Sustainability in Ssouth Eeastern Nigeria Through Indigenous
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SUSTAINABILITY IN SOUTHEAST NIGERIA THROUGH INDEGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CHARLES ALARIBE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO JULY, 2015 © CHARLES ALARIBE, 2015 Abstract This dissertation aims to illuminate why Indigenous Knowledge is declining in Igbo land, southeastern Nigeria, and the possibilities of using Indigenous Environmental Education to re-generate Igbo Indigenous Knowledge. The research, focusing on both Nigerian Igbo and diasporic Igbo, has the potential to add nuance and complexity to the discussion of Indigenous Knowledge in the context of Igbo people. This study is motivated by the research question “why is Igbo Indigenous knowledge declining and how has this decline impacted on Igbo language preservation, socio-cultural and ecological sustainability of Igbo people”? In exploring this fundamental question, I argue that a culturally based Indigenous environmental education rooted in Igbo language instruction may assist in preserving Igbo Indigenous knowledge, and local ecological resources. Drawing on postcolonial theory, decolonization and critical pedagogy as theoretical frames, I argue that these approaches interrogate Eurocentric dominant views, rooted in colonialism, that misrepresent and undermine African Indigenous knowledge. This dissertation also offers insight into how a persistent colonial mentality, continues to undermine Igbo worldviews. In conducting this research, I employ Indigenous Methodologies, involving Indigenous approaches to epistemology – stories and personal narratives. These are supplemented with interviews and document analysis. Since Igbo are well-dispersed people, the research design also considers Igbo Diaspora in Toronto to illustrate the effect of locatedness and the influence of a westernized environment on Igbo language and Indigenous Knowledge preservation. The findings from the research suggests that complementary epistemology, through a creative integration of Igbo Indigenous Knowledge and Western epistemic approaches in the school curriculum, presents a ii viable means of preserving Igbo Indigenous knowledge. Findings further suggest that Igbo youths are interested in Igbo Indigenous knowledge, nevertheless, society’s inability to transfer Indigenous knowledge and widespread western influences presents challenges to the preservation of Indigenous knowledge. Ultimately we must consider how to incorporate Igbo and other Indigenous knowledges, into the educational system so that the low-status accorded to them may be reversed. In the Igbo case, I argue, this warrants an epistemological approach grounded in Igbo language instruction and knowledge of the local environment. iii Acknowledgement I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to the individuals who contributed in one way or the other in this study. I am thankful for the invaluable guidance and cheerful support that Anna Zalik has provided throughout this project. My sincerest thanks go to Leesa Fawcett and Anna Zalik for providing me with insightful comments, creative suggestions, feedbacks, and editorial expertise. I also thank them for offering financial assistance at various stages of this project, with their research funding. I am also indebted to Celia Haig-Brown for her criticism and comments in the course of this project. I owe appreciation to Lieth Gilbert whose questions and comments helped shape my though at the conception of this idea. I would like to thank my family; the “Alaribe’s” for their prayers, encouragement, understanding, and the support they offered throughout the duration of this project, particularly my wife, Onyi and my children, Chisom, Chidozie, Kelechi and little Mesomachi. I thank my father for his love of education, and who always say “education is an investment.” I also appreciate the words of encouragement from my friends at various stages of this work. Above all, I thank God Almighty who led me through this project. iv Table of Contents Abstract …………… ……………………………………………………………... ii Acknowledgement ……………………………………………………………........iv Table of Contents …………………………………………………………………. v List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………..viii Chapter One: Introduction Background of Study 1 Poverty, Population Growth and Management impact on Indigenous Sustainability 4 Geographical/Historical Background of Igbo Land 6 Definition of Terms 13 Problem Statement 21 Significance of Research 24 Igbo Diaspora in Brief 26 Research Design 28 Dissertation Layout 31 Chapter Two Theoretical Framework 35 Postcolonial Theory and Decolonization 36 Decolonization 45 Indigenous Knowledge and Critical Pedagogy 50 Rationale