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THE PRACTICE OF TRADITIONAL AFRICAN EDUCATION: A 

VERITABLE TOOL IN PEACE-BUILDING IN MODERN AFRICA 

 

LONGKAT DANIEL DAJWAN 

+2347068134337/ +2349058592657/ longkatdan@gmail.com 

Lecturer Gindiri Theological Seminary, PMB 01001, 

Affiliated To University of Jos, Nigeria 

 

Abstract 

Cultural values and events are some of the most vital aspects of human life in 

society because they can create and serve as a unifying factor among the 

people and can also transform their lives into peaceful coexistence. This paper 

examined the practice of Traditional African Education. First, it argues that 

African had an indigenous system of education prior to the Advent of 

colonialism, because education itself is as old as man. Second, Traditional 

African Education is instrumental to solving modern African problems and a 

mechanism for peace building because it is wholistic in developing man to 

become a responsible member of the society. Third, many African societies 

had socio-political philosophy hinged on the concept of social solidarity and 

belongingness like Ubuntu and Mun vul along miisaak a muut and such values 

was ingrained in every child from birth, however, such virtues have being 

neglected in modern Africa. The study used the survey, qualitative approaches 

and using theories of relational theory, constructivism and behaviourism. 

Finally, this paper concluded that for Africa to realize positive peace African 

Traditional Education which emphasizes moral values must be re-introduced 

into our educational curriculum to ensure peaceful co-existence and douse the 

prevalence of violent conflict in Africa. 

 

Introduction 

Violent conflict is prevalent all over the world with Africa being the worst hit, 

this has resulted in great human suffering through deaths, disease, rise in 

refugee/internally displaced persons and absolute poverty. Many African 

countries are being crippled by conflicts and civil strife and this has resulted 

in Africa being named the home of war and instability. Therefore, the world 

is in search of peace, as noted by (Mary and Christopher 2006:35).”peace 

remains one of the deepest, most sublime and most universal aspirations of 

man in whatever era of human history” (Okoro 2010). This paper submits that 

social conflicts arise from the way society is organized/structured; social 

conflict is tied to the socio-political and economic arrangements within a 

particular society. Thus, injustice, poverty, disease, exploitations, inequality 

etc., breed social conflicts (Okoro 2010). 

mailto:longkatdan@gmail.com


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Monopolization of resources by one group or individual, unequal resource 

distribution, greed is all characteristic of modern Africa. However, in 

traditional African societies these vices were non-existent or found in the 

lowest minimum. Traditional African societies practiced communal living and 

sharing, the African child from birth is taught to be his/her brother’s keeper. 

African had unique ways of communal living where each one looked out for 

the welfare of another. The child is taught from birth social values like 

honesty, respect for people and property, dignity of labour, hard work and 

productivity, man was developed holistically – mentally, physically, morally 

and spiritually to be a responsible member of the society.  

 

However, the modern African experience of war or violent conflict is as a 

result of the neglect of traditional African education. The Advent of 

colonialism and westernization eroded those social norms and focused more 

on formal education, which in itself is individualistic and lays emphasis on 

competition and accumulation, oppression, corruption, greed and personal 

interest above collective interest. These vices are prevalent in Nigeria where 

the desire for quick and I'll gotten wealth is the order of the day as seen in case 

of the Dasukigate where millions of naira meant for arms acquisition was 

distributed among politicians with reckless abandoned. This was done at the 

expense of ordinary Nigerians dying every day as a result of the Boko Haram 

insurgency. These practices result to clash of interests and conflict as is being 

experienced in modern African today. 

 

This paper posits that traditional African education is a viable instrument for 

peace-building if Africa is to overcome the quagmire of violent conflict 

because in traditional African settings people thought of the general wellbeing 

of society above self. Traditional African education must be re-introduced 

alongside the formal/western education; emphasis must be laid on social 

solidarity and the spirit of belongingness. Every child from birth must be 

taught social responsibility. This will reduce the spate of violent conflicts in 

Africa and in turn result in harmonious and peaceful co-existence. 

 

Theoretical Framework 

Relational Theory 

Indigene settler question in Nigerian politics, post-colonial syndrome and 

migration: Ubuntu as a veritable tool in peace-building is being strengthened 

by relational theory. Relational theories attempt to provide explanations for 

violent conflicts between groups by exploring sociological, political, 

economic, and historical relationships that has existed between groups. 

