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Yusufu Bala Usman (1945 – 24 September 2005) was a Nigerian historian and politician, who was one of the scholars who shaped Nigerian historiography. He was the founder of the Centre for Democratic Development, Research and Training at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Life

Usman was born in 1945 in Musawa in Katsina Province, Colonial Nigeria. His father was Durbin Katsina (a traditional title with kingmaker status in the Katsina Emirate) and a brother of Sarkin Katsina Usman Nagogo. His mother was a daughter of Sarkin Kano Abdullahi Bayero. He attended Musawa Junior Primary School, Kankia Senior Primary School, Minna Senior Primary School and Government College, Kaduna. He then went to study at the University Tutorial College and then at University of Lancaster where he completed his studies with a degree in History and Political Science. He returned to Nigeria in 1967 to become a teacher at Barewa College, Zaria where he taught until 1971. Usman started his graduate studies in 1970 at Ahmadu Bello University, earning his PhD degree in 1974. He started lecturing at the university as a part-time lecturer before being promoted to full-time.

During the Nigerian Second Republic, he was briefly the Secretary to the Kaduna State government under the PRP led Balarabe Musa administration.

Academic career

Usman was a major figure among post colonial historians at Ahmadu Bello University, his outlook on African history involves support for the use of oral and linguistic sources along with written and archaeological sources. He felt all sources are subject to bias and that increased scrutiny of oral sources for distortions and colourings was not extended to many written sources by European writers. To him, the historian cannot be divorced from his education and molding as a scholar and the historicity of the European writers likely influenced some of their writings. Some of his reflections on the writing of African history includes a critique of Heinrich Barth, a respected source among Western scholars, Usman thought Barth was too focused on the physical and genetic characteristics of those he was studying which he felt was a result of the dominant traditions of nineteenth century European history writing.

Contribution to history

Historical paradigm shift: He transformed the study of African history from a focus of tribal studies to a more dynamic understanding of identity and historical processes

Major works

1. For the Liberation of Nigeria (1979)
2. The Transformation of Katsina 1400-1883 (1981)
3. Nigeria against the I.M.F (1986)
4. The Manipulation of Region in Nigeria (1987)
5. Co-author of Minority Report and Draft Consultation for the Federal Republic of Nigeria(2019)
6. Edited Several Significant Historical works.

Key position and organisations

• Director of Research for the people's redemption party.
• Contributed to various governmental committees and was involved in international deplomacy.
• Participated in the Nigerian Labour Congress and other political movements.

Family

Usman left behind a wife and six children upon his death.

References

1. Vaughan, Olufemi. "Falola, Toyin, and SaheeAderinto. 2010. Nigeria, Nationalism, and Writing History." Africa Today 58.2 (2011): 156+. Academic OneFile. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
2. "CEDERT:Centre For Democratic Development, Research and Training". ceddert.org. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
3. "Centre for Democratic Development Research and Training (CEDDERT)". MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
4. Gwadabe, M.M. "IV Yusufu Bala Usman (1945-2005)." Africa 80.1 (2010): 165+. Academic OneFile. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
5. "Tribute to Dr". www.gamji.com. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
6. Gwadabe, M. M. (February 2010). "Yusufu Bala Usman (1945–2005)". Africa. 80 (1): 165–168. doi:10.3366/E0001972009001338. ISSN 1750-0184.
7. "Aminu Kano, political change, and Northern Nigeria By Attahiru Bala Usman - Premium Times Nigeria". 2012-04-23. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
8. Bello, Fateema B. (2022-09-23). "Yusufu Bala Usman: 1945–2005". Dateline Nigeria. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
9. Mamdani 2012, p. 88.
10. Mamdani 2012, p. 91.
11. Mamdani 2012, p. 92.
12. ^ "About Yusufu Bala Usman – Yusufu Bala Usman Institute". ybu-institute.org. Retrieved 2024-09-04.

Sources

• Mamdani, Mahmood (2012). W.E.B. du Bois Lectures : Define and Rule : Native as Political Identity. Boston: Harvard University Press.

• 1945 births
• 2005 deaths
• 20th-century Nigerian historians
• Academic staff of Ahmadu Bello University
• Historians of Nigeria
• Nigerian socialists
• Nigerian political scientists
• Nigerian Fula people
• Nigerian Muslims
• People from Katsina
• Nigerian Marxists
• Nigerian educators