Ibadan street market, Nigeria
[Photo credit: luigig under a Creative Commons license]
There will be a conference on “Nigeria 1960 Independence, 50 years later” to be held in Ibadan, Nigeria, 5 – 7 July 2010 organised by the IFRA Ibadan 5-7 July,2010 in connection with the Africa-Indian Ocean Group, Laboratoire SEDET, Université Denis Diderot-Paris 7, Paris
The independence proclamation of Gold Coast in March 1957 opened an era called the ‘suns of Independence’ of sub-Saharan Africa. However, majority of African countries including Nigeria did not attain independence before 1960 which opened the path for African freedom. 2010 marks, for many countries of the continent among which Nigeria, the fiftieth anniversary of the political accession to independence. Fifty years after independence, the IFRA Ibadan Conference want to offer a reflexion on the 1960 events : How did the Nigerians welcome the emancipation ?
The organizers wish to provide a forum for presenting new researches. The papers will be published in connection with the publication of the results of the International Conference of December 2010 in Paris. The Ibadan conference aims to stimulate the search for new sources and new perspectives.
The approach adopted by the IFRA relates to all aspects or situations of the very moment of Independence i.e. 1960 :
1/ How the Nigerians perceived independence as it approached ? What were their expectations irrespectively to their social categories (teachers, senior or junior civil servants, peasants, market women and petty traders ??)?
2/ How did the Nigerian people live the independence day but also the few years which preceded it or followed it ? What was the atmosphere like in Nigeria then and in Nigerian communities abroad (Individual enthusiasm and official initiatives)? Was the spirit of celebration very much the same on the official platforms where the celebration of independence took place and in private compounds where common folks stayed?
3/ About hopes and plural memory of Independence, could we follow M. Crowder when he said in 1988 : ??Whose dream was it anyway ? » ? What are the changing perspectives of the independence moment from 1960 to present day? From ominira to omi nira, as it is said in Yoruba ? How did changes occurred in the celebrations of the independence since 1960?
4/ Do we have new sources to recreate the lived moments of 1960 by the means of the most diverse documents (photographs, newspaper reports, objects, documentaries, news and analysis (radio and television), artistic production (painting, sculpture, drama), slogans, printed materials for the occasion, direct or indirect, oral or written testimonies, contemporary or posterior monuments, emblems (anthems, flags, mementos, souvenirs??), repertory of songs and dances, fashion collection, commemorative textile)?
The conference « Nigeria 1960 Independence, 50 years later » will be partly focused on Nigerian independence through grassroot experience i.e. on the daily experience of the witnesses who represent various segments of the nation under construction. Other aspects will be also examined according to the proposals. We will alternate between an update of collective or personal memories and the play of memory, between rebuilding and commemoration.
For more information
contact : ifra.cfp2010@yahoo.fr with Re : « Nigeria 1960 Independence, 50 years later » in the subject line.
Organising committee: Dr Aderonke A. Adesanya (Univ. of Ibadan), Prof. Olakunle Lawal (Univ. of Ibadan), Prof. A. Olukoju (UNILAG), Dr Jean-Luc Martineau (IFRA-SEDET-INALCO)
Suggested Books (US)
- The Crippled Giant: Nigeria since Independence
- This House Has Fallen: Nigeria in Crisis
- A History of Nigeria
