Professor
Modupe Adelabu is the deputy governor of Ekiti State and also the
chairperson of the State Universal Basic Education Board. She shares her
life experiences in this interview with ADEOLA BALOGUN
How demanding is the office of the deputy governor?
It is very demanding but very
interesting because it is a commitment. Once you see it as a ministry,
you have to also work within that. First of all, you have to see it as a
ministry to serve your people, even at a very first notice. Once I am
here, I know that I can be called upon at any time to serve the people
and that is why you witnessed the kind of functions here this morning.
Some are unplanned and at a very short notice. I am able to cope because
I have taken it as a ministry.
The office of deputy governor is said to be an idle one. What is your own experience?
This office of the deputy governor of
Ekiti State is very busy. Apart from the fact that I am the deputy
governor to assist the governor to make sure that his 8-point agenda is
fulfilled and his mission is accomplished, I also have oversight
function for local government and for the ministry of education. I am
also chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board which on its own is
demanding. Being the chairman of SUBEB is demanding; overseeing local
governments is demanding and education too is demanding. The governor
distributes functions and distributes roles and he defines roles. He has
entrusted me with a lot of things to do and I hope I will be able to do
them at the speed he expects.
It is hoped no aspect will suffer?
Well, I have never had any report like
that. If you know my background, I am from the academics. We have
lectures, we do consultancy, we do research. At times, we could be out
for consultancy and research for days and weeks, so I am used to this
type of work. None of my assignments is suffering; if you look at SUBEB
and the ministry of education, they are interlinked. Even the local
government, the totality of everything, there must be synergy and
connectivity among MDAs; you don’t take each one in isolation. That is
why I think that I am able to work within my role definition. You asked
whether any of them is suffering, what of the governor who oversees all
the MDAs? If he can do that, I think I should be able to do the bit he
has given me to do.
Some people thought probably you should be left minding SUBEB.
Maybe that is their thinking.
Polarisation of ideas, multiplicity of ideas, people have their own
opinions and views and so you can not please everybody. I was brought
into this position based on certain reasons which are known only to
those who brought me. Some people may also feel that I should be left
with SUBEB, however if the authorities that brought me there feel that I
can do the two together, I don’t think they are wrong.
Now that you have to combine politics…
I am not combining. You see, any work
you do, you should be able to mobilise your people, even as a teacher.
In the class, you should be able to mobilise your pupils and their
parents and the community where the people are situated. As the chairman
of SUBEB, I have been able to move the grassroots a lot; I have been
able to move from village to village. At SUBEB, even up till now, we
still do village meetings, village mobilisation and village
sensitisation. We do sensitisation of community members, sensitisation
of parents, telling them their roles towards their wards; their roles
towards education; sensitisation of community-based organisations,
sensitisation of traditional rulers and faith-based organisations. Since
I have come to SUBEB, I have been doing that and I think that is what I
am doing here now. It’s just that I am using one stone to kill two
birds.
With what you have been doing in SUBEB, would you say that the old times are here again in the public schools?
Well, I would say that I leave that to
posterity to judge. But if you put your ears to the ground, you can hear
the footstep of ants. If you listen to what people are saying, then
that will answer your question. All I know is that by the grace of the
Almighty God, I have been able to rebrand basic education in this state.
When I came in, as you said, I was nostalgic of the past about how it
used to be, I knew that bringing the past to the present, we could have a
better future. And I have tried to do that and I have introduced a lot
of innovation into basic education in this state. Apart from what they
used to do before, I have introduced more and as far as I am concerned,
and I know without fear of contradiction, that I have rebranded basic
education along the line the governor would want it to be in this state.
Because the governor himself has passion for education and being an
educationist, I think I have been able to perform my job beyond theory. I
have been able to practicalise what I have read in books and my
experiences in and outside the country.
Some academics wouldn’t want to
leave their comfort zone to come and get involved with any programme in
villages and rural areas.
Is academic comfortable? It is not a
comfort zone. I was born here in Ado Ekiti and I schooled here. At
least, I had my primary school here, my secondary school here. So, this
is my community, this is my state and country, there is nothing rural
about the state anymore. When I came in, I discovered that I am in a
comfort zone, my own zone where I grew up. You can even call me a rural
person then because I love my town and my state. I lectured in Ife and
if you look at it, Ife is not that cosmopolitan. And apart from that, we
stayed within our campus. To me, it’s almost the same thing here and
again I can work anywhere. It depends on the mind set, I am comfortable
and as I told you earlier, I had worked tremendously with rural
communities in the past during my research and consultancy. And when I
go to rural communities, I automatically become part of them and to tell
you the truth, Ekiti is no more rural.
With your experience too, what
would you point out as challenges of public schools since everybody
prefers to send their children to private schools?