Culture, values and interests all have a way of influencing the relationships 

between migrant’s – settlers- indigenes more especially at the sociological 



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level where differences between cultural value is a challenge for groups 

identity formation processes which in turn, creates the tendency to view others 

as intruders who should be prevented from encroaching upon established 

cultural boundaries (Best 2007:35-37). 

 

Constructivism Theory 

Constructivism learning theory is defined as the active construction of new 

knowledge based on a learner's prior experience. John Dewey (1933/1998) is 

often cited as the philosophical founder of this approach. Bruner (1990) and 

Piaget (1972) are considered the chief theorists among the cognitive 

constructivists, while Vygotsky (1978) is the major theorists among the social 

constructivists (Amy, F. Brandon & Anita, C. All 89-92). Research confirms 

that constructivism learning theory, which focuses on knowledge construction 

based on learner's previous experience, is a good bet for e-learning because it 

ensures learning among learners (Dajwan, 2020). Constructivism places 

emphasis on situated learning, which sees learning as contextual. Learning 

activities that allow learners to contextualize the information should be used 

in online instruction. In most pedagogies based on constructivism, the 

teacher's role is not only to observe and assess but to also engage with the 

students while they are completing activities, wondering aloud, and posing 

questions to the students for promotion of reasoning. Constructivists see 

learners as being active rather than passive with the instructor playing advisory 

and facilitating roles, encouraging them to arrive at their versions of the truth, 

influenced by their backgrounds, cultures and worldviews said Hung (2020). 

Learning should be an active process, keeping learners active with high-level 

activities such as asking learners to apply information in practical situations, 

facilitating the personal interpretation of learning content, discussing topics 

within a group, assessment, and so forth. This theory of learning is important 

in this study as it underlines the importance of e-learning, which has been the 

kiss of life for many during the COVID-19 lockdown and life in the post 

pandemic era for example (Ikechukwu, 2020). 

 

Behaviourism Theory 

The behaviourist school or theory sees learning as a change in observable 

behavior caused by external stimuli in the environment. With a 1924 

publication, John B. Watson devised methodological behavior, which rejected 

introspective methods and sought to understand behavior by only measuring 

observable behaviours and events (1-6). It claims that it is the observable 

behaviour that indicates whether or not the learner has learned something, and 

not what is going on in the learner’s head (Cooper, & Higgins, 2015). For the 

behaviourists, the mind is like a “black box” that observes a response to a 

stimulus in a purely quantitative fashion-without taking into account the 



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thought processes occurring in the mind. Skinner (2014) argued that since it is 

not possible to prove the inner processes with any available scientific 

procedures, researchers should rather concentrate on ‘cause-and-effect 

relationships’ that could be established by observation. The behaviourist 

theory explains that individuals learn based on what they see in their 

environment. The theory could also explain the difference that could be 

present in the learning abilities of primary school pupils or secondary school 

students whether in the classroom and at home. Therefore, the researcher 

adopted the relational theory to shed more light and as it affects traditional 

African education. 

 

Conceptualisation of Terms 

Education 

Education is “the process of cultural transmission and renewal”. The process 

whereby the adult members of the society carefully guide the development of 

infants and young children, this is through initiating them into the culture of 

the society. For infant and young children, education often takes the form of 

indoctrination, that is, the process of compelling the child tom ‘eat’ or ‘play’ 

or to do his/her homework at particular times in the day Adeyemi and 

Adeyinka, (2002). Barker (1994) in Majoni and Chinyonganya, (2204) defined 

education as all the processes of learning which enable a person to acquire 

skills, behaviors, knowledge, values and norms which are considered 

necessary to live a happy and successful life in the society to which he belongs. 

 

What seems to be a common thread linking the generality of definitions of 

education by varied scholars over time is the idea or preservation and 

perpetuation of the cultures of different societies through inculcation of the 

norms, values practices of the particular societies among the young in the 

context of educational practice (Majoni and Chinyanganya 2014). 

 

African Traditional Education 

This refers to the ways of teaching and learning in Africa based on the 

knowledge accumulated by indigenous Africans over long periods in response 

to different physical, environmental and social problems (Majoni and 

Chinyanganya 2014). 

