History and Historians

Perspective on History and Historians; intellectual doings of Historians

WHY HISTORY?

Our minds have been formatted and programmed, and are therefore being remote-controlled to our detriment! Shouldn't this be redressed now?

For time immemorial, Man destroys to complicate,while History reconstructs to indicate; circumstances misinterpret while objectivity scientifies. We mostly are victims of that which has lessened our sufferings. We all are victims of certain natural and artificial circumstances so powerful, we seldom can out-challenge any. Our grave mistake is our indifferent surrender to the fact! Life used to be free from the present unusual hitches and insufferabilities,then Man circumstantially desimplified it,and still does! Since then, we have been struggling paying for that! The Question now is this: has Man foot the bill yet? But that takes us to the Question, WHY HISTORY?

Now, before referencing yourself to the authorities concerned {if you yourself are not one}, consider the following based on my little,but guided experience!

We study History so to right the wrongs of the Past,redress the Present shortcomings in order to come up with the Future Man dreams dreams about! And that's History for you,because, the Present can only be handled with the Past,without which the Future bleaks! Reason to realize!

Now, how can we handle the Present?

We do that by questioning unfolding events,because everything on this Earth is a product of questions,and these questions are questionable themselves! I agree with Dr. Ladan {one of ABU History lecturers} saying to his students:

"All I give you I'm not sure it's absolutely correct! Find out yourselves!"

Well,take this too,from Lobsang T. Rampa, "Don't believe all that's in print..." and I may as well add, or that which is told to you. Yet still,do NOT distrust it 100%. Just question it!

Fellow Intellectual,in History, we "doubt everything,"{as rightly put by Descartes,the philosopher},because "if a Man will begin with certainties,he shall end in doubt,but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties." So explained Francis Bacon. And that is a fact all right,because "every IS has a WAS," {explained Dr. George Kwanashei,one of the ABU Historian Bakano is privileged to be lectured by}. That is true,because every Y must have a Z! Find out!

Intellectuals!
History is neither a mere collection of stories nor just agreed facts and their stories!History is neither a mere detailed selection of events,nor just events and their details! There's far more to History than just barbarism and civilizations; conquests and occupations; colonialism and nationalism. There's even more to History than just kings and kingdoms;empires and emperors;masters and servants;settlements and urbanizations;conflicts and migrations...But reason to realize!

One thing is certain,Man makes {and uses} History in living the life he lived,lives and shall live. That's why Historians deal with Man's socio-economic and techno-political daily doings. This has been an indisputable Fact. And so shall it remain!

Intellectuals!
In the Domain Of Reasoning {History Department}, they reason {as objectively as possible} so to realize the ever available questionable questions surrounding Past and Present events. Even nature recognizes the importance of Curiosity. That's why both Man and animals,and yes,most plants are remarkably curios! And that's a reason for you too to be curios about the happenings in your immediate environs, and that of others as well! Question every bit of it,or else!

Intellectuals!
You got to be curios of even your very shadow! Yes! Shadow! You need to reflect WHY should it be long and thin while pointing to the west each time the sun rises? Why must the shadow inchly shorten up,and then thicken,as the sun "moves" further? Just why should the sun shorten up as dwarf when the sun appears to have reached the center? Then why must the shadow point to the east,long and thin again {but "hazed up",not clear as in the mornings} when the sun is setting?

See!
Just what do the sun and the shadow have in common or otherwise? Is this daily hide and seek they play genuine or fake,compulsory or voluntary,coincidental or circumstantial?

But so the fact flows,twisting and winding so to unwind such questionable chains of events,because the Whys are numerous,questionable as possible,and yes,just there to be questioned!

Just WHY HISTORY?

Well...

There's this HEAVY object given to me. It looks BLACK and HEXAGON,as "they" say it is! Yet,I ask myself,using the basic laws in History{if I may term them that},determined to really "see" this given object,not just "look" at it!Because it is a fact,many merely "look" instead of "see",for all they take is a "look-see". Careful,Fellow Members of the Intelligentsia! "It isn't the eyes,but sense that does see!" A Hausa fact for you there! So,I ask the following questions:

WHO made the object in question?
WHY was it made?
WHERE was it made?
WHEN was it made?
WHAT was it made up of?
HOW was it made?
And yes! To WHOM in particular was the object made?
And hey! WHAT were or are the possible CONNECTIONS,if any,between the MAKER and the ONE for WHOM the object was made?

See?
I guess I have "them"{the givers of the object} where I want "them"! Yes!How the heck do I know that the object WAS originally black and hexagon {six-sided} as "they" say it is?

Come to think of it,this heavy object might have been either a square or a rectangle {four-sided},then possibly certain natural or artificial circumstances,or even both,might have made the object to have been accidentally or just purposefully for the hell of it thrown away from some great height like,say,Mountain Everest,for example. Now,imagine the pieces of rocks or other objects to be hit by this heavy object during the fall,spiraling from the Everest!

Are the four angles and face of the object then not likely to get dented here and there to alter one,two or even all the edges? That explains the scratches on the surface of the object! And of course,its looking a hexagon {six-sided} not the originally four-sided square!

Now the color! "BLACK",they say,right?

Well,the word itself is questionable! Remove the "B" in it and see what you get: LACK,isn't it? So,doesn't the word LACK tell you something about "absence of" or "having not"? If so,then what does it really mean; absence of blackness?

See!The object might have rolled right into the sun after its fall. Incidentally, it might have remained there to scorch for seconds that went on to become years!

Like the browned roofs of those houses in Zaria,Nigeria,this object gets dealt by excessive weathers. This object remains out-door throughout the hot,rainy and cold seasons. The sun happens to be hot as that of the Sahara,fit to cause forest fire;the rain happens to be heavy,fit to frighten the fish;and when it is cold,ah!the atmosphere gets hazed up,and cold as the Siberian winter of Russian. Ever visited Lake Baikal during the winter of Russia? Well, such excessive seasonal changes come and go while the object still remains outdoor!

Intellectuals!
Are such experiences incapable of affecting the object's original color,which might have been white, or some lighter color? I know you know,it would gradually change into yellowish or grayish or both,for instance,then light brown and subsequently dark; and with time,black,as the said BLACK,of course! Yet,BAKANO is told to take the object as BLACK and HEXAGON! Well,in the words of Malcolm X {Malik El-Shabbazz},"I don't believe in deluding myself."

Now,is the object in question BLACK and HEXAGON, or WHITE and SQUARED?

Such is the daily doings of true Historians world over,Intellectuals,from the work of Herodotus,Father of History,to this day! And that gives you an idea on the question WHY HISTORY?
Consider this,too:

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE WHITE STUFF IN YOUR SKULL IS FOR: MYSTIFICATION, MISINFORMATION,DISTORTION OF FACTS OR WHAT?

Composed on May 11,2011
by:
BAKANO A. MURTALA
...an ABU HISTORIAN, writer;playwright and poet...

Copyright: 2013 Bakano A. Murtala
ALL RIGHT RESERVED.
[email protected]

Author's Note

Perfect!