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Jacob Festus Adeniyi Ajayi, commonly known as J. F. Ade Ajayi, (26 May 1929 – 9 August 2014) was a Nigerian historian and a member of the Ibadan school, a group of scholars interested in introducing African perspectives to African history and focusing on the internal historical forces that shaped African lives. Ade Ajayi favours the use of historical continuity more often than focusing on events only as powerful agents of change that can move the basic foundations of cultures and mould them into new ones.〔J. I. Dibua The Idol, Its Worshippers, and the Crisis of Relevance of Historical Scholarship in Nigeria, History in Africa, Vol. 24 (1997)〕 Instead, he sees many critical events in African life, sometimes as weathering episodes which still leave some parts of the core of Africans intact. He also employs a less passionate style in his works, especially in his early writings, using subtle criticism of controversial issues of the times. ==Biography== Ajayi was born in Ikole-Ekiti on 26 May 1929,〔(Professor J. F. Ade Ajayi is 80 )〕 his father was a personal assistant of the Oba of Ikole during the era of Native Authorities. He started education at St Paul's School, Ikole, at the age of five. He then proceeded to Ekiti Central School (now Christ's School Ado Ekiti) for preparation as a pupil teacher. However, after hearing from a friend about Igbobi College in Lagos, he decided to try his luck and applied. Thereafter, he gained admission into the college, and equipped with a scholarship from the Ikole Ekiti Native authority, he went to Lagos for secondary education. After completing his studies at Igbobi, he gained admission to the University of Ibadan, where he was to pick between History, Latin or English for his degree. He chose History.〔A Historian at 75, The News, 10 May 2004〕 In 1952, he travelled abroad and studied at Leicester University, under the tutelage of Professor Jack Simmons, a brilliant Oxford-trained historian. After graduation, he was a research fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, London from 1957–1958. He later returned to Nigeria and joined the history department of the University of Ibadan. In 1964, he was made Dean of Arts at the University and later promoted a deputy Vice-Chancellor. After his stint as deputy Vice-Chancellor, he was made the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos in 1972. During his tenure, several buildings were constructed and improvements were made to student accommodation. King Jaja hall was built in 1973 and extensions were made to Queen Amina and Queen Moremi halls respectively. The twilight of his career as Vice-Chancellor was a controversial one, the then Obasanjo regime had introduced some student fees to the dismay of the students, who demanded free education. Students then decided to riot, a situation which was termed Ali must go. During the protest and riots, a student named Akintunde Ojo was shot by the police. At the time his mother was rumoured to be a mistress of Obasanjo. The ensuing protest by students against the killing led opportunists to seize the situation and cause mayhem. In 1978, he was arbitrarily relieved of his position and returned to Ibadan, where he continued his effort in historical scholarship. In 1993, Ajayi was awarded the "Distinguished Africanist Award" by the African Studies Association.〔("Distinguished Africanist Award 2009" African Studies Association )〕 In 1994, he became an Honorary Fellow of SOAS.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/fellows/ )〕 On 9 August 2014, he died at the age of 85 and was buried in his native Ikole Ekiti.〔〔(Ade Ajayi, former UNILAG VC, dies at 85 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「J. F. Ade Ajayi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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