It was a different era. The Village Headmaster was for a different era. But even that is up in the air. Is Ọ̀jà village, where everybody is a stranger, situated on a no man’s land of the past, present or the future? Is Ọlọ́jà of Ọ̀jà of the past, present or the future? Does Bassey Okon belong to the past or present? Does Àmẹ̀bọ belong to now or then? What do we make of Chief Odunuga, the sole kingmaker, and his overbearing influence on Ọlọ́ja? Is he of the past, the present or the future?
I was combing through the stretch of books on the shelf last week in search of a particular book, when I caught sight of the slim title, The Village Headmaster by Ṣẹ́gun Olúṣọlá. I pulled it out. ‘Long time’, I found myself saying, knowing I had not set eyes on the book in a looonnng time. I could not even imagine how long until I opened it and realised it was autographed by Chief in 1996. Over 25 years ago. How time flies! I was as shocked upon realisation that it will soon be ten years since the Village Headmaster himself, Ṣẹ́gun Olúṣọlá, passed on.
The book brought back a bit, in terms of memory about the man, the giants past, the TV series of the same title and how times have changed between our recent past and now. Thinking about it now, I wonder what might have been if we had not lost course; what ‘The Village Headmaster’ might have made of today and the zazuing, zeing, yahooing, killing and the upscaling of the phenomenon of iṣé kékeré, owó ńlá to that of ‘if you no get money, hide your face’. I wonder if we would have been here if we had kept to the narrow gauge and not give up on ours, from that from abroad. I wonder about globalisation and how that might have helped the slide into nothingness, with souls frozen in desperate pursuit of the material.
Chief Ṣẹ́gun Olúṣọlá belonged to a completely different generation, in terms of values and outlook on life. Even among those of his generation, he stood out for a number of reasons, even as we agree that it was a bit easier to stand out then and get by, while placing greater value on culture and community than power and money. We live in different times now. No matter how accomplished you are in your field, you are not deemed a success until you have been so certified by virtue of one political position or the other. We live in an age in which a professor or journalist, who had risen through the ranks to the top, is only deemed ‘made’ by appointment into a position of public service.
It was a different era. The Village Headmaster was for a different era. But even that is up in the air. Is Ọ̀jà village, where everybody is a stranger, situated on a no man’s land of the past, present or the future? Is Ọlọ́jà of Ọ̀jà of the past, present or the future? Does Bassey Okon belong to the past or present? Does Àmẹ̀bọ belong to now or then? What do we make of Chief Odunuga, the sole kingmaker, and his overbearing influence on Ọlọ́ja? Is he of the past, the present or the future?
Chief Ṣẹ́gun Olúṣọlá was a truly wonderful man, who was also very accommodating and incredibly generous. After his years in broadcasting (he was the first Nigerian TV producer), he was appointed as Nigeria’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, where he distinguished himself. He retired to set up the African Refugees Foundation (AREF), while equally serving as patron or board member of numerous charity organisations…
The Village Headmaster was written in 1964 as a half-hour series by Chief Olúṣọlá, building on his radio feature of 1958 of the same subject. He pitched the idea to his friend and boss, Dr Christopher Kolade, who bought into it, but production did not commence until 1968, shortly after Mr Sanya Dosunmu (now Olówu of Òwu) was engaged as a producer by the then NBC-TV. Chief Olúṣọlá handed over to him “the series description, the principal cast-list and a list of willing writers”. However, the script for the first episode, “Reception for an Alumnus” was written and produced by Mr Sanya Dosunmu.
I met Mr Dosunmu and got to relate with him over a period in the early ’90s, before he became an Ọba and his recollection of events leaned more towards not having received ‘enough’ recognition for his role on The Village Headmaster as much as he felt he deserved. But there was no dispute of the fact that the series was created by Chief Ṣẹ́gun Olúṣọlá. The original play, which was not produced, was published in book form in 1977.
The list of those involved in the early production of the series was quite a rich one. There were Fela Davies, Nelson Olawaiye, Alex Akinyele and Demola James as writers. Ted Mukoro, Elsie Olúṣọlá, Jab Adu, Jimmy Solanke, Albert Egbe, Rosaline Birch, Thompson Okorote, Comish Ekiye, Molara Marquis, and Yinka Oginni were actors in the first episode. And a long list of names was to be made over the years, with some of the notable names becoming kings in real life.
Such was the nature of the man. Selfless. Completely sold out on the good of all and that of the community. Such men are hard to come by. The “Village Headmaster” might have been written in 1964, but something tells me that the Ọ̀jà village of his imagination was not just of the past but of the future. Like the people of Ọ̀jà, we are all strangers in a no man’s land, afterall.
Chief Ṣẹ́gun Olúṣọlá was a truly wonderful man, who was also very accommodating and incredibly generous. After his years in broadcasting (he was the first Nigerian TV producer), he was appointed as Nigeria’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, where he distinguished himself. He retired to set up the African Refugees Foundation (AREF), while equally serving as patron or board member of numerous charity organisations at the same time.
He was the go-to daddy for many of us in the arts community. He would, without hesitation, offer himself – space, time and sometimes, money – to support all sorts of arts and charity-related initiatives. His home was open to all. He served as chairman of all our events, arriving on time, and holding the audience spellbound with his rich voice and command of English, just as he would flawlessly deliver in Yoruba. He was a pensioner and did not have money to throw around, but he gave much more than money. His name opened doors. That name he put to use for many, writing one recommendation letter or the other. When the Lagos State government gave out a portion of the Old State Secretariat to his organisation for use, he opened the doors of the space to other civil society organisations, turning the place into a hub where some of the NGOs and/or practitioners today found their feet.
Such was the nature of the man. Selfless. Completely sold out on the good of all and that of the community. Such men are hard to come by. The “Village Headmaster” might have been written in 1964, but something tells me that the Ọ̀jà village of his imagination was not just of the past but of the future. Like the people of Ọ̀jà, we are all strangers in a no man’s land, afterall. The Village Headmaster is about us rediscovering the fact that we have more in common than we assume. Hopefully, we will do so soon. We should be putting more into pulling together than pulling apart.
Simbo Olorunfemi works for Hoofbeatdotcom, a Nigerian Communications Consultancy and publisher of Africa Enterprise. Twitter: @simboolorunfemi
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