Of What Use Is History?

Yesterday, I woke up to a 'debate' that clearly struggled to remain one on one of the "Nigerian Nostalgia" groups I belong to. But for the rules and intermittent reminder/threat of enforcement by the 'Administrator, things would have degenerated, as they often do here. Over what, you might ask. Over who is the lead-Oba among the Yorubas, if any? Many of the voices there were eminent Elders, passionate about development and unity. But, as is often the case, the little foxes have a way of just making the simple complicated.

Of what use is history? I follow discussions on these pages. There is so much to learn. I am afraid, so much also to provoke concern, and even fear. There is hardly a photograph from the past that does not elicit some off-handed comments, putting down one group or the other, on the basis of assumed superiority or the version of knowledge one person has. Hardly does the superiority of facts positively influence or repudiate previously assumed, but erroneous positions.

What use is History? To stoke the fire of hate and continue to serve as grounds to further divide? What is the place of history? Forging a future, in which a greater premium is placed around the need to bridge the divides we have forced upon ourselves and work harder on our sense of community, or is it something else?

Of what use is history? To reinforce our biases? To perpetuate our assumptions? To further the path to instability among our peoples? What is the point of history? To remind us of the mistakes and misdeeds of the past, so we can learn from them, build upon or reinforce them?

Of what use is history? To pick and choose for the purpose of inflaming passions and provoking further tension?

Often, people here make allusion to History having been taken off the curriculum at some point, as a reason for the misspeak that has become a common feature of public discourse. How much history was in the curriculum history, in the first place? I would think it is the erosion of the culture of reading broadly, especially with newspapers and magazines going extinct, that is more responsible for the lack of knowledge of current affairs. Many of us grew up, learning more about the past and present, people and country from the newspapers and news magazines, before taking to the books.

With the internet, there is ready access to so much, but the question here - To what intent and purpose do we put history? Do we learn so that we might put on the chains of our yesterday or do we learn so that we might learn from the mistakes of the past, or emboldened by the strides, to dream new dreams and fly on broader wings?

Of what use is history? A comforter for good or a trigger for evil? Something to hold us back or lift us forward? What do we do with history? Another tool in the arsenal for pushing us further to the brink or something to make us rethink, retreat, re-strategise, and see life differently?

Of what use is history? What are we doing with history?