INDIGENOUS AFRICAN LANGUAGES AND THE DECOLONIZATION DEBATE

Abstract

The unwholesome influence of colonization on indigenous African culture is well documented and criticized. The most important area this influence has remained overwhelming and very destructive long after independence is the African education system. Hence, there have been calls for the decolonization ofAfrican education in recent years. While majority of African scholars agree that there is need to decolonize African education the controversy lies on how to go about the process. Some call for a wholesale return to African indigenous knowledge and others insist that Africa can only develop by fully adopting and implementing the principles of Western epistemology. Using the documentary method and content analysis and the theoretical framework of cultural anthropology this study explores the best approach of decolonizing theAfrican education system. Firstly, the study contends that returning to African past or a wholesale adoption of Western value system is not epistemologically feasible and thus will not bring about the needed change in African education. It therefore, recommended the incorporation of African indigenous languages as the most effective way of decolonizingAfrica education and unleashing the full potentials of the continent.