The Igbo Intellectual Tradition: Creative Conflict in African and African Diasporic Thought PDF
Preview The Igbo Intellectual Tradition: Creative Conflict in African and African Diasporic Thought
The Igbo Intellectual Tradition This page intentionally left blank The Igbo Intellectual Tradition Creative Conflict in African and African Diasporic Thought EditedbyGloriaChuku ISBN 978-1-349-45691-8 ISBN 978-1-137-31129-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137311290 theigbointellectualtradition Copyright©GloriaChuku2013. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-1-137-31128-3 Allrightsreserved. Firstpublishedin2013by PALGRAVEMACMILLAN® intheUnitedStates—adivisionofSt.Martin’sPressLLC, 175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010. WherethisbookisdistributedintheUK,EuropeandtherestoftheWorld, thisisbyPalgraveMacmillan,adivisionofMacmillanPublishersLimited, registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,ofHoundmills, Basingstoke,HampshireRG216XS. PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabove companiesandhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld. Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnitedStates, theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data TheIgbointellectualtradition:creativeconflictinAfricanand Africandiasporicthought/editedbyGloriaChuku. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Igbo(Africanpeople)—Intellectuallife. 2. Igbodiaspora—Intellectual life. 3. Intellectuals—Nigeria. I. Chuku,Gloria. DT515.45.I33I4242013 001.1096332—dc23 2013004530 AcataloguerecordofthebookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. DesignbyIntegraSoftwareServices Firstedition:August2013 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Tomyfather,MaziTennysonOkoliChuku(Nnawuenyi) DonC.Ohadike Igboheroesandheroines,whohelpedshapethecauseofIgboculture, history,andstudies. This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface ix NotesonContributors xi Maps xiii Introduction 1 GloriaChuku 1 OlaudahEquianoandtheFoundationofIgboIntellectual Tradition 33 GloriaChuku 2 NnamdiAzikiwe:TheTriumphofKnowledge 67 JohnOriji 3 MbonuOjike:AnAfricanNationalistandPan-Africanist 89 GloriaChuku 4 BishopAnthonyNwedoofUmuahia:Faith,VisionandMission 119 JudeAguwa 5 KennethDike:TheFatherofModernAfricanHistoriography 137 GloriaChuku 6 AdieleAfigboandtheDevelopmentofIgboandNigerian HistoricalStudies 165 GloriaChuku 7 PiusNwabufoOkigbo:APragmaticEconomistandan IntellectualGiant 193 GloriaChuku 8 BenNwabuezeandAfricanIntellectualTradition 223 PhilipAka viii • Contents 9 ChinuaAchebeandtheDevelopmentofIgbo/AfricanStudies 249 RaphaelNjoku 10 NwanyibuifeFloraNwapa,IgboCultureandWomen’sStudies 267 GloriaChuku 11 HelenChukwuma:TheInimitableAdvocateforAfrican Women’sEmpowerment 295 ChristineOhale SelectedBibliography 311 Index 337 Preface Theideasthatgavebirthtothisanthologyformedmorethan12yearsagowhen Don C. Ohadike and I organized two panels at the 44th Annual Meeting of African Studies Association (ASA) at Houston, Texas, in November 2001. The panels were entitled “Igbo Scholars and the Making of the Intellectual Tradi- tions of the African Diaspora: From Olaudah Equiano to Boniface Obichere” and “IHaveTwo Countries—Africa andtheDiasporas: Iconsof ModernIntel- lectualTraditionsofAfricaandtheDiaspora.”Thepaperspresentedfocusedon thecontributionsofseveniconicIgbopersonagestothedevelopmentofintellec- tualtraditionsinAfricaandtheAfricanDiaspora.ThesepersonagesareOlaudah Equiano, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Kenneth Dike, Mbonu Ojike, Boniface Obichere, Flora Nwapa, and Pius Okigbo. The initial goal was to publish the papers in an anthology with the same title as that of the first panel, but the momentum generated by the project at the ASA conference quickly dissipated due to enor- mous professional and familial demands on the contributors. Sadly, Ohadike’s prematuredeathinAugust2005compoundedthesituation,butatthesametime strengthened my resolve to tackle the challenges of bringing the book project to fruition. In an attempt to revive interest in the project, I organized another panel at the 51st Annual Conference of the African Studies Association held in Chicago,Illinois,inNovember2008,entitled“IgboIntelligentsiaandtheMak- ing of African Intellectual Traditions.” The four papers at this panel were on NnamdiAzikiwe,MbonuOjike,AdieleAfigbo,andIgboscientistsinBiafradur- ing the Biafra–Nigeria War of 1967–1970. They were presented by colleagues whowerenotpartoftheinitialpanels.Invitationsweresubsequentlysentoutto aselectnumberofscholarswhodidnottakepartintheaboveconferences.The inclusive chapters, therefore, represent the revised papers of the panelists in the threepriorpanelsandthoseofafewsolicitedcolleagues,whowereamenableto projectrequirementsanddeadlines.Multidisciplinaryapproacheswereadopted, representingthecontributors’expertiseandtheversatilityoftheirsubjects. Our goal in publishing this book is that it be used to celebrate the achievements of Igbo scholars of varying professions and their contributions
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