Exactly, that is what you can say. It is
the mindset of parents; to get parents to understand that basically,
education is free in the state. Sending your children to private school
does not mean that you are going to get the best despite the money you
are going to spend. The Ekiti State public schools can compare with
anyone anywhere; if you go round, you will see all our schools are
renovated. And there is no primary school out of the 830 we have in the
state that has not been touched, either by renovation or new buildings
and we are just beginning. I don’t think any other government has done
that in the past 14 years in this state. But the challenge is to be able
to convince parents that they don’t have to waste their money by
sending their children to private schools. Another thing which we
discovered from research is that one reason parents send their children
to private schools is that they can speak English which is contrary to
the national policy on education in this country. It is important to
note that one of the major policies of education is that children should
be taught in their mother tongue during the first three years of
schooling. But even parents who themselves cannot speak English want to
send their children to where they believe they will be able to speak
English and such parents will speak corrupted English to the children. A
child can develop very well in his natural milieu where his mother
tongue is used. Now in a situation where a child comes from a background
where the mother tongue is used freely and now gets to school and
English is introduced; already there is a disconnect from what the child
knew and what is being taught. In secondary school now, pupils are
given laptops.
But we learnt that the pupils use the laptops wrongly.
The government is trying to block that
but we need the cooperation of the parents. The training of the children
starts from home but when some parents get their children to schools,
they hands off. That is one of the basic challenges we have. And from
research, parents take their children to private schools so that they
can stay there up to 5pm so that their parents have time to do all their
shopping. But in Ekiti State, things are changing and there is hardly
any primary school where we don’t have nursery and we have a model early
child care centre in each senatorial district. And plans are there to
have them in all local governments in the state.
Are the teachers in tune with what you said about the use of mother tongue during the pupils’ formative years?
Of course yes but they too have a
dilemma, basic textbooks are written in English and we are trying to
correct that. Without the books, it will be difficult for teachers to
translate. Another dilemma they have is that some parents come to school
and threaten to take their children away if they are taught in mother
tongue. And that is why I said the bulk is on the desk of the parents;
this is one of the things we do at the village meetings: sensitising the
parents. We tell them the importance of the mother tongue and I think
all Nigerians should be informed so that our mother tongue does not go
extinct.
Were you drawn into the state probably because you had your education here?
No, it is because I believe in the
progressive programme and disposition of the government in the state. I
also believe in the governor of the state as a very cerebral and very
committed person and I believe I can key in into his programmes; that is
why I came. I am here too because this is where God wants me to be to
serve my state.
Some professors often keep politics at arm’s length…
But if we continue to do that, then
Nigeria will not move forward. I used to tell my colleagues that you
cannot remain there criticising government all the time without doing
something. Such stand is just like people who watch football, they
criticise all moves players and the coach make but the story is
different when they get on the field. I think basically, every human
being is a political animal; politics is in everybody. And thank God, I
had been prepared for this job which is very interesting; my PhD thesis
was on politics of education and now I am here; I have to practise what I
theorised and to me I was prepared for the job innocently without
knowing. But I always advise that before you go into politics, you
should have achieved something so that you don’t come into it with the
aim of looting and playing a do or die politics.
When you were asked to be the deputy governor, didn’t you feel awkward that a professor should serve under a PhD holder?
Even if you are a mechanic or a cleaner,
if you are egoistic, you will still feel awkward. If by nature you are
humane, you can socialise. It doesn’t have anything to do with your
title as a professor or anything. Title has nothing to do with you as a
person; I see myself as a person first of all before being a professor.
Professorship is just a title anyone can earn with a dint of hard work
and don’t forget that the governor as a PhD holder is by far brilliant
more than many professors anywhere. His records are there for anyone to
see even before he became a governor. Again, in some countries, doctors
are called professors, don’t forget. To me, I am working with someone
who is highly cerebral and who moves with the speed of light. It is for
me now to be able to catch up with the way he works.
Hope there is no too much grammar with two of you working together?
Since we started this interview, have I
spoken too much grammar? Anyway, I think I am working with somebody I am
comfortable working with; I quite respect his intelligence.
How did you get admitted into Christ Girls School of the old with its strict admission policy?
At that time, we did exams and the
interview took place. At that time, the interview took about two weeks
in what could be described as an inductive programme. People who were
able to make it were actually very good students. Not all of us who were
there for the induction got admitted eventually because it was a very
tough exercise.
How would you describe your time there?
I went there with the sole aim of doing
well and I thank God I performed very well. I came out with Grade 2
which my father was not very happy about despite the fact that I had all
my credits. That was the standard of the Christ School then. If you
had Grade 3, no one would reckon with you; in fact the teachers always
advised us that anyone that passed out with Grade 3 should come back to
resit. The standard was quite hard, the discipline was good and the
parents were committed because it was 100 per cent boarding school.
Were all the teachers Nigerians?
You know it was a missionary school and
the teachers were a mixture of Nigerians and Europeans especially from
the Anglican mission mainly British. I could remember our house masters
who were white and Nigerians. It took us some time to understand the
whites but it was an added effort on our part to be able to settle down,
listen and understand them.
What was your dream then?
