Skip to main content

Academic papers of Dr. Abdul Raufu Mustapha

 Collection

  • How to
    request

The papers comprise research materials relating to fieldwork conducted at Rogo Village, Kano State, Nigeria, from 1986, as part of studies for a D.Phil thesis, and follow-up research from 1997, materials relating to other research projects, published articles and papers by Mustapha, and unpublished papers and lectures.

Dates

  • Creation: [1932]-2016

Extent

2 Linear metres (14 boxes)

Language of Materials

  • English

Conditions Governing Access

Some material is closed.

Preferred Citation

Oxford, Bodleian Libraries [followed by shelfmark and folio or page reference, e.g. MS. 15476/1].

Please see our help page for further guidance on citing archives and manuscripts.

Full range of shelfmarks:

MS. 15476/1-MS. 15476/14

Collection ID (for staff)

CMD ID 15476

Abstract

Academic papers of Dr. Abdul Raufu Mustapha (1954-2017), Professor of African Politics, Oxford University

Biographical / Historical

Abdul Raufu Mustapha (1954-2017) was born in Aba, in what is now Abia State in south-eastern Nigeria. He studied Political Science at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. During the 1980s and 1990s he held teaching positions at Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria, and Ahmadu Bello University. He completed his D.Phil on 'Peasant Differentiation and Politics in Rural Kano: 1900-1987' at St. Peter’s College, Oxford, in 1990. Research for this included fieldwork conducted in Rogo, a village in Kano state.

Mustapha's research interests related to religion and politics in Nigeria, the politics of rural societies, the politics of democratization, and identity politics in Africa. He was appointed University Lecturer in African Politics at the University of Oxford in 1996, becoming Oxford University's first Black African University Lecturer. He taught on the M.Phil programme at the Oxford Department of International Development (ODID) and undertook supervision of D.Phil students. In 2001, while still teaching at ODID, he was appointed Kirk-Greene Fellow at St. Antony's College, where he was a member of the governing body and served at various points as both Dean and Admissions Tutor. He served on occasions as the departmental Admissions Tutor and held the posts of Course Director and Chair of Examiners for the M.Phil in Development Studies as well as Director of Doctoral Research. In 2014 he was appointed Associate Professor of African Politics. He worked to support students from Africa, and was the patron of the student-run Oxford University Africa Society. In addition, he served as an Associate Editor for the journal, Oxford Development Studies. He was the author of numerous journal articles, reports, book chapters and books. He was joint editor of Gulliver’s Troubles: Nigeria’s Foreign Policy after the Cold War (Scottsville: University of Kwazulu-Natal Press, 2008), with Adekeye Adebajo, and Turning Points in African Democracy (Boydell & Brewer, 2009), with Lindsay Whitfield, and editor of Conflicts and Security Governance in West Africa (Lagos: Malthouse Press and CLEEN Foundation, 2013).

Within Nigeria, Mustapha was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Kano-based development Research and Projects Centre, and of the editorial board of the Premium Times newspaper. Internationally, he was a member of editorial advisory groups for the journals Review of African Political Economy and Africa. He participated in the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, where he served in many capacities. He wrote reports for the Working Group on Ethnic Minorities, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, and the project on 'Ethnic Structure and Public Sector Governance' for the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, Geneva.

Mustapha married Kate Meagher, Associate Professor of Development Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science from 2013, formerly a lecturer in Rural Sociology at the Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University.

In later years, Mustapha studied the issues posed by radical Islamist sects in northern Nigeria, creating a transnational Nigeria Research Network of scholars to study Muslim identities, Islamic movements, and Muslim-Christian relations. This culminated in the publication of a research trilogy on Islam and religious conflict in northern Nigeria, comprising Mustapha, A.R. ed., Sects & Social Disorder: Muslim Identities & Conflict in Northern Nigeria (Boydell & Brewer, 2014), Mustapha, A.R. and Ehrhardt, D. eds., Creed & Grievance: Muslim-Christian Relations & Conflict Resolution in Northern Nigeria (Boydell & Brewer, 2018) and Mustapha, A.R. and Meagher, K. eds., Overcoming Boko Haram: Faith, Society & Islamic Radicalization in Northern Nigeria (Boydell & Brewer, 2020).

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in four series, comprising research materials relating to fieldwork conducted at Rogo Village, Kano State, Nigeria, materials relating to other research projects, published articles and papers by Mustapha, and unpublished works.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The papers were donated to the Bodleian Library by Mustapha's widow, Dr. Kate Meagher, in 2018 and 2020.

Title
Catalogue of the academic papers of Dr. Abdul Raufu Mustapha, [1932]-2016
Status
Published
Author
Finding aid prepared by Chrissie Webb
Date
2021
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Sponsor
Catalogued with the generous support of the Oxford Department of International Development, St. Antony's College, Oxford, and Dr. Mustapha's family.

Repository Details

Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository

Contact:
Weston Library
Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom