Definiciones de competencia laboral

(LS, 9 October 1907, 1)

However, this scheme for a memorial day did not escape severe criticism. A letter under the pseudonym “Socrates” to the Standard criticised the programme of Agbebi Day, especially the “photographing of lovers” event, which was targeted as

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meaningless. He suggested that it seemed “rather strange that the memory of such a good and pious creature as the late Agbebi should be marred by advertising for the assemblage of a motley crowd of illicit lovers to take their stand by a chapel on the Race Course for the purpose of being photographed” (LS, 2 October 1907, 7).²⁰⁶ Another letter to the Record in the pseudonym “Okete”, who received an invitation card issued for celebrating “Agbebi Day”, also criticised the programme of the day as having nothing to do with “raising money to facilitate and strengthen Dr. Agbebi’s evangelistic efforts in regions beyond Lagos” nor inculcating “race pride”, which was supposed to be an aim and a desideratum of the Memorial Committee. Instead of juggling and magic, he suggested, the programme should include the reading of Agbebi’s works. The letter ended with the following question: “It is puzzling how Agbebi could have allowed his name to be made use of so injudiciously. Is it not a fact that the object of Agbebi Day is to commemorate the name of Agbebi?” (LWR, 23 October 1907, 6)

Despite the hopes of some promoters of making Agbebi Day an occasion of meaningful events to educate attendants, such as public lectures or readings on his life and works, the first Agbebi Day ended as a festivity. The anniversary continued for at least a few years in Lagos, though the detailed programme of the Day is not found in Lagos newspapers (LWR, 16 October 1909, 3).²⁰⁷ What is more, Agbebi was recognised as “the personification of the African Personality” in the United States, and

206 The writer of the latter described Agbebi as “late” despite the fact that Agbebi died in 1917 and was still alive at the time of 1907. This would be because the writer misunderstood that Agbebi had already passed away. In addition, this would be also because memorialising both living and dead people was recognised as similarly important or the boundary of living and dead was obscure. Not only the deceased were memorialised in obituaries and memorial poems, but living people were also honoured in the Lagos newspapers, such as in the column of “Portrait Gallery” in the Lagos Standard.

207 It was reported in the article on “Dedication of Araromi chapel” that in the ceremony, Agbebi “said that though “Agbebi Day” is not at present distinctively observed owing to the distance, yet members of the Committee celebration render much assistance from year to year”

(LWR, 16 October 1909, 3).

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the Men’s Sunday Club of Yonkers observed 11 October 1911 as “Agbebi Day” for a celebration of the African race (Akiwowo 1965, 136).²⁰⁸

4.5. Conclusion

So far, this chapter has examined seven memorial movements in colonial Lagos between 1880 and 1920—T. B. Macaulay Memorial Association, Dr. N. T. King Memorial Fund, Glover Memorial Fund, Lady Denton Memorial, Anna Sophia Williams Memorial, Edward Wilmot Blyden Memorial Committee, James Johnson Memorial Fund—as well as several memorial poems and Agbebi Memorial Day in the early twentieth century. It was difficult for memorial associations to fully bring their plans to fruition due to lack of funds, and not a single bronze statue was established during this period in Lagos. However, the promoters of the campaigns did not stop proposing ambitious and optimistic plans to memorialise “worthy” people in society.

This was because recording “Footprints on the sands of Time”²⁰⁹ (LO, 2 & 16 July 1885, 2), the act of recording their “own history”, was recognised as essential for the progress of society, which the Lagos educated elite aimed at achieving. It was believed that, without the shared past, there would be no social solidarity, which was necessary

208 Another example of Memorial Day would be the beginning of Mother’s Day. The proposal for making the second Sunday in May Mother’s Day was made by Mojola Agbebi in 1911 and this observance was initiated from the same year (LWR, 18 March 1911, 3). On the first Mother’s day, it was reported that “Many people visited their mothers’ graves as a token of respectful reverence and rememberance [sic]… A feature of the Sunday observance was striking sermons, addresses and prayers, some of which made tears flow from aged people’s eyes, the presentation of gifts to living mothers, and thanks-offerings in memory of deceased ones, the latter of which brough substantial contributions to some churches” (LWR, 20 May 1911, 3).

209 “Footprints on the sands of time” is a phrase from a poem titled “A Psalm of Life” by American writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), describing the mark that great individuals leave on history. The editor of the Lagos Observer cited this phrase in the article on the lamentable failure of memorial campaigns in Lagos (2 & 16 July 1885, 2).

174 for the development of “nation”.

Despite the fact that memorial campaigns often resulted in failure, the deceased were, nonetheless, memorialised in the sense that the importance of their lives was publicised through the press reports, which the educated elite preserved for a long time in their personal libraries. People in Lagos would sometimes launch campaigns and hold meetings in order to be recorded in the newspapers. The memorialisation of the deceased was partly achieved once the proposal for the memorial campaign, which expressed patriotic zeal to record the life of the deceased, had been reported in the Lagos press, notwithstanding the result of the campaign.

Memorialisation in the newspapers, such as biographies, obituaries, and memorial poems; and other forms of memorialisation, such as ceremonies and material representations of memory, for example, establishing memorial tablets and portraits;

complemented each other, because ceremonies and other kinds of material memorialisation were fixed in permanent form once they were reported in the newspapers, which were recognised as containers or carriers of memories of certain events or people.

Early colonial Lagos has been described as a stratified and divided society.

However, this chapter has demonstrated the efforts of the educated elite to share their history with other sections of society by adopting Western modes of memorialisation, while at the same time, relating it to their own Yoruba tradition. The commemorative associations examined in this chapter can be seen as attempts to make a history of their own, and to share this history with illiterate and partly-literate people by giving charismatic figures a visual form, such as portraits and tablets. In addition, the practice of publishing memorial poems shows that memorialisation in the Lagos press became a medium not only for “big men and women” of society, but also for the memorialisation

175 of less prominent individuals.

It would appear that each memorial campaign only benefited a particular section of society, or even just the family of the person who was memorialised, and there was also a possibility of fraud in the usage of donations. Despite that, as discussed, newspaper descriptions of commemorative associations were discussed in connection with public interests, such as the progress of society, unity of the people, or for retaining racial pride; and the importance of memorial campaigns was justified in a similar context. The Lagos press encouraged memorial movements by emphasising that memorialisation was not only a custom of Western countries, but had also been common practice in Yorubaland.

For Halbwachs, memory was socially constructed and present-oriented, focussing on instances where the images and concerns of the present impinged on memories of individuals as well as of a certain community; whereas, what we have seen from this chapter suggests that memorialisation in the Lagos newspapers was reported in a future-oriented tone. The memorial campaigns were the educated elite’s conscious projects for constructing future society, and suggesting ways in which Lagos society should progress.

The next chapter will examine newspaper descriptions of industrial and agricultural associations, and educational institutes, and elucidate the growing interests of the Lagos press in agriculture and industry.

176 CHAPTER 5