A Letter to My Former Students

[Obododimma Oha]

"Oga ticha" is writing to his former students (some of whom he met in Calabar, Ibadan, St Louis, Senegal, Windhoek, etc). They should note what these trembling fingers have put down for them in continuation of the search for the "way"! Peace be with you!

Click on this to read it:

https://obododimma.livejournal.com/11109.html

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Obododimma.

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B.A.,First Class Honours (English & Literary Studies);
M.A., Ph.D. (English Language);
M.Sc. (Legal, Criminological & Security Psychology);
Professor of Cultural Semiotics & Stylistics,
Department of English,
University of Ibadan.

COORDINATES:

Phone (Mobile):
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Skype: obododimma.oha
Twitter: @mmanwu
Personal Blog: http://udude.wordpress.com/

[Michael Afolayan]

"What is the difference between an armed robber that wants a household to surrender their meager earnings, and a colonial exploiter? So, when the armed robber leaves, you must remain lying face-down where he left you in the parlor? Is that not really stupid? You need to come out, at least, to greet sympathizers."(OO)

Beautiful, humorous and organic, yet, powerful and didactic. I love it!

===

You write so well, Obododimma! It's the reason I read everything you write, though I never responded to them. The use of humor, assorted tropes, Igbo cultural allusions, etc., keep your readers (me, especially) spellbound. In it all, you always have a serious line to deliver, sometimes a message, serious and deep.

I love this letter to your students. I appreciate your consistent connection with them. How many teachers ever think of their students beyond the classroom interactions? How many ever communicate with any of their past students two, three, five, ten, and even more years beyond graduating? Answer: Very few! Many don't know that teaching is priesthood, a divine calling that does not and cannot afford a casual, drive-by-and-wave kind of contact with members of their "Order,"those learners, the army they helped raise. Thanks for being a good teacher.

Out of curiosity, I think I missed the point you were trying to make in your admonition for them not to be afraid to "cross to another thing." Were you suggesting they should stop being in their current professions, pack and leave the country for a greener pasture in the Americas, Europe, etc., or move on if the wind is not blowing in their direction? 

I await your response, Prof.

Michael O. Afolayan

From the State of the Living Spring

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[Obododimma Oha]

Thank you, sir.

I would like them not to be like Unoka that is only a flutist. At least, he could have added farming or hunting to it. Uwa na-eme ntughari (life is subject to change), as we say in Igbo. Also, I would not want them to start watching the dangerous Nigerian masquerade from only one place. They should change location.

That also means that the oil-bean seed is not created to be rooted where its parent is enduring the shit of every bird. They should not mistake chauvinism for faithfulness. In fact, what faithfulness is greater than survival first? Any seed of the oilbean that does not think of survival first, good luck to it! If it does diminish, it may even perish. One of my former PhD students, Tope, came back recently from the US where he was on Fulbright and informed me. I told him the Fulbright was a "bus stop," that he should not wait to be marooned. He understood.

Yes. I want them to move in order to improve. Survival is not the same thing as chauvinism!

Thanks.

Obododimma.

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