Celebrating Prof Kenneth Dike, the Father of Modern African Historiography
The list of academics in Nigeria without the name Kenneth Dike is incomplete. Prof Kenneth Onwuka Dike was the giant and historian that brought life to African history. Becoming an orphan at the young age of 5 has never been the dream of any child; sometimes fate plays its card and humans at the receiving end choose either to go forward or backward. These are scenarios where a middle ground does not exist especially for children who barely know they’re left from right.
He was born on December 17, 1917, in Awka, the capital of the Light of the Nation. His grandfather Dike Nwancho and his elder brother, George Dike became his angel of light. He had his primary and secondary education in Awka. He studied at Fouray Bay College, Sierra Leone, which was affiliated to the University of Durham, England.
He got his Master’s degree in History from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland in 1947. Dike graduated as the Best Graduating Student with First Class Honours. For his Ph.D., he went to the University of London and graduated in 1950.
Kenneth Dike led Nigeria into an era where National Archives was recognized. He founded the Nigerian Archival Service. His work ‘The Preservation and Management of Historical Documents’ paved the way for this. The piece was published in the country in 1953. He once worked as a Director of the institution. Dike also led the Nigerian Antiquities Commission.
He was the first Nigerian Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, the first University in Nigeria. His leadership prowess made him head the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU).
He participated actively in the Civil War which lasted from 1967 until 1970. After the war, he went on exile to Harvard University where he was the President of the Committee on African Studies.
When the lands grew calm and still, he returned and served as the President of Anambra State University in the old Anambra.
At a time when the attention of all was on European history, Dike wrote works on focused on the African continent.
His doctoral thesis, Trade, and Politics in the Niger Delta, 1830-1885 was published by Oxford University as Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta, 1830-1885: An Introduction to the Economic and Political History in Nigeria. The book drew the attention of the world and pushed Africans into taking studying their root and environment. Prof Kenneth Dike took the crown and became the Father of Modern African Historiography.
He was the first Nigerian to get a Doctorate degree in History. His impact on history in the African sphere led to the establishment of History departments in Universities across Nigeria. Scholars from the University of Ibadan began to write History textbooks used in schools.
The University of Ibadan conferred him with an honorary Doctorate degree in Literature in 1974. He received another honorary Doctorate degree in Law from the University of Aberdeen. He had a total of 15 honorary Doctorate degrees.
The scholar breathed his last on October 26, 1983, when he was 65.
Some of his monuments include the University of Ibadan library–Kenneth Dike Library, a park in Awka, his birthplace–Dike Motor Park, a secondary school–Kenneth Dike Memorial Secondary School, Awka, and Kenneth Dike Library, Awka.
