Eighty-five-year-old retired colonel, Titilola Onafowokan, who was among the first set of PhD graduates of Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ogun State, speaks to BANKOLE TAIWO about his struggle to achieve his lifelong held dream, among other issues
When were you born sir?
I was born just yesterday o (Laughs). That yesterday was March 27th, 1940. I am Onafowokan Bolaji. I am from Imota in Ikorodu, Lagos
How was your growing up?
I am one of those people who didn’t go to secondary school directly. My father never wanted me to go to school. So, he forced me to go and learn tailoring, but I was always crying that I wanted to go to school. Someone later offered to take me to school in Lagos. Unfortunately, when we got to Lagos, rather than taking me to school, he turned me into a houseboy. I wasn’t happy about this. So, I came back to Imota to meet my grandfather.
Was your father late then?
No, he wasn’t. I only came back home to report everything to my grandfather, that the person who took me to Lagos with the sole aim of sending me to school had turned me into a house boy. My grandfather summoned my father and ordered him to ensure that I went to school. The only school available then was in Ikorodu; Oriwu College, but there was no one to stay with. There is another modern school in Agbowa Ikosi. So, we went there but the principal said the admission had closed. They already had the first quarter exam; that was what we called it then, not term.
That was around what year?
That should be around 1956 or 1957 thereabout. The principal eventually allowed me to write the admission exam thinking that I would fail but I passed and that was how I was admitted into the school. My grandfather took a special interest in my education because he said that it was for lack of education that he didn’t become a king.
Let me also add that I did not begin to walk until after five years, while my mates had been walking maybe after a year or 15 months, I was crawling all around, I was thought to have been crippled, and it was my grandfather who took care of me during this time.
He insisted that I would walk one day, and after five years, I began to walk. The very day I stood up to walk, someone died in our town, and it was said that the person was the one behind my inability to walk for those years I crawled about. The person was said to have sworn that I would probably walk over his dead body and so be it.
After leaving Modern School, what else did you do?
I tried to get a teaching job at St John Anglican Primary School, Imota. I was there for about four months, working without salaries. They said they didn’t get confirmation from Sagamu because we were then under Sagamu. One of our brothers who happened to be a Headteacher at UMA Primary School, Orile Imo, near Abeokuta, took me to his school to see how he could assist me to get a teaching job. I worked there too for four months without salary because the confirmation letter was also not sent.
What was your next decision?
As I was thinking about all these disappointments, I remembered that I had a cousin who dropped out when he was in Class Four at Oriwu College because his father died. I also dropped out after my modern school education. I had the ambition to further my education, but my father was not willing to send me. My cousin too also had an ambition to become a scientist, but his father was dead.
So, he sent a letter to me to come over to Obalende, Lagos Island, where he was living with our uncle. When I got there, we planned it together that we must become somebody in life irrespective of our challenges. My cousin got work with Cables and Wireless as a telex operator, while I got a job as a messenger with Reuter News Agency. I later became a telex operator, but whenever I saw P and T people coming to repair the telex, I was always interested in what they were doing; I always wished I was also a technician like them. Luckily for me, they had started a school at Obanikoro, Chambers Technical Institute. So, I enrolled there for a part-time programme.
That was around what year?
That should be around 1962 or 1963. The telecommunication programme was for five years after one had obtained the school certificate which I did privately just like my brother. Fortunately for my brother, he was able to find his way to the UK after obtaining his school certificate. Before he left, we were always making use of the library, which I continued after he left. Luckily for me, I passed the Inter City and Guild Exam.
During that time, you hardly see people passing this exam in Nigeria except you travelled out, but God helped me. This success made me develop more interest in telecommunications. I wanted to become an Engineer. So, I started correspondence courses in England. I passed the third-year exam which we usually called Stage B or quarter-to-final. I later took the final examination. I had by that time left Reuters but working as a telex operator somewhere else, but now technically biased.
How did you now join the military?
I was still working as a telex operator when I heard the late Biafran leader, (Odumegwu) Ojukwu, calling Yoruba cowards, and by that time, I was the Secretary of the African Workers Union. I was a radical of some sort then. I said I was not going to take this challenge lying low. So, I joined the army and that should be around 1967. We were then taken to the war front in Benin after a few months of training at Ikeja
Was that the civil war?
Yes, the Biafra war. I had thought that the war wouldn’t last more than two or three months because I already had admission to Bristol College in the UK. I had got my passport; however, I never knew that where God wanted me was the army. The army later sent me to the Royal School of Signals in the UK. I took my final and full tech exam there and I passed. I had the opportunity to go back to the US in 1972 for another communication course. While doing that, I enrolled for part-time studies in Atlanta Georgia, in a military-based school called United States of America South Eastern Signals School.
How long did you serve in the military?
