Akinjide Osuntokun
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Akinjide Osuntokun | |
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| Born | 26 April 1942 Ilawe, Ekiti State, Nigeria |
| Education | University of Ibadan (BA) Dalhousie University (PhD) |
| Occupations | Historian, academic, diplomat |
| Known for | Nigerian Ambassador to Germany (1991–1995); Professor Emeritus of History |
| Spouse | Abiodun Osuntokun (m. 1969; died 2003) |
| Children | 4 |
| Awards | Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) |
Akinjide Osuntokun (born 26 April 1942), commonly known as Jide Osuntokun, is a Nigerian historian, academic and diplomat.[1] He is Professor Emeritus of History and International Relations at the University of Lagos and at Redeemer's University,[2] and served as Nigeria's first Ambassador to the unified Federal Republic of Germany from 1991 to 1995.[1] He is an Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON).[3]
Early life and education
Osuntokun was born in Ilawe-Ekiti on 26 April 1942.[4] His elder brothers included the neurologist Kayode Osuntokun.[4] He attended Christ's School, Ado Ekiti and Ibadan Grammar School,[4] then studied history at the University of Ibadan, graduating in 1966.[3] He undertook further study at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris, and the University of Hamburg,[5] and received his PhD in history from Dalhousie University in Canada in 1970, with a thesis on Nigeria in the First World War.[6]
Career
Academia
Osuntokun began his academic career as an assistant lecturer at the University of Western Ontario, and subsequently taught at the University of the West Indies, the University of Ibadan and the University of Maiduguri, where he became a professor of history.[5] He was later a professor at the University of Lagos for about two decades until his retirement in 2005, and helped establish the Department of History and International Relations at Redeemer's University.[2] He was appointed Professor Emeritus at the University of Lagos in 2012 and at Redeemer's University in 2017.[2]
He served as Director of the Nigeria Universities Commission offices in Washington, D.C. and Ottawa in the 1970s,[1] and as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of Ekiti State University, where he oversaw the merger of three state universities into a single institution.[7]
He has served as president of the Historical Society of Nigeria and of the Nigerian Society of International Affairs.[5]
Public service and diplomacy
Osuntokun was Special Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, General Ike Nwachukwu, from 1988 to 1991.[1] He was then appointed Nigeria's first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the reunified Federal Republic of Germany, serving from 1991 to 1995.[1] Following the annulment of the 12 June 1993 election, his sympathy with the pro-democracy opposition earned him the label of the "NADECO Ambassador", and he was recalled in 1995.[3] In February 1998, during the Sani Abacha regime, he was arrested on his return from Canada and detained without trial at the Apapa military detention centre for several months.[3]
After Nigeria's return to civilian rule, he served from 1999 to 2015 as an honorary presidential adviser on international affairs alongside Chief Emeka Anyaoku, and was a member of Nigeria's delegation to the United Nations General Assembly seven times between 1988 and 2012.[8]
Selected publications
Awards and honours
Osuntokun is an Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters and a Fellow of the Historical Society of Nigeria.[5] A festschrift, Africa and the Challenge of Underdevelopment, was published in his honour in December 2022 to celebrate his 80th birthday year.[2]
Personal life
Osuntokun married Abiodun Adekoya in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1969; they had four children. She died in 2003.[4]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Akinjide Osuntokun". Commonwealth Oral History Project. Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 "Outpour of Glowing Tributes as Emeritus Professor of History & International Relations, Akinjide Osuntokun Celebrates 80th Birthday". University of Lagos. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Osuntokun: Noble academic and patriot". The Nation. 15 November 2025. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Falola, Toyin (23 April 2022). "Professor Akinjide Osuntokun at 80: The Tour De Force Life". Nigerian Tribune. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 "Emeritus Professor Akinjide Osuntokun, OON". Hallmarks of Labour Foundation. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
- ↑ Falola, Toyin (10 November 2024). "Professor Jide Osuntokun: A Life of Service and Legacy". Toyin Falola Network. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
- ↑ "Osuntokun: A Professor and Gentleman at 70". Ekiti State Government. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
- ↑ "Emeritus Professor Akinjide Osuntokun". DAWN Commission. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
- ↑ Pallinder, Agneta (1981). "Nigeria and the Great War – Nigeria in the First World War. By Akinjide Osuntokun". The Journal of African History. 22 (1). Retrieved 11 October 2025.
Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:Nigerian historians Category:Academic staff of the University of Lagos Category:Ambassadors of Nigeria to Germany Category:University of Ibadan alumni Category:Dalhousie University alumni Category:Officers of the Order of the Niger Category:People from Ekiti State Category:Fellows of the Nigerian Academy of Letters