Category: Entertainment

The Chairman of the South West Zone of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Archbishop Magnus Adeyemi Atilade, is a man of many parts. He combines his calling as an evangelist with being a professor of alternative medicine. Besides, he does not hide his love for the arts. As he celebrated his 70th birthday last week, he spoke with GBENGA ADERANTI about his passion for books and hatred for blind acquisition of wealth, among other issues. Excerpts:

How does it feel to be 70?          Well, I’m full of gratitude to God. He has preserved my life and seen me through the ups and downs of life from my childhood to the evening time of life.

At 70, you are still full of life. What is the secret?

I would simply attribute that to the grace of God. His grace is what has propelled us to this time. It is the unmerited love and favours from God that has blotted out all our wrong doings in life and He has put us in the position of grace.

I see books everywhere around you. How do you get the time to read them?

You’re just seeing about one tenth of them. There are 10 different places where my books are stored. I’m also the proprietor of New State High School, Lagos. My office is full of books, I have a private library. My children and family members are complaining that all they see with me are books.

When my children were small, they used to ask me if I had read all the books. They asked what time I would have for something else. I read two or three books together every day. Immediately we finish talking now, I’ll look at two or three pages of the books I’m reading, and by afternoon, I will look at another.

That has been my life. I grew up with a father who was an author. He was a school proprietor and an author of 15 books, including 10 textbooks. My mother was a teacher. I am the happiest when I’m reading because I project my life into the life of the author, visualising it, experiencing it and living it. My life is tied to the book I’m reading at any given time. That has been my hobby and calling.

If you have to quantify all these books, how much are they likely to cost?

In every 24 hours that make a day, I devote only about two hours to myself, eating, going to the toilet and other personal activities. I try to sleep for an average of six hours and spend between eight and 10 hours attending church and society meetings and granting interviews, while I spend the remaining eight hours or so reading books.

There is so much to read about. There are so many topics on arts, science, philosophy and other professional books, and I like to get so much from them. When I’m reading , that is when I’m thinking, that is when I’m acquiring knowledge, that is when I’m planning and preparing my sermon and so on.

I mean how much are your books worth in naira and kobo?

I would say that my earning goes into three or four main things. One is evangelism and missionary work, which is my primary calling. For your information, I’m known as a radio evangelist. We are on three or four radio stations. I’m also the President of the Christian Welfare Initiative, which is geared towards helping the underprivileged. Half of the third part goes into the family and myself, while the rest goes into books and art works. I’m also a collector of arts and artifacts.

Is any of your children in the habit of reading books like you?

Well, they are now at a stage where they are struggling for themselves and making their own marks. I don’t think they want to live in their parents’ shadows after distinguishing themselves in their callings. They can now veer into other callings I suggested to them.

I still wonder why a professor of alternative medicine would veer into evangelism.

Alternative medicine is my profession. But my calling is to be a minister of God, and with that, God gave me the title ‘Servant of the Servants of God’. I am called to minister to people, especially the servants of God. That is why I occupy the positions as the chairman of an organisation called Africa Instituted Churches, South West, and also the Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, South West, after I had been the Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria in Lagos State. So, one is a profession with which I earn a living by treating sick people and by laying of hands, just like Jesus did. But my calling is to be a winner of souls for Christ.

Your response to attacks on Christians sometimes makes people uncomfortable.

Well, it is the circumstance we find ourselves; not what I am saying. Most of the time, I am reacting and re-emphasising so that even those who are deaf can hear and those who are not seeing can see. The mission God gave to me is to reawaken people onto righteousness; it does not have to be with religion. What I’m saying is that is it good to kill? Whether you are a Christian or not does not matter. Does Islam say Muslims should kill? Does Christianity say one should kill?

As a pagan, should you kill? And should you destroy another person’s property? That is what I’m reacting to or commenting on. I’m not starting any new thing, but I’m just letting people to hear and see what is happening. When I said that Boko Haram was a threat to the whole country and not only to Christians, it is now materialisng and people are seeing it. When they bombed Nyana Park, was it only Christians that died? I won’t say I’m a full time prophet. I’m a small time prophet. I’m developing to be there.

