The Federal Government has announced the return of History to Nigeria’s basic education curriculum, years after the subject was removed from primary and junior secondary schools.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this during an interview on Arise News, describing the earlier decision to drop the subject as misguided and harmful to national consciousness.
History was officially removed from the curriculum in 2007, a move the government said was taken for various reasons at the time.
However, Alausa said the administration of President Bola Tinubu considered the removal wrong and promptly directed that the subject be reinstated.
“Nigerian history is back in the curriculum. We did not ban it, but we felt it was wrong, and we moved swiftly to bring Nigerian history back,” the minister said.
He noted that the absence of the subject had contributed to a growing disconnect between young Nigerians and the country’s past.
“History wasn’t banned by this government. It was banned about 12 to 13 years ago, and you look at it now, our kids are so delinked with the history of the country,” he added.
Alausa said the reintroduction of the subject formed part of a broader curriculum review initiated by the Tinubu administration.
Meanwhile, the minister also announced measures to curb what he described as extortion of parents by some schools, particularly through the sale of compulsory textbooks and the conduct of graduation ceremonies for nursery pupils.
He frowned at the trend of organising graduation for children in early classes, insisting it was unnecessary and financially burdensome for parents.
“And now let me talk about the nursery school graduation… it’s sheer extortion of parents, it’s not acceptable,” he said.
According to him, graduation ceremonies should be reserved for key milestones such as completion of primary school and secondary education.
The minister further accused some schools and publishers of manipulating textbook sales by merging workbooks with core textbooks, forcing parents to purchase new copies every academic session.
He explained that since pupils write in the workbooks, the books become unusable for younger siblings, increasing costs for families.
Alausa said the government had stepped in to end the practice, directing that workbooks must be separated from main textbooks to prevent exploitation of parents.