Talk of the biggest stars of Nigeria’s journalism industry of the late ’80s and ’90s, and you can’t but come up with the name, Mike Awoyinfa. As pioneer editor of Weekend Concord then, he rocked the boat, stirred controversies and generally redefined the face of tabloid journalism in Nigeria, becoming a name to look forward to every Saturday. His column, Press Clips and the paper as a whole became a must-read in every home and circle. The icon, who later became pioneer MD of The Sun newspapers at the turn of the millennium and made a name as an author and biographer alongside his lifetime friend, Dimgba Igwe (now late), clocked 70 today and took out time to regal Gboyega Alaka with some high points of his career.

YOU clocked 70 years of age yesterday, July 23; so you are officially a senior citizen; do you feel old? Or do you feel you can still do those things that you used to do as a young man?

In truth it feels scary. We used to see 70-year-old people back in those days as very old people, like people in the Bible (laughs); and it used to look very far away. But we thank God. He has been faithful. To be 70 is a cause for joy. We have every reason to be thankful. Everybody prays to grow old; and I pray that I would not just be 70. I hope to be 80, 90; and if God says 100, why not? As long as my faculties are intact. Also 70 brings you nearer to God. Even if you are not nearer to God or your religion is not that strong, 70 gives you that last chance to turn around your life to go to a better place. However, old age comes along with its own baggage too, chief of which is illness. I used to jog and do all sorts of fitness things, but suddenly old age came like nightfall. I had a degenerative disease at my lower back; I had prostate cancer, which I never bargained for. I used to see prostate cancer as a disease for people that are pope-like; but I’m not a pope. But I’ve gone through my treatment and I thank God for it. I am saying this so that everybody would who is 50 should take issues of their health seriously, do health checks, so that the doctor would know the state of your prostate, because it is a disease for everybody (male).

Talking about faculties being intact, there has been a lot of controversy over old age in recent time, especially in politics. There is this tendency to ‘stigmatise’ old people by younger people who are advocating that they should just retire and vacate the space. You are at a very good place to tell us how fit or alert a 70-year-old can be.

Mentally, I am as fit as fiddle. The older you are, the wiser, the more experience you have had in life and nothing surprises you. You are able to look at a situation and draw an accurate analysis and take an accurate decision, more than young people. You are more like a historian. It’s not like football, where you get to age 40 or 35 and they say you have aged and you are of no value. But even then, you become valuable as a coach. Same with tennis. So I won’t run down old age. But having said that, I think the young people should be given a chance in politics, because governance requires some physicality, strength, and ability to do tasking things.  You need good health. Look at the trends all over the world; take for instance Obama, when he became president. We have had of old presidents who go to the United Nations to doze. And then 50 percent of their lives is spent travelling for medical checkups. However, for  writer, old age is like wine.  The older you are the better. The more mature, the more reflective and you can sit down and write like a guru.

Your days as editor of Weekend Concord ushered many green-eyed youths into the beauty of the journalism profession, including this reporter. Your column was a must-read and the paper itself a must-buy in many homes. Tell us of those interesting times in your career.

Before you become an editor, you must have paid your dues as a reporter. Journalism is all about reporting. I don’t believe in editors who rose to the position of an editor through being on the desk, and never went to the field. A reporter is like an infantry soldier in times of war.  That is where the action is. All my life, I’ve been a reporter. I read Mass Communication at the University of Lagos, I passed out  in 1977, and then worked with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) as a reporter in Jos. But the kind of journalism they were doing was anonymous journalism. They had no bi-line. So when National Concord came and we had names like Dele Giwa and others on board, I applied to work there. I had been reading Dele Giwa from his days at Daily Times; he had a column called Parallax Snaps, which was breezy, catchy, very readable and engaging. I was appointed Chief Correspondent for the paper in Kaduna. I have always been a very ambitious person, so my goal was to one day be the editor of a

newspaper. As a kid, I was a voracious reader. I was living with my uncle who was a teacher and I ended up reading all the books in his library. I had a lonely childhood, so I fought loneliness with my reading habit.  There was a paper called The Spectator in Ghana – I was born and raised in Ghana, so I would buy and read it. That reading habit really helped my work at school. Every time I wrote an essay, the teacher would ask me to come and read it before the class. So it is important to groom our children to cultivate reading habit.

Back to Kaduna, there was a feature story I did for Dele Giwa, who was then the editor of Sunday Concord. It was about one illiterate Hausa woman journalist. We had gone for an Aminu Kano Press Conference and she stood up to ask questions in Hausa; I thought what’s this woman doing in journalism? I saw that as news, so I sat her down and interviewed her. And Dele Giwa carved a column for me and called it ‘Reporter’s Column by Mike Awoyinfa’. He titled the piece, ‘Hajia Bilikisu, Reporter without Biro and Notebook’. When I saw it, I said ‘Wow!’. My view was that he created it for every reporter to contribute but I became so hungry and avaricious that every week, I sent him a human angle story for that column, so it became my column. And that is the origin of my being a columnist. And to be a columnist under Dele Giwa, you must be really worth  your salt. And I wasn’t just writing human angle stories, whenever there was an international story, I wrote my own commentary. I just imagined myself as little Dele Giwa, put myself in his mindset  and say how would Dele Giwa write this? Like when Janet Cook, the Washington Post based journalist cooked a story of a nine-year-old cocaine addict, which won the Pulitzer. But at the end of the day, the police stepped in. They said they wanted to see the nine-year-old and to arrest the people that gave him cocaine. So it eventually turned out that it was a cooked up story, and that did her in. It became a big controversy and spoilt the image of Washington Post. Even the editor, I think was fired for not asking the right questions. I can’t remember his name but Katherine Graham was the publisher of the paper at the time. I wrote a own commentary on that. Dele Giwa eventually redeployed me to Lagos to work under him. That was where I also learnt a  lot about the man. In those days, Sunday Concord was like a university; we called ourselves ‘Writer’s Enclave’. Lewis Obi was there, so many names. Eventually Giwa left to found Newswatch Magazine and his deputy, Adedipe, another tough editor took over. If you were going to his meeting and you didn’t prepare yourself, be sure to be in trouble.

