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Paper short abstract

The paper emphasizes the significance of colonial students as a valid starting point in newer methodologies of West African history.

Paper long abstract

During the previous century, a notable number of students from British West African colonies pursued education at British universities, referred to as colonial students. This decision was driven by the anticipation of decolonization, recognizing that hitherto local West African educational institutions lacked sufficient funding to produce an adequately educated workforce for colonies on the brink of gaining independence.

This paper urges Africanists to interrogate the obscure histories of colonial students as part of the methodology of West African histories. It emphasises the importance of crossing archival colour lines to utilise data from newspapers, letters, memos, police records, minutes of meetings, official government communiques, college records, among others into a comprehensive document that sheds considerable light on the interests, activities, and legacies of hitherto elusive colonial students who helped make independent West Africa.