Nigerians, particularly the historians in ivory towers, were excited when Dr. Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, announced on Tuesday, 1st January, 2025, during a review of the year 2024 on Channels Television, that President Bola Tinubu had ordered the return of history as a subject in Nigerian primary and secondary schools. Former President Muhammadu Buhari issued a similar directive, but the Federal Ministry of Education failed to adequately implement and enforce it.
Many Nigerians do not know the reasons why the history subject was removed from our national curriculum in the first instance. The restoration of history into the primary and secondary school curriculum will go down in history as one of the salient points of this present administration because our children will be made to connect with their distant past—a past that was ignorantly tossed off for no cogent reason—and pave the way for the future. There is a strong connection between the past, present, and future. For one to understand the present unfolding event, one needs an insightful peep into the past historical events in preparation for tomorrow.
For more than a decade, as history subjects were removed from our schools, substantial numbers of our youths have been technically disconnected from Nigeria’s rich histories of past progenitors and their struggle with their neighbours, invaders, and imperialists. The exploits of our past leaders, who were indefatigable defenders of their peoples, must be dug out and comprehensively packaged by the historians to be imparted to our children as a way of providing a vista on the present problems and as a binocular microscope to reflect both on the past and anticipate the future. Stories that are common to a particular culture but not supported by external sources are usually classified as cultural heritage or legends because they do not show the “disinterested investigation” required of the discipline of history. It is in the realisation of the import of history that Lord Byron said that “the best prophet of the future is the past.
The Federal Ministry of Education needs to enforce the government directive of restoring the “History subject” to both private and public schools across the country. Some school owners are hell-bent on frustrating the government directive by turning a deaf ear as if it doesn’t matter. History is the lost aspect of our values that has been consigned to the dustbin by those who see nothing good in our past. History is the study of past events, particularly in human affairs. These whole series of past events are connected one way or another to a particular person or thing. History is a continuous, typically chronological record of important or public events or a particular trend or institution.
A country without history is a failed country. The two leading holy books, the Quran and the Bible, are historical records from God revealed to man and comparatively kept intact by the successive generations for the preservation of the past events and as compasses to navigate the future. An average U.S. student may not be able to locate Nigeria on an atlas. But a quite preponderance of them know and understand American history as they know the back of their palm. For the preservation of American history, an office is dedicated to it, christened as the “Office of the Historian, United States Department of State. Trust the Yankees; the website is loaded with all historical facts about their country and its people. This singular act makes an average American pompous and confident. They are filled with an extreme form of patriotism marked by a feeling of superiority over other citizens. This is very apparent in their carriage and disposition, even in the public arena. While an average American student speaks with pride about their history. African students, especially Nigerians, can be said to know virtually nothing about the history of their past. From primary to secondary schools in the US, the history subject is compulsory for all learners in science, arts, and commercial classes. We should be bold enough to revisit our past and values. We must not shy away from our sore points. As people who share common values, historical backgrounds, similar heritage, and destiny, we should let our children understand our historical shortcomings and be ready to synthesise and discuss the grey areas.
Where our progenitors got it right, we should build on it and endeavour to work on our perceived weak points. Nigeria’s civil war, an integral part of our history, is replete with both negative and positive effects that must be explored for national integration and development and to guide against future disintegration. The history of Biafra ingenuity and the invention of local-made weapons like multi-barrel “ogbunigwe,” anti-personnel landmines, improvised explosive devices, Ojukwu anti-mines, anti-tank mines, and Ojukwu mortar produced while the war was on are all worth reading by our present and future generations.
History is like a living organism that procreates for continuity. Thus, our history is surely intertwined with our future. If our progenitors could build great empires and kingdoms (Kanem-Bornu Empire, Oyo Empire, Benin Kingdom, Kingdom of Nri, Zauzau Kingdom, and Jukun Kingdom) in the past, then we can well build a great country that will be the cynosure of all eyes. Revisiting past mistakes or policies not properly done and implemented is the best way to assuage a better future for our children and great-grandchildren, who will inherit this space called Nigeria. Narrating and telling our history is the road to greatness. So let us start doing that since FGN has opened a dim vista of the past. Yuval Noah Harari, an Israeli medievalist military historian, wrote that “this is the best reason to learn history; not in order to predict the future, but to free yourself of the past and imagine alternative destinies.”
Rotimi S. Bello, a public commentator, peace and conflict expert, and HR advisor, writes from Canada.
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