At the disarticulation of History from Social Studies ceremony in Abuja on the 20th of October 2016. Present were the Minister of Education Mallam Adamu Adamu, Professor Ismail Junaidu, Executive Secretary NERDC, Professor CBN Ogbogbo, President Historical Society of Nigeria, Professor Sulieman of BUK, Professor Ibikunle H Tijani of Adeleke University, Dr Philip Afaha,UniAbuja and Dr Akpeji,Director of Research NERDC.
The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu has stated that the introduction of History to schools would help sharpen and enrich the knowledge of students, stating that "if we don';t know our history, we do not know anything."
The minister made this pronouncement on the occasion of the flag-off ceremony of the disarticulation of History from Social Studies, held at National Commission for Colleges of Education, Abuja.
Mallam Adamu explained that the reintroduction of History Studies would go a long way in promoting unity and help younger generation bridge the gap between the past and present.
While presenting his paper submitted to Nigeria Education Research and Development Centre (NERDC), President, History Society of Nigeria and Head of Department of History, University of Ibadan, Professor Christopher Ogbogbo, revealed that as a discipline in the humanities, history once blazed the trail in Nigeria and was an important intellectual plank in the decolonisation struggles of the 1950s. "Committed to decoding the past and explaining its nexus with the present, history provided our nationalists the ideological torchlight that illuminated the tortuous and thorny pathways of the independent struggles. After independence was eventually won, the role of history in the unfolding task of nation building remained visibly significant.
"Over 65 per cent of Nigerians are under 35years of age and virtually all of them did not offer history as a subject while in school. Their knowledge of Nigerian history remains shallow and at best superficial. Their values are ephemeral; lacking in substance and direction. This portends danger for the good health of the Nigerian Nation. As a people, our youths do not know our heroes and heroines, there are no role models worthy of emulation. The situation is truly tragic."
Professor Ogbogbo further stated that since Nigeria is at a crossroad, only a patriotic appreciation of its past and an analytical and objective understanding of its contemporary challenges can appropriately empower it and its citizens to get back on track.
"Therefore, for our national rebirth agenda to make any meaning and achieve its desired goals, it must take on its trails critical and relevant stakeholders and bodies like the Historical Society of Nigeria, which has a credible track record of over six decades," he said.
