THE HISTORY OF HISTORY BY IFEOLUWA KALEJAIYE

If there is one thing that has always intrigued me, its history. What exactly about it I find so fascinating, I am not actually sure. Maybe it’s the fact that taking an in depth and close perusal at the source and course of history, man has been inundated by myths that just won’t go away. And of course, if you have met me, then you will know that I am quite mystical and I dedicate a lot of thought to the metaphysical concepts of séance and the sorts. Some of these myths implanted by the gods and others man made. While some have gone away completely, some subsist, not looking like they will give way anytime soon, while some actually look like (deceptively or otherwise), they would be replaced by some other form.

Maybe it is these aforementioned nuances that intrigue me about history or maybe it is just the simple idea in my head that history is responsible for the chain of events I have experienced in my not so lengthy days of living. I am inclined to lean towards the latter and let me tell you why. You see, history has taught me quite a number of things. It has taught me:

– That impossibility is nothing.

– Records are there to be set and broken.

– Even the gods can be de mystified.

– That a certain precedent has had its way until now doesn’t mean it will keep having its way.

The last lesson to me has been the most important lesson. Sadly, I seem to be the only one (or maybe including a very minute few) to have learnt this very unforgettable lesson.

Let me get to the point, but I must first bore you with knowledge I am quite sure you have acquired for the sake of emphasis. Please bear with me. I have often wondered why it seems Nigeria is barely moving forward. Being the optimist that I am let me say that she is moving. Just at an incredibly slow and quite un noticeable pace. As the patriotic self that I am, I have enquired, probed and researched into the main reason why this is so and finding the answers, contrary to what you might think, hasn’t been easy. But I came up with an incredible idea while sitting on the 3500 litre tank in my house and watching the view of my environment in solitude and serenity. (To be honest, I felt a little like God must feel, watching down on humans). As I was saying, I came up with the incredible idea to delve into the history of history and there lay my answer because I learnt this one thing about my homeland; In Nigeria, we have concentrated so much on reliving our history that we are bleak towards what a future should look like, hence, our very slow progress. But we are wrong in doing this because unlike what we think, history does change. We just choose not to see it.

Growing up as a kid, one rhyme I would never forget is the “parents listen to your children; we are the leaders of tomorrow…” As a child with little or no ideas whatsoever on what politics entailed, I was pretty ambitious for my age. So, I sang louder than anyone, with my head held high, my chest pushed out and my chin raised up, because in that tiny little head of mine, I was seeing ‘tomorrow’ and I was seeing myself as a leader (or at least one of the leaders :D ) You see, as at then, Gen. Muhammad Buhari was the Head of State in Nigeria and I was puzzled on how my tiny legs were going to fit into the all too big shoes of leadership I imagined he must be wearing. That was as far as the only problem I had. Fast forward to present day 2013. It has been give or take, over 20 years since then, I am far from being called a kid any longer and Buhari is PLANNING to run for the presidential election of 2015 in the same Nigeria after running in the previous two and failing. Yes, u heard me right. Buhari. And no, I’m not talking of his grandson as you might have been thinking. I’m talking of the same Gen. Muhammad Buhari who was Head of State when I was in pigtails and barely out of my pampers (they were called napkins then), with a lot more missing teeth than complete ones. That same man. So, that brings me to where I am currently sitting (on the fence) and wondering; where in the name of God is tomorrow?

My point is, why are we so engrossed in history that we do not realise that even history has left us behind? So maybe in the history of history, the gods created a myth. A myth that only old, sickly and about to reach the end of their life span people were capable of leadership, but come on, even the gods can be de mystified. It’s time to tussle things up a bit. Let history take its place in history and let’s move forward. In conclusion, I remember that it is quite a popular saying of the old ones when giving advice to the young ones to say: “My dear child, if history has taught us one thing…” Then they would go ahead to say this or that. Well I have this to say to them: “Our dear old ones, if history has taught us ONE thing, then we haven’t learnt much, have we? Take a seat. Give us a chance to learn maybe two or three things from history. Not just the one you already learnt”