Tinubu Mandates Reintroduction of History in Basic School Curriculum

President Bola Tinubu has reaffirmed the inclusion of history as a subject in Nigeria’s basic school curriculum, according to Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education. This announcement signals the government’s commitment to restoring the subject, which was removed from the curriculum in 2007.

For over a decade, the absence of history as a standalone subject has been a contentious issue. Historical topics were often diluted and integrated into “social studies,” leaving many students with a superficial understanding of Nigeria’s past. In 2018, a federal directive aimed to reverse this decision by reintroducing history into primary and junior secondary school curricula.

The former Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, outlined steps to achieve this, including the disarticulation of history from social studies and the development of a comprehensive curriculum. He emphasized the importance of teaching history as a tool for national integration and nation-building. As part of the initiative, 3,700 history teachers were shortlisted for training to improve the subject’s delivery. Several states, including Lagos and Taraba, have been working to implement the federal policy since then.

Speaking on Channels TV, Minister Tunji Alausa expressed concern over the disconnection of Nigerian youth from their history. “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,” he said. He confirmed that President Tinubu has directed the inclusion of history in the curriculum, with its full implementation set to begin in 2025 for primary and secondary schools.

The move has been widely welcomed as a way to address moral decline, erosion of civic values, and a lack of connection to the nation’s heritage—issues identified by Adamu Adamu as stemming from the subject’s previous absence.