If Gabriel O. Olusanya attained prominence as a historian of contemporary Nigeria, Tekena N. Tamuno has accomplished similar goals and qualifies as perhaps the country's most accomplished “public historian.” He started his career as an analyst of the formation of the early provinces of modern Nigeria but moved rather quickly to connect the foundation of Nigeria to the evolution of its institutions of governance. A field of “public history” has not truly emerged in Nigeria, but Tamuno has done some elements of it. He tries to write for the general public, not in the form of textbooks, but by creating accessible materials on matters of broad national interest. His work on violence and peace attempts to take history from the “ivory tower” to the people. We are not sure that he has been successful in turning “academic history” into “public history,” but his presentation strategies of using poetry, proverbs, stories, and biblical citations do transform the academic format while also expanding the nature of the evidence. Some of his essays are tailor-made for media consumption, and some have embedded in them an ethical tone with cautionary tales. He is assertive in linking the memory of the past with contemporary problems, emphasizing a key element that this memory does contain a set of answers that can help provide solutions. Nigerians, he seems to be saying, should live their current lives with a clear appreciation of the past.