President Bola Tinubu has directed the reintroduction of history as a subject in Nigeria’s basic schools.
This was disclosed by Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education.
History, reports indicate, was removed from Nigeria’s basic school curriculum in 2007, eliciting sharp criticism that spanned years.
In many cases from then on, historical topics were taught with little depth as part of “social studies”.
In 2018, the federal government ordered the nationwide re-introduction of history as an independent subject in the curriculum of primary and junior secondary schools in the country.
Adamu Adamu, the then minister of education, had stated that the Nigerian Education Research and Development Council (NERDC) would need to first carry out a disarticulation of history from the social studies curriculum.
He said a curriculum would be designed with topics to help students appreciate history as a national integration and nation-building tool.
The ex-minister said a total of 3,700 history teachers were shortlisted for the first round of training to enhance the teaching of history.
Education ministries at the state level, including those of Lagos and Taraba, have since been moving to implement the federal policy.
Tunji Alausa spoke on a Tuesday Channels TV show where he expressed concern that Nigeria’s youth are disconnected from its history.
“Let me go to basic education, the curriculum is good. What has been missing in the past is Nigerian history. We now have people of 30 years disconnected from our history. It doesn’t happen in any part of the world,” the minister said.
“President Bola Tinubu has mandated that we put that back in our curriculum and that is back. From 2025 our students in primary and secondary schools will have that as part of their studies.”
While validating the federal policy of re-introducing history as a basic school subject, the former minister Adamu Adamu argued that its absence had led to declining morals, erosion of civic values, and a disconnection of the citizenry from the country’s past.
