[OPINION] The Need To Make History Compulsory

The quest for high paid courses may have been responsible for the extinction of History students in our secondary schools. I just discovered that History textbooks are no longer in stock in our bookshops.

This was a shocking discovery that I made when I visited some bookshops for History past Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) questions and answers book. To my surprise I could not find one. When I asked the dealers, I was told that the demand is low and as a result the producers had in the past stopped producing it.

This did not come as a surprise to me as I had earlier anticipated it. Back in my SSCE days, I was the only History student in my class.

This piece is borne out of creating awareness of the looming extinction. They seem uncompletely unaware that knowing our History have a serious impact in our future prospects. History is a great subject and should not be swept under the carpet. The survival of christianity today is as a result of History. It should be fascinating to know what bait was used to finally stop the sanhedrin (the council of Jewish elders) from sentencing the disciples to death. Gamaliel, the great Historian rose and marshalled a philosophical argument that convinced the people and they changed their stance.

Little wonder that the greatest reggae music star of all time, Bob Marley, reminded Africans of their History in one of his music albums. Our history helps us to predict our future. It also reminds us of where we are coming from.

The late Ikemba of Nnewi and the President of the defunct Republic of Biafra1967 to 1970, Ojukwu, was a Historian. These are just some names that valued History.

It gives me a mind-boggling moment because the looming extinction is a threat to the human race. Without History, a person will literarily lose his identity, and would not know how to encounter with others.

It is on the above premise that I call on the relevant bodies in our education sector to make History compulsory in our schools. This will serve as the right step to avoid the looming extinction of our cultural heritage. Already there is fear that our language is gradually going into extinction and everybody is calling for bringing back our mother tongue to teach the children. It cannot be complete without making History compulsory.

These days secondary school students are just opting for subjects whilst not having a clue as to why they are doing it. Ambitions in lucrative courses have usurped the prestige that educational goals once held. We should not go for subjects because of the money it will bring. We should go for the ones that are attached to our destinies. Today those who majored in Yoruba as a course are enjoying it. Some of them have left this country because of it. I can remember vividly when a foreign country needed some of them in their higher institutions. These are people that were once taunted for opting for a less fancied course.

I solicit for the co-operation of school proprietors, parents and guardians to attach more importance to this subject called History. The importance cannot be over emphasised. Today we are told that Aramaic as a language has gone into extinction. Our history is not immune from such extinction that gripped the aforementioned language. Should things continue the way they are, what will follow may be worse than even the most dire pessimist could have envisioned. The Oyo empire, the Igbo ukwu, the slave trade etc are just few of the topic. We should value them. It is said that truth is often eclipsed in the absence of history. Already what was once heretical is fast becoming conventional wisdom. This is what happen when History is relegated to background.

Today some group of people have come to spread a bible called queen James. Just think of what would have happened if they were no collection of Bible that had carried unanimous acceptance.

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UI
Sos dept. 2007-2011

1 COMMENT

  1. Hmmm!Aptly said. I wonder whether things wouldn’t have been worse without history. As a science student those days I offered history as one of the subjects in my o/ level. The importance of history cannot be underestimated. As a quantity surveyor today, history is very much of great importance to me as much as other courses I offered in the course of my training. In building up price indices, historical records of material prices are important without which this task will be practically impossible. Our collective aspirations as nigerians would have greatly been missed out without a proper record of the events that led to the creation of the entity refered to as nigeria today.