Opinion
The Aáwé Mystique And My Unending Quest For Reform
Published
11 months agoon
By Tunji Olaopa
On Saturday, 13th of January, 2024, exactly one month after the new leadership of the Federal Civil Service Commission that I now have the fortune of leading was inaugurated by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, my monarch, HRH Oba Cornelius Abiola Taiwo, FCCA, FCA, the Alaawe of Aawe in Council, organized what turned out to be a grand reception at his palace at Aawe in my honour. The occasion and my statement of appreciation afforded me yet another opportunity to reflect on what I have called the Aawe Mystique.
Indeed, with the benefit of the wisdom and clarity of hindsight, I can now categorically say that the story of my unraveling from the hapless starry-eyed and starry-minded boy running errands for my grandmother on the streets and crannies of Aáwé to the office of permanent secretary in Abuja reflecting on institutional gaps and governance reforms is the story of Aáwé writ large on my intellectual and professional trajectories. And that narrative speaks a lot about the confluence of culture and religion, or what it takes for a village to raise a child. And in this case, this tiny town did not only embody a coherent mixture of cultural and religious values, it also embodies what I have been calling the Aáwé mystique.
All stories of upbringing or maturation must commence through the input of parents who either took parenting diligently or not. My own narrative contains the diligence of godly and committed parents who understood their sacred responsibility, and the significance of socialization in the effort to raise good children and exemplary citizens. Right early in life, my father would drum into me the lesson that the brilliance he was seeing in me has a place in Aáwé with its lineage of geniuses and achievers, from Dr J. A. Adegbite to Prof. Ojetunji Aboyade. Indeed, I first could comprehend what a genius means through the fact that my father constantly associated the word with Prof. Aboyade. And then, at Aáwé High School, we had the privilege of encountering all the best and the brightest—Dr. J. A. Adegbite, Rev. Dr. S. T. Ola Akande, and Profs. Ojetunji Aboyade, Akande (one-time Rector of The Polytechnic, Ibadan)—to inspire us. And I was inspired so thoroughly that my ambition was to become any one of these indigenous heroes, including the much younger Prof. Adesola Ogunniyi, a leading African neuroscientist.
This is what I have been calling the Aáwé mystique—the confluence of educational, enlightenment and communal investments that raises the significance of a small town in terms of the historical figures it is able not only to commit to its own further growth through its children, but also to the growth and development of Nigeria. Aáwé’s strength lies in the generational and communal investment that birthed great names that are the testaments to its resilience and progress. The smallness of Aáwé is displaced by its greatest achievement—the aggregation of its diverse indigenous pool into a developmental capital that propels continuous advancement in social, cultural, economic and political terms. Aáwé’s indigenous pool is made up of the expatriates abroad who invested in educational advancement and those, equally educated, who didn’t leave Aáwé town but are committed to its advancement. Those at home and abroad are equally sensitised to the urgency of community development which has been facilitated over time through the framework of social groups.
Indeed, it is from this collective desire to scatter the seeds of Aáwé over many waters that gave birth to the notorious Aáwé eponym, “Àwọn ọmo ajẹ òkú adìẹ” (They who turn dead fowls into delicacies). The narrative is that Aáwé indigenes topped the list of house-helps that arrived in Lagos in drove in the early 20th century in search of betterment in the early years before and after Nigeria’s independence. The culture of not wasting anything must have been responsible for a poor Aawe girl-househelp (in Lagos) insistence that a fowl mistakenly killed by some of the whites’ drivers was not too unhygienic to eat. And then, the legend began to grow about Aáwé people and dead fowl! And yet, behind that legend is a deeper one—coming to Lagos was simply a trajectory that led to the growth of the town itself, as it was for some other towns all around Nigeria.
Egbe Omo Ibile Aáwé group (founded in 1912) and the Aáwé Development Corporation (ADC) established in 1982 were the results of a collective signal to the development aspiration and readiness of the people. Apart from the relevance of social groups as the avatars of social struggle in any society, they particularly represent Aáwé’s peculiar diffusion of its social capital to the entire community. Progress in any society is a function of the elite-masses rapport that serves as the foundation of a developmental framework within which the elites deploy their socio-cultural and political advantages to the general uplifting of the collective. My father, and so many I have grown to know over the years, was religiously committed to attending the meetings of these associations through their chapters all across Nigeria and beyond. And hence, it was not surprising that the idea of social capital and subsidiarity that underlies this collective commitment to Aáwé affairs was the basis of Aboyade and Mabogunje’s the optimum community (OPTICOM) development dynamics meant to further mobilize grassroots support for indigenous development.
