asses to Christianity. To a large extent, they succeeded; more than a third of the current population is Christian. Yet the predominant religion when the colonials arrived was not animist but Islam. The northern kingdom of Kanem-Borno was one of the first kingdoms to convert to Islam, perhaps as early as the 11th century (Falola, 1999, p. 28). Despite the best efforts of the British, about 45 percent of the population remains Muslim.
Maier (2000) argues, ôTo most outsiders, the very name Nigeria conjures up images of chaos and confusion, military coups, repression, drug trafficking, and business fraudö (p. xviii). The nation was amalgamated into a single entity in 1914 by the British and became independent of British rule in 1960. Maier (2000) describes the countryÆs most recent history:
Since winning independence from Britain in 1960, Nigeria has witnessed at least one million deaths in AfricaÆs biggest civil war, the assassination of two government leaders, six successful coups and four failed ones, and thirty years of army rule (p. xxi).
More than half its population lives in poverty with no access to clean water, literacy is below that of the Congo, and the per-person GNP is lower than it was during the 1970s. The situation for the nationÆs women is especially bleak.
Wright (1998) observes, ôNigeria, like all African societies, is male-dominated. The inequality that women face affects virtually all aspects of society, yet, despite the higher profile given to womenÆs issue in recent years, there has been little progress in stopping such discriminationö (p. 58). Nigerian women, as in the case of most Third World nations, do suffer much more discrimination than women in developed countries. However, considering the history of Nigeria in a Eurocentric context ignores and simplifies what is actually a complex and disputed issue.
The issue of womenÆs education illustrates some of the complications in...