Abstract
Kenneth Onwuka Dike was a trailblazer in defense of African culture and historical studies. His African-centered orientation contributed to the development of historical consciousness of Africa, and the popularization of the use of oral sources and material culture in African historical method. He played a critical role in the rise of modern African historiography. Drawing primarily from his publications and augmented with studies about him and his works, and other relevant sources, this chapter analyzes Dike’s record as a pioneer scholar in African historical studies. It focuses on his contributions to the protection and study of African culture and history; the advancement of African historical methods; scholarship in slave trade and the abolition in West Africa; and the British colonial rule in Nigeria. A critical review of Dike’s role as a pioneer nationalist historian is presented, and his involvement in the Biafra-Nigeria War and how he juggled between career demands and familial responsibilities are also discussed.
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Notes
See Alexander Animalu, Life and Thoughts of Professor Kenneth Onwuka Dike (Nsukka, Nigeria: Ucheakonam Foundation, 1997), Chapter 2.
Ibid., 12.
Ibid., 15–26.
Ibid., 30–44.
Uzor M. Uzoatu, “Late Professor Dike’s Home for History,” The Democrat(Lagos, Nigeria), July 21, 1988, 7; Anon, “Nigerian for Ibadan,” West Africa, February 20, 1960, 201; Michael Omolewa, “The Education Factor in the Emergence of the Modern Profession of Historians in Nigeria, 1926–1956,” Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria10, no. 3 (1980): 93–120.
See P. D. Curtin, “Recent Trends in African Historiography and Their Contribution to History in General,” in UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. I, ed., J. KiZerbo (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1981), 54–71.
J. F. Ade Ajayi, “ ‘Towards a More Enduring Sense of History: A Tribute to K. O. Dike’ Former President, Historical Society of Nigeria on Behalf of the Historical Society of Nigeria,” Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria(JHSN) 12, nos. 3 and 4 (1984–1985): 2.
Animalu, Life and Thoughts, 83–84.
The Silver Jubilee Edition of the Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 1980 covers many of these conferences convened between the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Animalu, Life and Thoughts, 86.
Robert W. July, A History of the African People, 5th edition (Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1998), 591.
Animalu, Life and Thoughts, 86. Ajayi later succeeded Dike at Ibadan as the dean of the College of Arts. He also became the vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos, Nigeria.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid., 87.
Ajayi, “Towards a More Enduring Sense of History,” 2.
July, A History of, 591.
Animalu, Life and Thoughts, 87.
Ajayi, “Towards a More Enduring Sense of History,” 2.
Before the establishment of the Nigerian National Archives, K. O. Dike surveyed the Nigerian colonial government’s documents in 1951 and produced Nigerian Records Survey, 1951–1953. The effort led to the establishment of the Nigerian Records Office in 1954, which became the Nigerian National Archives in 1958 with branches at Ibadan, Enugu and Kaduna, reflecting the three regions of the period. See K. O. Dike, Report on the Preservation and Administration of Historical Records and the Establishment of a Public Record Office in Nigeria(Nigeria: Government Printer, 1954); H. E. R. Hair, “The Nigerian Records Survey Remembered,” History in Africa 20 (1993): 391–394.
J. D. Fage, “Kenneth Onwuka Dike, 1917–83,” Africa 54, no. 2 (1984): 96.
See Kenneth Onwuka Dike, “The Nigerian Museum Movement,” which is the First Annual Museum Lecture Commemorating the Silver Jubilee of the National Museum he gave at Onikan, Lagos in 1982.
