Category: Saturday Interview

Mohammed Belgore is the son of Justice S.B. Belgore, a serving high court judge at the Federal Capital territory in Abuja. The young lawyer noted for his sound speeches at different public fora is seen by many as a chip off the old block. In this interview with PAUL UKPABIO, the young lawyer expressed his views about the recent EndSARS protests and the youths of his generation as well as the challenges that come with being a youth in present time Nigeria.

Your father, Justice S.B. Belgore, trained as a lawyer and rose to become a high court judge at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, among other appointments. What values did he instill in you as a child and what memories of childhood do you hold dear?

Well, my father is a simple person and has dedicated most of his life to his work. So I mostly remember how it all started; his journey through magistracy and how much he wanted to realise his ambition of getting elevated to the High Court bench. He has instilled in me the value of selfless service and ambition, because when I think about it, I believe his major goal has always been to affect his immediate surroundings in a manner that puts one on an immortal pedestal. And I think he has achieved that gloriously through the grace of God.

Additionally, he has also instilled in me the value of Godliness, selflessness and humility, because despite the relatively low income of a Magistrate, we always had a crowded home with extended family and guests with whom we shared the little we had.

You studied Law in the university. Was that your choice or your dad insisted on it?

No, he did not insist on it. He had no reason to since I always loved the profession. But he influenced me. Whenever I went to court with him, he always dazzled me with the way he controlled his courtroom. He is one of those judges who are born to judge. The aura, the wisdom and the grace with which he adjudicates has always been so enticing that I just wanted to be like him. Like his name, he is a reincarnated Solomon. He treats legal issues with wisdom. So, yes, he influenced me, but he did not insist. He didn’t have to.

What exactly do you do in terms of work and keeping soul and body together?

I work in a law firm belonging to one of the most reputable lawyers in the country, Mahmud A. Magaji, SAN. When I am not working, I am at home. I am a very simple person. I unwind mostly by writing, because I love writing. When I hold a pen, I feel like an artist with a paintbrush and the paper is my canvas. It makes me feel special to play with words and express myself articulately and beautifully. I also unwind by listening to the Quran on YouTube, reading books and watching a lot of football as a passionate Arsenal fan. I play video games as well, FIFA precisely. At times, I watch movies too.

We have just witnessed the #EndSARS protests. In your own perception, is #End SARS really the crux of the matter at this time?

No, I don’t think it was. I believe that the Nigerian youths are generally aggrieved, so the EndSars movement was started by someone and everyone basically jumped on the bus. Rightly so as well, but it is not the main crux of the matter. In fact, the issues plaguing our country at this time will need wisdom to distill into principal cruxes. But the most important thing is that we know we have problems and we need to act fast and sort them out. We are at the 11th hour as a nation. I believe we should start by fixing the problem of undeserving individuals in the corridors of power.

What are the things you consider as the gains of the protest and what do you think is the way forward?

Well, we now understand the significance of people power. We know that if we unite and speak as one, the powers that be have no choice but to listen. We can also take away the lessons learnt. For example, we need leaders and representatives. We can’t all talk at the same time. I think if we have to protest en masse again, we will be more organised. We have also shown the world that we’re not basically lackeys; we’re interested in the wellbeing of our society and we are ready to take part in fixing it.

How do you think the older generation perceives today’s youths? Do you think the recent protests can change their perception?

In all honesty, I think they think we are lazy and that we don’t have our priorities straight; that we love the easy way. But you know generations must have differences. The elemental forces that build each generation of individuals are distinct and that is the power of time. So, yes, I hope and I think the protests have shown that we are not lazy and we are ready to get gritty if need be; to think outside the box. And we have the will to solve problems.

A popular commentator once said that today’s youths cannot take charge of their future because they are a ‘Facebooking’ and ‘Instagramming’ generation. How do you react to that?

With due respect to him, it does not make sense. We are a jet age generation. But like I said, that is the power of time and the elemental forces of natural progression. Instagram and Facebook have demerits, and they have merits. It depends on how you apply yourself, like everything else in life. I am sure this person has a car and does not travel inter- state on a horse. That is just life and its times. Adaptation to such technological advancements is an art.

Again, a lot of the elders believe that a huge number of youths focus on weed smoking, alcohol, music, football and women. Do you really think that the youth are ready for the task of nation building? If they are, why looting and destroying properties?