 

Traditional African Education 

This on the other hand is described as mostly having no schools nor the formal 

organizations associated with conventional Western learning. It does not 

divide curricular content into disciplines such as arts, sciences, agriculture, 

and economics or etc but wedges children's daily routines and livelihoods of 



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their family and community together, integrating skills and knowledge about 

all aspects of life into a single curriculum (Majoni and Chinyanganya 2014). 

 

African Traditional Education has been variously described as indigenous, 

pre-colonial and informal or community based education. The descriptions 

were predicated on the fact that there were no schools of the modern type and 

no professional teachers as found in the modern system. However, there were 

certain centers of initiation and the adult members of the community served 

as teachers (Okoro 2010). 

 

Unity 

Merriam Webster Dictionary describes unity as “The state of being in full 

agreement, oneness, harmony and unification. The All Nations Dictionary 

describes unity as a quality and state of being united (753). The Longman 

Dictionary of Contemporary English defines unity as the state of being one 

complete whole or condition of being united and or agreement of aim (1203). 

This paper will use the concept or term to mean the oneness and wholeness of 

the Nigerian Christians and groups within it (Maina 491). The perspective is 

that of Christians being united to pursue a common goal especially in politics.  

 

Considering Genesis 11:1-9, verse 6 says: The Lord said, if as one people 

speaking the same language they have begun to do this, and then nothing they 

plan to do will be impossible for them. Again, in Psalm 133:1-3 clearly said 

“1 How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live in harmony! 2 For 

harmony is as precious as the fragrant anointing oil that was poured over 

Aaron’s head, and ran down unto his beard, and onto the border of his robe. 3 

Harmony is as refreshing as the dew on Mount Hermon, on the mountains of 

Israel. And God has pronounced this eternal blessing on Jerusalem, even life 

forevermore”. 

 

Peace-building 

This involves policies, programs and associated efforts to restore stability and 

the effectiveness of social, political and economic institutions and structures 

in the wake of a war or aims some other delibating catastrophic event. Peace-

building generally aims to create and ensure the conditions for ‘negative 

peace’ and mere absence of violent conflict engagement, and for ‘positive 

peace’, a more comprehensive understanding related to the institutionalization 

of justice and freedom (Miller 2005). 

 

The Peace Philosopher Johan Galtung, (1976) distinguished ‘Peace-building’ 

from ‘peacekeeping’ and ‘peacemaking’. Peace-building was put into 

operation by the United Nations in Namibia in 1978. Although conceptual 



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debates continue to surround it’s meaning. Peace-building is generally 

acknowledged as the building of positive peace that is the institutionalizing of 

justice and freedom, addressing the root cause of conflict to stave off a return 

to war (Erim 2007). 

 

An urgent call for peace-building in Plateau Nigeria constitutes the thrust of 

this paper. This is premised on the fact that peace has remained elusive in the 

state and country because government has failed to utilize a relevant strategy 

for attaining lasting peace. Peace-building that engages a down-up strategy 

means, I suggest, much more than just sending security tax forces in violent 

conflict zones to enforce peace or the provision of relief materials to victims 

of violence. Ambulance peace-building also transcends peace-making because 

peace-making fails to address the root cause(s) of violence by providing peace-

sustaining structures in place to forestall future occurrence of violence 

(Dajwan, 2020:120-121). Dajwan (2020) again argues that “peace-building 

involves all processes that build positive relationships, heal wounds, 

reconciles antagonistic differences, restores esteem, respects rights, meets 

basic needs, enhances equality, instills feelings of security, empowers moral 

agency and democratic participation, inclusiveness, and promotion of justice”. 

The former UN Secretary General, Boutros-Boutros-Ghali, also 

conceptualized peace-building as “involving broad responsibilities in the 

economic, social, humanitarian, and human rights fields” (Boutros-Ghali, 

1992). From the foregone conceptualizations of peace-building, one could 

conclude that peace-building does not wait for violence to begin; rather, it is 

as perceived by Pokol (2019) and the researcher deliberately quote this at 

length because of its importance to the paper: 

[Peace-building] involves those activities and processes that: focus on 

the root causes of the conflict, rather than just the effects; support the 

rebuilding and rehabilitation of all sectors of the war-ton society; 

encourage and support interaction between all sectors of society in 

order to repair damaged relations and start the process of restoring 

dignity and trust; recognize the specifics of each post conflict situation; 

encourage and support the participation of indigenous resources in the 

design, implementation and sustainment of activities and processes; 

and promote processes that will endure after the initial emergency 

recovery phase has passed (Pokol, 2019:439-440). 

