Description
How well do western informed theoretical frameworks objectively explain phenomenon in African history. This study argues that by relying on Western notions to explain certain practices, African historical narratives risk being stripped of their cultural depth and reinterpreted through an ill-fitting lens. Drawing from the Afikpo experience, the paper will show that Western theories on the evolution of policing often fail to capture the nuanced, communal, and spiritual dimensions of policing. In Afikpo historiography, events are often interpreted not through a strict chronological order or empirical causation, but through relationships between ancestors, spirits, and the living, reflecting an ontology that diverges sharply from Western theoretical frameworks. For instance, policing and its instruments among the Afikpo are seen as interconnected with spiritual forces and ancestral intercessions—elements that Western theories typically marginalize or regard as "myth." The paper advocates for an Afrocentric historiographic approach that values local epistemologies and collective memory, allowing African historians to produce accounts that resonate with the lived realities and cultural logics of communities like Afikpo. The methodology for the study embodies ethnographic accounts, oral traditions, local epistemologies and archival records. This approach challenges historians to move beyond western theoretical paradigms, embracing instead the rich, context-dependent facts embedded within local African narratives.
