Book excerpt: Society, Schools and Progress in Nigeria is one of a mutually supporting series of books on SOCIETY, SCHOOLS AND PROGRESS in a number of important countries or regions. Nigeria makes a good field of study for several reasons. As Africans, the Nigerians are closely scrutinized by neighbors throughout the huge continent. A hitherto underdeveloped people, they are helping to lead the rapid development of more than 2000 million people who have until now been in a similar position. Inevitably, therefore, their use and modification of previously unquestioned instruments of education seem likely to bring challenges (perhaps enlightenment) to educators everywhere. The book opens with an overview of Nigeria and its people. This is followed by separate chapters on the development of modern education in the country from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries, administration, the school system, family influences, and background social forces. The series is intended to serve students of sociology, government and politics, as well as education.