A textbook of West African History will be launched as part of the activities marking the posthumous 80th birthday lecture of Chief Adekunle Ojelabi on Sunday 21 April at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos.
The Senior Pastor of Covenant Harvest International Church, Lagos and Convener of Kunle Ojelabi Foundation disclosed this during a press briefing on Friday by his son, Pastor Dotun Ojelabi.
He explained that if his father was alive, Sunday 21 April would be his birthday and added that the late author was an educationist, a historian, philanthropist and politician.
He said the “famous and popular” Textbook of West African History which his father wrote in 1970 for secondary schools, covers between 1000AD – 1980.
“It’s one of the most profound books in the world that describes Africans the way they are. It must have taken him about a year to put the book together,” Ojelabi said.
“Everything that describes us as a people is in the book, It is something that everyone must read because we can’t sustain the future if we don’t know our history.”
He said he was happy that history is being reintroduced into the school curriculum as this will enable the youths to know more about their history and this will reduce tribal unrest.
“The book has the best content, and it’s good the presentation is happening at a time the government is trying to put history back in the curriculum.
“This is the best time to reintroduce the book to the public and school curriculum. The book was the official WAEC recommended history text for Nigeria,” he said.
Pastor Ojelabi reiterated the need for the reintroduction of history into the curriculum, he said if one does not know where he is from, he won’t know where he is going.
“It’s a principle in life, if you cannot appreciate your history, there is no future for you. If you don’t know where you are from as a nation, people or tribe, you can’t appreciate where you are going. History is legacy, that is why I am celebrating my dad’s legacy, he said.
He further stated that the book has impacted a lot of people such as Pastor Tunde Bakare who attested to it and will be a keynote speaker at the event on Sunday.
According to him Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria, will be the chairman of the event. Other notable personalities expected include the governor-elect of Lagos State, Honourable Babatunde Sanwo – Olu; the governor-elect of Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde.
Pastor Ojelabi said the book has two major reviewers, Professor Banji Akintoye, an academic, historian and writer and Professor Eghosa Osaghae, Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Ibadan and former Vice-Chancellor, Igbinedion University, Okada.
Professor Osaghae’s review states in part: ” Pa Ojelabi’s book is, as I say, timeless and evergreen. It qualifies to be regarded as one of the canonical works on West African history alongside books on the same subject by Professor Adu Boahen, Jacob Ade – Ajayi and other masters of the subject.
“The author’s insights and methodological strengths are products of the thorough education he had in Canada and the post-graduation exposures and further grounding received at periodic conferences.”