Then of course I went abroad for the Harry Briton Fellowship; it was a three-month training for Commonwealth journalists. I represented Nigeria. That was when I had my son, Jide, 1985. I was attached to the Sunday Sun of Newcastle. Having worked in a home of tabloid journalism, UK, you came back brimming with confidence. When I came back, I was moved to the features department to be the Features Editor.

You also wrote a book on features writing

At about that time, me and Dimgba had written a book called The Art of Features Writing. We just asking what should we do for ourselves? We thought, only God knows when we would reach the top, and decided  that we’d better start writing to make some money for ourselves. We went round asking journalists what a feature story is, and we discovered that a whole lot of people didn’t know. Some knew and they clarified, so we documented it. So when I was appointed Features Editor, armed with the knowledge of that book, I changed the paradigm in National Concord. Their orientation towards features was hard stuffs, analysis and all that; but when I came, I humanised the whole feature thing and turned it into human angle, which is exactly what it is supposed to be – stories that are emotional, stories that evoke pity; that evoked joy… And the little that we did made impact, because people started buying National Concord more than they were. They would buy and pull out the section. So my MD, Doyin Abiola, saw my potentials and said ‘Come let’s start a Saturday paper. You will be editor, form your team, give me a dummy of how the paper would look.’ We wanted to call it Saturday Concord but I called it Weekend Concord. That was how I assembled my team; young, hungry men like Dele Momodu,  Femi Adeshina, Shola Osunkeye… a collection of stars. The dream was ‘Let’s shake the nation. Let’s come up with a paper that the nation would not be able to ignore. And the first story that we had then was by Dele Momodu. it was titled ‘Soyinka’s love life’. He went to interview Soyinka’s former wife and that one told the story of how they broke apart…. And Soyinka was so mad, so angry, and I was so happy. News is something that somebody don’t want you to publish but which people would like to read. Dele Momodu did not stop at that; for the second edition, he went to speak with Soyinka’s son who was then in Ife studying, and the innocent boy spilled. And Soyinka became angrier. There was a time he actually called me; I can’t remember what I told him but I begged him. I told him I did all this for your admiration, you are our father, you are our hero, you cannot hide…. (laughs heartily)

There was one about the late Tai Solarin

Yes, when he said he saw something in Ebony Magazine during Babangida’s time which he couldn’t defend. And then I wrote a column ‘abusing’ Tai Solarin, ‘May Your Road Be Rough’, and people came after me. How can you be abuse an old man, such a respected man like that? People didn’t understand that it was sarcasm. They attacked me, sending me lots of letters (laughs), and I published all the letters. Next we publish all those that supported me, where they criticised the educational standard, saying it had fallen and pointing out that people couldn’t even understand simple satire.

You shook the industry.

We really did, to the point where all other papers started their own Saturday paper – Punch, Vanguard…. I remember when the late Alaafin Lamidi Adeyemi had his problem with drugs and was detained abroad and we were to go to town the following day; I said ‘Guys, bring me all Alaafin’s photographs’. So they went into the library and dug up all his photos. Those were not the days of digital when you could just punch your computer and photos would jump out. I started going through, and then I saw one where he was Alaafin laughing. Then I said ‘Aha this is it’. And then I slammed it and headlined it boldly: ‘NOT ALAAFIN MATTER!’. (General laughter and applause.) That is one strong point I have. Headlining. I think it is one gift of inspiration that God gave me. God is the number one headline writer.

Yeah, many who worked with you have testified to that; how does it come to you?

First, you must have it inside you. And then you must develop it, you must train yourself on how make the biggest impact  with words, with pictures. Atimes, you don’t go for the obvious. If it is the picture of a dog that would have the biggest impact, blow the picture of the dog. It’s like when May Ellen Ezekiel died, we didn’t just say May Ellen Ezekiel died, we blew her picture – everybody already knew she had died;  and we captioned it, ‘OOh MEE!’. And at the bottom, we wrote: ‘She died vomiting blood’ – because the doctor had told me that she died vomiting blood. Gbam! So don’t choke the paper with words. Make it a visual beauty, dramatise it. Have a sense of drama. Headline is something you sleep over; it is something you dream over; it is something you think over. Even when there is no news breaking, you must be giving yourself training – assuming this person dies, how will I cast the headline? If his wife dies, what would be her headline?

Have you considered offering a Masterclass in headline casting, for younger people in the industry?

Yeah, the next book I would  want to write is on the art of headline writing. I pray God gives me the energy and the wisdom and insight to be able to put it together.

