George Kwanashie’s contributions to the development of our Institute are inestimable, and will not be forgotten. Although George was never a formal staff of the Yusufu Bala Usman Institute, this was not for our lack of trying to lure him to come and work with us. Unfortunately, his condition of health did not allow a full-time appointment after he came back to Zaria from Gombe. But he was still one of us. He gave us support in the setting up of the Institute and agreed to be an Associate.
He allowed us to pick his brains on matters that we were trying to resolve at the initial stages, particularly on setting up the archives and other issues. When it was decided to publish a collection of Bala’s papers, he proposed the general outline, selected the papers that should go into the book, gave advice on their arrangement, and proposed the appropriate name for the book and its focus. He produced the Introduction to the book by recording his thoughts which were then transcribed, since he was unable to do the physical writing due to the state of his health.
The Historian and Society, Selected Historical Writings of Yusufu Bala Usman was co-edited by him and Norma Perchonock, and was published in 2023. We felt that he was the only person who could do justice to the collection of writings by Bala, who had been his very close friend and colleague for many years. Of all of the staff of the Department of History, George was the closest to Bala; they worked together on many activities. On behalf of the Presidential Panel on Nigeria Since Independence History Project they organised the workshop which resulted in the important publication Inside Nigerian History 1950-1970: Events, Issues and Sources which they co-edited. George and Bala also co-edited Nigeria: The State of the Nation and the Way Forward.
For the myriad of students that Dr. George Kwanashie taught over the many years of his lecturing at
Ahmadu Bello University, the Federal University Lokoja and Gombe State University, they are likely to remember him as the quintessential teacher who always had time for them, whether in the classroom our outside. They will remember his dedication to scholarship, and his insistence on inculcating in them the rigours of historical methodology that was based on science, not, as he said, on “Fairy Tales”. And they will remember his deep as well as broad knowledge of history that he always sought to make comprehensible and to understand its meaning and significance. As one of his former students said: “Historian George Kwanashie was a veritable archive – you can’t write and talk history at ABU without George. You may disagree with him but his knowledge of history and historiography – what happened, where, how and when – were his forte. On these his contemporaries deferred to him”.
Part of the reason that George was such a good teacher was that he was genuinely interested in his students and gave freely of his time to help solve their problems, whether to do with their research projects or even with personal problems. In the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) at Ahmadu Bello University, George was a counsellor and father figure to any student who was having issues in their life, academic, personal, or even family issues, and were in need of a sympathetic ear. George was always there for them, as he was for all of his many friends, colleagues and even distant acquaintances. George was generous with his time, and in fact spent a good part of his life solving other peoples’ problems.
In all aspects of his life George was a silent achiever. Whatever the job at hand, George went about it systematically, without any noise or unnecessary ruckus. Aside from teaching, he played many roles in the development of Ahmadu Bello University. At various times he was the Director of Academic Planning, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic, and Manager of the ABU Bookshop, the last of which was a task close to his heart given his deep love of books. He was politically active as the first Chairman of ASUU and spent a considerable amount of time in the effort to improve the conditions of academic staff and put universities on the track of creating an outstanding academic environment. In fact, when his wife Clara was due to deliver their first child (Cici), George was at a national ASUU meeting in Lagos, so his friends stepped in to help. In the Second Republic, along with other committed intellectuals, he was politically engaged with the PRP Government of Balarabe Musa in Kaduna State when Bala Usman was serving as the Secretary to the Government, giving important advice particularly on policies and issues pertaining to ethnic and religious tolerance. Much later, after the death of Balarabe Musa, he was appointed a member of a committee chaired by Attahiru Jega, to reorganise the PRP, and spent some time and effort on this activity.
As an intellectual, he was a profound thinker, who carefully considered all aspects of an issue before suggesting a conclusion. There was no time that you could have a discussion with George and not come away with having learned something new, or having a different perspective on the issue, or seeing the subject in a new light. He was extremely modest, always giving credit to others for their ideas, and not pretending that everything he said was original thought. He believed strongly in the collective activity of knowledge production, and usually stayed out of the limelight unless he had something of significance to contribute, which was often the final word on the issue.
George had a visceral hatred for injustice in any form, particularly when it involved the more vulnerable members of society. He tells the story of an incident many years ago in a small parish in Kaduna where the parish priest asked the parishioners to donate money so that he could buy a bicycle. George and others opposed the idea as he said that most parishioners did not have bicycles, and the priest should be the same as the church members, not more privileged than they were.
George’s commitment to the unity of Nigeria was unquenchable. He demonstrated this in his writings and his comments on public issues. Of recent he indicated his fear that retrograde sectional statements and activities were leading to a situation where the integrity of the nation would be compromised, and centripetal forces would triumph. He was continually thinking of ways this could be averted, as he was fully aware of the disaster this would be for the people of Nigeria.
George Amale Kwanashie was a person who gave of himself in innumerable ways. He was generous with his time, his advice when requested, his profound scholarship, his deep understanding of historiological issues and how our history impacts the present. Above all, he gave us the example of a life led throughout while exhibiting the highest level of ethical and moral principles. George is no longer here, but all that he gave us will remain with us forever.
May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace.
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