Leeds, the city, the campus and all in between, By Kole Ade Odutola

So can someone help me here, why is Leeds not charging participants anything? They even made colourful bags, provided tasty coffee and cookies. I need to know the secret of this University; it must be one of the last ones standing, where you do not have to break a bank to share your knowledge. Lest I forget, the interim Vice Chancellor was also in attendance, and I saw him with my own eyes signing certificates presented to the various speakers.

Just a year ago!
We were all in Cologne
to discuss decolonisation
and the long-term effects of colonisation.
We started with the production of knowledge
and how we all have nale (fallen down)
unable to get up.
At Cologne instead of monuments must fall
and activists must crawl/We have scholars asking that Nyasani
must rise on walls/His image must be up to inspire/Now the fire is lit
and the heat turned on
in Cologne/where we all have
come to bury colonial thoughts.

Well please take your mind away from the attempt at poetry and let us get into this tale of a traveler, who like a bird flies from place to place in search of stories to tell and lessons to sell. The trip to Leeds started from Heathrow airport from about 12 noon on Monday, 20 May and by 10:45 p.m., Tina, the owner of the AirBnB handed me the keys to the room I was to stay until Friday morning when my lease would have run out. To those who know about the pain of moving around, I shall spare you the details, but I need to put it on the records that were it not for the Nigerian from Ekiti State, I would still be somewhere in Leeds searching for my accommodation. How I wish he trusted me with his details so I could send to people in Ekiti to thank him for me. In any case, he was the God sent guide to help me navigate the public transport system (more on that later).

If like me, you travelled from Florida to the unreliable weather in Europe, cold is the most reliable alarm clock you need. I was forced to wake up on Tuesday, bright and early, to locate the venues of the conference. The first person I met later told me her name is Elinor and that she had come to interview for a job as a Programme Manager for the Leeds Connect initiative about to commence. She had no idea where I could locate the Centre for African Studies. She wished me well and went her merry way. As a typical Lagos Boy, I knew if you ask those who look like elites, and you have no response, just go in search of the janitors. It was with that native GPS that I found Sophia and Margaret. They were so generous with their time, but it yielded very little. As luck would have it, a lady in a hurry to another appointment on campus directed me to Parkingson Hall. After a few consultations with the hidden gods in computers, she directed me to a building I had passed by on arrival. At the reception, I met Ms Lorriane. My takeaway from the fleeting encounter was that ‘ask her any question about happenings around, she was bound to know or know someone who may know.’ Who does not like repositories of knowledge like her? So, I returned at every opportunity to ask about this or that and finally the curiosity in me wanted to know about the name of the building. “Nexus is on the university grounds but does not belong to the university,” she said.

A little search revealed that the building is “an innovation and enterprise centre designed to connect businesses with the university’s expertise.” Furthermore, the Nexus Building is situated on the southern edge of the University of Leeds campus, close to Leeds city centre and major transport links, making it easily accessible to businesses and collaborators.

Any wonder that the first sessions of the African Week was located right in the bowels of the structure? The week started with “Africa in Yorkshire, and Yorkshire in Africa.” Every participant had a tough choice, either to join scholars interested in African studies or those interested in the Black Female Academics’ Network. No prize for guessing that I followed the trail that led to where Professor Jok Madut Jok of Syracuse University (located in that pristine upstate New York) was reflecting on “Exploring African Studies: Understanding its Evolution and Contributions.” There would be need for pages upon pages to write about the presenter, but let it be on the records that to walk his talk, he founded an all-girls school in South Sudan but had to allow boys to be admitted later. One thing is sure, it is no play that the Yorkshire African Studies Network has come to stay.

In between the sessions, the poetic voice could not be held back, and words came flowing.

The blessings of Africa from the prayers of her children. They came from Bradford like the days of yore when the Bedford Lorry in a hurry brought parents to the cities.

We are the new cities set upon a hill, each of us with a bucket full of stories. Though we tell the tales in borrowed tongues and dance to beats played from foreign instruments. We are still Africans in our diversity and that affinity that ropes us gets tighter by each click. We are children of the continent once defined by calamities…


I think it would be unfair not to talk about the food provided during the three days. A plate of food, they say, can never fool an expectant stomach. A plate of food invites the eyes to have its fill, then the tongue to taste and inform the brain. This all happened at the University of Leeds, the place where leaders are made! Our minds were fed and our stomachs too.

