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Toyin Falola: Foremost African historian wins Lifetime Achievement Award

On Wednesday, May 31st, 2023, US-based Nigerian renowned historian, Professor Toyin Falola, was awarded the distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award by the Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS)forhis contributions to African Studies. The entire hall was full of elevation, and the side talk was that this was one of the best decisions ever made by CAAS.

CAAS is the umbrella body for scholars and practitioners dedicated to promoting the study of Africain Canada, and according to its website, the Lifetime Achievement Award is indeed the highest honourof the Association awarded to senior scholars who have been actively involved in CAAS and have retired or about to retire. In the words of Prof Nduka Otiono, President of the Association, “this esteemed accolade recognizes your exceptional contributions, unwavering dedication, and profound impact on the field of African Studies in Canada and beyond”.According to the CAAS website, the selection of Falola for this prestigious award was on the merit of three criteria: (1) a lifetime of sound scholarship, (2) accomplishments (research, teaching and mentoring awards, etc.) and (3) involvement in the activities of CAAS.The award was formally presented to him during the CAAS Annual General Meeting and Conference hosted at York University, where coincidentally, Toyin Falola had beena professor between 1990 and 1991.Prof Falola stands in the illustrious company of previous awardees, including Prof Paul Lovejoy.The CAAS Distinguished Lifetime Award was the first awarded to a scholar in over five years.

Toyin Falola is a professor of Historyat the University of Texas at Austin, where he holds the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities. He was also previously The Frances Higginbotham Nalle Centennial Professor in History, a position he held from 1995 to 2012.His research is focused on African History since the nineteenth century, African Diaspora, Epistemologies, Theories and Methodologies. Professor Toyin Falola’s contributions to the field of African Studiesand African History have continued to place Africa on the map of global recognition.Not only is Falola’s scholarship recognized globally, but he is also dedicated to mentoring a new generation of young and emerging scholars in the social sciences, arts and humanities. He also convenes the Annual Africa Conference, a platform for knowledge exchange between scholars from Africa and the diaspora. I had the honour of attending the Africa Conference in 2012, where Falolagenerously accommodatedme in his house after the conference along with other guests from Africa. As a postgraduate student attending the conference from South Africa, thisshort period of interaction would eventually shape my resolve to aspire to greater heights within the academic space.

In 1981, Prof Falolafinished his doctorate in Historyfrom the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), where he completed his thesis on “The Political Economy of Ibadan, c.1830-1900.” Remarkably, more than 40 years after his first PhD, professor Falola earned a D.Litt in African Studies from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, in2020.Professor Falolareceives 16 honorary doctorates and over 40-lifetime awards from several universities and countries. A brief list includesMonmouth University(2007),City University of New York (2013),Lincoln University (2015),University of Jos (2015), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (2018), Redeemer’s University, Nigeria (2017) Federal University, Lokoja(2021)among others.Falolahas also previously been appointed to several distinguished honours, honorary professorships and visiting fellowships at various universities, including the University of Cape Town, South Africa, Centre forAfrican Studies (2018-2022), Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for African Studies, National Open University, Abuja (2019-2021), Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of the South, Library of Congress (2016), PontifíciaUniversidadeCatólica De São Paulo, Brazil (2007); Humanities Research Council, Australian National University in 1995.

Interestingly, Falola helped organize the CAAS conference at York Universityin 1991, where he started his career in North America. He had also previously delivered a keynote address at the CAAS Conference 1991 and again at the just concluded 2023 CAAS conference. In over 40 yearssince he left Canada for the US, Falola has continued to make an impact on the Canadian and the North American academic landscape in generalthrough his invaluable contribution to CAAS, serving as external examiner to major Canadian universities, including Queen’s University, York University, Trent University, Dalhousie University and the University ofToronto, helping to shape the academic depth of the African Studies programs in Canada and beinga mentor to Canada-based Africanist scholars. Notably,Falola has supervised over 100 Master’s thesis and Doctoral dissertations in History and African Studies and examined countless theses and dissertations. CAAS also acknowledges and recognizesFalola’sinvaluable contribution as a reviewer for the Canadian Journal of African Studies and his longstanding role as a member of the editorial board of the Harriet Tubman Series on the African Diaspora at York University.

Given his excellent and distinguished scholarship and its impact across disciplines, it is not surprising that this is not the first such prestigious lifetime award that Prof Falola has received. Some of his previous awards include the Distinguished Africanist Award in 2011 by the African Studies Association (ASA), which is the largestglobalAssociation by scholars of Africa, Nigeria’s highest National Merit Award – Member of Order of the Niger (MON) awarded by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022, Award of Excellence in recognition of support of tertiary education by Lagos State University in August 2022, Distinguished Award for Intellectual Contributions to Knowledge and Scholarship, University of Abuja, Nigeria(July 2021), Distinguished Award for Scholarship and Mentorship, Babcock University, (June 2021), Distinguished Africana Award,University of North Carolina, Charlotte (April 2011) among many others.

Severalcelebratory legaciesand honours have also been named in recognition of Falola’s exemplarycontribution and scholarship to African Studies. Onesuch honouris the ToyinFalola Annual Conference on Africa and the African Diaspora (TOFAC),inaugurated in 2011 by the University of Ibadan Cultural Group (ICSG). TOFAC is a huge annual conference convened in an African university on different themes.Also, the Toyin Falola Book Award is administered by the Association of Global South Studies for the best book on Africa.Lunaris Review also awards the Toyin Falola Literary Prize, named after himforhis contributions to advancing African cultures, people, and histories.Falola is also Series Editor for at least a dozen monographs and Encyclopaediasand has served on several Book Prize Committees.

Professor Falolahasalso led majoracademic associations,includingas President of theAfrican Studies Association (2014-2015) and the Nigerian Studies Association (2005-2007). Hehas also received several traditional titles, includingthe Bobagbimo of Ugboland in 2014, the Agbakin of Kusela-Ibadan in 2022 and NiiKpaniAshaabla 1 ofAdabrakaOtukpaiPalace, Accra, Ghana, among others.

Receiving the Award at the ceremony held to round off the CAAS conference, Falola expressed his gratitude to the Board and Members of the Association, seeing the recognition as a responsibility to continue to do more to extend the frontiers of African epistemic traditions. Falolalauds the Association for leading the intellectual path for the advancement of African Studies globally through the creation of opportunities for critical debates, research engagements, knowledge exchange and interactive space between academia, government and other non-state actors to drive policies and a commitment to ensuring that the systemic issues that African and Africans face are confronted through meaningful scholarship.

Professor Falola is today honoured because he’s been a solid and unforgettable part of CAAS’s contribution to African Studies. Prof Falola is humble to the core,and there’s a lot that old and new scholars in the field can learn from his humanity, simplicity and sincere concern for the academic well-being of everyone.