Dr. Methuselah Irmiya is
a lecturer with the Department of English and Drama, Kaduna State University,
Kaduna. He is very passionate about his people, and he is going the extra mile
to see that his people attain unity and development. He was a co-convener of
the Akurmi Studies Group Conference/Exhibition which was recently held at
Saminaka Resort in Lere local government. In this interview, he bares his mind
on the place of education in the development of both the individual and the
society, among other issues.
AM: Sir, please can you briefly tell us about yourself?
Ans: By way of starters, my name is Methuselah Irmiya. I use
Jeremiah…that is the English version of Irmiya officially. Don’t ask me how it
came to be. It’s a long story. Anyway I was born in 1965 somewhere between the
month of October and November in the village of Kayarda but my parents are from
Ukam. I had my Primary school education in L.E.A Primary school Kayarda between
1972-1977. In those days a few pupils who are said to be a little aboveboard
educationally are allowed to attempt the Common Entrance examination with the
graduating class six pupils. As it happened my headmaster, on advice from my
class teacher, scheduled me and two others for the exams with the class six
pupils. That was how I gained admission to Government Secondary School Fadan
Kaje in 1977.
Dr. Methuselah Irmiya
After my graduation from secondary school in 1982, there was a period
of five years before I now moved on to do my undergraduate studies in the
University of Jos where I graduated with a B. A. Theatre Arts (1991). I got my
M. A. Theatre Arts in 2004 also in Unijos, while my Doctoral degree was done at
the University of Abuja from 2005-2011.
Presently, I work with Kaduna State University in the English and Drama
Department. But before now I did spend 12 years with Kaduna State College of
Education, Gidan Waya from 1993 to 2005 after which I moved to the University.
I am married with 4 children.
AM: With the decay in our moral values especially among the youths (Akurmi
youths inclusive), how in your opinion do you think we can revive the good
moral values we use to know?
Ans: The decay in morality is not only an issue unique to us alone. It
is a national problem. But beyond that, it is a worldwide phenomenon. The simple
answer to this cancer that is slowly but insidiously eating our society is
building strong family values. All the socialization agencies must rise to the
occasion and declare a state of emergency on this problem. Parents need to be
up and doing because what is happening is a war. The churches/mosques; the
pastors and Imams must wake up to the reality of this ‘monster’. Schools- right
from kindergarten to the highest institutions of learning must deliberately
fight this moral degeneration. Now part of the problem that has escalated this
issue is directly related to the laxity by government to regulate the popular
culture that is flooding our markets.
AM: In your opinion, what role do you think education plays in the
development of both the youths and the nation?
Ans: Education is the bedrock of any society. It is the superstructure
under which other development apparatuses are built. Any country that has
advanced in whatever form must have had a strong, virile and functional
educational system. Now you must understand that it is the youth who go to
school, and attending school like I hinted earlier on widens the intellectual
horizons of a person. An educated person reasons beyond the narrow, confined
prism of the unlettered man or woman. The problem with us in the north, that I
have discovered, is that we go to school only to graduate and chase after white
collar jobs. While that is not bad, that should not be the primary aim of
acquiring education. The chief reason for acquiring the “golden fleece” should
be for emancipation and empowerment-intellectual empowerment. The mayhem, looting and brigandage
that have become almost an everyday occurrence in our country but especially in
our region is, in my view,is directly linked to the poor educational background
of the perpetrators.
AM: Please, comment on the level of education in Akurmi communities?
Ans: I think it is an open secret that education has not thrived much
in N’kurmi. A cursory look around some of the less endowed ethnic nationalities
indicates giant strides in education. On the corollary, as giants in terms of demography, the Akurmi
are lagging far behind. To play on words,
we are giant dwarfs educationally. And so, in my view, I think the whole
issue is connected to the poor attitude towards education. And by extension
this apathy for education has affected other aspects of life . As farmers, our
people have not got to the point of appreciating that education, itself, can
help refine the methods we use in farming with an expected increase in crop
yield. We are still wallowing in the ancient methods of forty to fifty years
ago. I visited my village recently during the rainy season. To my chagrin I
learnt that cows have once again resurfaced as the ‘mechanical’ means of
farming.
AM: How do you think education can be used to promote unity and
development in Akurmi land?
Ans: Because an educated person is emancipated and more broadminded, I
foresee a situation where the chequered past with all its uncertainties,
planlessness and hopelessness can be turned around as people irrespective of affiliation in terms
of religion or politics come together to plan a better and more progressive
future for N’kurmi. I put this squarely in the shoulders of the educated elite.
That is why we at the Akurmi Studies
Group came up with the idea of a conference/exhibition so that we can sit at a
round table on a yearly basis and look at an aspect of Akurmi cosmology to highlight to the outside
world as an image laundering effort, given that we have been a closed people.
AM: What is your advice to the
youth?
Ans: Struggle, struggle and continue to struggle. There is no end to
struggle. Until the day you give up the ghost, don’t stop struggling. Most of
us are ensconced in the security of parental shadows not even venturing out to
cut an identity for ourselves. We are content playing babies even as we have
become big boys already. We need to get out of this false utopia and face the
harsh realities of life…and struggle. My life is a life of struggle. Anybody
who has ever made it in life on a clean slate has had to struggle.
Finally, I appreciate greatly the Akurmi youth in Kaduna who availed me
this golden moment to share from my little and humble experiences in life.
N’guade. Ashini U kan d’ ke haro duki. Ashini B’gbama.
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