Removing Mathematics from the Humanites…
The Nigerian government’s recent decision to remove Mathematics from the curriculum of Arts students has stirred quiet relief in some classrooms and deep concern in others. For many young people who have wrestled painfully with numbers, the announcement came as liberation. “At last!” some students exclaimed. “No more struggling with algebra and equations.” Yet, beneath that sigh of relief lies a question far more complex than any arithmetic problem: what kind of mind are we trying to shape in our schools?
Not every student enjoys Mathematics. For decades, many in the Arts have viewed the subject as an unnecessary punishment — an alien language that adds little to their creative or literary pursuits. To them, Mathematics has always been a gatekeeper, blocking progress with symbols and formulas that seem to have no link to poetry, history, or philosophy. The government’s reasoning, therefore, appears sympathetic. Why force students to endure what seems irrelevant to their field? Why not let the scientists deal with the equations while the artists focus on expression?
But education is not about comfort; it is about capacity. The goal is not merely to pass exams but to build balanced citizens — people who can think broadly, reason logically, and solve problems from multiple angles. Mathematics, for all its terror in the classroom, teaches more than numbers. It teaches structure, discipline, and clarity of thought. It trains the mind to follow logic, to identify patterns, to detect inconsistency — the very skills that make good writers, lawyers, journalists, and philosophers.
To remove Mathematics completely from the Arts curriculum is to narrow the mental horizon of an entire generation. It is to say, “You need not think critically; just feel deeply.” Yet a poet who cannot reason will write beautifully but say little. A historian who cannot understand statistics will tell stories without context. Even an artist who manages a studio or exhibition must grasp basic arithmetic, accounting, and budgeting. In today’s Nigeria, where every creative person is also an entrepreneur, how can one run a career without numerical sense?
Across the world, education systems are moving in the opposite direction. They are not removing Mathematics from the Humanities — they are integrating it. In Finland, Singapore, and South Korea, students in all fields are taught the basics of data analysis and logical reasoning. They understand that Mathematics is not merely about numbers; it is about structure and thinking. The 21st-century world runs on data — from social media analytics to digital marketing, from voting patterns to climate studies. An artist who cannot interpret data risks being voiceless in a digital world where numbers tell the stories.
The Nigerian government’s decision, though perhaps made in good faith, reflects a deeper national problem: we often treat education as a checklist, not a philosophy. Our policies swing like pendulums — from one extreme to the other — without considering long-term consequences. If Mathematics challenges Arts students, the answer is not to abolish it but to rethink how it is taught. The real issue is not the subject itself but the fear and trauma attached to it. Many students fail because Mathematics is taught without meaning, stripped of life and relevance. They see numbers on a board, not patterns in the world around them.
Imagine if Mathematics were taught through the lens of art — rhythm, design, symmetry, and proportion. Music students would see it in beats and tempo. Literature students would discover it in poetic structure and narrative rhythm. History students would trace it through timelines and population trends. The problem is not that Mathematics doesn’t belong in the Arts; it’s that we’ve never shown how it lives there naturally.
By removing Mathematics, we are telling young Nigerians that comfort is better than challenge, that it is acceptable to avoid what is difficult instead of mastering it. That is not education; that is escape. In a country struggling to compete globally, we cannot afford to raise half-prepared minds. Every field — science or art — needs both logic and creativity. Numbers and words are not rivals; they are partners in understanding the world.
Of course, the Humanities remain vital. They teach empathy, storytelling, and moral reasoning — things numbers alone cannot provide. But the most powerful human beings in history were those who combined both worlds. Leonardo da Vinci was an artist and an engineer. Chinua Achebe was not only a storyteller but also a thinker of structure and precision. Even in Nigeria today, many of our brightest writers, designers, and journalists rely daily on data, budgets, and statistics. Removing Mathematics from their foundation is like teaching someone to speak but forbidding them to listen.
This policy may also send the wrong social message. It suggests that Arts students are somehow less capable of logical thought — that their minds cannot handle rigor. That stereotype has already done enough damage. For years, parents have discouraged children from studying the Humanities, calling them “easy” or “unserious.” Now, by officially excluding Mathematics, the government reinforces that bias, making the Arts seem like a refuge for those who cannot cope with intellectual difficulty. That is unfair, and worse, it is untrue.
Nigeria’s future depends on the integration of logical and creative thinking. A 21st-century economy requires engineers who can think like poets and writers who can approach problems with a scientific mindset. We need problem-solvers who can both calculate and show compassion. Every policy that separates these two realms only deepens the national divide between intellect and empathy—the very divide that contributes to many of our social and political failures.
If the goal is to make learning meaningful, let us reform, not remove. Let Mathematics be taught as a living language, connected to art, music, culture, and daily life. Let teachers show how geometry appears in patterns of traditional cloth, how arithmetic drives trade, how symmetry shapes architecture. Let students see that numbers are not enemies but tools of expression. The solution is not to make learning easier but to make it make sense.
Education should prepare citizens, not specialists. A writer who can calculate, an artist who can plan, and a teacher who can think logically — these are the people Nigeria needs. By removing Mathematics from Arts education, we risk producing graduates who can feel deeply but think narrowly, who can speak beautifully but reason poorly.
In the end, Mathematics and the Humanities are not two separate worlds but two halves of the same human mind. One teaches us to count; the other teaches us to care. Both are necessary if we must build a Nigeria that is not just literate, but enlightened.