The peak of your career at Weekend Concord coincided with the peak of military turbulence; how did you manage to practise without getting into trouble with the junta?

The thing is professionalism. Be very professional, balance your story, have your evidence to support whatever you are writing. Follow all the tenets of good journalism. Once you have done your duty, balanced it by hearing from both sides and satisfied your conscience well, you are free. All through, I never had any brush with the law. When I was sued by a professor who plagiarised, we won the case because we had a good lawyer who defended us. And we had evidence. We said this is what the American professor wrote, this is what the Ilorin professor wrote. Oya compare. I think it was Omololu Kassim who wrote the story. The professor was saying it was his jealous colleagues who were trying to bring him down.

Back in the days, Weekend Concord sold 100,000 copies…

(Cuts in) Point of correction, we sold up to 250,000.

Good, but today, no newspaper can boast of selling 50,000 copies. What has changed?

I think it’s a global phenomenon. The advent of the internet. Every revolution brings its own casualty. People now prefer to go online to read. Luckily it is also free. When you can punch your gadget and read an article or story for free, why go and buy a hard copy? That is the mindset of many. However, some papers like New York Times let you read a little of their stuff and then lock it up and ask you to subscribe. Poor reading habit may also be part of it.

You lost your friend, Dimgba Igwe. It was a friendship that lasted a lifetime. How did you meet?

We met at Sunday Concord. I was there before him, his senior. He just came in one day with a freelance story he did on the struggle school children went through to go to school. He went on that journey several times, observing and interviewing them, so he came out with the feature for Sunday Concord, which we titled ‘Children as they war to go to school in Lagos’, capturing how they struggle to board Molue buses with adults. Dele Giwa didn’t know him from anywhere but once he read it, he said ‘Wow! who is this?’ The next time he came for his pay, Dele Giwa gave him a job. So we did stories together, shared bi-lines; I was humble enough to accommodate him. One of the stories we covered was when Abiola was 50, and we went to Abeokuta to cover it. That was when we started thinking about our future and the idea of writing a book came. We had options like starting a magazine, there was a magazine called Hero then, which we would have modelled it after, but we were thinking of capital. We thought to go and meet Abiola, but Abiola would not give us money to leave his paper to go and start another. So we wrote that book. I think Abiola gave us 73,000 to publish it, which was a big money then. With it, we had money to do other things. It also opened our eyes that we could write books, so during one of the media close downs, we wrote another book, ’50 Nigeria’s Corporate Strategists’, where CEOs shared their experiences about managing business. It was a big sellout and we made money. That was the money we used in building our houses. Like you know, his house is next door. After that, we wrote ‘Nigeria’s Marketing Memoirs’, where marketing directors told stories about the brands they had built. We wrote a book on Orji Kalu; that was how we became friends and he asked us to come and head his newspaper, The Sun. So immediately Dimgba died, the only thing I could do was to write a book that I knew he would like. That’s why I wrote, 50 Nigeria’s Boardroom Leaders, with him as co-author. My prayer is that all journalists would take interest in writing books, because it’s also an extension of journalism and it’s more permanent.

Was the proceeds of the last book shared?

Definitely, whatever I give to myself, I give the wife. We have a company that we both co-owned.

Your friendship with Dimgba was so close that some even suggested both of you could be into some queer relationship.

Why wouldn’t they? We were really close, but God knows I’m not that kind of person. He was a pastor, is it a pastor I would be doing gay with? God forbid, with all the beautiful women in this world.

Speaking of beautiful women, Igwe also called you ‘Man of Iniquity’…

Yeah (laughs). In those days, I used to be a very handsome young man. And when you add that to having a name mine and you were a man about town, women would look at you and you would look at them too.

And you were not a pastor.

I was not a pastor, I was an iniquity man (laughs again). In fact, they said Eric Osagie and I used to decide covers of our editions at beer parlous, which was true anyway. The best place is where you are more relaxed.

Not long ago, you also ventured into publishing.

Yes, Entertainment Express. We invested the little money we had to start an entertainment newspaper, but it didn’t survive. You need bigger money to publish. It’s not a short term vocation. You should be able to have money to project for many years without looking at the revenue, but with the peanuts we put in and the little cover price, we were always running short of money. And adverts weren’t coming in too. But it was a good experience. We met young men who learnt from us.

You were MD of The Sun, and then one day the world woke up to hear that you were no longer there.

Well that’s capitalism for you. Once you’re not the sole owner of a business or brought in the Lion’s share in a business, there is a limit to what you can do. The good part for us is that when people see The Sun, they remember that you guys birthed it.

Award-winning fashion designer, Abah Folawiyo, will clock 80 years on July 22. In spite of her advanced age, she remains agile and sparkling. But contrary to reports that her son, Segun Awolowo, was planning to paint Lagos red for her birthday, Sisi Abah, as she is fondly called by friends and close associates, told INNOCENT DURU that the Nigerian phase of the ceremony will be solemn. As a Ghanaian, she weighs in on the jollof rice controversy between Nigeria and Ghana and explains why she did not get married to Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s son, Segun, despite having a child with him.

Congratulations in advance for your birthday. How do you feel at 80?                     

I feel the same as far as I am concerned. I have not misused myself  and I have kept  to my standard way of living up to 80.

What do you mean by standard way of living?

