STORYTELLING AS A MEANS TO AN END: A REFLECTION

SELECTION

Africa is a land of stories. Indeed, the saying that there is nothing new under the sun could be modified  to an African setting in the sense that one could opine that there is nothing which has not happened in  this land ages ago. From the tales of Ajapa the mischievous tortoise to Baba Segi and his polyamorous  and cunning wives, there lies an abundance of tales; factual or otherwise, that emanated from African  soil and have entrenched their roots deep into the minds of young and impressionable children of the  motherland. I vividly remember the days of my early childhood where we; the young children, would  scurry under the Mango tree at exactly eight o’ clock, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Baba Akanbi, who  would entice us with all sorts of mythical cautionary tales concerning events which took place before we  were born. During my years in elementary school also, I took a keen interest in established authors such  as Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl and using these stories, I was able to quickly form a vague idea of the  world and how it should be and of course; how it should not be. This early interest in literature was also  handy in aiding my tendency to think on my feet when the need arises, and I was never more grateful  for this gift than sometime in February 1980, when the odds seemed stacked against my partners and I.

CHALLENGE

It was inevitable. At exactly 11:15AM, the letter arrived on the Head Prefect’s (or Senior Boy as the  position was then known as) desk from the principal. In what was known as the prefects’ equivalent of a  P45, he was given an ultimatum, either to resign or face dismissal by the Academic Board of the school.  We weren’t surprised in the least, given that he had after all flounted the school regulations by leaving  the school during academic hours; but it was for good reason. His brother had been apprehended at the  police station nearby and was being framed for a crime which he did not commit. As both his parents  were out of the country and without any further means of communication, he was forced to send an  emissary to contact his brother during school hours and the latter; being in a state of distress had  abandoned classes and run to the station. Now with the prior issue resolved, the bone of contention at  hand involved his actions flaunting the school handbook and therefore leaving him exposed to  suspension or worse. As he was my friend as well as the head prefect of the student body, I thought it  would be rather unfair for him to be humiliated in such a manner, especially when the circumstances  surrounding the misconduct were put into context. I figured our best bet was a general consensus or  group action to attempt to force the school’s hand into retaining him as Head Prefect, but alas therein  lay another issue; there was an ongoing rift between a few members of the Male Prefects’ subgroup and  some were also unwilling to stick out their necks for the Head Prefect owing to previous scuffles,  disagreements and rifts. Indeed this was a sticky situation.

APPLICATION

I called a meeting at noon the next day in the students’ hall, consisting of solely the Male Prefects  numbering about 7 of us. I motioned for them to sit in a circular formation as my intention was to build  a sort of brotherly and familial setting between us. Having done that and being aware of the existing  tension building after some seconds of silence in the room, I broke the ice with what I knew to do best:   a story. I asked them if they could recall our junior year in the school about five years ago when we  would ride our Raleigh bicycles around the town center to see who was the fastest and who had the  best bike. This elicited a few laughs from them and I decided to egg on with it; seeing as it was working

well. I urged the person next to me to tell us a story involving all of us that he recalled from our junior  year, to which he told a fantastic story about our excursion to a zoo and one of us peeing his trousers  upon sighting a live lion. As the stories continued, the tension reduced and dissipated until it finally  broke and the atmosphere was lively and full of laughter and banter. My mission had been  accomplished. All the rife and malice building up between all parties had been ameliorated with just a  handful of stories; each one to serve as a reminder of how far we had gone as friends as well as the  experiences we had on the way. By virtue of this, the spirit of unity and brotherhood was able to seep  into our hearts once more and the decision was finally made to rally around the Head Prefect in his time  of need.

INSIGHT & APPROACH

In the end we did go to the Principal’s office and were able to convince him to retain the Head Prefect  notwithstanding on probation, and he remained in that position till it was constitutionally right to hand  over to the successor. Contrary to what some reading this paper might have thought, the storytelling  method was not so instantaneous at all. Prior to the meeting, I had analyzed the current situation of  things at the time and it was fairly evident that the meeting was bound to be tense, vociferous and at a  worst case scenario; violent. And while the primary assignment was to convince the Principal to retain  the Head Prefect using the willpower of the Male Prefects’ Committee, I was able to identify an  underlying issue such as Hatch & Bloom were able to in The Good Kitchen case study. By identifying the  issue amongst the prefects and making strides to solve it using the storytelling tool, I was able to; as the  saying goes “kill two birds with a stone” and broker peace amongst my colleagues to further the primary  objective of appeasing the principal. The use of the Storytelling technique was evidently no fluke as by  virtue of these stories told in that setting, a feeling of mutual respect, trust and brotherhood was re- established amongst the parties involved and the issue was resolved accordingly.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, amongst the various tools mentioned over the duration of this course, the Storytelling  tool appeals to me greatly as a result of its multi-purposeness and relatability. Everyone has a story, and  ultimately we just need to tell it to enable our colleagues, superiors and subordinates to understand us  clearly as well as identify with them on a more emphatic and human level.

