One of the greatest tragedy that can befell a generation is not to know the history of the past. It is good to know that histories are events/happenings of the past which contributes directly/indirectly to the future or to the current situation of things been experienced. In life, anything done without the relevant information of the past as concerning it may be difficult to make a headway in the nearest future. The history of a thing can be a good one or the otherwise as both are important even as the good ones are improved on and the not-to-good ones are worked on towards achieving the best.
Personally, i love to know more about histories of all kinds; family, tribe, nation, religion etc as i believe that some information gotten from histories are like bedrock or pointers of the current or future occurrences. As an individual, family and nation at large, i believe history should be taken seriously because of its numerous advantages as follows:
• Ability to inspire/spur to success/greater achievement
Knowing about the history of past success/achievements can be a morale booster for greater ones. For example, knowing about the success or exploits of the people in the past in a family or nation can inspire the upcoming generation to do more and break new records.
• Ability to trace/retrace past errors to correct, avoid, avert or profer possible solution
When there is a challenge of merry-go-rounding, stagnancy or repeated mistakes, it may be as a result of lack of the knowledge of past history.
• Ability to evaluate progress or otherwise
Knowledge of the past history will help to evaluate if progress is been made or the other way. It is highly difficult to evaluate any success or progress without the knowledge of the past history.
• Ability to preserve posterity
It is worthwhile to know that happenings**** today are history tomorrow. Also, it is good to know that one of the most secure way of preserving posterity is by the knowledge of the past history. A generation without the knowledge of past historical events may be difficult to be preseved.
In school curriculum, history should be reintroduced and made compulsory for all students and not just restricted to some students based on career choice. For example, in a nation, political leadership stems from all category of careers, discipline whether those with good knowledge of history or not which i believe must be looked into. I believe that good governance starts from balanced understanding and knowledge of past histories. It's high time we go back to where we missed it and brigde the gap of knowledge of past history for the future's sake.
As someone who came from the southwestern part of Nigeria, it is believed in my tribe that "any festive done without children will die abruptly" because of progenity and sustainability. Therefore, history should start right early at different learning centers/institutions. I believe there is need to improve school curriculum to facilitate learning of history by trained and well taught individuals as half-baked, incomplete or wrong history can be dangerous. Both good and not-too-good history should be taight and learnt for a rounded learning with the future in view. Thank you for reading and comments/contributions are welcomed.
This is my entry to @Hivelearners weekly featured contents, week 139 edition 01 on "Is History Important" Thumbnail designed using Canva.