From Pokol’s argument, one could argue that the Plateau Nigerian 

Government has, and is continuing to waste material and human resources in 

its attempt to restore peace through peace-enforcement. Indeed, government 

deals mostly with peace-enforcement while faith-based organizations 

especially Stefano’s foundation deals with peace-building. The military 

personnel and Para-military personnel that are engaged in maintaining peace 



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in Plateau Nigeria have only worsened the security situation of the state and 

the country respectively (Danfulani, 2001). 

 

Moral Values of African Traditional Education of Some Africans 

 

Ubuntu 

Ubuntu is a concept from the Bantu people of lower Congo, conceived on the 

basis of their socio-political and moral philosophy, it means a ‘vital-force’ as 

the core of social harmony and solidarity. Accordingly, the basic ontology 

expresses the highest form of being, of aspiration and of action of the Bantu 

people about life in all its ramification, covering the divine, spiritual, human 

and other cosmic realities (Okoro 2010). Overtly, life is the supreme focus, 

motive and aspiration of the Bantu being, thought and action. Hence, Bantu 

greatest pre-occupation concerns essentially the preservation and conservation 

of life. Ubuntu in relation to African sociology means one-ness and wholeness 

of ontology and epistemology (Ramosel 2007) in (Okoro 2010).  

 

Ubu- is the generalized understanding of be-ing, may be said to be 

distinctively ontological, whereas Ntu- as the modal point at which be-ing 

assumes concrete form or modal living is the process if continual enfoldment 

may be said to the distinctively epistemological (Ramosel 2007). Against this 

background Azouzu defines ‘Ubuntu’ as being human, (humanness) humane, 

respectful and polite attitude towards others. Ubuntu denote a sense of 

collective responsibility among human beings to distribute the life force for 

common benefit. Ubuntu is equivalent to personhood as such symbolizes 

human existence, community living and solidarity. This Nguini proverb brings 

out clearly the meaning of Ubuntu in its traditional setting, ‘Umuntu ngu – 

umuntu ngobanta’ South African concept meaning “I am because we are” 

which is the Mbiti philosophy from Kenya this therefore expresses the true 

meaning of African social existence (Okoro 2010).  

 

Ubuntu as a major concept in African social existence maintains that the true 

nature of man can only be realised through social relationship with others 

(Lamle 2016). Yonah explicating more on this socio-political concept 

maintains that the spirit of Ubuntu is based implicitly on the union of the 

opposite, hence, while maintaining their inherent contradictions are not 

exclusive. It creates a unified and interconnected conception of human 

existence. The sense of collective solidarity characterized Ubuntu through 

love, unity, caring, tolerance, respect, empathy, accountability and 

responsibility. Ubuntu is the celebration of being in its Trinity of 

manifestation- the human, natural and spiritual. Ubuntu is a life force that 

helps maintain equilibrium of forces, natural, spiritual and human in 



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community of other person's in one’s existence and as such discrimination on 

basis of race, gender, status, certificate, ability or handicapped were 

diminished in the traditional African societies. Ubuntu accepts all person's as 

belonging to the community of the living (Yonah, 2006:37).  

 

Munvul Along Misaak A Muut Concept of The Mwaghavul People 

Mun vul along, miisak a muut concept of unity is conceptualized to mean two 

are wealth and better than one, while individualistic lifestyle is considered as 

death. Alone is miserable and destructive. This is the reason the mwaghavul 

people believe that if you have many children you are a great and wealthy 

person. The researcher is the second born in the family of nine (9) and with 

the name Longkat from two roots words “Long” and “Kat” Long means 

wealth and Kat means gotten, meaning we have gotten wealth or riches.  

 

Again, cultural values and events are some of the most vital aspects of human 

life in society because they can create and serve as a unifying factor among 

the people and can also transform their lives. They can also serve as sources 

of peace-building and income and economic empowerment for the people. 

One of these events is demonstrating the cooperation and unity of the 

mwaghavul man “mun vul along” is the Pus Kat annual cultural festival of the 

Mwaghavul nation in Plateau State of Central Nigeria. The Pus Kat annual 

cultural festival normally brings together the Mwaghavul people and their 

neighbors both at home and in the diaspora. The festival normally serves as an 

avenue for unity, peace, progress, and development of the Mwaghavul nation. 

