A Civic Education textbook for Junior Secondary School 2 has been at the center of a controversy after a post on X, a social media platform, claimed that it was promoting hatred and tribalism among children. The post showed a screenshot of a page from the textbook showing that the “Igbos” was used instead of Ugbo kingdom. Moremi Ajasoro and the people of Ife were at war with the Ugbo, an Ilaje kingdom in what is now Ondo State. The post alleged that this was an attempt to sow discord and division among the children.
However, the author of the textbook, Sola Akinyemi, has denied any malicious intent and said that it was a mistake from the editors. He told Parallel Facts that he was notified of the error in June 2023 and that he had corrected it with a new edition of the textbook. He said that the original word that he used was “Ugbo”, not “Igbo”, and that it was a typographical error that escaped his notice.
He also appealed to the affected community to not take it personally and to not let it fuel tribal sentiments. He said that he respects and values the diversity of Nigeria and that he did not mean to offend anyone with his textbook. He said that he hopes that his apology will be accepted and that his mistake will not overshadow the educational purpose of his textbook.