My dream was to go to school, come out
with good grades and then proceed to higher school. At that time, there
was no JAMB and it was compulsory to go to higher school for A levels
which I did. From Christ School, I transited to Olivet Baptist School,
Oyo for my HSC. At Olivet, the admission process was also very tough and
discipline very thorough. For me, moving to Olivet from Christ School
was like operating in the same milieu and I thank God for the
experiences that I passed through in the schools. It is also significant
for me to say that I was glad that the two schools were faith-based;
Christ School was Anglican while Olivet was Baptist and so, both
academic and moral discipline were of the highest standard. And from
there of course, I went to the University of Ife where I graduated and
taught and rose to become a professor.
Why did you stay so long at Ife?
I met my husband there, so I got married
there. My husband rose up to be university librarian while I did my
first job there as a graduate assistant. I rose from there to become a
professor, so you can see why I stayed so long there. Thank God, I had
all my children there and trained them there as well.
That was why we earlier asked why you left your comfort zone for a place like Ekiti.
Life experience should not localise you
to a spot; that is stagnancy. Thank God, even while I was at Ife, I was
always moving, travelling because education is not complete if you are
stagnant in one place. Even by the time I came to Ado Ekiti, I was
working in Ife but residing in Ibadan. Because I thought I had stayed
too long at a spot, we moved to our house in Ibadan and I was shuttling
between Ibadan and Ife. I think moving here is an added value because it
is good to tap knowledge here and there and bring everything together
in a pot and that is an experience I value.
How was life in Ife as an undergraduate?
At my own time, you went to Ife to study
and it’s like you must have a permanent seat in the school library,
nobody took your place because you were glued to your seat. Until I left
Ife, we were not used to having handouts, so you must go to the library
and do your work. You must do extra work apart from what your teacher
taught in class. We had one of the best libraries in the country then
and so there was no excuse for failure.
Was it books, books books for you then?
No, we also had time for socials and
sports which is normal. Whatever you wanted to do, you could do it
within the university system because the university was so big and we
had everything. It was a good place for socialisation where you meet
friends and most of my very friends now, we met either at Christ School,
Olivet or at Ife. So, it was a very good experience for me.
What then did you combine with academics?
I tried sports but I found out that I
could neither jump nor run but we had this Oduduwa Hall where you could
go in and watch films unlike nowadays when everybody has access to
videos and DVD. There was no video clubs then and I liked drama a lot.
Even when I was at Christ Schol and Olivet, I was very much involved in
drama club and literary and debating clubs. I had passion for that and I
love reading and watching films.
For someone that went to faith-based schools, how were you able to socialise with the opposite sex later in life?
Discipline does not mean that you cannot
move with people. When I was at Olivet, that was the first time for me
that boys and girls were allowed to sit in the same class. When I was at
Christ School, we could go to the boys section for particular subjects
but at Olivet, I was already mature and at higher school, not nowadays
that students of 16 go to university. At that time, it was compulsory
that you could not enter Christ School if you were not 12 years old and
you had to spend five years. It was a British model school and most of
our teachers were British. So, 12 plus five is 17 plus another two years
at Olivet which is 19. So, one was mature and capable of taking care of
oneself and as we were studying at faith-based school, you were told
what to do and what was not desirable. In fact, among my friends that we
used to study together at Olivet were boys because most of the girls
there were tomboyish in nature. So, we studied together, did games
together but much disciplined.
What struck your mind the day you were approached to be deputy governor?
What I thought was, ‘would I be able to
do it and do it well?’ but God said ‘Go ahead, you can do it I will
support you’. If anything happens to me either planned, pre-planned or
unplanned, I always listen to the inner voice that speaks to me.
Immediately I was approached, that inner voice spoke to me because I was
a bit afraid for so many reasons because I was not prepared for it but
God said I should go ahead and take it and when I looked at the people
that I was going to work with and that I am working with now, I felt
comfortable.
Did you want to become a professor because they say Ekiti is a land of professors?
In Ekiti, an average parent would like
to train their children and once you are trained and you come up tops,
the next thing is to go to the next level and on and on like that. If
you have a good degree, you would want to go further and if you are in
the academics, you are not after money because your salary could hardly
take you home. Academics are not after money but keep on because of the
passion and acquisition of knowledge. At that time after graduation,
many companies would come and be begging you with offers but the
university would also tell you that you are an academic material, you
stay in the university. It was very automatic if you had good grades.
That was why I stayed back and chose academics.
Was the day you were pronounced a professor the happiest day of your life?
No, how can it be the happiest day of my
life? The happiest day of my life was the day I had my first child.
That was the day I held that bundle of joy. To me, I don’t have sad day
though the day I lost my husband, I was sad but then if you look up to
God, He would comfort you. As a person, I always look at the brighter
side of life and that makes me happy.
Do you have a professor as a child?
No, I don’t have a professor as a child
but all my children are master’s degree holders. They don’t like to be
professors; one is a medical doctor, one is an accountant, one is a
lawyer and one is an economist; they just want to develop themselves.
They don’t want to be professors, maybe they think professors are poor
and you know children of nowadays are very smart. But I thank almighty
God for the wonderful gifts from God.
PUNCH
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