Jelani Aliyu: Breaking All Molds

Nwachukwu Egbunike

Jelani Aliyu

“Our nation may suffer the frustrating challenges of a prolonged childhood but the nobility of our people’s dreams outpace the putrid vision of their leaders.” – Nuhu Ribadu

Watching Jelani Aliyu’s documentary on YouTube was edifying, for the simple reason that it breaks every mould. Jelani is not the typical soft-selling star that are foisted on our sight by the sleazy press. He is a northerner (from Sokoto State), a Muslim, he grew up in Nigeria, left the university to complete his studies in a polytechnic and above all his just secured the future for General Motors by creating Chevy Volt. He certainly does not fit any labeling.

What I find rather strange is the chilling silence on Aliyu’s story in Nigeria media. Trawling through the links, Mr Aliyu’s discovery was reported in 2007 in NVS and The Daily Triumph. I cannot but agree with Michael Oluwagbemi’s The Nigerian Who Designed an American Car that the nauseating attitude of not exalting industry but rather prostrating to mediocrity is a national malaise. Mr Oluwagbemi was incensed by the inability of our press in celebrating Jelani Aliyu’s success and I concur with him. Obviously Aliyu breaks the stereotype of ‘the goro-chewing Northerner’ – a picture which we have been feed to believe in. Asides I wonder who will dare add Aliyu into US terrorist list? If we also accept the pigeonhole that all Muslims are necessarily on jihad, then one will certainly have a hard time with the auto designer. That’s how Jelani Aliyu broke the first mold.

I have always maintained that we don’t all have to attend a university. In civilised economies, very few make it to a university while the majority attend a polytechnic or a skilled school. This fact in itself is not a measure of each person’s ‘success’; because highly-skilled workers earn more than the so-called intellectuals. Jelani Aliyu has broken mold number two, by abandoning a degree in Architecture from Amadu Bello University, Zaria and rather electing to study for a lower diploma in architecture from the Birinin Kebbi Polytechnic.  His passion was so grand that he could not find satisfy it within a theory-driven university environment.

Mr Jelani Aliyu triumph also illustrates the Nigerian spirit to excel despite all odds. The fact that we may be saddled by a putrid and clueless leadership should never preclude the people’s potentials. The American auto revolution was propelled by a Nigerian car designer. I can only congratulate Mr Aliyu for braking all moulds and for producing “GM`s most electrifying advanced technology vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt concept, a battery-powered, extended-range electric passenger vehicle”. Mold number three, most Nigerians are not yahoo, yahoo.

Outsider Inside

Keith Richards, Bookcraft Ibadan, 2009.

Reviewer: Nwachukwu Egbunike

‘Being a Nigerian is abysmally frustrating and unbelievably exciting’ – Chinua Achebe.

Keith Richards’ Outsider Inside is a glittering paradox of the Nigerian story.  A collection of Keith’s column in BuisnessDay newspaper, the book is laced with humorous stories, a popular cultural artefact that connects with anyone who has lived in this country. However, it also reflects the exasperating experience of living in this country.

Outsider Inside is an appropriate title for the book. Taking the premise cited by the author: ‘as a foreigner, I would always be an outsider, even though I had spent enough time and been a keen observer of the life around me to have been given a glimpse of Nigeria from the inside.’ Though garnished with the spice of unacceptability, the book shows once more the huge gap between Nigerians and their leaders. The essay portrays a fondness by the author, a Londoner, for his adopted country. Nonetheless, it is hid the fact that the author may continue to be just a welcomed guest.

Did this wall of integration prevent Keith from loving and living the Nigerian life, hell no! On the contrary a swim through the 300 pages of Outsider Insider reveals the authors attachment to this country. Broken into nine sections, the book covers aspects on self-help and business practice; corporate government and financial crime; tourism and travel; international; business; culture; Lagos; politics; and other miscellanies.

Save the usual clatter of kids – Onyeocha (East), Baturi (North) and Oyinbo (West) – most expats are shrouded in stereotypes: about them and about the country. ‘But Keith’ is ‘not like other expatriates’ an accusation that was tossed on him a Lagos bar. A group of young men had based their assertion on the well-know expats’ watering holes in Port Harcourt. For them, ‘all white guys they had seen firsthand were to found staggering out this bar, well into the night with one or two girls following them amorously who they either paid off or bundled into their car and drove off with.’ This was their definition of ‘all expatriates’. Keith’s defence was that: ‘there were thousands of expatriates from every walk of life here in Nigeria many of whom were family men who did their work and went home to their wives if they were accompanied or who rang them most evenings and missed them if they were not.’ Unfortunately most people don’t get to see this group. Whether or not he convinced the young men is certainly another story, but it shows that stereotypes are usually difficult to break.