I served under the Nigeria Army Signals Department, and I left service on January 31, 1995
What have you been doing since then?
Remember that before I retired, I was an engineer; I had done my Postgraduate Studies in Engineering. I got my Higher National Diploma from Yaba College of Technology. I have been to the University of Essex in England; I have had my Postgraduate Diploma programme in System Engineering. I was already a chief instructor with the Army School of Signals in charge of technical and systems. There was a time when I was the Commanding Officer of 86 Signals Command, Mile 2, Lagos…I eventually retired as the Chief Instructor of the Army Signals School, Apapa, Lagos.
How will you describe your experience in the army?
Fantastic! I represented the country in Lebanon; I was part of the United Nations team, I was in Liberia, and Sierra Leone, among others. It was an honoured to have been privileged to serve in the army.
What kind of army do you think the country had while you were there?
We had a very disciplined army. We didn’t think of enriching ourselves; we were very disciplined. When I was retiring, I had just N68 in my account.
But the military was in charge of the country’s resources at that time.
We were never permitted to mess up except those who have the opportunity to be in governance and even then, they were being guided and monitored. Some of them who were thought to have messed up were retired. The Army doesn’t tolerate nonsense at all.
So, what have you been doing after retirement?
I have been a consultant in telecommunications. I opened a company; I later started running a nursery and primary school. I have also been coordinating the sandwich programme for the Federal College of Education Technical, Akoka at Imota since 2008. It is now called the Distance Learning Programme
What is the motivation behind pursuing a PhD at this old age?
Remember I told you that I had always wanted to learn; I hold lifelong learning so dear to my heart. My cousin who I told you about with whom we both planned to be educated against all odds retired as a professor about 20 years ago. He is Prof Fola Tayo, the Pro-Chancellor of Caleb University, Imota. He is now based in England.
When I started a school at Igando, Lagos, and they said that those running the school must have certification in education, I went back to Lagos State University for a Postgraduate Diploma in Mathematics Education. When I lost my first son in 2016, I wanted to do something to keep my mind off. So, I came to TASUED between 2017 and 2018 for my Master’s degree in media educational technology.
What did you study for your PhD?
I studied Media Educational Technology, and my area of focus was Artificial Intelligence.
When did you start the PhD programme?
That was in 2020
Was there a time you felt like abandoning the pursuit? What were the challenges you had to confront to achieve this feat?
When I started the programme, I had a sight challenge. l spent so much but I still lost my right eye. My children and everyone said I should stop, but I insisted that I must finish the race with the help of God. As I am here, I have lost my right eye. My left eye is having issues with cataracts and glaucoma. They said the operation is probability; it might be successful and may not, but I told them to let me finish this PhD programme after which I can gamble.
I want to finish the programme, and I don’t want anything to disturb me. For me, education is a therapy. If my blood pressure rises and I begin to read, it will come down. Education should be a lifelong learning process; no one should be too old to learn. When you are getting old, you are likely to begin to have these brain diseases like loss of memory, but if you keep learning, you won’t have them. I may be about four months shy of 85 but my brain is that of a 30-year-old. Tell me something today and ask me 20 years later, and I will tell you what exactly you told me.
What lessons do you wish the youth to learn from all of these?
You have to be focused on life, perseverance too is key to breaking through in life, and learning must be lifelong. Even the Bible says my people perish because they lack knowledge, and the Quran also commanded us to seek knowledge as far as China. Knowledge is key in life.
How can our education sector get better?
The government should improve on funding the universities to embark on research; the government should support the universities to find solutions to some of our challenges like insecurity, and food production, among others. My area of focus was Artificial Intelligence, and I found out that it could help us tackle many of our challenges if we embrace it. The government has to pump in more funds into the development of our universities.
As an elder statesman and someone who had been in the military, the people were complaining of bad administration during the military era, and the agitation led to the return of the country to democracy in 1999, but the people have not ceased complaining of suffering and hardship. What is your call to the political class?
Our number one problem is leadership; the second problem is leadership, and the third problem is leadership. If the head is rotten, what can the body do? If we get our leadership equation right today in a few years, we shall be up there. The way out is for our leaders to lead by example.
You remember that during the time of the late military Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed, and people were talking of corruption, he returned some of the things he took. Our leaders must reduce their appetite; they must remember that they brought nothing here and will certainly leave with nothing. The leaders should prioritise good governance and selfless service to the people.
How do you feel today sir?
I am super excited; I feel fulfilled, though my lifelong ambition is to have a PhD in Engineering, I am still happy that I got it in Education. If I were still in the army, I would have bagged a Doctorate in Engineering. Above all, I thank God for the grace, and I am also grateful to my lecturers who stood by me and supported me all the way. They made the journey quite interesting for me. God bless them all.