Several important books were produced under the Ibadan History Series, including A. I. Asiwaju, Western Yorubaland under European Rule, 1889–1945: A Comparative Analysis of French and British Colonialism(London: Longman, 1976); P. M. Mutibwa, The Malagasy and the Europeans: Madagascar’s Foreign Relations, 1861–1895(London: Longman, 1974); J. A. Atanda, The New Oyo Empire: Indirect Rule and Change in Western Nigeria, 1894–1934(New York: Humanities Press, 1973); A. E. Afigbo, The Warrant Chiefs: Indirect Rule in Southeastern Nigeria, 1891–1929(New York: Humanities Press and London: Longmans, 1972); T. N. Tamuno, The Evolution of the Nigerian State: The Southern Phase, 1898–1914(New York: Humanities Press, 1972); B. O. Oloruntimehin, The Segu Tukulor Empire, 1848– 1893(London: Longman, 1972); S. A. Akintoye, Revolution and Power Politics in Yorubaland, 1840–1893: Ibadan Expansion and the Rise of Ekitiparapo(London: Longman, 1971); R. A. Adeleye, Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria, 1804– 1906: The Sokoto Caliphate and its Enemies(New York: Humanities Press, 1971); J. C. Anene, The International Boundaries of Nigeria, 1885-1960: The Framework of an Emergent African Nation(Harlow, UK: Longmans, 1970); A. F. C. Ryder, Benin and the Europeans, 1485–1897(New York: Humanities Press, 1969); Obaro Ikime, Niger Delta Rivalry: Itsekiri-Urhobo Relations and the Europeans, 1884–1936 (New York: Humanities Press, 1969); S. J. S. Cookey, Britain and the Congo Question, 1885–1913(New York: Humanities Press, 1968); Murray Last, The Sokoto Caliphate(New York: Humanities Press, 1967); J. D. Omer-Cooper, The Zulu Aftermath: A Nineteenth-Century Revolution in Bantu Africa(London: Longmans, 1966); E. A. Ayandele, The Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria, 1842-1914: A Political and Social Analysis(London: Longman, 1966).
Ajayi, “Towards a More Enduring Sense of History,” 3; Fage, “Kenneth Onwuka Dike,” 98.
See K. O. Dike, “The Ashby Commission and Its Report,” in Issues in African Studies and National Education: Selected Works of Kenneth Onwuka Dike, ed., Chieka Ifemesia (Awka, Nigeria: Kenneth Onwuka Dike Centre, 1988), 199–208.
Ajayi, “Towards a More Enduring Sense of History,” 3.
Ibid.; Fage, “Kenneth Onwuka Dike,” 98. See also Animalu, Life and Thoughts, 123–139.
This was the second time Dike was teaching in an American university. In 1958, he taught African history at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, on the invitation of Melville J. Herskovits.
Animalu, Life and Thoughts, 64–65.
Ibid., 70–71.
Ibid., 90.
K. O. Dike, An Address by the Principal, Dr. K. O. Dike, to Congregation in Trenchard Hall on Foundation Day, 17 November 1961(Ibadan, Nigeria: Ibadan University Press, 1962), 8–9.
Animalu, Life and Thoughts, 197.
Ibid., 89.
Ibid., 6 and 156.
Dike’s two major books include: K. O. Dike, Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta, 1830–1885: An Introduction to the Economic and Political History of Nigeria(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1956); and K. O. Dike and Felicia Ekejiuba, The Aro of South-eastern Nigeria, 1650–1980: A Study of Socio-Economic Formation and Transformation in Nigeria(Ibadan, Nigeria: University Press Limited, 1990). The three pamphlets are: K. O. Dike, Report on the Preservation and Administration of Historical Records; The Origins of the Niger Mission, 1841–1891(Ibadan, Nigeria: Ibadan University Press, 1958); 100 Years of British Rule in Nigeria, 1851–1951(Lagos, Nigeria: Federal Information Service, 1958) (being a reprint of his 1956 Lugard Lectures). Some of Dike’s articles include “African History Twenty-five Years Ago and Today,” JHSN10, no. 3 (1980): 13–22; K. O. Dike and Felicia Ekejiuba, “The Aro State: A Case Study of State Formation in South-Eastern Nigeria,” Journal of African Studies5, no. 3 (1978): 268–300; “Change and Persistence in Aro Oral History,” Journal of African Studies3, no. 3 (1976): 277–296; K. O. Dike, “John Beecroft, 1790–1854: Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul to the Bights of Benin and Biafra 1849–1854,” JHSN1, no. 1 (1956): 5–14.