God has revealed it to me that these people should not be handled with kid gloves. They are a threat to the whole society, whether you are a Christian or not. They started with us and you would see that some people in another religion outside Christianity did not want to comment. Now, it is affecting them and the man came out boldly to say recently that he was going to sell young girls. That means it is now a threat to the whole world. That is why people are reacting.

It is not only in Nigeria; he is now taking on the whole world, saying: ‘Do what you can, you can’t catch me.’ And this is what we have seen and we try to make people know. He started from somewhere. He was destroying our churches and killing Christians, but nobody was ready to say anything. It was just like a story we read when when they killed my neighbour, I did not say anything. Now, they have come to attack me, who is going to speak for me?’

So, when these things were happening, I was encouraging the imams and the emirs, I said they should come out and speak against what was happening, but they did not. Now that it is affecting everybody, I think they will have enough courage to condemn it, so that all of us can join hands. What is evil is evil, we don’t have to categorise it as black, white, Muslim or Christian. It is bound to maim. It is bound to destroy. It is bound to kill. It should be condemned by all people.

Some state governments have returned schools to their original owners. Do you consider that a healthy development?

Thank God and thanks to the goodness and courage of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was courageous enough to see the right thing and do it. It was not a crime to start private schools. We all went into it because we realised that government alone could not take care of the education of the masses. All over the world, there are private institutions, and for any government to come and take over something a person has invested his life on to help the society, it was wrong in every way you look at it. Bola Tinubu, I thank God for his life. He was a courageous person to take the step of returning schools to their original owners. I will forever remain grateful to him.

Since then, education standard has improved. There is nowhere in the world where government alone takes care of education. Even in the communist Russia, there were private schools, not to talk of America or Europe. Things have improved since the return of schools. My own school, for example, has been adjudged one of the best schools in Lagos State.

What has been your lowest moment?

My lowest moment is when I see unrighteousness prevailing; when I see people doing the wrong thing; when I see Nigerians beating themselves on the streets out of frustration; when I see poor people not being able to feed themselves; when I see privileged people trying to amass more wealth than they need. I see big houses all over the country and I ask myself, the people who sleep in these houses, do they sleep in two rooms at a time? Is it possible to sleep on two beds or can you eat more than three square meals a day? After two cars, the rest are packed in their garages; what do they use them for?

I see the injustice that we find ourselves in; our elected officials are not able to tell us how much they are earning and people are speculating. All these cause my down moments in life, but I quickly snap out of it and say God is in control; He is seeing everything and He will bring us back to righteousness, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Going by the way you talk, you seem to have contempt for capitalism

Let me put it on record that I’m not ashamed to say that I’m a socialist. I’m a socialist because I read in the bible the story of two brothers, Cain and Abel. Cain killed his brother Abel and God asked him, ‘where is your brother?’And he asked God, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ I affirm that and I join those who have the belief that they are their brothers’ keepers. I want to do everything to see that I help my brother when he needs my help.

I want to see that the collective wealth of the society is made available to us all, I want to see that I can help people to attain their destiny; to see that they maximise their potential for their own benefits. And I want to see that the bridge between the haves and have-nots is eradicated, and sometimes you don’t do this by peaceful means. You don’t do it by begging. If it needs to be forcefully done, I’m in support of it.

Your comment could make some of your friends uncomfortable

I’m wining them over. I’ve been telling them. I do ask them, these many cars that you have, what are you doing with them? I’ve asked two or more of them when they asked me to come and dedicate their houses. I asked, this house that you built, if you die today, who is going to maintain the house? A house of 15 bedrooms? My child tells me that you don’t need a big house. I have two people whose children have told them, ‘you don’t need this house. If you die, I’m going to sell the house.

This is the irony of life. When you have too much, it causes problems for you. This is the truth about life. Because of where we are coming from, people with backgrounds of abject poverty think they have to acquire as much wealth as they can. It is a primitive instinct. I’m not only against mindless acquisition of wealth, I’m going to work against it in a friendly way by telling the people to acquire for what they need and not for what they want.

I don’t pray that you die now, but it is a necessary end…

(Cutsin) You can even pray for it; it doesn’t matter. If I’m going to die, I’m prepared. The reason why I say that I’m prepared is that if God says that I will die today, I will be very happy. It is not a matter of whether we are praying for it. Shakespeare says ‘Of all the wonders of the world, it surprises me most why men should fear death. Death is a necessary end; it would come when it would come.’ So, if you close this door when death comes, it will still catch you. So, why should I be praying against it? Let death come when it will come, I pray that it will meet me doing something good. I’m not afraid of death.

