Professor Babatunji Abayomi Omotara retired from the College of Medicine, University of Maiduguri, after 40 years of service. In this interview he explained why he did not take up a job in the United States, where he obtained a PhD but preferred to work in Nigeria. He also spoke on other interesting issues.
Tell us about your early life
I was born in Ado-Ekiti on September 22, 1951, to Chief Adeleke Omotara and Chief (Mrs) Rebecca Olabisi Omotara of Oloriogbon compound, Igbajo, Boluwanduro Local Government Area, Osun State. I grew up in many places because my father was a Baptist school headmaster, who was transferred from one place to another. From Ado-Ekiti, we were transferred to Ijebu-Ode, and later, Ijagbo.
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My father changed profession and became an auditor with the Cooperative Society of Nigeria and we moved to Cooperative College, Ibadan from Ijagbo.
When my father became a certified auditor, we were transferred back to Ado-Ekiti, and thereafter, Akure. We returned to Ibadan, where I started my primary education at the United Brothers Primary School in January, 1958. I had wanted to start school earlier, but my father said I must reach six years of age, being a teacher himself. My mother was also a teacher; and before I started schooling, I knew how to write alphabets and numbers, so I fitted in very well and was in the first five positions. In 1959, my father was transferred to Auchi. We joined him in 1960, and in 1961 when my father was preparing to go to England, we moved to my village, Igbajo, where I completed my primary school in 1963. I was a health prefect while in primary school.
I started secondary education at Baptist High School, Iwo, in January 1964, but I did not complete it there because in 1967, I joined my parents in London when I was in Form Three. In the United Kingdom (UK), the teachers examined my notes and put me in Form Five and I was enrolled in the subsequent Oxford GCE. That shows you how qualitative Nigerian education was. But I went there with a sickness and was admitted to a hospital and spent first term there. But when I came out, I wrote the O’ level exams. Unfortunately, I only passed one subject – Religious Studies – in 1968. I had to redo my O’ levels, which I passed in 1969 and started my A’ levels in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Later on, I had to do my O’ level in Physics simultaneously, which I passed in 1970. I was not successful in my A’ levels because I only passed Chemistry. When my uncle came from the US and told me about universities there, I never thought of going there, but when I told my parents, they said I should apply, and luckily, I was admitted into the University of Central Oklahoma.
I left for the US in January 1972, having spent four years in Britain. I was overrated in the US because of A’ levels. In the first semester, I did English Composition, General Botany, American Government, which we did not do here. The first statement I heard in that course was that the American president was the number one citizen of the world. That course is compulsory and you must do American History, either before or after independence.
What kind of motivation does the course (American Government) give both citizens and non-citizens?
It makes you proud of your country because you will know the constitution. That was the first time I heard about the Fifth Amendment, which guarantees that an individual cannot be compelled by the government to provide incriminating information about herself, the so-called “right to remain silent.” You will learn about gerrymandering or lobbying. These are the things I will like to see in our educational system.
The American Medical Association has a very high lobbying system; that is why it does not have problems with the government. They lobby the lawmakers. That is what the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) should do to reduce the chances of strike.
I did my degree in science, mostly Biology and Chemistry because Chemistry is my best subject. Thereafter, I went to the University of Oklahoma Health Maiduguri Teaching Hospital is struggling to buy diesel to provide electricity. Before now, we got electricity between 10am and 3pm, but with the strike action by resident doctors, there is no revenue coming to the hospital, so we get electricity till 1pm. And most of the machines for urine and blood tests are run by electric power.
I spent N1.4 million to install solar power in my house. I contracted COVID-19 shortly after the university was opened and was hospitalised on February 16 for two weeks. The professors in the hospital, who were mostly my students, did a marvelous job. At the hospital there was electricity but when I returned home, I was buying fuel for the generator. I had to install the solar system.
In Nigeria, everybody is a local government because you provide your own water and electricity, which is not supposed to be. When people are in government abroad, they care about the people. People here do not obey traffic lights, but when they travel to England they do. What type of mentality is that?
Have you taught in other universities?
When I started work in Maiduguri I never took sabbatical leave for four decades. I could have gone for five sabbaticals because you are entitled to one after every seven years. In 2012, I was given an appointment by the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, where I could become vice chancellor, but I did not go because of my commitment to work. I did not go anywhere during the period of insurgency because I wanted to serve the people. I was offered jobs abroad but I did not want to go; I could have stayed there. My parents died as British citizens. I came, I saw, I conquered and served.
