If Nigeria wants to break this harmful cycle, we must move from what Nietzsche called “reactive” history to a critical history. This means we need to closely look at past mistakes, let go of old grievances, and focus on building our nation rather than seeking revenge. Until we stop using our history as a weapon in today’s political fights, we will stay stuck in Hegel’s sad truth: a nation that talks about its past all the time but learns nothing from it.
An excess of history makes life wither and degenerate, Nietzsche
During the recent launch of the book, Emirs of Zazzau: A Biographical Study (1808, 2025), in Zaria, Professor Usman Bugaje made a strong case for the need to know our history. He reminded everyone that understanding history is crucial to know our present and shape our future.
His call is something we often hear: we must study history so that we do not repeat it. But as the current state of our country clearly shows, this idea is not being followed properly. Do we really learn from our past in Nigeria? Or do we just collect old grievances to create new hatreds in the name of remembering?
When we look at Nigeria’s troubled relationship with its past, we see a sad truth: historical knowledge that should help build the nation often ends up causing social division instead.
The Lesson Misunderstood
In his Lectures on the Philosophy of History, the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel made a pointed observation that still rings true today: “What experience and history teach is this, that nations and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted upon principles deduced from it.”
Hegel made this point not because he was critiquing how governments work. Countries hardly act based on wisdom from old texts. In Nigeria, we see this Hegelian problem in the repeating cycles of our political and economic crises. The same issues that led to the collapse of the First Republic, extreme regionalism, electoral fraud, state-sanctioned corruption, and politics interfering in serious matters like security and the economy, keep happening again and again. Each generation says it understands the past’s tragedies, yet it repeats the same mistakes.
We often quote history during anniversaries and public talks, but our way of governing hasn’t changed much. Some say it may even be worse. We do not learn from history because we treat it as just an academic exercise, not as something that can lead to real change.
When history is weaponised…memory becomes a catalyst for retribution instead of being a teacher of reflection, caution and progress. Every new generation is taught whom to mistrust based on acts committed long before they were born.
The Memory Weapon
If we do not learn useful lessons from our past, what do we do with it? It looks like we have turned it into a weapon.
In his essay On the Use and Abuse of History for Life, Friedrich Nietzsche talked about two types of historical memory: one that helps people thrive and one that harms the present. Nietzsche warned against being too focused on the past, creating a “reservoir for grievances.” This means a society can get so caught up in old wounds that it fails to build a better future.
This, for me, is the big problem in modern Nigeria. I have often told a few friends that I feel for people with great memories because most of them remember grievances rather than the good things. Our engagement with our past has turned into a competition over who has suffered more. Events like the 1966 military coups and the tragic Civil War are seldom looked at objectively to help with reconciliation. Instead, they are often used in daily politics to justify regional oppression or create local resentment.
In different parts of the country, stories of dominance before colonialism, colonial favours, and betrayals after independence are shared not to create understanding but to support current biases, hoarding resources, and political exclusion. Who really benefits from all this chaos? The people or the elites?
As my friend Husein Adeto Bello pointed out, the key issue is why people look to the past. Many study history just to know historic grievances and pass them down, without asking how they can ensure their generation and the next do not repeat those grievances.
When history is used this way, memory drives revenge instead of teaching reflection, caution, and growth. Each new generation learns whom to distrust based on things that happened long before they were born.
Whose History Are We Learning?
This brings us to a key question in history: Whose history are we really telling?
History is not a simple collection of facts; it is shaped by power and context. In Nigeria, formed through colonial actions, there isn’t just one accepted “Nigerian narrative.” Instead, we have many competing ethnic, regional, and religious memories.
When history is learned through a narrow tribal view, it fails to create a shared national identity. Instead, it sets up “us versus them” divides, ensuring that remembering leads to more hatred. And we can’t grow with such history.
The decision to remove history from school curriculums for years created a critical gap. A generation grew up learning their past not through serious academic study but from biased stories. These informal histories often become national myths of victory and victimhood:
- One group sees itself as the constant victim of betrayal.
- Another believes it is the rightful keeper of power.
- Yet another feels their history has been erased.
Taking Back Our Past for the Future
The ongoing political instability, ethnic conflicts, and divisions in Nigeria show that knowing our past can easily turn into reopening old wounds.
If Nigeria wants to break this harmful cycle, we must shift from what Nietzsche called “reactive” history to a critical history. This means looking at past failures, letting go of old grievances, and focusing on building our nation rather than settling scores.
Until we stop using yesterday as a weapon in today’s political battles, we will stay trapped in Hegel’s sad truth: a nation that speaks about its history all the time but learns absolutely nothing from it.
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