But what will become of your collection of books?

The books would go to those who need them. They would go to libraries. All my papers have been donated. I don’t own anything now; I’m holding it in trust for the society. Everything I have is in trust; I acquired them for the use of the society. See the book over there; that is one of the collections you cannot find. I don’t think any Muslim has it in Nigeria. It is one of the most comprehensive books on the doctrines of Islam. They know the Koran but they don’t have books on the doctrines of Islam. They cannot explain what they read in the Koran. Some of us who have spent time to do comparative studies as I did, have acquired more books,

I ask some good Muslim friends if they have read this type of book and they say that they have not heard of it. Basic understanding is what is causing the problem. Somebody said for example that Allah told him to sell girls; where is that in the Koran? What is the reason? Why would Allah say so? Did Allah not create the girls as He created the boys? So, you would see that it is from ignorance. That is what separates Christianity from other religions.

When and why did you start art collections?

Well, I can attribute it to the broadening of the mind. For example, in Islam, we should not keep things like that because you are duplicating God’s work and creation belongs to God. That is why their art is in abstract form. But the art form, contemporary, ancient and modern show the ingenuity of the creative mind of man. When we draw man, we are trying to illustrate the aspect of that creation that God has created, so it encourages me to see creation in another form. That is why I’m doing it.

How much are your collections worth?

I would say conservatively, my collection should worth more than N20 million. I have one painting that is worth more than N5 million. I have an original picture of Jesus Christ when He was put on the cross. It is insured and it is not even kept within the premises. I always bring them out only when I want to do exhibition and take them back.

What purpose do the collections serve?

Well, it is a passion, and when you have a passion, it is very difficult to explain. I have loved it from childhood when I saw my mother doing art work, knitting and designing something on clothes; I always marvelled at her creativity. She would just sit down and start to sew different styles for my sisters when they were growing up or when she did something for my head wear, and the way she would draw the elephant and other animals. I still have things she did when I was five years old. I have a clay thing that she did and put my name the day I was christened, because she came from a family of potters. I  have it till today.

I come from a creative family. My father was an author. That is the height of creation; writing novels like ‘Irin Ajo Opalaba Si Ilu Oba Ajantala,’ which talks about the ills of the society, and others. The ills of the society he wrote about over 60 years ago are still with us today. From that type of family background, I started to love the arts and creative work. So, it became a passion and it became something I started collecting when I could afford it. But I hold it in trust. I have an original bronze art work given to me by the Oba of Benin and also the original carving of St. Christopher; it is about 300 years old.

LAGOS fabric merchant and top socialite, Alhaja (Chief Mrs.) Basirat Olayinka Ojugbele, emerged APC Woman Leader of Ojokoro land in Lagos on Monday, an event which was witnessed by elders of the party from around the country. Being a successful woman married to a successful and famous property merchant, Chief Lamina Ojugbele, blessed with much wealth at the home front, one wonders why this founder of Bayinkus International, a foremost fabric outfit on Lagos Island, decided to venture into politics at this time of her life. But Chief Mrs. Ojugbele, the Borokini Adinni of Alakuko Central Mosque Lagos and Yeye Gbegba- Aje of Owode Kingdom in Ogun State, told us: “This is a new passion of mine! What else should I do at this time, but to give back to the larger society?” It was not a time for many speeches, but a time to dedicate herself to service as she along with the other new executive officers read out their acceptance letters and took an oath of office directed by Barrister (Mrs.) Tosin Momodu. Chief Mrs. Ojugbele is aware that politics may affect her business, but she says: “It will never affect my social life!” She spoke to PAUL UKPABIO

