Dancing on a knife-edge: European colonisation of Africa and Nigeria’s cultural crisis

Abstract

ABSTRACT At the centre of African underdevelopment are slave trade and colonization. Expectedly, these two issues have been in the front burner of academic discourse, especially in Africa. While the literature is stuffed with forms and causes of colonialism, this current article contributes to the existing literature by interrogating the relationship between colonialism and some selected parts of Nigerian culture. The paper therefore examined the effects of colonialism on African culture, the relationship between colonisation and Nigeria’s cultural crisis, including the challenges it poses for her identity. Using descriptive analysis and evidence-based research method, the study found that certain aspects of valued Nigerian culture were being eroded, especially as it related to the role of purity in religion and marriage. Findings further showed that the enthusiastic assimilation of Western culture by the younger generation was suggestive of a culture whose future is on a knife-edge.