He may have missed being the President of Nigeria by a defeat at the polls in 2011, but undaunted Publisher of Ovation International magazine Bashorun Dele Momodu, is still glowing and living life large. He moved his classic Bentley car back to Nigeria from Ghana, but refused to drive it around, simply because, “I think for me to be cruising around in Nigeria in a Bentley under the condition that the country is presently, will be highly insensitive.”
However, Momodu has developed new past times, as he travels around the world and lives in three different countries. He spoke to PAUL UKPABIO after an octane event in Victoria Island, Lagos.
What does it take to be the publisher of an international magazine like yours at this present time?
It takes a lot for to be the publisher of a magazine that has been publishing in the last 17 years, especially a magazine that has been publishing from London all these years. But we thank God. Being such a publisher means being at different places almost at the same time. I have had to criss-cross the world to find people in Dubai, America, London, Kenya, South Africa and many more places. We are going all over and the publisher has to oversee everyone of its activities. We are bilingual, that is, English and French, and the financials are not always easy. The media is not a very profitable business anywhere these days. It is a very tough job, advertising is shrinking all over the world; the internet has come in, so a publisher has to be on top of things to stay afloat.
You went into politics and went as far as being the presidential candidate of a political party, what impact has that created in your life?
I have always been in politics. I can say I have been in it 30% of my life since I was 22. I have met and interacted with some of the big politicians in Nigeria; from Chief Adisa Akinloye to Dr. Omololu Olunloyo to the Late Chief MKO Abiola, to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the Late Chief Bola Ige, to Chief Richard Akindele, I have been interacting with people nationally and internationally, and with world figures too. My foray into contesting election in Nigeria was triggered by my frustration with the state of the nation. I saw that we were all grumbling about the leadership of the nation, but nobody was ready to risk their comfort zone. I realised that what was needed in Nigeria was just one man with a clear vision and direction of where he wants the country to go. Until we find that one man who must have executive power, Nigeria will never change.
A nation is most often changed by one enlightened man; sometimes he could even be a dictator, but he must be enlightened and have a clear vision of his direction. That is what is lacking in Nigeria. Leadership is not about how long you’ve stayed in politics or government, leadership is about the ability to manage people and resources. And what I find out about Nigeria is that most people in leadership are people who have never managed people or resources before. They have not managed businesses or people and cannot even manage their families. What does it take? It is vision, tenacity, commitment selflessness. That was what propelled me to go into politics.
Did you make an impact?
I made a huge impact. The greatest thing that can happen to a man is to aspire to the highest office in his country. People know today that I was principled. I did not just jump to go and join the big parties. I realised that to build Nigeria will require new hands with clear vision. I am happy I did that. I started with Labour Party, my idea was to use that to create a welfare party, where we care for the ordinary people. Our focus in Nigerian politics is tilted towards the rich; elsewhere the wealthy try to spare moments to think how they can alleviate poverty in their land. The reverse is the case in Nigeria; most politicians think strictly about going into politics for achieving selfish pecuniary gains. When I saw that Labour Party was not ready for the type of revolutionary ideas that I had, I had to quit. That was my saddest moment in politics. Though I am still hoping that they can because, every Nigerian who is gainfully employed is supposed to be a member of labour technically.
So I linked up with the British Labour Party and I met some of the high ranking members and they were ready to assist me in bringing some of their Labour policies to Nigeria. We would have been able to revolutionise some of the things here. But perhaps I was ahead of my time, it didn’t materialise. When I left Labour Party, the closest party I saw was Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi’s National Conscience Party and I am still a member of that party. I hope that a day will come that we all will realise that Nigeria needs to be restructured not by breaking up, but by cementing bonds, friendship, religion and ethnicity. We all co-existed before now. Nobody complained of breaking up. But because politicians are selfish, once they can’t get what they want, they talk about disunity. There is unity. In football, for instance, when Nigeria is playing, you can find nine Igbo people on the field, nobody complains, so far they can deliver. So it is the same spirit that we need for the leadership of the country. The important thing should be, can the person deliver? It is politicians that try to divide us for personal gains.