Today you were sworn in as the All Progressives Congress (APC) Party Woman Leader of the entire Ojokoro land. We saw your crowd of friends who stormed the event from the business sector and other interest groups. Why the passion for politics at this time? Let me start by saying that leadership starts from the home front and it is only one who is involved with the activity of running a home that will understand the act of running government better. For instance, in mentoring a baby, the entire project of raising a child lies with the mother. And if mothers can be comfortably acquainted with such knowledge from the cradle to adolescence, then I can say we are the ones that have the sixth sense that will help manage other issues of life, especially in politics. Regarding your question, I had to join politics to give women a voice, to raise the morale of my fellow women and say ‘look, we are the only ones that can guarantee a great life for our children. The men folk have tried their best but we know where the shoe pinches more, we are the ones at home, we are the ones that feel the pain of society more.’ A man can only do little when it comes to going the extra mile but we as women, must complement men just as God ordained it from creation. What a man will do, a woman will do better. So, I am here to raise the bar and lead the entire women community of Ojokoro land into prosperity of mind and freedom from all challenges facing us presently. A lot of rich and comfortable women will rather look at politics with great pessimism due to the perception that it is a rough game and predominantly for the men folk. You are one of the few women who have made success of business and raised equally successful children. You could just hold your breath and enjoy for the rest of your life, but why did you choose to still drop all that for the pawns of politics? My major interest is to liberate the women folks from economic and intellectual paralysis. Let me tell you, I know what I want in politics. You know majority of men disallow their wives from doing politics because some of these women go in there to debase womanhood. They go in and do rubbish but that is not the case with some of us. I have lots of my friends who have garnered knowledge from several endeavours of life and really want to put their knowledge in politics but are too afraid because of the fear of the unknown. But here we are, belting the cat. I am very contented with what I have; majority of things men will do and get away with women cannot do them because we would be caught in the web of our emotions. We are the mothers and mothers build; they help fathers to build and like I said earlier, we equally have the sixth sense. For me, I have children in this system; and if not for my children but for the sake of the majority of women here. When you arrived for the inauguration ceremony, your name elicited so much applause and wild jubilation among women and youths, why are you so popular among the people? (Laughs) I give glory to God. The people knew me before I emerged officially as a woman leader. They come to see me for one thing or the other and I give to them. However, I do not tolerate rubbish. You cannot come to my house and be talking ill of another person; I won’t take it from you. In fact, one of the cardinal objectives of my joining politics is to fight for women. I want them to become successful in life; I want to add value to their lives so that they can complement their various homes very well. A woman should not be a piece of art work in the home front. And I have been calling women to join politics at least for the future of our children. Our children need a secure future for a better tomorrow. It is the women that are toiling for the men, so why should they take a back seat in leadership? It is sad that some men beat their wives and sometimes drive them out of the house for playing politics. In the last couple of years, I have been engaged with going to settle scores between husbands and their wives, begging them to allow their wives come out and participate. In some cases, I have had to stand as guarantor for many women, just to ensure that their husbands allow them to participate because a political terrain without women is as dry as the Sahara desert. It is not every woman that is into politics that flirts around. I can categorically tell you that. Your husband allowed you to venture into politics? Yes, that is because he can vouch for me. You must know the kind of woman you are married to. That has been the bedrock of my relationship with him. My husband trusts me because he knows the kind of woman that I am. I don’t believe that a woman should start sleeping around because she is into politics; politics is not a license for flirting around. And one thing about me is that I like people around me, to stay with me, to shout and talk. That gives us all an opportunity to say our problems and share our orientation. That is sociology which is the science of human nature. I didn’t study sociology, but I am a very social person and that is one of my hobbies. Look here, for instance, seeing my friends as they are around me now makes me happy. It is not good to be alone, life is not meant to be so. When they are around me, with the little I have we spend we eat and drink together and that alone can make you have a long life. So who are you? Can you describe yourself? Yes, I am a no nonsense person. I don’t tolerate rubbish but character-wise you can trust me. I think I cherish the act of loyalty and sense of duty to any cause I believe in. It will be recalled that the Juju maestro, Commander (Now Evangelist) Ebenezer Obey, once did a whole album in honour of your husband, Chief Lamina Ojugbele. What kind of person is he? My husband is a very nice person. Many people don’t know that before I married him, I was an introvert of the highest order. I never liked being social or being with people; it was difficult for people to come close to me. I couldn’t tolerate it. My husband taught me how to be sociable. I learnt from him because he is someone who relates with everybody; he carries everyone around and he is never tired of helping people. My husband is a crowd puller; he likes people around him and he is a cheerful giver. He gives blindly. He could become ill if he does not see people around him. I got the trait from him and that is what is helping me today. Two years ago when you clocked 60, you celebrated with pomp and ceremony and we saw some of your children who came from abroad to celebrate with you: Some bankers, entrepreneurs and so on. With their kind of background and upbringing, how were you able to make them see reason with your resolve to be in politics? They didn’t want me to venture into politics. They said it is too rough and that anyone who must do it must either be rough or have enough patience. That is true to some extent. But one thing I just believe is that once you are made for something, you will find out that the forces of nature will push you to that thing. Politics is good for me at this age. I have a lot to give society and the best place to express it is here. In politics, you see different characters that could put you off. So, if you are to engage in politics, you must be tolerant and be a giver because if you look at some aspects of the people, you won’t be too comfortable to be in their midst. For me, it is a passion for change. Having been successful in business, how do you intend to blend and still be successful in politics? What I know is that you cannot blend the two together, it is very hard. We have just finished the inauguration ceremony today and right now, it is 4pm; as I am sitting with you now, I am already booked for a rally tomorrow around 10 O ‘clock for the release of our daughters in Borno State. So with such a schedule, how can you stay with your business? Politics is about passion because you will never know the amount of stress attached until you get involved. In my case, my children take me out for a week or two overseas to rest every now and then. However, I feel sick the moment I am not among my people. So, both vocations come with total devotion. You have to leave one for the other. So in your case, how are you doing it now? Yes, I have people working for me. Sometimes if I am too busy with campaign or politics, I make phone calls to the office. I have already employed people who do the job for me. That is how I have been able to ensure probity for my business and proficiency for my politics. Can you relate wealth and politics? Do they have a correlation? You have to think about people in the larger perspective. As a rich man or woman in politics, you have to be mindful of your pedigree. Being in politics doesn’t mean that people will be rude to you or take me for granted. A lot of well educated people are in politics today. Yes, at times you fall into the challenges of having to interact and mix with all kinds of people in the name of politics but then you must remember that people spat on Jesus. So who am I? But if someone talks to you harshly because of politics, you don’t need to respond, you just go on your way; there is no need to answer. Be yourself, The Yoruba have a saying: “Ti a koba tori isu je epo, a maa tori epo je isu.” (If you run from licking red oil, you might eventually lick it in the process of eating a yam meal cooked with red oil). So far have you been harassed? Yes, in most cases they make sly remarks at me but I just walk away because my own role is to make correction through my attitude. That you are in politics does not mean you should lose your common sense or become a nuisance to society. Our role as leaders is to put them through and make them see the light. For the benefit of our readers and a lot of young entrepreneurs to be, how did your business life start? You know, my pain is that a lot of children now are not tolerant. They are not patient enough. During our early years, we took humility as a second nature. I started as a confidential secretary at Bugat International at Ebute Meta. A job I did for three years before I resigned and started business. Once you are patient and you know what you want, you will really get it. When I started the clothing business, I started with a very junior person to me. She was younger than me but she was wealthy and I was taking instructions from her. She would go to London and America to buy children’s wears; so, I started with her. The first set of clothes I bought from her, I made 50k each. My first attempt at Dosunmu Market, Lagos confirmed that I was good and ready to go. I paid her entire money the second day. And the girl said: ‘Ah, ah, madam, the other customers I gave credit facility don’t normally pay me in time’. They will take her money to go and buy from other vendors, using her money to do inter-trade and thereby eroding the interest value. But for me, it was my first experience and because of my singular act of turning up in time to pay, she had to cut off all the girls she was selling to and diverted all the sales to me. So, I started selling her entire purchase; it was from those transactions that I made my own fortune. From there, I saved a fortune and I graduated into a large scale buyer. At