UNESCO Fears War

By

Mercy Ette

Monday, May 31, 2004

The fear of mathematics was the beginning of achievement of Michael Omolewa, professor of adult education, ambassador and permanent delegate of Nigeria to UNESCO. While he could not figure out anything in mathematics apart from simultaneous equation, everything historic made sense to him. He chose to study history, but when he could not get a job in his chosen area and was offered an opportunity to teach history of adult education, he accepted.

Omolewa was appointed assistant lecturer at the University of Ibadan in 1971. It was the first step in a long but steady walk to fame, international recognition and personal fulfillment. He is, perhaps, best known for his pioneering work in adult education, especially for his emphasis on integrated intervention in villages around University of Ibandan.

In 1999 Omolewa was elected a member of the executive board of UNESCO and in January 2002, he was appointed permanent delegate of Nigeria to the organisation. On September 29, he was elected president of the general conference, the highest decision-making body of UNESCO. He is the first Nigerian to occupy that office.

For a historian, Omolewa is reluctant to tell his story, but he finally granted Mercy Ette an interview in his office in Paris during which he talked about the challenges of his new position. Excerpts:

Newswatch: What motivates you?

Omolewa: I discovered when I was in secondary school that I was not as privilege as I thought. I didn't have a pair of trousers until I was in form four while some of my mates were changing theirs even in form two. I wanted to be like them by working harder. I read longer, stayed up late because I wanted to make up for what I lacked. That explains my tenacity. Through God's grace and pursuit of excellence, I believed that I would see the light at the end of the tunnel. That has continued till today. When I want something, I work hard for it. I have always wanted to move on.

Newswatch: As a child what was your wildest dream?

Omolewa: I just wanted some comfort. I was tired of taking garri in the morning and eba in the evening. I wanted to have some milk in my garri. I wanted to have a bicycle and possibly one day, a car so that I could tell a petrol station assistant to 'fill it up.' But I never thought of so many things that have happened to me. When I went to Britain and heard some lectures on the French Revolution, especially those by Professor Douglas Johnson, I said, 'wao', I would love to teach history that way and to do that I had to excel, to know more than my students so that I could speak authoritatively. I then aspired to write books so I could refer my students to my books. As I moved along, new goals began to emerge. And then the Almighty God came into my life and began to give me new visions for service and self fulfillment.

Newswatch: When was the turning point in your relationship with God?

Omolewa: When I failed my Ph.D. examination. I failed because the three external examiners said that all I had done in Europe for four years was a waste of time and did not deserve a Ph.D. So, I found that four years of my life could have been wasted. I had been in Britain, France and Germany and had good reports all along and thought I was doing very well until they said it was not a good thesis and failed me.

When I got the news I went to a church to pray. The message that day was 'Don't give up, it is not the end.' It touched me. In 1973, I retook the exam and on July 12, I was awarded the Ph.D. On the same day, I was promoted lecturer 2 and a few days later, my head of department asked me to submit my CV for consideration as lecturer I and I was promoted to that level within weeks of becoming lecturer 2. Mine was the fastest promotion in the department. I think it was God's intervention and that motivated me to seek Him more.

Newswatch: You have been president of UNESCO general conference for five months. How would you describe your experience so far?

Omolewa: Five works. Challenging, very challenging in the sense that many things I never expected are coming up. Productive, very productive in the sense that there are a number of accomplishments that were beyond my wildest imagination, the kind of cooperation I have received; fruitful, very fruitful in the sense that the lord had used me during this period to solve some specific problems, to bring people together, to draw attention to things that could be addressed before they exploded; satisfying, very satisfying in the sense that God has used this period to make me meet presidents of countries at a personal level, to make friends with ministers all over the world, to establish links and contacts. All these bring satisfaction and finally frightening in the sense that the work is enormous and the road is still long. I sometimes ask myself, how effective has been my intervention? How efficient? How compelling has my engagement been in resolving the basic problems of UNESCO and what are the promises and expectations that I will be called upon to deliver during my term?

Newswatch: What has been the most shocking experience?

Omolewa: The first thing I discovered was that not everyone wants me to succeed. Some people have to accept me as president. Don't forget that I have been here for only four years, so I am relatively new in UNESCO and then I am from a developing countries and our contribution is very small compared to the rich countries. And then there are other constraints and limits to my performance. My knowledge base is not profound and therefore there are people who resent and resist my position but I believe that God has put me here and that He will see me through. I am going on as if I don't see the opposition and I am not confrontational but prayerful because the bible says that if a man's way pleases the Lord He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. So instead of challenging and telling them (his critics) off, I am quietly praying and I have seen results. Some of the people who were initially hostile have changed their attitude.

