The Headstrong Historian

In the narrative, two books are made with contrasting ideas: “The Pacification of Primitive Tribes in Southern Nigeria” and Afamefuna’s own Pacifying with Bullets: A Reclaimed History of Southern Nigeria. The books parallel each other with their repeated language (pacify, Southern Nigeria) and their topic, but their titles also highlight their fundamentally opposing ideas—a rhetorical device called antithesis. The first book justifies the presence of European colonial powers and their affiliated institutions in African territories in their mission to “civilize” what European powers considered “primitive” people for their own gain. The title itself highlights the complete disregard for the existing culture, history, and complex societies that live in Southern Nigeria and implies an arrogant perspective that seeks to subsume these societies for their own good. By contrast, the oxymoron in Afamefuna’s book title (Pacifying with Bullets) underlines the truth and violence behind this so-called “pacification” by European powers, the bloodshed that results from European oppression, and the need to take back what was stolen: their history and cultural identity.