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
Musawa, Katsina State, his father was Durbin of Katsina and brother of
Usman Nagogo, his paternal grandfather was Sarkin Katsina
Muhammadu Dikko Dan Gidado and his mother was a daughter of
Abdullahi Bayero
Abdullahi Bayero CBE CMG dan Muhammad Abbas (1881–1953) was Sarki (Emir) of Kano, with headquarters in Kano, Kano State, Nigeria from 1926 to 1953.
As a traditional ruler he had extensive powers under the British colonial authority.
Early yea ...
, former Emir of
Kano. 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
Barewa College is a college in Zaria, Kaduna State, northern Nigeria. Founded in 1921 by British Governor General Hugh Clifford, it was originally known as Katsina College. It switched its name to Kaduna College in 1938 and to Government 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.
References
Sources
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1945 births
2005 deaths
20th-century Nigerian historians
Academic staff of Ahmadu Bello University
Historians of Nigeria