The story about rising from grass to grace seems so beautiful to tell. Did you walk without shoes too to school?
Oh, I don’t like to make a fetish of poverty! Like Chief Abiola used to tell us, ‘Poverty is not something to glamorise’. I know that it is sweeter to say that I had no shoes, I had no shirt, but my background was modest. My father was a civil servant, they were not corrupt like we find today. My father rode his motorcycle, a Jawa, WF 333. We had a telephone in our house, but we were not rich, though we had pipe borne water. My father died when I was 13 and I was left with an un-lettered mother. My mom could not speak one word of English; a petty trader who sold rice and beans, later opened a beer parlour, but we managed to survive. We do not have rich people in our family but we have scholars. My most senior brother is a professor of Physics, a PhD holder from Stanford University in America.
Some people refer to you as ‘Ajala Travel round the world’
I don’t know why Ajala was travelling around the world o, may be he had too much money! But in my own case, my travels are in the course of duty. I am sure I have covered 60 or more countries by now, some of them I have repeated. I have been in London more than 500 times; often to USA, France and many African countries, but every trip has been an education for me. There is no better school than travelling and seeing other places. That was one of the things that made me go into politics.
When I go to some poor countries in Africa and see the quality of their education, health services and other infrastructure, I am always amazed. I don’t compare Nigeria to big, rich countries. The former President of Ghana, John Kuffour, had a spinal operation in Ghana. He didn’t have to travel out. The late President of Ghana, John Ata Mills, died in Ghana, he didn’t die abroad. Our President was evacuated from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia. If Saudi Arabia is first in oil, Nigeria is probably among the top seven. It’s a shame that with all our oil money, Nigeria does not have just one hospital of international standard that our president could be comfortable with and rely on.
How ri ch are you?
When I travel, I do not go on frolic; I travel for work and probably do not have time for holiday. People say that I am flamboyant but I know that it is the glamour of the magazine I publish that they see. I’m assumed to be flamboyant but I am a man of modest means. I am not a rich man by Nigerian standard. But I thank God for building me a global brand. Some people don’t even remember or know my name but they stop me and say that they know me. One of the greatest brands to build is a product that reminds you of the founder and vice versa.
Living in different parts of the world, do you sometimes forget where you are when you wake in the morning?
People say that too. They say: ‘Sometimes, you can forget where you are when you travel so much’, but for me, I was forced by circumstances beyond my control to be an itinerant person. I live in three places, London, Accra and Lagos. I was even living in Abuja at a time but I gave up the house two years ago. I realised that Abuja was too artificial for my liking; it was a place where most people are just wheeling and dealing and the city can easily corrupt you, from the way people hustle for money there. That wasn’t and isn’t my life.
I come from a scholarly background; my dream was to be a university teacher, possibly marrying a teacher and living happily thereafter. But because I couldn’t get a job, that forced me to Lagos to look for a job. My background has not left me totally. I’m still hoping that Nigeria will get back to that point where people will respect others for what they have in their brain and not how much you have been able to grab.
Living in different parts has helped me raise my horizon and to kill boredom. Ghana is not mainly to do business; what I have there is a library, a conducive environment for an academic. People think I do not do business in Nigeria, but that is wrong. I’m happy that we have been able to cement the bond of friendship in Nigeria through Ovation. These days, you attend an Hausa wedding and you see people dress like Yoruba people and at Yoruba events, you see people dress like the Hausa. Same with people in the eastern part of the country. Before, people said you cannot photograph an Hausa bride, but today, we know that is not true. The events in the North are even more colourful these days.
Your ideal day?
I sleep very late but wake up very early, especially when I am around my family and my children are going to school. They leave about past 7am; thereafter I go to the wash room. I like to meditate there. I think about everything, what I want to do and where I need to go. I make phone calls too and check my messages. When I’m there, I can spend one hour or more. If I have the time to catch my breakfast, I do, if not, I leave. If I need to type, I do it then because my brain is fresh. If I need to go and honour an appointment, I leave. I try to get back quickly to beat traffic. I am not the kind of person who goes out a lot though. I am almost a recluse. Then I fly a lot; you may find me hopping from one plane to another or driving to Cotonou, Togo or Ghana sometimes. I wish our roads and security are better, I would have been driving across the country. There is no much difference between a day or the weekend. My life is like a routine. The only thing is that we are busier on weekends because most events take place then. Though I don’t usually have to attend.
