Reflections: Ogun institute as metaphor

The diamond anniversary of the Social Development Institute (Shasha), Iperu literally caught me flat-footed. The news clip on the Ogun State Television (OGTV) on Thursday afternoon somewhat jarred me. The human lenses that beheld the ruins of this college should have been part of the historic 60th celebrations. It was a brisk moment of self-flagellation. This imagery extract from one of the works of Wole Soyinka is most fitting for this exercise: “Usually one sees them in still photos – images of dying cattle in a land overtaken by drought, now landmarked by carcasses and skeletons, withered shrub and dry water holes. Occasionally however, the cine-camera takes charge, lingers over a calf that is reduced to nothing but skin stretched over a cage of ribs, and the final contractions of emaciated muscles. Flies settle and crawl over what remains of moisture on the prostrate beast, mostly around the eyes, ears and nostrils. It makes a feeble attempt to lift itself, scuffing dirt with the sides of its hooves, then settles back on its side, immobile. Its enlarged eyes stare blankly into the lens. This disproportioned frame with extended ribs sinks slowly into immobility. At some point, you know the calf is doomed, its life slowly ebbing into the sands. The lens lifts towards the desiccated horizon, rises directly upwards to reveal a cloud of swooping vultures, suspended, circling, blotting out the pitiless sun.”

This allegory of “dying cattle” could perspicuously substitute for the narration of this author in 2013 after the visit of the Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, to the institution that had sunk into atrophy due to decades of neglect: “…Just picture structures abandoned in the bush for decades or that have lost their innocence to wars or some natural disasters… The termite-infested hall – the best of the buildings – the (high) table and chairs standing grudgingly on legs that had lost their souls to the rage of termites, the pock-marked asbestos ceiling, windows without covers, roof threatening to collapse at the slightest fury of the elements…”

What made that visit by the governor in June 2013 more poignant was that there were actually some students in that school – doing what then? Studying? Were they up to a hundred at the time? The sight was most affecting as one took time to know the mission of those hapless youths in what might pass for a deserted jungle. It was not totally an overcast day, and nothing had really forewarned the governor and his small entourage on how the day might turn out to be when the convoy left the state capital after noon and pulled up about an hour later at the Social Development Institute (Shasha), Iperu, a college established on February 20, 1956 by the government of Western Region, led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, to offer leadership training to community leaders, traditional rulers and politicians. It  offers Certificate and Diploma in Social Works and Social Development to youths in affiliation with the Olabisi Onabanjo University.

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After a tour of the college, the governor was downcast. Although he managed to lighten up the shoe-string cultural display of the students, it was evident that the mind of the state’s helmsman had been taken up in some cogitations – the ramifications of his Mission to Rebuild Ogun State, knowing full well that Shasha was just one of the thousands of institutions across the state that had paid the heavy price of decades of neglect – the Nigerian factor – not just in education but health, agriculture, etc. The journey from Iperu to Lagos afterwards was expectedly sombre and I fantasized the governor retiring to his bed by 1 a.m. or thereabouts mulling the ‘sight of the day’ over, imagining the number of such scenes of regression yet to be identified in addition to the thousands already known, in the face of scarce resources of the state.

Efforts had to be redoubled in the renovation of existing schools while building new ones in order to expand access to education. Any new school built that does not factor in the age we are is not worth it. So the state government had to be futuristic in the design of its new schools, a template that can now be imitated by any individual, group or future governments. Indeed, in every new project embarked upon by the Amosun administration in every sector of the state’s economy, compliance with the 21st century was an article of faith. Reclaiming the state is not a work of one, two, three or four terms. As one observed then, “Even if you devote the entire yearly budget to education alone and consecutively for ten years, you will still be left with one or two dilapidated buildings.” But the journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. What is of moment now is that the pace and tempo of the ongoing development must not abate… At the end of that enervating tour of Shasha, the governor promised to rehabilitate the institution. Did I hear some heckling? Such promises were not new to the school; they heard them for decades. But to the glory of God, it was a renovated institution that celebrated its 60th anniversary last week Wednesday. You only need to request from the state television station the video clip of the college when the governor visited in 2013.

Indeed, as I watched the news flash of the 60th, the state’s officials that sat on the high table, in the very space that the governor was received in 2013, it was evident that from the ashes of neglect, a bright future had emerged for the students of Social Development Institute (Shasha), Iperu. I congratulate the students and staff of Shasha and laud the state governor for fulfilling his pledge to the premier institution. Of course, the government still has plans for the second phase of the reconstruction when finances of the state improve, but the image of a dying calf, some neglected jungle or an institution in the throes of death has now been supplanted with prospects of a bright and flourishing future for the students and people of Ogun State. This reflection was first made exactly three years ago. In the next few weeks, Governor Ibikunle Amosun will bow out holding his head high, having played his allotted part in the socio-economic development of Ogun State.

• Soyombo sent in this piece from Abeokuta, Ogun State, via [email protected]