Mary Aderonke Afolabi-Adeolu

PhD Researcher

Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies
Room 2.009
Niebuhrstraße 5
D-53113 Bonn
Phone: +49 228 73 62454
mafolabi@uni-bonn.de

Supervisors: Dr. Jutta Wimmler, Prof. Dr. Marion Gymnich, Prof. Dr. Femi Kolapo (University of Guelph, Canada)
 
Member of 
Afolabi-Adeolu_BFro_001_a.JPG
© Barbara Frommann

Research Profile

Dealings of Providence?

Slavery and Asymmetrical Dependency in Selected Nineteenth Century Narratives of Recaptured West Africans

My research explores the life-writings of formerly enslaved West Africans who were brought to and resettled in the British colony of Sierra Leone from the early to late nineteenth century within the context of British campaign of ending slave trade. The involvement and partnership of the Church Missionary Society with the British colonial government in Sierra Leone resulted in the establishment of mission schools in Freetown and the education of the newly liberated individuals.  As most of them became educated in these schools with many proceeding to become missionaries, evangelists and catechists, it became necessary to document their stories of enslavement, freedom and conversion to Christianity as demanded by CMS headquarters.  Through a close reading of these narratives as written by themselves or dictated to others, I intend to examine how these West Africans understood their experiences of slavery, and how ideas of freedom emerged in their accounts.  My research provides fresh insights into the genre of the ‘slave narrative’ which has so far primarily been explored from the perspective of African- American enslaved persons while silence remains on those West African captives who despite remaining on the continent, were displaced within Africa.

since 2021   
Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies, Bonn, Germany.

2008–2010
National Teachers Institute, (N.T.I), Kaduna, Kaduna State, Nigeria.

2004–2006
University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.

1997–2002
Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria.

1996–1999
Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria.

1991–1996
Demonstration Secondary School, A.B.U. Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria.

1984–1990
A.B.U. Zaria Staff School, BZ Annex, Nigeria

2010
Post Graduate Diploma in Education                                                                      

2006
Master of Arts (M.A.) History

2002
Bachelor of Arts (B.A. Hons) History, Second Class (Lower Division)       

1999
Diploma in Computer Science, Upper Credit                                    

1996
Senior School Certificate                                                                                        

1990
First School Leaving Certificate                                                                             

2014–2016
Veritas University, (The Catholic University of Nigeria), Bwari, Abuja, Nigeria. (Assistant Lecturer in the Department of History & International Relations)

Courses Taught:

  • African Diaspora Studies (Undergraduate)
  • Nation Building in Africa (Undergraduate)
  • Tradition and Modernity in Africa (Undergraduate)
  • Middle East since 1917 (Undergraduate)
  • Historical Research Methods (Undergraduate)
  • Introduction to the Humanities (Undergraduate)
  • United Nations and Peace keeping (Masters)
  • International Organisations and the New World Order (Masters)

 

2008–2014
Zamani College, No.1, Waziri Maccido Rd, Malali, P.M.B. 7399 Kaduna, Kaduna State, Nigeria. (Taught the subjects: History, Government & Civic Education).

2008
Prudence International School, No.1C, Ghana Road, Malali, Kaduna, Kaduna State, Nigeria. (Taught English Language, Social Studies, and Citizenship Education).

2002–2003:
Government Girls Secondary School, Harbour Road, Port-Harcourt, Rivers State. Nigeria
(National Youth Service Corp Primary Assignment, Taught Social Studies and History).

