HISTORY IN OUR LEARNING INSTITUTIONS

“History is to a people what memory is to the individual. A people with no knowledge of their past would suffer from collective amnesia, groping blindly into the future without the guide post of precedence to shape their course”.

- Sir Babatunde Fafunwa (1980)

INTRODUCTION

History as an academic discipline in Nigeria gained a lot of attention and interest in the immediate post-colonial era. It gave Nigerians a sense of independence and identity following the release from our colonial masters, and so it was seen as necessary and important. Over the years however, the relevance attached to the historical arts dwindled gradually until it became what it is now. This has culminated in a gradual loss of sense of identity, recurrence of conflicts of the past and as a result, stagnancy; for what progress can a nation achieve or boast of when it is riddled with social conflict, intertribal differences and separatist agitations. 

To address this, the issue has to be fixed from its roots. The teaching of History in institutions of learning at all levels should be revived and thereafter the records referenced and utilised for proper understanding of certain situations and guidance in solving issues of the present.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

 Doyen: A man who is a senior member of a group

 Picturesque: Strikingly expressive; suggesting or suitable for a picture

 Perquisite: an incidental benefit awarded for certain types of employment

ROLE OF HISTORY IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

History has been defined by E.H Carr, a renowned historian in the early 20th century, as “a continuous process of interaction between the historian and his facts, an unending dialogue between the past and the present”. Knowledge of the past is significant because we can not understand our immediate world without first understanding the happenings of the past. The further we delve into History, the broader and firmer our grasp of the present and the better our insight into the future. Any nation striving to develop studies the actions of past administrations, builds on their achievements, identifies and avoids mistakes made. Controversial cases with no exact replica in the past can be tackled by referring to similar situations recorded in history, whether of the same nation or not. This principle cuts across socio-political conflicts, innovation and possibly every sector of a developing nation.

Studying the history of a nation gives its citizens a sense of identity and belonging to their country, their respective tribes, and culture. The development of a nation goes beyond just advancing in science and technology or good foreign affairs, the population working to ensure this national progress require a sense of purpose for the country, a bond or a feeling of belonging for maximum input.

It was with respect to this that a doyen of African history, J.F.A. Ajayi (1973) emphasised that: “The nation suffers which has no sense of history, its values remain superficial and ephemeral unless imbued with a sense of continuity and perception of success and achievements that transcends the acquisition of temporary power or transient wealth. Such nation can not achieve a sense of purpose or direction or stablility, and without them the future is bleak”.

History gives an insight into conflicts that date back to previous times, and helps leaders tackle the problems at their roots, hence fostering unity. Essentially, knowledge of the happenings in the past enables us to harness the positives for future planning or make sure that the negatives do not repeat themselves.

HISTORY AS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE IN NIGERIA

History as an academic discipline in Nigeria has seen different phases of growth. The historical arts was introduced as an academic discipline proper into schools in Nigeria following the colonial government Ordinance of 1877- an official decision of the colonial administration to take over the funding of the school system either directly or through grants. The syllabus however comprised almost entirely of European history with little content allowed for Nigerian history. This led to the production of adequately colonised Historians whose perspectives never went beyond the colonial mentality. The period of colonial rule therefore witnessed the era of colonisation of the national History. Although the syllabus was not necessarily in the interest of an independent Nigeria at the time, the structure was very much established such that it was practically studied in all schools.

History began to be perceived differently from the late 1950s due to reactions of African scholars to the Eurocentric claims at the time that the history of Africans is only that of the European activities on the continent. A comment that particularly gained attention at the time was one of Professor Hugh Trevor Roper of Oxford University (1958) who in his words wrote: “Perhaps in the future, there will be some African history to teach. But presently, there is none, there is only the history of European activities in Africa. The rest is darkness and darkness is not the subject of history… we cannot therefore afford to amuse ourselves with the unrewarding gyrations of barbarous tribes in picturesque but irrelevant corners of the globe.”. This motivated the publication of research works like Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta 1830-1885; and Egba and their Neighbours 1842-1872 by Professor Kenneth Dike and S.O Biobaku, respectively. In the face of this, the discipline enjoyed the pride of the nation due to the role it played in giving Africans and Nigerians a sense of standing their ground and belonging in the affairs of the world.

This period of general acceptance and apparent relevance of History went on for about 25 years more, referred to as the era of the high noon of historical scholarship. From the late 1970s, the nation began to shift focus completely to technological advancement and pushed History to the backseat, paying little to no attention to its study. Development, however, does not result only from flamboyant technological and scientific curricula, but also from how much citizens appreciate where they are coming from and where they want to move their society to, something conveyed only by History.

Developed countries like the United states of America (USA), Russia, Germany, Japan and Britain did not scrap History in the course of their development and even till now take its study seriously. In the USA, the American history is a core subject in high school and a certificate can not be awarded to one who does not pass it.

TREND OF HISTORY TEACHING IN NIGERIAN SCHOOLS

As can be gathered from the discussion above, the teaching of History has been on the decline from the late 1970s. The trend and the associated events are summarised as follows:

 The 1877 Education Ordinance: History was introduced as a subject offered at all levels of education.

 The 7-5-2-3/6-5-2-3 Educational system: Being the educational structure in the immediate post-colonial era and the whole of the first republic, it was not much different from the colonised History taught before independence.

 The 1969 Curriculum Conference: This marked the beginning of the Dark age of historical arts. Discussions at this forum involved the scrapping of History from primary and junior secondary school curricula along with the implementation of the 6-3-3-4 educational system in 1983. It then became a subject for students in senior secondary school only.