Kenneth Onwuka Dike, “African History and Self-Government,” West Africa, February 28, 1953, 177–178; March 14, 225–226; and March 21, 251; reprinted in Ifemesia, ed., Issues in African Studies and National Education, 71–79.
See Margery Perham, “The British Problem in Africa,” Foreign Affairs29, no. 4 (July 1951): 637–650.
Dike, “African History and Self-Government,” 177.
Ibid., 251.
Ibid., 251.
Dike, “African History Twenty-five Years Ago,” 14–15.
Dike, “African History and Self-Government,” 251.
Ibid., 225. See also K. O. Dike, “Foreword,” in J. F. A. Ajayi, Christian Missions in Nigeria, 1841–1891: The Making of New Elite(Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1969), x.
Dike, “African History and Self-Government,” 225.
Dike, Trade and Politics, v.
Ibid., 225.
Dike, “Foreword,” x.
Dike, Trade and Politics, 4.
Ibid., v.
Dike, “Foreword,” x.
Dike, “African History Twenty-five Years Ago,” 16.
Ibid., 17.
Ibid., 19.
John Flint, “African Historians and African History,” Past and Present10 (November 1956): 96.
Adiele Afigbo, “The Spell of the Master Being a Review of Onwuka Dike and Felicia Ekejiuba: The Aro of South-eastern Nigeria 1650–1980,” Ikoro: Bulletin of Institute of African Studies7, nos. 1 and 2 (1992): 110.
July, A History of, 591 and 592.
Fage, “Kenneth Onwuka Dike,” 96.
A Correspondent, “Pioneer Historian,” West Africa, February 28, 1957, 917.
Dike, Trade and Politics, v and 28–29.
Ibid., v.
Ibid., 3.
Ibid., 12 and 51.
Joseph Inikori, Africans and the Industrial Revolution in England: A Study in International Trade and Economic Development(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), xvi.
Dike, Trade and Politics, 33. 66. Ibid., 34–37.
Ibid., 30.
Ibid., 29.
Ibid., 38.
Ibid.
Dike and Ekejiuba, The Aro of South-eastern Nigeria.
Dike, Trade and Politics, 40.
Ibid., 11. See Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slavery(Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1944).
Dike, Trade and Politics, 11.
Ebere Nwaubani, “Kenneth Onwuka Dike, Trade and Politics, and the Restoration of the African History,” History in Africa 27 (2000): 229–248.
Dike, 100 Years of British Rule, 7.
Dike, Trade and Politics, 153.
Ibid., 25. 79. Ibid., 153.
Ibid., 153 and 154.
G. I. Jones, The Trading States of the Oil Rivers: A Study of Political Development in Eastern Nigeria(London: Oxford University Press, 1963), 188.
Dike, Trade and Politics, 18.
See Dike, Trade and Politics, Chapter VII: “The Rise of Consular Power.”
Dike, Trade and Politics, 130.
See R. S. Smith, The Lagos Consulate, 1851–1861(Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1979), 14–33.
Dike, Trade and Politics, 83–93, 131–145.
Dike, 100 Years of British Rule, 13.
Ibid., 22.
Ibid., 32.
Frederick Lugard, The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa (Edinburgh: W. Blackwood and Sons, 1922).
See for instance, Toyin Falola, Colonialism and Violence in Nigeria(Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2009); Moses Ochonu, Colonial Meltdown: Northern Nigeria in the Great Depression(Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2009).
Dike, 100 Years of British Rule, 31.
Ibid., 28.
Ibid., 26 and 28.
Ibid., 34.
Dike, The Origins of the Niger Mission; 100 Years of British Rule.
For criticisms of the African nationalist historiography, see Joseph E. Inikori, “The Development of Entrepreneurship in Africa: Southeastern Nigeria during the Era of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade,” in Black Business and Economic Power, eds., Alusine Jalloh and Toyin Falola (Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2002), 41–79; Peter Ekeh, “Sociological Anthropology and the Two Contrasting Uses of Tribalism in Africa,” Comparative Studies in Society and History32, no. 4 (1990): 660–700; Paul Lovejoy, “Nigeria: The Ibadan School and Its Critics,” in African Historiographies: What History for Which Africa?, eds., Bogumil Jewsiewicki and David Newbury (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1986), 197–205; E. A. Ayandele, “How Truly Nigerian Is Our Nigerian History?” African Notes5, no. 2 (1969): 19–35.