And so, when I initially commenced my doctoral programme at the University of Ibadan, the theoretical framework for the thesis was already laid out for me. I saw the intrinsic connection between Robert Putnam’s social capital theory, the subsidiarity principle, and the Aáwé OPTICOM experiment. Beyond this, my university experience and encounter with Plato’s Republic were already growing in my mind the significance of education in Aáwé’s collective development. And that insight would play a fundamental role in the connection between learning, education and institutional reform that constitute a fundamental plank in my reform philosophy.
However, the greatest dimension of the Aáwé mystique, as a perceptive reader must have deciphered, is the lineage of preeminent figures that my intellectual and professional growth benefitted from in measures I probably would not ever be able to quantify. From one juncture of my development to others, I have had the benefits of encountering the molding influence of one Aáwé figure or the other, from the significant spiritual homiletics of Rev. Dr S. T. Ola Akande at the Orita Mefa Baptist Church, Ibadan in his days, to the professional lessons I got from Prof. Aboyade to the career enhancing connection made possible by Prof. Mabogunje. I however have no reservation in raising Aboyade to the level of canonization in my pantheon of role models. An example suffices among many. At some point during June 12 political unrest in 1993, I had made the decision to exit the Federal civil service and move to the United Nations. Of course, Aboyade was one of my referees, and indeed he had written a reference letter on my behalf meant for the attention of Mr Fre Hewitt, the permanent representative of the UNDP to Nigeria who had signaled his willingness to offer me a place in the public affairs division in Lagos. However, Aboyade refused to sign and forward the letter.
So, he got me into a discussion one day, and said quite categorically to me: “you are not going to any UN.” It was not a discussion I wanted to have with him. But he was adamant. He insisted that I needed to stay, research the system of the civil service bureaucracy and become an expert-insider since I had become so critical of that same system. He counseled that in career growth as a bureaucrat-scholar, I should never be worried by the politics of promotions, positioning and the treachery that comes with it . That as long as I steer clear of bureaucratic power play that almost defines the civil service (and indeed its stagnation as I came to understand) I can then be sure to reach the point of self-fulfillment. Thereafter, he invoked some prayers and blessings on me, and then concluded by saying that he might appear to me at that moment as a dream-killer, but that he hoped I would be lifted so high sufficiently for me to realize in later years that he meant well for me and my professional endeavor and future. Indeed, he was the one who instigated my curiosity about the institutional challenges confronted by the civil service from the numerous conversations we had in the attempts to interrogate the Nigerian policy and development dynamics. All this drew my attention to the significance of development and implementation researches. And thankfully, Mass Mobilization for Self-Reliance and Economic Recovery (MAMSER) was already in existence and it served as a cornerstone for my initial research focus into change management and the significance of education as a strategy for grassroots mobilization.
I cannot now begin to unravel the thinking process and the doubt that assailed me after my conversation with Aboyade. But the long and short of the story is that I accepted to stay, and the rest, as they say, has now become a history that rebounds at every point of my maturation to a deeper gratitude to God, to providence and to the Aáwé mystique and the role it played in God’s purpose for my life. Indeed, there is no way I could even begin to apply a rational framework to how I moved from Aáwé High School, imbibed all the lessons and insights, and connected the dots of the sociocultural privileges and investments I benefitted from beyond the God factor and the inspiration I got from being an Aawe boy.
And yet, I carry along with me everywhere I went the bursting pride that I am an Aáwé indigene, and a deep sense of gratitude that I am able to speak and write about the Aáwé mystique while also handing the baton of the responsibilities that comes with it to all the fortunate others who will be coming behind. In sum, I am simply a small but significant part of the larger Aáwé story.
Prof. Olaopa is the Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, Abuja.
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By Leo Igwe
The Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW) is concerned over the reported arrest of two men accused of being ‘witchdoctors’ in Zambia. The arrest underscores the potency of witchcraft fears and the connection between occult anxieties and the country’s politics. These individuals were accused of trying to bewitch the Zambian president, Hakainde Hichilema. The police claimed that they had charms. They planned to use the charms to harm the president. The report says the two persons have been charged under Zambia’s Witchcraft Act. The Act criminalizes “possession of charms”, “professing knowledge of witchcraft”, and “cruelty to wild animals”. The police found the two with assorted charms, including a live chameleon.
