The New Instrumental Turn in Nigerian Historical Scholarship

[Moses Ebe Ochonu]

My newly published essay "The New Instrumental Turn in Nigerian Historical Scholarship" may interest members of this list. It was published open access in the Journal of African History. Here's a link:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/new-instrumental-turn-in-nigerian-historical-scholarship/9F11012C518C78278B6A44249C1E3916#article

I welcome your feedback and engagement.

[Toyin Falola]

Same in Kenya, Ghana, and Uganda, where History relates to tourism and what is called “Heritage Studies,” which I am reframing as Ancestral Studies.

I prefer focusing on the connections to the nation, such as how the nation can benefit, over the diaspora approach to connections with disciplines, which is about how the discipline, in Western logocentric terms, can expand.

The ancient question from the Biblical civilizations is: what is the purpose of knowledge? Prophet Moses articulated it much clearer, and the Prophet of Islam, Mohammed (May peace be upon him), integrated it into the fusion of state and religion. Khaldun developed the theory in the 14^th century, a book I always recommend people to read.

TF

 

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[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

Intriguing.

What's the title of Khaldun's book, the Maqadinnah or another one?

Toyin

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[Biko Agozino]

Well done, Moses.

Thanks for the reference to Dibua's 'Idols' which I will check out immediately. I like your full disclosure that instrumentalism is not peculiar to Africana historiography. I was expecting you to contrast instrumental history with history for history's sake. Is there such a thing as non-instrumental history? Being an instrument, it is up to the user how to deploy the tool. No be so?

Substantively, I was expecting you to reflect on the critique of nationalist historiography by Adiele Afrigbo in the collection of his papers edited by Falola. According to Afigbo, nationalist historians obsessed about monarchies in Africa as an instrument with which to prove to colonizers that Africans are every bit as civilized as Europeans because we had kings and queens of our own. Afigbo dismissed such obsessions and called on African historians to instrumentalize the industrial revolution by narrating the history of textile crafts-making industries, and by his own example, the revolution against the imposition of warrant chiefs by the colonizers on radically democratic republican polities like the Igbo - the women's war that Falola et al also documented.  

Walter Rodney on page 55 of Groundings with my Brothers. called on Caribbean youth to stop obsessing about who will be king of reggae, carnival monarch, dancehall queen, soca monarch, and thing, but rather study the history of indigenous systems of democratic rule in Africa as things we should be proud to develop further. 

The Federal Constitution being non-monarchical while so-called 'ancient kingdoms' are mushrooming in every nook and cranny in Nigeria, thanks to Obasanjo's Local Government Reform Decree of 1976, is there a reason why you did not use your instrumentalism to push for the deepening of democracy and the abolition of monarchism? This was the advice given to a delegation of the then ruling PDP led by a Chief to the Chinese Communist Party. They asked how to make Nigeria leap forward like China and they were advised to go home and abolish all monarchical institutions. But they no fit.

You may have a conflict of interest in dermocratization because your book on the Miidle Belt obsessed about your ethnic monarchies and bragged that thjey used to conquer and rule over the democratic Igbo. Na lie!. Whatever, democracy is the future, instrumentalize that.

Biko

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[Moses Ochonu]

South Africa pioneered the history-as-heritage and history = heritage studies maneuver. I didn’t realize that other countries had followed suit.

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 9, 2025, at 9:17 AM, Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovde...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Toyin Falola]

The Muqaddimah and the Science of Civilization

 

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[Toyin Falola]

Biko:

I don’t understand why the parts marked in red and reproduced below should be part of the essay by Moses. You cannot insert your agenda into this essay. And Moses has been a consistent critique of Nigerian democracy. He can defend himself!

 

I commend Moses for this essay, in part because of the tone and in part because of the recognition he accords.

 

I won’t use the word “instrumentalization” but the search for relevance and sustainability in the context of developing formations.

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[Toyin Falola]

Moses:

There are many Departments of History and Heritage Studies in the continent.

 

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[Ibrahim Abdullah]

Instrumentalization comes across as problematic. 

On Wed, 10 Sep 2025 at 9:55 AM, Ibrahim Abdullah <ibdu...@gmail.com> wrote:

I hear you!!! Timely intervention. 

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[Ibrahim Abdullah]

I hear you!!! Timely intervention. 

On Wed, 10 Sep 2025 at 9:29 AM, Toyin Falola <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:

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[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

Thanks 

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[Biko Agozino]

Falola wrote:

"You cannot insert your agenda into this essay. "

Democracy no be my agenda o, it dey for constitution. No be so?

Biko

https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAAtmTC-T6LN2Q9C3-p7T4Lg38KA4_Br2OfQySp_PAYR9%2BoM5Lw%40mail.gmail.com

.

[Emeagwali, Gloria (History)]

Toyin

What on earth is a “Biblical” civilization?

Is it a theocracy?

On another note, I interpreted 

Moses as saying that history for 

history’s sake is the best model - until 

he pivoted in the opposite direction 

and contradicted that view.So I

came away from the article 

confused.

But it could have been

jet lag  or poor reading skills 

on my part since Biko  was

definitely provoked.

GE

Seoul,Korea

Dr. Gloria Emeagwali
Professor of History/African Studies, CCSU
Chief Editor- "Africa Update"
https://sites.ccsu.edu/afstudy/archive.html
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries
www.vimeo.com/gloriaemeagwali
www.africahistory.net
Founding Coordinator, African Studies, CCSU

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[Toyin Falola]

Thanks, Gloria.

There is the Pharaonic civilization 

Biblical civilization

Islamic civilization

African civilization, etc.

 

 

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[Emeagwali, Gloria (History)]

On second thought, Biblical, Koranic or Islamic

 could fall under “monotheistic “ civilization.

A scholar recently argued that there are only three civilizations:

Monotheistic,Sonic and Indic.I asked the scholar 

what about African. Civilization?

She argued that African civ falls under

monotheistic civ.

Dr. Gloria Emeagwali
Professor of History/African Studies, CCSU
Chief Editor- "Africa Update"
https://sites.ccsu.edu/afstudy/archive.html
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries
www.vimeo.com/gloriaemeagwali
www.africahistory.net
Founding Coordinator, African Studies, CCSU

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[John Edward Philips (Yahaya Danjuma)]

It’s an oxymoron. There’s a process of state formation in the Bible (1 Samuel 8). God doesn’t like that the people want a king and gets angry. 

What on earth is a “Biblical” civilization?

Is it a theocracy?

 

John Edward Philips, Professor Emeritus 

International Society, College of Humanities, Hirosaki University

"Homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto." -Terentius Afer

<https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781580462563/writing-african-history/>

<https://hirosaki-u.academia.edu/JohnPhilipsHirosaki>

[gbemisoye tijani]

Laudable trendily patriotic and engaging robust.

Gbemi Tijani MST 

Paul Harris Fellow 

Fmr Unesco Club founder in the late 70s 

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[Emeagwali, Gloria (History)]

So the God of the Bible is jealous, gets angry and  is vengeful.

He distributes land to his favorites.

 I prefer the Greek Gods. At least they laughed

at the mortals and  had a jolly good time.

Gloria

Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department, Central Connecticut State University

Chief Editor- Africa Update: https://sites.ccsu.edu/afstudy/archive.html

Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries: www.vimeo.com/gloriaemeagwali

website: www.africahistory.net

2014 Distinguished Research Excellence Award in African Studies

 University of Texas at Austin

2019   Distinguished Africanist Award,  New York African Studies Association

Founding Co -Chair, Sengbe Pieh AMISTAD Committee

Founding Coordinator, African Studies, CCSU

http://www.vimeo.com/938058353

 

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