Impact of Tekena. N. Tamuno on Nigerian Historiography

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue VIII, August 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

Impact of Tekena. N. Tamuno on Nigerian Historiography

Gobo Prisca Abiye
Department of History and Diplomatic Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract: The aim of this article is to explain the development of Nigerian historiography and the place of Tekena Tamuno in it. For centuries, it was believed that Africa had no history. The only sources of African history were from outside the continent. The situation changed after the Second World War and particularly after African countries gained independence and became involved in the mainstream of things. As a second generation historian, he went beyond the popular emphasis on colonial administration at that time to deal with more important issues in the social, administrative and institutional history of Nigeria. This article will survey the growth and development of Nigerian historiography and Tamuno’s role in it.

Keywords: Tamuno, historiography, Nigeria.

I. INTRODUCTION

The aim of this chapter is to explain Nigerian historiography, how it has developed and T. N. Tamuno’s place in it. Historiography is the aspect of history and of semiotics that is the study of how knowledge of the past, recent or distant is obtainable and transmitted (www.google.com). Historiography can also be defined as how historians “do” history. The following list of selected historians can give us some ideas of how the great historians “did” history, and how T. N. Tamuno fits into all of this.

Toynbee: Toynbee’s theory is that of challenge and response. His theory is that all civilizations are faced with a crisis which is either one of ideas or one of technology. How they respond determines whether they will survive or not. An example is the Fall of Rome. Many blame Christianity for sapping the pagan strength of Rome and causing her downfall. Toynbee, however, points out that the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) used Christianity to revitalize and reform the Roman Empire for another thousand years.

Hegel: Dialectics Hegel’s Theory of History states that for every old idea, there is a new one which conflicts with it. Out of that struggle, a new idea is created (Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis). He felt that this was how God led us to perfection and revealed a new truth. History, he said, is just the product of conflict (www.google.com).

Darwin: Though not a historian, Darwin took Hegel’s ideas and applied them to science. His biological application led to the origin of species. Herbert Spencer and others then used his biological ideas to support their ideas that a struggle among races of people and differing nations led to the strongest and most able nations ruling the world. Victory in combat meant the superiority of a nation or people.

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