Islamic Schools, the Ulama, and the State in the Educational Development of Northern Nigeria

Islamic schools in Nigeria have undergone transformations from a position of monopolistic control over spiritual knowledge to one of competition and subsequently struggle for survival as they encountered missionary and colonial incursions. The post-colonial state that emerged had to endure weakened Islamic schools which nonetheless retained legitimacy in the eyes of observant Muslims as culturally and religiously valued institutions. This paper describes a fluctuating pattern of mutual isolation, engagement and competition that characterise the relationship between the state, Islamic schools and an influential corps of Islamic clerics (Ulama) operating outside the spheres of state bureaucracy. Northern Nigeria, where these schools are prevalent, has endured a long list of developmental challenges including a low level of educational attainment which places it at a competitive disadvantage in its relationship with Southern Nigeria. The paper claims that although both the state and a section of the Ulama realise that a reform of Islamic schools is vital to the development of Northern Nigeria, a long period of mutual isolation and the weak position of Nigeria’s educational bureaucracy have made the finding of a common operational framework difficult. A strong state-driven education delivery mechanism is what Nigeria needs to control the unregulated growth of different brands of Islamic schools from compounding its many developmental challenges.Les écoles islamiques au Nigeria ont subi des transformations allant d’une position de contrôle monopolistique sur le savoir spirituel à une position de compétition, puis de lutte pour la survie face aux incursions missionnaires et coloniales. Par la suite l’État postcolonial émergeant s’est confronté à des écoles islamiques affaiblies mais conservant toutefois une certaine légitimité. Cet article montre que les relations entre État, écoles islamiques et ulamas opérant en dehors de la bureaucratie, fluctuent entre engagement, compétition et distanciation mutuelle. Au Nigeria du Nord, où ces écoles sont dominantes et où les défis pour le développement sont nombreux, le niveau d’instruction reste bas, ce qui place cette région en situation de relative faiblesse vis-à-vis du Nigeria du Sud. L’article met en évidence qu’en dépit de leur volonté de réformer le système éducatif islamique l’État et les Ulamas peinent à trouver un cadre de travail commun. L’État nigérian parvient difficilement à contrôler la croissance irrégulée des écoles islamiques.