Omo Eko, the story of a Lagos boy

The Biography Of Ademola Olatunde Dixon A review by Bayo Ogunmupe This book is partly biographical, ending as an autobiography. It started as a biography but ended being written by the protagonist Dr Ademola Dixon a medical doctor. It is hard backed, illustrated with the picture a motor park. With 350 pages, Three parts and 37 chapters. The Prologue speaks of laid out streets, well planned buildings, taps flowing, unblinking lights and food everywhere. It showed unfettered freedom with the pleasures of a peaceful existence. The quintessential physician, Dr Ademola Dixon isn’t a time traveller, he had only spent about a decade in Europe, studying and working. Through Omo Eko, he had only relived those near idyllic scenes of his youth in the 1940s when Lagos Island was the seat of the government of colonial Nigeria, with Lagos as the pearl on the West African coast. At such spells of reverie, you will see this lanky, light- complexioned, bespectacled gentleman standstill, oblivious of the bustles around him. Such equanimity and ordered lifestyle was the spirit of the time. With mother, father and grandfather born on the Island, this quintessential physician gloats of being a thoroughbred Lagosian imbued with the inalienable pride and integrity that make Lagos Islanders a special people. “Being a Lagosian mattered to me a lot initially,” said the doctor. “In my loud moments, I used to talk of being a Lagosian first, then a medical practitioner and a Christian…I was always conscious of being born on Lagos Island like my father and grandfather. The explanation was the great privilege and the tremendous freedom we enjoyed …on the Lagos Island—adequate provision of life’s basic necessities for little or nothing. Lagos was provided with food supplied from all nooks and crannies of Nigeria. Fresh fish, vegetables – name it- were available in abundance.” So Dixon’s youth was remarkably joyful. No pipes, only the tap at the backyard which never run dry. Now six months shy of his October 77th birthday anniversary Dr Dixon still relishes his admiration for the Igbo business spirit which he says was as evident in his youth as it is today. He remembers a particular Igbo customer of his grandma. After buying all the goods he needed, the man would call an alaaaru (porter) to ask how much he would take to convey the goods to the motor pack. After ascertaining the average price from three alaaaru the Igbo trader would then commence carrying all the materials himself – even if it took him several trips. What the Igbo trader does next is to take the exact amount he would have paid the porter to buy himself a sumptuous meal. Part 1 chronicled his Early Years. Unto us a Libran is born. He was born on October 6, 1945, at the time Hitler’s war, the Second World War was drawing to a close. For timeliness, Russian President Vladimir Putin is at the moment threatening with a nuclear strike in his war with Ukraine. “Announcing it means it is primarily a political message designed to impress us,” says Bruno Tertrais, an expert on nuclear deterrence at the Foundation for Strategic Research, a think- tank in Paris, France. He was the second son 20 year old Olayinka Agboola nee Awojobi would have for her printer husband, Adio Dixon. His paternal grandfather, known as Megida gave him his only Muslim name, Abdulfatai after being named Ademola Olatunde by his father. On the whole Ademola has linkages with the Ijesha people of Ilesha; the Aworis who migrated from Ife to live in uninhabited farmland of Lagos island. Through his mother, he is also linked with the Remos of Shagamu. You can see how he could comprehend the study and practice of medicine in the German language. It has been said that the offspring of a mixed breed is often more intelligent than children of the same breed. Gaining admission to a secondary school was tough then as now. In retrospect, says Dr Dixon, the three people who impacted him most favorably were the former Premier of Western Nigeria, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the former governor of Ondo State, the late Chief Adekunle Ajasin and the for mer Principal of Oriwu College, Ikorodu Chief E. I. A. Banwo who admitted Ademola into Oriwu College in 1959. At the end of his work at the sausage factory, Ademola was able to save a whopping 70 pounds sterling. By the time he got admission to study medicine at the oldest university in Germany, Heidelberg, Dixon was ready financially. He had a monthly allowance of twenty pounds from Mama; his two and half years stay in UK; the six months in Leicester and two years