A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has called for the resignation of the Minister of Education, Dr. Morufu Alausa, over the alleged omission of Igbo history in a newly published school textbook titled “Living History” for Junior Secondary School 1 students.
Eze also urged governors of the South-East to immediately reject the book and demand its withdrawal from circulation, describing its content as divisive and misleading.
The controversy followed a viral video highlighting portions of the book, authored by J.M. Itsekuke, which critics claim failed to adequately recognise the Igbo as one of Nigeria’s three major ethnic groups. Reacting to the development, Eze questioned why any “sensible Nigerian” would write about the country’s history without properly acknowledging the Igbo people.
“I found out that this divided, evil, and misleading version of the book for JSS1 students is even listed in the National Library of Nigeria, and yet we have governors in the South-East,” Eze said.
He accused the South-East governors of remaining silent over what he described as a deliberate attempt to promote ethnic bias, and alleged that the publication reflected a broader pattern of marginalisation.
While condemning the author, Eze called for his arrest and prosecution, alleging that the book deliberately omitted the Igbo ethnic group. He further criticised the Minister of Education for approving the publication, insisting that the omission was unacceptable.
“I condemn both the author and the Minister of Education for approving and starting this foolish journey of hatred called ‘Living History’ of Nigeria without mentioning the third major tribe in Nigeria,” he said.
Eze demanded the immediate withdrawal of the book from the market and warned that failure to act could be interpreted as an endorsement of ethnic exclusion. He also insisted that the minister had lost the moral authority to remain in office for allegedly endorsing the textbook.
The APC chieftain further called on South-East governors to set aside political differences and collectively demand decisive action, including the prosecution of the author.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the Federal Ministry of Education nor the author of the book had issued an official response to the allegations.