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Urhobo
Historical Society
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THE MIRACLE OF
AN ORIGINAL THOUGHT
Being
the Origins of Urhobo College
By
CHIEF
T. E.
A. SALUBI, M. H. A.
President-General
Urhobo Progress Union
Originally printed as a book in 1965 at Unity Press & Stationery
Stores
Ltd; Box 210,
Warri,
Nigeria
Dedication
It is with the deepest respect and
honour that I
dedicate this little book to Joseph Akpolo Ikutegbe Esq., J. P.,
the
great thinker, philosopher and philanthropist.
Preliminary Note
For
various reasons, the publication of this work has
been delayed for nearly a year even though I referred to it in my
Presidential
Address for 1964. I hope that now that it has at last been published,
it will meet
with a popular welcome.
T. E. A. SALUBI
President-General, Urhobo Progress Union
114, Lawani Street,
New Benin , Benin City
28th August, 1965
Preface
As could be seen from the heading of Part
I, the substance of this paper was contained in a speech that I
delivered on the 1st
August, 1964,
on the
occasion of the second Speech-Day of Urhobo College.
Because there has, so far, been no
written account of the why and wherefore and the early history of the
College,
I thought it would be a good thing to expand the text of the speech
embodying
more facts and details to make up this little publication.
There are three definite periods covered
in the book. The first is from 1935 to 1942, that is to say, from
the
time when Mr. Joseph Akpolo Ikutegbe first conceived the idea of
scholarships
for Secondary Education of deserving Urhobo youths up to the time that
the
Urhobo Progress Union in Council decided to found a National College. The second is from 1943 to 1946 the
period in
which Overseas scholarships were awarded to two Urhobo young men for
professional studies with the sole purpose of returning to man the
proposed
College, and the acquisition of the Collegiate School of
Commerce. The
third is from 1947-1949 culminating in the founding of the Urhobo College.
I have deliberately packed the book full
with details, facts and also quoted in extenso. My aim is to make
the
book a preserve of details and facts which may probably not be
available to
many students in the years to come. I therefore offer no apology
for what
may, perhaps, be regarded as unnecessary clusters of details and boring
quotations.
The terms “Home Union”, “Mother
Union” and “Headquarters” have been freely used. In
every case, they are synonymous with and refer to Warri branch up to
July,
1945, when the quarterly Executive Council now, Central Executive
Committee,
was inaugurated.
It
was at the end of 1949 that the Urhobo
Progress Union ceased to have direct management and control of the
College. Let the writing of the history of the College from the
years
subsequent to 1949 be a challenge to some one else. My humble
efforts
here end in the laying of a foundation for whoever will take up that
challenge.
Most of the facts and information in this book were
taken from the archives of the Lagos branch. To this branch must go the
credit of
being the best keeper of records. Their files and minutes books
are
intact. It is hoped that the branch will continue to be a good
keeper of
records and also that other branches will emulate this good example.
T. E. A.
SALUBI
President-General, Urhobo Progress
OVU INLAND
Western Urhobo
20th October, 1964.
* * *
Introduction:
A speech
delivered by
Chief T. E. A. Salubi, President-General, Urhobo Progress Union, on the
occasion of the second “Speech Day” of Urhobo College, Effurun,
held on Saturday, 1st August, 1964, at 3. 30 p.m.
The
Principal, the Staff
And the Students of Urhobo College,
Members of the Board of Governors,
Ladies & Gentlemen
As the
President-General of the Urhobo Progress Union,
the Proprietors of this College, it is with pleasure that I rise to
welcome you
all, especially the invitees, to this occasion, the occasion of the
second
Speech-Day of the College. As some of you may remember, the first
“Speech Day” was held on the 9th of November last year. As I
have already observed in my Presidential Address to the Annual General
Council
of the Urhobo Progress Union held in December last, the Speech-Day was
a very
successful event. The College was congratulated for it.
I am glad to see that that the Principal
acted on the suggestions I made in the Presidential Address that, in
future,
sufficient notice of the holding of the “Speech-Day” should be sent
to our prominent men and women, and indeed, to select members of the
public so
that they might, by their attendance, grace the occasion, and also that
appeal
be made to them and others who might be interested to donate prizes.
The Urhobo College is our College. We are very proud of
it.
As you may have seen, it is growing at its own pace to become a fully
developed
secondary grammar school that will be second to none in the whole
Federation. Like many Voluntary Agency institutions of its kind,
the Urhobo College has its own humble beginnings, it is an
organic
growth which germinated from a deep-rooted idea of self-help for
progress.
If you permit me, I should like in this
speech to take you back to the earliest possible period of the events
which led
to the founding of the College. When I shall have finished taking
you
along with me through the long and tortuous journey of how the College
came to
be, you will, I am sure, agree with me that the institution you see
here today
is, indeed, a wonderful achievement arising from an original thought,
from a
people’s faith, self-help and steadfastness. This is why I have
styled this speech “The Miracles of An Original Thought”.
Now I proceed with the story.
Origins of
the Proposed Scholarships for
Secondary Education for Urhobo Children.
Viewed from many angles, the
emergence of Lagos as a branch
of the Urhobo Progress Union can not but
be regarded as a great event in the annals of our great Union. Lagos branch it was that carried the
Union, by broadening the basis of its
constitution, from the narrow tract of a mere brotherly society to the
wide
fertile region of a sturdy, progressive organization which it is
today.
No sconer after inauguration than Lagos began to breathe new ideas
into the life of the Union. It gave the Union a new name, introduced the holding of
annual General Council into the affairs and activities of the Union and formulated various policies for the
consideration of branches attending the annual General council.
The
branches of the Union were then nine only.
