₦airaland Forum

Professor Ebiegberi Joe Alagoa, Nigerian historian, was born on April 14, 1933. He hails from Nembe, a town inhabited by one of the Ijo sub-groups in the Niger Delta region in present day Rivers State. Educated at Saint Luke’s School, Nembe, 1943-1948, he attended Government College, Umuahia 1948-1954, and later moved to the University College, Ibadan where he obtained his first degree in history in 1959. Ebiegberi Joe Alagoa also attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America (USA), 1962-1965, from where he bagged his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1965 (Uwechue, 1991: 48).
He also holds certificates in African History and in archives administration. Alagoa also held several administrative positions, some of which include Archivist, National Archives of Nigeria, Ibadan, 1959-1960; Archivist-in-Charge, National Archives, Enugu, 1960-1961; Acting Senior Archivist-in-Charge, National Archives Kaduna, 1961-1962 from where he went to America for further studies (Uwechue, 1991: 49). He is married with two children.
After his academic sojourn in the USA, 1962-65, Alagoa returned to Nigeria to take up an appointment with the University of Lagos, Lagos in 1965 as Lecturer in African History. As a research fellow in Oral Traditional History, Institute of African Studies (IAS), University of Ibadan, 1966-67, Alagoa also acted as a part-time Lecturer in Nigerian History in the same university. He was later appointed research professor of the Department of History, University of Lagos, Lagos in 1973 and in 1977 Director, Centre for Cultural Studies of the university.
While in Lagos, Professor E.J. Alagoa had another opportunity to serve as member of the Planning Committee of All African Universities (AAU) as well as convener of the Local Planning Committee for the same association’s workshop in the teaching of various disciplines in African Universities. The workshop took place in the University of Lagos in 1977 under the auspices of Professor J.F.A Ajayi, the then Vice Chancellor of the university. The workshop, which was attended by a cream of African historians, deliberated on the teaching of African History in African universities. As member of the Local Planning Committee and Director of the Centre for Cultural Studies of the university, Alagoa further had the fortune of being nominated to lecture in the workshop on “Oral Tradition”, a subject area Alagoa has ceaselessly worked to improve and enhance (Alagoa, 1977: 66-79).
As a scholar, Professor Alagoa has contributed immensely to academics and the academia. He specializes in Oral Traditional History. Because of his immense interest in the past of his people especially, he also organized archaeological surveys of specific areas in the Niger Delta – places which Oral Traditions had indicated as previous settlement areas of the Ijo people. The result of these surveys, Alagoa published as A History of the Niger Delta: an Historical Interpretation of Ijo Oral History, (1972). Other previous publications by him include: The Akassa Raid, (1960); The Small Brave City-State: A History of Nembe-Brass in the Niger Delta, (1964); Jaja of Opobo: The Slave Boy who became King, (1970); A Chronicle of Grand Bonny (1972); King Boy of Brass, (1975) and Eminent Nigerians of Rivers State, (1981), among others. In all, Alagoa has over twenty-five books to his credit.
Alagoa also contributed a large number of articles to learned journals within and outside the country. These include Odu, Tarikh, Ikenga, Oduma, Journal of African History, Journal of Historical Society of Nigeria, African Notes, Cahiers, Kiabara of which he is also the co-editor, the Research Review published in Ghana, Journal of American Folklore, American Journal, Daedalus, among others.
Alagoa, like his predecessors Dike, Biobaku, Ajayi, Ayandele, Anene, etc who had once written what could appropriately be termed regional or local histories, the Niger Delta region constitutes the subject matter of much of Alagoa’s historical endeavours. A bibliographical examination of his works would undoubtedly reveal the depth of his interest and unwavering intellectual devotion to the region. Much of his academic endeavours have focused on recovering, through oral traditional method, a substantial part of the early history of the Ijo. This fact is evident from the titles of his works.
His objective has been to document the history of the people of the Niger Delta in particular and Rivers State in general. It is no exaggeration to state that to a large extent, Alagoa has succeeded, almost singlehandedly, to forge a historiography of the Niger Delta people. In doing so he has contributed profoundly to the ennoblement of Oral Traditional History in Nigeria and in a large measure African historiography.

