Professor Saida Mabadeje is the first PhD holder produced by the University College, Ibadan before the name changed to University of Ibadan. Married to another professor, she speaks with ADEOLA BALOGUN and AYODELE ALE about her marriage and career
You went into the university at a time you could work with an O’ level certificate and be comfortable, yet you went in pursuit of a doctorate degree. What was the motivation?
I did well in the degree exam and my professor, the late Prof Eni Njoku, invited those of us who did well to come back. There were seven of us in the class. Three of us had the same class, and all three of us went on to do PhD in various places. He asked me to come back to the University College, Ibadan. The other ones went to other places but I stayed behind. I was actually a member of staff of the then Federal Department of Agricultural Research at Moore Plantation in Ibadan, and the Director of Agric Research, my professor and I worked out a schedule. As I was doing my PhD, I was also a Federal Government employee.
Were you working before you went to the university?
No. I left Queens’ College in March, 1955, having taken the overseas Cambridge School Certificate in 1954. But I was asked to stay on at Queens to do the entrance examination to the University College, because I was considered a brilliant student. I made distinctions in all my subjects, so it was assumed that I would go to the university. I stayed for a term at Queens, then I went to work at Federal Surveys at the Tafawa Balewa Square. I worked in the drawing office as a draughtsman for six months and then went to the University College. I worked in the same department during long vacations.
And you sought employment immediately after your degree exam?
You see, you didn’t have to seek employment at the time I graduated; people actually sought you out. Going to the university then was an entirely different experience from what you people must have gone through. Car dealers would virtually chase you with brochures with salesmen all over the place. You would apply, but by the time you got your degree, you had a very good idea of where you were going to work. I was in the sciences. I read Botany and Agric Research was a natural place for me to work.
Why didn’t you go for Medicine instead of botany, as a very brilliant science student?
Let me just say something: it is not everybody that is considered brilliant that would read Medicine. Besides, maybe it was mere providence. If I had done Medicine, we probably would not be having this interview. I would have been somebody else. I don’t think I dreamt of being a doctor. I wanted to read science, that is all. The principal of my school, who died in a plane crash in 1955, was really my friend and she was a scientist. She was very fond of me. I liked her and she kind of inspired me. She was the one that said I should go to the university, even though we did not really discuss what to do in the university, unlike nowadays.
How was it like to be a girl in the university at that time? I am sure you were not many.
We were very few. There were only five females admitted the year that I entered the University College out of a total of 133 students. I was the only one admitted for science. I think another person came through direct entry to read Medicine.
How was it then to be one of the few female students in the midst of men?
It was fun. You know, that was the age of gallantry. Most of the men were very protective. You had a few nasty ones, I must confess, who were out to torment you. But majority of the boys really would protect you. The thought of being tormented never bothered me, because I am not easily intimidated by men. I grew up with a lot of male cousins. We were studying, going to school together. Actually, in my Chemistry class, I was the only female student.
I am sure that men would swarm around you like bees.
Of course, yes. But they kind of wanted to treat you more or less like a sister or a colleague most of the time. I remember there was an incident. I had a bleeding in the nose at the practical class, and I didn’t know what caused it. The lecturer said that somebody must get ice block quickly to put behind my neck to stop the bleeding. I was almost frozen to death because almost everybody got ice block to put on my neck. That was the kind of care I got. It was fun. Nevertheless, there was some nastiness now and again. Some of them were wondering why you should be there. But most of the time, I was just one of them.
How was it like to be in the university at that time?
If I told you what obtained, you would wish you were one of us. Start with food; we were given three nutritious meals a day, seven days a week. At the time that I was there, every student had a room to themselves. I had a room with a balcony at the back where I had my potted plants. I was looking after the plants as a botany student. The university got our cloths laundered; ten items per week per student. Our rooms were swept by university employees. If you didn’t want anybody to come to your room to sweep it, you display a ‘do-not-disturb’ sign at your door, and nobody would knock on your door. It was real fun. Everybody knew virtually everybody. The girls were few, and being few made us behave well, because any misbehaviour would be known by the whole university and nobody wanted that to happen to them.
What kind of background did you have?
When I was young, if I was trying to run away from household chores, my mother would tell me that when civilisation was scarcely here, her father sent her to school. As a matter of fact, my mother was a product of the Methodist Girls High School. My father too was a product of Methodist High School and Kings College, Lagos. So, my parents were educated and I started school pretty young. I did well in school. I went to Queens College, which was the best school then. Nobody would argue about that. From there, I went to the university, and my professor, Eni Njoku, was a good man who wanted progress for us. I was also a college scholar.
How was your experience with the Federal Agric Research?
I spent five years with that organisation, three of which I spent at the university doing my PhD. I had a car from day one, and there was this girl around; a postgraduate student cruising about in her (Volkswagen) Beetle. When I finished my PhD in 1963, I went back and I was living at the Moore Plantation. I got married and I spent two years more because my bond with the place, being a federal scholar, was five years. So, I was promoted to senior research officer and I stayed till 1965 when I moved to the University of Lagos as a lecturer.
How did you feel the day you bagged your PhD?
It was very exciting. I was elated. More so because my father was alive and he was actually in the hall where the ceremony took place. It excited a lot of Nigerians as well. Then the late Alhaji Babatunde Jose was the editor of a newspaper, and he told one of his reporters that he must get me for an interview. Everybody came asking me questions. I was really excited. That year, the Business and Professional Women Association gave me an award as the Woman of the Year. It was a silver bowl which I had to keep for some time.
