Embodying “Britishness”: The (re)making of the contemporary Nigerian elite child

Abstract

Existing studies on the role of schooling in the formation and (re)production of elite identity have focused almost entirely on the reproduction strategies of Western elites. Consequently, the distinction strategies employed by non-western elite parents to maintain and/or advance their class positioning – via their children – have remained largely unexamined. Using rare qualitative data from a broader study of the educational preferences of elite Nigerian families, this paper critically examines the key processes involved in Nigerian elites' attempts to protect and/or enhance their children's future elite status. Combining the theoretical frameworks of Bourdieu and Fanon, the paper argues that a significant proportion of elite Nigerian parents opt for UK-based private boarding schools because they believe that these schools will bestow their children with “attributes of excellence” through a highly selective exposure to elite White British lifestyles and practices. These parents believe that placing their children in White (elitist) spaces would allow them to acquire the right dispositions and deportment such as “respectability” and a “refined accent,” essential for the (re)production and/or formation of “genuine” elite identity in modern-day Nigerian.