I’m not old, I use iPad, laptop — Ex-UNILAG lecturer, 90

Tell us about yourself.

I am Olusola Ajelore. I was born in Mopa, Mopa-Muro Local Government  Area of  Kogi State. I clocked 90 years on July 24, 2016. My father had nine wives. My mother was the third wife. The first wife did not have any child; the second had a daughter, who died at a tender age. My mother’s first child was a female who became the first surviving child. She lived up to 74 years before she died. My father must have lived beyond 100 years and my mother was over 101. I am the 18th child of my father’s over 30 children and the fourth child of my mother’s eight children.

What were the occupations of your parents?

My father was a successful farmer. I did not think that there was any better and successful farmer than him in his town at the time. My mother was a petty trader who traded in kolanuts and soaps. She moved from Mopa to Kacha.  It was a nine-day journey and she came back with plenty of fish depending on how much she could carry.

What was your childhood like?

We were used to working hard as children. I find it difficult to sit down doing nothing even at 90. It is because there was no month that we did not go to farm except during Christmas. We always had two weeks break during the period. When I was growing up, December was time for festivity. People came from Lagos, Zungeru and Kaduna. We would hold ceremonies for two weeks from December 24 to the first week in January.

Which schools did you attend? 

I started primary education in my town. It was called Baptist Central School, Mopa at the time. Many people brought their children to the school from other parts of the town. That was in 1937.

There were two schools: Baptist School was the first to begin in 1932; then Sudan Interior Mission now known as ECWA School started in 1936. Sudan Interior had the advantage that we did not have. It had Canadian missionaries. Our headmaster who went to Baptist College, Iwo and did a four- year post-primary education was not considered qualified enough. There was a contest between the two schools; but Sudan Interior won because of the presence of the whites.

Which class were you then?

I was in Standard Four. That class was disbanded because they could not finish their primary education. In 1944, I had to go to Sudan Interior Mission to complete my education. In 1944, I took entrance examination to Okene Middle School and also to Kaduna Government College.

What did you do after completing your education?

When I finished primary education, I taught for two years until my appointment was terminated. I stayed home for about three months and then came to Ilorin, Kwara State. That was in 1947. I had a distant cousin with whom I stayed. He was living close to Asa River. He arranged for me to work with the seller of fabric whose shop was close to Odu-Aluko in Gada, Ilorin.

After sometime, I went to the office of a popular letter writer, Adenipekun Adenimopola, who assisted people with petitions. When I got to his office, I was supposed to be an office boy but I found a manual typewriter there and asked if I could learn to type. He asked me to go ahead and I learnt the typing manual in one week.

I was also a vendor. Apart from selling newspapers, I read them too. There were Daily Service, African Pilot and theSouthern Nigerian Defender in Ibadan, Oyo State. Within an hour, I would have finished circulating and sat down to read.

Did you eventually use the knowledge you gained using typewriter?

Yes. It became part of me. I typed my master’s thesis and doctorate dissertation myself. The dissertation was about 390 pages.

How did you continue your education up to PhD?

I came to Ilorin in 1947 like I said earlier. At the end of 1948, my home church, Baptist Church, Mopa wrote that I should come home to teach. I was told to take the entrance examination to any of the mission schools and that if I passed, they would sponsor me. I left in 1949, taught for a year and later took entrance examination. I went for two years training at Baptist Training College Benin City between 1950 and 1951.

After two years of teaching, according to the contract we signed for the training, I went to ec-return, that is those returning from teachers’ college could go and do Higher Elementary equivalent to full secondary schools. That was in 1956.

Then I went to secondary school. My grades in Teachers Training College were very good. I went in for General Certificate of Education by correspondence (rapid results) and then the Northern Government was sponsoring students into higher institutions. I got a scholarship which I also enjoyed upto university.  I gained admission after the A level to the University of Ibadan, Oyo State. I read English. I later taught at Provincial Secondary School now called Government Secondary School Ilorin, Kwara State.

After a year plus, I got Commonwealth bursary for teaching of English as a second language in the University of Manchester, United Kingdom.  I asked the head of department, “Is it possible for me to continue to master’s?” He said it was okay. That same year, my wife got a northern scholarship to attend school in Britain for Catering. I decided that I was going to do the masters.

