The Department of Classics was established in 1948. It was one of the first three Departments in the Faculty of Arts to secure recognition for Honours Degree courses under the scheme of Special Relationship with the University of London. From 1950 to 1964 under this scheme, the Department conducted B.A. Honours as well as the earlier established Intermediate and B.A. General courses. These years also witnessed a gradual increase of staff members from 2 to 11. 

The pioneer staff, under the direction of E.A. Cadle, concentrated on teaching, and laid the basis of a strong teaching department, especially in the areas of Language (Greek and Latin) and literature. The teaching of Ancient History was given greater emphasis after the arrival of A.R. Hands in 1951, when, inter alia, a new course on Roman Rule in North Africa was added to the General Degree Syllabus. By 1955-56 the Department was already well known for its excellent teaching. 

The appointment of the first Professor and substantive Head of the Department in 1956 was an event of tremendous importance in the history of the Department. Under the able and enthusiastic direction of Professor John Ferguson (1956-66), research facilities rapidly improved and the Department grew from strength to strength as a Centre, not only of teaching, but also of research. In addition, the Classical Association of Nigeria was inaugurated in 1957. The Journal, Nigeria and the Classics, which Ferguson founded in 1958 as a means of presenting to a wider public some of the papers read at annual conferences of the Association, also gave some impetus to research in the Department. In 1957/58 the Department made an early experiment with postgraduate teaching on a limited scale. The experiment was, however, not repeated until 1962/63, the year in which the University’s postgraduate programme moved ahead in earnest. Consequently, between 1959 and 1961, promising students were sent abroad for their postgraduate work. 

The year 1962 was another important landmark in the history of the Department. With the attainment of University autonomy in that year, the Department considerably modified its courses. Greater emphasis was given to Philosophy, Literature and Ancient History, and a compulsory course on Africa in Classical Antiquity was added to the degree programme. In addition, courses on Greek and Roman Civilisation were introduced for the benefit of students of other disciplines who had no knowledge of the Classical Languages. The Department also reached its high-water mark, in terms of the overall calibre and number of its staff, in the period 1962 - 6. Never before had its staff, established and visiting, included so many personnel of such high quality at one and the same time. Correspondingly, this was a period of outstanding research, although much of it was actually published later; for example, K.D. White’s contributions on agriculture to the Oxford Classical Dictionary, his Agricultural Implements of the Roman World (C.U.P. 1967) and Roman Farming (Thames & Hudson, 1971), Paul MacKendrick’s The Athenian Aristocracy (1969), and several studies by John Ferguson and L.A. Thompson. During the same period, the Department also registered its first overseas candidate for a higher degree. 

In 1967, some further modifications of syllabus were introduced. More emphasis was given to the literary, historical and cultural aspects of Classical Antiquity; while correspondingly, less was attached to the Classical Languages per se. The revised programme made it clear that the two ancient languages, Latin and Greek, were to be studied primarily as a basis for the study of the literature, history, society, philosophy and culture of the Greek and Roman world, and of the interaction of that world with North Africa and the Near East. The scope of the “Africa in Classical Antiquity” course was greatly extended. At the same time plans were set in motion for devising special programmes and teaching methods with the objectives of imparting reading skills in Latin and Greek in the shortest time possible. Work along these lines was begun in 1967 by Dr. R.S. Pathmanathan, Prof. L.A. Thompson and Dr. J.A. Akinpelu. By 1970, well-planned and highly effective intensive courses for beginners in both Latin and Greek were in operation. One result of these modifications was a considerable increase in the number of students taking courses in the Department. This trend in enrolments was further confirmed after the adoption of the Course-System in the Faculty in 1972. 

The 1970s proved to be a productive decade in terms of Ph.D. graduates – Ilevbare (1971), Ikurite (1971), Mamudu (1973), Ifie (1976), Osho (1977) and Ndubokwu (1979). In 1976, the Department recruited 2 new lecturers from outside the country: Dr. R. Ball and Mr. N. Henry. The Ph.D. graduates of the 1970s left a profound and lasting mark on the Department. Many former students of the Late 1970s and the 1980s will remember the Department running under the familiar ‘sevensome’ – Th. K. Il. Ik. If. Nd. H. However, the Department has moved with the times and has gained much from the recruitment of Professor Folake Onayemi, Professor Olakunbi O. Olasope, Professor E.F. Taiwo, Dr. G.O. Adekannbi (Incumbent Head of the Department), Dr. O.A. Akinboye, Dr. Monica. O. Aneni, Dr. I.M. Alade, Dr. Bosede A. Adebowale and Mr. E. B. Blavo. 

The enrolment in the Department has been further enhanced by the introduction of the Latin for Lawyers in 1996 and even more so in 1998 by two new courses in Roman Law which forms the very basis of the Western legal system. To mark the expansion of student population, the Department, with the kind support of Leventis Foundation, has embarked on vigorous staff development. Our academic staff in 2018 stood at 10. 

The Department has thus continued to play a valuable role in the work of the Faculty. Its courses remain basically directed to the study of the civilization of the Greeks and Romans, two of the great civilizations of history, and ones which have affected developments in many parts of the world, including Africa. Students majoring in Classics now take two compulsory courses on the Ancient History and Archaeology of North and North-East Africa, while at the same time obtaining inter alia, first-hand acquaintance with the great philosophers of antiquity notably Plato and Aristotle, dramatists such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides; the historical masterpieces of Herodotus, Thucydides, Livy and Tacitus, the oratory scholarship and humanism of Cicero and the poetic genius of Homer, Virgil and Horace, all of whom continue to exert a salutary influence on modern thought and letters. Students majoring in classics and also in other disciplines are brought into touch with these great minds of antiquity through courses taught in English translations and those which deal with the Classical foundations of some of man’s more recent intellectual and artistic achievements. There are courses, for example, on the Classical Tradition in English and French Literature and on the Historical Background of the New Testament. Students taking courses of this kind now constitute a large proportion of the total enrolment for courses given by the Department. 

Worthy of note also is the fact that Classics graduates of earlier and more contemporary times have rendered and continue to render splendid service in a wide variety of occupations. Apart from numerous university dons the roll includes educational administrators such as S.F. Edgal and J.O. Arodudu; top civil servants such as T.A. Akinyele and J.E. Uduehi, foreign service personnel, J.T.F. Iyalla, J.A. Akadiri, B.A. Clark, Edward Martins, J. G. O. Olaitan, D. S. Omatsone, R.J. Adibuah, Emeka C. Anyaoku, formerly of the Commonwealth Secretariat; leaders of Commerce and Industry like G.T.S. Adokpaye of Mobil Oil, and G.O. Onosode; many lawyers; creative writers, such as the late Christopher Okigbo, Isidore Okpewho; journalists, A.A. Okpanku, P.A. Ogundele, O. Osunde, O. Ogunwusi, Edward Dickson; Librarians S.I. Ifidon, C.C. Aguolu, K.K. Oyeoku; media executives, Bankole Balogun, Femi Ajayi and a former commissioner of police and lawyer, Folorunso Shado. Majority of our recent graduates are in IT, banking and finance, commerce and industry. The Classics Department thus forges ahead with a strong conviction that what it has to offer will ever be found valuable, and happy in the appreciation of the contributions which the alumni who have passed through it have made and are making in their various fields of activity to the success of the nation and of the world at large.