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Ododo

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Introduction
Historiography refers to both the study of the methodology of historians and the development of history as a discipline and also to a body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians have studied that topic using particular sources; techniques and theoretical approaches .There are four stages in the development of the study of African history. But for the purpose of this paper we are going to concern ourselves with the period of 1900-1960 (the colonial period).
Development of African Historiography: 1900-1960
During the period of 1900-1960, African historiography was majorly Eurocentric i.e African history was written by interested European amateurs who nevertheless made contributions to the political realities, philosophical assumption and methodological approaches of the time. African historiography at that time was majorly fine tuned in line with the Eurocentric views of African history for example Professor Huge Trevor-Roper , a Professor of modern history at Oxford University, who attested to the motion that Africa has no history said these:
“Undergraduates, seduced, as always, by the changing breath of journalistic fashion, demand that they should be taught the history of black Africa. Perhaps, in the future, there will be some African history to teach. But at present there is none, or very little: there is only the history of the Europeans in Africa. The rest is largely darkness, like the history of pre-European, pre-Columbian America.” (David: 2010)
Furthermore Lander observed that the ‘… European regional or local history is understood as universal History. According to this perspective, Europe serves as the model or reference for every other history, representing the apex of humanity’s progress from the “primitive” to the “modern” (Lander: 2), and as Trevor-Roper himself had affirmed “'historical problems were always, and only, problems -of individual behavior and individual eccentricity…” (Carr: 28) something Curtin dubbed as “Historical Parochialism” (Curtin: 57). Apparent from this ethnocentric romance, G.F Hegel With gross disregard, wrote off Africa in these despicable words:
“Africa proper, as far as History goes back, has remained — for all purposes of connection with the rest of the World — shut up… the land of childhood, which lying beyond the day of self-conscious history, is enveloped in the dark mantle of Night.. ..Whether any internal movement had taken place, or if so, of what character, we do not know (Hegel 109)
Generations of European writers began to zero their intellectual focus on the above premise leveled by Hegel; a total Cultural chauvinism which served as another reason for such orientation. The accreditation of human societies as ‘Civilized’ and ‘uncivilized’ based on possession of ‘literacy’ intensified the racial-pervasive nature of European Historiography, as A.P Newton posit ‘History begins when men begins to write’.
To mention some more: Navy commander Andrew H. Foote, after a visit to Africa, fed his experience to the American ears as:
“…Cruelty and oppression were everywhere…nowhere has there been any real civilization. It is singular that these people should have rested in this unalloyed barbarism for thousands of years, and that there should have been no native-born advancement and no flowing in upon its darkness of any glimmering of light from the progress and high illumination of the outside world” (Uya : 23)
Another pertinacious trend in colonial (basically Eurocentric) historiography is the Hermitic Hypothesis, which presupposes that whatever good that can be found in Africa came from without, an opinion that advanced the notion that Africans are ‘incapable of initiating change’, except of cause, assisted by an alien race - in this case the Semites of the Middle East. G.F Hegel authored that:
“Historical movements in it…[Africa]… — that is in its northern part — belong to the Asiatic or European World. Carthage displayed there an important transitionary phase of civilization; but, as a Phoenician colony, it belongs to Asia. Egypt will be considered in reference to the passage of the human mind from its Eastern to its Western phase, but it does not belong to the African Spirit. What we properly understand by Africa, is the Unhistorical, Undeveloped Spirit, still involved in the conditions of mere nature, and which had to be presented here only as on the threshold of the World’s History.” ( 116).
Reacting to this Euro-advanced view, A.E Afigbo, in his elaborate discourse on Colonial historiography, stated clearly that:
‘’The use of Hamitic, or white, supremacy as the explanation for the transition of African society from savagery through barbarism to the threshold of civilization was the result of Europe’s strong commitment, at the time, to the factor of race as the single most important, if not indeed the only important factor in historical development… when European penetrated the interior of Africa in the nineteenth century, two conditions which they met there made the rise of the Hamitic hypothesis only natural. First, even in the heart of the land of the Negroes, there existed societal conditions which clearly showed that the Negro had left the stage of savagery and in some cases was about to break out of barbarism into civilization…”(Afigbo:47)
Against all these odd, one can admittedly say with Edward Blyden that “Africa is no vast island. Africa has been connected, both as a source and nourisher, with some of the most potent influences which have affected for the good history of the world” (Arukwe : 57), and as Paul Valery would say, ‘the real nature of history is to play a part in history itself’.
With the above Euro- tilted bias of African history, there became an exigent need for a correctional effort by the new emerging class of African Historians, specifically in the Late 1950s and early 1960s, to present a defense of an Existing ‘African History’ from a true African perspective (Afro-centric point of view). This era saw the emergence of scholars like, Philip D. Curtin, Basil Davidson, S.O Biobaku, Kenneth O. Dike, J.F.A Ajayi, J.C. Anene, T.N Tamuno, J.A Akinjogbin and E.A Ayandele amongst other numerous professional historians. These scholars delved into the task of debunking Western populist notions, by attempting a rebirth of the African past in an appropriate image. For Kapteijns (1977) the new movement could be examined from two principal perspectives, he writes;
In the answers African historians gave to the question of “Why African history?” two aspects can be distinguished, one negative, and the other positive. First, the answer were ‘negative’ as far as they were a reaction to, and a denial of the validity of the prevailing climate of opinion in the West during the colonial period (and after); and as far as they tried to restore the balance by rehabilitating African history, secondly, the answers ‘positive’ in the sense that they were defining a clear and new function for African historical writing, outlining a programe for making the past usable and relevant to modern Africans.” (‘23’).
Just as stated above by Kapteijn, most part of what these scholars began to write was what we can technically conclude to being ‘defensive history’. Alagoa and Ajayi traditionally let out this fact when they commented that the history that they wrote was:
“to correct the distortions and to bridge the gap created by the colonial experience in the African historical tradition… to provide a sense of continuity, and to explain to each person and each people where they fit into the scheme of things… [to explore]… the continuity of African history especially of black Africans to their present predicament” (134).
What became to the African historian a quintessential tool for achieving his fit in the reconstruction of the African past was the previously dispelled ‘Oral tradition’, “…for the African historian who set out to write this history from an African perspective – particularly when dealing with the pre-colonial period – oral sources were indispensable…” (Kapteijns : 47), and One of the vanguard-historians in this new discipline was Jan Vansina, who is still reputed to this day as an indisputable authority in that field.
Quite oddly enough, there were African historians who were contemporaries of the afore-mentioned Afrocentric-scholars, who stood aloof in their works and teachings from the fervor of the time, clinging rather to the belief that; most of the expressed views of the earlier mentioned Eurocentric writers were largely justified. Often coming under sharp criticism by nationalistic historians
Conclusion
From much of what contemporaneous African historical writings presented, the West and its doctrine of Eurocentrism, seems much to the pleasurable delight of this ‘warrior historians’, to be ‘humbled and quieted’, but as Curtin had rightly stated, many in that continent still remembered that there was an ‘Africa without a history’ and as Afrocentric writers still battle in wit to turn the tides and reproduce an image of a continent ‘nourished by its own rich and unique civilization’, there is an exigent need to strike a fair balance of Objectivity – a History (a solution centered History) that will focus on the prospect of redeeming the future, rather than the glorification and magnifications of tiny ‘bits’ from the distant past.