Most expats in Nigeria live in ‘cages’, high walls, security arrangements that will make prisoners glee with jealousy. Not entirely their fault, because a white skin in this country is an automatic attraction for kidnappers. Nonetheless, there are those who get immersed in the mélange of the Nigerian social life and culture. These according to the author, usually seek ‘invitations to Nigerian homes, wedding ceremonies and parties…hanging out with their Nigerian colleagues and building friendships that would outlast the time of their stay.’ Keith falls into this category. It takes more than immersion to be a double chief, Ike-Oha of Umuobo autonomous community, Aba and Eze Di Ora-Mma I of Enugu State.

Nigerians like talking business, and anything that will aid their progress normally catches their attention. Keith in ‘Laugh your way to the Bank’ finds a middle course between work and humour in the office. Being an employer of labour – formerly as MD of Guinness and currently of Promisidor – there is always a constant stream of job applications. In ‘You and Your CV’ – the author gave practical tips on how to write a resume. It is worth reading especially by the upward moving young professionals. It provided an insight on how employers make their pick and revealed why most applications end up in the trash can.

I advice those prone to cardiac disorder to avoid reading ‘Travel Guide to UK’ for it will only trigger a bout of laughter that may precipitate a heart attack. This article was Keith’s rebuttal to ‘the xenophobic and holier than thou’ tone of What Foreigners Coming to Lagos Should Expect – an article published in the Economist. The author exposes this condescending stance by highlighting what Nigerians coming to Britain should expect. In the same section: Tourism and Travel, Keith laments the decrepitating state of most national and historic sites that litter Nigerians rich cultural landscape.

He pokes irresponsible corporates who take advantage of photo-op CSR projects yet do nothing as regards their immediate environment. The section on ‘Business’ leaves a sour taste as Keith gave a beating to local airline staff, especially the air hostess for their perpetual disdain for courtesy. The unfortunate scorn for Nigerian musicians by their international colleagues did not escape Keith’s attention. Having hosted many musical shows in Nigeria, the author is in a position to know. ‘For the attitude of the artists is mixed, some like Wyclef enter into the spirit of things and embrace their fans… Others refuse to condescend to greet their local equivalents.’ Keith could certainly not understand why ‘someone who calls himself a musician and who comes to Nigeria refuse to greet Fela’s son?’

Lagos Conundrum typifies the spirit of a city which many love to hate. Nonetheless, it is startling that this haze of madness is what inspired most articles in the book. The poverty, the incredible driving habits, the rubbish, the traffic girl and others constitute these pages. Though Keith tries to stay out of politics, unfortunately a writer in these climes cannot avoid it. In the concluding chapter, he castigates the West for stealing Nigerian doctors; dramatises the 2007 elections in a fictional flight from UK to Lagos; and dismantles 2020 as an illusion. Nonetheless, the book ends in a cheerful note with ‘2020…Nigeria in 2025’, Keith dreams about the future of Nigeria in beautiful prose.

Outsider Inside is a delight, though individual essays yet it has a unifying core. I must also commend the publishers – Bookcraft – for doing a good job. Save the discord of the title of section 8 (Lagos Conundrum) with that on the title page, the brilliant editing is obvious and the editor deserves a thumps up for that. The non-chronological presentation is not really noticed but reading through triggers a feeling of déjà vu. The remarkable sweet-sour taste of the book will make Achebe’s dictum – quoted in the beginning of this review – to read as follows: ‘living in Nigeria is abysmally frustrating and unbelievably exciting’.

And the Winner is: Peter Obi

Nwachukwu Egbunike

“Peter Obi of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), having satisfied all requirements of the law and scored the highest number of votes, is hereby declared the winner,” chief electoral officer Josiah Uwazuronye announced at the electoral commission headquarters in the state capital Awka reports Reuters. Obi’s victory was also been carried by AFP and Next on Sunday, February 7, 2009, a day after the elections.

Reports have it that Obi  “scored 97,843 votes, according to electoral commission INEC, beating former state governor Chris Ngige of the opposition Action Congress party, who polled 60,240 votes. Former central bank governor Chukwuma Soludo of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) took 59,355 votes while ex-state governor Andy Uba of the Labour party polled 26,106 votes.”

Anambra elections had generated so much tension and trepidation. For the very fact that the state though laying claim on being “The Light of the Nation” had been in perpetual political darkness. A blank out that has persisted despite being one of the southeastern states with the greatest number of Igbo elites. Besides, it is trite to note that the apprehension surrounding Anambra polls was not unfounded. Elections in Nigeria had never been easy. Things have so degenerated that with each passing polls, the violence and godfatherisim had risen to idolatry pitch.

