Immanuel Afolayan: My Thorny Journey to Success

Chief Immanuel Ojibobara Afolayan recently marked 100 years at his home in Ilorin, Kwara State. The retired chief education officer and former school principal with the Kwara State Ministry of Education talks to Hammed Shittu on the secret of his long life, among others. Excerpts: 

Upbringing and life challenges

I was born in Esie, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. My father told me when he was alive that he could not remember the actual date of my birth but he remembered it was a Sunday. We calculated and we arrived at a date. I was born into a Christian home. My mother suffered what we called “Abiku” syndrome. You know what “Abiku” (born to die) is? According to her, she had seven births, I was the eighth and the only one that survived. So, when I was about eight years old, while struggling to ensure my survival, she took me in the company of one woman to a Christian rally at Offa town. The rally was anchored by Pastor Ayo Babalola and we trekked from Esie to Offa. Her main concern then was for God to spare me so that I won’t go the way of the earlier seven children went.

Thereafter, my father enrolled me as a member of that church and also sent me to school that eventually put me into catechist class where I was baptised. When I was confirmed, I promised to follow Jesus Christ and to also strive to have a lay reader license.

Experience as Abiku

I recall a day I slept and I saw other Abikus in my dream. They were squeezing me such that I cried out and my father who obviously didn’t see what I saw, rose up and started beating me, demanding to know who was squeezing me. There and then, the tormentors ran away.  Another time, they came and asked me to go with them. I told them to wait till I got baptised. On hearing this, they went away. When I woke, I realised a lot of oil dripping from my head, I was frightened. Then, I realised that I was being baptised. After my miraculous baptism, they came back again and said that it was time to follow them. Again, I asked them to wait for my confirmation as the son of Jesus Christ. They said to themselves ‘let’s go, this one will not follow us again, leave him and let’s go.’ And they withdrew and went away. Never to come back again till today.

I suffered as a youth due to various dangerous illness. The first was smallpox because of the environment I was. I was in the village at that time, no hospital and no clinic. The second was diarrhea. It was so bad that I often vomit like I was going to die. On one of these usual occasions, God sent a woman to me; a relative of my mother. When she entered our house and met me in a mess, she ran into the forest, got some leaves, prepared concoction that made me to vomit after which the sickness went away. I believed then that it was God that sent her to me. The third one was in 1970, I was in Iddah, now in Kogi State. It was a cholera; I was vomiting everything I ate. My wife knew I was not well, she came down to Iddah to take me to Ilorin. When I got to Ilorin, the illness persisted in spite of medical attention. I called a friend of mine and handed over my property to him. Second day, they took me to another hospital where an Egyptian doctor advised that I should be taken to Ibadan because I was not improving.  In the evening, one man in our ministry came from Oro-Ago, he got us some leaves to cook and put inside the flask because the nurses would not allow us to take such thing in the hospital. The doctor was alarmed that I was getting well and said I need not go to Ibadan again. When I eventually got well, I later used the leaves to heal 10 people. You see, when it was so critical, God was always on my side.

The next illness was in 1991 when I was the chairman of my local government of Social Democratic Party (SDP). Early in the morning, I slept in my village to attend some meetings after which I attended a court proceeding involving a member of my party. I drove myself and when I got to Ajasse-Ipo, I ran into Fulani herders and their cattle. I had an accident and entered into the bush. Meanwhile, I took some passengers on the way. 

These passengers were chanting: Jesus, Jesus Jesus. When we eventually got out, I managed to get to Ilorin in commercial bus and my wife came and took me to the hospital for treatment. I spent two weeks in the hospital. As the illnesses came, God made provision for my healing. The last one was also terrible like the stroke. I couldn’t urinate because of prostate cancer, so I went to the hospital and a nurse came to advise me to go to Ibadan because of my old age. At Ibadan, the operation will be less risky but costlier. At Ilorin we could get it off with N150,000 but at Ibadan it will be three times higher but better. I had some property in Lagos through which I generated N300,000. When we got to Ibadan, we met one Professor Yusuf who operated me for two hours. I couldn’t stand up till the second day, after which I continued being outpatient. I want to say that God is wonderful on the way He is taking care of me during the period of my illnesses. When it was very difficult for me, God came to my aid.

