In this interview with DAYO OKETOLA and GBENRO ADEOYE, former Vice Chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Prof. Funso Akere, shares his life experience
You clocked 75 years this year, but you don’t look it. What is the secret?
I thank God for good health and moderate living. I take good care of myself and I don’t do things in excess.
How does it feel to be 75 years old?
Yes, I celebrated it here on April 14; I had my friends come around and we stayed under the tree. It doesn’t feel different; it’s just that one is conscious of the fact that one is old. But that is in the mind. In terms of my own body, I still feel great.
Are you looking at 100 years now?
(Laughs) No, at that point, something else may happen. One may not be able to move his limbs. Once one has a good life, he can make 80 years. If I can make 80, 85 years, I will be glad.
Your profile says your hobby is walking, why do you like walking?
It is recommended that when you grow old, you’re to do certain exercises. And at my age, rigorous exercise is not recommended. I used to do aerobics at home up till when I was 70 years, but then, walking is good exercise. Sometimes, I walk round the estate and I feel fit.
What kind of childhood did you have?
My childhood days were quite exciting. I was the first child of my family. My father was a fairly strict person. We lived in a village under Ode-Aye and my brothers and I had to walk to school. Whenever we set out, we would walk and other children in the villages along the road would join us. But 30 minutes after we left home, my father would set out on his bicycle to monitor our movement. If he rode and found that anyone of us was behind the other children, he would then say ‘alo ni tie, abo ni temi’ (Do what you wish on your way there, I will do as I wish when you return). When we got back, he would ask us what we were doing behind when others were going. He would ask us to fetch our cane. It was a special type of stick that didn’t break easily. He would flog us. And at the end of the year, he would also come to listen to our results as they were being read out. We were good then. They would mention Funsho Akere as coming first in his class, and then they would mention another Akere as coming second in his class and on like that. The compound where we lived had trees planted- mangoes and oranges- and sometimes, we would play football with the oranges under those trees. Yes, we enjoyed ourselves until I finished primary school and that ended. Later, we moved to Igbobini and by that time, I had become a teacher. My father was a forest guard but by the time we were old enough, we didn’t know him as a forest guard. He had retired at some point. By the time we were old enough, he did carving, fishing and things like that. Europeans who lived around there would come to buy fish from him.
In those days, parents hardly sent their children to school. How come your case was different?
My father went to school and up to what they called Reader 5 at that time but the teacher he lived with died, and then his father asked him to get back home and join the others.
Did you feel privileged that you had the opportunity to get education at that time?
Of course, we felt privileged, but there were other children along the road who were also going to school. However, most of them didn’t make too much out of it. Those ones who were my mates in those days fell by the wayside; it was either they didn’t complete primary school or didn’t go beyond primary school. So in that way, we felt privileged that we had a father that watched our progress and wanted us to have education.
At that time, did you ever think that you would become a university professor at some point in future?
No, but there was the urge to move ahead. After finishing my primary education, the question was what next? My father didn’t have enough to sponsor us to further our education. But in our standard six, three of us were selected in my school to proceed to a secondary school that had just been established at that time. But I did not go because my father said if I went to secondary school, there would be no money to spend on other boys who were also in school. I finished in 1953 but in 1954, I didn’t do anything, I was at home till 1955 when I was appointed a pupil teacher. So that was how it started. What was the next thing to do? Later, I went to a teachers training college. After that, I did General Certificate Examination (Ordinary level) because that was the next thing to do. I passed. I tried advanced level and also passed. So after that, the next thing was to attend the university. I applied and got admission in three universities- Obafemi Awolowo University, Osun State (then University of Ile-Ife); University of Ibadan, Oyo State; and University of Lagos, Akoka. So I eventually chose UNILAG because most of my friends were in Lagos, they worked in Lagos, so Lagos was my attraction.
Does that mean you have either been teaching or lecturing since 1955, even before Nigeria got independence?
Yes, but it’s been great. I kept moving. After I left the teachers training college, I became a secondary modern school teacher. From there, I moved to teaching in a grammar school.
You took your first lecturing job at UNIFE, why not UNILAG since it had an attraction for you?
