My encounter with Professor Agiri -- albeit brief and long ago -- made
a lasting impression on me. This was in 1989 when he came from Unilag
to serve as our external examiner at the University of Port Harcourt.
We took turns to defend our theses before him.
I was quite impressed that he had actually read my thesis dealing with
the Nigerian Civil War, which I gleaned from the several specific
questions he asked. For his part, Dr. Agiri, as he was called then,
was also impressed by the quality of our work, but he did express
serious displeasure that virtually all of my cohort wrote on either
recent history or contemporary issues, which was one reason I, for
example, had not known about his work before that time. He treated us
with enormous respect.
Later, when I turned interest to precolonial history -- which I did
only at the Ph.D. in Canada -- I was able to read some of his
empirically grounded writings on nineteenth-century Yoruba economic
history and how highly his work was held in the field.
Yet, whenever Professor Agiri's name came up since that Port Harcourt
encounter, I have always recalled first of all his scholarly
engagement and dignified demeanor.
G. Ugo Nwokeji
Department of African American Studies
University of California, Berkeley
On 10/12/10, Funso Afolayan <fafolayan@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Thanks, Dr. Tijani, for the information. Dr. Agiri was a kind and gentle
> soul,
> an inspiring mentor and a committed scholar. His valuable contributions to
> Ogbomoso, Lagos, and Yoruba history would ensure that he would continue to
> be
> remembered for a long time to come. Those of us close to him will miss him
> most
> dearly. May his lovely and generous soul rest in perfect peace.
>
>
> Best wishes. Funso.
>
>
> Funso S. Afolayan
> Department of History,
> Horton Social Science Center
> University of New Hampshire
> 20 Academic Way
> Durham, NH 03824
>
>
> Phone: (603)862-3026
> Fax: (603)862-1502
> Email: :fsa@christa.unh.edu
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Dr. Tijani <profoye@yahoo.com>
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> Sent: Mon, October 11, 2010 10:34:32 AM
> Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Adieu Professor Babatunde Adisa Agiri
>
>
> It is with deepest sorrow but gratitude to the Lord Almighty that I announce
> the
> death of a great scholar of African history, Professor Babatunde Agiri. I
> received the sad news through Professor Adebayo Lawal this weekend and had
> confirmed with Professors Ayodeji Olukoju and Olakunle Lawal, and Dr.
> Michael
> Ogbedi.
>
>
> Professor Agiri helped shaped the career of many of us, and collaborated
> with
> many great historians such as Professors Kristin Mann, Pauline Baker, Nina
> Mba,
> Ogundeji Ogunremi, Sandra Barnes, Akinjide Osuntokun, Paul Lovejoy, Ade
> Adefuye,
> Aderibigbe, to mention a few. He was a kind teacher-scholar in all
> ramifications. I always said that I would have completed my doctoral degree
> in
> 1993 had I listened to Baba who wanted me to continue working on Mushin. He
> was
> always there for all of us, grooming us as a teacher-scholar, not just as a
> researcher. His seminar course about modern Britain, slavery in Yorubaland,
> and
> Lagos was always stimulating. At the University of Lagos where he spent most
> of
> his distinguished career, he was one of the few who saw to the completion of
> doctoral theses in a timely manner.
>
>
> Baba Agiri, as we fondly call him, was the chair of history department at
> the
> University of Lagos, Akoka, Nigeria. He also served as a professor of
> African
> history at Kalamazoo College and Norfolk State University before his call by
> the
> Lord this past weeks.
>
>
> Below is the information from Professor Adebayo Lawal about his burial.
> Please
> pray for the family and Baba Agiri as he continued his sojourn in the world
> unknown to any of us.
>
>
> He died on Tuesday 28 Sept. 2010 at 10.42pm local time after a kidney
> failure.
> Burial service is at UNILAG Chapel after the lying -in state at the Faculty
> of
> Education Auditorium, while Atan Cemetery is the final resting place- all
> on
> October 14, 2010.
>
> Adebayo A. Lawal (PhD)
> Professor of History
> Department of History and Strategic Studies
> University of Lagos
> Akoka, Lagos
> Nigeria
>
>
> *************************************
> Dr. Ibikunle H. Tijani (TJ)
> Associate Professor & Director
> Baylor in Senegal & South Africa
> Department of History
> Baylor University
> Tidwell Bible Hall
> Waco, TX 76798
> Office: 254/710-1380
> http://homepages.baylor.edu/hakeem_tijani/
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
> Dialogue
> Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
> For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
> For previous archives, visit
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>
>
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
> For current archives, visit
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> For previous archives, visit
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--
G. Ugo Nwokeji
--
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