Education

Growing up in the village, I was a farmer’s boy. I went to the farm and tapped palm wine. Breakthrough came one day when someone hired me to assist him in his work. We worked for one hour and he gave me six pence, a very huge amount then. I began to think that those with good education are bound to be fairly well than those contented with illiteracy as farmers or palm wine tappers. That was how I started considering education as a way out. The first thing I did was to start the catechist classes. I was into this until somebody, a white catechist inquired why I didn’t go to school. My response gingered his pity, he asked me to follow him, he took me home and I started living with him. My parents discovered where I was about three months after. My father thought I was missing. He eventually found me. By then, I had started to read the Bible, though never started school but I knew how to read Yoruba alphabets.

My father was not disposed to my moves, he took me home and beat me, and the next day, I resumed farming with him, but secretly I was nursing education ambition. A man in the town whom I shared my dream with called Yusuf promised to convince my father to allow me go to school. He tried but couldn’t convince my father. This continued until March 1942 when luck smiled on me and my destiny took shape and I realised my ambition. I started schooling at 15 years. My first day in school, the teacher asked how old was I, I told him my age and he placed me in class one. I later quickly went from Standard one to two and three and my father didn’t pay any fee. But after school, I engaged in petty business, it was commercial basket weaving, also I engaged in commercial mat weaving; fetching firewood for sale amid other sundry menial jobs for survival because my father was not sponsoring my education in form of school fees and uniforms. At the end, I had just three textbooks for the whole primary school education, I was borrowing books from fellow pupils but when I was at Standard three, they changed books in Mathematics from Efficiency to Lacombes so I had to again look for money to buy one.

We later went to Offa for final examination, it was a friend that paid my transport fare of six pence for that trip and later developed ulcer due to irregular feeding. I coped with it till I passed out in 1948. In 1949, I was employed by Patterson Zochonis. Later, I decided to go into teaching. In 1952, I did my proficiency examination which I passed. I was later transferred from home to Ilobu near Osogbo but before I was transferred, I wrote an entrance examination into St Andrews College of Education Oyo.

Alas! One day Daily Times newspaper released provisional admission of St Andrews College of Education Oyo and I saw my name among the alphabetically arranged new intakes. As happy as I was, I also became worried with how to get money? Of course, I didn’t expect my father that could not pay my primary school fees to pay for me now. A friend introduced me to a church scheme that will sponsor me for four years but I will at end serve them for seven years. I said it was good for me. I later met the church at Esie for the sponsorship arrangement. They gave me form to fill, that was how I got to Oyo for the programme. When we ended the four years, remaining one holiday and one session, we went for teaching practice after which we did examination and I passed.

Marriage

When it was time to get married and settle down, I went after many girls seeking one that will agree with my principles and at the end of the day, we were blessed with good children and they are doing well in their various endeavours both in the country and abroad.

Standard of Education

We cannot compare the current quality of education with the one we had. You know, whatever faults European teachers had, many of them are still better than Nigerians because they worked very well and with full determination and commitment to duties. They were better teachers than we were. Another example was when I wanted to do my Master’s degree, I went to USA in September 1981 and in June 1982, I graduated. But somebody else started same time with me here in Nigeria could you believe that for three years he didn’t finish.

Way forward for Nigerian Education

Rome was not built in a day. Governments need to motivate teachers to boost the quality and standards of education in the country. The system in the olden days is better than the present because we were under the supervision of Europeans but this time around, the man-to-man, family, ethinic syndromes among others, have really hindered our quality and standards of education in the country. But I believe we are going to improve one day and by God’s grace we will not go backwards. We shall improve. 

Secret of my long life

It is the work of God. It is God’s grace. I have told you of various illnesses that I passed through and how God had helped me to overcome them. I have been healed in wonderful ways even when there were no hospitals; no clinic, God provided somebody to apply something and made me better during the trying period of my illnesses. A lot of times, when there is problem, God always come to my rescue.  

Advice to politicians 

I was a ward chairman in my town at Esie and Ijan for two terms. I was chairman for two terms like I said, somebody who was my secretary when I was the chairman later became the chairman of my local government council, Irepodun LGA, but later had an accident and I was made the acting chairman of the local government but instead of paying the salary to me as acting chairman, the person that had accident was being paid and you know that is corruption; this is still going on in the country till today. There is high corruption in the country. I left politics when the person that won the 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola was denied. I want to urge the present crops of politicians to be honest and transparent in all they do. This will allow them to bring good governance to the people. If they continue with these malpractices, the country would not move forward.