Nigeria is Africa's most populous country and the world's eighth largest oil producer, but its success has been undermined in recent decades by ethnic and religious conflict, political instability, rampant official corruption and an ailing economy. Toyin Falola, a leading historian intimately acquainted with the region, and Matthew Heaton, who has worked extensively on African science and culture, combine their expertise to explain the context to Nigeria's recent troubles through an exploration of its pre-colonial and colonial past, and its journey from independence to statehood. By examining key themes such as colonialism, religion, slavery, nationalism and the economy, the authors show how Nigeria's history has been swayed by the vicissitudes of the world around it, and how Nigerians have adapted to meet these challenges. This book offers a unique portrayal of a resilient people living in a country with immense, but unrealized, potential.
Nigeria is Africa's most populous country and the world's eighth largest oil producer, but its success has been undermined in recent decades by ethnic and religious conflict, political instability, rampant official corruption and an ailing economy. Toyin Falola, a leading historian intimately acquainted with the region, and Matthew Heaton, who has worked extensively on African science and culture, combine their expertise to explain the context to Nigeria's recent troubles through an exploration of its pre-colonial and colonial past, and its journey from independence to statehood. By examining key themes such as colonialism, religion, slavery, nationalism and the economy, the authors show how Nigeria's history has been swayed by the vicissitudes of the world around it, and how Nigerians have adapted to meet these challenges. This book offers a unique portrayal of a resilient people living in a country with immense, but unrealized, potential.
This work analyzes the history of the application of Islamic law (Shari`ah) in Nigeria. It analyzes how Islamic law emerged in Nigeria toward the beginning of the 19th century and remained applicable
Although the Igbo constitute one of the largest ethnic nationalities of Nigeria and the West African sub-region, little is know about their political history before the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Th
This study seeks to investigate the history of Anglican / Methodist cooperation among the Yoruba-speaking peoples of Nigeria during the missionary era and after. The intention is to show that the inst
This groundbreaking study provides broad insights into the changes Igbo history and political systems have undergone since the Late Stone Age. It discusses important methodological problems in African
‘If you want to understand Nigeria’s history in one succinct go, this is a very good choice.’Noo Saro-WiwaKnown as the African Giant, Nigeria's story is complex and often contradictory. How, despite t
‘If you want to understand Nigeria’s history in one succinct go, this is a very good choice.’Noo Saro-WiwaKnown as the African Giant, Nigeria's story is complex and often contradictory. How, despite t
The Lake Chad region of Nigeria is an extreme environment: virtually treeless sand and a broiling clay plain in the fierce heat of the dry season, then much of it inundated and impassable in the wet season as whole areas turn into shallow lakes or marsh. Yet even this hostile landscape and climate have sustained human communities in continuous occupation for some three hundred years. Professor Connah traces the story of human adaptation to and exploitation of this unusual environment from prehistoric to modern times. He presents a natural history of Man in the region, based largely on archaeological data but drawing also on written evidence, ethnography and oral tradition to reconstruct human history and experience in this largely unknown area. This ecological approach therefore cuts across the conventional boundaries between academic disciplines and the book is intended for students of African history as well as of archaeology. It provides too the historical context in which modern de
