I am a proud child of the “Old West”. Reading the piece about Late Prof. Ayo Banjo and Prof. Biodun Jefiyo brought back pleasant memories for me. I never met Prof. Dan Izevbaye in person. I met him through his books as narrated below.
Now let’s try to take the story from the beginning and show how fate connected the Prof. and I. Being the child of two senior civil servants has its ups and downs, living in an ordered society is a blessing.
At age 37 years, in 1972, with seven children, my Amazon of a Mum, Folake Adetoun Olowu (1935-2023) enrolled at the University of Ibadan for the B.A. in English. My Dad had promised her she would do her degree course after they married in the late fifties. She had the NCE (Nigeria Certificate in Education) when they got married.
We had just moved into the new family house at Idiape on Bashorun Road, Ibadan in December 1969. I had switched from Sacred Heart Primary School, Ago Taylor to start Primary 2 at Maryhil Convent Scool in January of 1970. I trekked to school, as the house was a walking distance. The house was also closer to U.I. (University of Ibadan), compared to our former residence at Government Quarters 5729 at Jerico Reservation. This might have played a role in the choice of U.I.
My father had built the family house at Idiape with a loan from the Western Nigeria Housing Corporation; the blessings of living in an ordered society that i had referred to earlier. My late Dad, Emmanuel Olajide Olowu (1932-2010) was colour blind. This led to some unintended and unique outcomes. He had selected a shade of pink for the family house, this made the house to look unique. In 1976, when he bought a Mercedes Benz 200 Car, LAD 3235, he had selected metallic brown. The car glowed in the sun, looking more expensive than it was. He had bought it with vehicle advance. Let me help the Gen Z here: The vehicle advance was a car loan that civil servants above a particular grade level were entitled to. The loan was repaid by deductions from their salary over many years. This was another blessing of living in an ordered society.
The Idiape house was massive. On the ground floor was a big parlour and dining room, kitchen, pantry, store, children’s room, library, garage with its own store and a visitors’ toilet.
Upstairs was Dad’s and Mum’s rooms with their own toilet and bathroom, visitors room, children’s room, upstairs parlour, a massive verandah, sitting atop the car porch on the ground floor. My Dad’s and Mum’s rooms had balconies and former, visitors’ room and upstairs parlour opened into the verandah. There was another balcony upstairs, this was on top of the garage.
It had a total of seven rooms in the main house, three rooms and another garage in the Boys’ Quarters (BQ). The BQ had toilet , bathroom, kitchen and store.
My Dad planned the house to accommodate his large family. He himself never slept in the house for up to three years, as by June of 1970, he went to Harvard for a Master’s course and, on return in 1971, by 1972, he had transferred to the federal civil service. As a family, we lived together in the house from December 1969 to June 1970. My father was away 1970-71. When he relocated to Lagos in 1972, part of the family joined him, while part stayed in Ibadan with my Mum, who was studying for her degree. The entire family was reunited in Lagos in 1977 after my Mum transferred from Oyo State to Lagos State. I learnt early in life that “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry” (Robert Burns), as we never as a family lived in a house as spacious as our Idiape family house.
My Mum started her degree programme in 1972 in this house. She converted one section of her wardrobe into a book shelf. Books of William Shakespeare (Coriolanus), Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Izevbaye, etc, were all in that book shelf. I was in Primary Four at Maryhill when my mother started this journey. I was in Form Two at Government College, Ibadan when she graduated in 1975. She would send me to fetch one book or the other. With time, I became familiar with the authors.
That was how I met Izevbaye. His name was a constant feature in my Mum’s conservations. Jeyifo I met in Ife as a medical student. Banjo I knew by reputation.
To Izevbaye that I only met through his works, I wish him well. He is woven into my story and I am happy to note that he has enjoyed the earthly rewards of all good teachers, like the love of his students and due recognition and honours. Looking at his pictures, he has aged well. My late Mum was a teacher. I have a forever soft spot for teachers.
I have a forever soft spot for the Old West, that ordered Western Region that gave birth to the Western State. It was its ordered and progressive life that shaped my life. Starting from the employment it gave my grandfather in the PWD (Public Works Department), to the scholarship it gave my father to do his BSc Economics at the London School of Economics and later employing him as a senior civil servant. It provided the housing loan used to build the family house at Idiape. The Western State owned Government College, Ibadan, where I cut my teeth in all things good and noble.
I pray Nigeria returns to “ordered” days.
Dr. Olowu writes from Lagos
