Ibadan: My City of Fame

38 views
Skip to first unread message

Toyin Falola

unread,
Nov 23, 2021, 8:41:24 AM11/23/21
to dialogue, ya
https://www.newtimes.com.ng/14226-2-ibadan-my-city-of-fame/

Ibadan: My City of Fame

Gratitude Statement on Conferment of the D.Litt. degree at the University of Ibadan on November 17, 2021

Toyin Falola

 

 

 

I have searched; I have attempted, and I conclude that there are not enough words to quantify how much Ibadan     the city of the brave and fierce     means to me. Yes, I did attempt to describe my love for and affinity to the city in my memoir, A Mouth Sweeter than Salt, but I have since acquiesced that Ibadan is that indescribable lover. It is valid to say this love and affinity can be likened to what everyone feels towards their city of birth and origin. However, for me, it is beyond that.

          Ibadan is my place of birth; the city of my forebears; and the place where I was raised. What I am today has its roots in where I was born and the receptivity of the environment in which I grew up. It is what psychologists call the nature-nurture continuum. A wise man reminisces, and in reminiscing, he is able to tell how circumstances interwove to produce a unique turn of events. For decades, I have researched and produced papers and studies in history, and at the heart of my scholarly works is African history. I am deeply interested in African history, and that interest can be traced back to Ibadan. As breastmilk to a neonate, Ibadan was my first taste of Africa. Thus, at the mention of Ibadan, or whenever memories of Ibadan surface, a fountain of happiness and contentment surges in my heart, so much so that joy flows through my veins and touches a smile upon my lips.

          Culturally rich, historically blessed, full of resplendent human resources—Ibadan—the city of the brave! To be born of Ibadan parents is to be doubly smart in human dealings. To be born of Ibadan parents, in Ibadan, is to be triply knowledgeable on how to navigate this world of humans. Fortified with thrice as much knowledge and smartness, I ventured into the world. But not until I had learned at the feet of my people. But to love Ibadan goes beyond having natal affiliations to the historical city. Spread like a terrestrial mat across seven hills, Ibadan is famous for its bravery and the intelligence and dexterity of its warriors. Military strength and prowess were at the heart of the dealings of Ibadan people in the past. From the very beginning, the rulers of old Ibadan were warriors who had to prove their superiority by the number of wars they had successfully led their charges to win.

          The evolution of Ibadan is worthy of aesthetic praises in itself. Ibadan, at inception, was just scattered war camps on an unmarked forested territory. Lagelu, touted as the founding father of the now extensive city, only wanted a common ground for warriors from Ijebu, Ife, and Oyo. What started as a haven of defense rose to become one of pre-colonial Oyo Empire’s most respected and famous cities. Ibadan went to wars, and Ibadan won wars. Ibadan military gurus were known to specialize in the art of going to wars and winning them.

          Miniature industrialization sprang up in some focal cities in Nigeria   Lagos, Kano, Ibadan, among others. With this miniature industrialization came amenities such as the railway, which strengthened the commercial and political importance of a city that was strictly a growing expanse of war camp settlements. Ibadan has greatly developed, and it is still developing. Three things are enviable about Ibadan: its large expanse of land that spreads so far; the boldness of Ibadan citizens to speak their minds, even at gunpoint; and the beauty of Ibadan’s historical aesthetics, better viewed from Layipo, which now houses Bower’s Tower.

          The history of Oyo    as a region and then as a state    cannot be complete without the mention of Ibadan. Decades after the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates, there was the compartmentalization of the new Nigeria, resulting in the regional system of administration, which ran till the independence of the state. And, which other city in Western Nigeria would have become the regional capital, if not Ibadan? Ibadan was the regional capital of the Western region, from where the administration and development of the various extensions of the Western region took place. Today, we have Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti, Kwara, Delta, Edo, Lagos, and Ondo    states whose development started from the days of the Old Oyo region, when Ibadan was the center of administration and developmental policy-making. Ibadan is, today, the capital of Oyo State.

