Café Science - March 23rd : "Beyond Boko Haram : writing the History of Borno, Nigeria"

IFRA-Nigeria, in collaboration with the Alliance Française Ibadan, organised their first Café Science of 2021. The event, titled  “Beyond Boko Haram : writing History of Borno, Nigeria” was facilitated by Dr Vincent Hiribarren (director of IFRA-Nigeria). The debate was held at the Alliance Française of Ibadan, on Tuesday 23^rd of March from 6pm to 7:30pm. The event gathered about 30 people, friends and colleagues of University of Ibadan and from the Alliance Française of Ibadan.

What are the Café-Science events?

Café-Science are events co-organised regularly between IFRA-Nigeria and the Alliance Française of Ibadan. Researchers affiliated to IFRA and working on specific project in/on Nigeria will come introduce to general audience their research. The events are open to all to discuss about a specific topic on Ibadan, or Nigeria at large. The sessions aim at opening debates between researchers and the audience.

When and where ?

This café science took place on the 23rd of March, in the Alliance Francaise of Ibadan, 7th Day Adventist Road (close to Magistrate court), Iyaganku.

Discuss theme : Beyond Boko Haram : writing the History of Borno, Nigeria

In this talk, Dr Vincent Hiribarren discussed the main themes of his latest book on the history of Borno. He adressed in his presentation the question : why do we think automatically about Boko Haram when we talk about Borno? According to him, the northeastern corner of Nigeria has a much longer history and deserves to be known beyond a narrative focusing on the last 10 years of violence.

He presented different aspects of Borno's history through personnal testimonies of people he interviewed in this region between 2010 and 2018. He adressed therefore the topics of the scramble for Africa, statehood and legitimacy, education and history of militias/vigilantes.

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1. Johann Robinet and Dr. Vincent Hiribarren, respectively directors of IFRA-Nigeria and Alliance Française Ibadan, opened the session.

 2. Approximately 30 people were in the audience and listened carefully to the presentation.

3. Dr. Vincent Hiribarren presented his interview with Baba Shehu Abdul Ghani, chairman of the civilian joint task force in Maiduguri.

4. Approximately 30 people were in the audience and listened with rapt attention to the presentation.

5. The audience was very curious and several persons took the microphone to adress their questions and comments after the presentation.

6. Dr Vincent Hiribarren answered many different questions from the public.

Pictures by Tobi Akinde.