A Decolonial Theory of Architectural Education in Nigeria: Knowledge, Power, and the Formation of Built Environment Professionals

Architectural education in Nigeria reproduces epistemological frameworks, design canons, and professional formation models derived from European architectural schooling traditions, creating graduates whose professional knowledge is substantially misaligned with the built environment realities, cultural values, and spatial challenges they encounter in Nigerian practice. This dissertation develops an original decolonial theory of architectural education in Nigeria, examining the colonial genealogy of current curricula, the consequences of epistemological misalignment for graduates and the built environment, and the theoretical foundations of a decolonised architectural pedagogy. The theoretical contribution draws on decolonial thought from Quijano, Mignolo, and Ndlovu-Gatsheni, African epistemology from Wiredu and Hountondji, and architectural education theory to construct an original framework for decolonised architectural knowledge production. The empirical programme combines curriculum analysis of all eight Nigerian schools of architecture against a decolonial knowledge audit framework, structured interviews with sixty graduates in practice assessing the alignment between their education and their professional contexts, oral history interviews with twenty-five senior practitioners reflecting on epistemological tensions in their formation, and analysis of student design work for evidence of culturally assimilative versus culturally generative design approaches. Original contributions include a decolonial architectural curriculum theory specifying knowledge domains, pedagogical relationships, and studio design briefs grounded in the specificity of Nigerian built environments; a professional identity formation theory for Nigerian architects navigating colonial inheritance and local practice demands; and a decolonial design studio methodology demonstrated through a twelve-week teaching experiment. Keywords: decolonial architecture, architectural education, Nigeria, knowledge systems, professional formation.