the time we were buying the ticket for N250,000 —Lagos-to-London via Nigeria Airways. And the dollar at the time was still very, very subservient to naira. I changed some money then and took it to Rome where I bought designer bags to sell and I made triple gain from that transaction. And that was how my entire story changed. But in truth, I went the extra mile; I used to do some domestic chores for the younger lady. That was because I knew I had to do it to get to where I wanted to go. But today, young people are too much in a hurry for wealth. One of your friends told us you singlehandedly raised your five children. What led to that and how were you able to achieve that feat sending them to best schools abroad? (Laughs heartily) It is God’s doing. I really worked hard. And I am very happy now, I thank my God. I also became a prayer warrior. Their father passed away early in life. So, by then, I was fully in charge. I reserved my money for me. I denied myself to ensure that they got education. And at that time majority of the universities here were always on strike. So, I decided to relocate them abroad. Not that I was too rich then, but I was lucky to have gold. Whenever, I made good money then, I bought gold. I invested so much in gold. When I saw that my children’s education was at stake due to the epileptic nature of the Nigerian educational system, I had to take my entire gold to London and sell to pay their school fees. Today I thank God for crowning my efforts. Your business is fabric; can you tell us some of the fashion trends over time? What were people wearing to parties then and what are they wearing to parties today? Then, it was Voile Lace with Swiss Jackard, and then there weren’t China products as they are today because originality was the rule of the game. And then, quality was of essence as there were very few vendors in Nigeria unlike today when you have everyone in the market. Selling lace then was interesting and there was a lot of profit in the business unlike now. Now, you see China and see Korea products. Then society cared for originality because, the quality of fashion was on the high side. However, we have people who still stick to buying quality today. What clothes are people wearing to parties today? People are still wearing Oganza and Lace no doubt, but Ankara is also on the high side. Though I have Ankara I sell for N20,000 for six yards. When I was young, this same Ankara was going for about N5,000 to N8,000 but now the original Ankara is about N20,000 or N22,000. You can you can sew and wear to any event abroad. Even the first lady of Ojokoro, my chairman’s wife, really loves this brand of Ankara because she promotes African and locally made fashion style; she normally wears this brand of Ankara I am talking about. So, high society people will either go for Guinea, original Guinea or Lace. But majority in most cases do Ankara because of the new passion for it. So, what is the importance of the combination of bag and shoes to a woman’s fashion? (Laughs heartily) You know, before now you can wear whatever you like but now you must be conscious to match your color and rhythm of attire. I believe in comfort even if I am to dress gorgeously. I think it is good to make it a match-to-match for your dress to make a complementary statement with your shoes. As a stylist, you cannot afford to abuse the law of color; you can only do that if you understand the law of color. Plus or minus, your shoes, must complement your bag in terms of coloration. So, as a woman, you must not be mindful of the bag and the shoes alone but you must ensure the color is complementary. As a mother, how do you feel about the abducted ‘Chibok Girls?’ I feel sad. We women of the APC are mobilising women to do our own protest in Lagos to show our disgust for this ignoble act. I am not happy about the whole show of shame and I want to tell you that the people carrying out these activities are very heartless, they don’t have human feeling and they can never be genuine Muslims because Jihad is not about killing, it is not about maiming or creating chaos. Jihad is about fighting for the welfare of the people and not about killing people. Who are the people that inspire you? Honorable Benjamin Olabinjo is well known in Ojokoro land as a great vessel of kindness and development. I am short of words to use to describe him; we call him ‘Chairman Gbogbo Obinrin’ (The Chairman for all women) because of his humility to the young and old. People in Ojokoro land love him much because he is a great worker and a life changer. Cardinal Omolaja Odunmbaku is a father. In fact, he inspired me into politics. I respect his humility, kindness and sacrifice. We call him ‘Baba Eto the Mobiliser.’ And the Jagaban, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Asiwaju, is an epitome of change and that change is what Nigeria will get in 2015. How will being a socialite help you to be a better politician? Of course, I command respect and goodwill. That will help my work for APC as we go into the nooks and crannies of Lagos. I’ll be bringing together my new and old friends into the party. That will also benefit and influence the wind of change that is presently blowing across Nigeria. President Goodluck Jonathan promised us new breath in 2011 but as I am talking to you now, Nigerians are suffocating. We are going to give a new leader in 2015. We will return Nigeria to Nigerians not to the President’s family or his aides or cronies or town’s men. I want to assure Nigerians that change will be the hallmark of the game in 2015 and Nigeria will never remain the same again.

