Faculty of Humanities

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Browsing Faculty of Humanities by Author "Adeleke Anthonia"

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    Museums, Monuments and the Reconstruction of the Socio-Cultural Historiography of Nigeria: A Study of the National Museum, Lagos.
    (HUMANUS DISCOURSE, 2023) Adeleke Anthonia
    Recent studies indicate that the relevance of museums cannot be disconnected from the socio-cultural historiography of global development. Thus, museums and monuments have evolved into organised institutions saddled with the responsibility of preserving our heritage from one generation to the other. Available records indicate that the origin of museum can be traced to the Greek and Roman centres for the accommodation of the goddesses of art and sciences; however, the idea of organized museum became popularised with the activities of the Alexandrian Museum in 200BC in Egypt. This development is unrelated to the high-level civilisation that has been the hallmark of Africa, especially in Egypt. This museum advancement continued to blossom in Egypt, and by the 18th and 19th centuries, it had taken root in other parts of the globe. Thus, with the sweeping wave of colonialism, especially in Africa, several organised museums were established in Africa and Nigeria. Extant body of knowledge on the historiography of museum in Nigeria seems to have dwelt more on the ethnographic and archaeological perspective, almost neglecting the historical dimension. Thus, this research examines the historical development of museums in Nigeria within the context of the National Museum in Lagos. It also looks at the development of museums and monuments from Nigeria's pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial periods. This is to demonstrate the relevance of museums and monuments in the reconstruction of the socio-cultural history of the country. Data collection was based on oral interviews, articles in learned journals and books, newspapers, as well as scholarly works on the internet. The study adopts the historical analytical method in interpreting these documents. Findings from this research, apart from contributing to the existing body of literature on the history of museums in Nigeria, it demonstrates the importance of museums and monuments in the reconstruction of Nigerian history, using the case of the National Museum in Lagos.