The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Foundation, Bola Atta has called for the urgent revival of history education, warning that Nigerian girls could grow up without a sense of identity if the trend continues.

Ms Atta spoke at Queen’s College on Wednesday during ‘HerStory of Nigeria School Tour’, a project by Asiri Magazine aimed at documenting and archiving the history of Nigerian women.

The event also marked the launch of the HerStory of Nigeria Illustration Magazine.

Delivering the keynote address, Ms Atta said history had steadily faded from school curricula and public consciousness, a trend she warned could have far-reaching consequences for younger generations.

“It is urgent that we bring it back so we do not have a generation that is lost,” she said. “Your generation is rapidly moving into adulthood and if we do not act now, it will be lost in your time.”

She framed her address around what she described as a timeless and urgent theme, ‘The role of history and education in shaping the future of the Nigerian girl child.’

Quoting philosopher George Santayana, she told the students: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

She explained that history was not merely a record of dates and events, but a source of memory, identity and direction.

“For the Nigerian girl child, when you know where you come from, you begin to understand who you are, and when you understand who you are, you begin to define where you would like to go.”

Ms Atta cited women who had shaped Nigeria’s past, from Queen Amina to Funmilayo Ransom-Kuti as evidence that women had always been central to the country’s story.

“Your story did not begin today,” she said. “You are part of a powerful legacy. Yet for too long, many of these stories have remained untold or underrepresented.”

She added that initiatives such as HerStory of Nigeria exist to ensure that girls see themselves not as footnotes, but as central voices in the nation’s story.

Education as liberation

Ms Atta stressed that history alone was not enough and must be complemented by education.

Quoting education activist Malala Yousafzai, she said: “One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the entire world.”

She noted that education builds confidence, teaches critical thinking and equips young people to question, innovate and lead.

“For the Nigerian girl child, education is not just empowerment, it is liberation,” she said. “It frees you from limitations imposed by society and from the belief that your voice does not matter.”

Ms Atta, an alumna of Queen’s College, said her journey reflects the power of education and personal discipline.

“The difference between then and now is not where I started, but the choices I made to stay curious, disciplined and to believe there was no limit to what I could achieve,” she said.

She acknowledged that the path would not always be easy, noting that students would face doubt and setbacks.

“In those moments, remember the words of Maya Angelou: ‘You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.’”

Quoting Nelson Mandela, she added that education remains “the most powerful weapon” for change.

“I challenge you: learn your history because it will ground you, pursue your education because it will elevate you, and believe in yourself because that is what will carry you forward,” she said.

Foundation’s intervention

The UBA Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of United Bank for Africa, operates in 24 African countries, with education as a key focus.

Ms Atta said its programmes including scholarships, book distribution and school projects across the continent have supported young girls to become professionals and agents of change through its national essay competition and other initiatives.

“What is common amongst all these young women is that they chose to learn, grow and to believe in their potential,” she said.

She added that the foundation remains committed to ensuring that every African girl has the opportunity, tools and confidence to succeed. “When a girl rises, a community rises. When a community rises, a nation rises,” she said.

Filling the gaps

The publisher of Asiri Magazine, Oludamola Adebowale, said the HerStory of Nigeria project was inspired by gaps in the documentation of Nigerian women’s contributions.

Mr Adebowale said his concern began during a project at University of Oxford, when a colleague shared documents and images on the activities of women in Nigeria between 1910 and 1940, materials he said he had never encountered before.

“I realised there was a need to fill the gap and uncover these stories,” he said.

He described the project as an initiative dedicated to documenting and archiving the history of Nigerian women, while building a unified digital repository for researchers, teachers and lecturers.

“This is a legacy project, and our goal is to take it across the country, telling these stories in diverse languages and from multiple perspectives,” he said.

Queen’s College legacy

The President of the Queen’s College Old Girls Association (QCOGA), Temitayo Okunoren-Makindipe, highlighted the school’s long history of producing female pioneers across professions.

She said the school had, over the years, produced the first Nigerian woman to publish a work in English, the first female doctor to graduate from a Nigerian university, the first female newspaper editor, the first female judge, the first female permanent secretary, the first female vice-chancellor of any university in Nigeria, and Africa’s first female doctor of English literature, among others.

Mrs Okunoren-Makindipe also announced that the association had reinstated the Lady Elizabeth Clifford Scholarship Award for the best-performing students in Junior Secondary School 1 (JSS1), covering tuition, books, Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) levy and house dues through JSS2.

The association also established the Lady Oyinkan Abayomi Prize for Excellence for the student with the best all-round performance in character, behaviour and academics.

She traced the founding of Queen’s College to Lady Elizabeth Clifford, wife of a colonial governor of Nigeria, noting that she championed the establishment of a government secondary school for girls at a time when only mission schools catered to them.

“She had a dream over 100 years ago,” Mrs Okunoren-Makindipe said. “Queen’s College is the first government-owned secondary school for girls in Nigeria.”

Looking forward through history

The Deputy Head of Mission at the British High Commission, Simon Field, also addressed the students.

Referencing Queen Elizabeth II, he said studying history helps individuals understand change and prepare for the future.

“When we learn history, we are not looking backwards,” Mr Field said. “We are looking forward with understanding.”