But what is perhaps Lagos branch’s greatest
contribution of all times to the work of the Urhobo Progress Union,
especially
in the field of education, is the mooting of the question of endowment
of
Scholarships, originally for secondary education, for deserving Urhobo
youths. The hour was 7.25 pm.,
the date Saturday, 6th
July,
1935, and the place No. 9, Thomas
Street,
Lagos, when and
where at
a Committee meeting convened specially at
his request, Mr. Joseph Akpolo Ikutegbe unfolded
his mind on two important subjects fundamental to Urhobo
progress. Here
we are concerned with one and the first of the two subjects, namely,
the
endowment of Scholarships for Secondary Education for Urhobo children
under the
auspices of the Urhobo Progress (then Progressive) Union.
Those
who know Mr. Ikutegbe intimately well in
the Lagos fold of the Union will readily admit that he is a great
thinker, a dreamer, a lover of education, a man imbued with high
ideals, and a
man whose mind is fashioned after great things for the development and
progress
of Urhobo people. As I write, I still remember vividly one
significant
statement made by Mr. Ikutegbe when
introducing his
subject at the Committee meeting. He said he did not believe in
being a
member of a Union merely attending meetings regularly
without doing anything more from the period of one meeting to
another.
That it was his own idea that, in an organization such as ours, one
must work
and live for something. Then the Lagos branch was barely eight months
old.
Looking at the record today, the research student or any one for that
matter,
may well ask: why scholarship for as low a standard as secondary
education? But such an enquirer must need be told that we were
then in
the days when it was difficult, if not altogether impossible, to
produce Urhobo
youths with education higher than the proverbial standard six.
That was
incredibly so. Owing to the dreadful scarcity of secondary school
leavers, the idea was to regard that class of scholars as a recruiting
ground
for higher scholarships.
Mr. Ikutegbe’s
suggestion was unanimously accepted in principle in Lagos and the
details of
the scheme had to be worked out quickly for the Headquarters to study
against
the first Annual General Council of the Union that was to sit on the 17th
and 18th November, 1935. Mr. Ikutegbe’s
suggestion was unanimously accepted in principle in Lagos and the
details of
the scheme had to be worked out quickly for the Headquarters to study
against
the first Annual General Council of the Union that was to sit on the 17th
and 18th November, 1935. When laid at the General
Council,
there was, due no doubt to lack of sufficient knowledge on the part of
some
delegates, some confusion as to the real purpose of the scheme.
But after
elucidation by Chief O. Arebe Uyo,
a Lagos delegate, the scheme was
warmly applauded and the Council therefore decided to begin to raise
subscriptions to fund it as from June 1936.
On the face of it, this long story appears to be irrelevant to the
occasion
that has brought us here today. And yet this was the beginning of
the
very long journey that landed us in the two-pronged, and clearly, a
bigger,
educational programme whereby the Union eventually decided to award Overseas
University Scholarships to two Urhobo young men, and to found the Urhobo College. Following the
decision of the 1935 Annual General Council, some funds were raised in
the
ensuing years.
First
Indications of Departure from the Original Idea
<>
As
early as December, 1937, I, as a
representative of Lagos branch attending that year’s Council, moved
that
“an attempt be made next year” (1938) to award one scholarship to a
boy “to the King’s College so that all subscribers to the Scheme
might have knowledge of how the money was being spent.The
Council discussed the matter and
concluded “that the money in hand was yet too small to make a
start”. In any case, the Council observed that the aim of
providing
education for deserving Urhobo youths should not be limited to training
at King’s
College, Lagos only, and that when funds were
sufficiently available, deserving youths could also be sent to England for professional
studies. This was
the first departure
from
the original idea.
<>
In 1938,
a further departure from the original
principles of the Scholarship Scheme occurred. This time it was
to the
effect that whatever money that was spent on the scholar for his
training must
be refunded on completion of his professional studies. This was
carried. Here again, the words “professional education” came
prominently into play!Besides
the above, there was a rumour also that,
contrary to the original intention, girls
would not be permitted to benefit from the Scholarship Scheme. Lagos branch therefore gave a most
careful consideration to these fundamental matters of departure from
the
original principles and policy, namely, award of scholarships for
professional
education, repayment of the scholarship cost and exclusion of girls
from the
Scheme.
<>
In
June, 1939, Lagos
forwarded a 5-page letter to the Headquarters protesting vehemently
against the
fundamental departure from the original policies of the Scheme.
It is
regretted that, owing to its length, it is not possible to reproduce
here the
text of this all-important letter.Copies
of the letter were forwarded to
various branches of the Union of which Koko was one. In July, Mr. (now Chief) J.
C. Avbenake, then Honorary Secretary, Koko
branch, commented on the letter. It was the view of his branch
that,
while they were in sympathy with Lagos
branch, they were convinced that the fund, as it then stood, was
inadequate to
embark to any realizable advantage on secondary education
scholarships.
They added that the force of expressed sentiment by Lagos
impelled them to say that the only suitable remedy was to invite the
Church
Missionary Society in Warri to establish a secondary school in the very
heart
of Urhobo Division.
Here again space does not permit reproduction of Chief Avbenake’s important letter.
Another deviation from the
original
policies occurred at the Annual General Council of 1939 when the title
of the
Scheme was changed from Urhobo Scholarship Scheme Fund to Urhobo
Educational
Scheme Fund. No details as to the implications of the change were
given
and one was therefore left in the dark to guess as to what it was all
about. What we in Lagos regarded as a momentous
decision was however taken at that Council meeting. It was to the
effect
that a commencement of the Scheme be made in 1940 with two boys. Lagos branch was to draw up details
of the Scheme or conditions governing the award.
Asked whether if (iv) was adopted it would not be very vigorously criticised by the public, the Professor stated
that it was
bound to be since it was unique. He admitted that not much was
wrong with
it, but concluded that since it was a new idea, the force of public
opinion
would be much against it. After admiring and encouraging our (the
whole
U. P. U. ‘s) efforts, he advised us to try and persuade the remaining
branches, which were in favour of refunding the money, to agree with us
and to
start the scheme on a free basis for the next 5 years. He
promised
that during that period, he would try his best through the press to
educate
public opinion that not all scholarships, as many people thought were
free. That after the public should have been sufficiently well
educated
on the point, there would be no fear of criticism if any one started a
scheme
on such basis. He advised us strongly to try and co-operate with
the
Headquarters to avoid separation as such would be detrimental to the
scheme and
the Union itself.