Newswatch: What does your election mean to Africa?

Omolewa: It means Africa expects returns for investing in Nigeria and me. The questions are, how will my position assist in developing Africa in the areas of UNESCO's mandate? Will more schools be built? More teachers trained? More cultural sites recognised by UNESCO? Will there be conferences held in Africa? What about ICTs? Will there be greater access and awareness of the value of ICTs in a global world. What about the volume of money spent by the organisation? Will it increase because of me? What about recruitment? Will more Africans be recruited to UNESCO? Will I be able to influence and plead with various people to give jobs to Africans? What about negotiations? Will I be able to make a difference? That is why I am at most meetings. I am trying as much as possible to show Africa that I represent the continent. I want to make it clear that I share the concerns of African countries but I want people to also remember that I have limits and that I am just an individual.

Newswatch: Does Nigeria stand to gain for lending you to the general conference?

Omolewa: If Africa gains, Nigeria gains.

Newswatch: But can Nigeria expect more after 'the soup has been shared out'?

Omolewa: I think that some people will naturally tend to favour Nigeria if only to say thank you for the job you are doing.

Newswatch: Is Nigeria benefiting in any special way?

Omolewa: I can't answer that question. I think the minister of education who is also the president of the national commission for UNESCO and President Obasanjo will be able to answer. From the type of cooperation I am receiving from my minister, the confidence he has shown in me and the freedom he gives me to navigate this ocean of UNESCO and from the type of support that I know I have from Obasanjo, as expressed in the message he sent on my election, I really believe that Nigeria is happy to loan me to UNESCO.

Newswatch: To take up some of the issues that are dominating the discussions in UNESCO, could you explain what the debate on dialogue among civilization is all about?

Omolewa: UNESCO has always encouraged dialogue. In fact, it is a major thrust of its work but after September 11, there was a lot of conflict and confusion on the definition of terrorism so a resolution was adopted during the 31st session of the general conference and during the 32nd session which I presided over, there was a resolution in the name of the president of the general conference for dialogue among civilisation. Basically, this is to move forward the dialogue that had been started by UNESCO. It is to encourage the encounter between conflicting and diverse interest groups, to harmonise, to reconcile, to make people who do not share common views or common beliefs to come together for dialogue. It is dialogue between the East and the West, between the North and the South, dialogue among civilisation, cultures and religions. We have encouraged this dialogue in many places, in Gabon among the countries of central Africa that have been at war. We were recently in Yemen. I have been to Iran for that same purpose and very soon I am likely to be in Vietnam and in other places where this dialogue is being promoted. It has come at a good time for me, during the time that the Lord has made me president of the general conference and it is just like He is saying to me, "you can make a contribution towards the promotion of dialogue."

Newswatch: What do you hope to achieve at the end of your term?

Omolewa: I would like, as the resolution states, the implementation of that resolution 47 and to see the dialogue extended not only to the leaders who are now talking to one another but also to the followers, the parliamentarians, students, teachers and to all the fields of UNESCO's mandate - education, dialogue among principals and heads of school, in science, dialogue among experts and the public, dialogue among researchers, culture, dialogue among religions, among traditionalists, in communication, information, dialogue everywhere and when that is done, you could really say that the expectations of the 32nd session have been met.

Newswatch: What is the biggest obstacle to the realisation of that goal?

There are two major obstacles. First, dialogue involves the participation by at least two sets of people, one speaker and one listener. What I have been experiencing is that there are two speakers and there is no listener. As Professor Wole Soyinka put it, you cannot talk to the deaf. These people are not deaf but they have closed their ears. The second problem is tht some people have already formed their opinion and though they listen, they are not processing what they are hearing and so there is no real engagement in the dialogue. Dialogue also means that the two talking are on equal grounds but there is little equality of ground. There are the very rich and there are the very poor. The rich expect the poor to listen so dialogue is not possible. There are the very politically strong and the very politically weak; there are other problems like attitude to women, to some ethnic groups, to some religions. The environment for dialogue has not really been established and I think that is a key obstacle.

Newswatch: Religion is a key obstacle. How do you, an evangelical Pentecostal Christian deal with religious differences?

Omolewa: The first thing is to tolerate the religion of other people, I went to a dialogue recently where someone stood up and said, "I am the only one who has access to God." Others also made similar claims. I believe there is a need for patience and tolerance. In UNESCO there is diversity and this has to be respected and accommodated. In 1991 I attended the Haggai Institute in Singapore. It is a Christian leadership training programme. We were told to expose our faith and belief to another person. If the person takes it on, ok, but if the person does not we have no right to compel that person and we do not have to burn down the person's home because we can only do our bit and leave the rest to God.

