Othman Alghali
By Aroun Rashid-Deen
One of Sierra Leone’s long-serving educationists, headmaster Alpha Muhammad Othman AMO Alghali of Fourah Bay in Freetown, has died in North Carolina, USA. Headmaster Alghali devoted almost half a century to promoting education in Sierra Leone. He rose through the ranks from a junior teacher to headmaster at two of Freetown’s municipal primary schools - Islamia Municipal and East End Municipal. He later became Inspector of Schools before his retirement.
Alghali’s long and distinguished career was defined mainly by his passion to ensure that students not only learned to read and write, but also strove to embrace and value the essence of their being to school. His personal motto and advice to all students is, "Education is not just about learning to read and write or getting a diploma or degree…it is essentially about using knowledge gained to refine one’s way of life for the general good of society."
In all of the schools he served, including Koyema Secondary School in southern Sierra Leone where he was a teacher, the 89-year-old made it a duty to encourage other teachers to develop and put into practice extracurricular activities in order to enhance teacher-student relation and also to enable teachers to fully understand the potential and interests of their students. He inspired teachers to always regard themselves as leaders worthy of emulation.
During his days as headmaster at Islamia and East End Municipal, where he served for over 40 years, he organised annual teacher-leadership programmes, an idea borne out of his belief that teachers must lead as well. He used to say that "teachers who regard themselves as leaders and role models of students are more likely to better pave the way for students who become great men and women of society".
Alghali’s drive for education could be described as innate. At the tender age of three years, he had developed a passion for both secular and Islamic education. He once recalled how he used to get closer to his dad whenever the father was reading something - a book or a newspaper. His father would encourage the practice by regularly reading to him aloud and teaching him to read and write in both English and Arabic. The practice enhanced his interest and understanding of both languages. As young as he was, he loved speaking in English, always; a practice he also enforced in school as a teacher and as a headmaster. A group of students at Islamia once described him as The Englishman.
Headmaster AMO Alghali was also assistant Imam of Jamiul Atiq Mosque at Davies Street Fourah Bay. In her tribute at his funeral in Greensboro, North Carolina where his remains were buried, Doctor of Dental Surgery and owner and chief dentist of Yardee Dental in Maryland, Haja Dr. Jemi Sanusi – herself a sister of headmaster Alghali - described him as an education-perfectionist. “His diction in both English and Arabic was second to none and his vocabulary was to the point.” That was further manifested in his uniquely innovative fine-tuning of his call to prayers among other Islamic practices.
Referring to the late man as Alpha-the-speaker, another alias he was also to be described by, Dr. Sanusi said he had the ability to coin English phrases in his own way with style. She recalled him once saying, “…the answer was emphatically, No. But now, it is unanimously, Yes!” meaning, we disagreed to agree.
She paid her tribute also in the form of poetry by reading stanzas of A Psalm of Life, an 1838 poem by Englishman Henry Wadsworth Longfellow., which encourages all to make haste and live life to the fullest in a worthy way.
"Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
"Dust thou art, to dust returnest,"
Was not spoken of the soul.
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait"
Dr. Sanusi hoped his life had left "a footprint in the sand of time".
Chief Imam of Jamiul Atiq Mosque, Alhaji Hassani Karim in his comment in Freetown during Quranic readings in honour of the late deputy Imam praised him for being "a man of God who was steadfast, resourceful and diligent". Alhaji Abdul Rahman Abdullah of Aberdeen Mosque said notwithstanding his national commitment, the late Deputy Imam was very involved in community development.
Headmaster Alghali graduated with a Bachelor’s degree at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. He was part of the generation of Fourahbayans who believed that with education, be it Western or Islamic, human beings can move mountains. His was a generation of men and women who defied tremendous obstacles, travelled far and wide in search of education. He, himself moved many mountains, refining the potentials and paving the way for many with whom he crossed paths including my humble self.
A friendly and polished gentleman of tremendous authority, he was very reassuring and always self-confident. Notwithstanding, he always put service before self. He will be remembered also for his deep sense of discipline that led to him being nicknamed ‘In My School’, underscoring his no-nonsense stance under his administration at Islamia and East End Municipal.
In May 2013, Headmaster Alghali was honoured in New York City with the Distinguished Educationist Award by the US-based Fourah Bay Foundation, USA. He became the first person to be so honoured by the organisation.
He is survived by his wife Haja Safiatu Alghali, children: Abdul Mumin, Muhammad Ahidu, Hulaimatu, Fatmata Batily, Jamilatu, Khadeeja, Hassanatu and Aishata and
several other relatives.
(C) Politico 20/05/14