I don’t defend those ills, but Nigerian youths are nothing but survivors. I believe that first and foremost, there is good in every human being, and then social circumstances dictate everything else. There is an Angel and a beast in everyone; it depends on what you feed. I think we are ready for nation building if given the opportunity and if the right environment is created: job opportunities and good schools.

You can’t keep an energetic young population jobless. Also you cannot keep their institutions of learning in extremely deplorable conditions and expect them to turn out positively productive. Remember that an idle hand is the devil’s workshop. We need to ask the right questions and fix the right problems before criticising. Let whoever would come to equity do so with clean hands. However, in the most despicable circumstances, Nigerian youths are actually thriving. They deserve nothing but praise and not remonstrations. The real question is what has Nigeria as a country done for its youths?

You said that youths should wait and use their PVC to dislodge the old corrupt leadership from government. But in a situation where the youths are given the option of two notably corrupt individuals as presidential candidates of the two popular parties, how relevant will the PVC be in such a situation?

There are other political parties that are duly registered and legitimate. They also score a couple of votes, no matter how small, during elections. Now the current crop of leaders has perfected the art of keeping the people hungry and unenlightened, especially in the rural areas. So, on Election Day, they get something like a paltry sum of N1000 or so and 2 packs of Indomie for people to vote and they take them, because to a large extent, you can’t legislate with hunger. But we can sensitise them with the right resources and information if we come together so that they don’t fall prey to those antics anymore.

If we do that, they will ignore the current popular parties for a new dawn. It can be an idealistic and ideological revolution of paradigm if we are united. Let them know that though they may be poor, when they accept these things in exchange for their votes, they are further nailing their own coffins. It might sound absurd, you could say its wishful thinking and rather easier said than done, but it is doable.

One of the things observed during the recent protest was that the issue of tribalism and religion was played down. And the youths insisted that they didn’t have a leader because they didn’t want their leaders to be influenced wrongly. Is that an indication that the youth are seeing through the smokescreen of the divide and rule strategy the older generations have employed over the years?

Exactly! That was one of the positives. It also means we will not let any charlatan come up and say he is a leader of the youth because he is famous or relatively successful. We need people with ideas, who represent progressive development. In the future, we will definitely need leaders if we are to take charge of or contribute in the governance of society. But I think we should come up with ways to pick such leaders. Perhaps through debates, town hall meetings and what have you. Let people express what they can contribute so that we will gauge their readiness. Let us also check their moral standing and background so that we won’t have representatives based on the divisive tenets of tribe or religion but based on what people can substantially offer.

What kind of Nigeria would you want to see in the next 10 years?

Well, I’m not looking to find myself in paradise. I know we have a long way to go. But I want to see a Nigeria that does not have an outlook as bleak as the one we find ourselves in today. Let there be electricity, water, good schools, good living conditions and less hunger. If we are not there yet, let it at least look like we are almost there, because we do have a long way to go.

The quest for greener pastures in the Middle East countries has left many Nigerian migrants, mostly females, worse off than they were before they left the country. Many of them have been sexually assaulted, put in prison on trumped up charges and visited with cruel treatments their employers would not give to beasts. Kafala, a system that gives employers absolute powers over the migrants in parts of the region is compounded by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which made it impossible for many of them to be paid for the period they slaved for their bosses, INNOCENT DURU reports.

• Cruel Kafala system, Covid-19 pandemic expose migrants to inhuman treatment

• Maimed, sexually assaulted victims frustrated, commit suicide

Jummy, a graduate of Computer Science, had heaved a sigh of relief after struggling to complete her university education. “It is time to reap the fruits of my labour”, she said to herself in the hope that she would soon secure a good job.

Her dream of bidding poverty and misery farewell saw a glimmer of hope shortly after she completed the compulsory one year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.

“Immediately I completed my NYSC, I met a man who asked if I was interested in travelling to Saudi Arabia. He promised that I was not going there to work as a housemaid,” she said.

Jummy said to convince her that a white collar job awaited her in Dubai, “he told me to go with my credentials; that the moment I got there, I would see a woman that would help me secure a job.

“I invested all the money I saved during my NYSC into the travelling project. I also paid the man, but unfortunately, I no longer know his whereabouts. He has not even chatted with me once since I came here.”

Getting to Dubai full of hopes, she said: “When I met the woman here in Saudi Arabia, I gave her my credentials, telling her that I was told she would help me get a job. But to my chagrin, she said I was here to work as a housemaid.