When I finished my degree at UNILAG, I immediately got a British Council scholarship to go to the UK to get a Master’s degree. When I came back, I went to UNILAG and I was told that there was no vacancy. I even tried to teach at the College of Education in Akoka, same thing. Then I tried UNIFE and I was told that the professor was on leave. He was a white man. I was told that when he returned from leave, they would arrange an interview for me. Then they arranged an interview. Prof. Oluwasanmi was the Vice Chancellor of the school at the time and he was the Chairman of the interview panel. I got appointed as an assistant lecturer. I stayed there for two years and towards the end of the two years, I was promoted to Lecturer II. Then I got an invitation from UNILAG to come for an appointment if I was still interested in working with them. ‘If you are still interested in working with us, please come,’ the letter said. It was the Head of Department (English), Prof. J. P. Clark, who wrote it. He was my lecturer when I was an undergraduate. So I jumped at it. I started in 1971 as a Lecturer Grade II.
Can you remember where you were on Independence Day in 1960?
In 1960, I was teaching in a primary school. That was when I was also studying for GCE. Towards the end of the year, I went to do GCE O level and at the same time, I went to do Grade II. By 1961, when the results came, I passed and I was the only one who passed in the Apostolic Teachers College, Ilesa that year. At that time, you had to pass all subjects including English. There was a senior student who passed all subjects except English Language. He failed. All the others had got their results, but my result was late in coming because it was posted to Ode-Aye (where I was living before). The person who had the best result at the time passed four subjects but failed English. I was in Grade II when I sat for the examination, so nobody was expecting much from me. But when the results came, I waited behind to open and found out that I passed all the subjects. When I got to my room, people were waiting to see my results. I said I didn’t know how to interpret it but somebody said, bring it, we will interpret it for you. They used to call me ‘Character’ at the time. It came from the way I used to pronounce the word in literature. So I was nicknamed ‘Character.’ So everybody shouted ‘Character’ has passed. I felt like a hero on that day. People advised me to leave and not to finish the Grade II programme, but I said I would finish but I wouldn’t go for the National Certificate in Education. So I did my A levels but that year, I did not prepare well for it. So when people were applying for university, I didn’t apply for a degree, I applied for a diploma programme because I thought I had not prepared well for it. But when the results came, I passed my papers. That was 1964. So I taught in a secondary school for one year and then got admitted for a degree programme. It was after it that I immediately got the scholarship to do a Master’s degree abroad. So I’ve been in the university system since 1969.
Did the name ‘Character’ stay with you up till your university days?
No, it didn’t. In the university, although I studied Literature, my main focus was Language. I had literature classes, J.P. Clark taught me, Wole Soyinka also taught me. But I was more into language. We studied both Literature and Language but I was more into Language. The scholarship I got was for English language teaching to do a Master’s in Leeds, UK. I was the best in Language in undergraduate level and that was why I got the scholarship. I have been teaching Language since.
What informed your decision to study English in the first place?
I did Geography, English and History at A levels. So when I got to the university, I refused to take History because I didn’t think it was challenging enough. So I did Geography, French and English. I didn’t know a word of French when I got to the university but we had two French teachers who also didn’t speak English. But they taught us very well and at the end of the year, three of us were recommended to continue with French and go to Dakar, Senegal for a summer programme but the university refused to fund the trip. Otherwise, I could have been in French rather than English. So I continued with Geography and English and I was doing well in both. People taught I would be more of a Geography teacher than an English teacher but it just happens that I have skills in Language because it’s linguistics. It’s scientific; I had studied the techniques of language and all of that.
You have worked in various universities including UNIFE (now OAU); UNILAG; Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State; and Redeemers University Nigeria, which one of them holds a special place in your heart?