 

The Brief History of Mwaghavul people are found in Mangu Local  

Mwaghavul people are found in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau 

State, Nigeria. They constitute the major tribe and form the bulk of the 

population in Mangu Local Government Area. The major cultural festival of 

the people that speaks of unity and solidarity is called Pus Kat with a number 

of other lesser festivals that are also celebrated in the various Districts before 

the Pus Kat. These includes: the Pus YaghalWus (Panyam), Ryem (Pushit), 

Kopshu (Ampang West), Bwanzuhum (Kerang), Didiu (Kombun) and Pus Dar 

(Mangun). In a sermon on Good Friday (15-04-2022) by Rev. Eli Well Bangs 

the former chairman RCC Pushit said "the mwaghavul traditional way of 

handling crisis of sexual immorality is that anyone caught committing adultery 

will be asked to bring a chicken but anyone who is caught attempting to 

commit or on the process will be asked to bring a goat, this is because the one 

who is caught with adultery is with the consent of the woman. On the other 

hand the man who is at the process received greater punishment to detarred 

him and others from committing adultery". 



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However, these festivals provide opportunities and serve as an avenue for 

unity and cordial relationship among the people of the various districts. The 

festivals usually take place on different dates and times before the 

commencement of the farming season. As such, they form an important part 

of the people’s ways of life. According to Lohor (2011:153), “the festivals 

range from agricultural festivals, hunting festivals, circumcisions, religious 

festivals to cultural dances”. These festivals therefore create another 

opportunity for the Mwaghavul villages to interact and cooperate with one 

another (Lohor, 2011). As a result of the importance of the festival to unity of 

the people, other smaller or secondary Mwaghavul settlements and villages 

have been encouraged to organize their own festivals but usually before the 

commencement of the district festivals. The celebration of all these festivals 

usually precedes the Pus Kat which is referred to as the mother of all festivals 

in the land (Gubak H, Kromtit J. & Gubam D. S 2020: 286-287).  

 

Pus Kat is however one of the biggest annual festivals that are celebrated in 

Plateau State - Nigeria. The cultural festival is usually celebrated in April of 

every year ushering in the beginning of a new rainy season and providing the 

people with the opportunity to offer prayer and thank their gods and ancestors 

for protecting and blessing them throughout the previous year and for another 

successful farming season. It has always served as an opportunity for the 

Mwaghavul people to offer prayer for another farming season (Gubak H, 

Kromtit J. & Gubam D. S, 2020).  

 

Mwaghavul sons and daughters both at home and in diaspora are expected to 

attend the cultural festival and participate actively which according to their 

beliefs give them more favour from their ancestors and gods. It is a big event 

which has a lot of tourist attractiveness power. Being a motivator for unity and 

cooperation of the entire Mwaghavul nation, Pus Kat festival also serves as a 

catalyst for the economic empowerment of the rural people.  

 

The event usually features traditional dance from different groups which made 

up of men, women and youth. It also features exhibition of different cultural 

materials or artifacts which reflect the ancient crafts of the people. A tour to 

the various cultural and historical sites in Mwaghavul land usually precedes 

the event. Rituals are usually performed by the chief priests and ritual priests 

in different shrines and grooves in the various districts before the 

commencement of the event to appease the gods and their ancestors.  

 

The cultural festival has a long history of existence and it depicts the true 

lifestyle of the Mwaghavul people and their history. The cultural festival is not 

usually attended only by the Mwaghavul people but also people from other 



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ethnic groups within and outside Plateau State. In recent times, the event has 

been able to attract tourists or visitors from other parts of Africa as well and 

as far as Europe, Australia, parts of Asia and the Americas. Despite the bad 

nature of infrastructure within Mangu town and neighboring villages like 

Panyam, Bungha Dawo and Mangu Halle that are expected to accommodate 

the visitors; the event has continued to attract visitors from all over the world 

because of the attractions that usually characterized the period before and after 

the event. With the large population that usually attend the event, the festival 

provide an avenue for economic benefits to the people derived as a result of 

the festival such as sales of food, agricultural produce, transportation, 

accommodation, sales of souvenirs and other services that are provided to the 

tourists by the people of the immediate community (Gubak H, Kromtit J. & 

Gubam D. S, 2020).  

 

From the foregoing, the cultural festival possesses the opportunity of not only 

contributing to the economic empowerment of the local people but can also 

contribute enormously to the development of culture and tourism and serve as 

one of the sources of income for the government and attract foreign investment 

in the tourism sector if adequately harnessed.   