  • Slavery and Dependency: New Perspectives on Heritage and German Global History, 2022.  International Conference Organised by the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies, University of Bonn, Germany, July 6–8, 2022.
  • Globalisation, Sovereignty and the Role of the Humanities in the 21st Century Africa, 2018 International Conference Organised by Faculty of Arts and Arewa House, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, July 2–5, 2018.
  • The Toyin Falola @ 65 Conference: African Knowledges and Alternative Futures, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, January 29–31, 2018.
  • 60th Annual Conference of Historical Society of Nigeria (HSN) Historical Society of Nigeria at 60: The National Experience, Department of History and Diplomatic Studies, University of Abuja, October 11–14, 2015. 
  • 2nd Keffi International Conference on Africa’s Indigenous Science and Knowledge Systems, Department of History, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, October 24–27, 2006.
  • "Historical Society of Nigeria at 50: Reflections on the Discipline," Department of History, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, October 16–19, 2005.
  • First National Conference on Inter Group Relations in Nigeria in the 20th Century, Department of History, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nigeria, June 8–11, 2005.
  • National Universities Commission (NUC) Stakeholders Workshop on Curriculum Review for University Education in Nigeria, April 23–27, 2001.
  • "Knowledge and Colonialism: The Power of Prefaces, Letters and Appendices in the Journals of Nineteenth Century Niger Expeditions." Paper presented at the International Conference: "Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Colonial Correspondences," 11–14 April 2023, University of Bayreuth.
  • "Shifting Values: Exploring African Feminist Epistemes in Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi's The First Woman." Paper presented at the Historical Fictions Research Conference, February 18, 2023, online.
  • "Reclaiming the Muted Voices in German Colonial East Africa through Historical Fiction: An Examination of Asymmetrical Dependency between the German Colonial Army and the Askari in Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Afterlives," a paper presented at the International Conference Organised by the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies, University of Bonn, Germany, July 6–8, 2022, on the theme, Slavery and Dependency: New Perspectives on Heritage and German Global History.
  • "Introducing and Emphasising Digital Humanities as a new Sub-Discipline to African Universities," a paper presented at the 2018 International Conference Organised by Faculty of Arts and Arewa House, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, July 2–5, 2018 on the theme "Globalisation, Sovereignty and the Role of the Humanities in the 21st Century Africa."
  • "Ethnicity, Fluid Identities and Nation Building in 19th Century Lagos, Nigeria," a paper presented at The Toyin Falola @ 65 Conference: African Knowledges and Alternative Futures, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, January 29–31, 2018.
  • "History Education for Self-Sustenance," a paper presented at the 60th Annual Conference of the Historical Society of Nigeria (HSN), Oct. 12, 2015
  • "Conceptualising Issues Related to Science and African Indigenous Knowledge Systems," a paper presented at the 2nd Keffi International Conference on Africa’s Indigenous Science and Knowledge Systems, Department of History, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, October 24–27, 2006.
  • "Inter Group Relations in the 20th Century Nigeria: A Historical Survey," a paper presented at the First National Conference on Inter Group Relations in Nigeria in the 20th Century, Department of History, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, June 8–11, 2005.

Book Chapters

  • 2021. "Ethnicity and Fluid Identities in Nineteenth-Century Lagos." In Identities, Histories, and Values in Postcolonial Nigeria, edited by A. Afolayan. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.
  • 2019. With A. Tor. "The Arab Spring and Its Legacies: A Preview into What the Future Holds for the Arab World" In Democracy in Nigeria – A Reader, edited by T. Wuam et al. Makurdi: Aboki Publishers.
  • 2018. "The History of and Transformation of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 1955–2017." In Advocacy for History, A Festschrift in Honour of Prof. C. B. N. Ogbogbo, edited by P. Afaha. Abuja: Command Publishers.
  • 2017. With Barbara A. Moss. "'Truth' in Films about the Rwandan Genocide." In The History of Genocide in Cinema – Atrocities on Screen, edited by J. C. Friedman and W. L. Hewitt. London: I.B. Taurus.
  • 2010. "Book of Enoch." In Milestone Documents of World Religions: Exploring Traditions of Faith through Primary Sources, edited by David M. Fahey. Dallas: Schlager Group.
  • 2006. "Inter Group Relations in the 20th Century Nigeria: A Historical Survey:" In Inter Group Relations in Nigeria in the 19th and 20th Century, edited by O. Akinwumi, Okpeh Okpeh, and J.D. Gwamna. Makurdi: Aboki Publishers.  

Journal Articles

  • 2015. With Chinyere S. Ecoma and Lequome E. Ecoma. "Women and Development in Post-colonial Nigeria, 1960–2010." In VUNA Journal of History & International Relations, A Peer Reviewed Journal, A Biannual Publication of the Department of History and International Relations, Veritas University (The Catholic University of Nigeria). Abuja. 
  • 2015. With Chinyere S. Ecoma. "An Assessment of ECOWAS and UN Joint Peace Keeping Operations in the West African Sub-Region: 1990–2003." In VUNA Journal of History & International Relations, A Peer Reviewed Journal, A Biannual Publication of the Department of History and International Relations, Veritas University (The Catholic University of Nigeria), Abuja.

 Encyclopaedia Entries

  • 2013. "The Concept of a 'Third' World," "Wole Soyinka: Towards a Sustainable Development (1996)," "Bible: Matthew (100);" "W.E.B. Du Bois: An Appeal to the World (1947)," and "Jim Crow (1832)." 
  • 2008. "Italian Colonies in Africa," and "Okri, Ben." In Encyclopedia of Blacks in European History and Culture, edited by Eric Martone. Greenwood Publishers.

Book Review

  • 2024. "The Gift: How Objects of Prestige Shaped the Atlantic Slave Trade and Colonialism, by Ana Lucia Araujo." In Journal of Global Slavery 9(1–2), 259–61.
  • 2022. "Review of Richard Peter Anderson, Abolition in Sierra Leone. Re-building lives and identities in nineteenth-century West Africa, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2020." In sehepunkte 22(10). Open access

Blog Post

  • 2023. "The World of Colonial Letters." Dependency Blog. Open access