[OPINION] In-between spaces: Olu Obafemi and his transnational experience 

(Part 3 of the Interview Series for the Olu Obafemi’s 71st Birthday Conference)

Migrations and displacements experts and scholars have opened our eyes to the motivations behind human movements. One of the most valuable lessons we derive from their informed and objective positions is that the push-pull factors of migration are time or era-dependent. Apart from the historical mass exodus of Africans orchestrated by Europeans engaged in trans-Atlantic slave trade, migrations have always fostered international unity. However, in contemporary times, something new has happened that has changed human history, or more specifically, the African migration trend. The accelerating speed of African migration, either to Europe or the Americas, reflects ambivalent social conditions. While we must present these conditions so that people would understand the trajectory of human movements in contemporary times, we will look at how push-pull factors influenced Olufemi Obafemi’s diasporic experience. The story behind his revelation of people’s interest to study abroad conceals a record of the period’s political assurance between the 1940s and 1970s in contrast to what we have today. The uncovering of this obscure past would help our understanding of their transnational success and the cause of today’s downturn in the international image. 

To be more specific, the British government, which was the colonial force that took control of the nation, established a diplomatic relationship with the countries at the tail end of their existence as a colonial power and immediately after granting independence to them, especially Nigeria. It was because of this diplomatic relationship that some people, including the globally accepted literary giants of Nigerian ancestry, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, J. P. Clark, or political stalwarts like Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe (although he studied in America), among others in academia, migrated to these international communities to continue their pursuit of education. They did this mainly as a goodwill effort by the government of the time. Even when they could have stayed back to work for their individual financial development, they were more concerned about the Africanization, or if you like, Nigerianization, of their home country, so that it could be detoxified of the colonial influences that were continuously changing their identity configuration. The nationalistic persuasion suggests that the generation was interested in developing their country because the government had a clear roadmap for their future. The saying that “the spirit is willing, but the body is weak” did not apply to the country and the people because both the government and the people were genuinely ready.

Barely four decades after this period of identity rejuvenation and nationalist pride, there appeared to be a sharp decline in the Nigerian government’s zeal and energy to develop its citizenry, who would, in turn, build a virile economy and accommodating environment required for subsequent greatness. It was suicidal for any government indisposed to the people’s welfare to expect genuine patriotism in return; for a hungry man, as the popular saying goes, is an angry man. Within these alluded four decades came corruption of unprecedented magnitude, economic despoliation came with protruding stature, insecurity surged high, and leadership deficit became ubiquitous. In their way of responding, individuals immediately considered the option of limping out of the country in surprising numbers. Even when the means of accomplishing this are usually stringent, the determination to undergo what they consider as momentary pains to access better welfare packages overseas is bewilderingly stronger. Because they faced pressure that has increased the dread of push factors, Nigerians in contemporary time migrate to European countries, the Americas, and other destinations, even to the level of being stowaways. The story is not the same thing with the generation of Obafemi, however. He carefully followed in the footsteps of his Nigerian predecessors in obtaining a higher education degree from Britain as part of a nationalist project meant to intellectually develop their people so they could contribute to building the nation. 

Obviously, these two generations’ stories are unequal, and as a result, their reactions and focus would be different. For example, Obafemi’s generation and the ones preceding him contributed excellently to the country’s development. They used their intellectual powers to build a foundation that could comfortably carry the weight of Nigeria to a considerable extent, provided that the succeeding generations continue to make conscious efforts for its management. Although the reality that the Western environment could have been harsh on racial climate with these generations cannot be overemphasized, it cannot be contested that they were exposed to the European political and social systems that helped them import ideas from there to their home country. They modeled their political philosophy, economic system, and social philosophies after these countries. The patriotism was high, and the urge for individual contributions towards developing their country was electric. The challenge of international suspicion against Nigerians or Africans was nonexistent. Respect and dignity were mutual, and thus, Obafemi’s generation made their invaluable contributions to the advancement of the Nigerian cause. The government invested in their educational pursuit, and they equally repaid the government by moving the society forward with their ideas. 

