertheless, that recognition and appreciation is at the professorial levels. Secondary students, their teachers and the general populace are yet uninformed about the advantages of geographic education. There is need to become aware and appreciate the usefulness of geography for citizens in Nigeria. Much activity is needed to achieve this goal in the secondary schools and increased efforts are needed at the tertiary level. The responsibility for making geography known at the grassroots level rests with geographers in the Nigerian Geographical Association (NGA). Goodson (1981) in discussing the growth of academic disciplines stressed the role which the professional association could play. He explained how the Geographical Association of Great Britain served as a pressure group and contributed immensely in establishing the place of geography as an academic subject in the universities and in maintaining its status in schools. His ideas are similar to Lieberman's (1960) who emphasized that it is the responsibility of the professional body to develop the discipline and raise the status of the group. Lieberman (1960) emphasized that one of the important measures of professional status for a discipline is the body of knowledge and skills which is not shared by other groups. It is clear that geography, though not a profession, has much in its domain of knowledge, attitude and skills that is not within the domain of other disciplines. Geographers hold important leadership roles in national development in Nigeria, but they have not sufficiently disseminated information about the importance of the discipline. Hence, the geographers'

Flying the Geo Flag

The importance of academic geography in national development is acknowledged in Nigeria. Scholars in

42

GeoJournal 20.1/1990

contributions are not adequately recognized by Nigerian youth and the public. In 1989, NGA had five working groups: High School Geography, Rural Development, Environmental Planning, Regional Planning and Geomorphological Research. Four area representatives are given the responsibility to disseminate the information about NGA activities among teachers. Despite these plans NGA is not successful. The Nigerian Geographical Association is ineffective as an influence on Nigerian society. The general attendance at NGA conferences is poor and active financial membership is low. The publication of the NGA's scholarly journal was last completed in 1984. While younger geographers attend NGA meetings and activities, older geographers who have reached the peak in their academic careers rarely attend. Attendance by classroom teachers is also poor. In a recent outreach activity designed to involve teachers in a 1989 High School Geography Symposium, it was found that many teachers were not aware of NGA as a professional organization. The status of geography in schools will improve as teachers become more involved in academic societies and activities.

phy methods to trainee teachers should be at least a course unit in geographical education at the masters level. Presently, no university in the country offers a masters programme in geographic education. Geographic education programs similar to those for science education should be established. The value of geography must be advertised. Secondary school pupils need to be informed about the value of the subject. The preference for most students is a professional study, and it is difficult to convince students, particularly high achievers, to study geography when performance in school certificate geography during the past has been poor (Okpala 1988; Onasanya 1985; Nwagu 1985). Since geography in Nigeria is not considered a professional study, the practical contributions of geographers to professional activities must be advertised. The NGA should accept the task of enhancing the image of geography through widely circulated, inexpensive publications and pamphlets. Academic geographers, teachers, students and the general public should be solicited to campaign for geographical awareness through national activities such as National Geography Week.

Improving the Status of Geography

In some universities, geography is a social science, and in other universities, geography is in the Faculty of Environmental Science or Earth and Environmental Sciences (JAMB 1988-89). University entrance to study geography as a social science requires a pass in mathematics although some universities demand a credit. The Joint Matriculation Examination (JME) subjects are English, geography and two others (one of which should be a social science subject). As an environmental science the entrance requirements include a credit in mathematics. The JME subjects include English and three others selected from mathematics, geography, physics, chemistry, biology and economics. In the Environmental Science Faculty, geography is a compulsory JME subject for professional areas such as Urban and Regional Planning and Survey, and an elective with mathematics/ physics. In an age of emphasis on scientific and technological development, Nigeria not only stresses, but supports disciplines in science and technology. Geography as an environmental science has higher status than geography as a social science. If geography were awarded a higher status in the university, it is likely that its status in the secondary schools would change as well. Its present subject grouping with history and literature in English maintains a status quo. The status of geography needs to be clarified by the universities and the NGA should lobby to obtain science status at the secondary school level. The quality of teaching in school geography must be improved with more qualified teachers and teacher educators. The minimum qualification for teaching geogra-

Conclusions
Geography is important in general education in Nigeria because of its extrinsic and intrinsic values. It has much to its advantage, especially its versatility in content and methods. Geographers have been improving the status of geography in the Nigerian educational system through clarifying the discipline's purpose, content and methods. Several universities have raised geography's status by locating it in a faculty of environmental sciences rather than social sciences. At the high school level it is among the core subjects, although an elective. Despite these points, geography in the late 1980s had not progressed beyond the description by Ojo (1981), in which he stated:
Geography is often acclaimed as the mother of the sciences. Indeed, it has been a prolific mother with many outstanding issues that do not hesitate to rival her. Yet geography is not developing into a crone or laggard. Rather, she remains a smart charming queen, being constantly rejuvenated by the frequent changes which characterizes her purposes, content and methods over the years.

