By Denrele Animasun

“Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation.”—Walter Cronkite

Confucius once said; “Study the past if you would define the future”. So true. What have we learnt from the past that has informed and shaped our present?  Not a lot, sadly.  I am not the only one who feels this way, Matthew Gansallo is the founder of History, Culture & Heritage Institute Nigeria (HCHIN) is another and more about him later.

The history of Nigeria and Africa should be the cornerstone of our education. We as people are so blessed with an amazing history but we often take our identity for granted because we think that we are Nigerian so, we do not have to pay reverence to our past nor invest  our glorious past in our young, you would know it is logical as they are the  custodians of our history. The fact is, the keys have not been handed down from some generations back.  It seems we do not know the worth or value of our past nor acknowledge the contributions of our forebears to the present.

For those in the know, Joseph Conrad’s book; The Heart of Darkness, painted an imperialist view of Africa and its people; that we were mysterious, savage, barbaric and unruly entities.

The repudiation of this portrayal propelled Chinua Achebe to respond with the literary master piece, Things fall Apart. One thing that Chinua Achebe was determined to do was to ensure that we as Africans tell our stories and so no outsiders should tell us who we are. Achebe said; “Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter”. For those who forget, we are kings, queens, builders, architects, Mathematicians, Africa is the cradle of civilisation and knowledge. Our history did not begin with slavery or colonisation. Somehow, we have forgotten our greatness in miasma of irrelevance, inferiority complex, colonial mentality and greed.

So Mattew’s foundation intends to go to all the states in Nigeria and deliver History Outreach Programme. They have  different topics on the history of Nigeria and glorious nation that we will bring to the consciousness of the youths in Nigeria starting with our first topic, ‘The four kingdoms of the nation and the eze-nri’s of Igbo land from the 16th -19th century’. History as a subject as you know is not offered in most schools in Nigeria and there has been a call to bring it back to the classroom. HCHIN has singlehandedly answered that call.

They are certain that with this drive will awaken the cultural consciousness of the youths. They will promote good citizenship and national integration by showing the connectivity of the cultures that exists and has existed to form the nation. So far they have visited 12 schools identified and endorsed by the Lagos State Education District 4 and all have been successful with students and staff asking us to return. Their lecture takes an hour and is well structured. For the future they are encouraging students to become member of the HCHIN.

They will be given an identification card and will have access to HCHIN’s Library and history excursions and visits to historical sites home and abroad. It publishes accessible pocket books on topics of their lectures which they hope to distribute to students and teachers and which will also be available in bookshops and universities.  They also want to go to rural areas is a mini coach which will enable effective outreach and also facilitate excursions.

No mean feat I know but when there is a will there is a way. They need sponsors, industries and corporations who could sponsor this initiative. He said: “part of my trip to seek out students from secondary schools and universities to talk to them about museums, heritage and contemporary art. Their views were important to me because then I was actively working with 11 national museums and galleries in Britain as the director of the programme I wrote called Young Graduates for Museums and Galleries, YGMG. Teaching of history was left to individual schools to decide whether they wanted to offer history as a subject or not. The same applied to private schools.

Needless there is a paucity of history teachers and the few who studied history were asked to teach other subjects ranging from Government to Social Studies It became clearer to me but increasing frustrating, why the youths and their teachers did not care or wanted to know about anything or subject to do with Heritage and Culture. When I explained that the youths are losing out on a vital part of their education and suggested to some students to study history in University, they were aghast. Even their parents and teachers will ask, ‘what are they (the students/ their children) going to do with History? ‘Study History for what’ to be a mere teacher’?

Failing to understand that the subject of History is at the very foundation of all education as it is known today. Our heritages   when researched goes back to the Egyptian times, why as such a nation lost its path while some of her leaders had the temerity to remove history from the curriculum as a compulsory subject at primary level and for the first three years at secondary level. The fundamental point is that history is not taught in all the classrooms in Nigeria and that fact in itself is a disgrace as a nation. And George Santayama said; “those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it”.

Young people currently in their first, second, third year in university, do not know who Awolowo is, confuse Awolowo with Abiola, Zik with Ojuwku. Never ever heard the names Mike Opara or Aguyi Ironsi. Believe Tafawa Balewa (tafabalewa) is a region and street named after the Hausa language, think the Nigerian civil war happened sometime in 1914 and are convinced Wole Soyinka and the late Chinua Achebe are the good politicians like FRK , Fela’s Mother. These are students from so termed ‘educated class’ homes about to come out with degrees or already have one! These are the future, the future generation and they do not know the founding fathers and mothers of their own nation.

l tell my students worldwide ‘if you do not understand the roots of what you are studying then you are not able to advance it’ and that ‘if you do not know the histories, and cultures of your country you would not know how to contribute to it and would not know who you are’. Something had to be done to address this decline of history in education and I was determined to do something.

And so it was that after years of toil research and planning I founded and opened the History Culture & Heritage Institute Nigeria HCHIN. Our first task was to research and deliver our first History Outreach Programme to all schools in an area of Lagos especially state /public schools in a particular district.

Of course, we will need sponsorships and support to make HCHIN sustainable.  Work with us -Olaseni Matthew Gansallo. (Founder/Director)+234- 08051619466, 08167418337,Francis Oluwaseun Ogbeide (Chief Coordinator) +234-802-975-468.

Thankfully the head of curricular in Lagos Education District 4 welcomed our idea and recommended all the schools on her watch to participate in our lecture and workshop which concentrated on the four kingdoms and the eze nrin’s of Nigeria. Namely the Kingdom of Ife, the Benin Kingdom, the Hausa Kingdom, the Oyo Empire and the Ezes of Igbo. Our lecture was scheduled for 45 minutes as an insight to the great history of the nation called Nigeria. From 23 November -16 December 2016, HCHIN visited 19 secondary schools in Lagos delivering its history lecture.

It was important to tell the students and their teachers that history should not be dismissed as the facts or fiction of the past. We made it clear that to learn from the past is to understand the present and prepare for the future. To learn and find out more students were encouraged to join HCHIN were we have a membership scheme for all students, teachers and individuals aged from 3 -83 and over.

HCHIN is poised to be a history resource foundation with a history library and gallery for students from all primary and secondary schools, state and private and all interested individuals in Nigeria. Judging by the enthusiasm of the students and teachers that listened to our lecture it is evident that they are thirsty for history, their own history, the history of Nigeria.

It appears HCHIN as arrived at the right time. It is clear that there is a collective consciousness that have now seen the dangers of removing history from the classroom and curriculum and the negative effects it has caused. However they rightly spoke about it and left it to the educationist and historians to do something about it. This is what HCHIN has done.

I started HCHIN to fill in that void in our children’s education of their history. To try to take them out of their historical vacuum by telling them at the beginning of every lecture to go and find out the meaning of their names, indigenous and/or foreign and to go and find out the history of the state and village they come from.

Our work will not stop with schools and colleges. We hope to take this HCHIN initiative to the camps of the Internally Displaced People in Nigeria, to restore hope and inclusion. To use history as a physiological tool kit to begin their recovery. Of course, we will need sponsorships and support to make HCHIN sustainable.  Walk with us -Olaseni Matthew Gansallo. (Founder/Director) +234- 08051619466, 08167418337, Francis Oluwaseun Ogbeide (Chief Coordinator) +234-802-975-468.