What is Public History
The success of the Public Relations marketplace in a country like Nigeria is a partial indication of the essence of Public History.If we take into consideration that Public Relations is simply an aggregate of efforts and initiatives to create a better understanding between a company and its publics.And in this realm of Public History,it is simply the offer of Historical services to family foundations,trade associations,private museums,companies and by doing the Oral History projects of eminent persons or events.
Posters:on the life of J.K.Randle in Lagos,Nigeria during the renovation of the Centre and the Cultural Day Carnival by the Lagos-Island East L.C.D.A
The Limitations of Public History
In Nigeria,there is that institutional limit on the practice areas of Public Historians due to the Acts that created the National Commission For Museums and Monuments.Both the decree and the revised act of 2004 affirmed the objectives of the agency as follows:to identify,document, preserve,manage and display to the public for education,information and entertainment the heritage of Nigeria.And to this first limit we must add the limit of geography/place of residence.Because,it is practical for budding Public Historians to seek portfolio building initiatives within their place of residence,rather than travelling to far away local government areas in search of Public History assignments.
Who is a Public Historian
By accepting the fact that the mission of the Public Historian is to offer Historical services that enable the public to have a better understanding of Historical events or themes.We must recognise,that a section of Public Historians are of the opinion that this definition is not adequate,as they consider Public History to be exclusively any Historical work,outside the circuit of academic institutions.However, these observations published by Lee Anderson and Kathy Penningroth,After a varied series of contracts in the History of Medecine,Pharmacy and Nursing,we have come to see ourselves as true Public Historians,in the Perspectives of January 1997(titled Is There Life After Graduate School, Maybe in Public History),clarified the issue of who is a Public Historian.
| PH workshop | article | article |
The Quest For A New Form of Military Partnership
Reviving the ideals of Pan Africanism
A section of African Scholars considered the recent military disengagement of France from Burkina Faso,Mali,Niger and Chad as the second phase in the decolonisation of West Africa.A premise that is debatable because the context of the 1960s is different from the political parameters of this millennium.The supporters of the idea of a second decolonisation cite the cases of Senegal and Chad without references to the decision of the French government to transform these installations into regional law enforcement and advanced defence institutions.And we must accept that the pull outs from Mali,Burkina Faso and Niger fit into the parameters of a second decolonisation if we take into consideration their status as members of the Malian Federation and close to the Pan African ideas of President Kwame Nkrumah.
A Planned and Sustained Disengagement From Ivory Coast
A training department,the unit at Bourgerie and the Port-Bouet camp were the main components of France-Ivory Coast defence partnership,tactically described as the Forces Françaises en Cote d'Ivoire.Today this is also due to the presence of 400 soldiers with training,logistics and other services:army,navy and airforce,under the command of a Colonel,who is responsible to the Chief of Army Staff in France.Elements that are subject to operational re-adjustment as president Alassane Quattara declared on December 31 2024,There will be an organised and sustained withdrawal of French troops from Port-Bouet and the base will be transferred to the armed services of the Ivory Coast. In contrast to Senegal with 250 soldiers that constitute the Elements Français au Sénégal or the French defence unit in Senegal.
The Exposé of Jean-Marie Bockel Before The Defence Affairs Commission
For a long time,the withdrawal from Chad will be an object of verbal spats between Historians.As one section of Historians will describe the withdrawal as a second decolonisation and another section will classify it as a partial disengagement:Supporters of a partial withdrawal will cite all the radio interviews given by the author of Le Pouvoir Sans Visage,related to the late President Idris Deby and the opponents of a second decolonisation will base their points on the items on the agenda of the meeting between the French minister of foreign affairs and the President of Chad before the announcement of the withdrawal of French troops.
However,the November 6,2024 presentation by Jean-Marie Bockel.Who disclosed to the members of the Defence Affairs Commission that the instruction given to his team by President Macron,was to consult with African leaders, opinion shapers and to make recommendations to the government,on how to improve the working system of the military partnership with countries listed in his mission statement:Senegal,Ivory Coast,Gabon and Chad.And replies like we have many competitors on the spot,our counterparts are capable of making the difference between our services and the services of other providers to the questions of the legislators offer ideas and hints on the changes in the relations with Francophone West Africa.
Framework | Diplomacy | Geopolitics | Politics
How Kenya And Morocco Marked The Diplomatic Agenda Of The Year 2024
The Silence of The Advocates of African Unity
Issues like the war in Ukraine and the possibility of the victory of President Donald Trump,in the US presidential election dominated public discussion in the last few months of the year 2023.At the same time,experts dissected the consequences of the war in Ukraine on EU defence and the commitment of the United States to the security of Europe.And during the first four months of the year 2024,there were no references to the Western Sahara crisis and the rise of gang violence that drawled the economy of the Republic of Haiti to a tailspin.
