Adenle Oloruntoba: Lebanon is a museum the size of a
country
Opportunity, they say, meets
preparedness. It’s no wonder Adenle Oloruntoba made it to one of the Ten
selected in the The Wole Soyinka Study Abroad in Lebanon project, (SAIL) in
2017 when he least expected it. The budding writer and artiste, who studied
Creative arts at the University of Lagos, had gone to see Professor Wole
Soyinka, and saw an offer before him. He accepted instantly, “No test,
interview, or sentiments. All I had to do was cover the study textbook, Silk
Roads, and prepare mentally”, he recalls.
The exchange programme was scheduled
for writers not only to have impact on their careers but to also broaden their
intellectual and cultural scope. This, Adenle has achieved, even though his
expectations before leaving for Lebanon was thin for lack of time. Part of the
discovery made was the sightseeing visit paid to World Heritage sites, the practical
approach to augment the courses studied in the classroom. In the ten days spent
with the Cedars Institute, Notre Dame University, he was able to visit
Baalbeck, Tyr, Byblos, The National Museum, Tripoli, Saint Anthony Monastery.
His notes read: “Baalbeck: plains of the Temples of Baalbeck [1st century
A.D.]. At this temple, I believed in the might and romanticism of the roman
architect. They had the temple of Jupiter and Bacchus built in a way it will
last forever. Built as a place of worship where seaborne travellers, or
natives, captives, merchants, can gather to worship and contact more than
religion, but trade. Strategically and gigantically built by the sea.
“Byblos: The Crusader Castle [12th
century A.D.] perfectly built also by the Mediterranean Sea. There I saw the
temple of the disciples of Jesus Christ, and learned about the different eras
of civilisation and how villages and worship places were built upon each other,
era by era. From the excavations, one will notice this somewhat rare way of conquest.
I also saw the way their graves were built, saw the graves and two temples of
worship. Byblos is a rich city I must confess, and how the old and new merged
is fantastic….”
The writer told The Sun Literary
Review, “Lebanon is a museum the size of a country.” indeed, he got a lot more
than imagined from the trip, meeting people, trying out local meals rather than
the “just study and get exposed to world sites” mindset he carried with him .
According to him, the reception wasn’t stiff for a foreigner that he was. “It
was like the whole country was expecting us, or pranking us –the visiting
students. But day after day I personally realised that it’s the way the people
there are. Their level of hospitality is world class. So, I say, it is
welcoming.”
On the whole, the experience was
worth his while. The certificate awarded thrilled him and, in equal measure,
made him marvel at his name carved on the famed “Cedar tree-like wooden
plague”. It was nothing short of lifetime recognition from a start to finish sponsored
programme. With this cultural integration, this young Nigerian has returned
home filled with dreams and aspirations of becoming a better person “a
supporter of national dialogue on cultural differences and historic sites
preservation”, because that is the bulk of what will make Nigeria unique and a
world class heritage place to visit, and one who must accept other people for
who they are and as part of the beautiful world he has seen.
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