What I mean is that by being quiet, not going to party, party party.  Whatever makes me happy is what I do. Most of  the time, I am with my son and my grandchildren. I spend a lot of time with them. At times I travel to Ghana to see my family. Just quiet living, and I have a few friends who come to me and we interact.  We watch Nigerian movies. That is what I love watching all the time.

You are 80 and agile. What is the secret behind this?

There is no secret at all. Like I told you, I always keep to myself. I live a quiet life and I am always happy to interact with people, and I am happy with myself.

Any special diet?

No special diets. I don’t believe in them, so I don’t do them. I eat a lot. I don’t do exercise at all. I hate it. I eat a lot. I love cooking. I am always in the kitchen. I still go to the market to buy things myself. I don’t just send the house girls to go and get them; I also go with them.

How do people relate with you when you go to the market?

They call me Mama wa (our mother), and I am happy. I interact with them all the time and they all know me. People ask me why I love going to the market. I tell them I do because I want to see what I want to buy. It is not that my girls will cheat me or something, but I want to see what I want to buy.

Is it a form of hobby?

I just love it because I  love cooking. When you love cooking you have to go to the market to see what you are buying, not sending people to go and buy it for you. I believe very much in that.

I read that your son is already planning to paint Lagos red for your 80th birthday. Could you just let us into what the plan is?

My son is not painting Lagos red like you said.  We are having a quiet and sober birthday. I am having prayers in the morning. I believe very much in that. I am a Muslim and  I will be having prayers in my house. After that, a few people will come. It will be an open house. People will come to eat and go. That is all. We are not doing any party. In fact, I am not doing any party here in Nigeria. I am doing it in Ghana.

Why?

I promised my mum that I would celebrate  my 70th birthday in Ghana because I was brought up in Ghana. My mum is from Ghana.  All my family members are in Ghana. I said my 70th birthday I would do it in Ghana but I didn’t go. I also couldn’t go for my 75th birthday. My 80th I said no, the party has to be in Ghana to honour my mum, because I have lost her.

What is the attraction in Ghana when you have spent the good part of your life here?

My family members are in Ghana. I was brought up in Ghana. My family members are there. I am partly Nigerian and partly Ghana.

What was your growing up like?

Ghana is very quiet and very sober. Maybe that is why I am very, very sober. I got it from my mum. We don’t do things elaborately like we do here in Nigeria; like aso ebi and big big parties. No, we don’t do that in Ghana. They do parties, but it is often quiet.

Will your Nigerian friends follow you to Ghana for the party?

Oh yes! I have close friends that I have been with for many, many years. Definitely they will go with me. They are looking forward to coming with me.

The high society that has been with you all the years, especially the media, would expect your birthday to be a big one.  Are they not going to feel disappointed?

I don’t care if they are disappointed, but I don’t want that kind of party. I don’t want it at all. I love parties but not the elaborate types that people often do.

Were your parents rich?

My parents were comfortable people. I don’t know what you mean by rich.

I mean rich in the Nigerian context.

No. They were a very comfortable and sober family.

What did you learn from your parents?

I learnt from my parents, especially my mum, to love people, accommodate people and then be happy within yourself.

Did you school in Nigeria or in Ghana?

I schooled in both.

Could you compare and contrast the two?

Well, education in Ghana is different from education here; but they are all probably the same.

Which one would you prefer ordinarily?

Ordinarily, I prefer the one in Ghana.

Why?

Because of the way we were taught.  The teachers there are really serious in teaching and then they make you understand what they are teaching you.  Here too it is the same. I won’t say they don’t teach well. But most of the time, the teachers have one thing or the other, and students go out of their own way. But in Ghana, it is not so. When the teacher is there, no matter how much they pay, she is contented with whatever they do for her and will teach you very well.

What fond memories do you have about school life?

Memories? Ha! My school life? Hahaha! Well may be because I schooled in Ghana. I went outside Ghana in Cape Coast. I was a convent student, and as convent students (Catholics), we were very sober.  They taught us lots of things before I came to Nigeria.

Children do play pranks on their parents. What kind of pranks did you play with your parents?

We didn’t play pranks with our parents then because they were very, very strict. They were open to us and we were open to them. We didn’t have the chance to play any pranks.

You are a socialite. How did you get to become one? Was it a deliberate thing or you got initiated into it?

I am a socialite by my kind of job. I am a dress designer and I make dresses for celebrities and a lot of people. That is why I am a socialite. I am not a socialite as in going to parties and dancing and all that. By the kind of work I do, people get to know me and I know lots of people because I make clothes for them. Up until now, I still make clothes for them.

How did you get into making clothes for big people?

I had a big factory, a boutique in Surulere and they all know me. I was the first Daily Times Designer of the Year. I won that one many, many years ago the first time in history that they did it. I also won the best designer competition in Ghana. I am very big in that field.  People get to know me, Labanella.

What challenges would you say you faced in the course of doing this?

Then? At that time, people loved to import clothes. They didn’t like African clothes like the prints that they are using now, but I continued using the prints. I never stopped till today. When Obasanjo banned importation of ready-made clothes, people all of a sudden started coming and my business started booming with African fabrics. I am very happy that they have taken to it up till now.

In the course of doing your work and at social gatherings, have you had any unpleasant experience?

Definitely, that is bound to happen. Some customers are very nice and some are very hard to deal with. But like I said, when you are quiet and calm, you are able to deal with every one of them. I never had any issues with my customers; never. I always try to please them. What they want is what I do for them.

