Professor Bassey Andah
B
orn in Calabar on January 6th 1942; he had his early education in different parts of Nigeria and his secondary education in the famous Government College Umuahia. He took his first degree in Ibadan under the ages of the University of London and an M Phil degree from University of London, Institute of Archaeology and his PHD in Anthropology, with specialisation in Physical Anthropology from University of California, LA. He lectured in the States, Ghana, Nigeria and carried out extensive field work in West Africa as well as participated in excavations in Europe.
Bassey Andah was the third President of WAC elected at the Congress in Delhi in 1994, and he held this position until his death in December 1997. Bassey, a Nigerian, completed his doctoral studies in Berkeley in the early 1970s and was appointed Professor of the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Ibadan in 1985. He promoted and developed a strong independent identity for the study of archaeology in Africa, and he was critical of the colonial context in which expatriate archaeologists had taught and researched in Africa.
In his own area of research he focused on West Africa and issues of Agriculture and cultivation. He was interested in the development of cultural resources management which he considered was a means of linking the past with the present. For over 20 years from 1978 he edited the West African Journal of Archaeology.
Bassey Andah was the third President of WAC elected at the Congress in Delhi in 1994, and he held this position until his death in December 1997. Bassey, a Nigerian, completed his doctoral studies in Berkeley in the early 1970s and was appointed Professor of the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Ibadan in 1985. He promoted and developed a strong independent identity for the study of archaeology in Africa, and he was critical of the colonial context in which expatriate archaeologists had taught and researched in Africa.
In his own area of research he focused on West Africa and issues of Agriculture and cultivation. He was interested in the development of cultural resources management which he considered was a means of linking the past with the present. For over 20 years from 1978 he edited the West African Journal of Archaeology.
Bassey was an educator and theorist, and he published more than 70 journal articles and chapters in books, as well as writing four books. He co-authored six books on African archaeology.
From the first WAC Conference in Southampton in 1986 when he spoke out against apartheid, Bassey had been a significant voice in WAC. He was selected to serve on the WAC Steering Committee during 1986/87, a significant time in the establishment of the organisation. He actively promoted the study of African archaeology, and at the second international Congress in 1990 he proposed the strengthening of African representation within WAC.
Bassey was instrumental in the actions that led to the extension of membership to South Africans, and at the 1993 InterCongress meeting, South Africa was admitted to the WAC Councils Electoral College.
As a mark of respect for his significant contribution to African archaeology, and to the development of WAC, the first Bassey Andah Memorial Lecture was held at WAC in Cape Town in 1999. (The information for this summary was sourced from the publication of the text of the Bassey Andah First Memorial Lecture: A Tribute to the Life and work of Professor Bassey Andah by Thurstan Shaw, Peter Ucko and Kelvin MacDonald, Textflow Limited, Ibadan, Nigeria 1999)
Bassey was instrumental in the actions that led to the extension of membership to South Africans, and at the 1993 InterCongress meeting, South Africa was admitted to the WAC Councils Electoral College.
As a mark of respect for his significant contribution to African archaeology, and to the development of WAC, the first Bassey Andah Memorial Lecture was held at WAC in Cape Town in 1999. (The information for this summary was sourced from the publication of the text of the Bassey Andah First Memorial Lecture: A Tribute to the Life and work of Professor Bassey Andah by Thurstan Shaw, Peter Ucko and Kelvin MacDonald, Textflow Limited, Ibadan, Nigeria 1999)