“I started crying, telling her that I am a graduate and that I had been promised a better job.

“When I told her that I wanted to return to Nigeria, she said that would be on the condition that I paid her the money she paid to the agent, which, according to her, was more than a million naira.

“Before I travelled, they told me not to tell my family members about it because they could scuttle the plans spiritually.

“I ended up signing two-year contract as a housemaid. Throughout the two years, I didn’t go anywhere; not even outside. They made us to wear uniforms like prisoners instead of our normal clothes. I was made to work all day.

“If they see one sitting down, they will be angry. The salary they are paying is about N70,000.

“At a point, my boss started giving me problems I could not bear. She started dropping broken cups for me to wash. And when I complained about it, she said I was there as a housemaid and that I had been sold to her.

“When one of the broken cups cut my hand and blood started gushing out, she complained that my blood was smelling. I was subsequently locked up in one room where I ate and did everything.”

But she said she was not alone in her ordeal.

“There are a lot of our people here that are mentally sick. If they return to Nigeria, they must first go for treatment or they will suffer mental problems,” she said.

It is also a tale of woes for Rayo, who was trafficked to Lebanon by a trusted family friend who had promised her a good job in Dubai.

She said: “I got to Lebanon on August 28, 2019. Two days after I arrived there, I was taken to the hospital to take an injection. Two days after taking the injection, my hand got swollen, causing my employer to reject me.

“I was subsequently taken back to the office of my agent who took me to another employer where I was asked to work from 6 am to 12 am. Following the heavy workload, I fainted on the third day. Thereafter, my agent took me to a place where I underwent training for a week.”

She recalled that after the training, she was taken to another house where she spent about five weeks.

She said: “In that house, there was no food for me. I was not allowed to use phone, and I was to clean the house, work as a gateman, wash the cars and baby sit, among other tasks.

“My agent got annoyed when I told her I couldn’t continue with the work, because I was looking like a skeleton and already having a lot of odour all over my body.

“She subsequently decided to take me to another house where I was to spend another one month for training, but I declined and told her I wanted to go back home. She got angry, beat the hell out of me and refused to feed me for two days.”

The agent, Rayo said, eventually took her to another house that was another hell for her.

“There, I cleaned three rooms, three toilets, two big sitting rooms, a big compound and many more every day. The work load affected me seriously, causing me to menstruate for more than six months without stopping.

“With the help of God, Ms Omotola Fawunmi and the Oyo State Government, I returned home on July 11.”

But Rayo’s return did not necessarily spell an end to her troubles.

She said: “Life has not been what we expected it to be when we were coming home. We didn’t come back with any money so survival has been pretty difficult.

“Before I travelled, I was working as a secretary in a hotel. After completing my education, I went into teaching before meeting the owner of the hotel where I was eventually employed.

“It was along the line that I met the agent that said I should travel to Dubai. He assured that I would be paid N120,000 monthly in Dubai. The agent is a brother to my classmate in the secondary school.

“She introduced me to him and because the offer was coming through her, I was convinced that it would not be a scam. It was when I got to the airport that I realised that it was Lebanon that I was going to, and because I had invested a lot of money in the journey, I could not turn back at the airport.”

After all she suffered in Lebanon, Rayo said she only received salaries for five months of the 11 months she worked.

“I was paid N68,000 monthly. The few months’ salaries I received were used to pay back the money I borrowed before I travelled. They could not pay the outstanding salaries because they could not afford to.”

Another migrant who shared her ordeal with The Nation was Sola, a practising nurse who quit her nursing job in mid 2019 to seek greener pastures in Lebanon.

“I am working as a maid here (Lebanon) and have suffered a lot. But I thank God I am still alive,” she said as she recounted her ordeal in the hands of her madam.

“I have been working without getting any salary and basic care from my madam, who also beats me up each time I ask her about my salary. She hits me with anything she finds around her. She pushed me one day and I hit my chest badly against the wall and fell down the staircase.

“I wash all the rooms every day and take care of the baby without a chance to rest at all.”

Asked how she got to Lebanon, she said: “It was someone I used to treat as a nurse that facilitated my coming here. I was always telling her that I wished to have a shop to start my own business, but she said I should try and go to Lebanon and that all I would do was to take care of the house.

