Lost heroes, lost heritage: How to rescue Nigeria’s fading national consciousness

In a public speaking workshop held some years ago in Ibadan, a revealing cultural disconnect emerged that merits our collective attention. When assigned to present on Chief Bola Ige – a towering national figure who served as Governor of Oyo State during Nigeria’s second republic – young participants displayed not mere unfamiliarity but complete ignorance about this pivotal statesman. “Well, it’s about some Bola guy,” one child remarked dismissively, prompting her grandfather’s alarmed exclamation: “Young lady, are you referring to the late Chief Bola Ige as ‘some Bola guy’?”

Incredulous though it may seem, that incident is far from isolated. Across Nigeria, a vast majority of children and youth exhibit a troubling lack of awareness of the rich array of local role models — past and present — who have shaped Nigeria. This is not merely a failure of individual recollection but a systemic absence: a void in the stories we tell our children, and the literature we provide to shape their sense of belonging and purpose.

The missing pillar in national development

The dissonance between Nigerian youth and their heritage reveals a profound scarcity of modern didactic children’s literature that authentically embeds national narratives with compelling storytelling frameworks. Unlike many nations that strategically deploy children’s literature as instruments of cultural transmission and civic formation, Nigeria has largely neglected this critical developmental tool. Consequently, few books celebrate real-life achievers whose stories can inspire children to envision success beyond conventional career paths and to see themselves as active contributors to the project of nation-building.

Chief Bola Ige – lawyer, statesman, and educational visionary – exemplified the kind of national figure whose legacy deserves celebration in our children’s literature. Known for his distinctive practice of penning public letters to school children, Ige understood the essential connection between leadership and youthful consciousness. His assassination in December 2001 represented not merely the loss of a political figure but the severing of an intergenerational dialogue about nationhood and public service.

China’s approach provides illuminating perspective. Following the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911, and particularly after the transformative May Fourth Movement of 1919, Chinese leadership recognised children’s literature as a strategic asset in national reimagination and identity formation.

This was no casual decision but a deliberate policy choice. Popular Chinese writers like Ye Shengtao and Zheng Zhenduo began producing children’s literature that emphasised central Chinese tenets of modernity, science, patriotism, and cultural reform. Children’s literature became tools to cultivate a unified Chinese identity rooted in shared values.  Children’s magazines like “Xiao Pengyou” (Little Friend) simultaneously built literacy and transmitted foundational national values, with content thoughtfully calibrated to evolving political imperatives.

Emergent from this thinking is one of China’s most popular children’s literatures to date, “Little Heroes”. First authored in the 1940s by Hua Shan, these serial tales transformed ordinary workers into fictional heroes, presenting them as protagonists, active participants in nation-building and essential contributors to national struggles. Little Heroes evolved into an entire genre of didactic and powerful cultural symbol of 20^th-century China. They instilled in young readers a deep loyalty to the state, national pride, and enduring revolutionary ideals.

Didactic children’s literature also played a transformative role in national reconstruction and identity formation efforts of Rwanda, in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide. Rwanda used storybooks to promote unity and forgiveness, peaceful conflict resolution and the dangers of ethnic divisionism and hatred.  As Nigeria grapples with a contemporary zeitgeist of national pessimism, especially among its median youth population, a didactic approach to young people’s literature becomes even more imperative.

In 1986, Kenyan writer Ngugi Wa Thiong’o emphasised the power of literature to build national consciousness, and to counter colonial narratives, stating that, “Children’s literature is the first battlefield for control of the imagination.” Swedish writer, Maria Nokolajeva, also strongly highlighted the integral role of children’s books in shaping societal values and reflecting a nation’s worldview.

Renowned writer Chinua Achebe has contended that literature — and the reclamation of African narratives — was essential to reconstructing damaged identities and rekindling pride in African heritage. These writers’ perspectives underscore that far above entertainment, children’s literature is a powerful national ideological tool, capable of shaping a child’s comprehension of societal roles, national identity and values integral to nation building.

Beyond nostalgia: The strategic imperative

We must recognise that this is not merely a matter of cultural preservation but of strategic national development. Nations that nurture strong intergenerational transmission of values and historical consciousness demonstrate greater resilience in facing contemporary challenges.

The development of a substantive body of Nigerian children’s literature must therefore become a national priority – engaging publishers, educators, cultural institutions, and policy makers in coordinated effort.

If we aspire to a Nigeria where national identity transcends transactional politics and ethnic fragmentation, we must invest in literary foundations that make our collective story accessible and compelling to our youngest citizens. Universities and research institutions should develop specialised curricula for children’s literature, emphasising its critical role in national development. The alternative – a generation of Nigerians for whom “Chief Bola Ige” remains merely “some Bola guy” – represents an unacceptable diminishment of our national promise and potential.

Edem Ossai is a development practitioner specialising in education and gender with over 15 years working in child rights advocacy, universal basic education and gender responsive education planning. She is Africa regional network coordinator at NORRAG, which is growing and weaving together a network of experts, and practitioners working on international policies and cooperation in education and training, in Anglophone Africa using social systems mapping.

Currently, she is the founder and director of MAYEIN, a non-profit based in Nigeria working to promote equity in education, entrepreneurship development and girls’ agency. She envisioned the mission, objectives, and strategic action plans, recruited volunteers, built partnerships and raised funds towards a self-sustaining organisation to promote girl education, positive youth development and youth civic education.