It was a most helpful interview the conclusions of which
were
communicated to the Headquarters. The communication to the
Headquarters
at that time was a fruitless exercise. They could not take any
decision
outside the Annual General Council and everything about the Scheme had
to stalemate
especially as no Annual General Council was held in 1940.
Primary
School Versus National
College
But
a most dramatic change of policy in
the Scheme was yet to come. It took place at the Annual General
Council
in December, 1941, when the Council, to Lagos
branch’s utter surprise and dismay, decided to establish a primary
school, to be gradually developed to a secondary grammar school, with
the
existing funds of the Scheme. This decision was the last straw
that broke
the carmel’s
back. It raised a great deal of hue and cry from the more
progressive and
intelligent branches of the Union. Lagos
branch’s immediate reaction was a quick decision raising the strongest
possible objection and deciding not to subscribe anything more than the
minimum
of 2/- per member per annum until the awful Council decision was
rescinded.
The
second branch to kick violently
against the Council’s unprogressive decision was Port
Harcourt. In the words of Mr. T. M. Uwamu, the Honorary Secretary, the reading of
this decision
in the minutes of the Council at their General Meeting of 30th
August, 1942, “abruptly became sapless and rancid in
character.” It would be “an ignomy
to the Urhobo nation to adumbrate-imagine aiming at building a mere
school” of this type in a “far advanced country” like ours
“instead of a College”, he cried. Accordingly, Port
Harcourt branch proposed redoubling of efforts
to raise
funds for the founding of a College.
This letter was circulated widely, and consequently, the
Headquarters invited comments upon it from various branches.
As
evidenced by available record, it was
only Ibadan branch that
supported
in their comments the Council’s obnoxious decision. It was in
this
connection that Chief Mariere wrote his
letter
referred to in footnote 5 at page 8 above. Chief Mariere
and I picked up the cudgel from where Port
Harcourt
left off, and it is my humble opinion, that it was my letter, followed
by the
Chief’s about a month later, that drove the last nail into the coffin
of
the proposed primary school project.
Elsewhere in his letter already quoted, Chief Mariere
argued brilliantly thus:
“That
the six years effort of the Urhobo Progress Union with that of other
persons
outside the Union, in subscribing money towards
the
Scholarship Fund boils down ultimately to the establishment of an
elementary
school. Some of our Urhobo young men have established
elementary
schools in several places. If the united forces of the Urhobo
Progress
Union should embark upon a jiffy, what respect do we command in the
eyes of
other progressive tribes who think of Building Colleges and of sending
their
young men to Europe and scheme in Nigeria?
We find that we could not suppress our feelings, we arranged a
deputation
composed of Messsrs S. J. Mariere,
Jackson Igben and his visits to Agbor.
We expressed our disagreement with, and disappointment at the decision
to
establish an elementary school instead of a College. We concluded
that we
could move an amendment of that decision when the next Council
sits. In
connection with the same matter Mr. Mariere
received
a private letter from Mr. T. E. A. Salubi
in favor of
founding a College and NOT an elementary school. Further
discussions were
had with the President-General at Agbor
when Mr. Salubi who was then on leave
visited here. Thus it
will be seen that when Port Harcourt’s
letter was received we find that we were not alone in our stand.”
In
repose to the Headquarter’s invitation for
Lagos
branch’s views, I wrote again another 5-page letter a paragraph of
which
reads as follows:
“3. As you know too
well, the idea of subscribing money to found scholarships for Urhobo
youths
originated from our branch (Lagos).
God knows how much we have done to give effect to the scheme since its
inception in 1936. We have been strong adherents of, and
believers in,
the Scheme. We advocated for its practicalistion
both within and without the four walls of the Union.
We have always thought that nothing could sway us from following up the
scheme
to realization soon or late; but since the idea of founding A College
as
against the proposed scholarships has cropped up, we have given the two
propositions a most careful study with a broad and unbiased
outlook. We
weighed the “cons” and the “pros” of both proposals and
found that, notwithstanding or strong faith in the scholarships
proposal, the
founding of a College will be far more beneficial to the Urhobo tribe
than
scholarships. This is our honest and sincere conclusion.
Having
been thus convinced, we are not ashamed to make known our change of
policy,
because we have been known to be staunch adherents of the latter.
We hold
that in matters of this kind, individual branch’s feelings or
idiosyncrasies should not be allowed to supersede national ones as the
greater
contains the less.”
In the same letter, Lagos
branch suggested “That owing to” the Union’s
inability, for obvious reasons, to run the College “on its own,
missionary authorities (preferably C. M. S.) in Warri[13] Province be approached with the
proposal and requested to kindly consider the possibility of” running
“the College under their aegis”
Further,
in my annual report to the
Annual General Council holden in December,
1942, I
also wrote the following in connection with the Urhobo National
Education
Scheme:
“For the
first time in our history, we failed to do anything worthwhile in the
prosecution of this scheme this year. Very lately in the year, we
decided
on a nominal subscription of 2/- per member. The subscription is
not yet
ready for sending to the Headquarters as usual. Our failure was
due to
the attitude of the executives of the Headquarters to the Scheme
and to the
most backward decision had at the last General Council of the Union
whereby it was agreed that funds available under the scheme be
utilized to
establish an elementary school. While we do not desire to write
at length
here about this poorest of decisions yet it is sufficient
to say
that those who brought it about had “killed” our enthusiasm and
interest with it. However, we are pleased to observe that the
more
intelligent and enlightened Urhobo youths have since come to our rescue
with
the result that a better alternative proposal, which, if effected,
guarantees
far-reaching advantages and benefits to the Urhobo youth, is afoot.”
