10th U6+ Consortium of African Universities International Conference

Understanding Africa’s indigenous worldview is essential to any comprehensive history of education on the continent. Prior to the arrival of Islam and Christianity, Yorùbá society maintained structured systems of training that prepared children for social, cultural, and economic life. With special reference to the Igbomina, this paper examines the foundational role of education in Yorùbáland before external influence. It investigates how the eventual infiltration of Islam and Christianity and the trends in their outputs over the years have brought both benefits and drawbacks. Findings reveal that the wholesome functionality of the traditional education system prior the Oriental and Western types had been more enduring and effective since it is evident today that the recent educational system is unable to respond adequately to the far-reaching attitudinal and value changes that are sweeping the society. True education extends beyond literacy, numeracy, certificates, and white-collar employment. It also requires grounding in indigenous knowledge, which is often lost when schooling creates a cultural mismatch. The Igbomina-Yoruba of Eastern Yorubaland provide a concrete case of how Western education’s pervasive influence has reshaped and displaced indigenous systems of knowledge transmission, contributing to cultural erosion, identity loss, and dependency on external knowledge. These outcomes pose risks to agriculture and food systems, community development, health and wellbeing, science and technology, and the administration of law and justice. Drawing specifically from the Igbomina experience in Eastern Yorubaland, this study advocates for Africa’s self-determination through curriculum reform that integrates Afrocentric perspectives, indigenous knowledge, and contextualized learning, thereby fostering holistic development and lifelong education for sustainable communities. It employs historical analysis, surveys, interviews, and direct observations of Igbomina-Yoruba cultural events to contribute original insights to the literature on History of Education and African Cultural Studies.