Year: 1999
Type: article
Abstract: One major contribution of Kenneth Onwuka Dike to historiography, which has not been fully appreciated and internalised by our social (including the population) sciences, is that there is an African viewpoint.Dike's special contribution was to elaborate this viewpoint in history, working out the special methodologies that went with it.This noninternalisation of the Dike lesson would not be surprising, for even the authentic history of Africa the UNESCO General History of Africa started in 1965 was only completed in 1999.Similarly, but now to belabour the obvious, there were prior to the colonial domination of the African peoples in the 20 th century, African civilisations, thought systems, value systems and an African mode of development.Evidence from the population sciences can be adduced to support this hypothesis.In the case of Nigeria, even though the British seized Lagos in 1861, external colonial domination could be said to have started in 1900, when British sovereignty was proclaimed over the territory called Nigeria.This period has been followed by 39 years of an internal colonialism, which, hopefully, ended on the 29 th of May, 1999.The EREDO earthworks, located near Okeeri in Ogun State is linked by local tradition to BIRIKISU SUNGBO also considered by that tradition to be the legendary Queen of Sheba, whose reign is dated by the BIBLE to the 10 th century BC and who is said to have had a male child for King Solomon.She is reputed to have been a great queen, childless in her home area and is said to have built this vast monument of remembrance.The earthwork system, the most extensive in the world, involving the shifting of 3.5 million cubic metres of earth to build the encompassing ramparts that is 1 million cubic metres more than the amount of
Author: Chukuka Okonjo
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W3135867544