in London gave Dixon sufficient exposure and confidence to fend for himself anywhere. A most entertaining value of Omo Eko is the capture of the Cassius Clay of the Sonny Liston fights of May 1965, and February 1964. Cassius Clay (better known as Mohammed Ali) later in life. He won at the first round of the 15 round match. It was a technical knockout. Eventually, Dixon left for the seaport of Dover by train to get into a ferry to take him across the English Channel to Ostend, Belgium. After alighting from the ferry headed for Germany, arriving at Heidelberg by train on a Sunday morning. After four months in a German language school for foreign students, Dixon entered into the true study of medicine at Heidelberg University. According to Dixon, Heidelberg had a longstanding reputation for excellence, especially its medical school. In Germany, there was a deliberate policy by the government to align universities and research centres with the needs of the industrial sector. This is absent in Nigeria. Historically, there is a deep respect for the academia in the German society. Generally, the Germans do not see a university degree as a meal ticket. For them, a graduate was one who was willing to be trained and retrained to meet the demands of country in a facets of life. For life in Germany, efficiency is their watchword. Working as a medical doctor in Germany for over a year after graduation afforded Dixon great insight into the German work ethic which was very different from the British. A surprising episode of Dixon’s sojourn in Germany was a visit by his brother Folabi who resides in Chicago, USA. Folabi arrived at the Dusseldorf Airport in Germany on a Saturday. It was just half an hour’s drive from where Dixon was living then. “Having tried to reach me on the phone without success, Folabi asked at the airport for the fun areas in the town, hoping to while away time till night when I would be at home. Unknown to him I had also headed for Dusseldorf to have fun. Unexpectedly, he saw me! He suddenly announced himself; just imagine seeing a brother I had not seen in eight years!” Dixon’s only disappointment while in Germany was the passing unto glory of his grandma, the one who sponsored his study abroad. It was a premonition coming true. While leaving Nigeria back in 1965, he thought he might be seeing some of his relations for the last time. The premonition proved painfully true. Then, the Lagos Boy returns home. “As at 1975 when I came back to the country under full- blown military dictatorship, the NMA was radicalized.” But he eventually got employed by the Lagos State Government. Having found discriminatory practices in government service, he decided to resign at the end of his two year probation with the Lagos State Government. Now out of the restrictive government service, he could now enjoy Lagos life full- blown. “This period 1975 to 1977, was at the climax of the oil boom when the U.S. dollar was less than one naira. Petrol was being sold at 77kobo per litre. Four brand new tyres cost not more than N50. Full comprehensive car maintenance cost less than N10. Nigerians then had difficulty remaining sane most of the time.” Indeed, Dr Dixon admits that he was also caught up in the spending spree. To show he had arrived he celebrated his 30th birthday in October 1975. After many years of exposure and participation in the healthcare services in Lagos, Nigeria, Dr Dixon considers it a duty to undertake an appraisal of these services. For good healthcare services, he recommends the availability of potable water, efficient waste disposal system and a health bank like the bank of industry where loans could be obtained by citizens to build and run state of the art hospitals. Dr Dixon shares the experience of the loss of his first child, Adebola Olugbenga Dixon 1977—2011. A Unilag graduate in Economics, he died of kidney failure. His grieving is an unconscious catharsis to relieve a pain that cuts deep to the soul. On cars and travelling, Dr Dixon being a slow driver, isn’t an admirer of the Japanese fast cars. “Before this one, I was using a flat engine Mercedes Benz which I bought in 1987 and used for many years until my siblings, out of annoyance, bought the V boot for me as they felt sufficiently embarrassed by the flat engine. Two of my siblings also bought the same type of car at the same time. They have since then changed their vehicles three times while I am still running around with mine.” By his birthday anniversary next year, a second edition of this biography with additional information on his roots will be on sale. Thank you for your attention.