          Self-actualization comes for different people in different ways. For many scholars, self-actualization comes from the continual recognition of their works and a commitment to lifelong learning. I am among such academics and scholars who see these two phenomena as a means of self-actualization. Thus, this should help you have an inkling of how thrilled I am to be receiving the Doctor of Letters degree from Nigeria’s premier university, the University of Ibadan, domiciled in the city of history. I have received several Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) degrees, but this one, from Ibadan, my City of Fame, is a degree for which I went into an academic sojourn. My life and times have been principally about histories    through studies, analyses, and extrapolations. And yet, another history is made as I am the University of Ibadan’s first graduate of the Doctor of Letters degree in the humanities. For this, I am grateful, and I am delighted to identify with one of the most prestigious universities in Africa and a citadel of learning for excellent and world-class education.

It feels amazing to be back home, to my City of Fame, and to receive this honor with the deepest gratitude to everyone who made this remarkable journey worth the while. I appreciate the support I received from the Provost and Deputy-Provost of the School of Postgraduate Studies, as well as my examiners and evaluators at various levels, and the Director of the Institute of African Studies. To those who facilitated the paperwork, payment of school fees, the assemblage of diplomas and essays, the heavy running around, I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Professor Adeshina Afolayan and Mr. Wale Ghazal. Professor Ademola Dasylva, in his relentless promotion of the University of Ibadan and what it stands for, paid for the elegant academic gown. I am grateful for the invaluable guidance and encouragement I received; all these spurred me on and made this day possible.

There is the affection, joy and fulfillment that come with us as humans and the humanities. This degree and other awards are testaments to the richness and importance of the work I have done and continue to do as an historian. My affinity with the Ibadan School of History is equally significant. All these culminate in a climax of deeply-seated emotions that I will embalm and keep with me for as long as I breathe.

Again, I sincerely want to thank everyone who made this history-making occasion possible. Thank you all.

 

 

 

Elias K. Bongmba

unread,
Nov 24, 2021, 2:43:12 AM11/24/21
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com

Congratulations Professor Falola. Well deserved.

Elias

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/0F8931B4-A882-41BE-9C49-505A0B426F33%40austin.utexas.edu.
-- 
Elias Kifon Bongmba PhD, DTheo (Lund)
Harry and Hazel Chair in Christian Theology
Professor of Religion
Chair, Department of Religion
Executive Editor, the Journal of Religion in Africa
Rice university
PO Box 1892 Houston TX 77251-1892
https://reli.rice.edu/faculty/elias-kifon-bongmba

Oluwatoyin Adepoju

unread,
Nov 24, 2021, 2:43:13 AM11/24/21
to dialogue, ya
wonderful.

I would like to better understand this degree, though.

thanks

toyin

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Yoruba Affairs" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to yorubaaffair...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/yorubaaffairs/0F8931B4-A882-41BE-9C49-505A0B426F33%40austin.utexas.edu.

Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Nov 24, 2021, 2:43:31 AM11/24/21
to USA Africa Dialogue Series
Ibadan,
running splash of rust
and gold-flung and scattered
among seven hills like broken
China in the sun.

John Pepper Clark 

Michael Afolayan

unread,
Nov 25, 2021, 6:39:10 AM11/25/21
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com, ya
The D.Litt?

It's an academic degree (am I preaching to the choir for saying this)? I'm sure you are familiar with the British system of degree conferment. I believe this is the highest diploma in British academia (in the US, this is not given; PhD is the highest you can go). As for TF, he enrolled (or was approached to enroll) and he completed the requirements. I don't know if he had to write a special thesis (I didn't ask him), but I think his volume of publications should meet the standard for the conferment of that degree.

You would probably ask, does he really need it? I would say, not necessarily but it's good for the image of the University whose first D.Litt degree recipient happens to be a sensational name like TF with cult following. Of course, it adds almost nothing to the credentials of TF whose ocean was already too filled up with its own water before the droppings of the rain. Thus,in my view,  the degree conferment takes the image of a honorary degree even though it is not. I hope UI will start to admit and award such to more candidates, as TF himself appealed to the provost at the reception.