Recently, Chief Ebikeme Clark, the second son of Ijaw statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, was a victim of a kidnap saga that nearly tore the peaceful fabric of Delta State apart. It turned out to be one kidnap episode that laid bare the tragedy of kidnapping and the notorious organised network of commerce that it had turned into, in the oil rich creeks of Delta State. Faced with an adamant father who insisted he would not pay any ransom to those who held his son hostage in the depth of the creek, Chief Ebikeme Clark could only hope for the miraculous, as his life was threatened by gun-totting goons in the swampy creek. By a stroke of God’s mercy, he survived the deadly nights in the kidnappers’ custody to tell the story. But no doubt, Ebikeme agrees that his rescue deserves thanksgiving to the Creator. Here is his riveting narration of the ordeal he went through. He spoke to PAUL UKPABIO:

ON that faithful day of April 22, 2014, I went to our village where my father is building a university. I normally go there to supervise work and make sure that everybody is paid. I got there about 11am. I stayed there till around 4:30pm to 5pm. It started raining then. I was about leaving when all of a sudden, I saw a group of men with guns running towards the bus. I thought they were armed robbers. I gave them the bag of money which they collected. One of them forced me back into the vehicle. He used the gun he was carrying to hit my head. So I said: “Ah, what is happening?” And I was trying to force myself out of the bus, but they pushed me in. One took the steering and said they should drive me away. It started raining heavily. As we passed the bridge, my village people tried to rescue me. But how do they fight people with guns? They drove me into the bottom part of the bridge. There two people were waiting inside a boat. I was transferred there, as they left the place, they started singing Ijaw songs. Blood flowed from my face, but I kept calm. Then one of them asked me: “Are you Ebikeme Clark?’’ I said “Yes”. “You are going to contest for Chairman”?, he asked. I said “Yes”. He asked again, bewildered: “The son of Chief Edwin Clark?’’ I said “Yes”. One of them started laughing. Somebody called one of them, apparently from the village saying that they did not see the bag of money in the vehicle, but they could not turn back. Meanwhile, I had about N400,000 in the bag they took. I tried to identify the terrain. I noticed they were going towards a military post. So they hid their guns. They had two big guns; they kept them by the side so that the soldiers would not see them. And because of the heavy rainfall, the soldiers didn’t come out from where they were and they were saying: “We are loyal ooo! We are loyal ooo!” As they passed the post, they started singing Ijaw songs again, happy that they had passed that place. It was dark when I opened my eyes again. I saw they were passing the Bomadi Bridge, I knew we were leaving Delta State. They told me to relax. We got to a spot. They pushed me out of the boat. To my surprise, the place was organised. I saw pots and pans, mattresses, mosquito nets, they did the light. I was cold and shivering. They put fuel on my wound, it was very pepperish. I shouted and one of them said: “This will stop the blood, don’t worry.” Later, they brought hot water to attend to my wound. Later in the night, they brought mattresses and spread them down. They were six of them including me seven. We all slept. I was in their middle and we all slept together. I could not sleep because they were snoring. In the morning, I assessed the environment. It was a place someone could stay. They gave me a name ‘Handicap.’ At noon, they asked if I wanted to eat. I said: “No, I was not hungry.’’ They told me to eat, that if I didn’t eat, I would be on my own. I was given Tapioca and pepper soup. I ate. They were waiting for evening. At about 6pm, they came to where I was. They told me they wanted to go and call my father, that I should go with them. That if I didn’t behave well, I would stay longer. But if I behaved well, I would leave there earlier. So I said okay that I would try. So they took me in the boat and we went further into the river and got to a corner. I remembered my three phones when I saw them bringing them. One had my Sim card, one had my battery and another phone. They started checking my contacts. One of them ask me: “Did you store your father’s number?’’ I said I stored it as ‘dad’ and my wife’s number, I stored as ‘wife’. They asked whether they should call my wife first or my father? I told them to call my father first. They called my father and said they wanted him to pay N50 million. They put it on speaker so that I would hear what they were saying. I told them that my father cannot pay that huge amount since he is not working; that he could offer N5 million. They asked me whether that would be for fuel. After speaking with my father, they said they would call my wife, that my father had his own money that I had my own money. One of them said that someone had already paid for my head and if I want to be free, my wife and I must pay for my own head. I told them to call my wife. They called my wife and she asked them if I was around and they said yes. They allowed her to speak to me. When she heard my voice, she said: “Ah, my love, love of my life.” Immediately they turned off the phone and started laughing. They said: “Your wife loves you; she is calling you the love of her life.” They told