WORKS CITED
Afigbo A.E, The Poverty of African Historiography: Afrografika Publishers,
Lagos, 1977.

………“ Fact and Myth in Nigerian Historiography: Nigeria Magazine, Festac
Edition, 122 123 (1977) pp. 81-98.

……… “ Anthropology and colonial Administration in Southern Nigeria
1891-1939: Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria 8, 1 (1975) p. 19-36.
Ajayi J.F.A, Alagoa E.J. Black Africa: The Historian’s Perspective: (N.P) New York,
pp.125-34, 1974.
Arukwe Nnanna o. Since Equiano: History and Challenges of African Socio-political Thought:
University of Nnsuka Nigeria Press. 2009
Carr Edward H. What is History?: Cambridge University Press. 1961.

Curtin Philip D. Image of Africa: (N.P), Madison Wisconsin, 1964.

……… Recent Trend in African Historiography and Their Contributions to
History in General: (N.P), 1988.
Hegel Friedrich G.W: The Philosophy of History, Batoche Books Street South
Kitchener, Ontario N2G 3L1,Canada. 2001.

Lander Edgardo. Eurocentrism, Modern Knowledges, and the “Natural” Order of
Global Capital: Nepantla: Views from South 3.2, Duke University Press. 200
Lidwien Kapteijns. African Historigraphy Written by Africans, 1955-1973; The
Nigerian Case: Leiden Afrika-Studiecentrum. 1977.
Uya Okon.Blacks in Diaspora: Cambridge University Press. 1961.

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Apina:
Were was d bride bought from?

Pluto

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Another sad news today! One of the yoruba
singing twins, popularly known as the Oshadipe
twins is dead! Taiwo reportedly died after a
brief illness in the early hours of this morning.
Her corpse has been deposited at the Lagos
State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH)
mortuary, Ikeja (Lagos).