This development is utterly embarrassing and shows that the Zambian government is slowly losing its focus and bearing.The country has many socio-economic challenges. Suspicion of bewitchment or possession of charms should be the least of its worries at this time. There should be no place for witchcraft and possession of charms in modern politics because there is no evidence for these beliefs and practices. Zambian authorities should not weaponize the Witchcraft Act or use it to justify this incident. Zambian law does not recognize witchcraft. Zambia’s Witchcraft Act criminalizes naming or imputing witchcraft. It prohibits accusing or threatening to accuse any person of being a witch or a wizard. In this case, it is the police who are breaking the law.
Otherwise, how did they know the two individuals were ‘witchdoctors’? Did these persons identify as witch doctors? If not, the police are liable because they named and imputed witchcraft and have to prove that these individuals have witch-doctoring powers. The police claimed to have charged these individuals for possessing “assorted charms”, including a chameleon. Really?
The police in Zambia have questions to answer: What are charms? How did they know that what was in their possession were charms, not pets? Is a chameleon a form of charm? What makes possession of a chameleon possession of a charm? When and how does a chameleon become a charm? The police need to answer these questions and more before one takes them seriously.
Again, did the individuals describe what was in possession as ‘charms’? If they did, does confessing or designating something as a charm make it a charm? And if they did not, the police are liable because they need to prove how those possessions translated into charms.
In addition, the police claimed that the duo wanted to bewitch the president. What does that mean? How did they know? Are the police not contravening a provision under the Witchcraft Act by professing knowledge of witchcraft? Can one harm another person using a chameleon? They claimed that the two persons wanted to use the charms in their possession, including the chameleon to harm the president. How did they know that? What is the evidence for that?
The Advocacy for Alleged Witches calls for an end to this state-sponsored witch hunt. There is no evidence of harm through witchcraft or charms. The Zambian government should desist from witchcraft- related infractions and violations including arbitrary arrest, and detention of innocent citizens. These allegations are baseless and absurd. The arrest was politically motivated. This development demonstrates that Zambian authorities are out of sync with their duty and obligation to uphold the rule of law and protect accused persons.
Zambian authorities need to act in compliance with the 2021 UN resolution, which urged states to take measures to combat abuses linked to witchcraft beliefs and ritual attacks. End witchcraft allegations in Zambia. End witch hunts in Africa now!
Dr Igwe directs the Advocacy for Alleged Witches.
By Tony Afejuku
The other burning issue, apart from Farotimi and Babalola’s, which I wish to take a look at – and which I am taking a look at now – relates to what is happening in our capital territory. What is this burning issue – which our human rightists and civil society organisations and personages are surprisingly and un-satisfactorily not inclined to focus attention on and examine as they should? I may be wrong, but it surely seems to me that this issue, this burning issue, which is of more importance than Farotimi and Babalola’s – which has been given undue adulation – is deliberately being neglected and depreciated by proclaimers and heroes and heroines of human rights, justice, equity and equality of rights in your country my country our country. Why, why, why and why, why, why? Anyone who has any iota of patriotic sensibility, feeling and judgment well watered and buttressed by a very great influence upon his or her critical judgment will keep on asking the question I am asking.
Mr. Nyesom Wike, as almost everybody who can read and write a little knows, is the current minister of your, my and our Federal Capital Territory. His post or office is akin to that of a governor of a state. As the immediate past governor of Rivers State who was drafted, after his two terms there expired, to continue in the FCT as its new minister-governor or governor-minister under the auspices of a party he is not a true member of, Mr. Wike cannot but be seen as a lucky man. He is in every possible and impossible way. Minister-Governor Wike is a lucky man and a very fortunate one indeed. No former governor of Rivers State (or of any Nigerian state), as far as I know, has achieved what the famed political rouser of rabbles has achieved in one short gubernatorial life-time, and at a relatively young and fertile age. His dual achievement with and in two different political parties at this delicate point of Nigerian politics indicates to our politicians and us all that there is always time for a reminder that there are ready-made high rewards for arch-angels of betrayals. And Mr. Wike may go down in Rivers and Nigerian history as both an arch-angel and an emperor of betrayal of us all if we attempt to indicate what I have defined here as his dual achievement.
We can roughly divide, briefly, Wike’s political development into two periods. During the first, excluding his lower political positions before he became the governor of Rivers State, he quickly adapted his style to that of an emperor who became a rabble-rouser of rabble-rousers whose gubernatorial efficiency moved from stiffness to stiffness. He did not at any time feel that he needed suppleness to govern Rivers State. “Let the heavens fall if they must fall!” We are not there yet in this attempted analysis of the stiff-hearted and stiff-minded one. True? But he is already demonstrating this characteristic in Abuja. False? Judge and give the answer yourself.