“Unfortunately I found myself in slavery when I got here. She asked for N250,000 but I have only paid N150,000. The last time I paid her was December last year.

“She is still asking me to send money but my parents said I should not because of the suffering I am undergoing here.

“I have run out of the house when I saw that those people could kill me one day. I ran to the embassy.”

Abbey, who recently returned from Lebanon, said the person she worked for did not pay her any salary. She said: “I went there in March this year. It was Governor Makinde that paid for us to come home. I paid N100,000 to the agent here to travel. When our bosses couldn’t pay and we were complaining, they went and dropped us by a bush.

“We were nine in number. We stayed in the bush for a week before we found our ways to the embassy. It was some of us who had money that were buying food for us.

“The Nigerian Embassy rented an apartment for us but they were not giving us food. We were collecting money from our parents back home to survive.

“I was supposed to be paid $200 a month but I didn’t get a dime as salary all through my stay. When I wanted to do COVID-19 test in Lebanon, it was an NGO called ‘This is Lebanon’ that gave me money to pay before I was allowed to return home.

A check on the nation’s migrants in Oman shows they were not faring better.

One of the returnees, Suzan, described her experience as one she does not want to remember anymore.

She said: “I was introduced to travelling to Oman by a man who happens to be my agent. He came with information that they needed a stylist, but at the end, he told me about a teaching job, which caught my interest.

“But the story changed afterwards. He did my passport for N25,000. The experience is a very long and sad story which I don’t wish to recollect.”

Zain Lawson, a co-founder of This is Lebanon, an international NGO assisting Africans undergoing hardship to return home, told The Nation of a Nigerian woman who was supposed to return home recently but could not because her former agent filed a complaint against her.

Lawson said: “The same agent who beat her up threatened to kill her and stole her salary. After she ran away, he reported her to the police so if she tries to fly out she’ll be arrested.

“She reported her agent to Lebanon’s Ministry of Labour but they blocked her after several messages.”

He further said: “One of the Nigerian women who was injured during the Beirut blast was thrown out on the street, went to get her wounds bandaged, went to the airport covered in bandages from her injuries, but was arrested because her employer made a complaint against her.”

Kafala system explained

Experts in the migration world have pointed out the ills of the Kafala system practised in many Middle East countries.

One of them, Omotola Fawunmi, founder of RebirthUB Africa said the system has been around for a long time and it is a predominant employment system in the Middle East.

Fawunmi said: “A lot has been written about the system but many people sincerely do not know about the Kafala system and what it means for them. It is a system that impoverishes. It is a system that makes an economic migrant either a slave to the recruiter or the employer.

“Kafala should be abolished. It doesn’t give the migrant domestic worker options or choices. It empowers slavery, it empowers subjugation, it empowers oppression of the migrant domestic workers.”

Ground Coordinator of This is Lebanon, Nia Evans, said the Kafala employment system is state sponsored slavery and domestic workers lack the most basic of protections.

“Along with Oman, Lebanon remains the only country in the Middle East without any labour laws governing domestic workers.

“There are no laws of any kind that protect domestic workers. Lebanese employers have complete impunity to treat workers as their property: they can enslave, torture, rape, and kill, with no consequences. Justice is never served in Lebanon for domestic workers.”

Omotola said she has several cases and several stories of migrant domestic workers who have been killed, maimed or raped and forced to commit suicide.”

She went on to advocate the abolition of the oppressive system.

“There are other systems like the one in the UAE that honours the migrant worker and makes sure that the promises are kept by both parties. When our government sign bilateral labour agreement, we counsel that they please read the provisions of that agreement before signing them so they don’t sign away our women and sisters into slavery by executive orders.”

COVID-19 compounds migrants’ plight

The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic is said to have aggravated the plight of the migrants. According to Nia Evans of This is Lebanon, “before the pandemic, Lebanon’s general security stated that two women die each week due to these conditions, often from suicide or failed escapes. Now, under restrictions designed to slow the spread of COVID-19, entrapment, increased workplace abuse and non-payment of salary increase the likelihood of self-harm, suicide and death.”

Nia added that COVID-19 is spreading like wild fire in Lebanon and “MDW are the most vulnerable in this society and are therefore more prone to being infected by the virus. MDW have no access to health care or social support. They are stigmatised, abused and subjected to racism on a daily basis.

“They are at risk of homelessness and being detained and placed in already overcrowded detention facilities. Those stranded are vulnerable to exploitation, including sex trafficking or being sold to other employers.”

