I am a student of history even though the last time I sat in a history class was over three decades ago, when I was in JS3. Simply put, one does not always need the four walls of a classroom to learn about things that happened the previous day in his life, his immediate environment or the global community. Naturally, humans are endowed with the capacity to memorise facts, figures, and to recount past events even in chronology. Aside from the schools where pupils are expected at the end of each academic period to recount what they are taught by way of examination, other institutions like media houses and the courts of law are known to take advantage of this human phenomenon respectively in their interviews as well as their examination and cross-examination of witnesses. Thus, books and all forms of writing were invented primarily to assist mankind’s weak memory. But why do many Nigerians blame the government for what appears to be a poor grasp of history among the youth?
On many occasions, we have heard or read that the Federal Government of Nigeria abolished the study of history in schools; and the allegation has always been that the government does not want the upcoming generation to lay its hands on the dark pages of Nigeria’s history. How true is this claim? A brief survey will show that history was not at any point in time abolished from school curriculum in Nigeria. While some are of the view that Government as a subject was introduced to replace History, others say Government was rather introduced as an interventionist approach to provide a tonic for formerly history enthusiasts who before then were losing interest in History, possibly because it was becoming difficult to pass in the WAEC school certificate examinations. So, structurally, Government became History in a functional approach. Even though some graduate historians have accused the government of developing cold feet along the line and consequently engendering a low morale toward and around the study of History in schools, History has continued to be taught in colleges of education and in the universities, up to doctorate level. What about at the primary and secondary levels?
The advent of the 6-3-3-4 system of education in the mid ‘80s came with subject clusters that limited students to only the subjects that have leaning toward their chosen career. Since the system was found to be career-based, it became almost impossible for students to choose combinations of History, Government, Commerce, Further Mathematics, Home Economics, Agricultural Science, Technical Drawing, Accounts, Geography, and other optional subjects that are not seeded in the mainstream. Nevertheless, some schools, particularly the mission schools, still consider it expedient for students to draw from a wider spectrum of subjects and on that note have continued to prioritise the study of history. Furthermore, the ministry of education, in its response to the demand for a more comprehensive curriculum in which formerly relegated subjects are brought back in the menu, had in 2018 made the study of history compulsory at the basic level. Do parents and the community have a role?
Long before I developed interest in reading, the first history class I attended was at my father’s feet. It was from him and other members of the community that I got to know that my hometown of the ‘70s was the way it was because it was recovering from a war that ended shortly before I was born. Men and women told war stories at every given opportunity; at the farms, village meetings, moonlit nights, and at every stay-at-home. It is customary for Umuokanne people to stay at home when a member of the community dies. Nobody goes to the farm. Even school children are not allowed to go to school. Those in white collar employment go to the office only to take permission and come back to join their kinsmen in a day of mourning, the pain of which is partly allayed with drinking of palm wine, local gin and in eating of bitter kola. At such occasions, war stories are told from different individual angles and with a mosaic of flavour. In clear terms, history is served free of charge for anyone who cares to listen and to learn from the collections and oral narratives of those who witnessed past events firsthand.
Ginger was not yet in his forties when the mantle for the role of what I would call the village spokesman fell on him. It did not fall on him the same way an oracle appoints a man for a spiritual assignment. Rather, he was found to manifest the requisite skill set, having availed himself over time for the opportunity to be trained by older ones. During conflicts as there were frequent land disputes and other causes for inter-village rivalry, he was at all times delegated to speak for my village and to recount stories that only the aged could relate. He was not highly educated neither was he the most widely travelled. In fact, among the elders then we had Obi, the melting pot of oral history, who officiated in the white man’s court in the colonial days. There was also Sam Driver, so named because he was in army logistics and drove military trucks in World War II, thus becoming the first driver in the six villages and beyond. Unarguably, Ginger knew the stories because he was a good listener and placed premium on history and the art of storytelling. Being the village historian and spokesman, the older ones in turn were willing to equip him intellectually by updating his narratives wherever they fell short.
On a flip side, there was another who whether deliberately or inadvertently tried to make a mockery of the subject matter of history. The story goes that his child brought home a list of books recommended at school. And how did the father respond? He promised to buy every other book on the list except the history book, arguing that history is nothing but fables which anybody could tell. Although that viewpoint re-echoed Dan Brown in his Davinci Code: “What is history if not fables agreed upon”, he was wrong. Granted, every parent can tell stories, but not all stories are history. Many are folktales and unverified news reports that do not in any way replace curricular history. Others, according to William Shakespeare in Macbeth, are “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”. Notwithstanding, one must complement the other for the child to have a fine blend of folk tales that teach morals and of recorded history which forms part of citizenship education.
Sometime ago, I was able to pen a brief history of my hometown and posted it on social media. Even though I was the author, the story did not originate from me. Part of it I got from my elder brother and the rest I drew from two unpublished theses for first-degrees in religion and history, which dwelt on inferential accounts of my people’s migration and settlement. Today, two years after, reliable reviews and updates have continued to filter in from readers who in appreciation for the effort feel that the facts and figures should be set straight. That is how generous kinsmen can be with data. Why then are today’s youth in a hurry to repeat history?
Prejudice, stereotyping, and lack of interest. Today’s youth are on a digital and cyber superhighway. To them, the older generation belongs to the analog world that needs to be overhauled or phased out completely. Anything they cannot google out with their sleek i-phones is considered obsolete. As a result, like a sponge they soak up skewed, warped, made-up, and twisted history from mischief makers and virtual influencers whose aim is to exploit their youth and to feed their rage. The result is that they unconsciously bring stone-cold despots back to power while some others are brainwashed into making demigods out of old failures, fugitives, and rabble rousers, to the detriment of an entire nation.
Ours is a generation on a figurative treadmill; trying to live a fast life on an obviously slow lane. We have a new industrial revolution where parents outsource vital and sensitive aspects of their parental role to school teachers, lesson teachers, drivers, and house helps. However, I consider myself fortunate having been raised by a father who taught me how to farm, write letters, and to handle fractions in mathematics. He also told me loads of stories about my hometown. It did not end there; he showed me by example what it means to volunteer for community service and how to be a good citizen of Nigeria. He was not unemployed; in case anyone thinks he had all the time in the world. He was a school teacher; a headteacher for that matter.
Igbos generally see teachers as tight-fisted people; a breed of public servants who measure all consumables at home, including tubers of yam. The people of Umuokanne are not left out in this stereotyping, so my father was not spared. But I think the right word should be “Prudent”, which means spending with a thought for the future. This mindset was deepened further by Ude Odilora in his moralist prose, Okpa Aku Eri Eri. In that novel, Akubuzo, the lead character, is a miserly teacher who takes census of every crop in his farm, including maize stands and their ears. So, Umuokanne people cashed in on this blanket profiling to appoint my father as treasurer repeatedly for their town union. They were indeed not disappointed as he doubled as project manager for the community secondary school and post office projects. No contractor gets paid until he inspects and gets satisfied by the quality of work they have done. That includes the Eze who was then one of the building contractors and a supplier of blocks. As a child, I had the priviledge of participating in those inspection exercises because they took place on Sundays after mass and he would need company.
The breakdown of family values; a plague that is threatening the peace of our world today can be arrested if parents resolve to take back their role. It was the Dalai Lama who said: "The planet does not need more ‘successful people’. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds. It needs people to live well in their places”. He was right. Those storytellers are the parents.
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ReplyDeleteChikere, thanks for this update on Umuokanne community. This is really informative.
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