Even after he left Rivers State a short while ago as governor, he is still trying to control happenings there to the political discomfiture of his hand-picked successor, his erstwhile “boy” and “son” – with whom he has fallen out. As the minister-governor or governor-minister of the FCT, Wike is occupied with the other taste of the emperor-juggernaut formulator – doing the work of two key political masters in one room and desk of political jugglery. Since his appearance in the FCT, minister-governor or governor-minister Wike has allegedly attempted to recover or transform for Abuja what is not traditionally or socially Abuja’s, for example, the city’s social idiom and landscape and terrain as well as its environs. In doing this he sometimes over-steps his bounds and mark of human/inhuman decency/indecency and psychological understanding of human nature, if you follow well what I am saying; he has so far become at best not really better than a typical pedestrian Nigerian lawyer and officer of political power: in his explorations so far in the Federal Capital Territory we have come to the realization, as T. S. Eliot would say, that “it is so often true that only by going too far can we find out how far we can go.” But one has to be a very negatively obstinate and self-serving emperor and a thorough-bred arch-angel of betrayal of the people and masses to justify such perilous and perfidious expeditions and adventures.
Last week, I saw on Arise Television “The Morning Show” Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, the dutiful widow of the late Nigerian supreme patriot and soldier, Colonel Ogbebor (of Benin stock) battling, so to say, to wrest the legacy of her late husband from the tight grip of the adventurous FCT minister-governor who has registered his name and signature in the hearts and consciousness of the people as the depriver of their possessions. The three anchors of “The Morning Show” were in their respective ways splendid in their structures of remarks and questions to Chief (Mrs.) Rita Lori-Ogbebor whom I have had occasions in times past to call patriotically Rita A-K 47 on account of her natural right to fire her beautiful tongue at any person, usually an enemy, of just actions. When she made the case she made to protect the estate of Paulosa Nigeria Limited, her late husband’s aforesaid legacy in the FCT, she was in her natural territory, habitat and element where even at age eighty-four, she never ever loses her stability – although she unusually restrained herself in the Arise Television appearance. Dr. Reuben Abati, Rufai Oseni, and Ayo Mairo-Ese clearly explored seriously but delightfully the mind of the mother-hen of Warri – my other coinage and appellation I gave her in my poetry. Her “The Morning Show” appearance enabled me to see the poignant cry de profundis of the FCT inhabitants whose property and residences in different guises have been demolished. She did not say anything that was out of joint. She spoke and came out as a mother, protector and symbol of the people who have suffered – and are suffering – from the state of affliction and anguish Wike’s demolitions have placed – and are placing – the people.
Ojy Okpe in her delicious and delectable “What is Trending” slot on the same show, showed without exaggeration but with further elaboration what people in and outside Abuja/FCT think of the mighty Wike’s demolitions, a burning issue that the Senate has asked “Let Heaven Fall” minister-governor Wike to halt as the committee the Senate set up on the issue starts its work. Of course, we cannot but assume that Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, Mrs. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as well as Mrs. Ireti Kingigbe, the senator representing the FCT in the Senate and other patriotic senators diligently did what they did on the floor of the Senate when the burning issue was tabled for debate with the gracious understanding and authorization of the Senate President.
I need to state further that the “The Morning Show” anchors did well and extremely so by giving the minister-governor the opportunity to air his anti-Paulosa story. His senior special assistant on public communication and social media, Mr. Olalere Olayinka, stood in for him. After he gave the reasons for the clamp-down, his responses to the questions the anchors put to him followed the usual pattern of denials by artificial men in power – denials that they always use to intimidate and betray the people. In fact, Mr. Olayinka’s ploy to ride easily over our dear Rufai Oseni, a wholesome representative of the deprived, that the chap (or is it guy?) and his boss always employ their colloquial speeches and remarks to dishonor, failed. Yes, the ploy failed woefully. In stanza after stanza of the exchanges between Mr. Olayinka and the Arise anchors, he deteriorated – and his deterioration was hall-marked when he unwittingly revealed that the Paulosa land had been acquired by his minister-governor’s close cohort, an act that was nothing short of gross abuse of power and authority.
Because the Senate is already using its authority, power and privilege to resolve the burning issue, hopefully, in a way that the late Colonel Ogbebor’s legacy and family will not be subjected to any kind of degradation, I will utter no more words for now. I trust, however, that the liberties the Senate is taking – or has taken – are for the sake of order to favour the down-trodden.
