Professor Olukoya Ogen

Department of African Studies and Anthropology
Senior Honorary Research Fellow
Professor of History, Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria

Contact details

Qualifications

  • PhD. History, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos
  • M.A. History, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos
  • B.A. (Ed). History, Adeyemi College Education, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife

Biography

I am currently a Professor of History at Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria. However, I also double as a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Department of African Studies and Anthropology, University of Birmingham. The award of this 5-year (2012-2017) visiting fellowship emanated, first, from my role as the Nigerian Co-ordinator of the ‘Knowing Each Other’ ERC grant, second, my research engagements with Insa Nolte since 2009 which culminated in her own appointment by Osun State University as a Visiting Research Professor from 2012-2017, and finally, my contributions to African historical scholarship globally.

Prior to my new position at DASA, I had been a Leventis Scholar at SOAS, University of London in 2008, a British Academy Visiting Fellow at the University of Birmingham in 2009, a DASA Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow in 2010, and an American Council of Learned Societies (AHP) Postdoctoral Fellow in 2011. As the Nigerian Coordinator and Co-Investigator of the ‘Knowing Each Other’ ERC grant on ‘Everyday Religious Encounters and Social Identities in Southwest Nigeria,’ I am directly responsible for the academic, administrative and financial management of the project in Nigeria.

Research

The primary thrust of my research has been on Yoruba history and culture with particular focus on southeastern Yorubaland. Over time, I have expanded the scope of my research interests to cover other themes such as the dynamics of the slave trade in eastern Yorubaland, Yoruba socio-religious history, international economic relations-especially South-South Cooperation, African borderland studies, diasporan history, identity and migration studies, and biographical studies.

As the Nigerian Co-Ordinator and Co-Investigator of the ‘Knowing Each Other’ ERC grant on ‘Everyday Religious Encounter in Southwest Yorubaland,’ I am directly responsible for the academic, administrative and financial management of the project in Nigeria as well as the organization of local and international conferences. I also coordinate the activities of the Nigerian ERC research team of four field officers, two local gate keepers, one archivist, one translator, one teaching fellow and several consultants across southwest Nigeria. The project which began in February 2012, will run until January 2017. The study centres on the everyday lives of Yoruba Muslims, Christians and traditionalists, and it explores the way in which religious differences and encounters structure peoples' lives.

Other activities

I am the Executive Editor of African Nebula as well as an Associate Editor of Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria. I am also a reviewer for several local and international journals such as African Studies Review, Africa: Journal of the International Africa Institute, Journal of Latino-Latin American Studies, Lagos Historical Review etc

Publications

Books (Edited, Co-Edited and Short monographs)

  •  2012: Critical Perspectives on Peace, Conflict and Warfare in Africa. Ile-Ife: Obafemi Awolowo University Press, pp.i-ix, 1-442 (with Olutayo Adesina and Noah Attah) 
  •  2011: Expanding the Pantheon of our National Heroes. Manitoba: Canadian Centre for Global Studies, pp.i-xii, 1-236
  •  2011:   Studies in Entrepreneurship in Nigeria: History, Principles and Practice. College of Humanities and Culture, Osun State University, Osogbo, pp. i-x, 1-253 (ed. with T.M. Obamuyi, Mike Ogbeidi and P.O. Agbola ).
  •  2008:   Culture and Society in Nigeria: Popular Culture, Language and Inter-group Relations. Lagos: Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization, (CBAAC), pp. i-x, 1- 430 (with Tunde Babawale). Lagos: Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization, (CBAAC), pp. i-x, 1- 430 (with Tunde Babawale).
  •  2012: Ethnicity, Economy and Historical Deconstruction in the Bakassi Borderland. Saint Louis: Association of African Borderland Studies, pp.i-xi, 1-52.
  •  2003:   The Yoruba in History, Earliest Times to 1987, AAU History Series, Adekunle   Ajasin University, No.03.001, pp.i-v, 1-49 (with S.O. Arifalo).

 

Chapters in Books

  •  2012 ‘‘Mainstreaming the Contemporary Context of Historical Writing in Nigeria’’ In Saheed Aderinto and Paul Osifodunrin (eds.) The Third Wave of Historical Scholarship on Nigeria: Essays in Honour of Ayodeji Olukoju. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp.359-372.
  •  2011: “Mapping the Geography of Entrepreneurial Talents in Nigeria: Lawrence Omole and the Industrialization of Ijesaland, 1915-2008.” In Siyan Oyeweso (ed.) Ijesa Icons and the Making of Modern Nigeria. Ikire: UNIOSUN College of Humanities and Culture, pp.41-54
  •  2011: “Women, Rituals and Politics of Pre-colonial Yorubaland.” In Obioma Nnaemeka and Chima Korieh (eds.) Shaping Our Struggles: Nigerian Women in History, Culture and Development. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, pp.143-162 (with Biodun Adediran).
  •  2011:   “C.C. Adeniyi-Jones: A Forgotten National Hero, 1876-1957” In Olukoya Ogen (ed.) Expanding the Pantheon of our National Heroes, pp.65-104 (with S.O. Arifalo)., pp.65-104 (with S.O. Arifalo).
  •  2011: “Sola Akinrinade: Understanding the Nexus between Excellence in Scholarship and University Administration.” In Olukoya Ogen (ed.) Expanding the Pantheon of our National Heroes, pp.217-225.    , pp.217-225.   
  •  2011: “Mega Entrepreneurs: A Prosopographical Study of Nigerian Entrepreneurship, 1850-2000” in Olukoya Ogen, T.M. Obamuyi, Mike Ogbeidi and P.O. Agbola (eds.) Studies in Entrepreneurship in Nigeria: History, Principles and Practice. Ikire: College of Humanities and Culture, Osun State University, pp.26-58.. Ikire: College of Humanities and Culture, Osun State University, pp.26-58.
  •  2010: “Nigerian Education in Historical Perspective: A Re-appraisal.” In Michael Ogbeidi (ed.) Afe Babalola and Education in Nigeria: An Expository Analysis. Ado-Ekiti: Afe Babalola University Press, 3-30 (with Amusa Saheed Balogun).
  •  2009: “Historicising African Contributions to the Emancipation Movement: The Haitian Revolution, 1791-1805” in Tunde Babawale, et al (eds.) Teaching and Propagating African and Diaspora History and Culture. Lagos: Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization, (CBAAC), pp. 177-190.
  •  2006: "The Ethnic Factor in Contemporary Nigerian Politics: S.O. Arifalo and His Works" in Akin Alao (ed.) The Nigerian State: Language of its Politics. Ibadan: Rex Charles and Collins, pp.115-127.
  •  2005: “Shared Resources and Communal Conflicts in the Oil Mineral Producing States of Nigeria: The Ijaw-Ilaje War, 1998-1999” in R.T. Akinyele (ed.) Contemporary Issues in Boundary and Governance in Nigeria. Lagos: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, pp.91-105.
  •  2003: "Patterns of Socio-economic Growth and Development in Nigeria since 1960" in S.O. Arifalo and Gboyega Ajayi (eds.) Essays in Contemporary Nigerian History. Lagos: First Academic Publishers,pp.227-260.Lagos: First Academic Publishers,pp.227-260.