On her part, Omotola said because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the downturn in the economy, a lot of migrant workers were pushed out on the street and left to fend for themselves because they could no longer be catered for.

“They were stranded in a country they couldn’t leave and they didn’t have enough money. Some of them have had to turn to prostitution just to survive.

“While I don’t support prostitution, I find it very sickening that women would have to turn to it to survive because there seems to be no other way to live.

“Our sisters do not have to live like this.  Our sisters, our mothers, our wives and citizens of Nigeria should not be involved in this.  We need to put an end to this. The government needs to be a lot more responsible and responsive.

“The government needs to understand that when a citizen approaches her government in a foreign country, her government should not collude with her slave masters to keep her impoverished.

“I say this with all sense of responsibility. I say this with all sense of modesty. Our sisters are suffering; period. They are not just in a space of impoverishment and their back being doubly bent, they have also lost their self esteem; they have lost their sense of personhood.

“A lot of them are deeply trumatised, and even if they return home, they cannot raise their heads high because they have been battered.  As a collective, as a nation, and as a body of people, we can do better.”

How African leaders can checkmate Lebanon

Worried by the despicable experiences of Africans in the Middle East, Nia called on African leaders to stop the menace. “Many of these African governments do have the power to stand up and fight for their workers. Unfortunately, only few of them are taking the steps necessary.

“On the most basic level, they can be providing evacuation flights, quarantine measures and ensuring that they have a Consul in Lebanon who cares for each of their nationals, more than the shady business deals done through the consulate.

“These governments could take a coordinated action that would almost immediately get all migrant domestic workers in Lebanon home who would like to leave.

“The African governments could solve this problem overnight. Lebanon is in a currency crisis, and one of the largest sources of income in Lebanon is money sent from Lebanese nationals who own businesses in Lebanon.

“These countries could unite and say that they won’t allow money to be sent to Lebanon until Lebanon returns their women. The African sending countries have the upper-hand, but they have to choose to use it.”

Quoting the Lebanese Embassy in Nigeria, Nia said there are approximately 5,000 Nigerians living in Lebanon.

“Many of these Nigerians are MDW, identified as females and being made destitutes. They have been forced into domestic servitude. They have been mistreated physically, sexually and mentally by their employers and agents.

“As a collective, This is Lebanon and Syrian Eyes have been assisting the Nigerian community of MDWs since August 2020. So far, in the safe houses we have supported approximately 150 Nigerian women with zero assistance from Nigerian authorities.

“At present, we are supporting approximately 51 women who have escaped from abusive agents/employers, women who have been dumped in front of the embassy and women who have been forced into homelessness.

“With very limited resources we have been attempting to meet the women’s most basic needs by providing food, covering rents, purchasing flights and covering the cost of PCR tests.”

Lebanon stops issuance of visas to domestic workers from Nigeria

The Lebanese Government early in June this year announced that it had suspended issuance of working visas to Nigerians seeking to work in Lebanon, particularly for domestic work.

Lebanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Houssam Diab, stated that the suspension started since May 1 as a result of complaints of abuse by some employers as well as the case of the video of Peace Busari, a Nigerian lady auctioned for sale for $1000 on social media in April this year, which went viral.

According to Diab, the suspension was to stem the tide for such categories of workers pending the time the procedure would be properly harmonised with the Ministry of Labour, in line with best practices of managed and orderly migration.

The Head of Intelligence and International Cooperation of  the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) Mrs Angela Aleakhue Agbayekhai, said  the agency has achieved a great deal in rescue of Nigerian ladies trafficked to the Middle East in the area of “public enlightenment, proactive , disruptive investigation, international cooperation by collaborating with relevant MGA’s, embassies and international organizations for rescue and and safe returns of Nigerian victims, profiling and thorough investigation in cases of human trafficking and labour exploitation.”

On the country’s position concerning the controversial Kafala system, Agbayekhai who is an Assistant Director in the agency said: “NAPTIP has a limit to play in the Kafala System because MOU’s in not in place to checkmate it operations with the Middle East Region which is a problem to the Nigeria Government, while the Middle East countries are taking advantage to traffick Nigerians, it will be a plus to Nigeria Government if MOU’s are signed for labour migration.”

 

She may not be an A-list actor but pretty and reserved Priscilla China is working her way to the top with special bias for the business aspect of Nollywood.

