Crossroads of Consciousness: Whose Decolonization Is It in Nigeria?

Yusuf Damilola OlaniyanMercy Onyemaechi Martins^*

• University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom

The call for decolonial discourse has increasingly gained global purchase, yet its growing visibility often masks an unresolved question: who possesses the voice and agency to participate in these conversations? This paper tries to answer this question within the context of Nigeria, where the impacts of colonial history persist in education and societal norms. Through an autoethnographic approach, we reflect on our experiences growing up and schooling in Nigeria and, subsequently, the UK for postgraduate education to interrogate how these encounters have shaped our understanding of colonialism and de/coloniality. We propose a novel framework to structure our narratives that maps key decolonial erasure and rediscovery stages. These stages illustrate how systemic barriers within Nigeria's educational systems obscure colonial histories and hinder decolonial engagement. We appropriate Habermas's public sphere and Fricker's concept of hermeneutical injustice as theoretical incisions to illuminate how power dynamics influence the availability of critical spaces for decolonial discussions and how knowledge disparities create interpretive limitations. This study offers insight into the lived dimensions of decolonial engagement, questioning its accessibility and resonance beyond intellectual circles. It also contributes to ongoing efforts to bridge decolonial theory and practice by offering insights for more inclusive educational reforms and public engagement in Nigeria.