NdubisiKanu Park: Where visitors care less about man whose name it bears

By EZUGWU OBINNA

A visit to the popular NdubisiKanu Park, a park named after former military administrator of Lagos, Rear Admiral NdubuisiKanu at Alausa, Ikeja the capital city of Lagos State on a weekend can be an exciting experience.  It is lively, serene and fun packed.

On Saturday, June 13, 2015, the eve of June 12, 1993 annulled presidential election commemoration; Hallmark visited the park to check how much people know about the man whose contributions to the June 12 struggles prompted the immediate past governor of the state, BabatundeRajiFashola to name the park after.

As expected, the place was seething with people. There were children of various ages partaking in games of varieties. Some were driving the swings, others were busy with the ‘janglover,’ usually under the watch of their parents… the rule said “children using the playground should be accompanied by adults.”

But for the adults, time at the park is not strictly spent looking after the children. In fact, there are even more activities for them than the children. At one end of the park… a party house, music was blaring and mothers and fathers were trying to outdo one another in a dancing competition.

One parent was so engrossed in the dance that he didn’t know when his little boy sneaked away from him. What followed when he recovered himself was a frantic search effort. The boy, about four, had joined a couple of others his age and they were having their own activities further afield. He was relieved to find him in the end.

There is a basketball court at the opposite end of the park, and a number of young men and women, mostly expatriates: Chinese, Europeans and Americans were having a good time playing the game. Some played while others admired, applauding each time their favourite side succeeded in putting the ball into the basket.

There were however a good number of people who, perhaps having tried their hands in one or two activities, had retired to the seats at different spots in the park discussing and admiring the beautiful environment, or if you would, breeding the special brand of clean air available at the park. There was no dirtying the environment: the rules were clearly pasted at the entrance gate. Among other things, you must not urinate anywhere else apart from the provided convenience.

Everyone at the park wore a happy countenance, after all they had all come to have fun and fun they were having indeed.

But the question of the day: what do you know about NdubisiKanu?” is one that caught most of them gapping and literally left many biting their fingers. Some did not however, think it was a big deal and they simply gave their answers as: “I don’t know.” But the question would have appeared simple ordinarily, at least for someone visiting NdubuisiKanu Park.

“No, I don’t know NdubuisiKanu,” said a young man clutching his little girl, he simply gave his name as Jide. “I really don’t know anything about him,” he continued. “I am here today for the first time; I got invited by someone for a party here, so I don’t know much about here generally.”

Jide was not the only person at the park who doesn’t know about NdubisiKanu however, in fact, it may surprise you that none except one official who gave his name as Ahmed knew a thing about Kanu.

The next respondent, a lady in her thirties, obviously had no idea. “Kanu?The footballer? Is that who you mean?” she queried. “No, I only know about Kanu, NwankwoKanu the footballer. I don’t know NdubuisiKanu; I have never heard about him.”

That’s not the most surprising of all however, she hadn’t even bothered to find out what the name of the park she had come to visit is. “No, I haven’t actually thought about the name of the park,” she admitted. “I just came for a party here today; I am coming for the first time.”

The next person said he is from Edo State, like many others at the park, he refused to give his name. According to him, “I don’t trust journalists; they can twist people’s words.” But does he know who NdubisiKanu is?

“I don’t know NdubuisiKanu,” he said sharply. “But I know he is from the East; he is an Igbo man. I think he is a politician,” he said, but his expression betrayed him as one who had only made a wild guess.

Elvis is a young man, about thirty. He walked in with his wife and an infant child. At a glance, Elvis cut an image of a man who is very knowledgeable; a bright young man. However, when confronted with the same question, Elvis bit his lips, looked into the sky before finally admitting he didn’t know.

“Ah! Honestly, I don’t know who the man is,” he said. “I have not actually thought about that before.” His wife who stood nearby was having a good laugh. But you could have won if you placed a bet on her not knowing either. The suggestion of her bailing her husband out met a firm “No, I don’t know him NdubuisiKanu.”

For Tolu, a young woman with her two young sons who were dressed like the popular cartoon character, the spider man, the question is a very tough one; tougher than even WAEC question. “This question na WAEC ooo!” She exclaimed. “To say the truth, I don’t know who the man is, his name suggests he is an Igbo, but really that’s all I can say. Who is he really?” She asked.

Interestingly, even the two security men at the gate were at a loss when the name NdubisiKanu was mentioned. “Didn’t you read the instructions here, look at the instructions. What did you say you did?” one asked, his face becoming grimmer. He obviously missed the point or probably did not get the question correctly. Thus there became a need to re-phrase before the matter got out of hand.

But even when they got the question correctly, their answers were as you can now guess. “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know too,” the other repeated.

The situation was already starting to look hopeless when Ahmed, a dark middle aged man whose shirt suggests he is a worker at the park came to the rescue. Indeed, it would have been unimaginable that in a park seething with people, no one really knew anything about the man whose name it bears.

But Ahmed knew something about kanu. However, even his knowledge of him was quite little. “I know he was a military administrator, he was a governor under the military. That’s all I know about him,” said Ahmed.

He doesn’t know much you would admit, but at least he knew a thing about Kanu, the onetime military governor of Lagos State.

Born in Abia State in 1943, Kanu grew through the ranks to become a foremost military officer in the country. In July 1975 as a lieutenant commander, he was appointed a member of MurtalaMuhammed’s ruling Cabinet, the Supreme Military Council. He was subsequently appointed governor of Imo State in March 1976. As Imo governor, Kanu made developmental strides in the state: planned the presentOwerri City, built roads in Owerri metropolis, expanded that number of Local Government Areas to 21 and founded the Imo Broadcasting Service, which went on air in December 1976.

From Imo he was transferred to Lagos State as its military administrator in 1977, a post he occupied till July 1978.

But the naming of the park after him by Fashola was informed on his contributions to the June 12 struggles of MKO Abiola, the widely acclaimed winner of the annulled 1993 presidential election.