Recounting a couple of days back on Facebook, I  was challenged by a friend to declare my stance on the Anambra elections. By the way, the level of political consciousness by the upward-mobile Nigerian youths is more palpable on social networks especially Facebook. This new class of internet warriors, have definitely had enough and are desirous of a change in Nigerian polity.

Back to the hard knock I received, knowing that I come from Anambra State, a fellow citizen who supports Peter Obi could not understand my reluctance to stand behind the APGA candidate. It all started with an innocuous post I hoisted asking why people have behaved as though there where only two candidates: Soludo and Obi.

The response of this friend of mine was that: voting Ngige is like lowering the standards, he only built roads and looted. How long are we to continue to vote on sentiments and pettiness and not on track records and integrity, purposefulness and accountability… vote Peter Obi and if you have any blemish on the man put it up for debate, I challenge you. I figure his only blemish is that he has refused to lead the PDP way, share the money.”

While I shared his sentiments, I knew for certain that a vote for Andy Uba was tantamount to sending Anambra State back to the dark ages or even worse. The man whose avarice for power has led him – with his brother – to violate the state and the courts. Nonetheless,  I am no Soludo-solution-messiahship crowd follower. The reason is clear, if he has any integrity left, he should not be in PDP. Some claim his got brains, sure I don’t dispute that. However, we’ve had a PhD from Harvard as governor in Anambra (in the 3rd Republic) and that didn’t change much. Unfortunately, the bank stench has put Soludo’s brains and capabilities to question. He was the boss at CBN, the bulk stops at his table, period. Soludo should go back to the classroom, that is if they allow him. Because with the current sub-ethnic muddle in UNN, I doubt if he will find a warm welcome.

For Obi, I have always supported him. He limes the image of an intellectual and his integrity so far – save the cash incident in Lagos – is ‘without blemish’. However, I fear a certain sluggishness on Obi’s part. It was so palpable when i visited home. There seems to be so much talk and no work. Or rather his was operating at a higher level that people don’t seem to know where his heading. That in itself is no compliment but a failure of leadership.

Thus my hesistancy to lay my beat on Peter Obi. As much as we need men who have honour, nonetheless, honour alone cannot change things. Unfortunately, none of the contestants in the Anambra polls, in my opinion possessed the dual qualities of competence and veracity. It was like the proverbial saying that the blunt knife has no handle and the one with a handle is dead blunt.

Despite my misgivings, I am glad that Peter Obi won the election. While one may explain his lack lustre first term performance on the crazy situation that saw him more in court than in the government house, Obi should know that this time around he has no excuse. Anambra people have spoken loud for the heavens to hear. The elections that ushered him in, though garnished with irregularities, seems to be the best in recent history. Please Mr Peter Obi, this time around do not betray trust of your people. Work and change the face of Mama Anambra. If you take this plain counsel, history will not forget, neither would Anambra fail to remember.

Ebigbo’s Love for ‘Special’ Children

By Nwachukwu Egbunike

The canticles that usually emanate from these shores are not usually appealing. The irritating nature of many Nigerian stories is not dependent on the acoustics, but rather on the apparent failure of things around us. In this situation, we paint and see only depressing hues while many untold stories of extraordinary heroic acts go unsung. Hildegard Maria Ebigbo’s over three decades of love for Nigerian kids with special needs is one of such, but it almost went unnoticed.

Ugoeze – a German in love with Nigeria

Mrs. Hildegard Maria Ebigbo hails from Fremdingen, Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany. She was born on 13th August, 1950, into the solid and devout Catholic Bavarian family of Mr. Leonard and Mrs. Theresia Raab. She is the third of five children. She is a mother of four very successful children: three sons are doctorate holders in Biology, Medicine and Engineering. Her only daughter, who graduated with 1st class honours in psychology at the University of Nigeria, is a well known singer. She is also a traditional title holder – Ugoeze. Hildegard Ebigbo has been in Nigeria since 1977 standing by her husband Professor Peter Ebigbo (a Professor of Clinical Psychology, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus and by extension, the Nigerian nation, through thick and thin. Yet, she is in all respects, a true German.

Starting as a Kindergarten teacher, Hildegard also worked for five years in different institutions in Germany with children with different disabilities, and had an in-service training as a speech therapist. This long diverse experience with children with special needs earned her a place at the Academy for Therapeutic Pedagogy in Wuerzburg, Germany, in 1975.  That same year, she got married to Peter Ebigbo.  In 1977, she graduated with the overall best result, qualifying as a Therapeutic Pedagogist (Heilpaedagogin).

