The week-long activities for the 60th birthday celebrations of Dr Femi Adedina, a theatre arts teacher and Deputy Provost, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Oto/Ijanikin, climaxed penultimate Saturday with a thanksgiving service and reception. The events were attended by the celebrator’s students, relatives, colleagues and friends, ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA reports.
Dr Femi Adedina, who turned 60 recently, is a maverick. It was no surprise that he launched seven books as part of activities celebrating his birthday. And that is synonymous with Adedina’s personality.
The week-long event featured lecture, poetry rendition, interactive session with the celebrant and a command performance, among others.
The first day featured a birthday lecture titled: The current global aspiration for education in the 21st century: What change has Nigeria? by Prof Ayodeji Peter Agbonjimi, a professor of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Law, Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo.
Tuesday book launch attracted a legion of Adedina’s contemporaries, and those who for years, fed from his fountain of wisdom, to shower encomiums on a man regarded as a father, a thespian, a dramatist, a poet, a communicator, a playwright, a humanist and an administrator par excellence.
The books are Mama’s Tales of Love, Time and Tide, The Communicaque and Highway to Nothing.
Other are Notes of a Migrant (A memoir) and Learn to Communicate Volume I and II.
Renowned playwright and satirist Prof Femi Osofisan said he is a father to the Adedinas. “Femi is like a son to me,” Osofisan began with a smile.
“For the past 20 years, we’ve been quite close. He has shared his moments of joy and challenges with me and I was very glad to be an adviser. To make things more complicated, his wife is one of my adopted daughters right from her school days,” he added.s
Osofisan urged Adedina not to rest on his oars, but use his birthday to project greater exploits in his field.
“You are not fulfilled yet!” Osofisan said, jokingly teasing the celebrant. “Until death, nobody has paid his dues (in Theatre) except you are lazy. Even after you may have produced a masterpiece, you still keep working. Femi has done a lot but I expect him to still do more so as to aspire to greater heights.”
Dr Henry Hunjo Department of English, Lagos State University (LASU), also likened his former teacher to a person who reveals his greatness through humility.
“Adedina is a great man whose greatness is found in his friendliness, and principled stance. He is a man of everybody. He taught me at undergraduate level and ever since we have been brothers. He is an all-round teacher- a teacher both in the classroom and on the street. In the school of life, he remains a personal teacher to me. Everything about him teaches you something about life.
Mercy Olowoyeye, former student of the celebrant, who was also the President of Theatre Arts Students Association (TASA) of AOCOED, recalled fond memories of her former teacher’s ‘iron hand’.
‘’He drained us,” Olowoyeye said, ‘’with a blend of laughter and frowning.
“He is a disciplinarian who does not tolerate excuses because he’s a workaholic and he does not give us time to play. In my time, I was the president of ATAS and I also led groups in different courses. Dr Adedina would tell us there is no room for failure and whatever it would cost us, the purpose of that task must be achieved. He encouraged us both financially and morally as members of TASA. He combined the role of a father and teacher together,” Olowoyeye recalled.
But while many seem to deride him for his no-nonsense posture, the celebrant’s better half Bunmi said virtue ‘lured’ her to him. “He is a disciplinarian and I know I can’t change that. I have come to know him as a strong and steadfast person; and that aspect attracted me to him. I feel happy and fulfilled because of his achievements,” Bunmi added.
She continued: “He stands for what is good and upright. He never compromises. At work, he wears an iron mask. He is not a different person at home except that people think he doesn’t smile or not jovial (laughs); but he is humorous and entertains the children at home.” A fellow teacher at Theatre Arts Department, Mr. Bimbo Adeniyi said the likes of him and others were endeared to the celebrator because of his willingness to share knowledge with others.
“Some of us look up to him as a role model and try to be like him. He goes to any length once it comes to academics. The interesting thing about him is that he does not do this alone, but tries to mentor other scholars too. He doesn’t care who you are as long as you are a committed scholar; and this is what has brought us together. I’m happy he has made his mark in his discipline,” he said.
Agbonjimi recalled that the duo’s path once crossed in 1988 when he relocated from Oregun to Ijanikin shortly after he joined the Lagos State University (LASU) as a lecturer.
“What is the electromagnetic bond between Femi and I? The answer is just one word – books,” Agbonjimi said.
“We can be described as bibliophiliac because we would first buy books before we buy food, if money is left. The last time we met at the bookshop, Femi bought a book for me on law and economics.
AOCOED Governing Council Chairman Prof Tunde Samuel said he fell in love with the celebrator because of his consistency. “Dr. Femi Adedina is one of the brilliant brains in Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education.
AOCOED is so blessed with many intellectuals, including him. That was what attracted me to him. He is very bold and brilliant. He would say things the way they are, no matter whose ox is gored,” said the professor of Educational Economics.
The celebrator said some of the books were written long ago without being published, another had its title changed, while two others had their version revised.
“I wrote The Communicaque during the (Sanni) Abacha’s administration and it nearly put me in trouble. Going through it now, I realised all that I put in the book are still happening.”
Adedina, who likened Nigeria to a ‘living fiction’, added that her narrative generally provides ample inspiration for writers.
On the choice of the books at a time, Adedina said: “I’m an iconoclast. I don’t do things that others do. I was initially working towards producing 10 books, one for every year that I have lived. But financial factor, logistics and time frame could not make that feasible; yet I wanted to publish something of standard. So, publishing seven books at a time is like telling the people – “here is a writer’.
