Following our call for research proposals on the History of Medical Research in Nigeria, twelve (12) Nigerian scholars representing 7 different institutions were selected and participated in a 4-day workshop organized in IFRA's premises within the Post Graduate School of Ahmadu Bello University at Zaria, from November 14-17, 2011. The lead discussant was Dr. John Manton from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a leading expert in the field, accompanied by Dr. Gérard Chouin, Director of IFRA-Nigeria. The intensive program included an overview of the historiography of medicine and scientific/medical research in Africa, a presentation and discussion of all twelve projects, and sessions about methodological and ethical issues, the use of technology in the field, etc. The workshop was made possible by a 3-year grant from the International Partnership Scheme of the British Academy.

All 10 grantees of the 2011 IFRA-Nigeria & French Embassy in Ghana Field Research Grant took part in a conference organized on October 28, 2011 at the Maison Française, Department of Modern Languages Annex, University of Ghana-Legon. They all presented data emerging from field work conducted with the support of the grant. Each PPT presentation lasted 10-15 minutes after which they interacted with scholars and member of the audience. All grantees are currently engaged in a Master Programme in a Ghanaian University.

We are pleased to announce a first research training and proposal development seminar on the history of medical research in Nigeria, to be held at IFRA-Nigeria, The Postgraduate School, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from November 14-17, 2011 with the support of a grant from the British Academy. This seminar is open to twelve (12) doctoral postgraduate students and recent postdoctoral scholars (PhD awarded after 1st January 2007) from Nigerian universities. It will provide training in the theory and methodology of history of medicine, together with an opportunity to discuss and develop a research proposal for submission to a peer-reviewed competition for four grants of NGN equivalent of €2000 to cover a four-month period of field and archival research in early 2012.

In September 2011, IFRA-Nigeria together with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) were awarded close to a 30,000£ research grant by the British Academy in the framework of the 2011 International Partnership Scheme to start a 3-year scholarly programme in the history of medical Research in Nigeria. The project is led by Dr. John Manton (LSHTM) and Gérard Chouin (IFRA-Nigeria). The project is entitled : "Medical Research, Development and Memory in Colonial and Postcolonial Nigeria". This partnership aims to extend the European collaborations being developed through the successful ESRC-Open Research Area (ORA) "Memorials and remains of medical research in Africa" project (2011-2014), led at LSHTM by Wenzel Geissler (GHD), to include an Africa-based partner institution, IFRA-Nigeria, in order to develop Nigerian research, teaching capacity and scholarly production in the history of medicine, with a specific focus on the history of medical research (both clinical and pharmaceutical) in Nigeria.

Publiée en ligne sur le portail Revues.org depuis avril 2010, Afriques. Débats, méthodes et terrains d'histoire (http://afriques.revues.org) est la seule revue d'histoire à être consacrée à l'Afrique dite « ancienne », c'est-à-dire antérieure au xxe siècle. Pour son cinquième numéro thématique, prévu pour la fin de l'année 2012, Afriques lance un appel à contribution sur le thème : « Manger et boire en Afrique avant le XXe siècle. Cuisines, échanges, constructions sociales ». L'année prochaine, dix ans se seront écoulés depuis la parution de l'ouvrage collectif Cuisine et société en Afrique : histoire, saveurs, savoir-faire (M. Chastanet, F.-X. Fauvelle-Aymar, D. Juhé-Beaulaton, dir., 2002). Resté à ce jour l'un des rares ouvrages d'histoire consacrés à ce thème, il fut l'occasion d'un bilan sur l'histoire des produits, des plats, des boissons et de la commensalité en Afrique. Ce bilan, le cinquième numéro de la revue Afriques voudrait le renouveler en insistant – comme c'est la spécificité de la revue – sur les périodes antérieures au xxe siècle.

WikiNigeria is a scholarly, non-political, not-for-profit collaborative project of IFRA-Nigeria and its network of graduate fellows and faculties, all highly qualified specialists of Nigeria. It aims at preparing summary files/overviews/analyses and prospective comments on issues at stake in contemporary Nigeria.

WikiNigeria will serve as reference material on social, economic, technical, scientific, political as well as cultural current issues to stakeholders, decision makers, scholars as well as the general public. Entries would be strong, comprehensive, up-to-date and well supported by current research, fieldwork and publications.

WikiNigeria is a 'think-tank'-like product that would apply the best scholarly practice to produce reference material meeting the highest standards.

WikiNigeria will be available to the public in two versions : 1) a wiki version submitted to the public for revisions and changes through the Wikipedia platform and 2) a stable document in PDF format, updated once yearly, and accessible on web platforms related to IFRA-Nigeria.

In July 2011, IFRA-Nigeria was awarded a 100,000 euros research grant by the Conseil Supérieur de la Formation et de la Recherche Stratégique (CSFRS) and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) to analyse socio-political Risks in Niger. In order to respond ton the call for project, IFRA-Nigeria formed a consortium with the Laboratoire d'Etudes et de Recherche sur les Dynamiques Sociales et le Développement Local (LASDEL) in Niamey.

The project 'PERILA N-N' aims at assessing different dimensions of political as well as security risks in Niger Republic through the probing of the fragile character of the State, local factors of instability and potential sources of socio-political conflicts. It also includes the study of trans-border exchanges between Niger Republic and Nigeria.

IFRA-Nigeria, the Institute of African Studies of the University of Ibadan as well as CBAAC joined to organize the Africa Week from August 22-25, 2011 at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

IFRA-Nigeria proposes a week-long exhibition of 18 portraits of African traditional rulers selected from photographer Daniel Lainé's book "African Kings" published in 1991 (French version) and 2000 (English version). We thank Daniel Lainé and Alliance française Port-Harcourt for making this exhibition possible.

IFRA-Nigeria also organizes the screening of two films : VHS Kahloucha, a Tunisian documentary directed by Néjib Belkadhi (2006) and Nollywood Hustlers, a Nigerian satirical comedy produced by Emem Isong (2009). Both films address the issue of film making in Africa. A debate with Nollywood practitioners will follow the screening. Several other exhibitions, music events as well as lectures will take place during the same week.

L'IFRA-Nigéria lance un nouveau programme de recherche multi-annuel sur le thème Patrimoine, Mémoire et Identités en Afrique de l'Ouest, avec une attention particulière – mais non exclusive – portée au Nigéria. Une conférence internationale se tiendra à l'Université d'Ibadan du 3 ou 5 juillet 2012. Ce projet a pour ambition première de créer une dynamique entre les différentes équipes internationales de chercheurs qui travaillent sur les concepts de patrimonialisation et d'identité appliqués au continent africain.

Un séminaire de deux jours a été organisé à la Maison française de Legon de l'Université du Ghana pour accueillir une troisième édition du programme de bourses de terrain pour la recherche en sciences humaines et sociales. En collaboration avec l'Institut de Recherche en Afrique (IFRA) au Nigéria. Les 30 et 31 mai derniers, un séminaire de deux jours a permis d'accueillir à la Maison française de Legon de l'Université du Ghana une troisième édition du programme de bourses de terrain pour la recherche en sciences humaines et sociales au niveau Master 2 au Ghana en collaboration avec l'Institut de Recherche en Afrique (IFRA) au Nigéria, pour une action conjointe d'aide à la formation et à la recherche en sciences humaines dans les universités de Legon, Cape Coast et Kumasi.