Oh! That would be UNILAG. I started teaching there in 1971 and I was there till I retired in 2005 and officially in 2006. But in between, I spent two years in the Lagos State University, Ojo. I did my sabbatical there in 1984/85 and then in 1986/87 when the Vice Chancellor invited me back as professor there. He wanted me to stay back but I didn’t like to stay, so I left and returned to UNILAG. I also did my sabbatical in the University of Florida, USA with a population of 36,000 students. In Ife, I spent only two years. The reason I left Ife was because I was a young man and I was not married at the time. I was feeling like I didn’t want to make Ife my second home. I was itching to leave and when the invitation to return to UNILAG came, I returned to Lagos because I had spent many years in Lagos. Ife was the beginning of my academic career and I enjoyed it there also because of the ambience of the school. The VC and lecturers were very progressive. I loved UNILAG because it was like a home. I was in the midst of my lecturers; the people who taught me were there and the ones I taught were also there and they became professors in the place. It was a city university, so apart from the university campus, the social life was there. The city was there to go to and I had also enough to do in the university to engage me.
What was your experience like then as the VC of AAUA, which was a budding university after all your experience in some of the best universities in the world?
It was in the same spirit of adventure. I was interested in the academic work and so when I was made the VC, I accepted to work there. I said I was made VC because I didn’t want to apply for the job. A colleague who taught in our department in Lagos had moved to AAUA. He was elderly and he asked me to apply. At that time, there was crisis in the university and it had been shut. Students were away. At that time, they had sent away the school’s VC. So when he asked me to apply, I said, I didn’t want to leave Lagos for anywhere else. Then he also sent a letter to Prof. Adetubo, who was my colleague and had been my teacher. He asked him to talk to me but I still didn’t apply. One day, a professor who had left UNILAG, Prof. Ogunye, came to Lagos. He was a member of council in AAUA. He said they had set up a search team, that there were some other people who didn’t apply but who would be good materials and that they were searching for them and compiling a report. So he came to UNILAG and spoke to me and about six or seven of us. He asked us to apply. He worked with us so he knew the calibre of people we were. We said okay, so we went for interview and after the interview, I got invited by the Ondo State Governor, Chief Adebayo Adefarati, to ask ‘will you take up this job?’ I said I had not been offered the job. He said suppose we offer you the job, will you take it? I said I would consider it after all, I came for the interview. Then he said we are offering you the job, when will you take it?
So that was how I resumed as VC. When I got to the place, it was a secondary school. The buildings they inherited from a secondary school were what they were still using, including the library there. Then there were no students; the students had protested because they didn’t have adequate facilities. We started the rebuilding process. There was the incidence of cult activities which was rampant. We started the library and refurbished a number of buildings. The place I used as a living place was the place that was built for the former VC. He said he wanted to live on campus and then that was when the riot started. Then he scaled the fence and left. That was where I used as my residence as well as my office-four rooms. I would get up from my bedroom and then go to the office. We started building the place with little money. Sometimes I would stay up till 2am at the government house because we needed to plead with the governor and there would be other politicians needing other things. By the time it was our turn, he would call us in. Then Olusegun Agagu came. Then, they were giving us paltry sums of money like N200m out of that, maybe we would get N180m and we were expected to do something with that. I did my best.
If you had not been a Professor of English Language, what else do you think you would have become?
When I finished my Master’s degree and returned to the country, I wanted to become a civil servant. I applied to a ministry but they didn’t take me when they saw my qualifications. But I got into academics early in life and I liked it.
Did any of your children take after you?
No, not at all! I don’t know why. I’ve seen some of my friends who have some of their children teaching in the university. Two of my children studied engineering – one studied mechanical engineering and the other, electrical engineering. One studied economics. My daughter who I had thought would study English because she was good at the language didn’t let me know when she was filling her form. She put in for law and read law. And she’s not interested in university work. She had an MBA course in England, University of Hull. And she is into the family business. My wife started Yemyem Pharmacy and Stores at UNILAG and when she died in 2003, I supervised it for a while. Later, one of my sons decided to take over the running of the shop as its managing director. He has expanded it.
Losing your wife must have been tough for you, how did you handle the loss?
This is the 12th year of her death. My wife was very close to me and in fact, her death was as a result of her trip to Akungba to attend a function with me. We went to a function in Akungba where they had invited the two of us, so I invited her. Then she had to get back to Lagos. Then I got a car and a driver to drive her to Lagos. On the way, she had an accident, broke her waist and couldn’t move. She was in a hospital in Owo. She was tied to the bed because she could not move. She later died. She was a very strong support for me. We had our children and she was very supportive in training the children. She was a pharmacist and took care of the children while I kept doing academic work. She established the pharmacy business in UNILAG. She had a very good clientele, most people at UNILAG knew her, respected her, and enjoyed the things she did. Her shop was selling at about 15 per cent lower than what you would get in the market. She said it was not for profit but for philanthropic service. She supported me. But when she died, what do I do? It was very painful to me, so I decided never to remarry. So I’ve remained single since she died.
