Osun Calisthenics: A Life Changing Education Legacy

Governor Rauf Aregbesola intervention in education has been established by many organisations and experts to be monumental and unprecedented, and very outstanding among the transformation is school Calisthenics that philosophically integrated knowledge with sense of beauty, physical and mental fitness, driven by virtuous values to organise an ideal society. KEHINDE AYANTUNJI in this report x-rays the potentials of Osun

School Calisthenics.

The audacity and determination of Governor Rauf Aregbesola in reforming education in the state of Osun could be linked to Europe renaissance, the social- political and  economic paradigm shift that altered the social order that placed Europe on development pedestal difficult to reverse today.  The Renaissance was seen as a “rebirth” of that generation, started about 1,400 years. The Renaissance is often said to be the start of the “modern age” and Europe development. During the renaissance, there were many famous philosophers and leaders but one man was singled out as a person who was clever at a great number of things and he was called a “Renaissance man”. Leonardo da Vinci, who was a scientist, and a philosopher, was the most famous Renaissance man.

Perhaps, his edge was his ability to locate certain values beyond education that Europe required to succeed and build a prosperous future for Europe, hence Leonardo renaissance is the manifestation of Europe today. The School Calisthenics rejuvenated in Nigeria by Governor Aregbesola, no doubt, singled him out among thousands of leaders as a symbol of Africa renaissance. Beyond excitement of beauty and aesthetics, the process and success of periodic calisthenics display in Osun is a rebirth of virtuous young generation with sound mind, courage and dexterity to build an organised and ideal society.

The postulations of Marcus Garvey, a leading proponent of Black Nationalism better explains the inevitability of interventions such as calisthenics for any society that must be developed and prosperous.     He described education as “the learning of all that is worthwhile knowing, so that you may be better in all things and relate properly with your creator and with your fellow human beings” but has been largely replaced in Nigeria with mere schooling, “the philosophy of the classroom” and the mere cramming and regurgitation of facts for certificates.

The Founding Fathers of Education established it on the Tripod of 3 Domains: Cognitive, Psychomotor and Affective domains. The Cognitive domain generates activities that dispense knowledge for skills acquisition; in the Psychomotor domain, we find gymnastics and all physical engagements to build a sound mind in a sound body; and the Affective domain takes care of Morals in general, where exemplary conduct is built, as importantly and indispensably as sound knowledge and vigour.

In Nigeria’s past, apart from the teaching of Civics and History, almost all students were engaged in Physical Education (PE) and enrolled into one co-curricular activities or the other: Societies like Boys Scout, Girls Brigade, Red Cross, Photography, Quiz and Debates, et cetera, abound. Equally, both for Boarding and Day students, ample time were assigned for Preparatory classes and Games periods supervised by senior students and Games masters respectively. Schools had large playing fields and provisions for dozens of sporting engagements, from football and athletics all the way to hockey. All these became history in contemporary Nigeria, with most schools without anything more than a few blocks of classrooms, whereas playing fields as rare as rains in the Sahara.

The appalling situation was no different in Osun at inception of the Aregbesola administration, and the woeful performances of students, whereby only about 13% of students enrolled for final examination making up to 5 credits including English and Mathematics, called for an Education Emergency. An Education Summit, Chaired by Prof. Wole Soyinka was called, to map out a way out of the jungle. It was one of the very first acts of the administration in its infancy.

The entire gamut of radical intervention noted in Osun today are the resulting application of the proposed remedies from that Summit: making Osun today arguably the state that has intervened the most in public education in Nigeria’s recent history.

Calisthenics introduced to schools as a co-curricular activity is a less talked about aspect of that intervention ranging from super model school infrastructure, reclassification of schools (elementary, middle and high schools), unified uniforms per level and provision of 2 free starter pairs, free standard meal for all elementary school students on all school days, Opon Imo (Tablet of Knowledge) for all high school students, highly subsidised school buses for transit, incentives to teachers, restructuring of the school management system and teaching services, amongst others.

Calisthenics – kalos (beauty) and stenos (strength) are body weight exercises believed to have originated from Greece at the time of the Greek historian Callisthenes. From being individual exercises combining elements of gymnastics, ballet, acrobatics and yoga, it evolved over the centuries into a complex system of exercises including all body weight exertions around Running, Standing, Jumping, Pushing, Pulling, Swinging, Bending, Kneeling, e.t.c with the gain objectives of Strength, Fitness, Flexibility, Balance, Agility, Coordination, e.t.c.

Group Calisthenics is the finest expression of the modern Calisthenics display, distinct from but sharing certain characteristics with modern aerobics exercises, synchronised dance, rhythm kata in martial arts, and other. Whereas all of above exercises take place either in a large hall on an open field (Field Display). One very distinct aspect of Display Calisthenics is the incorporated display of words and patterns (captions) by participants arranged in grades, usually in a gallery (Background Display). Exercises are performed in unison with amazing precision by participant in beautiful costumes. The exactitude of words and patterns formations by the Background Display participants makes one thinks of a computerised process not humans, precisely exhibiting flags of different colours at command prompts.

