Tekena Tamuno

Tekena Nitonye Tamuno (28 January 1932 – 11 April 2015) was a Nigerian historian and Vice-chancellor of the University of Ibadan. He was the President of the Board. Quotes Our survey of the human past is wide but we still believe that in both our researches and teaching, our work should be of relevance and service to Nigerians. Tamuno was explaining why historical research and teaching at the University of Ibadan should have relevance to Nigerian society and contribute to the country's understanding of its own history. I have a soft spot for problems of power and stability in the evolution of the Nigerian State. Tamuno was describing his particular research interests in modern Nigerian history, especially issues concerning administrative and institutional development, power and political stability. In a country emerging from colonialism to independence, the factor of leadership in nation-building cannot be over-emphasised. Tamuno was examining the importance of political leadership to Nigeria's development following independence. He connected the question of leadership with the challenges of consolidating independence and building a stable Nigerian state. Work on Nigerian history, in particular, has now come of age. Tamuno was discussing the development of Nigerian historical scholarship and the increasing maturity of the study of Nigerian history as an academic field. The fight for de-colonization and independence was such that it called for the support of the masses whatever the nature of leadership. Tamuno was discussing the Nigerian struggle for decolonization and independence and the importance of popular support to the political movements involved in that process. The cultivation of a personality-cult for the stability of a newly-independent state does not deserve serious consideration. Tamuno was assessing political leadership in post-independence Africa. He argued that the experience of West Africa suggested that relying on a personality cult was not a sound basis for maintaining the stability of a newly independent state. The point is: wise statesmanship on the part of leaders would have emphasized the issues that unite without loosing sight of the problem of how to resolve important differences Tamuno was discussing the political and cultural differences among Nigeria's communities. He argued that leadership should emphasize common interests while addressing significant differences. The Nigerians who fought for and won independence wanted the new rulers to undertake economic development and social welfare programmes more vigorously than their British counterparts. Tamuno was discussing the expectations Nigerians had after independence. He noted that political independence was expected to lead to economic development and improvements in social welfare. These Nigerians regarded independence not as an end in itself but as a means to an end: the improvement of the quality of life. Tamuno was explaining that independence was viewed by many Nigerians as a means of achieving broader social and economic improvements rather than as an objective in itself. Enlightened leadership could have minimized the force of the centrifugal factors in Nigeria's development as a modern state. Tamuno was examining the problems of nation-building after independence and the role that political leadership could have played in reducing forces that encouraged division within Nigeria. In post-independence Nigeria, as elsewhere in Africa the charismatic leadership of the advocates of de-colonization failed to ensure the stability of the newly-emergent state. Tamuno was assessing political leadership in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa after independence. He argued that charismatic leadership associated with the anti-colonial struggle did not by itself guarantee political stability. The principal sources of public frustration in the post-1951 regional and federal elections had a major impact on Nigerian history generally, more so as they took place at a time when the amount of power at stake at the regional and federal levels steadily increased. Tamuno was examining the relationship between electoral politics, public frustration and the later political crisis in Nigeria. He linked the growing stakes of regional and federal elections with increasing political tensions. Elections, if responsibly conducted by the constitutionally recognized umpires and participants, could provide a means of securing and maintaining the legitimacy of governments. Tamuno was discussing the role of elections in a democratic political system and argued that properly conducted elections could provide governments with legitimacy. Intimidation and election-rigging tended however to prevent the free expression of the electorate in the choice of their leaders. Tamuno was discussing problems surrounding Nigerian elections between 1951 and 1965 and their effects on the electorate's ability to choose political leaders. External links Category:1932 births Category:2015 deaths Category:Educators from Nigeria Category:Authors from Nigeria Category:Historians from Nigeria