DISCOURSE ON SOURCES, INTERPRETATION AND WRITING OF HISTORY IN NIGERIA TODAY

Abstract

The place of sources and interpretation in historical discipline is indeed a crucial and significant one. As important as the vine or tape roots are to the survival of any plant so also is sources and interpretation to historical scholarship. This paper focuses on sources of history and the role of interpretation and writing of history in Nigeria today. The paper analyzed the various sources of history and the role of interpretation and writing of history in Nigeria. For the sources of history and interpretation in the writing of history has a direct effect on the nature, type and quality of history obtained in Nigeria. The paper identified and discusses the various sources for the writing or reconstruction of Nigerian history. Furthermore, it also looks at the role of interpretation and historical writing in Nigeria by examining the critical role and responsibility on the historian in reconstructing or writing Nigerian history. It equally, examines the impact of sources and interpretation on the writing of history in Nigeria. The paper adopts the historical-cum-library method of research which is based on secondary sources and involved descriptive collation and analysis of historical data to come out with its findings. In conclusion, the paper revealed that the sources for the writing and reconstruction of history in Nigeria are divided in to primary and secondary sources. While the primary sources comprised of oral, archaeological, linguistics, ethnographic, anthropology and geography, the secondary included written sources such as nsibidi, Arabic script, Roman script and record of British colonial administrators. Moreover, it also uncovered that the historian was the sole determinant of historical facts and interpretation in the writing of history in Nigeria and that this has impact on the development of historical scholarship in Nigeria.