Two Nigeria Professors Win About £900,000 British Academy Awards Each

Two Nigerian schorlars, Professor Olutayo Adesina and Professor Abubakar Sule Sani emerged winners of the United Kingdom’s Global Professorship awards.

The two Professors were among the eight recipients of the 2023/2024 British Academy Awards cohort award by The British Academy.

Olutayo Adesina, is a professor of history in the Department of History and former
director of the Centre for General
Studies at the University of Ibadan, was awarded £879,117 grant. While Abubakar Sule Sani, a professor and former head of the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studied at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was given £892,037.31 grant.

They will conduct their research at the University of Manchester and the University of East Anglia respectively.

The academy disclosed that the Global
Professorship scheme is aimed at fostering collaboration between international researchers and universities in the UK on new and cutting-edge research projects.

Professor Adesina (GP23\100046) was recognised for the £879,117 British Academy Awards with his project, “The Town And Gown Interface: Ibadan And The Decolonisation Of Social Knowledge In The 20th Century, University of Manchester. While Professor Abubakar Sule Sani (GP23Professor Abubakar Sule Sani (GP23\100008) of the University of East Anglia is exploring “Looking Forward, Looking Back: Past and Present West African Communities Revealed through Museum Collections”.

The Nigerian Professors were announced as one of the eight new Global Professorships by the British Academy for 2023-2024 in a release dated 11 April, 2024.

As contained in the release, the latest cohort of Global Professors will undertake research project on a range of diverse issues.

These included the development of novel food system models to benefit society and the exploration of West African communities’ history through museum collections.

The 2023-24 Global Professorships awardees were arranged alphabetically by surname of the grant recipient. The institution is that given at the time of application.

The project by Professor Adesina identified that “In the 1950s, the University College Ibadan (UCI) became the epicentre of a historiographical revolution that directly shaped the evolution and growth of the Nigerian nation-state.”

Professor Adesina wrote that the historical UCI became “a movement that became an early instance of the decolonisation of knowledge.”

“How did the academic, social, intellectual, and political beacon at UCI address the concerns and realities of ordinary people?

“To what extent was the work of academic historians and social scientists at UCI shaped by indigenous, vernacular epistemologies?,” the eminent historian asked.

The project identified the city of Ibadan as having its own, rich and distinctive, cultural and intellectual identity.

“This project studies, for the first time, the interplay of nationalist historiography, academic social science, and vernacular knowledge as mutually constitutive social epistemologies.

The project combines a close study of key works in history and related disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, ethnomusicology, language and literature with extensive interviews and fieldwork in the city of Ibadan, South-West Nigeria,” Professor Adesina added.

Professor Abubakar Sule Sani wrote: “My vision for this Global Professorship is an innovative programme of research that will invigorate academic collaborations between the UK and Nigeria/West Africa and become a model for future engagement based on trust, co-production of knowledge and intellectual integrity.

“I aim to achieve this by combining archaeology, museum practice and stakeholder engagement to study large and under-researched collections from key Nigerian sites, drawing on archaeological, ethnographic and archival data held in British and Nigerian museums.

“This research will bring new understandings of African history, and of UK/Nigerian research histories, through academic outputs, online resources, exhibitions and outreach in the UK and Nigeria.”

The six other winners of the 2023/2024 British Academy Awards included: Professor Tetyana Antsupova (GP23The seven other winners of the 2023/2024 British Academy Awards included: Professor Tetyana Antsupova (GP23\100072) of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL)00072) of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL).

Professor Antsupova’s project, “The Dynamics of the Judiciary in Ukraine in the Context of the Rule of Law and the EU Accession Aspirations”, earned him £895,422.09.

Professor Paul Behrens (GP23Professor Paul Behrens (GP23\100134) of the University of Oxford earned £897,568.32 with his project, “Rapid Food System Transformations In A Rapidly Changing World”00134) of the University of Oxford earned £897,568.32 with his project, “Rapid Food System Transformations In A Rapidly Changing World.”

Professor Sandrine Berges (GP23\100202) of the University of York earned £868,767.63 with his work, “Finding Diversity in Enlightenment’s Philosophy’s Attitude to Abolitionism”.

The project by Professor Karine Chemla (GP23The project by Professor Karine Chemla (GP23\100312) of University of Edinburgh, “Rethinking The History Of Mathematical Symbolism”, won £899,337.0000312) of University of Edinburgh, “Rethinking The History Of Mathematical Symbolism”, won £899,337.00.

Professor Saloumeh Gholami (GP23Professor Saloumeh Gholami (GP23\100049), of the University of Cambridge won £875,667.20 with his project, “Persisting Through Change: A Study Of Oral Literature And Cultural Interaction In The Zoroastrian Community”00049), of the University of Cambridge won £875,667.20 with his project, “Persisting Through Change: A Study Of Oral Literature And Cultural Interaction In The Zoroastrian Community.

Professor Ayelet Landau (GP23Professor Ayelet Landau (GP23\100178) of the University College London won £899,999.97 with his “Do Rhythms Coordinate Sensation And Action?”00178) of the University College London won £899,999.97 with his “Do Rhythms Coordinate Sensation And Action?

The British Academy stated that the awards listed are those for the 2023 Global Professorships Awards, adding that previous award announcements can be found on the Global Professorships past awards page.