If you were not a fashion designer what else would you have been doing?

What else would I have been doing? I don’t know. I don’t know because all my family members are into fashion.  I wouldn’t have been anything else aside being a designer.

Are your other family members as big as you are in the industry?

I am the only one.

What stood you out?

Probably because of what I make. People like them and I love people. I make friends with them. All my customers are my friends.

These days many young ones look down on crafts and don’t want to be apprentices. How do you feel about that?

That was many years back.  People love clothes because we wear a lot of clothes in Nigeria.  So we have lots of designers, lots of dress makers in Nigeria and they are all doing very well.

Did you have fears growing up?

No. What would I fear for? Never in my life! I have never had any problems. I am just a happy person and everybody knows me for that.

Your looks portray you as a merry-go-round person but your remarks are in sharp contrast with that. You sound very humble and reserved.  What can you say about that?

People look at me the way they like. Some people see me and say ah, I am a socialite. I am just myself and I know what I am.  People who are close to me know me very well.  They know the kind of person I am.

But has anybody ever said what I said now to you before; that you look ‘whatsoppy’ but that is not your person?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, they do. They think that I am a go-go person, but when they come close to me, they are surprised. They are really shocked about the person they are talking to and the person they meet.

I think I am one of such people because I thought you are one of these Lagos big mamas…

(Laughs) I am not a Lagos big mama at all. I am not.

If not for your job, would you have preferred a quiet life?

It is my job that made me popular. If not for my job, I would have loved that.  All my family members are like that.  All of them are calm. I am from a very calm family.

You are a famous person

(Cuts in) With my job.

What has fame done to you?

Any time I go anywhere, the paparazzi will be taking my photographs pam, pam, pam, which I don’t love.

Why don’t you like it?

I just don’t like it. They will put me in the papers and I have been very lucky that when they put me in the papers they say nice things about me.  There is no newspaper that has said anything really negative about me all my life. No.

But fame must have brought you some form of pain…

No.  No pain at all.

In Ghana, are you appreciated the way you are here?

Oh yes! Oh yes! With my designs, I won the first best designer award in Ghana.  That was when they launched their first plane, Ghana Airways. They did a big competition then and I won the first and second prizes. I became very famous and my pictures were all over the place, and Ghana Airways gave me a ticket to Beirut after winning the awards. Beirut was the first place they sent their plane to and I was there. From there, I went to England.

What can you say about yourself as FADAN patron? What do you say to the members?

I tell them to be serious in their work. I advise the upcoming designers on what to do and what not to do.

What decisions have you taken in life that you would love to reverse?

Maybe in designing. Maybe when I make my clothes I would say maybe I could have put sleeve or things like that.  But I tell you one thing that whatever I think in life is just about dress designing, making clothes, making people beautiful. That is my life and there is nothing that can change that till I die. I have retired but I still have three sewing machines in my house. I still make clothes. Some of my customers won’t let me go.

So you still work on the sewing machines at this age?

Oh yes. I still do it. I do a lot of designs. I was born a designer, I was born a dress maker. It is in my family. My mum was the best dress designer in Ghana. She made clothes for the first ladies and lots of people. It’s in me.

Have you had any close shave with death?

No! Not at all. Even my son, I have only a son and he has not gone through anything like that. His children are doing very well.

Many people who have excelled in life using their skills have moved from practical to impacting knowledge in the classroom. Why haven’t you?

No! I can’t do that because you have to have  time to do all that. You can’t mix them together. I have chosen my way and that is the way I followed, and I am very happy with it. Many, many top designers came through me. Some of them came to my factory, they worked there, left to start their own and they have gone very big.

How do you feel about that?

I am very happy and I am very close to all the dress designers in Nigeria and they all love me. I am like a mother to them. They all look up to me.

I read that you miss Baba Adinni, your late husband too much. With the benefit of hindsight, how did the relationship start?

The relationship between my husband and I?

 Yes, how did it start?

Hahaha! Ah! We met and fell in love.

You met where?

I can’t remember. It’s been a long time. I knew him many, many years back before I even married him. We interacted and the interaction led to marriage and that was it.

If you are this pretty at 80, you must have been a queen growing up…

(Cuts in) You have to see my mum, my sisters. All our family members are beautiful people.

Naturally when men see beautiful ladies they want to go out of their ways to have her. Have you had men struggling to get you?

No. I have had like three marriages in my life. I don’t play around. I am always a settled person. When I meet somebody and he wants to marry me, then we get married and stay together.  When we break up, another one is on the way getting married to me. I have never been alone. I am always married.

I read that the late Chief Awolowo’s family was not happy about their son getting married to you. How true is that?

No, no, no. It is not true at all. Segun and I weren’t married. When he came from London at the time his father was in jail, he and his lawyer from London were going to court every day. That was when I met him. We were together. I knew his sister very well. I wasn’t close to the father and the mother, but I knew the sister that followed him. The sister was very close to me and whenever I went to Ikenne, we were all together and we played around. That was when I got pregnant, and two months before I had my son, he died. So we couldn’t do anything. Whatever he wanted to do with me he couldn’t do because he had a big problem on his chest.

What was it like losing him at that particular point in time? 

What can I say? Thank God at least I have my son and he is doing very well. I thank God.

The second man, Lagun Adesanya you had a relationship with is now a Celestial pastor. Do you still say hello to yourselves once in a while?