Kenya took the banner of International Solidarity
Again the silence of the advocates of African unity on the Haitian crisis paved the way for the emergence of the Republic of Kenya under President William Ruto as the spokesman of the continent.As the Kenyan leader,accepted the decision of the UN-led Multinational Security Mission to Haiti,by sending police officers to assist the national police of Haiti.The Republic of Kenya implemented this pledge with the arrival on the 25th of June of the first batch of officers and the second batch on the 16th of July.Immediately,the officers from the General Service and the Police Service units went into action and secured the University Hospital and the National Port,to enable the UN mission control and preserve international connection.
Unforeseen Diplomatic Crisis Favourable To France- Morocco Relations
The Wretched of the Earth published by Frantz Fanon castigated the colonial system,in post independence Algeria,memory preservation activists continued this tradition of preserving the tangibles on the years of pain and they relished the initiatives of President Macron to close these disheartening pages in the bonds between the two countries.But the hopes of anticolonialist and memory preservation activists were dashed by three unforeseen diplomatic crisis.The first diplomatic crisis can be traced to the assistance offered by the ambassador in Tunisia to a political prisoner(Amira Bouraoui,a French national,who escaped to Tunisia)while awaiting trial in Algeria.
The arrival of the political prisoner in Paris displeased Algerian policy makers,to the extent that a presidential visit programmed for May 2024 in Paris was cancelled.In July,the letter of President Macron to the King of Morocco recognising the right of the Kingdom on the issue of Western Sahara,that was largely supported by Algerian policy makers further polarised the two countries.And in November 2024,the arrest and detention of Boualem Sansal,the Franco-Algerian writer,for questioining the territorial integrity of Algeria became the third diplomatic crisis between the two countries.
Foreign policy making | France-Africa-part one | Defence |Geopolitics
The Year 2024 In French Overseas Territories
Ask any person familiar with the geography of the Pacific world,North America and the Indian Ocean,the names of territories that use the French language as the medium of communication within these zones.In the case of the Indian ocean,the person will cite the name of Mayotte,in the Pacific zone,the name of New Caledonia will come up as well as that of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon in North America.And the person will insist on the fact that Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon is closer to New Foundland in Canada,than to the rue Oudinot in Paris,the government department that came under the ministerial supervision of Manuel Valls on December 24 2024.
Flag at half-mast in Metropolitan France after the natural disaster in Mayotte
Westjet Flight To Saint-Pierre-et- Miquelon
As explained by the author of Le Pouvoir et La Vie there is a special pride at all levels to have within the territorial framework,far away territories as visitors to the annual L'Autre-Outre Mer event usually discover.And in terms of communication link between Metropolitan France and this territory,the coming into service of a flight from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Saint John's at Halifax-Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon by Westjet remained a major event on the calendar of the year 2024.The territory of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon became a French territory in 1816,uses the Euro as a medium of exchange,the French as the official language, the maritime borders of the department are under the control of the French Navy.And a Prefect acts as the chief representative of the Government in the day-to-day work of Saint Pierre-et-Miquelon.
New Caledonia:A Political Reset is Insight
A possession that is constantly in the news and one example of such highlights was the rivalry between the group in favour of links with France and the group in favour of independence from France.A division that reached its peak with the fall of the independence group in the Congress of New Caledonia on the 24th of December 2024.And by coincidence,the nomination of Manuel Valls,as the Minister of Overseas Territories,on December 24 2024 is likely to change the orientations of the territory.As the new chief executive at the rue Oudinot was a top aide in the government that worked out the New Caledonia reconciliation agreement(les accords de Matignon in 1988) and another transformative agreement in 1998.
Mayotte:Rapid Reactions to the consequences of a Cyclone
Ten days before the political shock in the Congress of the New Caledonia and the nomination of a new head of department at the rue Oudinot.The cyclone named Chido in Mayotte caused 39 deaths,wounded 5800 citizens,destroyed properties,crippled public transit and turned cars into charred and jarred metals.A disaster that mobilised the territory elected representatives, the visit of Bruno Retailleau,the Internal Affairs,Minister and a presidential visit on the 19th of December.And another visit by François Bayrou,the new head of government made observers ask this question Let us see what will happen in terms of reconstruction by the middle of the year 2025.
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