If the majority of Nigerian historians seek to relate the past to the present, a few like G. O. Olusanya present contemporary history as their core interest. They analyze the contemporary period in order to make statements about the future. The combination of “present” history and “future” goals turns a historian like Olusanya into a sort of public intellectual, such that history writing by borrowing techniques from journalism creates accessibility to reach a larger audience. As Olusanya attained greater public visibility, he also began to present history as a sort of exercise in public policymaking whereby advocacy for a cause leads to specific policy recommendations. Thus, we include Olusanya here to illustrate the multiple meanings of history and the attempt to “technocratize” the discipline so that its relevance to the Nigerian public is made obvious.

Olusanya has written copiously on nationalism and constitutional history. His academic interests are closely intertwined with his vision for Nigeria. He sees himself primarily as a Nigerian “whose consuming passion is the achievement of a stable and well-ordered society, a society whose basic objectives should be the promotion of the moral and material welfare of its citizens,” and secondarily as “a patriot caught in the present dilemma of what next to do and how best to do this to achieve a collective goal.” In addition to nationalism and constitutional history, he has produced works that dwell on civil service and foreign relations.