Nigeria is Africa's most populous country and the world's eighth largest oil producer, but its success has been undermined in recent decades by ethnic and religious conflict, political instability, rampant official corruption and an ailing economy. Toyin Falola, a leading historian intimately acquainted with the region, and Matthew Heaton, who has worked extensively on African science and culture, combine their expertise to explain the context to Nigeria's recent troubles through an exploration of its pre-colonial and colonial past, and its journey from independence to statehood. By examining key themes such as colonialism, religion, slavery, nationalism and the economy, the authors show how Nigeria's history has been swayed by the vicissitudes of the world around it, and how Nigerians have adapted to meet these challenges. This book offers a unique portrayal of a resilient people living in a country with immense, but unrealized, potential.

This collection of original essays examines different aspects of historical experience in Nigeria and the adjacent regions from the beginning of agricultural communities about 6,000 B.C. to the eve of colonial rule in the mid-nineteenth century. The volume is the first comprehensive book on the different approaches and themes in Nigeria's pre-colonial history, and it is informed throughout by inter-disciplinary approaches that integrate archaeological data with oral historical narratives, historical ethnography, material culture, and documentary sources. The volume opens with an introduction that problematizes the pre-colonial historiography in Nigeria, situates each chapter in critical historiographic contexts, and identifies pathways for further studies. The introduction is followed by twenty-two chapters addressing a wide range of topics, including regional and inter-group interactions, ethnicity and identity, gender relations, state formation and sociopolitical development, urbanization, migrations, institutional and technological innovations, the intersections of commerce and religion and their impacts on the integration of pre-colonial societies into the Islamic World System, the Atlantic Slave Trade and its impacts, and the prelude to the British colonial conquest. This is the third of the festschrifts to honor and celebrate the achievements of Professor Toyin Falola. Distinguished scholar, teacher, author/editor of over 50 books, and author of hundreds of articles, chapters, and reviews, Professor Falola is certainly the most prolific historian of Africa ever, and arguably the most versatile. The political economy and socio-economic dimensions of his works on pre-colonial Nigeria inform the analytical and thematic approaches of this volume. In so doing, these essays critically celebrate Toyin Falola's contributions to the historiography of Nigeria, and open up new imprints of Nigeria's past.