‘Special’ Children

Special, in this case, is certainly not a euphemism rather a medical term that embraces clinical dysfunctions associated with retardation. Terri Mauro, of About.com explains that, “children with special needs may have mild learning disabilities or profound mental retardation; food allergies or terminal illness; developmental delays that catch up quickly or remain entrenched; occasional panic attacks or serious psychiatric problems. The designation is useful for getting needed services, setting appropriate goals, and gaining understanding for a child and stressed family.”

Besides, no two special kids are the same; in other words the care for each one varies. Although this can be quite challenging for the parents, bearing in mind that most times, “special needs are commonly defined by what a child can’t do – by milestones unmet, foods banned, activities avoided, experiences denied. These minuses hit families hard, and may make special needs seem like a tragic designation,” asserts Terri Mauro.

Nonetheless, Frau Ebigbo, as a therapeutic pedagogist, is a firm believer in the old wisdom of ‘strength in disability.’ For the past thirty years she had worked silently to change the prevailing attitude of parents of special kids, who most often only mourn their child’s lost potential. She has rather helped them discover that their child’s challenges make triumphs sweeter, and that weaknesses are often accompanied by amazing valour.

Unfortunately in our climes, special children are often abandoned. With the griping economic situation, most parents cannot afford the fees that their extraordinary education entails. To her credit, Mrs Ebigbo has awarded countless scholarships to many indigent pupils.  Her pride lies in seeing these kids graduating from her school into secondary and tertiary institutions.  Some have been empowered and established in different trades and some others working in government establishments. These are people who would otherwise have turned destitute.

Shredding the Filthy Curtain of Stigmatisation

Hildegard Ebigbo became the guardian angel for most children with this condition through her school, Therapeutic Day Care Centre (TDCC), Abakpa Nike, Enugu. The TDCC was established in January, 1979, in the garage of their (Hildegard and Peter Ebigbo’s) university rented house.  At that time (and to some extent, even now), there was great prejudice and a great tendency to neglect, or even kill, retarded children.

It is interesting that Hildegard Ebigbo’s personal effort was not couched in slogans or ambitious delusions that seem to characterise the Nigerian story. Rather, her passion for these challenged kids was equally matched with a professional bias. Hildegard intervened with her concept of fruehfoederung or early furtherance, a project that turned out to be very successful and unique. It was discovered that early stimulation of the brain could still bring out great potentials in these children. TDCC currently has a special nursery and primary school, a sheltered workshop in Enugu, and an integrative school at Ihiala, Anambra State. At the moment there are 700 children at the TDCC Enugu and almost 400 at Ihiala respectively.

Ours is a society that, despite the superficial icing of education and religiosity, still holds tenaciously to some superstitious beliefs. Ebigbo’s dedication to these underdeveloped children certainly relieved the burden on their parents. As Mr. L.E. Umego and Mr. J.C.U. Igbokwe – parents of some special kids disclosed, “Before we came in contact with her, the disabilities of our children had exacted great toll on us and other members of our families. We were faced with many societal challenges which left us intensely discouraged and dejected.”

As if their suffering was not enough, the added agony of discrimination was ever present, “Our children with special needs were unloved, discriminated against and our families stigmatised. There seemed to be an invisible iron curtain that cut our children with special needs off from the rest of the world. But Mrs. H.M. Ebigbo has single handedly broken through that iron curtain.  Here, our children found love; their dignity has been restored to such an extent that, other parents besiege the centre, seeking admission for their non-disabled children/wards.  She sleeps dreams and wakes having these children in mind.”

She was able to shred the curtain of stigmatisation by nurturing both the challenged kids in her care and their families. She achieved this by creating an enabling environment (disabled friendly), where non-disabled and disabled children could have equal opportunities to do things together. Mr. Umego and Mr. Igbokwe assert that, “this is not easily found in any institution in Nigeria, and it is no exaggeration.” One could not but concur with them. For an individual to single-handedly achieve the UN’s policy of inclusive education for persons with disabilities, she certainly deserved the German President’s Merit Award.

Presidential Recognition

The impact of Ebigbo’s work with handicapped children was felt across the Atlantic. She was recently conferred with a National Honour of Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Order of Merit) by the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Herr Joachim Schmillen, on behalf of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany.

This is certainly an honour well deserved and an acknowledgment of the ardour of a woman who believes in Nigeria. However, it is sad that Mrs Ebigbo was appreciated only by her home government. Though she is German but her selfless work had been in Nigeria and the recipients of her magnanimity are Nigerian kids. Truth be told, it is only logical that our government recognises her effort.

Mrs. Hildegard Maria Ebigbo deserves more than a German Federal Order of Merit. With her work, she certainly merits a national honour from Nigeria.