Hope I addressed your concern a bit. I actually thought I would see you at UI.

Take care!

MOA






--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAGBtzfMAUu0fkvw6KHxXMi91ymgeb23jmgV2V3ZmHRhGBXPXjg%40mail.gmail.com.

Emeagwali, Gloria (History)

unread,
Nov 25, 2021, 1:55:34 PM11/25/21
to 'Michael Afolayan' via USA Africa Dialogue Series, ya
I suspect that this degree, award and
accolade is for Toyin Falola,  the sweetest of
them all. It is a validation of the African
University and what it could, should and 
would be in its glory - and what it really
ought to be for this generation 
and future generations.

China, investing in local  home grown
 institutions and intellect,
has launched a hypersonic missile
that has left the American military in
awe. It defies physics, they say, because
the missile was fired from a vehicle 
traveling at hypersonic speed
and was five  times the speed of
sound.

baffled-Chinese-hypersonic-missile-
technology-deploy-nuke.html

China learnt some stuff from the West
but ultimately went beyond it, in this case.
I would leave religion out of the equation.
Communists reject deification and gods.

The sky is the limit for secular local institutions 
when  generously funded and inspired.




Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association

From: 'Michael Afolayan' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 25, 2021 3:05 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Cc: ya <yoruba...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Yoruba Affairs - Ibadan: My City of Fame
 

Please be cautious: **External Email**

Oluwatoyin Adepoju

unread,
Nov 25, 2021, 1:58:17 PM11/25/21
to usaafricadialogue
Thanks MOA.

I'm still somewhat puzzled.

Why pay fees and take part in a degree program that should be accredited by you rather than accrediting you?

I am even more bewildered by Falola's reference to the bureaucratic challenges involved in gaining the degree- " ... paperwork, the assemblage of diplomas and essays, the heavy running around."

Rain is falling in abundance and it seems it's looking difficult to fetch it in a bucket. Does a case for any academic award to Falola require any hard effort?

I'm also puzzled by Falola's expression of gratitude for the guidance he got from various university officials.

These are people that should learn from Falola how to develop and run a global research system, which he has done for decades as an individual without a university appointment beyond his professorship.

How many books does UI publish in a year? Preposterous as it seems, I wonder if they publish more than Falola's publications in which he is directly involved as editor.

If they publish as many in a year as come out through his various book series with different publishers, and written by different authors, I would consider that impressive, given the challenges of industrialisation in Nigeria and what seems to me to be the low emphasis on book publishing in Nigerian academia. 

If UI wants to give an honorary degree to Toyin Falola, and they have not done so years ago, they are rather late to the party.

Is such a degree as this is described to be not for people like myself, who may have published some things that one might want to be validated by academia, thereby leading one to approach a university to request such validation, such as a PhD by publication, granted on submitting papers asessed for their fitness for a PhD?

Falola is a known shaper of African humanities, whose PhD is decades old, whose books are everywhere in the most prestigious academic publishers, a Professor of the Humanities, a recognition transcending specific humanities disciplines, so any process asking such a person to submit himself for assessment for any academic award in the humanities looks odd to me.

Does UI need the generic process of school enrollment to assess Falola?

Having read newspaper descriptions of UI's D.Litt in connection with the award  to Falola, I wonder if the university does not need to more clearly define the degree, if the description I read is accurate.

The British system also uses the PhD, only it's by pure research, culminating in a thesis,  not by coursework and research, expressed in a thesis, as in the US.

 Some British universties also award a PhD by publication, consisting of assessing published papers, unified by an introduction.

Is the UI degree adopting any of these models or something else?

If Prof. Falola submitted a thesis for a degree in the humanities, I would certainly like to read it to see if it may further enlighten one about his thinking across disciplines.

Perhaps discussing this issue could help with clarifying these puzzles.

Perhaps there are various considerations at play which I am not aware of.