Agreement
on National
College and Subsequent
Developments.
Arising
from this considerable pressure
and stiff opposition, the Annual General Council of December, 1942, had
no
alternative but to rescind its previous decision and to record a fresh and healthier one, namely,
that an Urhobo
National
College
be founded.
One
significant event at
that Council after agreement had been reached on founding the National
College was the spontaneous
voting
of various sums of money by delegates to the Scheme. 37 delegates
voted
on the spot an aggregate sum of £311 : 15s : 0d. The
decision for every
delegate to pay up from January to 15th
December, 1943, showed that not all paid the various sums
voted in
full or even in part.
Another
important decision taken by the
Council was the siting of the proposed
college
“opposite the N.A. Oil Palm Nursery near Effurun
Town” – i.e., the
present site.
By that time, the President-General’s first 5 years term of office had
expired “and being satisfied with his five years peaceful
services,” the Council re-elected Chief Mowoe as President-General for
a
second tenure. The Council requested the President-General who
was to be
accompanied by the General Secretary and the General Financial
Secretary, to
commence touring to all branches in April, 1943, with the primary
object of
facilitating collection of funds for the Scheme.
In
winding up the debate, the
President-General rationalized in order to save the face of those who
took the
1941 decision. He said the Council should thank “those who
proposed
the establishment of an Elementary School during the last
Council. That
had enabled Port-Harcourt to make the more refined plan”
–suggestion to build a national College.
The
Council however rejected Lagos
branch’s suggestion to invite a Missionary body for the running and
management of the College.
In
his letter dated the
15th January, 1943, conveying the Council’s
decision to Lagos branch,
the
General Secretary of the Union, acting under
direction,
requested the branch to approach again Dr. Nnamdi
Azikiwe for necessary advice regarding, as
he put it,
“the fundamentality and maintenance” of the College.
With
the 1942 Annual General Council
decision one would have thought that all troubles and disagreements
about the
Scheme were over. But the contrary was the case. The next
two
years, as would be seen presently, were years of bitter disagreement
especially
between the Home Union and Lagos
branch ably supported by Northern Nigeria
branches. At the fifth session of their Conference held at Kano
on the 9th
and 10th October,
1943,
the North had the following to say with regard to the Urhobo Eduction Scheme:
“Desirability
of sending two men on Scholarship
to Europe next year by the Union.”
“As soon as this
matter was tabled for discussion Mr. I. Okandeji in a lengthy speech
pointed out how real national progress depended upon ability of the
nation to
send deserving sons for Overseas education. In the Nigeria
of tomorrow there would be no room for the tribe that would look upon matriculants as constituting the top
intelligentsia.
He referred to the example set by the Ibibio Union. The Ibibio
tribe was
at one time unheard of and primitive and looked down upon, but now that
tribe
has jumped into the foreground of progressive tribes and become a
factor to be
reckoned with in Nigeria.
Discussing the contribution of a national progress he stated such a
college
could only add to the number of our clerks, but a progressive nation
needed
professionals. Concluding, he submitted that sending two men to Europe
was overdue and should be undertaken immediately. Messrs. J. J. Oduko, G. A. Inoaghan,
Edwin Ogun, J. D. Oketugba,
E. N. Igho spoke in support stressing that
while the prospective
students are studying in Europe the Urhobo National College Scheme
could still
be pursued.
"Mr. D. A.
Green-Okoro in disagreement dwelt upon the
great
advantages of a National College;
the number of our youth to receive secondary Education would increase
as it was
much easy to educate a boy at a home college than abroad. He
contended
that a National College
would further enable our sons to qualify for Government
Scholarship. He
therefore urged the Conference to accept the decision of the last
General
Council on this matter.
"Mr. I. Okandeji
speaking once more in support of scholarship told
the Conference that it was a National duty to seek the rise of our
nation. The general minimum standard of obtaining a Government
Scholarship was an Intermediate Degree. With the greatest
possible
expedition the proposed National
College
might produce its first matriculants in
1951 when
perhaps Government Scholarships might have been discontinued or
standard of
obtaining them raised. We should fail in our duty and show lack
of
patriotism if we counted upon the generosity of the Government to
provide our
necessities.
"The Clerk of the Conference pointed out that a national college even
called for studies abroad as we must produce worthy Urhobo men fit for Principalship and mastership at the College or
otherwise we
would have to count upon the help of foreign-hands.
"After
further discussion on this matter, Mr. I. Okandeji
moved that the time was overdue to send two deserving Urhobo men to Europe
on scholarship. This motion was seconded by Mr. Ogun
and unanimously carried. Mr. Green-Okoro
lost
his counter motion as he had no seconder.
"Taking
decision the Conference felt that scholarship was an immediate need by
the
nation and should be given priority over National
College which should still
remain as
a National aim but given less impetus. The Conference then
resolved
– that it was a national duty to send deserving young men Overseas on
scholarship and that should this decision be turned down at the General
Council
the Northern Branches would inaugurate a Scholarship Scheme of their
own to see
that this national need became a reality.”
The
Conference therefore passed this
resolution:
"That the sending
of two
deserving Urhobo youths on Scholarship to Europe
next
year was a national duty. That the General Council should
consider this
desideratum forthwith and that the Northern Branches strongly feel
that, in
consequence, the decision reached at the last General Council be
reconsidered
and revoked at the next session of the General Council; that the
Northern
Branches while still strongly associating themselves with the scheme
for a
National College, urged upon the Home Union to give the Scholarship
Scheme
greater priority and acceleration; that towards the fulfillment of this
National duty the Northern Branches would be compelled to run a
Scholarship
Fund on their own if reasonable consideration is not given at
Headquarters.”
