Matthew M. Heaton

Global Explanations versus Local Interpretations: The Historiography of the Influenza Pandemic of 1918-19 in Africa

In 1918 an influenza pandemic of unprecedented virulence spread across the planet, infiltrating nearly all areas of human habitation. In less than a year the pandemic had run its course, ultimately responsible for some where between 30,000,000 and 50,000,000 deaths worldwide. Truly, this was one of the greatest catastrophes in human history. However, despite the fact that the influenza pandemic has few historical rivals in terms of sheer loss of human life, it has not entered the meta-narrative of world history, nor indeed national histories, to the same extent that major wars or natural disasters have. To date, most of the historical work on the influenza pandemic has sought to prove that it does not deserve this rele gation to the dustbin of history. Despite this common goal, however, his torians have taken different approaches to illustrate the importance of the influenza pandemic of 1918 in Africa.

The Works of A. E. Afigbo on Nigeria: An Historiographical Essay

Nigeria in the post-independence years has seen its share of hardship. Politically dominated by military dictatorships, economically dominated by the ravages of underdevelopment, and culturally dominated by internal ethnic tensions and external stereotyping, Nigeria certainly seems to have suffered from an overabundance of problems and a dearth of solutions in the last forty plus years. This period, full of scholarly debate on these issues, also closely parallels the academic career of A.E. Afigbo. Afigbo, who graduated with a Ph.D. in History from the University of Ibadan in 1964, was the first History doctorate produced on Nigerian soil. He is both a product and a victim of the Nigerian nation, and his scholarly writings deeply reflect these contradictions. From that point in 1964—the era of hope and anguish—to the present day—the era of anguish without hope—he has been among the vanguard of scholars in Nigerian history and African studies. He wanted to write about the past, but the present pressured him severely. Starting as a “Nigerian,” he became a “Biafran” during the Nigerian Civil War (1967-70), and again a “Nigerian” thereafter. These transitions provide some kind of “political charter” to some of his writings. It has been a remarkable career. He has authored or co-authored eight books, edited four more, and published well over a hundred journal articles. Afigbo has earned numerous prizes for his scholarship, has served on the editorial board of many acclaimed scholarly journals, including the

ALIENS IN THE ASYLUM: IMMIGRATION AND MADNESS IN GOLD COAST *

This article examines the experiences of immigrants from British and French West African colonies in the Accra lunatic asylum in the first half of the twentieth century. Placing particular emphasis on how immigrants got into and out of the asylum, the article argues that immigrants were marginalized and manipulated by colonial psychiatric institutions to a greater extent than non-migrant colonial subjects in Gold Coast. In making this argument, the article argues for the value of adding colonial origin and subjecthood to the racial and gendered perspectives that have dominated the history of health and medicine in Africa to date.

A History of Nigeria: Instability and civil war, 1960 – 1970

INTRODUCTION When Nigeria achieved independence from British colonial rule on October 1, 1960, the prospects appeared promising and expectations for the future of the country were high. Nigeria was the most populous country in Africa, and the potential for economic growth was great, buoyed largely by the discovery of commercial quantities of petroleum in the Niger delta region in 1958. Nigeria was dubbed the “Giant of Africa,” and many people both inside and outside the country believed that Nigeria would soon rise to claim a leading position in African and world affairs. Nigeria also saw itself as a beacon of hope and progress for other colonized peoples emerging from the yoke of alien rule. By 1970, however, Nigerias stability and prestige had been greatly damaged by a decade of political corruption, economic underdevelopment, and military coups. Most damaging, however, was the culmination of these problems in a two-and-a-half-year civil war from 1967 to 1970 that rent the country along regional and ethnic lines, killed between 1 and 3 million people, and nearly destroyed the fragile federal bonds that held together the Nigerian state. The underlying cause of all the problems that Nigeria experienced in the 1960s and has experienced since then is what is often called the “national question.” What is Nigeria? Who are Nigerians? How does a country go about developing a meaningful national identity? The geographical area now known as Nigeria was created by the British colonial administration in 1914, not by indigenous peoples themselves.

