President of the Historical Society of Nigeria (HSN) and Head of History department, University of Ibadan, Prof. Christopher Ogbogbo has highlighted the importance of the knowledge of history to the military.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with CEOAfrica ahead of the 63rd annual conference of the HSN tagged "The Impact of The Military Factor in Nigerian History Since 1960", affirmed that knowledge of history will help the military chart a path for the future.

According to him, "They must understand their history as an institution. I am glad that where they train the military top brass in this country - the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA), they have a vibrant department of history and war studies. That is the first starting point and I would advocate that some of the courses in that department particularly the ones that have to do with Nigerian history and the history of the Nigerian military - the three service arms should be made compulsory for all cadets in the NDA because they need to understand where they are coming from to be able to chart a path for the future, it is very critical.

"They need to understand Nigerian history because the Nigeria public they serve, the Nigerian state they have sweared allegiance to, they need to understand the trajectory through which that state has evolved to be able to gift their best to the state".

He added that there should be a symbiotic relationship between the military';s knowledge of history and their service to their father land, noting that that way, they can inculcate in the military critical values for building a nation, shaping the future destiny of not just the Nigerian military but for the Nigerian nation.

This year';s conference of the HSN is billed to hold between 7th to 12th October, in Kaduna.