As that
Conference was being held, I [i.e., Adogbeji
Salubi] was already on the high seas proceeding to England
on Government Scholarship. I did not, therefore, know what was
then
happening. But just exactly one month after that Conference, I
wrote a
letter from England to the Lagos branch reporting the disgraceful
condition in
which I found Mr. Borke, the lone Urhobo star (or as Mr. Ben Davies,
the Honarary
Secretary, Logos branch, termed him “the pillar of our hope”) in
the field of professional studies in England. As I said earlier
on, Mr.
Borke was the first Urhobo ever sent abroad for a professional
study. He
was sponsored by Mr. Joseph Akpolo Ikutegbe and was to study law.
After reporting in full the sad circumstances and misfortunes which
befell Mr.
Borke, I added:
“This, so
far, is the stage to which Mr. Borke’s six and a half years stay and
study in England
and Mr. Ikutegbe’s bold philanthropy landed him. A fortune lost
to
find sorrow, disappointment and misery. It is a pity; this is Mr.
Borke,
the hero of my boyhood! This is Mr. Ikutegbe, the noble-minded
whom I
learnt to respect so much for his venture about Mr. Borke. Above
all, is
Urhobo the tribe to which I belong.”
“Whither
are we heading?
“When will our day dawn?
“When will our sun rise?
“When will our moon bloom?”
“Let us admit that
for
the moment our ship has shattered and we have to retrace our
steps. We
have to begin again. But can we find another Ikutebge? Can we
find
another broadminded person among the lot? What a discouragement,
what a
national shame—for a first attempt to be so ended!” attempt to be so ended!
This
letter added fuel to the fire
already lit by the North. On its receipt, Lagos
issued an appeal to the Home Union and other branches attaching a copy
of the
letter.
In
the appeal, dated the
9th January, 1944, Lagos
branch proposed that, in order to meet the challenge to the Urhobo
nation,
brought about by Mr. Borke’s ignominous failure, the Urhobo Progress Union
should use
the funds of the Educational Scheme, the National Fund and other moneys
readily
available to send two scholars to the United
Kingdom to study law. The award
was to
be “Scholarship in perpetuity” and the students to be sent off not
later than June, 1944. Many branches supported Lagos
but the Home Union adopted what was probably a right, but dilatory,
attitude by
seeking the views of the branches.
Out
of sheer disgust occasioned by the
Home Union’s attitude, the Northern branches in February, 1944,
appealed
to Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe
to
speak to our leaders at the Headquarters and to our people at Sapele in
order
to rouse them to immediate action. Zik
was then
contemplating a visit to the area. Like the Nothern
branches, Lagos with its
supporters
in the South were firmly determined to ensure that Mr. Borke’s
disgraceful failure was avenged at all costs.
It
now seemed as if there was a battle between the “progressives” and
the ‘reactionaries.’ Lagos called for inauguration of Conference of
the branches of the Union in Southern Nigeria with the object of:
“(a)
promoting
common understanding among the members of the individual branches.
(b)
strengthening the fold
and thereby enabling us to present
a formidable front in allmatters affecting our destiny.
(c) Its inauguration would help broaden our
general
outlook and quicken the materialization of our dreams and schemes, such
as the
Scholarship and other menacing problems.”
In
the circular, Mr. Ben Davis said:
“The advantages of a
conference such as it is now being proposed cannot be overemphasised.
The
enviable strides of the North, largely due to their intermittent
conferences
are achievements quite unexpected. Please be referred to their
Circular
re the recent resolutions on Scholarship and other matters of grave
importance
confronting the Urhobo race. Why not we? Once up and doing
with
such tow conferences in the North and South, there is no doubt that
other
branches in the East and West would automatically wake up and live to
immeasurable advantages. The Mother Union is asleep, should we
too?”
Very
much unlike Lagos,
there is no further record in file about this proposed
conference. It is
not certain therefore whether the conference was in fact held; nor is
there
anything about its proceedings if ever it was held. But it would
appear
from correspondence from other branches, in reply to a Lagos
letter N. CB/UPU/Vol. 7 o 18:2:44 (copy not
in file),
that a decision was taken at that conference, or somewhere else, to set
up a
Commission of Inquiry to inquire into the causes of the weakness of the
Home
Union. According to Mr. Ikutegbe’s
letter
of 3:4:44, expressing inability to serve on the Commission, the idea to
set up
the Commission emanated from him. Again another original thought
and idea
from Mr. Ikutegbe. The branches’
replies
evidenced quite clearly that they welcomed the setting up of the
Commission of
Inquiry.
By
April, 1944, the Home Union reported
the conclusion of its enquiries from branches as to whether priority
should be
given to founding a college or overseas scholarships for law. Of
the 33
branches consulted, only 20 replied. Twelve of the twenty
favoured
proceeding immediately with the National College, seven were against and
one offered no opinion. The Headquarters therefore decided that
priority
be given to the founding of the College. Accordingly, an
Education
Committee, consisting of the members of the Executive Committee of the
Headquarters, together with a number of certain other members who were
co-opted, was set up. The Committee, charged with the
responsibility of
establishing and organising the College,
with Mr. S.
A. Uriafe, as the first secretary, soon
met and took
the following decisions:
"(I) That
the Secondary School should open in 1945 January.
(II) That
owing to difficulties in obtaining qualified staff as well as to those
of
getting Government’s approval to open at one stroke a full-fledged
Secondary School, it is decided to start from very humble
beginnings—viz:
from infants to Std. VI, and one Secondary Class, other classes being
added
gradually as more qualified staff become available.
(III) That
Scholarships be offered to at least two Urhobo young men one to
Study Science in Yaba Higher College, specialising in Chemistry and Biology and
the other
to study for the B.A. Degree and the Diploma in Theory and Practice of
Teaching
in Fourah Bay or in Achimota. These two men will be
the
Principal and the Science Master respectively in the Secondary School,
after
completing their course (training) Correspondence has already been
opened with
each of these colleges.
