The History of Nigeria
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'This book by Falola and Heaton, two experienced and now famed collaborators, is a remarkable new addition to the growing library on a general history of Nigeria. Profiting from the weaknesses and strengths of its predecessors, it treats not only Nigerian politics, administration and economy but focuses also on culture and social history especially on art, music, literature and drama. Its social-scientistic treatment of the key issues across ethnic and regional boundaries gives it a refreshing new flavour. It will surely meet most of the needs of those within the academy and outside it who want to get a less slippery grip on the box of puzzles and bafflements known as Nigerian politics and affairs.' Professor A. E. Afigbo, Nigerian National Order of Merit, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki
'… the bold attempt of the authors to expand the length and breadth of Nigerian history in one text is welcome and appreciated.' Journal of African History
'Nigeria is an important country by almost any standard, so it deserves a well-organised and up-to-date history like this.' The Round Table
'… the bold attempt of the authors to expand the length and breadth of Nigerian history in one text is welcome and appreciated.' Journal of African History
'Nigeria is an important country by almost any standard, so it deserves a well-organised and up-to-date history like this.' The Round Table
Product Description
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.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book contains a very interesting point of view and a well researched history of Nigeria. I strongly recommend it for people who are interested in this very important federal republic located in West Africa.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The book, "A History of Nigeria" by Toyin Falola and Mathew Heaton is generally informative, especially for those who want a quick understanding of Nigeria's origins, its very diverse social and ethnic make up, and the causes of existing internal tensions and its seeming inability to move from a mere political space created by external forces to a true nation state, and the lingering problem of resolving the so-called "national question", i.e. the recurring issues of national identity, cohesion, economic viability and political stability which have led to endemic underperformance and poverty. However, there are a number of oversights and errors that detract from its value and give the impression that not enough vetting was done in the final draft. For instance, the military officer who was the minister of education during the violent student riots of 1978 was Col. Ahmadu Ali (later to become the chairman of the ruling PDP party) and not 'Ambrose' Ali who was the civilian governor of the old Bendel State between 1979 and 1983. Also, it was not the fiery Beko Ransome Kuti, the doctor who led the medical association's strike against Buhari's government in 1984 that was appointed into Babangida's cabinet as health minister, but rather the oldest of the Kuti male siblings, the moderate and less political Professor Olikoye Ransome Kuti, and who wss responsible for much of the advancements in primary health care at that time. This is to me a grievous error. Again, it is quite surprising the dismissive manner in which the authors treated the role of the Benin Kingdom in Nigeria's pre-colonial affairs and the complete lack of discussion on Benin's primacy as a powerful city state that had established diplomatic and trade relations with Portugal as far back as the 16th century, had hired Dutch and Danish mercenaries in its wars of expansion in the 16th to 18th centuries and whose relations with and final brutal conquest by Britain certainly deserved more than the few lines devoted to it. In discussing the impact of Nigeria and Nigerians on world history no mention was made of the impact of Benin art, the most coveted artistic items to have come out of Nigeria. It appears that Mr. Falola is burdened by the age-long dispute between the Benin and the Yoruba over which civilisation predated and even spawned the other. This attitude robs the book of much of its validity. Again I find it strange that in discussing Babangida's long and tortuous transition program, the authors ommitted to use the phrase "newbreed politicians", the most bandied about phrase of the regime as its basis for banning certain categories of old and seemingly discredited politicians. Again, in speaking about the brain drain of the 1980s and 1990s, the authors ommitted to point out that apart from the drain to Europe and America, a huge number of Nigerian professionals, especially doctors and nurses, moved to Saudi Arabia to work in their modern but largely understaffed hospitals and research centers. I hope the book will be reviewed to correct these and many other omissions and misconceptions and that the next edition will update readers and bring them up to speed with recent political developments, especially the election for the first time, and through a greatly improved electoral process, of a minority southerner as president in the person of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, an Ijaw from Bayelsa State. Apart from the above however, the authors must be commended for a fairly good effort.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
A History of Nigeria
14 Sep 2009
Format:Paperback
The first book i've read that gives detailed insight into the area called Nigeria 10,000 BC. Walks you through history in a beautiful narrative, detailing events of each era up to the colonial period and post independence. It opened my eyes to the issues that have plagued Nigeria as a country politically, why we are where we are, and what the real issues were.
A must read for every Nigerian and friend of Nigeria.
A must read for every Nigerian and friend of Nigeria.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Reads like a textbook
27 July 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Book is well written for the most part, but often jumps back and forth through time as opposed to sticking to events in each period being discussed. Could have done more in terms of going into the history and culture of each group, or atleast the major ones. There are a lot of cultural references that could have been included but were not. Overall, it is a good book for your collection of Nigerian literary works.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Impressive
12 July 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Any attempt to write a history book on africa's largest country is always going to be a major undertaken. In the history of Nigeria, Toyin Falola serves us a general sweep of nigeria's storied history beginning from the precolonial times right up to the dawn of the new millenium just as the country was making its second experiment with democracy.
I was looking for a history book that would help me fill the gaps in my knowledge and help me answer certain questions so i decided to purchase this book and I came through satisfied with the time and money invested in this material.
At 256 pages, I wasnt expecting to get the depth and detail that i may have hoped for especially when i read the chapters that had to do with the military coups, specifically the overthrow of murtala mohammed's regime. What you get here is a general overview. For more detail and depth you should look to other sources. But this book misses out on nothing from a general standpoint.
I read this book in just 2 days, i found it easy to read through and void of the teduim which is generally a trait of most history books.
I'm hoping the author comes out with another volume covering the first decade of the new millenuim.
I was looking for a history book that would help me fill the gaps in my knowledge and help me answer certain questions so i decided to purchase this book and I came through satisfied with the time and money invested in this material.
At 256 pages, I wasnt expecting to get the depth and detail that i may have hoped for especially when i read the chapters that had to do with the military coups, specifically the overthrow of murtala mohammed's regime. What you get here is a general overview. For more detail and depth you should look to other sources. But this book misses out on nothing from a general standpoint.
I read this book in just 2 days, i found it easy to read through and void of the teduim which is generally a trait of most history books.
I'm hoping the author comes out with another volume covering the first decade of the new millenuim.
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