Eminent professor of history, Mahmood Yakubu, has said Nigeria will not disintegrate, despite its challenges.
Yakubu told those who regard the amalgamation of the Northern and the Southern protectorates in 1914 as an artificial contraption that will eventually snap to bury the thought.
He said it is not a miracle that Nigeria has remained indivisible 110 years after its amalgamation but by the determination of the diverse people to manage their heterogeneity.
Yakubu dismissed calls for divisions among Nigeria’s diverse ethnic nationalities, saying the country has maintained deep-rooted historical ties that have existed among various communities long before the amalgamation.
According to him, the notion of Nigeria as a united and indivisible entity is settled.
Yakubu, who is the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), spoke at the weekend in Kaduna during an international conference organised by Arewa House’s Department of History, Political Science, and Economics, alongside the Faculty of Law of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Zaria, Kaduna State in collaboration with the Pan-African Strategic and Policy Research Group in commemoration of Nigeria’s 110 years of amalgamation.
The event, with the theme: Making and Building of Nigeria: People, Places, Times, and Legacies from 1914 to 2024, brought together scholars from across the country to x-ray the past, the present and the future of Nigeria’s history.
Yakubu noted that Arewa House had consistently marked key historical milestones in Nigeria’s history, praising it for bringing scholars together to reflect on the nation’s journey in the past century and a decade.
He said: “The takeaway for me is the gathering of scholars from different parts of the country to mark the 110 years of Nigeria’s amalgamation. Arewa House has been noted for marking these kinds of historical milestones, and they have done so again.”
Addressing the ongoing debates about Nigeria’s unity, Yakubu said: “I have made peace with the fact that I am Nigerian. If some people think Nigeria is artificial, they should know that nations are always created in different ways and are consolidated over time. Tell me one nation that was put together by consensus? The fact that we are here over a century later is a plus for Nigeria.”
The INEC chairman noted that the people’s relationships and interactions predated British colonisation and the amalgamation of what is now called Nigeria.
According to him, these historical ties have only grown stronger and will continue to do so.
General Ishola Williams (retd.), who was represented by Dr. Asma’u Maikudi from Kaduna Polytechnic, stressed the need to prioritise history education across the country.
He advised that “Our Story” should be made a compulsory subject from kindergarten to tertiary institutions.
Williams said a good understanding of the past is essential for national development.
“Without a solid understanding of our history, we risk losing our direction as a nation. It is crucial to train more educators as ‘Ourstorians’ to teach our history comprehensively,” he said.
The retired Commandant of Army Signals and Commander of Training and Doctrine (TRADOC) called for the establishment of a Centre for Ourstory of Pre-Colonial Africa (COPreCA) at ABU and for Arewa House to serve as the National Institute for Ourstory of Nigeria.
