In his book The Joy of Learning Tunji Olaopa sets out a number of significant Nigerian issues which relate to self-fulfilment, the development of a moral compass for both individuals and communities and productive engagement in activities that are likely to reduce inequality and enhance
All of us face tough choices from time to time. Sometimes we evade them. At other times we confront them. Even when we confront them, however, we don't always decide to resolve them! We may simply mull over endless possibilities or agonise about the best paths to pursue. Sometimes we turn and run. The Joy of Learning published by New Vista Publications is full of tough choices. Choices about how to address a politics devoid of moral purpose.
Choices about how best to address economic underdevelopment, declining social values, religious bigotry and a crisis in education. One of the major messages we can take from reading this book is one about the need to make wise and ethical choices if we are to restore hope to the future. And how are we to do make these choices?
The author argues that learning and particularly learning from reflections on our experience, is the key to this. The pioneering work of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, who worked with the poorest of the poor in Brazil, showed that people who had never learned to read could quickly develop literacy and complex reasoning skills, if those skills would help them improve the conditions in their communities. They quickly learnt to think critically about the forces creating their poverty, what fed corruption, what diverted attention away from improving governance, management of public finances and delivery of basic services.
They quickly learnt the skills to better understand how religious and ethnic diversity contributed to regional disparities in wealth and sometimes give rise to conflict and violence.
They were also able to learn how to be creative to help relieve their condition. The essential lesson here is this. When people understand the forces that create the adverse conditions in their life and how they might change these forces, they become eager and fast learners.
In the book, Olaopa puts it this way; "…the kind of learning required for the achievement of freedom and holistic development should not stop with the development of the capacity to master at least one way of thinking or making sense of information from disparate sources. It also requires the development of the ability to create new ideas in solving problems…
Very crucial too, indeed, an imperative is the appreciation of interconnection as a fact of human life and, consequently, the enlargement of human consciousness beyond self interest to the appreciation of the importance of selfless work for the promotion of the common good for human development (p. 39)".
And so, here is another significant message from the book; a message for everyone wishing to build a better Nigerian history. It is to learn how to reconcile two seemingly conflicting forces.
The absolute need for individual freedom and the unequivocal need for relationships that help to build a better nation. Olaopa's book is full of transformatory potential, but only if read with an open mind and generous heart.
To address the issues he portrays and to make the tough decisions necessary to improve Nigerian livelihoods through the joy of learning, our dignity, the love that is in us, the service we wish to offer others and our awareness of the human condition are absolute prerequisites. In a democracy, every one of us has choices; in every encounter, every day. Fundamentally they are choices about which world we wish to contribute to bring into reality. Kahane (2004), "The path forward is about becoming more human, not just more clever.
It is about transcending our fears of vulnerability, not finding new ways of protecting ourselves. It is about discovering how to act in service of the whole, not just in service of our own interests' (pp. xii-xii).
In my judgement, the book has enormous transformatory potential particularly if we exercise ethical judgement and moral courage to focus on transformation rather than tyranny, solidarity rather than conflict, articulation rather than muteness, the enablement of human agency rather than the constraints of structure and bureaucracy. We need to avoid situations where individuals who know how to build a better future have no means to act.
This book has the potential to begin a humanly significant dialogue; a dialogue that generates a sense of joy and pride. A dialogue about a better future told with less fear and shame, and where everyone involved can actually hear each other's voice, because each has a positive stake in a betterment process through learning. If read in an open-minded, whole-hearted and responsible way, Olaopa's book opens the way for new questions to be asked and better conversations to be developed.
It has the possibility for developing a language of positive regard with those who might not have the same immediate values or interests, nor belong to the same group. Because of this, The Joy of Learning could become a precious contribution to Nigerian institutions and a new resource for Nigerian democracy. Professor Tony Ghaye is the Director of Reflective Learning-UK.