 Replacement of History with Government by examination and admission bodies: Examination bodies like the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NECO), and admission bodies in tertiary institutions substituted History for Government as a required subject for acceptance at tertiary institutions.

 Students refused to offer the subject when it became an option: Being very voluminous, students and even school managements shunned it and offered Social studies and Government instead, in junior and senior secondary schools, respectively.

 Employment opportunities: As it became less relevant and studied, the society began to question prospects of employment opportunities if there was any desire at all to study it.

 Scrapping of history from the curriculum: This occurred in 2010 and was said to be due to students shunning the subject, the absence of jobs for history graduates and dearth of teachers.

 Gradual lack of adequately trained teachers: This in turn led to even less students being taught History and less prospective students for History at the tertiary level, further worsening the problem.

There have been promises from the government to return the study of History. In 2016, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu declared that work would begin on a new curriculum and in 2018, the Federal Government unveiled a new curriculum for the teaching of the subject saying that states have been given the curriculum but they require ample time to train teachers and ensure proper implementation.

REVIVAL OF HISTORY- CHALLENGES

 Societal attitude: Currently, the society attaches negative value to History. With this and the rush for professional courses in the country, would parents or the students themselves be motivated to study History at the tertiary level even if it is made compulsory at the primary and secondary levels?

 Lack of skilled and qualified teachers: The number of qualified Historians in Nigeria are not adequate to enable a quick return of History. In recognition of this, state governments are allegedly taking their time to train and increase the number of History teachers in their constituencies.

 Less demand and poor incentives for History teachers: Qualified teachers, due to low demand and poor pay, often choose to neglect their area of study and venture into things more profitable. This results in the point above and feeds into a degrading positive feedback loop.

 Voluminous syllabus: The volume of things to be studied would likely not reduce. This may contribute to the rejection of the discipline on re-introduction, after all, it was a contributing factor to the subject being shunned by students after examination and academic bodies replaced it with Government

RECOMMENDATIONS

 Ensure re-introduction of History in the curriculum: This tops the list for obvious reasons. Until the government has this to show, all promises remain mere promises and other plans of revival remain mere plans.

 Establishment of Institutes of historical research: A number of these in a few selected states would help solve the problem of employment opportunities, relevance and societal attitude all at once. Reasearch into cultures, arts, traditions of not just Nigeria but other countries can be done and used to change the attitude to History in the country. This would even improve the outlook of the country.

 Added work benefits: A title may be attributed to individuals with scholarship in History and even given perquisites like extra work pay in government-owned facilities, irrespective of their primary field of work.

 Mini-institutions for training teachers: Mini-institutions where History graduates/scholars train teachers in related subjects (social studies, civic education) looking to cross over to teaching history

 Modified teaching methods: Instead of telling long, boring stories filled with dates, teachers should be trained to communicate important lessons, engage students in critical thinking of the relevance and possible application of what they learn in present situations.

CONCLUSION

History has come to occupy a significant position in most societies of the world. Nations have come to the realisation of the veritable role history could play in the development of their societies and so most nations have retained or included it in their national curriculum. A nation that lacks clear self-identity and which is structurally incoherent can not be strong despite its wealth and the amount of gadgetry at its disposal.

“Historical knowledge is a form of social consciousness necessary for understanding and mastering the social transformations that a society is undergoing. It equips the society with the social capacity to control and consciously master the current process of social transformation”

- Dr Bonaventure Swai (1983)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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 Doyen, Advanced English Dictionary, viewed 10/09/2021

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 Picturesque, Advanced English Dictionary, viewed 10/09/2021

 Perquisite, Advanced English Dictionary, viewed 12/09/2021

 Sama’ila, A. and Abubakar, Y. (2016). ‘Refusing to forget: reflections on the neglect of history education and the way forward’, in Afaha P. (ed.) Advocacy for History. Gwarimpa, Abuja: Command publishers, pp. 210-236.

 Ukase, P.I. and Ibrahim, I. (2018). ‘The return of history: interrogating the challenges of teaching the discipline in Nigerian schools and the way forward’, in Afaha P. (ed.) Advocacy for History. Gwarimpa, Abuja: Command publishers, pp. 183-193.

WEB MATERIALS

 Efosa, A. (2018) History of Nigerian Educational System. Available at: https://infoguidenigeria.com/history-nigerianeducation/#:~: text=Features%3A%20The%20system%20of%20education,and%203%20y ears%20tertiary%20education. (Accessed: 07/09/2021)

 Eno-Abasi, S. (2021) Nigeria’s unending vilification of history in schools. Available at: https://m.guardian.ng/saturday-magazine/cover/nigerias-unending-vilification-ofhistory- in-schools/ (Accessed: 10/09/2021)

 Forum Transregionale Studien (2018) African Historiography and the Challenges of European Periodization: A Historical Comment. Available at: https://trafo.hypotheses.org/11518 (Accessed: 10/09/2021)

 JSTOR (n.d) The Trevor-Roper Trap or the Imperialism of History. An Essay. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3172003 (Accessed: 07/09/2021)

 Lawal, I. (2019) Re-introduction of history and matters arising. Available at: https://m.guardian.ng/features/re-introduction-of-history-and-matters-arising/amp/ (Accessed: 07/09/2021)

 The Development of Education in Nigeria (n.d). Available at: https://kirusuf.wordpress.com/technology/by-period-and-geography/education/thedevelopment- of-education-in-nigeria/. (Accessed: 06/09/2021)

Toyyib Kasali