Flying the geo-flag must be an objective of geographers and the Nigeria Geographical Association. Geographers at all levels should cooperate under the Association to form a strong force to give geography the status of an environmental discipline. Strategies for involving greater numbers of classroom teachers, and stimulating and sustaining their interest in Association activities must be developed. Since those teachers lay the foundation for geography, it cannot succeed in developing an enhanced image in general education without them.

Geodournal 20.1/1990

43

Acknowledgements

T h e a u t h o r w o u l d like to t h a n k D r . J. C. N w a f o r a n d D r . R . A n y a d i k e for p r o v i d i n g h e r s o m e e s s e n t i a l r e a d ing m a t e r i a l s .

Ifedigbo, J. C.: The Attitudes of Education Authorities Towards Establishment of Geography Rooms in Secondary Schools. Unpublished B. Sc. Education Dissertation. University of Nigeria, Nsukka 1977. JAMB - Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board: Guidelines for Admission to First Degree Courses in Nigerian Universities. Federal Republic of Nigeria, Lagos 1988-89. Lieberman, M.: Education as a Profession. Prentice Hall, Inc., New Jersey 1960.

References

Alaba, J. O. et al. : Problems of Implementing the New (1985) Geography Curriculum with Special Reference to Awka Educational Zone. Unpublished B. Se. Education/Geography Project. University of Nigeria, Nsukka 1988. Alao, N.: Geography in Nigerian universities. The Nigerian Geographical Journal 21, 1, 31-37 (1978) Australian Geography Teachers' Association, Inc: Geography in Secondary Education. Australian Geography Teachers' Assocation, Inc., Brisbane 1988. Bailey, P.; Binns, T. (eds.): A Case for Geography: A Response to the Secretary of State for Education From Members of the Geographical Association. The Geographical Assocation, Sheffield 1987. Balchin, W. G. V.: Careers for graduate geographers. Geographical Journal 149, 334-341 (1983) Ede, D. E.: Relationship Between Students Performance in Geography and Agriculture in selected Secondary Schools in Anambra and Imo States. Unpublished B. Sc. Education Dissertation. University of Nigeria, Nsukka 1976. Eze, J. O. N.: Career Opportunities for the Nigerian Geographer. A lecture delivered at the Refresher Course on Geography. Ministry of Education, Enugu 1972. Federal Republic of Nigeria: National Policy on Education (Revised). Nigerian Educational Research Council, Lagos 1981. Goodson, I.: Becoming an academic subject: Patterns of explanation and evolution. British Journal of Sociology of Education 2, 2, 163-179 (1981)

Nwagu, E. K. N.: Validity of Teacher-Made Geography Tests Used in Secondary Schools in Anambra State. Unpublished M . E d . Dissertation. University of Nigeria, Nsukka 1985. Ofomata, G. E. K.: Jobs for Geographers. Occasional Publication No. 3 Department of Geography, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (1971) Ojo, G. J. A.: Geography Today: Its Purpose, Content and Method. In: Faniran, A.; Okunrotifa P. O. (eds.) A Handbook of Geography Teaching for Schools. Heinemann Educational Books (Nig.) Ltd., Lagos 1981. Okpala, J.: Research in Geographical Education in Nigeria 19811986. In: Gerber, R.; Lidstone, J. (eds.), Developing Skills in Geographical Education. International Geographical Union Commission on Geographical Education with the Jacraranda Press, Brisbane 1988. Okunrotifa, P. O.: The Objectives of Geographic Education. In: Majasan, J. A.; Adejuyigbe, O. (eds.), Curriculum Innovations in Nigerian High School Geography. The Institute of Education, University of Ibadan and The Nigerian Geographical Association, Ibadan 1973. Ologe, K. O.: Jobs for Geographers. Career Outlets for Geography Graduates in Nigeria. The Nigerian Geographical Journal 27.1+2, 3-11 (1984) Onasanya, M. K.: Beyond Mastery Learning: The Effect of Combining Student-Support System with Feedback - Corrective on Learning Outcomes in Geography. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. University of Ibadan, Ibadan 1985. Willmer, J. E.: A Plea for a New Interpretation of Geography in Education. The Nigerian Geographical Journal 9, 2, 155-162 (1966)