Femi,
Ekhator has done me, at least, a service, for I am utterly bemused by how many young Nigerians who come to my classes so generally ignorant of Nigerian history. Few, except many of the young Igbos (sorry oh, but I put names to questions and answers) seem to know much, for instance about the civil war; and in the case of those who do, the extent of the details are self-taught or what their parents told them, not what they got in the schools.
This is all very unscientific, I know, but it would be useful and instructive to carry out a survey, informal or formal, and to make some inquiries to find out how extensively histories in schools in Nigeria are being taught, and how to see if, I guess, this is policy at both the state level lends itself to amnesia both by design and by default.
Pablo
On 14-03-21 10:46 AM, Ekhator Godfrey wrote:
Ekhator has done me, at least, a service, for I am utterly bemused by how many young Nigerians who come to my classes so generally ignorant of Nigerian history. Few, except many of the young Igbos (sorry oh, but I put names to questions and answers) seem to know much, for instance about the civil war; and in the case of those who do, the extent of the details are self-taught or what their parents told them, not what they got in the schools.
This is all very unscientific, I know, but it would be useful and instructive to carry out a survey, informal or formal, and to make some inquiries to find out how extensively histories in schools in Nigeria are being taught, and how to see if, I guess, this is policy at both the state level lends itself to amnesia both by design and by default.
Pablo
On 14-03-21 10:46 AM, Ekhator Godfrey wrote:
@Kolapo, greetings! I think you are not in Nigeria. we should not be scared or ashamed of accepting factual statements about Nigeria, even when they are derogatory. Our Post-primary schools do not offer 'History'. A few of us who have gone to the 'Ivory towers' to study history are seen as primitive people. Osun State government has a policy that officially banned the History. other states and the federal government has sentenced it to a 'natural death'. Apart from the civil history, many aspects of Nigeria's national life are left in the memory of the elites and political class. this is because they have had the opportunity of been active in governance and crippling the 'Giant of Africa'. Finally, is it not obvious in the attitude of our politicians that they lack a sense of HISTORY?--
On Wednesday, March 19, 2014 10:19:14 PM UTC+1, FJKolapo wrote:Some baffled non-Nigerian friends of mine saw this piece last weekend and sent me emails asking whether it was true. My response to one of them was, "it cant be true.
I have not read anything official from any quarters nor any discussions regarding this anywhere. Its not unlikely that the fellow read a piece about Nigerians not learning from history and mistook that for a policy statement. I think its one of those misconceived pieces that crop up from time to time."From: "Ikhide"<xok...@yahoo.com>
To: "Toyin Falola"<USAAfric...@googlegroups.com >
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 1:58:58 PM
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - History ends in Nigeria--Official reasons Nigeria advances for expunging history as a course of study are that students are shunning it, as there were few jobs for history graduates, and there is dearth of history teachers. These are excuses.Nigeria's abhorrence of history is not new. There is no official account of the Civil War. When we obliterate history, we should also destroy our artifacts, burn our museums and monuments, heritage sites and archaeological activities. A generation of Nigerians without knowledge of history would not appreciate these treasures.How does a country proceed without a knowledge of it heroes and heroines? History is not just a study of events and dates, it provides analytical insights into social formations, anthropological developments, inventions and innovations that shape humanity.The roles of history in governance, conflict resolutions, diplomacy and international relations, science and medical studies, technological developments, advancement of civilisations and human relations are vital.- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/03/history-ends-nigeria/# sthash.mtXHvyYK.dpuf Official reasons Nigeria advances for expunging history as a course of study are that students are shunning it, as there were few jobs for history graduates, and there is dearth of history teachers. These are excuses.Nigeria's abhorrence of history is not new. There is no official account of the Civil War. When we obliterate history, we should also destroy our artifacts, burn our museums and monuments, heritage sites and archaeological activities. A generation of Nigerians without knowledge of history would not appreciate these treasures.How does a country proceed without a knowledge of it heroes and heroines? History is not just a study of events and dates, it provides analytical insights into social formations, anthropological developments, inventions and innovations that shape humanity.The roles of history in governance, conflict resolutions, diplomacy and international relations, science and medical studies, technological developments, advancement of civilisations and human relations are vital.- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/03/history-ends-nigeria/# sthash.mtXHvyYK.dpuf "Official reasons Nigeria advances for expunging history as a course of study are that students are shunning it, as there were few jobs for history graduates, and there is dearth of history teachers. These are excuses.Nigeria's abhorrence of history is not new. There is no official account of the Civil War. When we obliterate history, we should also destroy our artifacts, burn our museums and monuments, heritage sites and archaeological activities. A generation of Nigerians without knowledge of history would not appreciate these treasures.How does a country proceed without a knowledge of it heroes and heroines? History is not just a study of events and dates, it provides analytical insights into social formations, anthropological developments, inventions and innovations that shape humanity.The roles of history in governance, conflict resolutions, diplomacy and international relations, science and medical studies, technological developments, advancement of civilisations and human relations are vital."- Vanguard editorial (March 12, 2014) on the elimination of History from Nigeria's curriculum.I thought this odious act was executed a while back... Obnoxious still!Please read the rest here...Official reasons Nigeria advances for expunging history as a course of study are that students are shunning it, as there were few jobs for history graduates, and there is dearth of history teachers. These are excuses.Nigeria's abhorrence of history is not new. There is no official account of the Civil War. When we obliterate history, we should also destroy our artifacts, burn our museums and monuments, heritage sites and archaeological activities. A generation of Nigerians without knowledge of history would not appreciate these treasures.How does a country proceed without a knowledge of it heroes and heroines? History is not just a study of events and dates, it provides analytical insights into social formations, anthropological developments, inventions and innovations that shape humanity.The roles of history in governance, conflict resolutions, diplomacy and international relations, science and medical studies, technological developments, advancement of civilisations and human relations are vital.- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/03/history-ends-nigeria/# sthash.mtXHvyYK.dpuf - IkhideStalk my blog at www.xokigbo.comFollow me on Twitter: @ikhideJoin me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide
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