 

Acts of Betrayal  

Betrayal among the Mwaghavul communities is viewed as an oddity that 

destroys the bond of trust. Trust is important in any given family and other 

human society. Since folktales generally often depict the society of their birth, 

it is thus understandable that trust should feature as a subject in Mwaghavul 

tangcham. Trust as a bond is built around friendship and other human 

relationships. Trust is an ingredient of life and so life without trust is 

unimaginable. Trust allows “the formation of bonds of utility, community and 

intimacy” (Longdet, 2018). When trust is bridged in any given relationship an 

individual or group feels betrayed.  

 

As a theme, betrayal forms the kernel of narration; whether oral and written. 

Stories that point to betrayal are not restricted to secular works, as one would 

have imagined. The Bible contains sufficient instances of betrayal that can 

even attract a systematic investigation of same. Some ready examples are the 

stories about Samson and Delilah; Judas and his betrayal of Jesus Christ, and 

David’s betrayal of Uriah.8 Some literary works of notable example include 

the eponymous play of William Shakespeare, Julius is betrayed by Brutus, 

Napoleon’s betrayal of Snowball and the tenets of Animalism in George 

Orwell’s Animal Farm and Okonkwo’s feeling of betrayal by his clan in 

Umuofia in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, little wonder African folktales are 

replete with themes of betrayal (Longdet 2018).  



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In explicating the theme of betrayal, this study cites which involves a girl, her 

fiancée (human and group of birds), and the girl features as the protagonist 

and betrayer in the tale. The titled Laareep Ɗí Ra Kwar Mish ShèeFɨra (The 

Young Woman who Disappointed her Fiancé) narrated by Jifosiah Alex of 

Panyam, the story is about a young girl Nàakos who betrays her fiancé after 

she has been traditionally engaged to him. One day, Nàakos and her friends 

are in the stream to bathe. As soon as the girls pull off their clothes and start 

swimming, the betrayed young man shows up and carries their clothes to the 

top of the tree. Each girl takes turn to sing a song to redeem her clothes. When 

it is the turn of his lover, she uses the song to disclose her identity. As she 

continues to sing, the water level keeps rising until she is carried away by the 

stream. However, when she gets to a spot, she grabs the root of a tree and 

remains there. One day, her brother comes along the stream path to fetch some 

timber. She recognizes the sound of his axe cutting the tree, and begins to sing:  

Mwaghavul     English 

A wee can sheep ɗiisɨ ̀    Who’s cutting this tree 

Kaaɗyemkɨ Na Wumgtúghúrsɨ̀ ‘è ?   Like the son of Na 

Wumgtúghur? 

Kàt a ɗyemkɨ Na Wumgtúghúr̀   If it is Na Wumgtúghur’s son 

Ɓewu so kuwucètmwos gam kɨɓel   Then brew mwos to fill a small 

pot 

Ku wujìkuwushang an ɗi.    So you come and rescue me 

(Longdet 2018). 

       

As she keeps singing the song, the boy recognizes the voice of his sister and 

quickly searches around. He finds her under the roots of the tree, at once he 

returns to tell his parents at home. At the first instance, the father is reluctant 

to believe the boy, but as the young boy insists; the father believes him and 

seeks help from the birds to rescue his daughter. He invites so many birds like 

ngooroo, nkɨ̀ling, nfyeem, nkuriit, ntaaseet, kɨ pák mo ɗɨkɨ zak. Ri tyoorpoo 

mmo nne jir ngo ɗí ri sham mang Nàakos (the pied crow, the black kite, the 

bateleur, the black bird, the cordon-bleu and others); but only the bateleur is 

able to rescue Nàakos. As his reward, the bird is crowned the king of the birds 

that day (Longdet 2018).  

 

This human-animal-moralizing tale portrays the consequences of betrayal. 

Nàakos breaks the nuptial arrangement between her and the young man that 

she is engaged to marry. Consequently, she is punished by nature- the rising 

tide of the river. Coincidently Nàakos’ redemption from her punishment, state 

is again through nature- the bateleur. This shows that the Mwaghavul people 

believe in the interconnectedness of man and his physical environment. Thus, 

while portraying betrayal as a vice, capable of instigating conflict, the story 



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teaches both adult and children the relationship between of man and his 

environment. Implying that man can resort to nature to resolve conflict.   

