Prof. Femi Lana is the first child of the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade 1. He tells OLUFEMI ATOYEBI what most people don’t know about the 99-year-old king
What value does the Olubadan hold dearly?
He preaches literacy all the time. My
father served in the education ministry and what he wanted mostly was
education for every child. He ensured that his children went to school
and he helped others to get quality education.
What level of education did you attain?
I owe everything I have to my father
because his discipline has brought me this far. It was hard to take
those lessons many decades ago but today, they are what I cherish most.
I am a professor of Agricultural Biology and the first child of the Olubadan.
After my early education in Nigeria, I went to the US for further
studies between 1964 and 1973 and got a doctorate degree. I came home to
lecture at the University of Ibadan from 1973 to 1981, before
travelling to Germany, Holland, Tanzania, UK and Botswana as a lecturer
and researcher. I later moved up to the management ladder at the
Mangosuthu University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, as Director,
Institute for Rural Development and Community Engagement. I retired
recently as a senior director and professor at the age of 65 and
returned to Nigeria.
What role did you play in the development of South African education?
In South Africa, my department was given
the job of establishing partnerships with all stakeholders in promoting
science, engineering and technological innovation, particularly with
high school learners as well as in accounting in the Umlazi environment.
It was a vast responsibility which was executed carefully with finesse
and caution because it has direct impact on the society.
Did it come to you as a surprise when your father became king?
Right from my school days, my father was already in line for the throne of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, so it was not a title that came to us as a surprise. He got the Jagun
title, which is the first major step to the Olubadan throne, in 1973.
He then climbed 23 steps in over 30 years before becoming Olubadan in
2007.
How did he feel about your prolonged stay abroad?
He was used to my lifestyle which was
dictated by my profession. He loved seeing his children around him even
though it was not possible to have all of us together at the same time.
But I realised his desire to see his children often, and because I
cherish his presence around me, I created time to come home and see him
often. The purpose of my coming home was to see him and my mother who
died in 2000. I am at home permanently now so we see every day. To
bridge that gap when I was away, my father formed the habit of talking
to me on the telephone all the time. He did the same to all his
children. He was never tired of calling me. Whenever I came home, he
would hug and eat with me at the royal table and soon, he would start
asking questions about my work. He always wanted to know if coming home
was not affecting my work or my savings. He also queried my choice of
spending money on travelling just to come and see him when we could have
talked on the telephone. He is such a disciplinarian and he did not
want me to hide under the pretext of coming to see him as an excuse for
taking time off work or spending money unnecessarily. So, you never know
what you would get from him.
Does it mean that he wouldn’t care if you chose to stay away from home forever?
My father cares a lot but he is a
practical individual who does not shy away from telling the truth. He
was a soldier, politician and traditional leader who hardly had the time
to sit down with his children because of his callings. But he is a
natural father who would have loved the conventional family lifestyle.
He once called me 22 years ago when I
became a professor and asked if I would ever return home. The tone in
his voiced showed that he was worried about something he did not say on
the telephone. I told him not to worry and that I had a career target of
becoming a vice-chancellor before I retire. I did not attain that goal
despite coming close to it but he was proud of my desire. It made him
happy and I reassured him that he would still have my attention after my
years of service. It’s great that I came back to meet him.
What habits does the Olubadan detest?
My father hates liars and lazy men. He
wants people to stand up for their beliefs and fight for the right
cause. He hates corrupt people and hypocrites. There was a time he sent
some of his children away from the palace because they were not being
sincere. Some time ago, some people were collecting money from people
under the pretext that they would facilitate their rise in the
traditional order. When my father heard about it, he was angry and he
sent them away from the palace.
What is his best food?
My father liked amala and ewedu. Because of his age, he is on a special diet now but he still asks for his best food.
How did he discipline his children?
He beat any child that misbehaved. When
we were young, my father beat any child that failed in school. He would
check how well we fared in every subject and warn us when we scored a
little above average in a subject. He demanded excellence in everything
and gives the same quality till today. We used to run to our grandfather
when we offended him or failed class work. We would not return home
until our grandfather agreed to go with us. But he was a great father
and he still demonstrates his love for all his children.
Your father fought in the Second World War and other wars. What came to your mind each time he went to war?
He fought the Second World War but we
did not know it. Each time he went to war, the children didn’t know. We
were young in those days, so we hardly knew why he was away. But when I
grew up, I saw the medals and commendation letters written to him from
the Nigerian government and Allied Forces. That was when I realised that
my father had served in many war fronts. But he was modest about it.
Unless you are close to him, you will not know that he had done such
great humanitarian service.
How close are you to him?
