Renowned historian, Falola bags another honourary D. Litt

The University of Lagos has conferred on renowned historian and foremost scholar, Professor Toyin Falola, the honourary Doctoral Degree of Letters (D.Litt) at the institution’s 54th convocation ceremonies.

Other honourees were Professor Attahiru Jega (former chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission); and Phyllis Kanki of the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, Boston. Prominent personalities present at the event were Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, represented by the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mammam; Shehu Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai El-Kanemi, who is the Chancellor of the university; the Vice Chancellor, Professor Folasade Ogunsola; Pastor Tunde Bakare; Acting Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Dr. Chris Maiyaki, and immediate past Vice Chancellor of UNILAG, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe.

Professor Toyin Falola is a distinguished Professor of African Studies whose scholarship transcends the boundaries of Africa to become a global icon for his revolutionary contributions to knowledge, especially in the areas of African epistemologies and African History. A wide-ranging genius, Professor Falola has exceeded the bounds of several disciplines and fields of inquiry to become a global and polymathic intellectual. He holds the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, is a Professor of History, and is a Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition, he holds three Distinguished Professorships in South Africa, and an Emeritus Professorship in a Nigerian University

Professor Falola was born on January 1, 1953, in Ibadan. At the age of 17, he decided that his career would be to teach. He began his career in education in 1970 as a teacher at the UAMC Primary School, Pahayi, Ilaro. He earned his Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in History from the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, in 1976 and earned his Ph.D. in History from the same university in 1981. From 1981 to 1989, he taught at the Obafemi Awolowo University. He joined the University of Texas at Austin as a Professor in 1991.

Falola is an excellent scholar with many years of experience and sacrifices that have made him a global phenomenon. He has either been a professor, fellow, or researcher, and held many academic positions at so many institutions across the world. Some of these positions include the Frances Higginbotham Nalle Centennial Professor in History from 1995 to 2012; Professor of African History, University of Texas at Austin, 1991 to 1995; Professor at York University, Ontario, Canada, from 1990 to 1991; Senior Researcher at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in 1989; Smuts Fellow at the University of Cambridge, England from 1988 to 1989; Professor of African Studies at the University of Cape Town; a Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Pretoria, an Extraordinary Professor of Human Rights, Faculty of Law at the University of the Free State, and many others where he has been a member of the faculty or respective boards.

These services also extend to several international organisations and academic associations. For instance, he was a Professor at Pontifica Universidade Catholica De Sao Paulo, Brazil; a Carter Visiting Professor at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA; a Fellow at the Humanities Research Council, Australian National University in Australia; and Kluge Chair of the Countries of the South at the world-class Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.