Thanks

Toyin











Emeagwali, Gloria (History)

unread,
Nov 25, 2021, 4:27:10 PM11/25/21
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
TA,

You have raised some great questions 
here.  At first I, too, wondered whether this
was just a narcissistic exercise 
of superfluity. As you succinctly put it,
 “ Why  pay fees and take part in a degree 
  program that you should be accrediting......”
  Why go through the bureaucratic maze?

But then I  remembered the
 outright dismissal of the African
University, and the faculty therein, by
some colleagues, whose names I have
just deleted,  and discerned the larger 
meaning of this action by Toyin Falola.  

How better can one express his or her
 confidence in the future of the African 
university than by an action such as this?
 It is a  supreme declaration of confidence 
and gratitude, too.

For all those who view the 
American or British university 
as the pinnacle of knowledge,  and the
only place to receive the crown of
success - the only site of validation, and
the only place of honor - the message
is clear.   It is a motivational gesture and
a statement to those institutions:
“You did not make me, fool.
I was somebody before you even existed.”
(Poetic License).
?$&#%}{*#

Thank you, my friend.


Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; 
vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovde...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 25, 2021 7:49 AM
To: usaafricadialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Yoruba Affairs - Ibadan: My City of Fame

Please be cautious: **External Email**

Thanks MOA.

Michael Afolayan

unread,
Nov 26, 2021, 1:14:54 AM11/26/21
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
 "It is a motivational gesture and
a statement to those institutions:
“You did not make me, fool.
I was somebody before you even existed" (GE)

Yes, indeed, Gloria (with all my endorsement of the poetic license). Ife, Ibadan existed before Austin - pure and simple! 

Many may not know that the West did not manufacture Falola with a magic wand; Falola came to remold the West and rebrand its intellection. I am serious about that statement! Indeed, the first person to shed that light right in my face was the late Jan Vansina as far back as the early 1990s. He felt TF was the revolution that North American academy needed and predicted he would help scholars in the West to learn to chase a horse that knows how to hop but not how to stop (my paraphrase). Oh well, the three decade prediction is duly fulfilled.

I don't think anything is wrong for Falola taking that degree. Of course, Toyin Adepoju is right, TF should be conferring degrees on many of those conferring on him, including those conferred on him around the world and I truly wish he was given this as honorary (yep, you could also give honorary D.Litt), but it was just a statement, as I believe Gloria was saying, albeit an expensive one. 

The most interesting part of TF's story is that unlike most of us around him, he did not earn a single academic degree outside Nigeria - B.A., (I don't think he got an M.A.), PhD., and now D. Litt. That sounds quite interesting and impressive. If the industrial revolution is a history credited to the West, then, the intellectual revolution we undeniably witness now will be positively African! It's difficult to ignore TF's generalissimo role in the latter revolution.
My point? The D.Litt is a pacesetter diploma that underscores the core thesis of the intellectual revolution.

Just my thinking . . .

MOA





Chidi Anthony Opara, FIIM

unread,
Nov 26, 2021, 5:48:33 AM11/26/21
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Who the heck assessed Falola for the D.Litt? Who the heck can assess Falola for any academic award?

-Chidi Anthony Opara (CAO)
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to yorubaaffairs+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAGBtzfMAUu0fkvw6KHxXMi91ymgeb23jmgV2V3ZmHRhGBXPXjg%40mail.gmail.com.


--
Chidi Anthony Opara is a Poet, IIM Professional Fellow, MIT Chief Data Officer Ambassador and Founder/Publisher of, www.publicinformationprojects.org)

Oluwatoyin Adepoju

unread,
Nov 26, 2021, 6:12:30 AM11/26/21
to usaafricadialogue
If he is to be awarded, he has to be assessed. A justification needs to be made for the award and a record of that justification filed even if that justification is obvious to everyone before such a formal assessment.

It's beginning to look as if Falola chose to honor UI by submitting himself to the criteria for their degree and they honoured him in turn by granting the degree.

