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Africa Knows! It is time to decolonise minds

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Accepted Paper: B07-04. To panel B07.

Title of paper:

Author:

Lawrence Ogbo Ugwuanyi (University of Abuja).

Short abstract paper:
This paper is a search for a decolonised knowledge paradigm through a critique of three options suggested- Afrikology (Dani Nabudere,2011), Negrology (Chinweizu,2018)and Conceptual decolonisation(Kwasi Wiredu,1995).It provides their critical contrasts, in search of other alternatives.

Long abstract paper:
There are plausible reasons to suggest that education in the African contest demands fresh orientation to be more reliable and productive. The position implied by this claim is that knowledge needs to generate new forms of attitude for it to be functional and relevant to African life. This call is what is represented by the calls for decolonisation of the curriculum of studies. By Africa is implied Sub-Saharan Africa and by education is meant the formal certified ways of imparting knowledge. But decolonisation is a concept with wide implications which needs to be deconstructed for it to achieve its desired objectives. Decolonisation could be interpreted in such wide terms as -decolonisation of school structure, decolonisation of learning structure, decolonisation of curriculum, decolonisation of concepts and ideas. This paper represents a search for a decolonised knowledge and curriculum paradigm. It maps out three options proffered in the effort to provide alternatives for a fresh knowledge paradigm- Afrikology as suggested by Dani Nabudere (2011), Negrology as suggested Chinweizu(2018)and Conceptual decolonisation as suggested by Kwasi Wiredu (1995).The paper will provide a critical contrast between the three options with the view to locating the possible alternatives to explore in achieving a decolonised knowledge design in the continent. The method applied is textual analysis and comparative criticism.

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