Health and Medicine in Colonial Society

Heaton examines health and health care in Africa in the era of European colonial rule. Covering the health consequences of colonial occupation and colonial economies on African subjects, the effects of colonial administrative priorities and racism on health and health care, African responses to colonial health policies and medical practices, and the expansion of Western biomedical facilities in the post-Second World War era, the chapter treats issues of health and medicine not just in terms of the spread of germs and the provision of health care, but, just as importantly, in terms of the limitations of medical science and the broader social dynamics that affected how people (African and European) thought about the role of health and medicine in colonial Africa.

A History of Nigeria: Civil society and democratic transition, 1984 – 2007

INTRODUCTION The military coup that ended the Second Republic and brought General Muhammadu Buhari to power on December 31, 1983, ushered in a new period of military rule in Nigeria that lasted fifteen years. Three military regimes ruled during this period – those of Buhari, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB for short), and General Sani Abacha – before power was finally transferred back, in 1999, to a civilian administration under the leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo, the former military ruler now turned politician. The three military regimes oversaw the further decline of the Nigerian economy, particularly after the imposition of the Structural Adjustment Program in 1985. Far from revitalizing the shattered government apparatus left behind by the Second Republic, these regimes presided over the further entrenchment of official and everyday corruption in Nigeria, and sought to maintain power through oppression, coercion, and the manipulation of the democratic transition process. Government officials and their patrons continued to plunder government coffers at the expense of the population, causing many Nigerians to turn to corrupt and illegal activities such as bribe taking, smuggling, armed robbery, and fraudulent schemes in order to make enough money simply to survive. While a few Nigerians became exceedingly wealthy through their corrupt practices, most remained mired in extreme poverty. Since the transfer to democratic rule in 1999, a few of the ills of the Nigerian political, economic, and social situation have seen minimal amelioration, while others continue to plague the country, with no resolution in sight.

Colonial society to 1929

INTRODUCTION Colonial rule by the United Kingdom brought many changes to the societies of Nigeria. Charged with the tasks of governing the territories of Nigeria, expanding the commerce of the country, and promoting “progress” and “civilization” for peoples they considered inferior and backward, British colonial officers went about restructuring Nigerian societies in the years after their colonial conquest. The purpose of colonial rule was, theoretically, to alter only those customs, traditions, and institutions that the British deemed harmful to Nigerian progress, leaving existing political and social institutions intact to the greatest degree possible. In practice, however, colonial policies made transformative changes to Nigerian societies in many ways, particularly in southern Nigeria, which saw the most significant alterations to political institutions and economic orientation. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the structure of colonial society and the response of Nigerians to the British regime from the beginning of colonial rule up to 1929. During this period the British colonial administration utilized the concept of “indirect rule” – rule through traditional kings and chiefs – to govern local areas in each of the British protectorates. Originally, indirect rule operated differently in different regions, as determined in large part by the administrative outlook of the British authorities in each protectorate and by the diversity of indigenous political institutions throughout the protectorates.

A History of Nigeria: Transition to British colonial rule, 1850 – 1903

INTRODUCTION By about 1850 political and economic transformations had begun to alter the make-up of states in the Nigerian region, to a greater or lesser degree. As the savanna was reconfigured into an Islamic empire centered on Sokoto, the states of Yorubaland grappled with the collapse of the Oyo empire. In the Niger delta and Calabar, established slave traders began to transform their business practices and power bases towards palm oil exports and were dealing with new forms of competition. Also affecting political, economic, and social processes was the growing influence of British agents, in the form of Christian missionaries, trading interests, and political officials, all of whom were primarily concerned with increasing British influence against what they saw as the nefarious activities of indigenous rulers and other European powers, notably France and Germany. The power and influence of the British became tangible from around the middle of the nineteenth century, and by the end of the century circumstances had led to a dovetailing of British interests that resulted in the colonial occupation of the territories that would become Nigeria. This chapter explains, first, the British motives for their colonial takeover in the second half of the nineteenth century and, second, the process of colonial takeover in the different parts of the Nigerian region: Lagos and Yorubaland in the southwest; the Niger delta, Calabar, and their hinterlands in the southeast; the territories surrounding the rivers Niger and Benue; and, finally, the emirates of the Sokoto Caliphate.