How was it to be referred to as Dr at that time, particularly as a spinster? Were you not bothered that your status could intimidate would-be suitors?
I finished all my education before I got married. Some people said so, but then, by that time, my husband and I had started dating. He was in the medical school in the same university. Really, who I was going to marry was already in the picture, so there was no question of intimidating men as such.
You were probably motivated to go for a PhD with the knowledge that you were going to marry a doctor?
No, he was not a doctor by the time I started PhD. I got my Bsc in 1960 and by the time I started my PhD, he was yet to become a full doctor, even though the prospect of becoming one was there by the grace of God.
How did you meet your husband?
If you asked him, his account of how we met would be different from mine. He knew of me before I knew him. When my school certificate result came out in April 1955, he was at the Government College Ibadan. I never knew him, he never met me. But you see, the news was everywhere of a certain girl who made ‘A’ in all her subjects. I believe he must have been curious to know the person. He knew of my existence ever before we met. When I went to the University College, Ibadan, he was doing his HSC at Government College, Ibadan, and there was a conference of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria, of which I was a foundation member. I met him then and he said, ‘Oh, why don’t you come and stay at the Government College, Ibadan?’ I said no, I would stay at the University College. The delegates stayed around GCI, but I stayed in my room and I went to the conference everyday from the university. At that conference, I met him because he was pretty active. But that was all. It was when he came to the University College in 1958 to do his pre-medicals that we started dating somehow. He is from Ijebu Ode and I am from Lagos Island. He was born, bred and raised in Ijebu Ode and went to school in Ibadan. I was born, bred and went to school in Lagos. I only had to go to the university in Ibadan because that was the only university around then.
When you realised that he was not from Lagos, didn’t you have some misgivings?
My misgivings were that I didn’t know his background and I was not keen on marrying a doctor. So it took a long time for him to convince me. He is a very persistent person, and through our interaction in the university, I got to know that he is God-fearing, he is a person of high integrity, absolutely trustworthy and extremely dependable. With time, he wore out my resistance and so, here we are.
So, there was no objection to your relationship even from your parents?
Well, my parents did not object. My father was the most important person in my life, and he had no objection. Actually, my father used to periodically visit me when I was in the university. He would come from Lagos. I was doing my postgraduate when we became friends and my father had come to visit. They met in my room and they hit it off straight away. My father liked him, he liked my father, so there was no objection. But one of my relations said, ‘You mean you looked all over Lagos, you didn’t see anybody to marry and you had to go to Ijebu to get a husband?’ I just laughed.
How does it feel to have two professors in the house?
Academics does not come in here at all. We live a normal life, just like any husband and wife with their children, even though there could be some profound discussions.
So, being a professor does not affect your roles as a wife?
Certainly no. You see, the home that I come from would not even have allowed me to do so. I told you, my parents were educated. Let me tell you something that my mother used to tell me. My paternal grandmother was a big merchant, and she died long before I was born. But my mother told me that in spite of her being a wealthy person, she didn’t allow it to go to her head.
Can you share one of your low moments with us?
My lowest moment was the day my father died. He died young; at age 56. I was much closer to him than I was to my mother. He died very young and that was the unhappiest day of my life. He died in 1965. When I became a professor, he was already gone. I felt happy that I made it, but unhappy that he was not there again just as he was when I got my PhD.
Were you the only child of your father?
No. My father had 10 children and I was number four. He was a polygamist. My father was Mukhtar Anibaba. My mother was Ayesha Asabi Ogundiran. Really, the person that I respected most in life was my father.
How have you been spending your retirement?
I do a lot of things. I just indulge in my hobbies. I have many grandchildren who come to spend time with me. During the holidays, I take off and spend time with those who are not in the country. I started school very early, and by the time I retired at age 65, I had put about 47 years into academics. I started school at a little over four, and I was connected with books until I was 65. I just felt I should take a break. I still read, but I don’t do serious academic work. I have three hobbies: reading, gardening and dress making, and I still indulge in all of them. Of course, I swim. I make all my dresses. I started taking interest in dress making when I was still in secondary school. When I was in primary school, two of my uncle’s wives were seamstresses, and I would kind of stay with them when they were making dresses. But when I went to Queens College, there was a white lady who taught us dress making. I took it very seriously and that was it. Because of this, I have been making my dresses. I don’t have a single tailor anywhere. I don’t give my cloth to anybody to sew. I made dresses for my children when they were growing up, and I made for myself. I don’t patronise tailors. I don’t know how much they charge. I have three sewing machines, and my daughter left her own when she was travelling. My three daughters sewed. In fact, one of them sewed very well.
How did you raise your children?
I have four of them; three girls and a boy. All the three girls are doctors. They all attended the same school that I attended. They are products of Queens College. The boy attended King’s College. He is an engineer. All my children have postgraduate training. To my children, I believe that I passed on the value that I cherish–the fear of God, being a person of high integrity, being trustworthy and honest, doing unto others what you would want to be done unto you, and trying to be a very good citizen.
The three girls are doctors, probably so because of their father’s influence...
No, the first one adores her father. Till tomorrow, he still calls her darling. So, it is the two of us that are competing for that. She really wanted to be a doctor like her father. The middle girl, I tried so hard to divert her to Law, she said no, she wanted to be a doctor. The last one, oh, I tried very hard, I even tried to tell her that a doctor’s life could be hard, more so because she was a girl. She insisted that she wanted to become a doctor. And by the special grace of God, she is a doctor.
No comments:
Post a Comment