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Urhobo Historical Society |
A Tribute to Omafume
Onoge
By
Eghosa Osaghae
Vice-Chancellor, Igbenedion University,
Okada, Benin City, Nigeria
July 27, 2009
THE academia has interesting ways of celebrating its heroes and
heroines. At the level of professors, lecturers and other researchers,
outstanding research engagements and output (publications, inventions,
patents) place deserving colleagues topmost in praise, respect and
reputation. That is the stuff of which "authorities" are made. At the
level of students, the criteria are similar, but in addition,
impressions and popular reputation especially of love of students,
mentorship, brilliance, constructive non-conformity or otherness and
lexical wizardry, are equally important. Lecturers who fire the
imagination through progressive ideological commitments (in the Cold
War days this meant commitment to Marxism and Socialism) and "ism"
activism in lecture rooms, symposia or at public events also become
campus celebrities.
At the University of Ibadan where I first encountered Professor
Omafume
Onoge as an undergraduate student in the
Faculty of the Social Sciences in 1976, he towered high at both
levels. Along with the late Comrade Ola Oni and late Comrade Professor
Bade Onimode, Comrade Professor
Onoge was the quintessential Marxist.
While Ola Oni's quiet mien and
Onimode's suavity made them unlikely
Marxists, Onoge had the revolutionary
presence in the long beards he kept, his intimidating size (he was all
of a big seven feet!) and the khaki fatigues he constantly adorned. In
those exciting days of the Marxist-Socialist Movement, Oni,
Onimode and
Onoge were the (student) heroes at Ibadan,
a constructive otherness for which they were punished by the
neo-imperialist forces that ruled the state when the Ali-must-go
struggle provided an opportunity.
They were promptly sacked without trial and, as was typical of the
rigmarole of military governance at the time, recalled afterwards. But
while Oni and Onimode
returned to UI,
Onoge relocated to
Jos where his progressivism along with
that of the late Professor Aaron
Gana guided generations of students
through the rudiments and mastery of critical engagement. And to
catalogue that all these bright and progressive minds - Oni first,
Onimode next, then
Gana and now
Onoge - are all gone. What a catalogue
this is!
Back to Ibadan where the Onoge school of
disciples grew. Onoge was the sociologist
who gave literature, especially African literature the paradigm of
social reform.
A sociologist in literature? For
undergraduate students yet to cut their teeth, that was double
honours. But what made
Onoge very popular was the gist in town
that he not only attended Harvard University, but wrote the best PhD
thesis that Ivy-league University had ever seen! It was no surprise
therefore that every student wanted to be taught by
Onoge. Even those who were not registered
for his courses were happy to 'audit' his classes. And
Onoge did not disappoint. He knew the
subjects he taught and was such a brilliant teacher. His classes were
captivating and transformatory in the
short and long terms. His oratory, eloquence, and clarity were can't
beat. I cannot tell how many of us
became academics just because we wanted to
be like Onoge, but I am sure the number
cannot be small.
I came to know Professor Onoge more
closely from the late 1980s. It all began at the 1988 Nigerian
Political Science Association conference in Ibadan on social
mobilization a la MAMSER, which seemed to offer the progressive front
an opportunity to make things happen in our country.
Onoge took the opportunity seriously and
was even involved in the frameworking of
MAMSER. As rapporteur for the special
roundtable on MAMSER, it was my responsibility to capture the debates
and conclusions. As I played back the tapes of the day's proceedings,
I was forced to wake my wife up from sleep very late at night to
listen to the brilliant contributions of the genius of a man I had
long told her about. The part of the proceedings that caught our
attention was the point where he protested the attribution of what
sounded like praise to the military government for the social
mobilisation
programme to him. "I have not reached the
age of senility to call black white and white black", he protested.
This became a reference point for future lighter mood discussions I
had with Prof. (and he enjoyed lighter moods!!), and I am glad to make
a point of the fact that he remained cerebral and deep till the very
end. In 1992, we worked together in the task team that formulated
Nigeria's contribution to the establishment of the then
Organisation
of African Unity's Division of Conflict Resolution and establishment
of the Institute for Peace in Nigeria. Once again, he was at his
critical and constructive best, disagreeing without disrespect and
agreeing without the arrogance of a winner. The next time we met, he
had just lost his dear wife who, by the way, was with him at the task
team meetings. Elegant woman,
Onoge loved her very much and she loved
him in return. Her death shook him greatly, but he still managed to
carry through with his trademark postulations and Comradely
banters.
In retirement, Professor Onoge returned
to his native Urhoboland. He could have chosen to move to Abuja or
Accra as is now the vogue, or even exit the country to "enjoy life" in
Europe or North America. But Onoge would
have none of these, as even in the worst of times he refused to get on
the brain drain bandwagon. He always felt 'home' was the legitimate
place of struggle. And there could have been no greater home than
Warri and environs where he was brought up as the boy Friday next
door. He returned at the momentous period of the Niger Delta struggles
which he quickly joined, not as consultant, ethnic bigot, opportunist
or predator, but as a nationalist truly committed to finding lasting
solutions to the chronic problems. In this search,
Onoge was ready to join forces with
government and other stakeholders, demonstrating once again that
non-governmental actors need always distrust government as not to give
them the benefit of engagement (I am persuaded that government needs
help all the time whatever its arrogant managers may say!), and that
revolution is only a necessary but not sufficient condition for
transformation. Thus, he represented Delta State at the National
Political Reform Conference and served on the Niger Delta Technical
Committee. The federal government can continue to drag its feet on the
report of the technical committee, but
Onoge and others are vindicated that they
at least gave the government a chance to benefit from their
intellect.
Professor Omafume
Onoge painfully died far away in India at
the age of 71. The story of the health pilgrimages to India is better
left for another day. On a visit to that country earlier in the year,
I got to know that thousands of Nigerians were in various Indian
hospitals not because the country is beautiful, which it is, but
because the hospitals offer affordable world class and reliable
healthcare services. Regrettably, Nigeria which
Onoge loved so much failed him in death.
It is not as if people do not die in Nigeria; it is more about how and
why they die. The right to life will be meaningless if adequate
healthcare is not assured. I hope
Onoge found a place in his heart to
forgive us. Adieu teacher, mentor, comrade and friend.
- Osaghae is Professor of Comparative Politics and Vice Chancellor, Igbinedion University. Okada.