Blogs

1960 is often called the year of African independence because of the unprecedented number of countries--seventeen--that achieved their independence. It might more appropriately be termed the year of West and Central African independence as these countries were mostly from the two regions (except for Madagascar and Somalia). They were also predominantly former French colonies (save for Nigeria and Somalia).  read more »

We were young. I was eighteen and my nineteen course mates were mostly in their mid-twenties. We were in 300 Level. We were lucky. We were going to Togo as the last set of French undergraduates in Nigeria to travel to that country for the year abroad programme. None of us had ever ventured beyond the shores of Nigeria. Our juniors in 200 Level were sulking. The following year, they would head out to the Nigerian French Language Village in Badagry as the pioneer set of that new institution. Those who studied French before our generation wouldn't consider us lucky.  read more »

This week Kenyans voted overwhelmingly for a new constitution. It was a landslide victory for the ‘Yes' campaign (the Greens), which garnered 67.25 percent (5,954,767) of the vote against the ‘No' campaign's (the Reds) 30.25 percent (2,687,193). The voter turnout was high (71 percent) as Kenyans understood the referendum offered a historic opportunity for the country to remake itself from its battered past, for the nation to reimagine its future, to anchor the ‘second independence' on a more democratic basis.  read more »

This year marks 50 years since the year of African independence in 1960 when 17 African countries achieved their independence from European colonial rule. A series of celebrations are being held in specific countries and across the continent as well as in the diaspora to mark this important milestone. Over the next few months, I will be posting a series of reports and commentaries from a wide variety of sources and outlets commemorating the year.  read more »

I heard of Basil Davidson's passing at the honourable age of 95 from a former student who forwarded an obituary to me. For years Davidson's prolific work has been on reading lists I distributed to all students (regardless of ethnic background) on my African history courses. It was when I pinned on the classroom wall an article about him with a huge photograph that students expressed their surprise that Davidson was not an African.  read more »