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The Role of N.C. Ejituwu in the Development of Niger Delta Historiography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2014

John H. Enemugwem  and
Darlington K. Okere
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Extract

The history of history-writing in the Niger Delta was first developed by E.J. Alagoa. However, his work, which covers the periods from 1508 to 1988, does not go into the twenty-first century. This is the case as well for N.C. Ejituwu, who extended the Delta historiography to 1999 but without including his own innovations. For this reason, this paper discusses the innovations brought by Ejituwu's role in the development of Niger Delta historiography. These are his contributions to the training of historians, the introduction of feminist history, biographical writing, and history concourse. Others include his reconstruction of the settlement histories of many Eastern and Central Niger Delta groups. Its impact on the development of the Delta historiography, analyzed here, furthered historical research in the region. Although largely a study of the work of N.C.Ejituwu, this paper is also intended as an overview of Niger Delta regional history of history writing.

According to Ake, development concerns human creativity, socially or economically. N.C. Ejituwu has demonstrated his creativity in historical writing on aspects of the Niger Delta, a region of some 75,000 square kilometers stretching from the Mahin estuary in the west to the Cross River estuary in the east. This most southerly region of Nigeria has about fifty linguistic groups located on its islands and peninsulas. Historical writing in the Delta concerns these fifty clans of the Ijo ethnic nationality. Their settlement histories have been documented by Alagoa, Cookey, and Ejituwu.

Type
Research Article
Information
History in Africa , Volume 35 , January 2008 , pp. 191 - 207
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2008

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