The physics of history (as 1st October beckons)

A year ago, we were served notice – “Save The Date” (STD!) not “SOS” (“Save Our Souls”) – that Harvard University had huge plans to commemorate the 55th anniversary of Nigeria’s Independence (1st October, 1960). The ex-partners of KPMG gave it scant attention as we were somewhat pre-occupied with more pressing issues – namely, our unpaid gratuity and pension (“stomach infrastructure”).

Anyway, we have been inundated with numerous reminders and it looks as if we are destined to keep our date with history. What has made our attendance most compelling is that we are intrigued by the theme: “The Physics of History”.

Lord Almighty! What has physics got to do with history? What we are more conversant with is the “History of Physics” by Sir Isaac Newton!

In any case, Francis Fukuyama had brilliantly demonstrated in his book “The End of History and the Last Man” (published in 1992) very convincingly that the advent of Western liberal democracy may signal the endpoint of humanity’s socio-cultural evolution and the final form of human government. The exact quotation is as follows: “What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such: that is, the endpoint of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.” It was reinforcement of his seminal thesis/essay “The End of History”, which was published in 1989. If history is dead, why attempt to wake it up?

We were on the verge of declining the invitation to the citadel of learning, scholarship and history when we were served further notice that the topic remained unchanged: “The Physics of History”. We were as curious as we were intrigued. As an appetiser, we were reminded very forcefully: “Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders in many disciplines who make a difference globally.”

The venue would be the University Hall which, according to the flyer, “is a white granite building designed by the great American architect Charles Bulfinch and built by the legendary early engineer Loammi Baldwin, Jr.”.

Anyway, in the introduction, Professor Joseph Trump (no relation of Donald Trump) has diligently taken pains to explain that the physics element in history relates to the profound shifting of the centre of gravity during critical periods of history. A case in point are the hordes of desperate Mexicans crossing the border which the United States of America shares with Mexico (running from Tijuana, Baja California and Imperial Beach, California in the west to Matamoros, Tamaulipas and Brownsville, Texas in the east) regardless of the huge consequences of being tagged illegal immigrants – harassment, fear, deportation and jail.

According to him, an even more powerful example of physics and its collision with history is provided by the current crisis in Europe where about four million refugees are so desperate to leave Syria, Iraq, Eriteria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc regardless of the perils of the ocean and massive casualties from drowning. This is graphically illustrated by the tragic photograph of two-year-old Aylan Kurdi on a Turkish beach following his drowning. His body had been washed ashore.

For several days last week, CNN and social media gave the story wide publicity under the caption “Tragedy of Monumental Proportions”: “Two-year-old Aylan Kurdi was born into a country consumed by war. His parents, Abdullah and Rehen, only wanted a better life for Aylan and his 4-year-old brother, Galip, than they had in Kobani, Syria. Trying to make that simple but treacherous dream a reality, Aylan, his brother and mother drowned. Abdullah, the only Kurdi family member to survive the tragedy, lamented that he has nothing left to live for. ‘I don’t want anything else from this world. Everything I was dreaming of is gone. I want to bury my children and sit beside them until I die.’”

Another case in point regarding the physics of history is the emergence of Arthur Andersen after the Enron scandal as KPMG in Nigeria. The government and the regulatory authorities preferred to look the other way. A clear case of subversive inertia! It was left to Donald Trump the politician to lament that it only serves to expose the dark side of the global accountancy profession – skulduggery, betrayal, treachery, sleaze, corruption and ruthlessness. When he becomes the president of the United States of America, he is going to revisit the Enron/Arthur Andersen saga. He has become our friend for life!

For those who may be tempted to ask, “What has all this got to do with Nigeria?”, James Elroy Flecker has provided an answer in “The Gates of Damascus” written in 1913: “Sell them the rotten, buy the ripe / Their hearts are weak, their pockets burn / Aleppo men are mighty fools.”

Thankfully, Aleppo is in Syria. As for our enduring commitment to the Nigeria project, the strictures of Horace Mann, the 19th Century American educator (May 4, 1796–August 2, 1859), remain a powerful force, “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity”: “The message is that everyone on the earth has a part to play in the advancement of humanity, and if you die without making a tangible contribution, then your life has been completely worthless. After all, if all we do is live, eat, sleep, reproduce, and die, then what are we? A victory for humanity can be anything that further us as a race … human rights, peace, science, arts, teaching.”

In addition, we have taken to heart the incisive observation of David Brooks: “The Next Culture War”.

Thankfully, our own eminent scholar Professor Biodun Jeyifo (Cornell University) has reminded us in his tribute to the Nigerian Ambassador to the United States and Professor of History, Adebowale Ibidapo Adefuye, who died recently: “Now, Adefuye belonged to one of the two well-known Nigerian schools or formations of historians and historiography, these being the Ibadan-Nsukka school and the Ahmadu Bello University school. Frankly speaking, the Ibadan-Nsukka school to which Adefuye belonged is much better known worldwide. Its three main driving ideas are, one, that Africa, like any other region of the world, has a history; two, this history of Africa did not begin with the coming of the Europeans and of writing to Africa; three, this history of Africa is part of the history of the world without which world history would be incomplete and truncated. You could say that the ABU school of history also accepts all these ideas of the Ibadan-Nsukka school, but it goes one step further by raising fundamental questions about how history in general and world and local histories in particular are written in order to advance the interests of dominant groups.”

As part of the conference materials, we have been provided with copies of the books of Professor of History at Yale University, Timothy David Snyder – “Black Earth” and “Bloodlands:  Europe Between Hitler and Stalin”. His argument is that we have got the Holocaust all wrong and so we have failed to learn the lessons we should have drawn from it. It is both history and a warning.

Anyway, when we finally trooped in to the great hall we made our way to the seats right at the back. Professor Ziggy Danzig would have none of that. He beckoned to the ex-partners of KPMG to come right to the front row. It was an ambush. We were led to the podium. Then came the announcement: “All the doors have been locked. Now tell us your history or if you prefer, the physics of the history of KPMG where you spent thirty-four years.”

Especially weathering the thunderstorms of life and swimming against the tide without a life jacket. Now the sun is shining again. That is the real game-changer.

J.K Randle