Decolonizing Business Education Curriculum in Nigeria: Toward an Afrocentric Framework for Commercial and Management Education

This study critically examined the colonial inheritances embedded in Nigeria Business Education curriculum and developed an Afrocentric theoretical framework for the decolonization of commercial and management education. Nigeria Business Education curriculum has been shaped by Western academic traditions that often marginalize indigenous knowledge systems, African management philosophies, and local economic realities. This study engages the growing global decolonization discourse within the specific context of Nigerian Business Education, addressing a significant gap in Africanist higher education scholarship. Grounded in the Decolonial Theory of Education, Afrocentricity, and the Ubuntu Management Philosophy, a critical qualitative multi-site study was conducted. Data were generated through critical discourse analysis of fifty Business Education curricula from institutions across Nigeria, sixty in-depth interviews with senior faculty, curriculum developers, indigenous business practitioners, and cultural scholars, and four participatory curriculum redesign workshops. Analysis employed critical discourse analysis, iterative thematic coding, and participatory action research principles. The resulting Afrocentric Business Education Framework (ABEF) integrates indigenous trade systems, Ubuntu leadership principles, community-centered entrepreneurship, and African economic history as foundational curriculum pillars alongside globally recognized business competencies. The framework was subjected to expert validity assessment by thirty African academics and practitioners. The study makes an original and transformative theoretical contribution to the decolonization of professional education in Africa and recommends the ABEF as a basis for a national curriculum decolonization policy dialogue. Keywords: decolonization, Business Education curriculum, Afrocentricity, Nigeria, management education