For some of Swai's papers you may check with the History Department ABU Zaria, part of the collection in the History department Seminar series. I think he wrote a paper on "Marx, Marxism and the Third World" for the Marx and Africa conference in Zaria, 1983; Another paper on Historians and Africanist History( Different with the book he co-authored with Temu), probably another one on Objectivity in History ( not too sure about this) You may also check with the History Department at Uthman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto.
On Friday, 15 January 2016, 15:14, "Mbogoni, Lawrence" <Mbogonil@wpunj.edu> wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
I had the privilege of being taught by Dr. Swai in my third year as an undergrad in 1977 in a course that required writing a senior paper. By his guidance and persistent criticism from a materialist viewpoint of history I was able to turn in a paper that apparently impressed him to want me to join the History Department at UDSM. After two years of teaching at Galanos secondary school, one afternoon Dr. Swai called me and asked if I was ready to join the department as a tutorial assistant. I accepted his offer and joined the department in January 1980. As a mentor and a colleague, Dr. Swai contributed greatly to what I have turned out to be academically. In the course of teaching together before I left Dar for the USA and he left for Zaria we became very close friends. As Malami says, he was indeed a quiet and gentle scholar.
As for his papers, some ought to be available in the East Africana Section of the Library at UDSM. I know he presented numerous papers as part of the History Department Seminar program. These were at the time bound and catalogued by the East Africana Section.
May his soul rest in eternal peace.
Lawrence Mbogoni
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com]
Sent: Friday, January 15, 2016 3:15 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Where are the papers of Bonaventure Swai?
Sent: Friday, January 15, 2016 3:15 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Where are the papers of Bonaventure Swai?
Dr OM
How sad and ironic for Prof Swai's move to 'that provincial Saharan outpost' to lead to alcoholism! To be fair to my hometown, Swai's sobriety was few and far between. The two memories I have of him as a lowly GA at UDUS was his 'my friend' catchphrase, and the warning for drinkers to obey traffic rules when sober, so that going home after a 'pub crawl' will be a safe affair! A quiet and gentle scholar, no doubt!
Malami
Prof Malami Buba
Department of English Language & Linguistics
Sokoto State University
PMB 2134, Birnin-Kebbi Rd,
Sokoto, NIGERIA
On 15 Jan 2016, at 11:18, Obadiah Mailafia <obmailafia@gmail.com> wrote:
Happy Happy New Year everyone!Ndugu Bonaventure Swai was one of the most profound thinkers of his generation in the philosophy of the historical sciences. As a student of Ahmadu Bello University and later Assistant Lecturer, I remember Swai as relatively younger but serious scholar in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences as it then was. For some reason, there were a few bookworms that featured prominently in the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Library. The library would always close with us at 11pm. One of them was Swai. Another was the great historian Mahmud Tukur, who died young. Believe it or not, one chemist was a constant presence in the social sciences section of the library. And that person was none other than the rather shy Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, who later became President of our great Federal Republic, a everybody knows.Swai was a quiet and self-effacing character. But he was a thinker and scholar of great moral force. Swai's work and interests were mainly in the area of historiography and the philosophy of history. I do not think he was a lesser historian because of that orientation. There are historians who are mainly story-tellers. There are others who are mainly philosophers. The greatest are those who combine both, from Herodotus and Thucydide to R. G. Collingwood, Geoffrey Barraclough, Eric Hobsbawm, Arnold Toynbee and Toyin Falola. The fact that Ndugu Swai concentrated mostly on historiography and philosophy of history should never be held against him. I was privileged to sit respectfully in their company in the University Staff Club where I drank from their fountain of wisdom. The older scholar, Arnold J. Temu, was a benign influence. Sadly, it was rumoured that when Swai moved to Sokoto he was rather unhappy in that provincial Saharan outpost, eventually succumbing to alcohol. Without engaging in stereotypes, we West Africans would tend to be baffled by the drinking habits of Eastern and Southern Africans. It would seem that we drink to socialise, but they seem to socialize in order to drink. Forgive me!My own study of history never passed A'Levels, but for reasons I cannot fathom, I have made it a point to read all of the most serious historians of the world from Michelet to Braudel and Lord Conrad Russell. I never believe that anyone could be a good public finance specialist or statesman without a profound knowledge of history.Swai belonged to a thriving community of exile Southern and Eastern African scholars at ABU in those good old days, which included people such as A. J. Temu earlier mentioned; economist John Sangwueme and political scientist Lloyd Mambo Sachikonye, both of Zimbabwe; political scientist Okello Oculi and medical sociologist Mukanga Tibenderana both from Uganda and novelist/literary scholar Njabulo Ndebele from South Africa. Together with a glitterati of scholars from other African countries and from the Caribbean, the United States, Australia and even Poland, Ahmadu Bello University was a truly cosmopolitan community of scholars. We had the best and we knew it!OMOn Thu, Jan 14, 2016 at 9:39 PM, 'Chambi Chachage' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:IB, that was a quote from Monday Yakiban Mangvwat's (2013) book. I did not know Swai personally. But his 'radical' colleagues in Tanzania regarded him highly. The same applies to some readers in Nigeria and elsewhere such as this:"Swai was another of our unsung heroes who was not given sufficient recognition by his alma mater, UDSM" - Former Colleague
From: "ibdullah@gmail.com" <ibdullah@gmail.com>
To: "usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2016 11:06 PM
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Where are the papers of Bonaventure Swai?Swai left Nigeria without looking back! He was not too happy in Sokoto. When he trooped back to East Africa that was it. He had no friends that he stayed in contact with. Not even Arnold Temu, my teacher at ABU, and my Dean at UWC, South Africa, was in contact with Swai after he departed Nigeria.Hope this helps. The claim in your posting about his radicalism is overrated; Swai did not get pass Althuser and Corrigan. Before he even left ABU he had seemingly reached the end of intellectual journey with constant repetition and citations unconnected with history as lived experienced. The book you cited--Historians and Africanist History--contains all the pitfalls of his evolving notion of the African pasts. He was not into empirical research and his philosophizing, if one can call it that, did not add much to our understanding of the African past. Comrade Swai, was definately not Wamba, another historian philosopher with his feet squarely in Aftica.Hope this helps.Ib
From: Chambi Chachage
Sent: 14/01/2016 10:45 PM
To: USAAfricaDialogue
Cc: Wanazuoni
Subject: Where are the papers of Bonaventure Swai?Dear Professor Falola et al.,By any chance did Bonaventure Swai (described below) deposit his papers in Nigeria or elsewhere?"Closely related to Professor Temu was another Tanzanian Professor with whom I became closely associated. He was Professor Bonaventure Swai, a younger and more intellectually restless scholar whose Ph.D. thesis was supervised by the same Temu back at the University of Tanzania, Dar es Salam. He had joined the history department at A. B. U. on the encouragement of his teacher who had recommended him to the Head of Department. He was excessively critical and tore apart almost every argument I was putting forward until Temu would calm both of us down. Professor Swai was uniquely well-read and knowledgeable but highly critical and impatient with any scholar who could not keep pace with his thinking. Together with Temu, they authored the famous book, Historians and Africanist History: A Critique published by Zed Publishers, London, 1981, while they were still in Zaria. Swai eventually left Zaria for the Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto, and finally left Nigeria for the University of Uganda, Gulu, where he took ill and passed on; may his soul rest in perfect peace. I will never forget him" - http://www.cap-press.com/pdf/08476.pdfBest Regards,Chambi--
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