UI gained an illustrious graduate. Falola gained a degree from one of the premier universities in African intellectual history, a degree granted at this time that naija universities could particularly benefit from such positive visibility.

Perhaps UI should build on this positive PR by more clearly advertising this degree.

Toyin



To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to yorubaaffair...@googlegroups.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.


--
Chidi Anthony Opara is a Poet, IIM Professional Fellow, MIT Chief Data Officer Ambassador and Founder/Publisher of, www.publicinformationprojects.org)

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CABTLsgjH9MmURjZwXzGps5DAyZ1YPHaJp0v%3DRe%3D9r9P9X2wTow%40mail.gmail.com.

Cornelius Hamelberg

unread,
Nov 27, 2021, 2:39:46 PM11/27/21
to USA Africa Dialogue Series

Chidi,

Poet of the Owerri Motor Park,

Indeed, who the heck can ?

Take into consideration Professor Oga Falola’s humble brag :

“ To be born of Ibadan parents, in Ibadan, is to be triply knowledgeable on how to navigate this world of humans. Fortified with thrice as much knowledge and smartness “

So, your question is in place : “ Who the heck assessed Falola for the D. Litt? Who the heck can assess Falola for any academic award? “

WHO?

It’s the kind of question that I also posed and I’m still trying to answer for myself, to my own sweet satisfaction, since I don’t think that anyone else can answer it for me, satisfactorily.

As ye are my many witnesses (indeed a large number), is it not an historical fact that Alagba Falola churns out these books faster than his worshipful fans can read them ?

By any standards, to date, how it’s possible for him to write the quality tome faster than we can read any of them, is one of his most outstanding miracles for those of us his readers who will be forever lagging behind as he is and will always be one step ahead of us, one step ahead, apart from those very few (a small number) who have already read all that he has hitherto delivered and are hungry and waiting to devour his next servings.

Just like yours, my question was and still is this: Those of us who are not historians or professionals ( in the ordinary sense of the word) are we in any position whatsoever, to assess his output, his “oeuvre” (as Adepoju would put it) ? To pass judgement?

It’s a question that occurred to me as I flipped through “ Falolaism” by one Abdul Bangura, wanting to associate with greatness, myself,  motivated more by curiosity than any expectation that it would be some comprehensible or comprehensive reading for an ordinary mortal like me. Since I don’t reckon that the contents of any kind of book should be judged by its cover or the blurb, I’m delighted to say that at the moment my Better Half and I are reading Abdulrazak Gurnah’s “ The Last Gift” and so far , we are quite entranced by his story telling.

As for yours truly, I’m always a little biased and not so easily impressed on the literary front, but I’m delighted to be acquainted with this much of Professor Falola’s literary output which I’d tend to associate more closely with his D. Litt : “ ETCHES ON FRESH WATER” , “ A Mouth Sweeter Than Salt”, “Counting the Tiger's Teeth” ( not to be selfish, all three of which ought to be translated into Swedish.) I also place Professor Falola’s eulogies in the literary & philosophy genre and not in the genre of history, politics and poly tricks.

In the history and politics department, the title of the book about Apartheid South Africa was “ The Method in the Madness” In Oga Falola's case, the title is not at all deceptive even if it could have well been “Making sense of Modern Nigeria” , but I guess that for those equipped by their Creator with a faculty for understanding, Understanding Modern Nigeria has to be read not merely because of the title of the book which promises such understanding, ( there are after all a few dozen books about “Modern Nigeria” depending on when the age of modernity dawned in Nigeria ( 1960? 1966? 1983? 2015? )

 And who is prepared to read all of them?

We can rest assured that Toyin Falola's Understanding Modern Nigeria: Ethnicity, Democracy, and Development is authoritative - by virtue of the excellent reputation of its author and in context, indeed, modern, taking into account the recent conversations, insightful discussions and debates with some of Nigeria’s eminent movers and Shakers, conducted in the The Toyin Falola Interviews





To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to yorubaaffair...@googlegroups.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages