ABSTRACT

Education was generally for an immediate induction into society and a preparation for adulthood. In particular, African education emphasised social responsibility, job orientation, political participation and spiritual and moral values. The education of the child in Nigerian society starts from infancy just as in any European, Asiatic or American society. The aim of traditional African education is multilateral and the end objective is to produce an individual who is honest, respectable, skilled, co-operative and conforms to the social order of the day. Indigenous African education places considerable emphasis on character-training. Vocational training in traditional society is largely run on the apprenticeship system and is a time-honoured device for educating millions of African youths and adults. In the traditional system the child is made to appreciate his role as a member of his immediate and extended family as well as that of the community at large.