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When will Nigeria be free from corruption

Let we KSU student share d vibes and frenzy abt d School.

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Looking critically at d purchase of her range rover sport 2014,we can depict d way she overhype's d purchase of d car as if its a strange thing she bought ,this imature trend is not only synonymous with Linda Ikeji alone but with oda Nigerian celebs,a childish character of overhyping properties bought on social media,unlike our European and American celebs who still play d game of maturity despite some crazily expensive things they buy,for example Nick Cannon bought a $2.2 million dollar pair of shoe but still he didn't overhype d shoe ,it was people who knew d quality of d shoe dat helped him to spread d news abt d shoe,unlike our Nigerian celebrities who buys a $10,000 dollars gucci bag and start screaming,the only matured guy I see here is Seun Osewa ,dis guy can buy a range 2014 too but am very sure he won't overhype it like baby Linda Ikeji.Nigerian celebeities please grow up.PLS MODS I NEED THIS ON FRONTPAGE TO GET THE COMPLETE VIEW OF PEOPLE,THANKS AND GOD BLESS.

Looking critically at d purchase of her range rover sport 2014,we can depict d way she overhype's d purchase of d car as if its a strange thing she bought ,this imature trend is not only synonymous with Linda Ikeji alone but with oda Nigerian celebs,a childish character of overhyping properties bought on social media,unlike our European and American celebs who still play d game of maturity despite some crazily expensive things they buy,for example Nick Cannon bought a $2.2 million dollar pair of shoe but still he didn't overhype d shoe ,it was people who knew d quality of d shoe dat helped him to spread d news abt d shoe,unlike our Nigerian celebrities who buys a $10,000 dollars gucci bag and start screaming,the only matured guy I see here is Seun Osewa ,dis guy can buy a range 2014 too but am very sure he won't overhype it like baby Linda Ikeji.Nigerian celebeities please grow up.PLS MODS I NEED THIS ON FRONTPAGE TO GET THE COMPLETE VIEW OF PEOPLE,THANKS AND GOD BLESS.

Looking critically at d purchase of her range rover sport 2014,we can depict d way she overhype's d purchase of d car as if its a strange thing she bought ,this imature trend is not only synonymous with Linda Ikeji alone but oda Nigerian celebs,a childish character of overhyping properties bought on social media,unlike our European and American celebs who still play d game of maturity despite some crazily expensive things they buy,for example Nick Cannon bought a $2.2 million dollar pair of shoe but still he didn't overhype d shoe ,it was people who knew d quality of d shoe dat helped him to spread d news abt d shoe,unlike our Nigerian celebrities who buys a $10,000 dollars gucci bag and start screaming,the only matured guy I see here is Seun Osewa ,dis guy can buy a range 2014 too but am very sure he won't overhype it like baby Linda Ikeji.Nigerian celebeities please grow up.PLS MODS I NEED THIS ON FRONTPAGE TO GET THE COMPLETE VIEW OF PEOPLE,THANKS AND GOD BLESS.

Bedwetting can damage the child's self-image
and confidence. The best way to prevent this is
to be supportive. Parents should reassure the
child that bedwetting is a common problem that
has a strong genetic component and that they
are confident that the child will overcome the
problem.
Here are some tips to help your child cope with
bedwetting:
Focus on the problem: bedwetting. Avoid
blaming or punishing your child. Remember,
your child cannot control the bedwetting, and
blaming and punishing just make the problem
worse.
Be patient and supportive. Reassure and
encourage your child often. Do not make an
issue out of bedwetting each time it happens.
If you or your spouse wet the bed as a kid,
remind your child that mommy or daddy had
the same issue and eventually outgrew it.
Enforce a "no teasing" rule in the family. No
one is allowed to tease the child about the
bedwetting, including those outside the
immediate family. Do not discuss the
bedwetting in front of other family members.
Encourage responsibility. Help your child
understand that the responsibility for being
dry is his or hers and not that of the parents.
Reassure your child that you want to help
him or her overcome the problem. In addition,
have your child help in the clean-up process.
Make clean-up easy. To increase comfort
and reduce damage, use washable absorbent
sheets, layer sheets among waterproof bed
covers, and use room deodorizers.

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FrankySnow: Needed here for what na?

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so many hilarious confession lyk stealing the holy communion wine and bread,d priest would gun u down,lolz