Books: 1985 - 1989

Politics and Economy in Ibadan, 1893-1945

by Toyin Falola

This book examines the major economic and political developments in Ibadan from 1893 when the British imposed colonial rule to 1945 when the Second World War ended. It is the first detailed study of the process of transformation during this period.

History of Nigeria 1: Nigeria before 1800 AD

coauthored by Toyin Falola, Abdullahi Mahadi
Martin Uhomoibhi, and Ukachukwu Anyanwu

Nigeria Before 1800 AD fully covers the requirements of the new History of Nigeria curriculum for Senior Secondary Class One. This textbook proves the existence, among the various ethnic groups, of unifying factors and interrelated cultures before the advent of colonial rule.

Obafemi Awolowo: The End of an Era?

Edited by Olasope O. Oyelaran, Toyin Falola, Mokwugo Okoye, and Adewale Thompson

Selected papers from the National Conference on "Obafemi Awolowo, the end of an era?" held at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife from 4th to 8th October, 1987.

Britain and Nigeria: Exploitation or Development

Edited by Toyin Falola

Some of Nigeria’s most prominent progressive historians have combined to write a tightly integrated account of the economic relations foisted on Nigeria by the British colonial occupation. Contrary to liberal and descriptive accounts of the colonial period, they argue that British rule was not an agent of development, but of exploitation and destruction. Successive chapters outline how the European powers exploited Nigerian society before the age of colonialism, and the economic interests that prompted Britain to take the country over in the late nineteenth century. The colonial economy is then examined: the new infrastructure to facilitate exploitation; the new system of agriculture and extractive production in the interests of the metropole; the unequal exchange inherent in British-Nigerian colonial trading relations; the merely token industrialization that took place; and the exploitation of Nigerian workers, including the prevalence of forced labor. The authors stress throughout the wider consequences of the destruction of indigenous institutions, the illusion of economic development that was created, and the relationship of the colonial era to the country’s present-day economic distortions and political instability.

Nigeria: People, States and Culture before 1800

Edited by Toyin Falola and A. Adediran

This book provides access to Nigerian history before 1800. There are fewer traditionally recognized historical documents for this period before many African languages acquired written form. However, some written accounts are available from c. 1000 AD onward when Arabs who came to northern Nigeria either as travelers or traders, as well as from the 15th century onward when Europeans traveled to Nigeria. In addition, the influence of Islam and Western education enabled some Nigerians to read and write, thereby providing us with written sources about local communities.

The Rise and Fall of Nigeria's Second Republic, 1979-84

by Toyin Falola and Julius Ihonvbere

This book explores Nigeria's second experiment with bourgeois democracy, which came to a predictable and inevitable end on 31 December 1983. It attempts to expose the bourgeois nature of the 1979 constitution, the poverty and shallowness of Nigerian social science as it is presently constituted, the nature of the six political parties, particularly the ruling NPN, and how they contributed to the crisis and eventual demise of the Second Republic. Finally, theoretical issues crucial to a clear and serious understanding of the fundamental roots of instability and coups in peripheral economies like Nigeria are raised.