The University of Ilorin sponsored Obafemi to continue with his graduate studies, and because he did well, he proceeded to do his PhD program in Britain. We should also note that the opportunity to study abroad was tied to their academic performance as undergraduates. Anyone who did not secure a ticket into the second-class upper category and above would forfeit this opportunity. Apart from being successful as a student under this requirement, Obafemi also became a known figure in the diaspora because of his exceptional intelligence and productivity. For this reason, it is impossible to doubt Obafemi’s academic brilliance and his subsequent intellectual engagements at the national level are positive evidence of his outstanding academic skills.

By the way, the fact that the then Nigerian government sponsored students to travel abroad reinforces the argument that the country was deliberate and purposeful about its transformation plan, unlike what is obtainable in Nigeria today. The generational gap is too wide to attract the level of development desired in the country currently. Migrants in the diaspora do not get an encouraging signal from their government. However, what has sustained the interest of past and contemporary Nigerians about traveling abroad to get an education is the reliable system available there. Obafemi’s transnational experience is an indicator that systems work when there is goodwill by the government. 

Regardless of the internal challenges the Nigerian people faced or the goodwill they received from their government around the time Obafemi had his graduate degree education in the diaspora, there were crippling transnational experiences that demobilized them and dampened their spirits about international politics. Studying abroad provided Nigerian students of his age with easier access to European countries and a well-reserved privilege to teach in their academic environment. For example, Obafemi has visited several universities in the United Kingdom and Germany after getting his graduate certificate in his chosen fields. In these two European countries, he functioned as a visiting lecturer. In addition, he also worked in some universities in the United States of America. South Africa and Ghana are two of the most dominant African countries whose universities Obafemi has visited as a researcher and a scholar. All of these solidified his transnational teaching experience and reinforced his understanding of different countries’ institutional behavior. His experiences as a student and teacher, for instance, in the United Kingdom, is different from what he saw in the United States, even though they were structurally interconnected. 

One of his generation’s most traumatic experience in the United Kingdom was racism. There have been successive attempts to downplay racists’ atrocity by the personalities who are comfortably alluding to a sense of superiority to themselves. However, this cannot suddenly undermine the fact that racialization has been a thorn in the flesh of its perpetrators because it portrays them in a negative light. Racism is dangerous not only because its victims are subjected to sub-human treatment but also because it can cause depression in individuals who have suffered the brutal consequences of identity-shattering caused by color difference. Like migration, racialization has been a social issue that changes with an era or a generation. Unlike migration, however, there has never been a period when racism was associated with something progressive, simply because it constantly dehumanizes the victims and triggers a feeling of inferiority in them, making them develop a subservient complex.

In no accurate representation can the pains of racism be felt more than how Obafemi describes it. In one of his experiences, he was treated like someone with a contagious disease. People avoided him on public transport or while in subways, just like anyone else. To the Europeans and their Global North allies, Africans were apes and undeserving of association with “civilized” people. This mindset created lopsided power relations between them and led to the institutionalization of racial superiority and prejudices. The West ascribed greatness to itself, occupied the center, and placed Africans at the periphery. Culturally, politically, socially, and in what would extend to their economic relationship, Africans were treated with uncommon disdain. White supremacists, therefore, carried an unearned and unmerited sense of superiority at the detriment of the African people. In the 1970s in the United Kingdom, the Black man was treated to the unfair status of racial discrimination. 

From Obafemi’s experience, it is challenging for people like him who grew up in an environment where color does not connect with degradation. Even if they faced the challenges of leadership deficit in their homes and societies, they had never been exposed to a situation where the blackness of their color was exploited for ridicule. The foreign environment immediately became toxic, affecting them so much that the attainment of their academic objectives was fraught with extreme crises. Compared to the political incivility that they experienced in their countries, racism was a greater pill to swallow. People who had only heard about the power imbalance between the colonizers and their subjects had to experience the pangs of colonialism and its destructive institutions first-hand in the United Kingdom. Although there were anti-racist laws to check the excesses of racism, these laws only functioned within the geography of the book in which they were encoded. 