The next day, Wednesday, the sessions moved on to the impressive Esther Simpson building, the main venue of the Africa Week. The building, as we learnt, is part of a multi-million-pound expansion project: it is the third phase of a larger initiative to develop new facilities for Leeds University Business School (LUBS) and the School of Law. It was here from 22 to 25 May, that a gathering and fellowship of minds from different disciplines traded ideas. Each of the invited speakers and participants came with lorry loads of ideas, some to trade these ideas, and others to buy the new ideas. They sat together, ate together and even sang together on the last day, when Bob Marley’s voice filled the hall and later Fela Anikulapo’s Afrobeat brought out different dancing steps. Africa, as usual, was again on the menu, and participants asked questions about the state of research ethics; how research in minds and in labs are given wings. The participants were challenged by three keynote speakers: Luis Franheschi, PLO Lumumba, and Veronica Pickeringand. The title ‘Professor’ preceded their names and like academic generals, they marshalled points from notes and their hidden treasures. If you know the erudite speaker, Professor PLO Lumunba, please tell him I have a burning question for him.

As we well know, all good things have expiry dates but before the end of this conference of minds, I set out to savour my new surroundings. University towns are like open books to be read on foot. These are places that delight the souls of photographers. So let me take you around the city of the University of Leeds, UK. As Yoruba people are wont to say, a visitor navigates the way with the ears and eyes. Let the tongue of history lead us to these hallowed grounds. It is said that there are two main universities in Leeds: University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett University. There might be other institutions, depending on what you consider as a “university” (e.g., colleges offering some degrees).

University of Leeds (1831) was founded as the Yorkshire College of Medicine, but it later became a university in 1904. Its focus on Sciences and Medicine might have been a response to the needs of the Industrial Revolution and Leeds’ growing importance as a centre of industry and trade. The other university is Leeds Beckett University, founded in 1967. It was originally known as Leeds Polytechnic; it gained university status in 1992. Its roots lie in technical and vocational education, which could have been established to address the need for skilled workers in Leeds’ growing industrial base.

In essence, the universities might have been founded to serve different purposes: University of Leeds, to focus on academic research and professions like Medicine. Leeds Beckett University lays emphasis on practical skills and vocational training. Do I need to drop names like Professors Wole Soyinka or Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o as a few of the African Ambassadors of this university?

As a first-time visitor, I am allowed to say that this is a city of very interesting people. You meet them in the public buses, the covered market that looks like the Oyingbo market of yore. The people I met prefer Leeds as laid back as it is. For instance, I met a couple, probably in their 80s. They said they have seen the place grow from non-franchise stores to brands of all sorts. During the less than 20 minutes ride, I was informed that the traditional meal here is……did you say chips and fish? Yes, that is correct. In fact, they said there are training schools where residents go to learn how to make good fish and chips. I hope your mind is not thinking that these are schools that last for weeks.

As the double-decker bus meandered its way across town, we came about a sign that reads ‘H. M Leeds Prison.’ In case you come across Leeds Prison housed in what looks like a Castle, please do not ask to be taken there. It is a prison and prisons are for….fill in the gap. Leeds, as I was told, was a centre of trading wool. They even suggested that I visit Saltaire before I leave the city. After all, with a day pass of £4:50, I could make it there and back without breaking the bank. One thing they did not bother to tell me but which Professor David Okali, my former boss at NEST added, was that, “The place must have changed/developed beyond recognition now, at least from your account, which did not mention much the Asians that dominated the place then, or the soot and sheep blackened by the smoke from the coal-fired steel works then. Thanks also to increased environmental consciousness that has led to the phasing out of the ‘dirty’ coal-fired factories.” I assume Leeds must have its own dirty little secrets like any European town.

If the couple took me along on their memory lane, a few folks have positioned themselves in my memory. If you ask me nicely, I may tell you about the retiree who dyed her hair in what she called the Electric Blue……electric what? I may be wrong to say that Leeds is filled with eclectic personalities. Those I came across were in different shades and spoke with tongues that challenged my linguistic competence. I was also reminded that this is the city where the Nigerian Community Leeds (NCL) has taken roots. If you trace this cultural organisation to its website, Mr Ben Izuagie, the Chairman’s textual voice would let you know that connecting Nigerian communities is his passion.

Least I forget, I asked the couple about the football club in Leeds, hmmm it is a club named Leeds United, they chorused. It was clear from that response that they were no fans of the club, and I knew next to nothing about the team, so out of the window any talk about EPL went. So let the train of this narrative take you back to the conference walls.

Day Two at the Leeds Africa Week!

Let us just say that Leeds is leading the way in how conferences should be organised. How on God’s earth did they manage it? The University even hired a bus to transport participants who could afford high end hotels in Harrogate, to the venues. Compare this treatment to what we went through last year when the University of Cologne charged almost $435 for a mere talk shop I am yet to feel its impact on the African continent. Yet again come 20th June or so, SOAS is charging about $334 for a mere two-day conference in Central London. The answer is not blowing in the wind but can be located in professional conference organisers, who now run the show on behalf of academics.

