© Kamla-Raj 2005                                                                      Anthropologist, 7(2): 137-147  (2005)

Paradox of "Progress": The Role of Western Education in the

Adewale Rotimi

Department of Sociology/Anthropology, Obafemi Awolowo University,

Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Abstract The paper has identified the roles which western education has played in transforming the traditional family in Nigeria. However, this transformation which has been viewed as "progress" from western perspectives, has also produced some unintended circumstances. Those aspects of the family most affected by change include, the extended family system, mate selection, division of labour within the family, patriarchal authority and the socialization process. Under the modern nuclear family system, the individuals are no more burdened by responsibilities to others who are outside the nuclear family. Mate selection has become more liberalized with individual young men and women free to choose their own partners. Because husbands and wives both now have careers outside the home, domestic decisions have become more democratizd and husbands are no more the fountain of authority. Socialization of children in the home is complemented by other agents outside the home; schools, peer groups the mass media, just to mention a few have also become agents of socialization. It is however, a paradox that the changes outlined above have also produced some unintended consequences which have negatively affected the modern Nigerian family. For example, the demise of the extended family system also means the loss of social and economic safety nets to which many people used to fall during periods of adversity. Mate selection has become so liberalized and sophisticated that many people have decided to either postpone or delay marriage. In some cases, lack of support in mate selection from parents of couples has made divorce very rampant. Where both husbands and wives have their careers and they both bring income to the family, the locus of authority has shifted from the man. Occasionally one of the couples has had to relocate or transfer to a different part of the country. This has affected joint socialization of children. Occasionally cases of infidelity by either of the couple have also been recorded. Socialization of children, which now takes place outside the home has resulted in increased cases of deviant behaviour among children. To minimize the negative effects wrought on the family by western education, social planners must try to merge those positive elements of the traditional family with those of the modern family.

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