INTERVIEW:Primary schoolteacher said I was too dull, advised my guardian against enrolling me — Prof Sobowale, retired LASU don

INTERVIEW:Primary schoolteacher said I was too dull, advised my guardian against enrolling me — Prof Sobowale, retired LASU don

Punch

Idowu Sobowale, a retired professor of journalism at the Lagos State University, served as special adviser on education to a former Lagos State Governor, the late Alhaji Lateef Jakande, and was also Commissioner for Education in the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu administration. He shares his life and times with ALEXANDER OKERE

You were born in Ashipa near Abeokuta, Ogun State, before independence. Were you told whether your birth was registered?

My birth was not officially registered. As of that time, my father kept a diary of births, so my name was registered in the diary.

You were said to have been born to a peasant farmer and a petty trader. What kind of parents were they?

My dad was a very stern disciplinarian, but loving.

And did that play a role in the relationship among his children?

I think I will say yes. Again, one interesting thing was that we were not together for too long. One of my siblings went to Yobe State to live with an uncle of ours, then another one was a mechanic; that was the one that made me want to become a mechanic.

How many children did your father have?

My father had 11 children – seven males and four females. He had four wives and three of them had children for him.

What was it like growing up in a polygamous family?

I keep saying that my father’s family was unique and I mean that in every sense. The relationship among my father’s wives was something else but their relationship never affected the children. When there was anything to be done in the family, whoever got there first would take the decision on behalf of the rest of us and that was it. After I started work, I was always taking such decisions on their behalf. My elder ones did the same when I travelled out of the country.

Did you become an apprentice mechanic?

I didn’t become one. One evening, my father and I were on his farm; my father had a large farm in our village at Asipa. He also had a cocoa plantation in the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, so he was always shuttling between the two. One day, he was preparing to go to the cocoa plantation. He apportioned an area of the farm to me to weed before his return. But I told him I was going to the town to learn to become a mechanic. He asked me to repeat what I said and when I did, he was stunned because he knew me as an obedient child and loved me very much, so he never expected me to say that. He stood speechless for about four minutes and told me to follow him back to the village; that was how we ended that evening’s work.

When we got home, he told my mother what I had told him. My mother tried to make me deny that I said so but I refused. Later in the evening when other members of the family returned, a meeting was convened and my father told them what I said. Given the respect we had for our father and how we feared him, it was not normal for me to have said that. I told them that if they compelled me to withdraw what I said, I would run away from the village.

How old were you as of that time?

I was 13. At that time, the Ileya festival was approaching and it was one festival that brought all members of the family together in Abeokuta. I was advised to exercise some patience before leaving so we could discuss my decision and find out where I would learn the vocation. At that point, my joy knew no end. Everybody came for the festival and on the following day, a larger meeting was convened and they said since I wanted to become a mechanic, it was important for me to go to school so that I could be literate and be able to understand my boss’ instructions. So, the option for me was to go to Lagos with my brother who left Abeokuta Grammar School about a year before. We came to Lagos and went round all the schools in the Ebute Metta area but none agreed to enroll me. They said I was too old for Class One.

At the last place we went to, which was St. Peter’s UNA (Primary School), somebody told my brother that the teacher who handled Class II would conduct an entrance examination for pupils who wanted to take a transfer from other schools. We went to the teacher’s class and he told us to come for the examination. I was given a pencil and a piece of paper and we were told to begin the exam. I can’t remember what was written on the blackboard but what I will remember until I die is that I didn’t know how to hold a pencil. So, somebody had to show me (how to use it) and when I put pencil to paper, I was just drawing lines. Later in the evening, the only thing the man said was that my brother should not bother himself because I was not a ‘school material’ at all, that I didn’t know anything.

What did your brother say?

My brother said I had gone to school in the village and that I might have been frightened by the change of  environment. In what turned out to be a prophetic statement, he assured the man that if he admitted me, I would do well. The man agreed and as of that time, we paid 15 shillings per term. I joined the class three days later and was paired with a tiny boy; Olanrewaju Samuel was his name. I have been looking for that boy for ages; I hope he is still alive. That boy was a genius; whatever assignment or exam we had, he would finish his own in no time and finish mine before the time was up. So, whatever mark he got, I got. But the teacher noticed I couldn’t have performed that well on my own, so he took me away from the boy and paired me with a girl. Nobody was near Olanrewaju’s brightness but the girl was far better than me because I didn’t even know anything. Everything I had done as of that time was by the grace of God and Olanrewaju. The girl wasn’t fast enough to assist me but she allowed me to spy on what she was doing. Later, the teacher paired me with someone who was much older than I was and could not even write an O with the bottom of a bottle. So, rather than me spying on him, he spied on me.

One of the traits I exhibited was that I was desirous of learning. In those days, the bolekajas and buses that plied the roads had various inscriptions on them, many of them were in Yoruba and some were in English, but I struggled to read them. But when the term ended, pupils were assembled in a hall where the examination results were announced and the three best pupils got prizes. When it got to the turn of our class, Olanrewaju Samuel came first, followed by a female pupil and then Ramoni Sobowale – that was my Muslim name as of that time – was announced as the third person.

More

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

INTERVIEW:Primary schoolteacher said I was too dull, advised my guardian against enrolling me — Prof Sobowale, retired LASU don

 

Log In

Or with username:

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.