In Femi Kuti’s 1995 release, the song Plenty Nonsense calls out the “Nonsense” things he sees around him. While everything he says in the song is factually accurate, one verse didn’t sit quite right with me:

In the name of free education
Jakande build school for poto poto
the schools no get window
pikin don carry table chair to school

The verse takes issue with Lagos Governor Jakande (1979-83), suggesting that the schools he built in the name of “Free Education,” were poorly constructed and ill equipped.

If one were only to consider the schools at the time this song was released, some 15 years after the schools were built, one military dictator after the next, the complaints seem justified. But, looking at the situation at the time of conception paints a very different picture.

In 1979 when Jakande ran for Governor of Lagos, Lagos primary schools were so overcrowded that school was held in three shifts! This meant that some children attended primary school at night. His idea was to reintroduce the schooling of the 1950s by building more schools to allow children to attend one regular shift. With April elections and a school year that started in September, there were only a matter of months to build the schools. Due to the number of schools and the temporary nature of their construction, it’s understandable that they weren’t the most luxurious buildings and that drainage wasn’t the best in some locations.

In my mind, the his actions was commendable, especially given the time frame… He only served only one term because by 1983 the military was back in control and any immediate plans for these schools was entirely derailed… and by 1995, we have Femi calling out the conditions of these same schools - which were originally intended only as a stop-gap solution.

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P.S. This would be the perfect opportunity to showcase Prince Nico Mbarga’s Free Education in Nigeria, but a friend seems to have walked off with that album.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 13th, 2005 at 11:24 pm and is filed under afrobeat. You can skip to the end and leave a response.