Decolonising the Theatre Arts Curriculum in Nigerian Universities: An Empirical Assessment of Content and Practice

This study empirically assesses the content, design, and pedagogical practices of Theatre Arts curricula in Nigerian universities, examining the extent to which colonial epistemological legacies are being challenged in favour of African-centred knowledge frameworks. Decolonisation of university curricula has become a central discourse in African higher education, yet systematic empirical assessment of how this imperative is being implemented within Theatre Arts programmes remains limited. The research examines course syllabuses, reading lists, and pedagogical approaches in Theatre Arts programmes at six Nigerian universities across three geopolitical zones, gathering data through curriculum document analysis, faculty interviews, and student focus groups. The study finds that while African and Nigerian performance traditions are included in most curricula, they are frequently positioned as supplementary to a dominant core of Euro-American dramatic theory and canonical texts. Faculty members acknowledge the tension between institutional inertia and the imperative to decolonise but report limited support for curriculum redesign. The research fills a critical empirical gap in the scholarship on higher theatre education in Nigeria. The study concludes that genuine curricular decolonisation requires structural commitment beyond the inclusion of token African texts. Keywords: decolonisation, Theatre Arts curriculum, Nigerian universities, African performance, higher education.