Training in calisthenics, especially when introduced to large number of students as a systematic programme over time, produces interesting and positive results as a result of the inherent attributes of the Calisthenics games. The most fundamental aspects of this phenomenon are that these benefits are among the most crucially needed by citizens in an ailing, underdeveloped society! The poverty and underdevelopment of nations are compounded by the existence of a majority of elites and citizens who are disorderly, bereft of aesthetics sense, are self-centred and inconsiderate, and lacking in  basic faculties of discipline (like punctuality, promptness, precision, e.t.c.), and are handing over these negative attributes, wittingly and unwittingly, to the coming generation.

Our education system with its cognitive preoccupation, not being problem-conscious nor solutions-oriented, is a danger to freedom and development in itself, especially as it utterly fails to benefit students from systematic engagements in the psychomotor and affective domains activities. Having determined to turn around the standing and import of education, especially public schools education in the State of Osun from Day 1 of the Aregbesola administration, the choice of the co-curricular activity to adopt along with all its other intended sectoral transformations is then a critical matter. This is where Calisthenics comes in, in the sense that of all major sporting engagements that could be adopted and promoted, it alone has the unique attribute of imparting in participants, all the gains derivable from the 3 domains of education all at once, and to as many participants as possible at a go! It is a simple masterstroke of visionary thinking and management.

The many benefits of calisthenics to participants include, but are not limited to:

–          Enhanced Organisational capacity and understanding of systems (Participants themselves handle all aspects of logistics deployment before and after training, efficiently and in an orderly manner)

–          Promptness and punctuality (as all positions must be filled before the commencement of exercises, so not only is 100% attendance essential, delay in being present is inimical to the common interest)

–          Discipline (all elements making up discipline are imparted in participants, including increasing their attention span (concentration), precision and exactitude, e.t.c.)

–          Team Spirit and Cooperation (unity of Purpose and uniformity in motion are primal dictate in group calisthenics without which any beautiful display is impossible. Every individual accepts to play his/her part well as component of a recognised whole, for the sake of a beautiful common objectives)

–          Enhanced sense of Beauty (obvious development of aesthetics appreciation)

–          Enhanced positive social interaction (obvious networking among thousands of students of various orientation and background, who may otherwise not have met in life – out of which a life-long bond might form, against the backdrop of a memorable encounter during happy activities).

–          Participants are taken away from negative out-of-schools activities and even from potential abusive engagement

–          Grassroots community economy boost (whenever and wherever thousands of athletes are gathered, and regularly over a length of time, the local economy experience a boost in consumables typical to participants age grade. In the case of Osun with a transport token to participants, it is a huge one. Imagine a common N300 per 4,000 participants for say 90 training days, it is millions of naira directly injected into the local economy!)

In 2011, two Calisthenics experts from Cuba were engaged to come to Osun to train 40 physical education instructors and games masters, who were assembled under a Chief Calisthenics instructor, a Bulgarian trained expert instrumental in commencing the programme in Nigeria during the tenure of Chief Bola Ige in the old Oyo State. The training experience culminated in a display at the “Osun at 21” Anniversary Celebration, August 27, 2012; the first ever major calisthenics display in Osun State, with only a Nigerian precedence in the one put up by the Late Chief Bola Ige, at the Liberty Stadium in the Old Oyo State during the 2ndRepublic.

In the 6years or so since then, 4 other major calisthenics displays during various anniversaries, and some other minor displays, have taken place without the Cubans, under the tutorship of those they trained, including the spectacular Oodua World Children’s Day Celebration in 2013 and this year’s Children Day celebration. Over 20,000 students from Middle and High Schools in more than 30 schools from Osogbo and Olorunda Local Government Areas have passed through the training exercises, which last up to 90 days in some instance.

In 2017, a new state-wide competition template was adopted, allowing entry from all schools in Osun, private and public. More than 40 schools across the state formed themselves into 9 teams, training for 2 school terms, with elimination displays and Senatorial Stage championship and prizes. The grand finale took place last November between teams representing the 3 Senatorial Districts: the total numbers of students involved are more than 5,000 and the total prize money, which went into the sports facilities development of the participating schools, was N10,500,000 apart from trophies and certificates of participation.

Beyond the pomp and colours, one can begin to imagine what attitude and orientation these thousands of students, averagely aged 14 presently, will take into tertiary institutions and thenceforth into the professions and the society at large in a little more than a decade to come.

As Ogbeni himself has drummed out repeatedly, “calisthenics is not just an out-of-school activity, but a life-changing engagement introduced to schools as a way of producing a new generation of youths who are physically-robust, mentally-sound and socially well-adjusted in addition to being knowledgeable.”

Surely, Calisthenics displays involving thousands of colourfully costumed students exercising in precision and concert is an awesome spectacle to behold. However, beyond the amazing and exciting 1 hour displays, there are unquantifiable benefits to societal advancement in values and attitudes picked up during long hours and days of training preceding the satisfying spectacle that we ceremonially see. It is a model project deserving of accolades and widespread emulation.