Oh yes, we talk till tomorrow. He calls me and I call him any time. We are friends.

Both of you don’t have feelings for each other anymore?

At all! No, no, no.

The economy of Nigeria was not like this when you started…

(Cuts in) It wasn’t like this at all. Nobody was interested in big, big money then. When I was selling my clothes in my factory, I was the cheapest dress designer that had a shop in Nigeria because I was sewing clothes for them for N5,000, N10,000. Anybody that came, I would collect any amount she could afford and dress the person up. My interest was to make them beautiful and not about the money.

Now some designers make clothes for me. I patronise them even though I can sew whatever they are sewing, and the kind of money they charge is ridiculous. They don’t charge me. Some of them make clothes for me free and some charge little money from me just because they want me  to wear their clothes. When I wear it and people see me and say you look very beautiful, I tell them this or that person made it for me. I say that so that people can patronise them.

Looking at the challenge of insecurity in the country, how do you feel as a person?

That is terrible. You have to be going out with your eyes open, not closed. It is really, really bad. We are just praying that God will give us the person that will make this country better like it used to be. That is my prayer. It is really, really bad.  Nigeria wasn’t like this before.

Maybe one day the rainfall will come and wash all the bad things away and good things will start coming up.  We are praying that a good president would emerge to make this country better for all of us.

You have travelled to different countries. Which of them stood out for you and why?

Maybe London. I lived in London for many years and I love Beirut.

What do you love about them?

Beirut, maybe because it was the first place I travelled to in my life when I won the Ghana Airways award. I stayed there for about two to three months. I love the people there because they are simple and very nice.

London is like my second home. It’s like when you are in Nigeria.  Other places are stiff. America is stiff. I don’t like the way their life is  gbogbogbo, gbagbagba, gbugbugbu. No no, it is something else. Italy too is the same.  But I  like London.

What is your best food?

I eat everything; amala, eba. But I love jollof rice and dodo.

Is it Ghana’s or Nigeria’s jollof rice?

Nigeria’s jollof rice is the best. I am from Ghana but the way they make their jollof rice is different from ours. Theirs is too oily but ours is not. So, Nigeria’s jollof rice is the best for anybody to eat and they love it.  Whenever they are doing something there, I go with my people to go and cook jollof rice and ‘efo riro’ for them. They love it like anything. Ours is the best.

You have house helps and even though you said you go to the market by yourself, were you still doing the cooking when your husband was alive?

Nobody could cook for my husband except me. It’s only me. He ate his wife’s food. I am always in the kitchen 24/7 when he was alive. I had cooks then who would help me do one or two things, but I must do the cooking. I love cooking.

I pray that God will continue to bless and keep you. What next from now on?

I don’t know. It’s God.

Yes it’s God but as human beings we have our plans…

(Cuts in) No plans. I will live my life the way I have been living it right from when I was 30, 40 50, 60, 70 and 80. The same way. I am not changing anything. I want to be my very self.

Some believe you have slowed down on your outings…

I have not slowed down in my outing. When people invite me to party, I do go. I go to weddings, I go to birthdays. I have not slowed down.  But I am not a go-go person that goes to five parties in a day. Maybe one. And the person has to be very close to me.

Men can be very funny. I have seen men wooing or as we say in Nigeria toasting pregnant women. Since you lost your husband, has any man come to say I love you?

No way. No way. I don’t even give them the look. Nobody can be like my husband. Nobody, no man can be like my husband, so why waste my time. What are they going to offer me? Nothing. I don’t see any man that would even talk to me, I don’t even give them that face for them to talk to me.

But men would not wait for you to give them face; they make the move…

No, no, no, they will not. They respect me. All the men that I have met respect me. A woman too has to give some signs to a man to accept him, and when they don’t see that they go away.

Would you have loved Baba Adinni to be around to celebrate with you?

Oh yes. My 60th, we were together and everything was fine. On my 70th   birthday, we were together. But now, that is the way God wants it. I wish he was here because the sky would have been the limit. Wherever I wanted to celebrate my birthday, he would say go ahead and do it. Well he has gone to rest now but he would have me in his prayers.

Pa Akinlolu Fafowora is famous for writing hit songs like ‘Wazobia’ and other classics for the late highlife music legend, Roy Chicago. Saying that the Ilesa,Osun State born multi-disciplinarian has lived a fulfilled life amounts to stating the obvious. Yet he has experienced a rather chequered existence, having been orphaned at a very tender age and left under the foster care of close family relation. He has also had a career path that is strewn with disappointments and midlife crisis that includes losing a child to a ghastly auto crash and fighting the consequent depression. In spite of everything, however, he is thankful to his Maker for making it possible to survive it all. In a chat with select journalists, Baba Wazobia, as he is fondly called, who turned 83 years recently, reminisced on the good and the ugly moments of his life. IBRAHIM APEKHADE YUSUF was there. Excerpts:

Fond memories of my childhood                                 

I was born in 1939 in Ilesa, Osun State. That was over 83 years ago. From accounts given to me by my relatives, I was born in April. At the time of my father’s death, there were 25 of us and he had many wives. My mother was number five. I was 16th among my father’s children and number three of my mother’s five children. I have two elder sisters.

