From Magnus Eze, Enugu
Anambra State Government under Governor Chukwuma Soludo recently scored another major point in governance with the reintroduction of History in the state’s school curriculum with effect from the next academic session.
Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh disclosed this during an interacting session with Education Secretaries of Anglican and Catholic Dioceses in her Awka office.
According to her, History as a subject has made a comeback in schools but with a slight adjustment as the history of Igbo man dating from pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial eras is now included in the scheme: “The present administration thought it wise to adopt this strategy because Igbo heritage is on the blink of extinction.
“Books on the subject will be out before the next academic session which begins in September this year.
“The present administration is looking at bringing wholesome and valued-based literature books to the classrooms; the next academic session will witness a lot of changes for the good of Anambra students and teachers”.
She lauded the role of the churches in education development, saying that without Christianity, there would be no restriction and discipline as the church helped to control man’s basal nature.
The Commissioner also called for understanding amongst Christians irrespective of one’s denomination and the need to respect people’s differences so that the Christian community would not be torn apart by unnecessary internal bickering: “Christians are to abide by the biblical injunction in the book of Isaiah and put away disparities, come together as a body and with one voice call on God’s interventions in the state of affairs in Nigeria.”
One of the people that received this heartwarming development with excitement was the traditional ruler of Isseke Ancient Kingdom in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State, Igwe Emmanuel Nnabife.
The traditional ruler had in a previous interview with Daily Sun described the suspension of history in schools as the greatest injustice done to the Igbo by Nigerian Government.
According to him, if one does not know where he is coming from, he will hardly know where he is going, noting that it is the combination of the past and present that gives birth to the future: “If you did not have the history of what your father or forefather did, you wouldn’t know where to begin and where to end. You cannot tell your own children what to do when they become adults. The only way you can have these practices sustained is through education and reading of history.
“Again, through history, the cleavages of division are broken; because, it is through history that somebody in one area is told that somebody in another place has a relationship with him. And, development of individuals comes through the knowledge of history of some great men, who lived in the past. History of the past is necessary for us to understand what they did and, where necessary, improve upon what they did.”