Saga Of Dr. Shedrach Pewan: From Surviving Death Squads As A Village School Teacher To Bagging A PhD In Molecular Genetics
The Oasis Reporters
January 31, 2025
{smiles}…you”ll never know, Chancellor.
Dr. Pewan gratefully accepts his certificate and congratulations from the JCU Chancellor
One deeply troubling scenario in Plateau State, Central Nigeria is the preponderance of death squads who roam the nooks and crannies of the state,
allegedly composed by mainly ethnic youths who are suspected to be on a mission to cleanse large swathes of land owned and occupied by sedentary farmers so as to find enough room and grazing area for the largely nomadic herdsmen that are fleeing the semi arid and Sahel regions due to a loss of sufficient grasslands for their cattle on the one hand and another opposing militia intent on protecting the rights of indigenous citizens to stay and live on their land in safety.
One of the triggers of the movement towards the central middle belt of Nigeria by nomadic herders is actually climate change. Many indigenous people in Plateau have lost their homes and are thus residing in Internally Displaced People’s Camps.
In the midst of all the crises and large parts of his native Bokkos local government area, being in the hands of the ethnic militias protecting the occupying herdsmen, he not only lost his father in June 2002, and his mother on 22nd September, 2024 in such a traumatic and stress inducing climate of the Plateau atmosphere of massive displacements of centuries long settled communities.
“My loving parents pushed me into the striving for academic excellence as the only way out of poverty and strife”, “ironically, today at the pinnacle of my academic achievements, they’re not alive to celebrate with me today”, Dr. Shedrach Pewan told The Oasis Reporters on the line from Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
Continuing with his story, he revealed his humble origins as a village teacher,
teaching in one COCIN High School at Foron Junction, Gada Biyu with his National Certificate of Education (NCE) qualification.
, “My father insisted on my leaving the middle level village school teaching to aim for a professional course in the university as the first male child in the family. He inspired me to dream massively.
“For 3 days, I was unable to sleep well. I dreamt of bigger professional courses to pursue. I had no option but to go to Zaria and start a remedial programme before studying Veterinary Medicine.
“From my humble NCE qualification, I had to enroll into Remedial classes as a pedestal to take me into the Veterinary medicine class, then finally, to pursue an MSc degree and finally, to pursuing a PhD at James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland Australia
.
Quite a meandering career journey, wouldn’t you rather say?” he added with a burst of laughter.
Talking about it makes it sound a little bit easy. But the reality is that he spent a whole decade struggling with Masters at
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University
(ATBU), Bauchi at the peak of the bloody religious crises on the Plateau. Bauchi being a predominantly Muslim town, just 132.2 km from Jos, State capital of Plateau State that is largely Christian and within the 2hrs 17 min road journey on the lonely highway littered religious death squads that must be meandered through to pursue business or education.
“ My thesis was in the Post Graduate (PG) school for almost 3 years. Surviving
attacks between Jos and Bauchi was one of the most nerve racking experiences that can never be wished on anyone. I survived most of the road attacks by at times negotiating with the death squads that want to dig into your faith before deciding whether the captive deserves to live or die. It wasn’t easy”.
“I had to abandon my studies but I later continued because of my kids. I didn’t want to tell them that l failed”.
“That Master’s paved the way for my PhD here in JCU, Townsville, Queensland.
Therefore when the University Chancellor was asking me on the side, how long it took me to get the PhD, I answered ruefully with a smile”.
From Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Shedrach Pewan had diverted a bit to read Animal Science, specialising in genetics and breeding. And now, he is a proud holder of a PhD in Molecular genetics.
Greg Abolo
gregabolo@gmail.com
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