Why?
It’s because of the love I have for her. I can’t imagine transferring that to another person and forgetting her memory. It was a self sacrifice. A lot of people have spoken to me to get another woman but I said no and I think my children like it that way.
When you remember her now, what do you miss the most about her?
I miss her kindness and sense of self sacrifice. She made a lot of sacrifices for the family and other people. At her burial ceremony in UNILAG, the governor of Ondo State came and the whole university community rose to her burial because she had a great impact on them. I have now established two prizes at the College of Medicine in her honour for the best students.
How did you meet her?
It was when I came back from abroad after my Master’s programme. I used to have a girlfriend. We were together for about two months before I travelled abroad. But we were corresponding while I was abroad. I left her behind and went. By the time I came back, she had misbehaved. She was going out with a lecturer at that time but she told me that it was her classmate she was going out with and that when her father heard about it, he stopped the relationship. But what I discovered was that it was a lecturer she was going out with, a married man. So I told her parents that I was no longer interested in marrying their daughter. I had a good car then and I was driving around the campus. One night, I took four girls to UI from Ife to watch a play. I started dropping them in the halls of residence where they wanted to see their friends, but one of them said she wanted to watch the play. So we went and watched the play because she requested I take her back to the campus after the play. I said no problem, just come to my car. At the end of the play, the others didn’t come; they had stayed with their friends. She was the only one that came and then there was a cousin of mine who approached me to take her girlfriend back to campus. So I agreed to take her along. So my late wife was sitting in front with me and then I asked her why she didn’t stay with her boyfriend in UI, she said if she wanted to stay, she would have gone home to stay with her mother. Her mother was a nursing sister in UI and so stayed on the campus. She said she didn’t tell her mother she was going to stay the night, so she was returning to Ife. So I said what about your boyfriend, she said she didn’t have. Then I asked if I could see her later, she said okay. And we got married after she graduated.
When do you plan to retire or is it that professors don’t retire?
Well, I don’t count the number of years I’ve spent outside the university. I count the number of years I spend inside the university. This is my 46th year in the university and having made the age of 75, I’m retiring at the end of this session.
What will you miss the most about university system?
The fact that you are training young minds even though the ones we are training these days are not the ones that inspire you. It’s still good that you are able to impact knowledge to the younger generation. I’ve had very good commendations from my former students.
What made you feel now is the time to retire?
I retired at 65 years, then the government increased the retirement age to 70 and at UNILAG, once you reach 70 years, you can’t get anything there again. But I was lucky to get a private university after then. Now at age of 75, I feel it’s a good time to retire. Then of course the distance between here and Ede (where RUN is located) is much. I have to go the three hours journey every Monday and it’s telling on me. Although I have a driver, it’s not easy. For four years, I was pro-chancellor and chairman of Council of Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa. My four-year tenure ended last year. I have had a very good experience.
Would you say you have had a fulfilling life?
Yes, I have. I was VC; and I was professor before that. I was pro-chancellor and chairman of council to direct the building of a new university of science and technology in Okitipupa. Although the governors don’t have enough money to run the place now, we did a very good work there. I’m happy I did that for my state as well. I was a VC in my state and also became pro-chancellor and chairman of council. And my activities in RUN have been productive.
Do you still go to Igbobini, where you come from?
Yes I go there; I am a chief in Igbobini. I’m the Balogun of Igbobini and I have a house there. I built it beside my father’s house. I’ve been a chief since 1992.
So after you retire, what next?
Sit down at home, sleep and wake up. I think I will have a lot to do. There are books to write, although it is not going to be a paying job because students don’t buy books anymore. After I’ve rested for some time, I can open a website and begin to get some consultancy jobs, just to get busy. If there are public lectures, I will have time to prepare for them.
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