My childhood was very interesting. Early in 1942, my mother fell very ill and she had to go to her mother’s house in another part of Ilesa town, so the children had to go with her. It was after the death of my immediate younger brother in 1942. So, we all went there and it was in that compound that I grew to know myself, so to say. Between 1943 and 1944, I was old enough to know myself.

The Fafowora family house shared a fence with the Methodist Church and primary school in Ilesa. Originally, that whole portion belonged to my grandfather because he was an important chief. It was during the advent of Christianity that he offered to give the land to the Methodist Church. But the family has over 25 settlements in Ilesa. If you get to Ilesa and ask for the Fafoworas, they would ask which one.

From there, we moved to Apala’s house in Igbogi because my mother’s brother had his own house there. I started school at Holy Trinity, Omofe of the Anglican Church in 1944.

In 1945, my father brought me to St John’s Cathedral, Iloro, where my father used to attend. I finished my primary education in Iloro in 1954. I enjoyed my time there and I was among the school band, which was very popular in Ilesa land. Eventually, there was a competition among primary schools and we always fared. That was the beginning of my interest in music. I grew up with it till I graduated from primary school.

In Ilesa Grammar School, which I attended from 1955 to 1959, there was no drumming. We didn’t offer music as a subject, but the thing was still there in me. It found ways to express itself. For example, whenever we went to church, I sang and was always called upon to play the drums behind the choir. That is part of the experience I had. While in grammar school, I used to go around to listen to music in record shops.

There were popular record shops in Ilesa and we had one any new record that came out in Lagos would get there within a week. So, we used to get all the records of highlife music from Ghana and we would listen to them almost on a daily basis. After returning from school, I would rest for a while. Around 6pm or 7pm, I used to find my way to record shops to listen to such music. That was the beginning of my inspiration.

 

Job-hunting in post-high school days

I left Ilesa Grammar School in 1959 and I came to Ibadan (Oyo State) that very year. I took my GCE Advanced Level exam in 1967/68. Soon after, I took up an appointment at the Ibadan Western Nigeria secretariat. In particular, I was employed in the Ministry of Health. My uncle was there in the civil service. In those days, those of us leaving school would approach each ministry where we were seeking appointment. They would ask you to bring an application, then they would tell you when the interview would be held. After attending an interview, they would give you results maybe within the week or sometime later and you would start as a clerical officer. For me, that was in 1960. I was a civil servant there up till 1971.

I studied privately. I had my advanced level and gained admission twice before I went to the University of Lagos in 1971. I was there for a year. There was no financial support when I got an early admission to University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) to read Estate Management. So, the opportunities came and went away like that. It was about a year or two later that I got admission to University of Lagos to read Political Science, but I was told, ‘With the military government, what do you want to do with Political Science? Go and read Economics, after which you will become more marketable.’ So, I changed my course where I met my waterloo.

The opportunity was lost, so I went back to the service in Lagos. That was a very bad experience because having lost a grip of my ambition, it brought me down. But I was able to gather courage and after some years, I got another opportunity to go to a higher institution. I went to The Polytechnic, Ibadan, to read Accountancy from 1975 to 1978. When I finished, I did my National Youth Service Corps programme and went back into service.

Then God did something wonderful. We had the two-year Ordinary National Diploma programme, after which you would do industry training and then you would return for your Higher National Diploma. That is five years altogether. But when I applied to The Polytechnic, Ibadan, they discovered that there were many of us at the advanced level. Many were already in the university and most of us were experienced and older. But there was this list of younger people from 18 to 21 who had just left secondary school and they had brilliant results, so they separated us and put us in a class of OND. Most of us who had higher qualifications, that is, one to three papers in advanced level, including some who were in the university, came to pursue Accountancy. So, they created a special class for us and slashed the five-year programme to a three-year programme. That was the first time they did it in Nigeria. That was the opportunity I had.

Earlier, I left the Ministry of Defence to go and read Accountancy in The Polytechnic, Ibadan. So, when I came out, after NYSC, I returned to Defence. I heard that the Ministry of External Affairs had been given the licence to employ their own accountants. Before then, the External Affairs Ministry had a supply of accountants that were loaned to it from the Ministry of Finance. After various postings of maybe five to ten years in batches, they would return to the Ministry of Finance. But at the time I crossed to External Affairs, we were employed directly by the Ministry of External Affairs. After a year, I was among those posted out to various missions.

 

How my music career was ignited

When I was born, my mother had four or five daughters. So, everybody in the family knew her anxiety that she longed to have a son. So, when my mother eventually had a son, everybody was happy. One of my great uncles was so happy; I was welcomed into the world with music from the Banjo Band. So my mother used to say perhaps this is an indication that this boy is coming with physical talents.

In those days, when I showed signs of love for music, my mother used to tell me these things. But she never wanted me to exhibit those talents. My father also went against it. But I just continued until my father died on October 19, 1953 and my mother in 1961, two years after I had left school.

Having listened to highlife and other genres of music in Ilesa for so long, I was conversant with many styles at that time. My uncle was the first to open a (record) shop where music was regularly played in the 1940s. I remember he opened two shops. When I was young, I visited such shops regularly. That was where I started. In the 1950s, I would visit Ibadan around the end of the year during the holidays and my cousin, who was in CMS Grammar School, Lagos, would also come. We would always meet there in Ibadan.

