A Thousand Years of West Africa History

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A THOUSAND YEARS OF WEST AFRICA HISTORY.pdf (23.76 MB)
Date
1965
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ibadan: University of Ibadan Press
Abstract

History in West African Secondary Schools; The Approach through Archaeology to early West African history; The Peoples of West Africa around a.d. 1000; Empires of the Western Sudan: Ghana, Mali, Songhai; States of the Central Sudan: (i) Kanem-Bornu; (ii) the Hausa States; Islam in West Africa a.d. 1000-1800; The Peoples of Senegambia; Peoples of the Windward Coast a.d. 1000-1800; Asante and Fantc a.d. 1000-1800; Peoples of Southern Nigeria; Peoples of the Niger-Benue Confluence; West African States at the beginning of the Nineteeth Century; The Nineteenth Century Jihads by J. 0. Hunwick A Note on Samori Toure; Borno under the Shehus; Benin, Niger Delta, Ibo and Ibibio Peoples in the Nineteenth Century; Dahomey and Yoruba in the Nineteenth Century; Sierra Leone and Liberia in the Nineteenth Century; Asante, Fante and the British, 1800-1880; The Growth of European Influence in West Africa in the Nineteenth Century; The Colonial Phase in British West Africa; The Colonial Phase in French West Africa

Description
Since the end of the Second World War, we have made significant progress in our universities and institutions of higher learning towards a new appraisal of the African past. This development has been dominated by two main ideas. The first is the rejection of the old view which made history synonymous with the study of written documents only and which took the absence of written documents to mean the absence of events worthy of historical study. From this has resulted the reinstatement of non-written sources, particularly oral traditions of African peoples, as valid material for historical research. The second is the insistence that African history must be the history of African peoples and not merely the activities of their invaders from Europe and Asia. From this too it follows that, even in studies of the European contact with Africa where European archival material remains the major source, there should be a focus on the role played by Africans themselves in the great events that have shaped their continent. These new ideas about African history are to be found in a growing body of monographs and articles in learned journals scattered all over the world. For this reason, while these ideas have gained currency in the universities where these journals are studied, they have not yet penetrated to the schools and training colleges. This is another way of saying that we have made progress in formulating new ideas and new methods of studying African history, but the work of synthesising this history and incorporating it in our general education has only just begun. I believe that this book makes a significant contribution towards this end. The book is intended primarily as a guide or handbook for teachers who are beginning to teach new school syllabuses which are designed to reflect the new developments in African history. It consists largely of papers delivered at a Workshop held in the University of Ibadan for selected groups of teachers from all four Commonwealth countries in West Africa. But in spite of this limited objective, in spite of the inevitable gaps and other characteristics of a book written by many hands, I am sure that a wide range of readers will find it a very useful book on West African history. I found it most interesting as an attempt to synthesise a thousand years of West African history in a single volume and to bring this within reach of the school teachers. I hope that the publication of the book will go a long way to encourage the proper teaching of West African history in schools. All of us who have worked in African universities are conscious of the many obligations to the society outside our walls. We are particularly sensitive to the needs of our schools from which we derive our students. It is therefore my pleasure that the University of Ibadan has been associated in this way with yet another venture to forge links between the schools and the universities and to ensure that the knowledge accumulated in .the universities reaches the wider audience outside.
Keywords
History, African History, History- education
Citation
URI
https://nigeriareposit.nln.gov.ng/handle/20.500.14186/1696
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Monographs/Books