China, a filmmaker is no doubt a bundle of talent as she also holds her own in various fields outside the entertainment business like the real estate, beauty pageantry, jewelry, braided wigs and modelling. The graduate of International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of Benin speaks with SAM ANOKAM on her passion for the industry as well as her foray into the real estate business among others.

WHICH came first?

I think the acting thing came first. It came when it wasn’t paying from the children acting group in church to joining a theatre group. Then the movie production house even when you had to pay to become a member. I have always been acting. All other ones came as a result to make a living.

I started very young in Onitsha when I was in the kindergarten, KG3, that was when I started going on stage.

Professionally?

It was off and on. The first time I went to Asaba to be on a movie set (waka pass) was in 2011, I was in School then during the ASUU strike. Later I went back to school and forgot about acting. When I was done with school, I was like this thing I have always had passion for, I think it’s time for me to pay more attention to it. That was when I came to Lagos in 2014 and ventured into production. First was the Igbo movie, ‘Muna Onye’ it didn’t make it to the big screen but at least it was online. I had my premiere then produced couple of others then short movies.

So far, how has it been?

It is been wonderful. It is an industry where your passion has to keep you going when you are yet to make the big hit. I would say I recovered my money but not like what I was expecting. It’s been good. Now, I am like taking a break. If I want to do something, I want to come up with something bigger and of a higher standard.

How many movies have you produced and acted in?

I have produced three and acted in like 15 but sometimes you go on set, you just know you went to act and sometimes you don’t get to hear about the production again. I was in My Pride, Just One Night, Love Island. These are the ones I can readily remember.

Why did you give yourself a break?

The industry is paying but not as much as we expect. We have bills which was why I ventured into real estate business because this is an industry that can pay and I make the kind of movie I want. When I came to Lagos, I took entertainment as the main ‘hustle’ while every others are the side ‘hustle.’  Now entertainment is like at the back bench. I equally do adverts. If I’m called for a job, I go. With this current situation, if I am called for any close shoot, I will honour it.

How do you manage all of your talents?

Entertainment and fashion are interwoven. You cannot take them away from each other. Naturally, I am a creative person. I have always done well in my Fine Arts subjects when I was small. I knew I had a gift to write then so I could scribble down stories and bring it to fore. While I grew older, I just knew that I am an embodiment of Fine and Applied Arts. Sometimes, you get confused choosing a career when you have such kind of personality. You just know you are multitalented. You want to do this, you want to do that. I just have to look for a way to focus on the ones that I think can go hand in hand which was doing the jewelry and hair thing with entertainment.

If I am organizing a beauty pageant, my beauty queens already know that I can costume them. It is related. If I am on a movie set or shooting a movie, I don’t need to go out there looking for a costumier because I can handle it. The real estate part was an afterthought. Real Estate was never a passion but an industry I find interesting knowing that if you devote your time and pursue it, you can make good enough money from it too and then invest in your movie. So far, I am really enjoying the real estate business. It has really paid me more than what I get from movies. In less than a year, real estate has given me what movie has not given me in five years. And you know money has a way of motivating you but I still have passion for entertainment.

I do it one at a time. I don’t do all. I just have them and I schedule. I know that this month I am doing my real estate. If any other thing is coming, I don’t get distracted. Real estate is like the number one now in my priority list.  Apart from having a passion, movie is also a way of relaxing. When you call me to come on set, I am not naturally the social type. So, coming out to feature in a particular project is actually a means for me to socialise and relax because I would rarely do that. If you give me a contract to make jewelries for you or to bead your fabrics for wedding, name it, I just know it’s a seasonal thing. When I give it a week or two, I get it done. Why am handling this, I have people I work with. If have two contracts clashing, I allow a colleague in that field handle it for me.

Do you have time for your love life with your different business interests?

I’m not so much into a relationship. I had but he is not currently in the country. I am very free to do my work. I don’t come out much so guys don’t get to see me. You mustn’t say yes to people that they spoke to you. It has never been a problem. I’m the hard to get type though easy at heart. Guys has never been a problem. When I see a guy, I see business or people we could do stuff with.

If your guy asks you to stop acting would you oblige him?

No, he loves the movie thing. Sometimes he could feel certain way of always going out there but somehow, he still feels cool because I naturally don’t love going out.

Have you ever been sexually molested on set?

