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One book that helped a lot in building the man
that I am today was Dennis Osadebe’s “Building A Nation”. The book started with
a historical perspective of Osadebe’s home town of Asaba, in modern day Delta
State, its founding by a chap named Nnebisi, through the centuries to the
struggle for Nigeria’s independence, onto Osadebe’s stewardship as the premier
of the Midwestern Region of Nigeria, and down to his service on the committee
that chose Abuja as our new capital.

I will never forget the passage about the funeral
of one of the greatest Nigerians ever, Herbert Macaulay. It rained on the day
of the funeral in 1946, and some people felt that the show should be stopped.
But four young Igbo boys braved the rain, and carried Macaulay’s coffin on
their shoulders to Ikoyi Cemetery with the cry, ‘he was our chief’.

Such a display of belief in the leadership of
someone from another ethnic group is rare in today’s Nigeria.

A few years ago, I listened with a bit of
disbelief as a friend of mine told me that she had no idea of who Herbert
Macaulay was. What was shocking to me then was that she was a first class
degree holder from a Nigerian university, and had grown up in my generation.
However at that point in time, I did not find her lack of knowledge horrifying.

Move the clock forward a few years, and I’m now
older and wiser. Thus it was that I listened in horror this Saturday past when
a young lady who just finished from secondary school and is awaiting her school
leaving results told me the same thing. As a matter of fact, this young lady
has no idea of who the following people are: Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa,
Mazi Alvan Ikoku, General Murtala Ramat Mohammed, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alhaji
Sir Ahmadu Bello and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. To be fair and honest, she recognises
their names from the Naira notes that she wields each day, but that is all. She
has no idea of what Biafra really was, but at least knows that Emeka Ojukwu was
involved in the Biafra story. What his role was, she had no idea.

In shock, I attempted to guide her mind towards
contemporary Nigerian politics, and asked her who her state governor was. She
replied, “Nnamdi Ohakim”. At least she got the surname right. When pressed
about who is predecessor was, her response, “Goodluck Jonathan!”

I did what I considered to be the humane thing
and give her a crash course on our nation’s history. What I found most
frustrating was her almost absolute lack of interest in what I was saying!

What I find again most frustrating is the
question of who or what to channel my anger at.

The young lady (whom I must point out is
exceedingly respectful) is a stunning example of the rot in our country. And
nowhere is this rot exemplified more than in our educational system.

The importance of History as a course can NEVER
be understated, and in the opinion of this writer, it should be made compulsory
through primary, secondary and at least the first year of tertiary education.

It is knowledge of what our forebears did,
especially with an emphasis on what they got right, that could well and truly
give us a sense of national pride.

So just who was Herbert Macaulay?

Herbert Macaulay was born in Lagos in 1864 to
Sierra Leonean parents. His mother’s father was Samuel Ajayi Crowther. In 1881
he joined the Public Works Department of the colonial administration of Lagos,
and was sent to England for three years in 1890. When he returned to Lagos
(there was no Nigeria at the time), he was appointed surveyor of crown lands
for the colony of Lagos. He resigned from that position in 1898.

Historical records indicate that his resignation
may not have been unconnected with the racism practiced by the Europeans in the
colonial civil service. What is certain is that Macaulay established a very
successful private survey practice in Lagos and over the years became a
spokesman for the people in their opposition to British rule in Lagos, and
after the amalgamation, Nigeria.

By 1922 when a new Nigerian constitution was
introduced, Macaulay organised the Nigerian National Democratic Party, which
sought for self-governance for Lagos, the introduction of institutions of
higher education in Nigeria, compulsory primary education for Nigerians,
non-discrimination in the development of private enterprise, and the
Africanisation of the civil service.

In 1944 he presided over the inaugural meeting of
the Nigerian Union of Students from which the National Council of Nigeria and
the Cameroons (Nigeria’s first political party) was born. He became the NCNC’s
president and began a nationwide tour in 1945. However, during the tour, he
fell ill in Kano and returned to Lagos. He died in 1946.

If anyone can lay claim to the title, Father of
Nigeria, this is the man. He was already opposing the British whilst Zik, Awo
and the Sardauna were still in their diapers. That we are allowing yet another
generation to grow without knowing who he was, is a terrible crime.