How I influenced Awolowo to change his will – Osunkoya, Awo’s Chief Librarian

Otunba Gbolade Osunkoya is the former Chairman, Ogun State Library Management Board and erstwhile Special Adviser to the state governor on Library Services (2003- 2011). He was the Chief Librarian of David Sopolu Awolowo Library, Ikenne. In this interview with CHARLES ADEGBITE, the septuagenarian, who retired from the National Library of Nigeria (NLN) ex­plains how he influenced the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, to will the library he built inside his Ikenne country home to the then Ogun State University (now Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago – Iwoye), among others. Excerpts…

Between 1979 and 1983, I was seconded to David Sopolu Awolowo Library from the National Library of Nigeria (NLN) to organ­ise the Library for Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and get it working. I organised the library and I superintended over the affairs of the library for sometime. But before then I have been with Chief Awolowo since 1955 when I became a card-carrying member of the Action Group of Nigeria. During that period, I was the Secretary of Awo Youths Vanguard for my local govern­ment area, Ilugun-Alaro local government dis­trict. I later became the Chairman of the Awo Youths Vanguard for that my local government district. Through that I interacted so much with Papa Awolowo before I later became his Chief Librarian.

We started the library in 1982 and concluded the setting up of the library in 1983. I was there until Papa Awo died in 1987.

When we were organising the library, I looked at the whole set-up and I thought with­in myself that if Papa dies this library may die with him (he was then over 70 years old). So, I advised him through a memo that he should please think of bequeathing the library to the then Ogun State University. So, Papa Awo put it in his will like that. And I think it was a good thing at that time because I thought they would keep the library going. By the time we finished organising the library we had 32,000 volumes of books, minus his law books. His law books at that time were in his house in Oke-Ado, Ibadan, Oyo State . And he said those ones should be left for his grand children who studied law. Before and after he died I was still supervising the li­brary. If anything happened Mama, Chief Mrs. HID Awolowo would call me, because after Papa died, Mama went through the records and called me to come and brief her properly on the library. In fact, the conception at that time was to have that library and have a museum along side. The museum was to be built at the back of the library, on the land which Papa purchased at that time for that purpose. But unfortunately the issue of the museum did not come up before he died. And after he died, Mama called me and I briefed her on the matter that the plan was to have a museum at the back of the library, so that when you walk from the library, you can walk into the museum and see a lot of things. Mama took up the matter and built the museum in front of the library near the gate. With that we were able to build all those things Papa conceived at that time for us to do. The things are there with all the paraphernalia. The historical things are there. You see, you can see Chief Awolowo at a glance from that museum.

Papa Awo was a reader any day. It would surprise you to note that whenever Papa was at home he would work Mathematics till night and early hours of the next day. You will think that he has slept but by the time he came around 10 pm, when we were still setting up the li­brary, he would say, “gentle men you are still here ?” And we told Papa that if we don’t work that way we won’t be able to finish on time be­cause we didn’t know it would be so volumi­nous. We thought it would be something that we would be able to finish within three months. But it took a year and three months before we could finish; to classify, catalogue and set it up, and get the catalogue cards. Something that was wonderful at that time was that you know computer was not then that common or easy to see, but then with the little computerization that was going on in the country at that time, the library was fully computerized. We used one Dr. Alabi, now a Professor at the University of Ibadan Library School, he helped us to com­puterise the operations of the library as at that time. We did a lot of documentation that would definitely give anybody who comes in the required information about Chief Awolowo, about his educational appetites, and whatso­ever you want to know about. You can see at a glance, because we documented everything that needed to be documented. And we classi­fied everything that needed to be classified. At that time we had 2000 photo albums of events. We also classified all those things. We had a section for Bibles. He had over 200 Bibles of various shapes and sizes, Concordance, Bible Commentaries, everything. They were there and are still there. The copy of the first edition of Nigeria Tribune published in 1949 is there. You know Papa was the founder of Nigeria Tri­bune newspapers. So, we have newspaper sec­tion, album section, the general collections and, you see, by the time we finished those things any student of Political Science who wants to be rich in knowledge of governance in Nigeria from colonial days till present day, at that time would have to come to that site and get a lot of materials for his research. And there is a build­ing beside that library which Mrs. Oyediran is occupying now. That place was to be convert­ed to a guest house for whoever wants to do research in the library. Papa wanted to equip the place with kitchen utensils and everything, so that if you come for research, you can go there to sleep, prepare your own food and do whatever you wanted to do there. And when you finish your research you will go. And all these for free. That shows the passion which Papa had for education. Unfortunately when we handed over to the Olabisi Onabanjo Uni­versity, Ago – Iwoye, they didn’t manage the place well. In fact there was a time Ogun state government wanted to take it away from them. They pleaded and thereafter posted a profes­sional librarian there, but you will discover that not much activities are going on there as it used to be. Lately, I think in 2012 or 2013, the Law Faculty of Olabisi Onabanjo University came to Mama to say they wanted to make that place a centre of learning for law students. So, Mama called me, and we told them our reservations. But eventually we conceded to let them use the place since it is an arm of the university, to which it was originally bequeathed. That is how far that place is. Presently the Olabisi Onabanjo University is managing the place, while the Faculty of Law is using it, the library is under the management of the Olabisi On­abanjo University Library.

