| 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.