Apart from lecturing, did you venture into any other business?
I distributed Kessinsheen products between 1986 and 1997 in Monday Market, Maiduguri, which included hair cream, shampoo, activator and hair treatment products, among others.
That business helped me because when I became a professor in 1992, my salary was N7,400 and my basic was N4,400. When my mother was ill in 1997, I could not afford to buy a ticket to go and see her in England; my father had to sponsor me and my two sisters. The air ticket then was N71,000, and as a professor for five years, my salary was N8,000, I could only buy the ticket with my one year salary. It was bad.
When I got to England, my father wanted to add my name on his bank papers and I was embarrassed when the lady in the bank heard that I was a professor because she had strong admiration and respect for professors. While she was taking my bio-data, she asked for my monthly salary and I replied that in Nigeria we spent the naira, which did not have the same value with their currency. She quickly said that in her country, a professor earned £70,000. I said she should write it in the papers, knowing that I was earning less than a hundred pound. I will be making a fool of the country to tell her the actual salary.
Does this explain why academic unions are struggling to get improved welfare for their members?
I am not in the system now, but my advice to the government is that if they reached agreements with labour unions, as much as possible, they should fulfill their own part and not succumb to pressure just for labour unions to suspend their strike.
In-between the union and the government, there are series of letters, but the government will turn a deaf ear to all pleas until it gets to a showdown. Look at the strike action by resident doctors. I heard traditional authorities appealing to the union; they should rather appeal to the government. If the government does not have money and is transparent, I am sure workers are not insensitive to what is going on around them. But we see so much opulence, and sometimes you wonder the kind of work some employees are doing that you have not done 10 times. This is why unions are going on rampage all the time because there is no equity or balanced distribution of resources.
Can you reflect on the years you spent with your students?
I trained and examined more than 3,000 medical doctors from this university, and I thank God for good memories. I can still remember many of them. I follow them, including those who work abroad. When they want reference letters, I allow them to lean back on me, especially if they want to do public health courses. Being trained in America, the reference I give helps students a lot. One of the students just got a full scholarship in California, which is one of the most expensive states to stay. In fact, I wanted to discourage her, but I was delighted when she got the full scholarship, which she admitted was because of my reference letter. I am happy I served humanity in this capacity.
Apart from the College of Medicine, I also taught in the Faculty of Education. In fact, I just submitted the last scripts I marked for students in the Department of Public Health Education. And it will interest you to know that I supervised Professor Njodi’s (former vice chancellor) master’s thesis. He was sent to me in 1989 when he was having difficulty in getting his proposal approved. When I came in, the proposal was approved within two months. He was on the verge of being dropped as a graduate assistant before I came in.
I teach master’s students in Health Planning and Management in the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences and I teach Population and Medical Geography in the Department of Geography, where a PhD I supervised just defended in September. I supervise five PhDs in that department. I teach master’s students in Disaster Management, as well as postgraduate diploma students. When we started Radiography, Physiotherapy, Nursing and Medical Lab Science; I taught them for five years to keep stability in the system.
Professor Mbaya, who is a course coordinator in Health Planning and Management, said when I told him I was about to retire, that whenever officials came for course accreditation, my curriculum vitae is placed on top and when they see it, that is the end of the accreditation. I retired on September 22, after turning 70 years old.
Where will you go after retirement?
I thank God that I am retired but not tired. I will just go and rest in Ibadan. I do not know what God has planned for me.
Tell us more about family life.
I was single and 31 years old when I came here because I did not want to marry a foreigner; I was realistic. Since I did not want to stay in America, it did not make sense marrying an American. Again, I did not want to have two families, one in the US and the other in Nigeria. There was no way I could have gotton along with someone who had never been abroad.
I met my wife in the Union Bank, Maiduguri, where she served, after spending four years in the UK. I went to the bank with a friend, Dr Musliu Shittu, a vet, who also grew up in Maiduguri like her. We met her at the lobby and she attended to me. I did not know she was admiring my car until later. My friend asked her to join us for lunch, and after two weeks, she came and greeted me at the First Baptist Church. We also met at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) office; and that was how the relationship started. We got married in December 1984 and we are blessed with three children, one girl and two boys.
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