(IV) That
an appeal, a copy of which is attached marked “Strictly
confidential”, be issued to all Urhobo youths throughout the country
for
two objects, --viz:-
(a) To secure
from amongst them if possible a staff with which to open the school
next year.
(b) To
get the necessary candidates from amongst whom selections will be made
against
the two scholarships to be offered for the present.”
The
question of selection of candidates
for the scholarships was to come up in due course.
A few weeks later, Mr. (now Chief G. Ohwotemu
Oweh, then a Co-operative Inspector at
Ibadan, who
did not appear to agree with certain aspects of the Education
Committee’s
proposal, wrote a well considered letter to advise and appease Lagos in
order
that they might bow to the wishes of the Home Union. In the
concluding
part of his letter, Chief Oweh said, “If
you
are convinced with what I have written, I am advising you to write
canceling
our invitation circular for United Kingdom Scholarship. It is no
disgrace
to do so, but a vindication of our goodwill to avoid quarrels in the
ranks
of the Union. In God’s good time”
Chief Oweh reasoned “an Urhobo man will
certainly
wear the Lawyers’s wig to the glory of our
Fatherland. So be it, Lord” Lagos acceded to the Chief’s
advice. In doing so, Mr. Ben Davies philosophised
“we bow to the inevitable if it is the will of God, whichever plan”
that was first taken” would be to the utmost good of our beloved
land.”
But the month of May, 1944, was an uneasy month for the Home
Union. While
this harangue between the North and Lagos
on the one hand, and the Home Union on the other, was about dying down,
the
Commission of Inquiry, of which Mr. J. D. Oketugba
was the chairman and Mr. J. C. Avbenake
the
Secretary, was going on in full swing at Warri. It was said to be
a very
critical enquiry. In Mr. Avbenake’s
own words, “the Commission of Inquiry………….has
come to save the Union from continued
decay………. There were indeed revelations”.
Curiously enough, the report of the inquiry never saw the light of
day.
It was never published and no copy could be found in any file! I
will
make no comments.
The Home Union now realised
that the game was up and that they had to face the practical realities
of the
situation – to start the educational scheme at once or to further
advance
dilatory tactics as it had done over the past years.
AWARD
OF TWO OVERSEAS SCHOLARSHIPS
FOR PROFESSIONAL STUDIES IN EDUCATION
On
the
8th August, 1944,
the Education Committee informed Lagos that in connection with the
proposed Urhobo College, Mr. M. G. Ejaife
had been awarded a scholarship to study at the Fourah Bay College for three years followed
by a year in the United
Kingdom in order to qualify
for the Principalship of the
College. That Mr.
Ezekiel Igho was another scholar to follow
later. Mr. Ejaife was due to be in Lagos about the 24th
August and Lagos branch was to accommodate him
for his brief stay and also to book his passage to Fourah Bay. Lagos quibbled as to how Mr. Ejaife came to be selected and so on. But
the main
thing was that Mr. Ejaife entered Fourah Bay when the academic year
1944-1945 began.
That
was how the Urhobo Progress Union
groped for eight long years in its dreams to found a suitable scheme of
its own
for the educational advancement of Urhobo youths. But that was
not, by
any means, the end of the struggle. The story continues..
As
one who was for away from home (for I
was already in England), I did not know in time all the developments
that had
taken Place at home in the fold of the Union. I was aware of the
Commission of Inquiry but did not know in time that Mr. Ejaife
had been awarded a scholarship.
In the midst of my studies however, the deteriorating state of affaits of the Union
at home was uppermost in my mind. Long before I sailed abroad, I
was in
fact never happy with the position of the Union, especially the Home Union. It was
always a matter of great concern to me.
In
this connection, I will respectfully
seek indulgence to quote what I wrote at Liverpool in the fall of 1944 in regard to the
attitude of the Home Union towards the scholarship or educational
scheme.
The extract is a part of a long article written when I was ruminating
seriously
over the general affairs of the Urhobo Progress Union as I saw them
then.
In the article, which was published serially in Southern Nigeria
Defender from 1st
November, 1944, I
surveyed the whole field of the Union’s activities, cirticising
and praising, where necessary, certain of the activities of certain of
the then
leaders of the Union.
And
I wrote as follows:
“I do not propose to
discuss here subscriptions to this fund, as this might be said to be
encouraging.
“The
members subscribed far more than the minimum of two shillings, per head
pr
annum,some even subscribed up to about £5 or more, all depending
on will and
financial ability.
In a place like
Lagos, it was a matter of wide interest, many
non-members
subscribing thereto.
The clan unions
which were firmly organised made it a point to subscribe something each
year
And so they did
until very recently.
This branch,
besides other activities, organised a very successful cinema show the
proceeds
of which benefited the fund and the Nigerian Troops Comforts Fund.
Between 1936
and 1942, this fund rose to a few hundred pounds, now idle in the
coffers of
the local bank.
Here again we
had and still have enormous resources to explore for the benefit of
this fund.
All we wanted
was a little more effort and psychology—to start the project with one
or
two of the most deserving youths in a local secondary education
institution
(King’s College, Lagos, preferably), for that was the original
idea, and hold that up to stimulate the people.
Meanwhile
collection of more money would be going on.
But instead,
what did we see?
The
subscription which was encouraging from the beginning began to drop,
not
because subscribers were tired but because the General Council was
incapable of
taking decisive action as to what to do with what had already been
collected.
The original
aim was altered to creating Overseas scholarships for professional
education in
Europe or in America. Then the question as to the terms of
the grant
arose—should award be granted entirely free, or should part or the
whole
of the expenditure involved be refunded by scholars?
Views were sharply
divergent, and, although we had the benefit of advice of well-informed
and
qualified men like Dr. I Ladipo Oluwole, Zik and a few others,
yet we
were unable to come to a definite conclusion.
Later, it was
suggested that instead, we should found a secondary school in
Urhoboland.”
