AFRICAN STUDIES HISTORY, POLITICS, ECONOMICS, AND CULTURE Edited by Molefi Kete Asante Temple University A ROUTLEDGE SERIES AFRICAN STUDIES History, Politics, Economics, and Culture MOLEFI KETE ASANTE, General Editor KWAME NKRUMAH’S CONTRIBUTION TO PAN-AFRICANISM An Afrocentric Analysis D.Zizwe Poe NYANSAPO (THE WISDOM KNOT) Toward an African Philosophy of Education Kwadwo A.Okrah THE ATHENS OF WEST AFRICA A History of International Education at Fourah Bay College, Freetown, Sierra Leone Daniel J.Paracka, Jr. Routledge New York & London Published in 2003 by Routledge 29 West 35th Street New York, NY 10001 www.routledge-ny.com Published in Great Britain by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane London EC4P 4EE www.routledge.co.uk This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group Copyright © 2003 by Taylor & Francis Books, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Paracka, Daniel J. The Athens of West Africa: a history of international education at Fourah Bay College, Freetown, Sierra Leone/by Daniel J.Paracka Jr. p. cm.—(African studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-415-94795-2 (Print Edition) 1. Fourah Bay College— History. 2. International education—Sierra Leone—Freetown— History. I. Title. II. Series: African studies (Routledge (Firm)). LG503.F73P37 2003 378.664–dc21 2003014128 ISBN 0-203-49045-2 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-57801-5 (Adobe eReader Format) Dedication Barre: a Limba term that has multiple meanings including a work group, a court of law, a safety belt for climbing, a hoop. It exudes a sense of connectedness and community—and is therefore an appropriate metaphor for higher education in today’s international world.1 This dissertation is dedicated to the Limba of Wara Wara Bafodia who taught me that life’s experiences have many meanings and need to be considered from multiple perspectives. The Limba have accepted and accommodated Christianity, Islam, and traditional religion. Many people have a Christian name, an Islamic name, and a traditional name. They attend church on Sunday, the mosque on Friday, and traditional rites as called for. 1 European travelers in the “Mandingo country” of Sierra Leone documented “burrees which served as public schools; ‘where their youth are taught to read and write Arabic.’” Skinner described the “barri” as “a building or covered area used by alimamis and headmen for hearing court cases and receiving visitors. See David E.Skinner, “Islam and Education in the Colony and Hinterland of Sierra Leone (1750–1914),” Canadian Journal of African Studies (Vol. X, No. 3, 1975), 507. Contents ABBREVIATIONS viii INTRODUCTION 5 PART ONE: Missionary Education, 1787–1876 9 CHAPTER ONE Founding a Christian Institution, 1787–1840 15 CHAPTER TWO An African-American Principal: The Returned 35 Diasporan Influence, 1840–1864 CHAPTER THREE Contesting Visions of a West African 53 University, 1864–1876 PART TWO: Colonial Education, 1876–1937 73 CHAPTER FOUR Krio Resistance and Pan-Africanism: The 81 Roots of African Studies, 1877–1908 CHAPTER FIVE An Era of Rising Nationalism, 1908–1937 103 PART THREE: Development Education, 1938–1999 129 CHAPTER SIX The Scramble Out of Africa: Colonial 143 Development, 1938–1960 CHAPTER SEVEN African Studies and Educational Relevance: 175 Curriculum Development, 1961–2001 CHAPTER EIGHT From Independence to State Collapse: Student 209 Activism and the Political Context, 1961–2001 CONCLUSION The Future of International 237 Education at FBC ENDNOTES 302 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 319 INDEX Abbreviations ACS American Colonization Society AFRC Armed Forces Revolutionary Council APC All Peoples Congress CMS Church Missionary Society CD&W Colonial Development & Welfare ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States ECOMOG Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group EO Executive Outcomes FBC Fourah Bay College IMF International Monetary Fund MMTC Milton Margai Teacher’s College NCBWA National Congress of British West Africa NUC Njala University College O AU Organization of African Unity RUF Revolutionary United Front SLPP Sierra Leone People’s Party SOAS School of Oriental and African Studies USL University of Sierra Leone VSO Volunteer Service Organization WMMS Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society THE ATHENS OF WEST AFRICA 2 4 Introduction This book is about Fourah Bay College (FBC) and its role as an institution of higher learning in both its African and international context. The study traces the College’s development through periods of missionary education (1787– 1875), colonial education (1876–1937), and development education (1938– 2001). FBC’s unique construction as a socio-cultural microcosm of the political, racial, religious, and social tensions that characterized the colonial and postcolonial revolutions in West Africa makes its history a valuable resource for gaining insight into the ways certain epistemologies and ideologies collide to form institutions that shape society. Part One (1787–1875) analyzes the impact of FBC’s missionary roots. FBC was known as the “Athens of West Africa” due to a strong focus within its curriculum on learning Greek and Latin and because of the unparalleled success of its graduates at home and abroad.1 The text most often employed for the study of Greek was the Greek New Testament. Founded by the Anglican Church, FBC was not a secular college. Students studied to become priests and catechists and helped spread Christianity throughout West Africa. It is the oldest Westernstyled college in Africa.2 Missionary Education encompassed a complex mix of well-intentioned humanitarianism, rigid indoctrination, and economic expansionism.3 Liberated slaves and returned diasporan Africans played a central role in helping to end the slave trade and in the development of a primarily Western-styled educational system for West Africa. African and European missionary scholars were actively involved in linguistic transcription and translated the Bible into the many languages of West Africa. The period provided a measure of freedom and opportunity to Western-educated Africans. Part Two (1876–1937) analyzes the complex forces at work at FBC aiding and resisting colonial rule. The transition from slavery to colonialism was not peaceful or conducive to local development. European powers such as Great Britain attempted to establish monopoly control over the entire African continent and an emerging global market.4 Christianity, a powerful vehicle for spreading Western education and culture as well as a rationale for denigrating traditional African cultural knowledge and social institutions, was as pervasive 6 THE ATHENS OF WEST AFRICA as colonialism. European missionaries and colonial governments operated in concert to maintain their hegemonic control. This occurred as church and state split apart in Europe and the United States. Although FBC’s African faculty and students tended to support the integration of West Africa into the global community, they consistently opposed colonial rule. African scholars repeatedly recommended to the European administrators to include courses in African languages and culture. They made little progress. The emerging African educated elite of the twentieth century challenged both traditional African and European authority.5 Colonial Education placed clear limits on the educational scope and mission of the College. Enrollment remained small in numbers (the high for the period was 58 students in 1915) but students came from all the colonies in British West Africa. FBC was required to maintain international (British) standards of academic excellence in order to qualify as a university institution. FBC faculty and students were often much more familiar with British history and culture than with the history and culture of indigenous ethnic groups in Sierra Leone or other parts of West Africa. Throughout the missionary and colonial periods, the faculty at FBC was predominantly West African. Part Three (1938–2001) analyzes the new social and political conditions at FBC following World War II and Sierra Leone’s independence in 1961. In particular, the study examines curricular change at FBC in the field of African Studies and the development of culturally relevant material throughout the educational system. At independence, FBC students and faculty wanted their own curriculum, not one dependent on the West for its content. Academic freedom and political independence were closely linked concepts among African students and scholars of the period. The universities of the new African nations wanted to assume responsibility for preparing their citizens to meet the challenges of modern society, improving the quality of life and ending dependency. However, they were not necessarily prepared to rediscover themselves or to promote their values and identity abroad. The political and economic spoils of the neo-colonialist, Cold War era took precedence over local needs and concerns. Fourah Bay College may have attempted to develop a shared sense of national identity, but