 

Cooperation/Unity: Perspective of Mun vul along Miisaak a Muut 

Cooperation is the art of working in unison for a common purpose, knowing 

that much can be achieved together than alone. This philosophy accentuates 

the Igbo proverb which states that Ayukatamamirionu o gbaufufu (When we 

urinate together it foams). This statement implies that the Mwaghavul, like 

other Africans, share a similar view on communality. As kɨKwee a PèeSerɨɓet 

mu Ɗik (The Dog and the Chicken at a Marriage Ceremony) narrated by 

Pànɗák Philemon from Ampang West and Ɓitlankɨ̀ Kweekɨ As (The Chicken 

and the dog on cooperative Farming) narrated by Christiana Joshua of Kerang 

affirm this philosophy. These animal-moralizing stories depict the theme of 

cooperation. This tells how the chicken helps the dog to eat at the marriage 

ceremony in Fulani encampment. At the ceremony, the chicken is allowed to 

eat from the crumbs on the ground but the dog is chased away. After a while, 

the dog becomes hungry and wonders how to satiate his hunger. The dog 

discusses with the chicken and a plan is reached. When the host serves cereal 

beverage, the chicken will jump into it and make it unfit for consumption and 

in this way the hosts are forced to pour the beverage away. This gives the dog 

an opportunity to eat to his satisfaction. After eating to their fill, both animals 

leave for home. The dog expresses his gratitude to the chicken. This tells how 

the dog and the chicken establish a cooperative farming and how they take 

turns to farm for each other. However, in the course of the relationship, the 

dog tries to outsmart the chicken. The chicken becomes angry and pays back 

the dog by the same mischief.  

 

Therefore, the food has a symbolic implication just as it is in Greek myths and 

folklore. For example, in Homer’s Iliad, Achilles and Hector‟s father, Priam, 

reconcile and share a meal, which dissolves an existing enmity and unites 

them. Mikhail Bakhtin for instance, briefly mentions the importance of the 

funeral meal in the Iliad9. Food, and the drinking and eating associated with 

it, is grouped with popular-festive forms, or themes and details taken from the 

popular culture of a given time, particularly the culture related to the 

carnivalesque. Since food is “part of every folk’s merriment” it often 

accompanies comic scenes, but the meanings of these scenes are not simply 

humorous.  The food scenes as expressed above may appear humorous on the 

surface, but a critical look shows that the food imagery heightens the theme of 

cooperation. These stories teach children and adults the importance of 

cooperation and the consequences of isolationism. The Mwaghavul folktales 

teach that cooperation engenders success. Folktales abound in other global 



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cultures with stories about the importance of working together and the dangers 

of individualism (Longdet 2018). 

   

Greed  

In Mwaghavul culture, it is believed that greed leads to many social vices and 

breed conflicts that can degenerate into the killing. This is exemplified in 

MF23 narrated by Tani Amos of Pushit it is entitled, HimeƊí Ni Met 

nDaafwanmƁal (The Insatiable Appetite of the Hare)in which the Hare invites 

the Guinea Fowl to accompany him to the Fulani cattle encampment. He warns 

her not to carry a ladle. The Hare tricks the Guinea Fowl and drinks all the 

milk in two instances. So, the Guinea Fowl goes home hungry. As they are 

returning home, the Hare employs the trick of the lip and succeeds in killing 

the Guinea Fowl. He roasts the meat and goes home. The next day the Hare 

visits the Bush Fowl and invites her to accompany him to the Fulani 

encampment. The Bush Fowl picks up a ladle and hides it under its wing. 

When they reached the cattle encampment, the Fulani offers them milk. The 

Hare asks the Bush Fowl to go home and bring a ladle. The Bush Fowl 

removes the ladle from under her wing. The Hare becomes very angry and 

says; “Kaa fii ɗiikagharak ni! A we sat nyinne mo njì cin mee wurlongmmun 

’e?”(“What a smallish strong head of yours! Who told you that we’d be given 

any milk?”). The Hare and the Bush Fowl drink the milk. Again, the Hare tells 

the Bush Fowl to leave the ladle at this point, but the Bush Fowl hides the ladle 

and brings it out when they reached the next encampment. This makes the 

Hare very angry. On their way home, he plans to use the lip trick to kill the 

Bush Fowl as he did to the Guinea Fowl. Here, the Bush Fowl outsmarts him 

and he ends up killing his own children (Longdet 2018).  

