Imperialism, Academe and Nationalism: Britain and University Education for Africans 1860-1960

Of all the aspects of British 'cultural imperialism' the one which Africans found most seductive was formal western education. They were quick to realise that University education opened up prospects for economic advancement and would ultimately provide the keys to political power and self government. Using a wide range of papers from the British Colonial Office and colonial governments in Africa, the archives of several libraries and the writings of African nationalists, Dr Nwauwa examines the surprisingly long history of the demand for the establishment of universities in Colonial Africa, a demand to which the authorities finally agreed after the Second World War. Educated Africans first put forward requests for a university in South West Africa in the 1860's, but from the 1880's through to the 1930's British colonial regimes constantly shunned such aspirations. But starting in 1939 colonial reformers in Britain began to advocate the creation of universities in Africa and by 1943 the idea was takenup by the Colonial Office as a means of 'managing' African nationalism. The creation of university colleges became a reality in 1948, they were one of the most important colonial reforms which led to decolonisation.