One December, I went to Oke Bola where his father lived and his dad told me, ‘Dapo has not come.’ His dad was going to Paradise Club, so I followed him. When we got there, he took his instrument and was playing. Then one young man opened the door and entered. Immediately he came in, somebody sang, ‘Lucky, lucky, somebody yarasi e.’ That was the popular song that Roy Chicago had just released. I was intrigued and I asked, ‘Is this Roy Chicago?’ Everybody was greeting him, so I looked at him, while my uncle played for about an hour. He then said it was time to return home, so I carried his bag.

I then ran back to Paradise Club and Roy was still there. I walked up to him and said, ‘How are you, sir?’ He said, ‘Yes? Are you not the young man who left with Baba Fafowora?’ I said yes. He asked, ‘Did you forget something?’ I said, ‘I have come to see you. I learnt a short while ago that you are Roy Chicago. I’ve just come to know you further. I’m happy to see you.’ He was so happy. He had brought a car, so as he was going to Central Hotel where he had lodged, I told him I was going somewhere else to meet my sister. I accompanied him in his car and we discussed until he got to Central Hotel.

He asked what I was doing and I told him I was a student at Ilesa Grammar School. He asked what music I liked and I said, ‘I like Highlife.’ I sang about three or four songs. He asked what I wanted to do when I left school and I said I would come to Ibadan to work. He said, ‘Link up with me and let’s see how far we can go.’ So, when I left school, I moved to Ibadan. He had moved to Lagos at the end of 1958 or early ’59. But he would come occasionally to play at Paradise Club or Central Hotel. So, I used to attend.

Then I started giving him songs and he was so surprised. I first gave him Wazobia, Fiwa Jomi and Iba Fun Obi Mi. He continued to ask me if I had other songs, and I continued to give him songs over the years. So, our friendship lasted so many years until he died in 1988. I was preparing to go abroad on a posting when he died. In all, I gave him over 25 songs. We weren’t able to record them all but he waxed a good number of my songs and he gave me credit.

 

How I met my wife

I married very late because of the crucibles of life that didn’t encourage me to marry early. Even though I had some relationships, I always avoided getting married because I was not mentally prepared for it. At some point, I went somewhere with the wife of one of my relatives and while we were talking, my attention was on her (future wife) and I said I was interested in getting to know her. She was a nurse and I went to see her where she was working. I spoke to her and said I had seen her before. I went to speak with her and that was how it started. Gradually, things went along and we got married in 1980. The second week after the wedding, we jetted out to London to resume work in the Nigeria High Commission. Since then, it’s been a happy marriage. We thank God.

Experiencing the joy of first-time father

I was posted from London to Edinburgh, Scotland, in acting capacity for the accountant of the embassy, who was to go on admission for an operation. That was after the visit of (then) President Shehu Shagari to London in 1981. After the visit, the posting came out, so I had to go to Scotland. But interestingly, before I left London, my wife had already conceived. So, when I was delayed in Edinburgh, it was time for her to give birth to the baby, so I had an anxious moment.

They had given us the date to go to the hospital and that they were seeing some symptoms that she needed some assistance in the hospital. So, I hurriedly left Edinburgh and came to London. I went straight to the hospital. Immediately I got there, I introduced myself. The nurses and doctors said, ‘Congratulations!’ I jumped up and it was a very happy moment. I said, ‘I am now somebody.’ I now had a child, despite all the difficult times I had gone through. I said, ‘I thank God.’ Tears of joy were just rolling down. It was a very nice experience.

 

Biggest trying moments of my life

Exactly three months later, on July 6, the only boy out of my four children was knocked down by a car that was coming from Durbar Hotel, and it happened at the gate leading to my house within the estate. I was in the office and I experienced a sudden coldness. At the same time, my body began to shake like someone who had been suffering from a fever for a week. My hands and feet were shaking. So I told my boss, ‘I’m not feeling comfortable, I’m going to the hospital.’ My driver parked my briefcase and led me to the garage. So, I entered the car. On getting home, I encountered the situation and I broke down. It was terrible. My wife and I were affected psychologically. Around that time, I would just leave the house and stroll around, not even knowing where I was going. But God took control.

If the house was a rented apartment, I would have left the place. But it is my property, so we were forced to remain there and we are still there. Any time I pass through the place, whether twice or thrice in a day, I always remember that sad experience. But the Lord giveth and taketh.

He was seven years old and a fantastic boy. When we were abroad, you needed to see his school report. Somebody who lodged at Durbar Hotel, the driver came to take him to the airport, he sped and the accident happened. He was arrested and locked up. On the third day, I had a nudge from God to leave him. When I told the policeman that I was no longer interested in the case, the divisional police officer said, ‘Go and write it in black and white.’ He said he didn’t want anybody to start giving insinuations that he might have been bribed. So, I wrote it. He said I should attach the death certificate and I did. I gave it to the DPO. Within minutes, the man (driver) was in tears.

If the boy were alive, he would have been 36 years old. And as a brilliant boy, he would have recorded a lot of successes. Maybe by now, he would have been a doctor or an engineer.

 

Retirement from public service

I retired from the Foreign Service on March 11, 1995. Since then, I have worked with one or two other companies. But at my age, I can’t go out to do any other job for a salary. I still thank God for my health and music remains in me. I compose every day.

A piece of music can just surge in my mind with accompanying lyrics. Over the years, I undermined it as just a talent but God is great. I’m setting up a studio now for regular music production, so people can come to do their recordings. It will encourage many of the young people coming up.