 

Articles in Learned Journals

  •  2012 ‘‘Exploring the Potential of Praise Poems for Historical Reconstruction among the Idepe-Ikale in Southeastern Yorubaland’’ History in Africa: Journal of Method Vol. 39, August 2012, pp.77-96.
  •  2011:‘The Nigerian Diaspora: Nigerian Migrants and Homeland Relations’ Turkish Journal of Politics, Vol. 2, No. 2, Winter 2011, pp. 32-48 (with Sola Akinrinade)
  •  2011: ‘Historicising and Globalising the African Environmental Condition’ Africa Insight, Vol. 41, No.3, Dec., Fall 2011, pp.99-110.
  •  2011: ‘Interrogating the Memories of Slavery and the Slave Trade among the Ikale-Yoruba: The Poverty of European Accounts and Response to Olatunji Ojo’s Critique’ Lagos Historical Review, Vol. 11, 2011, pp.113-148.
  •  2011: “South-South Cooperation and Economic Development: Realities and Challenges of Indo-Nigerian Economic Relations since 1958.” Cape Coast Journal of Humanities, Vols. 4 &5, 2011, pp.5-37 (with Sola Akinrinade).
  •  2009:   “The Slave Trade and its Abolition in the Ikale-Yoruba Country, 1650-1890”Lagos Historical Review. Vol. 9, pp.68-82. Vol. 9, pp.68-82.
  •  2008:   “Migration, Trade and Resistance in the Resource-rich Bakassi Peninsula.” Migration and Identities, No.2, 2008, pp.151-170.
  •  2008:   “Contemporary China-Nigeria Economic Relations: Chinese Imperialism or South-South Mutual Partnership?” China aktuell-Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, Vol. 37, No. 3, 2008, pp.78-102.
  •  2008:   “Globalization and De-Industrialization: South-South Neo-liberalism and the Collapse of the Nigerian Textile Industry” The Global South Vol. 2, No.2, Fall 2008, pp.159-170 (with Sola Akinrinade).
  •  2008:   “The Jukun and their Neighbours since the Pre-colonial Period” Journal of History and Diplomatic Studies, Vols. 4 & 5, 2008, pp. 187-198.
  •  2008:   “The Economic Lifeline of British Global Empire: A Reconsideration of the Historical Dynamics of the Suez Canal, 1869-1956” The Journal of International Social Research, Issue 5, Fall 2008, pp.523-533.
  •  2008:   “Proto-Nationalists or Emergent Capitalists? Jaja and Nana in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria during the Nineteenth Century” Journal of Pan African Studies, No. 7, 2008, pp.48-58 (with Kemi Rotimi).
  •  2007:   “Geography and Economy in Southwestern Nigeria: A Critique of Colonial Anthropology on the Pre-colonial Economic Geography of Ikaleland”Ife Journal of History, Vol. 4, No.2, March, pp.203-224. Vol. 4, No.2, March, pp.203-224.
  •  2007:   “The Akoko-Ikale: A Revision of Colonial Historiography on the Construction of Ethnic Identity in Southeastern Yorubaland” History in Africa: Journal of Method, Vol. 34, pp. 255-271.
  •  2007:   “The Agricultural Sector and Nigeria’s Development: Comparative Perspectives from the Brazilian Agro-Industrial Economy, 1960-1995” Nebula, Vol. 4. No.1, March, pp.184-194.
  •  2006:   “Traditional Farming and Indigenous Knowledge System in Africa: Perspective from the Ikale-Yoruba Experience” Indilinga: African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Vol.5, Issue 2, pp.157-166.
  •  2006: “The Comparative Context of Historical Writing” in AAU: African Studies Review, Vol. 5, 2006, pp.123-154.
  •  2004:   “Globalization and Nigeria’s Quest for Economic Development: A Historical Analysis” Context: Journal of Social and Cultural Studies, Vol.6, No.2, pp.42-53 (with S.O. Arifalo).
  •  2003:   “Urhobo Migrants and the Development of the Ikale Palm Oil Industry, 1960-1968” Nigerian Journal of Economic History, Nos.5 &6, pp.1-19.
  •  2001: “European Commercial Enterprise in Nigeria in the 19th Century: The Genesis of a Skewed Trading Relationship" Knowledge Review, Vol.4. No.2, pp. 25-41.