And so we kept
on changing our minds each year without doing one out of all, until
quite
recently when some one with a brilliant brain came along with a very
clear
idea. Not only did he suggest, but actually manoeuvred and got
the 1942
Council to rescind the previous decision and to substitute therefore
another,
which was that the founding of an elementary school which would
gradually
develop into a secondary school was the best solution to our pressing
educational needs!
Well, we are in
a world in which each man is entitled to his opinion, and provided he
knows how
to get about his job, it is easy to carry the majority in a Council
where most
delegates, particularly those from Urhoboland, feel that the views
sponsored by
influential members of the headquarters are always right.
If ever the
headquarters exhibited obvious inability in handling a given problem,
it is how
they fumbled, bungled and muddled over the scholarships scheme.
They had never
once had a clear view of their own as to what to do, nor were they
prepared to
accept others’ views with any appreciable sincerity, with the result
that
they kept on tossing representatives of branches here and there at the
annual
council meetings.
Is there any
wonder, therefore, that some members now begin to feel that the scheme
is being
deliberately frustrated by some people with private axes to
grind?
We won’t
be surprised if the next move would be a decision to adopt the Forge
three or
five year plan for Standard II Mass Literacy!
Unfortunately
or fortunately (which it is in this case we don’t really know), this
officer who was alleged to be at the head of Education Department,
Warri
– a department which has for the past two decades consistently worked
in
a manner as tended to betray the cause and strifle almost to death the
progress
of education in that Province – has been transferred.
In the address
presented by the Urhobo Progress Union to the new Governor on the
occasion of
his first official visit to Warri, it was observed among other requests
that
they needed three secondary schools in the Province, and what is more,
they had
made representations to this effect in the Elliot Commission!
From their last
decision before I left Nigeria, one would have expected that, true to the
belief and
conviction which must have prompted that decision, they would have
given
priority to elementary schools!
Whatever may be
their present views, we strongly feel that enough experiment has been
tried on
the Scholarships Scheme, and, therefore, it is high time something
concrete is
done.
We must
remember that members of the general public subscribed to the Fund and
for
this, we owe them a responsibility and obligation.
Already, the
Okpe Union, Lagos, one of the Urhobo Clans Unions which supported the
scheme
admirably, had quite rightly called the Lagos branch to question
recently as to
what happened to the Fund, since they had heard nothing about it."
That
is how we groped for eight long years altogether. But my article
worked,
perhaps like magic. The Commission of Inquiry together with this
open
press criticism ‘ferreted’ the Headquarters leaders out of their
inexcusable state of inaction.
With
all those events, the year 1944 must
have been a most exciting and excruciating once in the annals of the Union. After skipping the holding of
Annual General Council for 1943, due as Mr. Avbenake
put it, to the “Home Union delinquency”, a very busy and hectic
Council was held in December, 1944. It is believed that arising
from the
Commission of Inquiry far-reaching decision involving fundamental re-organisation and changes of procedure etc
affecting the
structure of the Union itself were taken at the Council.
Unfortunately, the minutes of the proceedings regarding that link of
our long
story It was the last Council called by Chief Mowoe. None
other was
held before his death in August, 1948. The next Coucil
was in May – June, 1950 – a lapse of some six years. When
called to question at the 1950 Council, Mr. (now Chief) J. J. Okene, the then Honorary General Secretary, gave
vague and
indefensible reasons as to why the minutes were not compiled and
issued.
This earned him a severe censure from the Council.
On
the
20th June, 1945,
Lagos was requested to book the
passage of Mr. Ezekiel N. Igho who was to proceed to Cambridge on the Union’s scholarship commencing from the
1945-1946 session. Igho arrived in England in September 1945.
In
1935 Mr. Igho had entered Christ the
King’s College, Onitsha, where he came first in the
School Honours List in 1938. He
passed the
Government Middle VI Examination and the Cambridge
School Certificate
Examination,
Grade I Pass with Exemption from London
Matriculation. Ezekiel joined in 1939 the Marine Technical
Institute, Apapa, later resigning to enter
the Telegraph School, Post & Telegraphs
Department, from where he qualified to become postal clerk and telegraphist.
Six years later, Ezekiel was
awarded one
of the two Overseas scholarships by the Urhobo Progress Union with the
ultimate
aim of qualifying for Science Mastership on the staff of the proposed Urhobo College. In October, 1945,
Ezekiel entered Downing College, Cambridge University, graduating Bachelor of
Arts in Natural Sciences in June, 1948, and obtained his Diploman
in Education from the Institute of Education, University of London in July, 1949.
Ezekiel returned from the United
Kingdom in September, 1949,
and joined the Staff of the College as the Vice-Principal. He
died at an
early age at his home town, Ohwrode Udu Clan, on Saturday, 5th May, 1956. A
grievous loss to the Urhobo people.
Urhobo
Educational Scheme's
Ten-Year Policy: Its Content and Obstacles
All
along,
the Education Committee was hard at work producing by August, 1945, the
following detailed ten-year educational programme:
URHOBO
EDUCATION SCHEME
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1
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CHANGE OF
TITLE:-
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This Scheme formerly known and circulated
as the “Urhobo College Scheme” should now by known and called the
“Urhobo Education Scheme”.
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2
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EFFECT OF
CHANGE:-
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The Urhobo College Scheme was wholly based
on the building, equipment, maintenance of, and the training of staffs
for the “Urhobo National College”. But by the adoption of the new
title, the scheme has opened up opportunities of granting scholarships
to Urhobo deserving Youths to study abroad for such professions or
degrees as the General Council may approve. This change of title
has strongly affected the fund. The target of £12,000 for
ten years plan was increased to £60,000 at the same period.
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|
3
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DEFINTION:-
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This scheme may be clearly defined as the
Urhobo Education Scheme planned under the auspices of the Urhobo
Progress Unionfor a period of ten years whereby
certain sums of are estimated to be raised from among the Urhobo people
towards the establishment of a National
College and granting
of scholarships to deserving Urhobo Youths to study abroad for chosen
professions or degrees.
