Professor Samuel Aghalino the president of the Historical Society of Nigeria presented a Life Membership Certificate to Barrister Frank Tietie the Executive Director of the Citizens Advocacy for Social Economic Rights.
Aghalino explained that Tietie deserved the life membership certificate for demonstrating an uncommon capacity to confront the national question with patriotic zeal.
He thereby concluded that Tietie must not be speaking from the perspective of stomach infrastructure, he has been speaking from the fact that this nation is great and Nigerians must make it great then must work in unison to make it great that each time Tietie speaks, he pick out his snippets of historiography and see nuggets of historical wisdom.
“I said for you to do your thing well, you must be a historian. I now realize that as the president of HSN, we need partnerships, big voices, and people with media presence to tell our story. If we have people like Frank Tietie as members of our society, we know that some of the challenges we are having in our society could be brought to bear in our national discourse" Aghalino said.
The Historical Society of Nigeria President elaborated that being a life member of society, is a very special thing because life members are people that they can run to when there is any trouble. That Historical Society of Nigeria is proud that with Barrister Frank Tietie with them, they can join in the national discourse on how they can move the country forward.
In his remarks, Barrister Frank Tietie said if leaders are conscious of history, some of the decisions they make in private and public life will be guided accordingly for national integration and harmony. He then emphasized that history must become compulsory for anyone who wants to become successful as a leader in Nigeria and that citizens should have a knowledge of history so they won’t be deceived by incompetent politicians and leaders.
The lawyer said with the “insane level of low politics” that is practised in Nigeria, only leaders who have a sense of history could effectively navigate the future from lessons of the past. That from the Kano riots to the civil war, those periods were enough to teach today’s leaders lessons from the mistakes past leaders have made, and “how we can correct them.”
He thanked the leadership of the Historical Society of Nigeria and the attendees for the historic moment and certificate, adding that his advocacy is aimed at improving the quality of life for every human being in Nigeria.