Sheikh Dan Fodio, Our History and Educational Curriculum, By Muhammed Mahmud

There is little wonder, then, that we see torrents of unacceptable information coming out daily from ‘graduates’ in the social media. They are the products of our curriculum; the law of GIGO is at work!

No one is in doubt that what we were/are taught in schools plays a significant role in shaping our perspectives, views and opinions. The same applies to our children and will be for generations yet to come. And just like the computer law of GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out), you can’t teach your people a distorted version of your history and expect them to fully understand their past and use that as a rung towards greatness or chart a better way for the coming generations. On the contrary, a straight path to a wrong destination is where they will be redirected.

A critical look at some books being taught in our schools would bare the fact that either the revisionists have hijacked both our history and minds to the extent that we can only repeat what they say or our laziness has made us so careless that we can’t tell our stories as they were. Either way we end up with the same result: our past being erased or distorted historically, leaving us to feed our children the crap we were brainwashed with.

A handy example is the terribly distorted, disfigured and fractured history of Sheikh Usmanu bn Fodio being taught in our schools, from the lowest to the upper level. Despite the fact that the books written by the trio of Sheikh Usman bn Fodio, Sheikh Abdullahi bn Fodio and Sheikh Muhammad Bello give full details of everything about their struggle, from the beginning to the end, our schools seems to be interested in telling something else. During our school days, we were taught that the Sheikh fought a tribal war, not an Islamic revival, and he was enthused by the urge to free his people, the Fulanis, from the oppressions of the kings and, at the same time, put them in the position of power. When later we read from the books of the trio we realised that we were taught blatant lies about Dan Fodio by not mentioning the greater scope of the scholar’s works that included education, enlightenment, women’s emancipation, helping the needy, suppressing harsh and inhuman customs, etc.; we were meant to remain ignorant of that aspect of our history.

I believe that many of our friends, who have not been so lucky to read these books and who might have never heard or learnt the truth, still believe the distorted version.

I, therefore, have every reason to be flabbergasted when I was going through an English text book of my child, who is in primary school, and came across a brief history of Sheikh Usmanu bn Fodio which was grossly distorted with the same fabrications we were earlier taught in school. And the worst part: additional lies have been invented by the authors.

The book, Learn English Book 3, written by C. U. Chukwudifu, Keye Abiona and O. C. Adebanwi, claims that Dan Fodio “waged a war against the pagans of the north. He defeated them and forced them to accept Islam.” The book, which is a 9-year Basic Education Curriculum Edition and published by West African Publishers Limited, continues that, “He (Sheikh Dan Fodio) later appointed fourteen commanders to preach in different places… They were to raise these flags on any conquered city or town whose inhabitants had been converted.” Suffice it to point to the large numbers of pagans still living and openly performing their religions across the north, which belie the book; and the fact that Muslims were the rulers of almost all the towns and cities in the north before the Jihad of Dan Fodio makes the narration of the book ridiculous.

If the authors of the book could write something so unacceptable, their claim that the book complies with the prescription of the “new 9-year Basic Education Curriculum for primary schools” is more disturbing. I have to admit that I am not an educationist and as such I could possibly not fully grasp the meanings of some of the terminologies used in that circle, but nothing could exonerate the body responsible for primary schools curriculum from complicity in this if indeed the book complied with its standard. Where are we heading to? With all the erudite scholars in our education sector, including Northern Muslim professors, how can such a book be of the standard of our Universal Basic Education as claimed? What mission does the curriculum seek to achieve? Why are the historians silent?

And if the history of Sheikh Usman could be so distorted despite the prevalence of so many books written by him and his disciples, what reason do we have to believe all other narrations about the rest of Nigeria. I mean how sure can we be that the history of the Yorubas, Igbos, Nupes and the rest is correct given the distortions in the history of Nigeria’s most influential person of the millennium?

There is little wonder, then, that we see torrents of unacceptable information coming out daily from ‘graduates’ in the social media. They are the products of our curriculum; the law of GIGO is at work!

Muhammed Mahmud wrote from Kano.