Newswatch: If dialogue among civilisation were to be achieved, it would take away the impetus for war but we are often told that to have peace we must prepare for war

Omolewa: UNESCO is afraid of war. It is anti-war. In fact, it was established to discourage war and to establish peace in the minds of men, to avoid the disaster of the Second World War. UNESCO is not inclined in anyway to war and the dialogue is a step to prevent war.

Newswatch: Dialogue acknowledges the right of the other to be different and that links up with cultural diversity, another major programme of UNESCO. How is that influenced by the dialogue?

Omolewa: Culture is different especially if you take religion as much as possible from it, then you can see culture in terms of the practices of he people, the way they dance, sing and wear their clothes. People are more tolerant of that than religion because they can enjoy watching other people dance differently. They enjoy listening to a song they do not understand but is rhythmical and musical. They like listening to other languages although there is arrogance among some people that their language is superior and their way of life is better. That has made some people to become more assertive and proud of their own cultural values and practices and to make it as competitive as the other as possible.

Newswatch: Talking about diversity of languages, there has been a lot of debate about the use of mother tongues in education. Is that not a paradox - promoting the local in a global context?

Omolewa: Research has shown that children who learn in their mother tongues develop sufficient confidence and aptitude to excel and perform better than those who are compelled to learn in a foreign language. The mother tongues facilitates creativity. It helps children to relate to their setting and environment and to acquire skills for survival in this global village. It does not preclude access to other languages.

Newswatch: Can diversity become a unifying force?

Omolewa: UNESCO is putting together programmes to help people to learn to live together by respecting cultural diversity and differences. Tolerance and understanding are important. Some people use their left hand to make presentation and that is not acceptable in some cultures but when you understand that the left hand is used to convey good luck, it makes sense. Respect is therefore very important. UNESCO is also working on a convention on cultural diversity. Many countries are already championing it and the organisation has taken it on board and is preparing the instrument for a convention.

Newswatch: You are an adult education specialist an known for your interest in integrated intervention. Why did you adopt that approach for your work?

Omolewa: People talk of the three "R" - reading, writing and 'rithmetic. I was taught the principles of the three three H - head, heart and hands. It made sense to me because you can use your head to study a subject, your heart to love and appreciate it and your hand to get the skills and a vocation. Integrated approach came easily to me. Once you adopt that approach in a local community you strengthen and empower the people and they can cultivate some confidence and community spirit. When they learn to read and write, they can develop marketable skills and can improve the quality of their life and fend for their families. They will be able to raise their heads even in their rural environment. I was able to carry out this work with the intervention of the International Foundation for Education and Self Help, IFESH, whose leader, the late Reverend Leon Sullivan, was a specialist in integrated approach and the support of IFESH, which came miraculously was very effective and helpful. I was able to sell the ideas to other organsiations.

Newswatch: You do not believe in failure where adult learners are concerned and prefer to give only two grades, A and B. What is the reasoning behind this?

My department as you know won a UNESCO prize for our work. We had a class of adult learners and to motivate them, we decided that everyone would pass before they even enrolled. The idea of failure is intimidating and people in rural communities resent failure. It can frustrate and discourage them but if you are able to keep them and motivate them, you can get the best out of them. We told our adults learners that they could pass and when they did not we gave them certificate B and told them they needed to study for certificate A. In actual fact, they were repeating the class. In most of the villages the women performed better than the men and got their certificate A while their husbands got the B but they graduated together. Interestingly, those who got the certificate B danced and celebrated more than those who got A. We then asked those who passed to assist the others to pass. Our graduation ceremonies were memorable and there was no stigma of failure as everyone had a certificate.

Newswatch: Tell me about UNIVA, the project tht won the UNESCO prize

Omolewa: It was a consummation of the relationship between the university and local communities. It was the coordination and systemisation of what was already in practice. Those of us in the university used to go to the villages to teach and learn. It was a teaching- learning collaborative process so we decided to form an association, UNIVA. That is the university and the village in an association of learning and teaching. We ran literacy courses, income generating programmes, primary healthcare projects and civic education with the support of many organisations. In 1999, we won the UNESCO prize for our integrated development programme.

Newswatch: How would you describe yourself?

Omolewa: I see myself as a cosmopolitan, detribalised world citizen at home everywhere.

Ette, Ph.D. a former editor of Newswatch, teaches in a British university. She conducted this special interview for Newswatch.