HOMESCHOOLING AND THE PRESENT NIGERIAN RELIGIO-CULTURAL CLIMATE

There is a growing need for the preservation of culture distinctiveness as well as the need to maintain one's religious identity in the face of cultural and religious pluralism in Nigeria. The undeniable fact is that Nigeria is fast becoming of melting pot of culture and religion. We are caught up in urbanization, modernization and globalization on every side. These have caused the extinction of some cultures and are eroding religious distinctiveness and blurring denominational lines. The Nigerian school's system and educational polices are geared towards national unity and integration over against interest in particular cultures and religions. Teachers in the conventional and private schools come from different religious and cultural backgrounds. In their teachings, they do not lay much emphasis on any particular culture and religion. The end result is the extinction of different cultures and religious identities. The school is a place where religion and culture can be more effectively transmitted to the next generation. However, this not the case in Nigeria and this kind of trend is dangerous for national development. This paper proposes an alternative educational or schooling system that is capable of preserving cultural distinctiveness and religious identity. The alternative is homeschooling. Homeschooling is not a new system and it is practiced in many countries today. Historical and analytical research methods will be employed to show how best this can be applied to the Nigerian situation. Homeschooling is by far the best instrument for the preservation of religious and cultural identities.