Since the end of the Second World War, a substantial number of Nigerians have become immigrants to Great Britain. They have experienced culture shock in their removal from a familiar environment into the unfamiliar and in some ways hostile environment of British society. The difficulties of adjustment may in some ways have been eased by Nigeria's British colonial experience, which introduced elements of British institutions and values into Nigeria. On the other hand, the degree of superficial similarity of institutions and social forms may have made adjustment in some ways more difficult, since British and British origin Nigerian institutions may be far more different in practice than outward appearances would suggest.
The following is an outline for a study of Nigerian immigrant assimilation into British society since World War Two, emphasizing the role of two principal instruments of socialization, schools and churches. The role of schools is twofold: first, and more narrowly, to provide the knowledge and skills needed to function effectively and productively in society, and second, and more broadly, to socialize the young, teaching (for the most part informally) roles, attitudes, expectations, and values. The role of churches (or their counterparts, such as mosques) is likewise twofold. For the individual worshipper, the church provides an avenue for confronting spiritual and emotional challenges, and for integrating the self. But the church is also a social center; a place to meet friends and possibly marriage partners, and also a community which may provide mutual support (emotional and material) for its members.
The tentative Thesis of this study is as follows: That British schools and churches, like British society in general, have failed to successfully assimilate and integrate Nigerian immigrants in Britain.
The tentative and somewhat arbitrary nature of this Thesis must be emphasized. ...