“There are very few Nigerians more Nigerian than this Spaniard who came to Nigeria in 1967 and has remained here ever since” is how Albert Alos, former vice chancellor of the Pan-Atlantic University, is described in a tribute on his 70th birthday. That was 10 years ago. Prof, as he’s fondly called, celebrated his 80th birthday on 17 September.
The description is not an exaggeration. When Albert Alos arrived in Lagos, the civil war was raging. Though the fighting was far from Lagos, where he landed from Kenya, and miles from Ibadan where he was to resume as a lecturer of Applied Physics at the University of Ife, only a soldier of fortune would come to Nigeria at such a time.
And that was what crossed the mind of the immigration officers at the airport on 15 October, 1967. They thought he was a mercenary. Otherwise, what could bring a 28-year-old young Spaniard with a doctorate in Electrical Engineering who had declined two job offers in Bilbao to Nigeria during a civil war?
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Alos had no intentions of profiting from the conflict. Far from it. He was in Nigeria for a different reason: Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, an institution of the Catholic Church had asked him and he said yes, “not only because it was a privilege to be among those who start Opus Dei in a new country but because of that streak of adventure: going to an unknown territory”, he recalls.
Besides, he had no military background other than the compulsory three-month military service which he did during the winter of 1965 with “layers of sweaters underneath my summer uniform” (because he saw no point buying uniforms suited for the cold). He spent his free time during those three freezing months learning English.
In October 1966, Prof started his adventure into an unknown territory, with a different sense of adventure, without a firm job offer and overly confident of his English – he was “numbed” in Nairobi, where he spent a few months, when he realised could hardly communicate.
While in Kenya his application to universities in Ibadan, Nsukka and Zaria yielded no results. Then the civil war broke out. He either had to apply for a Kenyan resident visa or return to Spain. His last application attempt got him a position in the Physics department of the University of Ife.
In his memoir of the early years in Nigeria Prof recounts that, “I was also motivated by the contribution that I could make to the country’s progress and development with my professional work. I loved education and I always enjoyed working with people.”
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A serial social entrepreneur with a passion for education and collaboration Prof has started several educational projects dedicated to social development. Helmbridge Study Centre, the Lagos Business School, the Pan-Atlantic University, Irawo University Centre, the Institute for Industrial Technology, Whitesands and Hillrange secondary schools are just a few examples that show his knack for social development startups. This knack goes back to his days at the universities of Ife and Lagos, where he was either among those who started a new department, faculty or course – he set up the laboratory for control engineering at Ife.
During the mid-1970s (just before the civil war ended), Prof and like-minded individuals who shared a similar passion for education started the Educational Co-operation Society (ECS), a non-profit organisation. A consummate fund raiser, Prof has been closely involved in raising funds for these projects. And he never tires, even at 80.
His Catalan origins might be one explanation for his business savvy and startup mentality. Prof is from Barcelona, the most enterprising region of Spain. As a boy he spent his holidays working as a delivery boy for Frigo, an ice cream company where his father worked.
Apart from raising the funds needed to start, for example, the Lagos Business School, Prof had to switch from electrical engineering to strategic management with a focus on Nigerian startups – his book “The Pains and Gains of Growth” is a compilation of case studies on these companies. In addition, he was first Dean of the LBS and later Vice Chancellor of Pan-Atlantic University. As VC he developed new programmes and faculties like the School of Media and Communication. For many years he was a member of the advisory board of BusinessDay.
On arriving Lagos en route Ibadan in 1967, he thought, “it would be quite a challenge to adapt to the dynamic life of Lagos”. On the second day of his arrival he took a brief tour of the city, courtesy of taxi driver, in an old beat-up Peugeot 404. A city “paralysed by its perpetual motion” was his first impression of Lagos. “Now, I miss Lagos when I am out of the country.”
Verbosity peppered with proverbs, dynamism, decibels of noise, humour, hospitality (“houses seemed designed to welcome visitors”), and the juju music of King Sunny Ade are some of the things Prof has come to love about Lagos and Nigeria. In Lagos he felt much at home and began to learn to be a Nigerian. He abandoned Yoruba for pidgin, “an easier endeavour” and has come “to understand the expression ‘I am coming’ as a compromise between outright refusal and rushing over to see you.”
If one thing looms large in the 52 years Albert Alos has spent outside country of origin, and perhaps supports his claim to being more Nigerian than almost two generations of us, it is his love for Nigeria, especially Lagos. Because according to him, “to go to Lagos from your home village is no difficulty; it is to return that is war. But you can never become a true Nigerian until you have passed through the grill.”
Tayo Fagbule
