Curriculum Politics in the Changing Fortunes of Nigerian Social Studies

The paper reviews the impact of political decisions on the development of school social studies in Nigeria. From its shaky start in the 1960s, the school subject was eventually adopted for all primary as well as junior and senior secondary schools under the national policy on education by the 1990s but later restricted to the junior secondary in 2004. Through a conceptual analysis of its evolution, this paper argues that the initial intellectual and altruistic undercurrents that informed the adoption of an integrated social studies seemed to have been overridden by ‘curriculum politics’. Illustrations are drawn from the changing fortunes of the school subject and the current threats facing it within the school system. It is suggested, among others, that educational policy makers should keep to the raison d’etre for the initial introduction of Social Studies as Nigeria strives to address the crisis of nation building and national development. 

The paper reviews the impact of political decisions on the development of school social studies in Nigeria. From its shaky start in the 1960s, the school subject was eventually adopted for all primary as well as junior and senior secondary schools under the national policy on education by the 1990s but later restricted to the junior secondary in 2004. Through a conceptual analysis of its evolution, this paper argues that the initial intellectual and altruistic undercurrents that informed the adoption of an integrated social studies seemed to have been overridden by ‘curriculum politics’. Illustrations are drawn from the changing fortunes of the school subject and the current threats facing it within the school system. It is suggested, among others, that educational policy makers should keep to the raison d’etre for the initial introduction of Social Studies as Nigeria strives to address the crisis of nation building and national development.