It is open to the public. People do come there to read. For some years now people have been coming there to read. Students from the Faculty of Medicine of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, and Obafemi Awolowo College of Health, Medical Sciences or so in Ikenne also come to use the library. Members of the public also do come there regularly to use the place.

Reading is part of the culture you can’t take away from the Awolowo family. Mama would read all the national dailies and the magazines which we did supply her that time. After she has gone through them she would send them back to the Library. But now, old age has come. She would soon be 100 years old. She could not read again for about two or three years now.

Late Chief Mrs. Ayo Soyode, mother of the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s wife, Dolapo, was a lawyer and the one in charge of Papa Awolowo’s chamber, even when Papa Awo was still alive. That should tell you straight away that she was a learned person. She read a lot. Mrs. Omotola Oyediran is the one who takes after Mama HID in terms of being in business. I can not say much about her own reading culture, but you know she is the wife of Professor Oyediran, former Vice Chancel­lor of the University of Ibadan. Talking of late Chief Oluwole Awolowo, he used to stay in the library a lot to read when he was alive and was the Publisher of the Nigerian Tribune, whenev­er he was at home. And you know Dr. Tokunbo Awolowo – Dosunmu who was former Nigeria Ambassador to Switzerland, reads a lot.

It is unfortunate that Nigeria is not a read­ing public. When I was in the National Library of Nigeria, I happened to be the Secretary of the National Implementation Committee On Readership Promotion under the chairmanship of Professor Oladele Taiwo of the University of Lagos, now deceased. We went round the country to sensitize people about the culture of reading. We made handouts, T-Shirts, car stick­ers and all sorts of things, which we distributed to people. We met the governor of each state and the Commissioner for Education, with the State Librarian, telling them the importance of reading. We did that for about four years. And the programme is still in the National Library till today. We did a lot. And the National Li­brary has a lot of things to read, but we don’t read, compared to the people in the advanced nations. When I was in Britain, I was in Leeds, I worked briefly at the Leeds County Council Library. There you will see old people coming to the library to read. For those who could not come, there were mobile libraries which we stocked with books. They carried them to all the nooks and crannies of the area. Old people would come, borrow books, take them home and read. In another week we are there again, they will return the ones borrowed earlier and borrow another one. The National Library at a time, during the period of Dr. Aje, the first in­digenous Director of the National Library, the Rivers State Government had boat library. A boat was constructed as a mobile library which carried books to the riverine areas. I don’t know whether they still do that today. And the Nigerian Library Association has done a lot to promote reading culture among our peo­ple. But our children prefer, in fact the parents don’t even take this thing serious. You see, you can create small corner in your house, put some books there instead of leaving them to be watching pornography. They can go there and read. So, parents should encourage their chil­dren to read. In fact, when parents don’t even read how can they encourage their children to read. So, that is the problem.