As for the minister-governor, the PDP emperor at large, here is an immortal quote from Marcus Aurelius, the magnificent and authentic Roman Emperor and philosopher (A.D. 121-180): “If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.” You lose nothing by giving us a slice of your humanity by your right acts and correct words. Everything changes and passes. Be humane as a human being.
Afejuku can be reached via 08055213059.
By Leo Igwe
Recently, I facilitated a critical thinking workshop at the Bay Wreath Schools in Lagos. The theme was critical thinking and teacher development. As the theme stated, the workshop was on teaching, about teaching, and for teachers. It highlighted the pedagogical value of critical and reflective inquiry. The workshop exposed teachers to critical mental habits and skills. It emphasized how critical thinking would enhance expertise in the learning and delivery of subjects in classrooms.
I used the opportunity to discuss questionstorm as a method of teaching and learning. Questionstorm is a way that I operationalized critical thinking for primary and elementary schools. Questionstorm is the ability to interrogate all objects and materials. It is a habit of questioning ideas and experiences in all areas of human endeavor. Simply put, questionstorm is a question-driven inquiry. Children are naturally curious. They thirst for knowledge and understanding. Unfortunately, the school system kills children’s curiosity and dampens their interrogative appetite. The school system places much emphasis on rote learning and memorization. It makes the generation of answers not questions or problems the test of knowledge, and the determinant of intelligence. Teaching is largely a drudgery, a monotonous exercise, and a process of depositing knowledge on passive recipients, the students. Teaching entails dumping information on learners whose duty is to cram and reproduce during tests or examinations.
This teaching praxis has been criticized and blamed for the poor performance of students post-school (college and university) and their inability to think independently, creatively, and innovatively. Other teaching methods have tried to address these gaps and limitations. There have been suggestions to make teaching and instruction more active, and more student/learner/child-centered. One such method is the Montessori method. The Montessori method discourages grades and tests as ways of measuring achievement or determining intelligence and excellence. It emphasizes hands-on learning and the development of real-world skills. While the Montessori method stresses the practical approach to learning it says very little about the authoritarian teacher-to-student approach that is the mainstay of teaching and learning in classrooms. Teaching follows a pattern that leaves students and learners in the margins and unable to question and contribute to the learning process. Teachers present what is to be learned such as a text, and then generate questions that students respond or address to demonstrate knowledge of what has been taught. The student’s or learner’s main job is to answer questions, to look for or find answers or solutions. The teacher’s work is to get students to look for, and provide answers, and reproduce what they have been taught or told. But students are answer-depots. Students are not memory banks or reserves. They are active minds and thinking agents.
With questionstorm as a teaching method, the mode of instruction would change. Teaching becomes a cooperative endeavor that actively involves teachers and students. What is taught in the classroom is a collaborative note, not the teacher’s note, not a handout to students. Teachers present or generate texts or objects for learning, in response to intense questioning of the object or material by students, teachers provide information as required for that subject, topic, level, and time frame. No two instances of teaching – of the same topic or subject- are or should be the same because the input of students and teachers is not predetermined.
This is because of an overlooked principle in teaching and learning, that I call the “uncertainty principle”.
The uncertainty principle underlies questionstorm because knowledge is not fixed. Learning is a fluid process. All that is to be learned is uncertain, it is unknown and never determined. No teacher can say beforehand what is to be taught or learned because no one knows exactly the questions and answers or replies that would arise when a topic is presented or taught in a particular class. A topic or learning material elicits unique responses and exchanges that both teachers and students cannot exactly know or predict a priori, before the fact.
Teaching is a shared task and responsibility. Class notes are fluid materials. They are not texts cast on educational stones and delivered by teachers to students to copy, cut, and paste as is often the case. Class notes are not written or produced by teachers for students but by teachers with students. Teachers’ notes are incomplete and insufficient. They account only for a part, not a whole of the learning process and material. Students’ input completes and complements the teaching material and learning process. Thus every class note is unique because it is a product of a specific collaborative endeavor, a product of particular teaching and learning agents and circumstances that cannot be repeated or replicated.
Thus, as a teaching method, questionstorm is set to facilitate teacher development and improve the quality of instruction in schools. Questionstorm will help realize a paradigm shift in education and learning. I hope educators, teachers, and school managers will embrace this method of teaching and learning.
Dr Igwe directs the Critical Thinking Social Empowerment Foundation.
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