History of the Department
The Department of Religions, History and Heritage Studies is one of the academic departments established by the University at its inception in 2009 as the Department of Religious Studies. Later in 2010, the name was changed to the Department of Archaeology, Religious and Heritage Studies. In 2011, it was again re-named the Department of Islamic, Christian and Comparative Religious Studies. Now known as the Department of Religions, History and Heritage Studies, the pioneer Head of Department (HoD) was Professor Sulaiman Jamiu between 2009 and 2017. He was succeeded by Professor Shaykh-Luqman Jimoh as the HoD between 2017 and 2019. Currently, the HoD is Professor Abdus-Sami’i Imam Arikewuyo from 2019 till date. The Department has four units namely: Archaeology, Christian Studies, History, and Islamic Studies. For ease of administration, each unit has a Coordinator or Head of Unit who is responsible to the HoD. The Archaeology unit has Mr. O. F. Adedayo as its Coordinator while the Christian Studies unit is headed by Professor David O. Babalola. The History unit is headed by Dr. Yahaya Eliasu and the Islamic Studies unit is superintended by the Head of Department, Professor Abdus-Sami’i Imam Arikewuyo. Aside from the undergraduate degree programmes run in each of the units, there are currently postgraduate programmes for Christian Studies and Islamic Studies at the Master, M.Phil and Ph.D. levels. The overall students’ population at the undergraduate programmes is presently 908 while the postgraduate has 83 students. The total staff strength of the Department presently is thirty-three (33) academic staff and one (1) administrative staff.
One of the achievements of the department was its being a pacesetter for others to follow by being the first to organize the first successful National Conference in the University between 18th and 22nd October 2010. Also, in 2015, the department organized an International Conference with the theme “Religion and Governance in Africa in the 21st Century.” Additionally, the department has flown its own journal christened KWASU Journal of Religious Studies and published its maiden edition in 2017. So far, it has gotten five editions. Furthermore, the department currently has a Festschrift in press in honour of Professor Sulaiman Jamiu.
Vision Statement
To produce high-quality graduates with excellent religio-ethical characters and training of graduates of religions with the requisite knowledge to positively engage religious phenomena and divine laws to the promotion of a peaceful multi-faith society relevant to Kwara State in particular and Nigeria at large in accord with the Kwara State University’s mantra to be a green university for community development and entrepreneurship.
Mission Statement
The Department is to serve as a fulcrum of knowledge inculcating religious inspiration, historical values and cultural heritage in the learners.
Goals
To be the foremost in expanding the frontiers of knowledge and innovation, building human competence and fostering determination and competition among people through the instrumentality of History and Heritage Studies.
The goal of the Department is to facilitate:
- in-depth knowledge of the religions, devoid of bigotry and fanaticism, with a view to promoting religious understanding, mutual tolerance, and peaceful co-existence in a multi-religious Nigeria nation.
- a sound understanding of the historical, cultural, and natural heritage of the Nigerian people. This is with a view to enriching the understanding of intergroup relations between and among the Nigerian people on the one hand, and between the Nigerian people and international communities on the other hand, and addressing how such knowledge could be tailored towards solving national developmental problems and promoting national unity, identity, self-reliance, and international understanding.