By: Pentho Goldmark Professor Akin Ogundiran, a Cardiss Collins Professor of Arts and Science at Northwestern University, USA, has challeng...
By: Pentho Goldmark
Professor Akin Ogundiran, a Cardiss Collins Professor of Arts and Science at Northwestern University, USA, has challenged academic historians to fully embrace their role as custodians of the past to prevent the misrepresentation of history, which he says is causing unnecessary tensions in Nigeria.
Speaking during the Faculty of Arts Distinguished Alumnus Lecture at the University of Ibadan, on the topic “Ancient History for the Present: The Challenge of Ancestral Yoruba Cosmopolitanism to Post-colonial Nigeria”, Ogundiran proposed the establishment of a Council on Yoruba Historical Studies. The council would organize historical retreats for traditional rulers—including princes, princesses, kingmakers, chiefs, and kings—and fact-check misleading historical statements made in public. He urged the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission to take the lead in this initiative.
Addressing the recent supremacy dispute between the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ogundiran lamented that many academic historians have been hesitant to apply critical historical thinking and a deep-time perspective to national controversies involving cultural identity.
He identified several challenges facing the profession today, including uninformed social media influencers, historians unable to distinguish between history and allegory, and the widespread use of Artificial Intelligence and search engines like Google. According to him, these factors have contributed to the distortion and rewriting of history, misleading the public and especially young people.
Ogundiran stressed that historians must remain deferent to traditional rulers but should reject royal arrogance, pomposity, and self-serving fables. “If the kingmakers will not check the traditional rulers, historians owe it to the profession to call them out through their professional organisations,” he said. He emphasized that it is “absurd to entrust kings as the sole custodians of ancestral history,” given their political interests.
Highlighting the need for preservation, the scholar urged traditional rulers to invest resources in maintaining ancestral legacies, artefacts, and memory. He suggested building museums and establishing royal and ritual archives as essential tools for effective historical research.
Ogundiran also called on Nigerian history departments to rethink their curricula. He noted that programs focusing primarily on colonial and postcolonial history risk impoverishing the intellect of future generations. He advocated for closer alignment with disciplines like archaeology, anthropology, classics, and art history to strengthen historical understanding and critical thinking.
“Yoruba history is bigger than the ego of any royal father,” Ogundiran said, warning against allowing personal or political interests to distort historical facts. He stressed that the proposed Council on Yoruba Historical Studies must operate based on evidence, reference established literature, and remain humble in areas where knowledge is limited.
The lecture highlighted the urgent need for evidence-based history to inform national development and cultural understanding. By combining scholarly rigor with the preservation of traditional legacies, Ogundiran believes historians and traditional leaders can work together to safeguard Yoruba history for future generations.
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