Vexsche World! : WHAT'S IN A NAME

Professor O.T Olateju walked into our class on this fateful day and after a few minutes into the class, out of the blues dropped a question on the entire class. He asked, What’s in a name? We were dumb founded. An enchantment like silence spell fell on the class for a few seconds. We were taking a course on Survey not philosophy or English so the questioned seemed irrelevant to us. After some time a few of us tried to answer his question and failed to please him so he turned it into an assignment, “term paper” (I think that was what he called it). We were expected to write a well written exposition on “what is in a name” to be submitted next class. We all laughed after the class and discussed the issue. We found it amusing.

I knew this exposition was not relevant to the class or engineering per say but I understood what he was doing. Education really encompasses Mathematics, science or any particular subject matter. Educationists i.e our lecturers and teachers are meant to inspire and stir the minds of their students and help them to be better humans. You should not only be concerned about giving an A or an F but you should also be able to help them to see life as a place they can thrive as noble humans .

I have always wanted to impress this brilliant man, he usually memorized the names of students who scored highest in his tests and I thought it would be nice for him to call my name once even though I had not scored highest in any of his tests yet. So I took my time and composed a brilliant essay on what’s in a name. (he did not call my name or anyone else) but I have a good feeling he read our essays, because he reads almost every ink mark on the papers on his table. I have often been amused about the way he read at his age. If you went into his office there is a good chance you will meet him reading. He never did acknowledge reading our essays but the message had been communicated with the simple asking of “What’s in a name?”in the middle of a survey class.

He knew a name was not just a combination of letters but what comes to your mind when you pronounce those letters together. I would therefore like to say what comes to my mind when I call the name Professor Olubayo Timothy Olateju.

A resilient mind . He often told us stories of him being the only black student in his classes in his University education abroad. One that stuck like an arrow driven through my heart was the one where his lecturer called him out during a class and acclaimed to the entire class that a black man had never passed his course. That could have been embarrassing for him and would easily have shaken any weak mind, but not his. He resolved that he would not only pass that course but have the highest grade in it, he did. (At a time where I figure racism was still very active). He even did better than that as he graduated his class as best not only in his department but his faculty, not only in his faculty but the entire school of architecture and engineering at his university. Yes, A black man with tribal marks came out tops.

A corrupt-free man. I remember him boasting to us in class about being commissioner in Ibadan two times and in those two(2) tenures he never embezzled any funds. He would fondly say “The records are there, you can check it”. He would always tell us that he might not be stinkingly wealthy but he was comfortable and had peace . That was enough for him.

A fair man. He also told us about how Buhari locked him up in prison for almost a year when Buhari was head of state in the military regime. He could not witness the first months in the life of one of his children because he was in prison. He was later released since no corrupt allegations were found to be justified. Nevertheless he still canvassed that we voted for Buhari in the last elections and later told us that he and his family went to vote for him because he believed he was the right man for the job. He would not let sentiment cloud his judgement.

An Hardworking man. His work ratio was too impressive. He took his time to go over every detail in any assignment submitted to him and I acknowledge it was inspiring. Even though he sometimes over stressed this quality, like the time he told us that if we fell sick it meant we were lazy ( I thought this hilarious). I understand he was only trying to inspire us. He often told us about how he was under control of his sleep like he had an internal alarm clock. If he wanted to sleep for 2 hours and work after, he would wake up exactly 2 hours later. That was cool.

A hustler. He told us about how he inspired himself early on in life to give his best and that was what saw him through life, he gave his best always. A man from a humble Nigerian home won a scholarship co-sponsored by the Governments of Nigeria and the United states and did his country proud by graduating as the best. He often told us that when he took a course he was only looking at 2 grades, an A or a B , Other grades were not even an option. That was inspiring and only comes from the mind of a struggler.

A believer . He also told us about how he was lured to stay overseas after his education there because of his capabilities, but told them “I am going home”. When we asked why he chose to come back after an enticing offer was placed on his table he said he knew he had to make his home better with his newly acquired skills. (Even if I secretly believe his wife might have been involved J ). He believed in Nigeria

A teacher in every sense of the word. “Baba” like we fondly called him always wanted you to prove to him that you understood a concept. It was not about a particular formula or a particular method with him. If you could show him in writing that you understand a problem supposed to be solved in numbers, he would still grade you based on his judgement of your understanding of the concept. I always looked forward to his examinations because you never knew where they were coming from. He once gave us an English write up to correct in an engineering examination because he felt our writing skills needed shaping. He understood the word education to a great extent.

I could go on and on and I’m sure you would wonder how I know so much about his life. It was because he shared, because he cared. He told us these stories in our Engineering classes , because he knew that for us to be exceptional engineers we primarily had to be wonderful human beings.

A brilliant mind, A family man, The man from New Jersey ( A select few would understand this joke). I would miss you and wish I still had the opportunity to have an A in one of your courses. I strived very hard in the last course you took me in, but I guess you felt I still deserved a B :) . Even though you may never have memorized my name for coming tops in your test or examination, I would always remember yours.