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4
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OBJECTIVES:-
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There are
three objectives the scheme is out to achieve:
(I)
Founding of
Secondary School
(II)
Granting of
Scholarships for Higher Education
(III)
Raising of Funds.
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5
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FOUNDING
OF SECONDARY SCHOOL:-
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(I)
Building of College:-
(a) Acquisition of
land: Lease or freehold Survey of the plot Plan of the building.
(b) Building: U
Shape Storey Building according to the plan prepared by the
Education Committee and submitted to the Executive Council for approval.
(c) Houses for the
Principal and Vice-principal to be concrete modern buildings and so are
the houses for other tutors. There shall be built houses for gardener
and cook and Other members of the
College.
(d) Commencement of
Building: As soon as funds are available, i.e. after setting aside
total expenditure for Messrs M. G. Ejaife and Igho for period covered
by their training and transport fares back to Warri, the building will
commence.
(e)
Purchases of materials – Cement, sand, gravels, planks washers
and nails
(f)
Block moulding and assembling of same.
(g) Employment
of Watchman and appointment of Contractor. Agreement
With the contractor drawn and signed.
(h) The
Education Committee supervises the building.
(I) The
period 1945 to 1946 December set aside to complete the
Building, if not earlier.
(II) STAFFS:
Employment of Tutors and opening of the College.
(III) January 1947:-
(a) Four Masters to be employed – College opens
with 120 boys (girls may be admitted as day
girls in classes one 1
(a) (b)
& II (a) (b) 30 in each.
(b)
Laboratory Instruments and equipments to be provided.
1948:-
(a) Employment of more Tutors and opening of class III
probably (a & (b).
(b) More equipments and laboratory instruments.
1949:-
(a) Messrs. Ejaife and Igho return and assume duties.
(b) Opening of Class (IV).
(c) Equipments, and Instruments.
(d) Two students sent abroad for Education.
1950:-
(a) Opening of Class (V).
(b) More equipments and
laboratory instruments.
(c) Employment of more
staffs.
(d) Two students abroad
for Education.
1951:-
(a) Opening of Class (VI).
(b) More equipments and
laboratory instruments.
(c)
Employment
of more staffs.
(d)
Two
students abroad for Agriculture to be Tutors.
1952:-
(a) More openings considered
– Technical School attached.
(b) Two students abroad
for Commerce (to be Tutors).
(c) 1949 Students
arrive and assume duties.
1953:-
(a) 1950 Students
arrive and assume duties.
(b) Two Students abroad
for Education to Specialise in Technology
( option Tutors).
1954:-
(a) 1951 Students
arrive to assume duties.
(b) Equipments
and Laboratory – General Improvements.
1955:-
(a) Ten years
plan end in May 31st.
(b) 1952 Students
arrive and assume duties.
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6
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GRANTING SCHOLARSHIPS FOR PROFESSIONS:-
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(1) As soon as 1945 funds are available by May 31st 1946 arrangements for grants of scholarship for
two students shall be made for 1947.
(2)
In 1948 Two more
students: one for Medicine and the other for Law.
(3)
In 1949 Two
students one for Commerce and Banking, the Other for social science to
be employed by Urhobo N. A. For Welfare Works
(4)
In 1950 Two more
Law Students.
(5)
In 1951 Two
students all medicine or one to specialize in dentistry.
(6)
In 1952 Two more
students – one Medicine the other for Law.
(7)
In 1953 Two more
students – all Medicine.
(8) In 1954 Two more students – Commerce
and Industry.
(9)
In 1955 Three
Students for general Education.
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7
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RAISING OF
FUNDS
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(1)
June
1st 1945 Raising of Funds Commences.
(2)
The Target is
£6000 a year.
(3)
The Target is
divided up a follows: (Clans 29 in number) £2,000 a year. Urhobo
abroad including Warri and Sapele £4,000 a year.
(4)
This amount be
made available by 31st May of each year.
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8
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This move
is a National Concern
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(1)
The Scheme is a project to serve the educational need of the people of
Urhobo. Apart from its immediate attainments i.e. establishment
of a National College at Warri, granting of Scholarships to U.K. and U.S.A. and the realisation of the fund estimated,
the Nation will greatly benefit by the spirit of co-operation and unity
the method of collection will bring about during the ten years the
scheme remains operative.
(2) It should be borne in mind that any clan or group of clans desiring
to operate a scheme of the nature scheduled above with the mind of
giving up the payments of its quotas towards the Urhobo Education
Scheme has violated a National pledge and the failure to carry out the
scheme will be attributed to such clan or group of clans and the Urhobo
Progress Union has the right of brining up such clan or group of clans
before the Urhobo Native Administration Authorities for censure and
redress.
(3)
It is wise to sound a note of warning here that the success of this
scheme depends largely on principally just two things:
firstly the degree of efforts by, and general activities of, the
members of the Urhobo Progress Union as a whole; secondly the
co-operative efforts of the Urhobo public backed up by their
willingness to pay up quotas.
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9
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It would not be too much for a clan or
group of clans to raise funds of their own for the purposes of
granting secondary Education Scholarship or University Education
scholarship if the sponsors would make the people affected by
their move to clearly understand that their scheme would not prejudice
the Urhobo Education Scheme Fund, nor would it in any why serve as an
excuse of paying less quotas.
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10
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|
In any further awards of scholarship either
under 4 (1) or 4 (2) above, due advertisements By publications,
circulars, open discussions at Mass Meetings, will be made in inviting
applications, supported by testimonials from Clan Heads, Executives of
Clan Unions, of Urhobo Progress Union branches and Headquarters: and
from the Executive Boards in Townships. No application will be
accepted in cases where condition stipulated above is not satisfied.
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11
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Selections will be determined by the
Educational attainment, Conduct and Health. In some cases advices
of the Education Authorities may be sought either by way of Tests
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