More benumbing is that civilization, which erected the infrastructure of racism, succeeded in transmitting this superiority complex to the successive generations of enslaved Africans transported to the Atlantic world. Through socialization, they have given birth to generations of Africans who have imbibed the culture of hatred between them and their distant cousins. Unconvinced about the similarity of their skin color, these sets of Africans believe that assimilation is separating them from the in-house Blacks in the order of quality or other measurements they choose to employ. Their discriminatory attitude is reinforced by the series of disrespect, racial discrimination, and generational castigation within the intersection of migration. They have been so disrespected that they have internalized a much-distorted understanding of themselves and their origin. Thus, they maximize every opportunity to pour their annoyance, disconnection, and enchantment on available victims. Therefore, whenever they come across Africans of different backgrounds, many demonstrate this superiority complex to console them for the backlog of humiliation they have felt. Racism, as a result, was not something exclusive to the Europeans. It manifested among Africans in what is popularly identified as xenophobia. 

Countries in South America, where a handful of enslaved Africans were dropped during the triangular slave movement, now have Blacks that maltreat other Blacks in alarming proportion. Obafemi was exposed to another instance of color prejudices under some Trinidadians and Jamaicans. To him, and perhaps other Nigerians alike, finding someone with whom you share a common outlook was the needed relief to escape the heavily racialized environment’s tension. However, they seemed to have been too optimistic with two young Afro-Caribbean women with whom they shared a flat. Rather than enjoy an intellectual conversation, they experienced a rude shock by the degree of racism they witnessed. To the extent that these women would scrub the bathroom they shared before using it under the impression that they cannot share the same space with the Nigerians, and of course, other Africans. Nothing compounds a man’s woes than to encounter this level of disappointment from people whom they believed would share a similar mindset based on their everyday experience. They managed to live with them and keep their sanity because of the knowledge that they would soon end their program and, therefore, part ways with these racially sensitive fellows. 

Amidst all these challenges, however, the diaspora environment has been a solid foundation for the development of many of these Africans abroad. It became the building blocks of their career development and enhanced their ability to manage multicultural or multidimensional issues. Even though the atmosphere appeared threatening and frustrated all their efforts in the society, the academic community was more welcoming and accommodating. Obafemi’s interactions with some dignified researchers and intellectuals in the school showed him that education has always been a fundamental instrument for refining people. Even though society was bent on constructing a mental barricade between the white and the non-white, education has always helped blur the differences motivated by color status. This thinking ensured that he enjoyed a considerable degree of fairness within the school environment, which helped him promote his trade: the theatre. When he premiered his two plays, Nights of a Mystical Beast (1980) and Naira Has No Gender (1990) at the Workshop Theatre in Leeds, he featured a multiracial cast to show the level of acceptance he received. 

Meanwhile, a couple of European countries have maintained a fair relationship with Africans, as shown in how they relate with the people. During Obafemi’s journey to Germany, he was welcomed by the country’s pleasant and accommodating atmosphere. The brewing zeal of the people and the bubbling society all contributed to his fond memories of the country. They have created a society where individuals would not be utterly disrespected because they are of a different color than others. He enjoyed the company of notable individuals like Ulli Beier, who had undertaken a series of research about Africans and shown professionalism in his work, and a good sense of friendship with the people. In whatever way Obafemi looked at it, Germany was a remarkable experience because it gave him a different feeling from what he saw while in the United Kingdom. Because of the absence of extreme racism and other social forms of crises, he succeeded and has various records of excellence to show for his works.

Obafemi has also taught and even presented plays in the USA. Throughout his teaching and acting experience, he has been accorded maximum respect as an intellectual and a committed playwright. He acknowledged that professors treated him beautifully and acted as his distant siblings, even without stepping their foot on the African soil. It was a marvelous experience. The warm reception in the USA enabled him to build a relationship that spanned geographical boundaries with some very inspiring individuals. Perhaps, because the American environment has a history with the Black populace, Obafemi enjoyed some enduring relationships with some Africans in the country, which helped protect his identity and created a sense of belonging in him.

However, due to cultural differences, teaching in American society was a bit of a different experience for him. The university students in America are incomparable to students in African universities because, while the former delineates cultural factors from the acquisition of knowledge, the latter considers the academic environment where they continue their accumulation of cultural values. This difference in mindset creates the kinds of attitudes that each set of students demonstrates. Obafemi gives Africa to others and receives from others their own culture.

Toyin Falola Professor of History The University of Texas at Austin

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