I am his oldest child and the closest to
him despite staying abroad for so long. When I was still around, we
talked about many things. He loved to discuss politics and traditional
matters with me. He liked discussing his friends, enemies and life with
me also. He taught me a lot of lessons about life and they became my
watchword when I grew up and lived abroad. We still speak on topical
issues.
My father loved to laugh whenever I
visited home. I realised the impact of this on his health so before I
visited him, I would have rehearsed the gist that would make him laugh.
Sometimes, he would check his wristwatch and ask me to go home because
it was getting dark. That was a way of telling me that he had had enough
laughter for the day. But I am around now, so he laughs all the time. Something
happened on his 99th birthday last Sunday. I was reading congratulatory
messages of people to him from the newspapers at the palace. I told him
that I was surprised at how people who once stood against his views on
civil matters are now his closest friends, who paid to congratulate him
in the newspapers. He laughed and said it is important to make people
understand one’s ideas even when there is disagreement. He said there
are no permanent enemies and that they will come back and praise you
after they have realised the truth in your argument. It was a lesson I
learnt that day. With him, you learn a new thing every day.
What was the most memorable thing he has said to you?
I was going abroad and as I bade him
farewell, he asked when I would return. I sensed that there was more to
the question. At almost 100, he could leave us anytime, so it dawned on
me that he was a bit worried that I might not see him again. I almost
cancelled the trip but because of its importance, I summoned the courage
and left.
How close is the king to his grandchildren?
He has not had the opportunity to see my
children regularly because of their education. I have to be frank
here; our generation is different from theirs. The priority of a parent
is his immediate family and not the extended family. But my father
understands the social changes that are affecting the family bond in our
life. People must go about nurturing their careers and in most cases,
it takes them away from their loved ones.
Or are you trying to shield your children from the traditional set-up in the palace?
That is not the case. I have no reason
to shield the children from royal exposure. They are independent and
free to come home when they wish. But they are in the formative stage of
their career which demand their presence at the workplace and even in
the schools they attend. We had a close-knit family structure in those
days but what we have now is a loose family structure because of factors
such as generational changes, distance, responsibilities etc.
The king was once a boxer. What are his other hobbies?
He liked hockey, playing the piano and
singing. Because of his fondness for keeping records, he liked to be the
secretary of every organisation he belonged to. In his library, he has
records of activities dating back to the 1940s and he remembers them all
till today. If you give him a piece of paper containing important
information, he would keep it for decades and produce it on demand.
What are the things that make him exceptional?
I am not sure that many people have the
type of his memory. He does not forget dates, times and names. He
remembers facts and that is why he is a unique historian. He is the
oldest person to be crowned Olubadan and he is still the oldest person to sit on that throne at 99.
What does he want to be remembered for?
He wants Ibadan to become a state and a
new palace to be built. He also wants to be remembered for bringing
social changes to the city. All these are in the making, so his wishes
are within reach.
Are there things he is yet to achieve?
There was nothing he set out to achieve
that he did not achieve. He has a unique way of looking at things. He
told me during one of our discussions that whatever he failed to achieve
was an act of God. It’s a way of expressing contentment.
What qualities did you imbibe from him?
There are many of them but what I
cherish most is his humility. I was with him when he went to the office
for the first time as the Minister of State for Labour. We met a cleaner
in his new office and my father prostrated for him as a sign of
respect. The cleaner was an old man but my father was the head of the
ministry. Despite the gap in status, he still demonstrated respect. The
cleaner was amazed and he prayed for my father that he would always be
the head. It is a quality I inherited from him.
As a minister, did you notice changes in his social life?
He did not change his lifestyle. Instead
of enriching himself, he gave his wealth to others-paying their schools
fees and hospital bills. When he became the chairman of education
committee in the 1960s, he was in charge of scholarship and he gave them
out to the people, instead of making his family members the
beneficiaries. If he wanted to be rich, he had the opportunity because
he served in high places.
How often did he attend parties when he was minister?
He attended the parties because of his
position but he would not eat there. On a few occasions when he ate at
state functions, he took a spoon with him with which he ate.
How about the women in his life?
The truth is that most men like women
but others hide their admiration for them. My mother was his first wife.
He might have had girlfriends which we did not know of, but he married a
second wife.
How healthy is he at 99?
Physically, he is an old man but his
ideas are fresh. He told me that being a professor has taken away my
social life and I just laughed. He was a very tough man when he was
young but despite his frailty now, he still talks tough to show anger
when he is annoyed by someone’s behaviour.
- He has a sharp memory at 99
- He still loves to eat amala and ewedu
- As minister, he went to state functions with a personal spoon
- He does not delegate his duties as Olubadan
- He liked to be secretary of everybody he belonged to
- He once sent some of his children away from the palace for being insincere
- He fought in the Second World War and other wars
- He like hockey, playing the piano and singing
- He doesn’t have ‘permanent enemies’
- He is an ex-boxer
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