Ten year tribute idea for Peter Adetunji Oyawale January 31, 2011

Dear Gbade (and readers of my open letters at http://dadamac.posterous.com )

I'm writing this in preparation for our planned yahoo chat - given I am such a bad typist it may save you some time if I write a few thoughts about our chat before we start. I am writing it as an "open letter" as well, so some other people get an idea of how you and I have  been closely associated over the years, and how important you have been in all that happened with the late Peter Adetunji Oyawale's  Oke-Ogun Community Development Agenda 2000 Plus, and the Oke-Ogun Community Development Network (OCDN).

Ten years on

As I said in my text, I'm thinking that we should consider doing something to mark the fact that, this year, in February, it will be ten years since we first met at Peter's funeral and decided that we should try to do something to continue his work. So now, ten years later, seems a good time to look back and see what we did actually manage to achieve through our attempts to gather up the fragments of Peter's vision after his death.

Video or writing

I don't know what medium we should use to look back, but I remember that we used video recordings in the very early days so that, although I was over here in the UK, I would know what was happening with the committee meetings etc in Nigeria. Then when the OCDN Info-Centre opened in Ago-Are you wrote that lovely report which I passed on to the "Voices of the South" list ( and that is how we got to know Krishna Alluri, and how we later had the COL IITA project coming to the Ago-Are Info Centre when David finished his VSO time there).  Also, David and I made a series of short video interviews with people, about 1 - 2 minutes long, when we were collecting up information for Krishna. You may remember doing one for us.

If we all do a little bit

I am thinking that if several of us do a little something, then it could work. I think it is best  to keep it simple and possible - so nothing too complicated or ambitious. I would just like to put something together as some kind of record - a kind of 'ten year tribute" to Peter's vision.
I don't want to make any precise suggestions as, obviously, you will know what would be the best idea in your situation. (I'm still trying to decide what I should do.)   Maybe you could write something, or maybe video would be easier - maybe it could include Chief Mojoyinola and Chief Adetola (though I know he wouldn't want to speak in English). Maybe you son would like to say something (the one who was so friendly with David, who I think looks so much like you, and who used to help with getting DVDs to Ago-Are - and who brought my suitcase there from Lagos when it went missing at the airport for a week - I am ashamed that his name has slipped my memory for the moment.) My idea is just to get a shared picture of how Peter's vision has made a difference to us. Maybe Victoria Adetona would like to say something too - she was very much part of the "Cawndet family" (as I remember her calling it) back when John Dada and Kazanka Comfort came down from Fantsuam to Ago-Are to meet with us all.

The Information Centre at Ago-Are

I understand from Fola that the Info-Centre at Ago-Are has now been closed down "for political reasons". I don't know exactly what that means in terms of the structure and fixtures and fittings. I think the equipment was all very old (though in my mind I was wondering about exploring the possibility of giving it a new lease of life by installing some open source software). Maybe you know more, or maybe Chief Adetola can tell us. I know that last time I was in Ago-Are someone pointed out to me a new house he was building ready for when he retires from his business in Ibadan. I wonder how he is and if he is spending more time there yet. Maybe he could get an update for us from Fola and PD.

Other initiatives

I wonder if PD will continue his "computer orientation" work with the local schools if the Info Centre is closed. Then there is the Peter Oyawale memorial library that the youths did. I wonder if that is still ok. I believe they were only given the room for it on a temporary basis.

The present

I know that Fola and PD can both access the Internet by phone now from Ago-Are - and we have had some yahoo chats that way  (but of course the cost of calls is an issue). Fola's wife has a PC and Fola learned from one of our online friends how to connect the phone and PC together so that he could be online from the PC. Fola and PD were exploring the idea of using a phone to link several PCs together so they could provide emailing facilities from the Info-Centre (if they could afford the upfront payment, and be confident about generating electricity) but obviously that is not an option there now.

Oke-Ogun and Fantsuam

Although I have been working more with John and Comfort at Fantsuam in recent years, I still always think of the implications for Ago-Are (and Oke-Ogun) when I do things with them. Of course most of what I do with them (or for them) I do from home in the UK, on the Internet, or at meetings in London, rather than Face to Face. Do you know that we meet every week for a UK-Nigeria meeting on skype (like a group chat on yahoo) http://www.dadamac.net/network/uk-nigeria-dadamac-team

 We want to keep good connections with Oke-Ogun - which is why John and I arranged for PD and Fola to attend training courses that I was presenting at Fantsuam. I wonder if you realise that "Dadamac" emerged from Cawdnet (the group that started with you and others in OCDN, Victoria Adetona, my wider network and John and Comfort).  John and I were at the centre of the online part of Cawdnet and it was just easier to explain about linking UK and Nigeria if we called it by our surnames Dada and McLean instead of Cawdnet.

Future

I think there are possibilities of new things emerging.....
more of that later...
I have just got your text explaining you have not been able to get me on yahoo and have sent an email - so I will post this as it is...

Pam