What fashion accessories do you not do without?
As long as I wear something, I do not really care much about accessories. But I love my Buba and Sokoto with my cap. Usually, you will find me with a cap and an OV logo which stands for Ovation. I love wrist watches but I am not big enough to buy expensive ones. My biggest investment right now outside Ovation is paying my children’s school fees. The fees are so heavy, they make me very sober. I have two sons in school in London and two in Nigeria and both ways, it is expensive. I am happy because the end result justifies the means. My first son has gone through six international languages. He was first in Japanese class. He is good in French, Italian, Latin, Spanish and English. He has done us very proud. He is going to university to study computer and mathematics soon. That’s all I work for.
Any new passion?
I drive. I have driven different cars at different times; the king of them being my Bentley. It is still there, parked at my friend’s garage somewhere because it will be very disheartening for me to be cruising around in Nigeria in a Bentley under the condition that the country is presently. I am even more sensitive now than I was as a younger person. I told my friend to sell it off but he said it is a vintage car, that I should not sell it. I used to drive it in Ghana but I brought it back. I’ve had Mercedes in London and here, Range Rover, but these days I love the jeeps, I use an Escalade. It convinces me that American cars are not as bad as I used to think.
Your most cherished gift?
My most cherished gift is good health from God. There is no gift better than that. I have been most fortunate. I know people who don’t eat or drink or do all the bad things, yet they are not healthy.
Which grandest party have you attended?
So many I think. One of them will be Hajia Bola Shagaya’s wedding, the first one they had in Lagos, it was very grand; everybody was there. That is one memorable wedding.
Which Nigerian at home has most impressed you?
Alive? Dr. Michael Adenuga Jnr. Nobody has touched me like that. I learnt so much from him. For me, he is a book that I will always read, a book I cannot discard. A lot of times when I want to do things, I tried and imagined how Adenuga would have done it. It used to be MKO Abiola, everybody knows that, but currently, it is Adenuga. I like to describe him as a spirit you don’t see but you feel his impact. People call him different things, but I call him a ‘positive spirit’. He may have his foibles like all human beings, but he is a great character God created. I have never seen that singular person who has the vision to do things that most people will be afraid to do.
And which Nigerian abroad has most impressed you?
Abroad, I have always been fascinated by Ambassador Antonio Deinde Fernandez. When I met him eventually, he became like a father. That is one of the greatest Africans I have met and I pray for good health and long life for him. He’s over 80 now but if you see him, you won’t know it. I call him the aginigini ogun. It means a fiery man, a man that can bend knees, a very influential man.
Tell us about your family’s most memorable day
That was when my half brother, Professor Ajayi, returned from America around 1975/76, I was about 15 or so. He was an icon to us, getting a degree from a university like Stanford in America, he was smelling nice and lodged at Mayfair Hotel, the best then in Ibadan. The university then could afford to keep their lecturers at such hotels. He was recruited right from school abroad. He had a great influence on me and I lived with him outside and inside campus. I must have stayed with him for about 13 years before coming to Lagos.
Then, I remember my mom in her dying days. I went to her one day, she was lying down in bed, I laid down beside her, she couldn’t talk. I was stroking her hair as if I was her husband. I was crying because I didn’t want her to die, though I knew she was going to. When my cries got to a crescendo, she suddenly opened her mouth and struggled to say ‘Ayobamidele, are the tears not too much? Don’t worry, Jesus will be with you.’ Those were her final words to me. And when she died, the world celebrated with me at her burial. Gbongan, a little place in Osun State, that has produced many great people, knew a daughter was being buried that day.
Your greatest possession
A good family
Can you describe your style?
