From Ackee to Ijebu-Imusin (OCTOBER 2015, LAGOS)
The national fruit of Jamaica, known as the Ackee, was said to have been imported in the 18th century from West Africa on slave ships. In Ghana, this fruit is known as “akye fufo,” while it is called the “Ishin” fruit in the southwestern part of Nigeria. The word “Ishin” is a noun, while “Mushin” is a derivative verb which describes the action (Mu) carried out on the “Ishin” fruit/ tree. According to some accounts, this is the etymology of the word mushin in Ijebu-Imusin. Ijebu-Imusin is the ancestral homeland of the Ven. Osisanya (Uche’s maternal grandfather )’s family.
Uche showed up in Nigeria around October 2015 and gave me a fundraising envelope. His maternal family was building a church in memory of their grandparents after Grandma’s passing. I called Kunle and told him that the Ojehs were raising funds to build a church in Ijebu-Imusin. We had a conversation where we discussed our scepticism about the need for another church construction project in a country where millions of citizens lived in poverty.
As far as we were concerned, Nigeria needed more infrastructure, such as non-profit schools, healthcare facilities and potable water, than it needed church buildings. From our perspective, this looked like a well-intentioned idea which was probably out of tune with the real needs of the population in Aunty Sola Ojeh’s hometown.
A neutral observer would wonder why we had opinions on a family project that we were not directly involved in. Who appointed us as analysts on a family project? Apparently, no one did. However, the length of history between all the families made it possible for us to hold such opinions without any fear.
Looking back now, I could say there were two things that we failed to take into cognisance.
Firstly, societal interventions needed in rural communities have a better chance of survival if they are linked to existing structures. No matter the brilliance of any idea, if its proponents were not able to navigate the bureaucracies in that community, the idea would have died a brilliant death. People in these rural communities recognise the church as a social institution around which other social interventions, such as schools and hospitals, are often attached. Hence, the provision of a church building within this community provided a framework for the other institutions that we assumed the community needed. While the project initially appeared to be a grand idea to us, it would involve the construction of a church, the construction of a vicarage, the hiring of a priest, as well as the transfer of the church to the Anglican communion. The complexities of these individual tasks would require the mobilisation and participation of Ijebu-Imusin citizens in a way that other simplistic interventions could not do.
Some other point that we failed to consider was the importance of legacy. Uche’s grandfather (Ven. Osisanya) was a well-known pillar in the community. Back in the day, it was not uncommon for those who became principals to also train as priests, since the British colonial system required a maximisation of the human resources within the colonies. Hence, those who were able to serve as educators could deliver homilies as well as preach messages. Serving as a priest was not just about your personal contribution to society; it was about lifting the name of the community.
Once the name Osisanya was mentioned, the town of Ijebu-Imusin was also brought into close reference. Ven Osisanya was the principal of Ijebu Ode Grammar School, which was started by the Church Missionary Society and produced many generations of Nigerian statesmen, intellectuals and technocrats.
After his tenure at the Grammar school, his next major project would involve the creation of a high school in his home town – Ijebu-Imusin Comprehensive High School. This was the legacy that Uche’s family and the other members of the Osisanya family inherited, and the legacy that they ensured was passed on from generation to generation. As a result of the efforts of all members of the family and friends, the Ven. Noah-Clara Osisanya Memorial Church was dedicated in memory of Ven. Noah Osisanya and his wife, Clara Osisanya.
