Meet THOMAS OLADAPO ., an Academic Staff of Lagos State University.
International Politics: Nigeria - Us Relations
Senior Lecturer
History and International Relations
At the History And International Relations department office
Appointment on Visitation important
| # | Certificate | School | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ph.D (International Relations Pol Science ) | University of Ibadan, Oyo State | 2014 |
1914 AMALGAMATION: WHEN WILL LUGARD REST IN PEACE
In 1914, when Lugard executed the strange contraption called amalgamation which led to the birth of Nigeria, he never expected the backlash of protestation his action would provoke. Lugard s colonial experiment changed the contextualization of Nigeria s socio-political history. Peoples were cohered, cultures were merged and structures were lumped. This arrangement produced an incompatibility that is as complex as the contingency that necessitated it. By aligning, merging and lumping strangers and strange things, Lugard failed to realise that the invincibility of socio political entities was not a justification for territorial arbitrariness. Several years after his death, Lugard is still being vilified for his blunder thus providing eternal opportunity for national irredentists to keep using historical escapism to cover up their own intellectual vacuity in rescuing the nation from the anarchy of history. This study adopted a historiographical approach and historical research design to investigate not just the basis of Lugard s action, but the circumstances, reflective processing, the existentialist tendencies and epistemological considerations that birthed the contraption that changed the course of a peoples history and their destiny. Exploring philosophical concepts like determinism and contingency, the study interrogated all the political variables before, during and after Lugard that could illuminate the discourse. The study found that though Lugard s blunder was monumental as it de-constructed and re-constructed the history of divergent structures and the destiny of assorted humanity, the political elite in Nigeria has also failed to use this accident of history to rebuild a nation that is in search of a national rebirth. Key Words: Nigeria, Lugard, Political elite, amalgamation, National RebirthWords: 250
THOMAS OLADAPO is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of History and International Relations
THOMAS has a Ph.D in International Relations Pol Science from University of Ibadan, Oyo State