my wife that if she loved me, she should make sure that she got that money to save my life. After that conversation, they went to the water side to buy more things. They wanted to buy recharge cards and everything they needed. They believed my father’s line was bugged. They said that my father was trying to track them, that if my father didn’t stop, they would kill me. I replied that I didn’t believe my father would track us. We went back. The next morning was Friday; nobody came to me, they were just discussing, while I kept praying. One of them later came to me and said: “Handicap, we are going to kill you this night. Your father is still stubborn. I begged them not to kill me because, I have young children and some of them don’t even know my face yet. I asked them to call my father again. They said no they will not speak to my father again. At night, they came, they said they wanted to go and kill me so they can go and kidnap another person that would give them money. I was worried. They took me into the boat and we drove out again. They took me to the corner of the river, tied my hands and my legs. They told me to say my last prayer. They said they would not shoot because it would attract people who might trace them. They called my wife and she spoke that she would try to get N4.5 million. They said they would collect it because of my wife. They gave me one more day of grace. They moved me to another location, using a canoe; they put mattresses on top of me and paddled away. When they got to a place where the water was rising, they used their hands to push the boat. It was around 4 a.m. The thing was very rough. They stopped and there was a thatch house there. They removed all the things they carried. They said: “Nobody will see you here, not even your father. If they come here, we will all die. I didn’t sleep, they slept easily. The next morning, they saw two locals coming, they thought they were farmers. The people passed us. They panicked and decided to move. They started packing their things but the canoe had gone. So we used our feet, moving deeper into the creek. We were in the swamp. We saw a snake. They said: “Don’t shout; don’t be afraid, the snake will pass.” The snake passed us, they did not want to shoot nor make any noise. We were there till Saturday morning. They told me they would get a speed boat and take me to Cameroun, that my father was stubborn and they did not think my wife can get money. So by 7pm, they saw the snake coming back again. They climbed a tree to make a call to make sure they got network to ensure the boat came. We entered the boat. As we were going they heard sounds but it was now dark. They saw people coming but before then, they had told me that other kidnappers could come and snatch me away from them. That I should be ready in case they come, that if I can survive the bombardment or if I couldn’t, that would be my luck. Another speed boat came, but it was their people. They transferred me from the canoe to another speed boat, collected more cans of fuel, which meant we were going far. I was very angry. We started moving towards a bigger river and they started singing again. As we moved further, the network became better, the phone started ringing. Later, they slowed down and moved to the corner of the river and the leader, the action guy, that was always speaking to my father, was saying ‘Sir’ to somebody. He called the other boys to order and said: “Sir, I will give the phone to him.” There were two graduates among them, and he said I should tell the person on the other end of the phone, that they did not beat me; that they did not touch me. So I spoke. The man was saying sorry to me; he asked if I was ok. I replied yes. Did they beat you? I said no sir, I am alright. He said do you know who is speaking? I said no, he laughed. It was the Deputy Chairman of the security of water ways that was speaking to me. I had been to his office in Warri. He told me the boys were crazy; that I would leave their place: that I should not worry. He asked me to give the phone back to them. One of them said: “After this ordeal, we want to release this man without money? After hoping I will be buying a car this week?” The leader told him there was nothing they can do. “We have to release this guy, but if you are not in support, take him and leave my boat.” The man said no o, that he was is just complaining after all this work. They call it work. Initially, they told me that no work, nothing, that the government is always talking about billions of naira, that they don’t see the billions around. That they believe that anything, they want, they will take by force, that this time around they will be after politicians, that they will take money from them and still kill them.” The next problem was how and where to release me. One said they should take me to Warri. Another cautioned him: “Do you love this man’s life more than your own life? If you go to Warri with him, you will not come back alive. Let’s leave him around here and go.” The leader then replied him: “If you leave him around here and he is re-kidnapped, we will be in trouble.” We moved on and saw a jetty. The man in it offered to take me but I had no money. They gave me money and returned my phones from their different pockets. They told me: “Don’t tell them that we injured you o; say you fell in the water. I said: “Ok, no problem.” They also told me that I should not tell anybody that I am Chief Clark’s son. That was the beginning of my return home.