Nadir A. Nasidi, (Ph.D.),
Department of History | Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria | Lisa Maskel Fellow, Department of History | University of Ghana, Legon | nanasidi@abu.edu.ng
From the 1960s to the early 1990s, Ahmadu Bello University (A.B.U) has contributed immensely to the decolonisation of knowledge with particular
reference to African history that was championed by its School of History, which consolidated the Northern Nigerian History Research Scheme (NHRS). This was put in place to challenge colonial historiography and establish the foundations for the development and training of African historiographers with a view to influencing African history across the globe. Using largely secondary sources that are augmented with a qualitative research methodology, this paper attempts a cross-examination of the contributions of the A.B.U School of History in the decolonisation and transformation of knowledge, which is purely Afro-centric. Part of its role in this regard includes scholarly agitations for the liberation of African countries such as Mozambique and South Africa from the shackles of Western colonialism. In the 21st century, the focus of the A.B.U School was shifted towards post-colonial issues, as well as the preservation and digitisation of its Arabic manuscripts. This paper, therefore, finds out that the A.B.U. School of History devised a critical historical methodology set aside for the thorough interrogation of sources based on writing factual historical evidence to expose the
serious shortcomings of over-dependence on written colonial historiographies, against oral and other, sources for historical reconstruction. The paper also observes that the A.B.U School lays emphasis on oral and other sources such as linguistics, ethnography, and archaeology purposely to liberate the writing of African history from colonial intellectual oppression.
Keywords: Decolonisation, University, Knowledge Production, African history, Ahmadu Bello University, ABU School of History.