Examples of such works are Walter I. Ofonagoro, Trade and Imperialism in Southern Nigeria, 1881–1929(New York: NOK Publishers International, 1979); Ebiegberi J. Alagoa and Adadonye Fombo, A Chronicle of Grand Bonny(Ibadan, Nigeria: Ibadan University Press, 1972); Kannan K. Nair, Politics and Society in South-Eastern Nigeria, 1841–1906: A Study of Power, Diplomacy, and Commerce in Old Calabar(Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1972); Jones, The Trading States of the Oil Rivers.
A. E. Afigbo, K. O. Dike and the African Historical Renascence(Owerri, Nigeria: RADA Publishing Co., 1986), 7. Even though Afigbo sounds a note of caution that Ajayi’s book came out only three years (1965) after the release of Dike’s pamphlet (1962), there is no doubt that Dike’s work inspired others. While the pamphlet in question was a paper Dike read at the Centenary of the Mission at Christ Church, Onitsha, on November 13, 1957, Ajayi’s book is a revised version of his PhD thesis presented to London University in 1958. But the book was published under the Ibadan History Series, when Dike was the general editor and therefore must have benefited from Dike’s expertise. See F. Ekechi, Missionary Enterprise and Rivalry in Igboland, 1857–1914(London: Frank Cass, 1972); Ayandele, The Missionary Impact; Ajayi, Christian Missions.
These honorary degrees include LLD, University of Aberdeen, Scotland (1961); DLitt, Boston University, USA (1962); LLD, Northwestern University, USA (1962); LLD, University of London, England (1963); LLD, University of Leeds, England (1963); DSc, Moscow University, USSR (1963); DLitt, University of Birmingham, England (1964); LLD, Columbia University, USA (1965); LLD, Princeton University, USA (1965); DLitt, Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria (1965); DLitt, University of Ibadan, Nigeria (1974); DLitt, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana (1979); LLD, University of Michigan, USA (1979); DLitt, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria (1980); and LLD, University of Bristol, England (1983). See Animalu, Life and Thoughts, 199 and 201.
“Citation by the University of Michigan on the Occasion of the Conferment of Honorary Doctor of Laws on Professor Kenneth Onwuka Dike in 1979,” Reprinted in Animalu, Life and Thoughts, 201.
Dike, “The Nigerian Museum Movement.”
Animalu, Lifeand Thoughts, 3.
A. E. Afigbo, “Foreword,” in Animalu, Life and Thoughts, viii.
Animalu, Life and Thoughts, x.
Apollos Nwauwa, “Kenneth Onwuka Dike,” in The Dark Webs: Perspectives on Colonialism in Africa, ed., Toyin Falola (Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2005), 310 and 313.
Chieka Ifemesia, “Professor Kenneth Onwuka Dike, 1917–1983: A Funeral Oration,” delivered at the graveside on behalf of the Historical Society of Nigeria on Saturday, November 19, 1983, Bulletin of the Historical Society of Nigeria, Special No. (1983): 1–3, 8 and 10. The Funeral Oration was reproduced in Animalu, Life and Thoughts, 190–196.
For the first five lectures, see E. J. Alagoa, ed., Dike Remembered: African Reflections on History, Dike Memorial Lectures, 1985–1995(Port Harcourt, Nigeria: University of Port Harcourt Press, 1998). For the second set of five lectures, see C. B. N. Ogbogbo and O. O. Okpeh, eds., Interrogating Contemporary Africa: Dike Memorial Lectures, 1999–2007(Ibadan, Nigeria: Historical Society of Nigeria, 2008).
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Chuku, G. (2013). Kenneth Dike: The Father of Modern African Historiography. In: Chuku, G. (eds) The Igbo Intellectual Tradition. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137311290_6
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