So can someone help me here, why is Leeds not charging participants anything? They even made colourful bags, provided tasty coffee and cookies. I need to know the secret of this University; it must be one of the last ones standing, where you do not have to break a bank to share your knowledge. Lest I forget, the interim Vice Chancellor was also in attendance, and I saw him with my own eyes signing certificates presented to the various speakers. It was not just a case of the Leeds VC in attendance, the Vice Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Professor Lawrence Ezemony,e was also present. He had a lot to share on different subjects on research, university administration, partnership, and each time people listened with rapt attention. Dr Kendi Guantai, the live wire of the Africa Week narrated a brief story about how the title of one of the panels came into existence. She had visited the office of the VC of Igbinedion University prior to the conference and behind the VC was a boldly written sign: ‘excellence’ and that was how the discussion of “Reframing Excellence” came into being. On that same panel was Professor Kenneth Matengu, the vice chancellor of University of Namibia. What may not be known to most folks on the continent of Africa is that much is being done to produce career ready graduates. Some universities now have experts from industries review their curriculum and even have offices in such universities. The future may not be too clear, but it is bright.

I say it again, Leeds leads the way!

Day Four

So, what happened today in town and within the conference walls?

The gathering ended on an innovative note; one that I have never experienced before. The writer-in-residence reflected on the three days in a spoken word format and she did a fantastic job of it.

Before her poetic Ameboism, Professor Veronica Moraa Pickering, His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, narrated her life’s journey. She started from when she was the age of six, when speaking in English was a challenge, until when she turned 50 and decided to go back to school to train as a coach.

When you hear stories such as hers, you will be motivated and believe that there is a force higher than humans in the direction of life.

The session on “Reframing Excellence” proved to us again that a lot is happening in African Universities. That much may not be enough, but something worth the while is happening. I should leave Professor Lawrence Ezemonye, the vice chancellor, Igbinedion University, to tell you about what his private university is doing about the Future Readiness of their graduates. Can you believe that in that University, captains of industries are allowed to be members of the curriculum committee? The story from Namibia, as narrated by Professor Kenneth Matengu, was no different.

Since I have become a big boy now, I can confess that I walked in late for the first session on Policy for progress, chaired by the man who would have been my immediate supervisor if I got the job!

In any case, I still met remnants of the discussion between Dr Beate Knight of the Association of Commonwealth Universities and Professor Juliet Thondhlana of the University of Nottingham. The third leg of the panel joined from Michigan, USA.

After the session, I found out that Professor Thondlana attended the University of Florida long before I started work there in 2006!

Leaving a venue of high mental stimulation is always bitter-sweet, so I took the very short walk with Ms Damarie Kalonzo, a PhD student of Disability Law. How would I not tell her about the field work our cohort at Reading University carried out in Kenya around 1998. I still recall the research project like yesterday.

Let me ask you a question if you all do not mind: Have you ever searched for a needle in a sack of Hay? Yes that was a task I set for myself that Friday afternoon. Oga Jahman had provided me with the name of a Nigerian in the Textile Department and since it was on the way to bus number 72, I stopped to ask if anyone knew Professor so and so. No luck. OK, do you know any Nigerian in this place? No way. Alright, is there any black man here, the response was the same. Well, I tried and walked different sides of the road.

I knew I had had enough for the day, and I set off to the Bus stop. In the bus I met this very young girls going out for fun on a Friday night. I asked if I could take their pictures and the ones in front of me said ‘Yes’, while the ones behind said ‘not on your life’ and I tucked my camera in as if for a while.

One prayer on my lips from Tuesday to Friday was God can you take me away from Gainesville, Florida, where it takes 1 hour, 20 minutes if you missed your bus, to get the next one. It Leeds, you do not need your sprint shoes, if you missed one bus, another would be there before Jack calls Robinson. I could not imagine that there are about six different bus companies servicing this lovely but tiny Town.

When God answers my prayer, you all will be the first to hear about it. RTS has made life difficult for those of us without cars, yet I am told that our suffering has just started. The new President of the University of Florida, through his aides, put the only bus service on notice that the $16 million subvention for the service has a knife on its neck. RTS has promised to do what it does best, cut services and make life a little hell for those without cars and scooters.

In lieu of a conclusion, here is my open letter to Professor Lumumba.

Dear Professor Lumumba,

I was one of the over 400 people who watched and listened to you this evening at the University of Leeds.

After your very well–received presentation and the long ovation, I told one of my fellow participants that you are one of the most traveled speakers on the continent of Africa. I added further that your State–Society analysis cannot be faulted. I then asked him if as one of the real time influencers, is it not time for you to form PLO Lumumba civil society movement. I hope you can reflect upon allowing such a movement to be formed in your name, in case you do not have the time. Africans are waiting for someone like you to step into the gap.

The participants left with a charge to go do something. The event was not the funeral of Africa, nor its wake keeping ceremony. We had come from far and wide to soliderise with each other and share experiences about out stay in the belly of Western nations.

Sincerely yours,
Koleade Odutola (PhD media studies)

Kole Ade Odutola teaches in the Department of Languages, Literature and Cultures in the University of Florida at Gainesville.