for Critical Pedagogy 55 v Knowledge Research in African Context 60 Complementary Epistemology: Two-Eye-Seeing 73 Place-based Education and Locatedness 81 Chapter Three Indigenous Sustainability: “The Firewood of a Place Cooks the People’s Food” 88 Igbo Indigenous Sustainability 88 Indigenous Knowledge from the African Perspective 92 The Igbo Worldview and Paradigm Shift 94 Colonialism and the Early Missionary Period in Igbo Land 96 The Pentecostal Movement in Igbo Land 100 Language and Indigenous Sustainability 103 Chapter Four Indigenous Environmental Education in Pre-colonial Igbo land 108 Education and Socialization in Traditional Igbo Society 109 The Historical Development of Environmental Education 112 Framing Environmental Education Curriculum 115 Conflicting Ideas Arising from Different Paradigms 119 Indigenous Environmental Education and Human-nature Relationship 121 A Critique of Current Modern Liberal Education 123 Chapter Five Research Design and Methodology 126 Reflexivity in Indigenous Research 131 vi Methodological Approaches and Methods 133 Fieldwork in Southeast Nigeria 134 Fieldwork in Toronto 138 Key Participants 141 Chapter Six Saving Igbo Indigenous Knowledge and Language 145 Sharing Igbo Indigenous knowledge and Language Narratives 145 Raising Igbo Indigenous Knowledge and Language Consciousness 173 Chapter Seven Conclusion 204 Policy Implication and Recommendation 212 Suggestions for Future Research 216 Research Limitations 218 Closing Statement 219 Bibliography 221 Appendix A Statements on the Importance of Complementary Epistemology 245 Appendix B Culturally-based Indigenous Environmental Education Course Curriculum 247 vii List of Figures Figure 1 Map of Nigeria delineating south eastern Nigeria 7 viii Chapter One: Introduction I visit the memories of my childhood interactions with the local environment and culture to contextualize the endangerment of Igbo Indigenous culture and degradation of the local environment. As a child, I found the rivers, streams, forests and farmlands provided endless avenues for exploration. For example, as a ten-year-old, I would go mushroom picking in the village forests with other children my age. Since I was not based in the village, my cousins would guide me in the forests, and I remember being envious of their familiarity with the terrain. Depending on the season, one could pick huge mushrooms with an umbrella circumference of about 30-35 cm. The edible wild fruits, the native birds and the serenity of the natural environment continue to be unforgettable childhood memories. During evenings in the dry season, children play moonlight games, and the grandmothers tell stories and folklores. Sadly, the traditional institutions that flourished alongside Indigenous culture have declined, and also natural environments such as forests, streams and rivers that once helped children gain experiential knowledge of their environment and Indigenous culture barely exists. For instance, most streams that flowed in my childhood are now stagnant waters. Indigenous local trees, with economic as well as cultural and social benefits, are endangered. Forests used to be thick with edible wild fruits and farmlands are now wastelands, made useless by the practices of the development imperative. As a matter of fact, the loss of biodiversity and environmental degradation in this region is frightening. Two specific examples are the endangered shekeleke, a white, low- flying Indigenous bird that once dotted the sky, and the extinct ubenna and ununna, which were wild, Indigenous rainforest shrubs that produced delicious grape-like fruits. 1 The escalation of unsustainable lifestyles in Southeast Nigeria has compounded these ecological problems. In fact, the ecological health and well-being of Southeast Nigeria are in serious jeopardy if an urgent remedy is not applied. For this reason, the decline in Igbo Indigenous knowledge and local environment is of paramount concern to Igbos of Southeast Nigeria. In fact, I argue that the decline in Igbo Indigenous Knowledge and local environment has also impacted on the flourishing of the mother tongue (Igbo language) because Indigenous language is learned through interactions and immersion with the cultural, social and ecological milieu of a society. This decline did not happen all of a sudden, but has taken place over the course of time, mainly as a result of processes of colonization, which continue to have an impact on colonized peoples around the world (Shava, 2011) via Western ideologies. Colonization in Africa introduced modern Western knowledge systems, which repudiated Indigenous knowledge systems, invalidating, marginalizing, devaluing, decontextualizing, misrepresenting and excluding them (Dei et al., 2002; Hoppers, 2001, 2002;