 

In the past Mwaghavul people operated a basic subsistence economy. In other 

words, the provision of food played an extremely vital role in their lives, hence 

the food (meat) motif in all the stories that discuss greed. For comic effect, the 

Hare surreptitiously takes advantage of the culture of hospitality and at other 

instances, takes advantage of people’s effort. This characteristic shows the 

Hare as selfish and greedy - two vices strongly condemned in Mwaghavul 

society. We find him plotting to outwit others of their share of meat but ends 

up outwitted. The story teaches children the consequences of greed.  

  

The tale, condemns greed but emphasize hospitality and of good manners. 

Affirming the intertwining of both vice and virtue, Helen Chukwuma states:  

The oral tale shows man in his many forms and in the various situations 

of life that show up the best and the worst in him. It can be said that 

there is a certain naturalistic element in oral tale in that it portrays the 

baser aspects of man: his greed, villainy, utter lack of sensitivity and 



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his egotism. Amidst this clutter of vice and deceit, some virtue finds 

its way through and triumphs but not without a grim struggle 

(Chukwuma 2002).  

 

Chukwuma’s assertion aptly explains the scenario in the stories about greed. 

Here the stories do not completely dwell on the trickery of the Hare but woven 

into the fabric of the tales are virtues such as wisdom or commonsense, sharing 

of one’s possession (food) with the hungry, teamwork among others. Children 

will learn consequences of greed in fostering conflict from this story. This 

fusion of vice and virtue further demonstrates the ambivalence of the 

Mwaghavul folktales as in (Longdet 2018).  

 

Challenges/Short Comings of Traditional African Education 

Despite the prospects and rich content of traditional African education, there 

exist a number of challenges and short comings in the practice.  

 

First, an instance of the faults of traditional African education was its rigidity 

and dogmatism in knowledge acquisition and generation whereby the elderly 

are regarded as the fountains of knowledge from which the less knowledge 

must ‘drink’. This system tended to dampen innovation and critical thinking 

among the less knowledge beyond the boundaries of experimental knowledge 

of the sages (Masaka and Chingombe, 2013). 

 

Second, Traditional African Education is notably being overly conservative. 

As noted by Tiberondwa, 1978 in (Adeyinka and Adeyemi, 2002). A major 

shortcoming of African traditional education is that the focused almost 

exclusively on the clan/tribe and hardly prepared its recipients for outside 

contact. Practically, this meant that the skills and knowledge possessed by 

given ethnic group could not be easily transmitted to another tribe. 

 

Third, the absence of literacy that affected the accumulated knowledge and 

skills could not be preserved in a written form. This prevented the transfer of 

the same from one locality to another and from one generation to the next. 

Many wise Africans have died with their own wisdom (Adeyinka and 

Adeyemi, 2002). 

 

Conclusion 

This paper has established that traditional education remains a veritable tool 

for peace-building in Africa. Peace education starts from child’s birth to 

adulthood, the curriculum though undocumented, conservative and crude 

contained rich moral values and norms. However, the total neglect of 

traditional education is responsible for the experience of violent conflict in 



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63 
 

Africa. Therefore, the fusion of elements of traditional African education into 

our western education curriculum offers great prospects for the creation of 

positive peace in modern Africa. 

 

Recommendations 

1. The upbringing of a Christian child should be the responsibility of the 

whole community not just the family alone. Christians should ensure 

traditional African education should be inculcated into the Western 

Educational curriculum with certain modifications.  

2. In this regard every child in contemporary Africa should be taught from 

birth the principles of collectivism, oneness, solidarity and social 

responsibility as exemplied by the concept of Ubuntu. The upbringing of 

a child should be the responsibility of the whole community not just the 

family alone. 

3.  It is important for government to be decisive, bold, and courageous in 

solving the crisis considering the numbers of lives wasted and properties 

destroyed. The inability of Government to muster enough courage to deal 

with does fueling the crisis will spell doom for the country. 

4. Restructuring of the Nation, is extremely necessary, as the current 

Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not in favour of non-

Muslims. Social Justice and Peace-building must start from every citizen 

of the state and the country. 

5. The non-natives must be willing to integrate into the culture of the host 

community by taking traditional titles, witnessing cultural festivals and 

high respect for its religion. This should be enshrined in the Constitution 

of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as means to promote peace. 

 

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