Fortunately my wife got £37, 10 shillings every month; out of which our rent was about £14. I did my master’s programme in the University of Sussex. It was in Applied Linguistics with specific reference to the Teaching of English. I came back to the Ministry of Education, Northern Region. I taught at what is now Abdulazeez Attah Memorial School, Okene Provincial Secondary School then. After four months there, I resigned my appointment and went to the University of Lagos’ School of Humanities.  I was at the Faculty of Humanities, which comprised History, English, English Literature and Geography. In June of 1969, I had an opportunity to attend an American Linguistic Association Summer School in Illinois, USA. I just walked up to the head there and said, ‘Sir, I would like to do my doctorate here.’ He said, “It is alright.” I said, “I do not have financial support.” He replied, “We can arrange and give you part-time assistantship.” “How much will that be?” I asked; “Over $250 per month,” he replied. By that time, I had two girls and a set of twins.  That was how in 1970, all of us went to the US. My wife learnt sewing there.

When did you return to Nigeria?

I finished in 1973 and in September 1973, I came back to the University of Lagos. There was a proposal for Kwara College of Technology to be affiliated to Ahmadu Bello University to receive degrees. But University of Ilorin came and that was aborted. Quite a number of staff in the College of Technology went to Unilorin and a number of us stayed behind. Then came Adamu Attah regime in 1979. Forty six of us were sacked on April 15, 1980. I then ventured into farming.  I farmed on 10 hectares.  I started farming in 1980 till 1993 and I stopped because I recorded many losses and the little money that came out of it, I ploughed back and it was not yielding.

Tell us about how you met your wife.

I was her teacher but that time it never occurred to me that I would marry her because I had someone else I was dating. My niece told me she was taking Baptist Women Teachers College, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta exntrance examination. She and my late wife were classmates and my late wife was the brightest of them in class when I was their teacher. I told her to ask her mate if she was interested in furthering her education. Of course, she was interested. Missionaries at that time would sponsor any student who gained admission. So I told her, ‘sit for the entrance examination, once you pass you can write to some of them to ask for sponsorship.’ And God did that for her. It never occurred to me that I was going to benefit from that. I offered the advice because she was a brilliant student who I wanted to see succeed.

When I met some of her mates in 1965, it then occurred to me that I had somebody I could talk to. In 1955, she was on holiday in Lagos where her father was. And I told her, ‘I was thinking that I could marry you.’ She did not object. I said ‘Go and tell your daddy if you think that will work,’ and she went and told her daddy.  That was how we got married. I really enjoyed the marriage.

How many children do you have?

I have five children: four girls and one boy.

Do you use any gadgets now?

Yes. People complain that I am always writing with my iPad or personal computer.  I am growing old but I am not old yet. Learning is still going on. I am still engrossed with my laptop and iPad now.

You are still energetic even at 90. What is the secret?

It is the grace of God. I hardly eat outside. I ate pounded yam last in 1947. I ate garri last in 1985. I do not eat any meal without vegetables. In the morning, I take pap with akara or moin moin with efo, bitter leaf, moringa, salad, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes and onions.  I eat rice with beans once a week. I drink a lot of water.

Which is your happiest day in life?

One of my happiest was when my wife bore twins.  Another happiest day of mine was on July 24, 2016; my 90th birthday. When I handed the keys of a three-bedroomed flat as a gift to a woman who has served my family for 28 years.

A single kobo has never been lost since she started working with us. She prepares my breakfast and stays till about 5.30pm or 6pm before she goes home. I bought her a plot of land and with the help of friends, built the house for her. Coincidentally, the day I gave her the house as a gift was the day her landlord gave her and her family a quit notice. I got to know about it when her husband revealed it while thanking God after the handover of the house to them.

What is your advice to young people?

Young ones should honour the elderly. Our institutions do not encourage that. The whites honour the aged. I know some friends who never worked in Britain or the US and are on pension because they live there, maybe with their children. But we have to queue in Nigeria for pension. It is not proper.

What is your dress style?

I wear native attire even when I was in the US, I wore agbada.

source: http://punchng.com/im-not-old-use-ipad-laptop-ex-unilag-lecturer-90/

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