Overview

Despite Nigeria’s political independence, the lingering structures of coloniality, manifested in education, religion, politics, culture, and development practices, continue to shape social hierarchies and systemic inequality. With support from Christian Aid, Centre LSD initiated a groundbreaking project to explore, contextualize, and demystify the concepts of decolonization and anti-racism, culminating in the creation of a first-of-its-kind learning curriculum tailored to Nigeria.

This initiative aims to transform development practice, influence policy dialogue, and promote socially just programming by engaging stakeholders across sectors in deep reflection and action on how colonial histories still influence modern realities.

Project Objectives

1. Determine the average Nigerian’s understanding of decolonization and anti-racism.
2. Examine the impact of decolonization on poverty alleviation and power shift in Nigeria.
3. Explore the relationship between colonialism, poverty, and development both locally and globally.
4. Develop a learning curriculum to support anti-racist and decolonized approaches in development practice.

Methodology

The project used a qualitative and participatory research approach, integrating:

• Literature Review of global and local works on race, colonialism, and development;
• Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with 6 scholars and practitioners;
• Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with 48 participants across 17 organizations (mainly Christian Aid partners);
• Validation Workshop to refine research findings;
• Hybrid Dissemination Event to share results and spark broader learning.

Project Activities & Achievements

Literature Review
A comprehensive review of academic works, policy documents, and educational resources helped shape the curriculum structure and localized the global discourse on race and colonial power in development.

Key Informant Interviews
Experts shared insights on the Nigerian experience of coloniality and its link to poverty, systemic inequalities, and persistent foreign dominance in development work. Discussions touched on:

• The distinction between colonialism/coloniality and decolonization/decoloniality.
• The continued dominance of Western knowledge systems.
• The subtle ways donor-driven programming can reinforce unequal power relations.
  

Focus Group Discussions
FGDs with Christian Aid partners revealed both a rich understanding of colonial legacies and a lack of tools to actively address them. Participants shared stories of racial bias in donor relationships and called for systemic reforms in power-sharing within development partnerships.

Validation Workshop
A hybrid event convened stakeholders to review, validate, and provide feedback on the curriculum. Key recommendations included:

• Translating the findings into actionable public engagement tools.
• Using Centre LSD’s national reach to decentralize learning and engage subnational actors.
• Collaborating with the National Orientation Agency and Ministry of Information to mainstream messaging.

Dissemination Strategy
Centre LSD and Christian Aid committed to a joint communications campaign, leveraging social media, webinars, and public radio to broaden awareness and use of the research findings. A manual on decolonization and anti-racism in social practice was produced to serve as a practical reference tool.

Research Contributions

• A new body of work on decolonization and anti-racism in Nigeria.
• A comprehensive manual and curriculum, contextualized for Nigeria’s development sector.
• Commitment from organizations to integrate these frameworks into programming.
• Sparked broader scholarly and practical discourse on decoloniality in African development.

Lessons Learned

• Conceptual gaps exist: Most stakeholders understood colonial legacies, but found the academic language of decolonization unfamiliar or abstract.
• Development work must shift from being donor-driven to co-created, equitable, and locally rooted.
• Faith-based institutions and CSOs can play a pivotal role in reorienting social narratives and power dynamics.
• Intersectionality matters: Race, gender, disability, and class are deeply intertwined in the decolonization discourse.

Recommendations

• Disseminate findings nationally and across Africa.
• Engage media, faith-based organizations, and educational institutions to localize the discourse.
• Use the research to develop further programs, tools, and training modules targeting development practitioners.
• Collaborate with public institutions to integrate the findings into national orientation and civic education frameworks.

Conclusion

Centre LSD’s work on Decolonization and Anti-Racism opens a new frontier in development programming in Nigeria. This pioneering curriculum provides both the intellectual foundation and practical roadmap for shifting power, knowledge, and resources toward more just, equitable, and locally owned solutions. It challenges practitioners, donors, and communities alike to confront uncomfortable truths and commit to a new paradigm of liberation-centered development.

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