The book: “If the Foundations be destroyed what can the Righteous do?” is a work of fiction written by Venerable Adewale Sanda, published in 2023 by PurpleBloom. In this work, we are introduced to Oluwasegun Akano, a graduate of Biology posted to a village in the Old Bendel State for his National Youth Service Corps year. In this book he is deployed to Ekwere, a village not too far from Warri, where his place of primary assignment is Ekwere Grammar School, a community school in the heart of Urhoboland.
Set in the middle belt in Nigeria of the 1980s, the author uses the encounters of the protagonist to tell us a lot about society.
Even though we are shown the beautiful greenery and rustic nature of the countryside, we read about some issues that portray the downside of society. For instance, the book portrays the hard line approach that road transport unions employ to exploit commercial transport operators and even private vehicle owners who try to help travelling commuters. We read about the exorbitant fees imposed on commercial transport workers. In the book, we are also given a peep into the exploitative tendencies of some policemen on checkpoints in the nation.
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Over four decades now, these issues are still unsolved.
The author in this book, If the Foundations be Destroyed, gives us sufficient information about the workings of the National Youth Service Corps scheme and spotlights both the high points and the low points of the scheme. In this 10-chapter book, the author recalls the protagonist’s NYSC orientation camp experience, including the drills and fun. In the book, we read also about Akano’s apprenticeship in cane furniture making alongside three others under the tutelage of his pastor during youth service.
Venerable Sanda here gives us a view of the terrible state of the physical infrastructure in Nigerian public schools, using Akano’s place of primary assignment as a case study. He laments that the lack of attention by the authorities aggravates the poor infrastructure in schools, especially in rural areas. He also exposes some antics communities play in order to get approval for their schools from visiting ministry officials.
Through the lens of Akano our protagonist, we feel his frustration with society. We feel his burning pain at the death of moral consciousness of people around him. In his place of primary assignment, students lack urgency when it comes to their study and assignments. They are so badly behaved, and not responding to his instructions, yet the leadership of the school is largely lax, not instituting discipline and not punishing staff members found wanting. As a consequence, cheating and examination malpractice germinate to unwanted heights. And even teachers, who ought to be above board, assist in popularising unethical practices in the school environment.
We read about the travails of retired civil servants in the hands of ministry officials while trying to finish the paperwork for their pensions and gratuities. And the haunting hunger that befalls them during the waiting period.
We read also about the protagonist’s good heart for neighbours and coworkers in the book. Akano is seen at various times helping to feed his neighbour’s children when their parents are financially incapacitated. We see him also providing bailouts for coworkers whose salaries are being owed.
Throughout the book’s 276 pages, the author gives us a vivid expose of the foundational issues that affect our nation’s trajectory. He uses the scriptural allusion of destroyed foundation and the helplessness of well-meaning individuals in their attempts to make the system work, and their challenges at every attempt. And he uses the education sector as a metaphor of this decay.
In the final analysis, this is a well-written fiction that boldly speaks to the stark systemic malfunction in the Nigerian polity. The author deploys his strong narration powers to give the reader sufficient soul-searching commentary and situations to ponder in this book.
. Olatunbosun is a broadcast journalist, fact-checker and book reviewer at Splash FM 105.5, Ibadan. He can be reached via [email protected], and on X @miketunbosun.