HISTORIANS’ ROLE IN THE DECOLONISATION OF AFRICA

Abstract

African history during the period between the 19th and 20th centuries is about the colonization of the continent by Europe. Africa was one of the overseas battlegrounds for the seven imperialist powers involved in supremacy battle in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. (The powers were Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Portugal). The battle prostrated Europe for most of those centuries. Fortunately, by seizing and colonizing overseas territories, the contending powers were able to save Europe and, by extension, Western civilization, from destruction. Colonial rule in Africa was threepronged---it was physical, economic and psychological. With regard to the psychological, the colonialists distorted history with a view to softening the natives up for the physical and the economic. Using nationalism as framework, this paper discusses the role by historians in the decolonization of the continent. Data were gleaned from various different secondary sources, Sources and Traditions of African Historiography, Nigeria: Background to Nationalism, Africa in History, The Black Man’s Burden, The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa, Perspectives and Methods of Studying African History, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Races of Africa, A Study of History, Africa in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century’s, etc.