No. I am the type who don’t give room for what I don’t want. If someone asks you out, I won’t consider that as harassment because we are adults. If someone asks nicely and you say no and they don’t use it against you then it is not harassment.

What part of your body do you cherish the most?

I don’t consider anywhere being so special. Maybe my mark or my face.  There is more to me than my body.

What’s your best compliment?

People get to see my face more. I have a unique mark on my face. I don’t like it. When people tell me they love my beauty mark, I always wonder what is beautiful about it but it gladdens my heart. But sometimes I feel they are just patronizing me or they are just appreciating being African.

What do you look for in a guy that would make you say yes

I do call myself a sucker for love. I love. I missed everything, good life trying to be comfortable. I love love. I’m in love with the concept of love itself. I just want a guy that would love me with all his heart, every other thing follows. I think I have a thing for tall guys but physical appearances have never been the first thing for me. You could be drop dead gorgeous and not still get my attention maybe because I consider you as being arrogant or not caring but once you are a nice person, you are loving and caring, then your physical appearance becomes an added spice.

What do we expect from you Post covid?

Nothing has changed. Covid only slowed down things because I still do everything I do.

Why did you study International studies when you know you have passion for entertainment?

It is not strange. We have medical doctors in the acting industry. My father never wanted me to act so I just had to go get a degree because of him unfortunately, he died while I was in 100 levels. After his death, I was like if I had known I would have changed course but in the same vein I felt like just get it you can always act. It is not about what you studied. My fans are mostly my family, close friends, old friends.

What is your philosophy of life?

Do your best and leave the rest for God.

Where do you hope to see yourself, 10 years from now?

Of course, I would be happily married with my family and I hope to be one of the big producers. Now I am more interested in the business in the showbiz than the show. I am not so much interested in being a popular person but if I become popular, fine. I am more interested in the moneymaking aspect of showbiz. I hope to see myself as one of the biggest producers and a real estate developer. And if I have a film village, it is not a bad idea. Now, real estate is coming into the entertainment and I should have structures where I do my movies. Before covid, I was exporting my African beaded jewelries, I hope to do it on a larger scale and become a household name.

What is your opinion about women in the business aspect of Nollywood?

That’s is why I am into it. Infact, I look up to such persons like Omoni Oboli, Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jolade-Ekeinde, they have all produced even though they all started out as actresses. Why I called Omoni first was that she wasn’t popular to me as an actress but the production thing was what got to me not her acting part. I admire such women.

Homto Dokpesi is a woman of many parts from painting to designing and project management. The daughter of AIT founder, Chief Alegho Raymond Dokpesi, who bagged a degree in Accountancy from the Igbinedion University in Okada, Edo State before proceeding to the University of Westminster, UK for her Master’s degree, dispels her rumoured affair with juju music maestro, King Sunny Ade, in this interview with PAUL UKPABIO, explaining the circumstances in which her marriage crashed and how she became pregnant and had a son outside wedlock.

How does one describe you; an entertainer or a designer?             

I am a multi-talented, multiple award winning serial entrepreneur who is proficient in the economics of international business; a project manager, fashion designer, author and writer.

Who has influenced your life the most between your father and mother?

I would never place one influence over the other, so I would rather say they have both influenced me in life, and I have sure grown to be very proud of the woman I have become. What kind of lifestyle would you say you had as a child?

Although I was born into an opulent family, I was raised to live the simple life. That is why I can adjust easily to anything life throws at me. Good days, bad days, happy days and sad days, Homto is still very okay.

How did you derive your instincts for creativity, and what kind of things do you create?

My creative talent, I would say, is simply and directly from Almighty God. Once I think it, I sure would create it. I make bags, suitcases, clothes, sneakers, sandals, body cram and lotion, bath gels and bar soaps. I recycle used tyres and old plastic bottles into pieces of furniture and chandeliers.

You also write books. What inspires your stories?

Yes, there are four books I have authored, I write short stories which I am developing into theatrical plays for viewing, by God’s grace, in 2021. I also do research writing for a United Kingdom based company I also rewrite for. My stories are inspired from the day to day activities that go on around me or from people I know.

Were you affected in anyway by polygamy? Was life still the same after your father took a second wife?

Polygamy, I still believe, is the healthiest manner to raise a child. It gives a child a fair insight into the world and how it operates. If you can handle the politics of polygamy, trust me, the world would simply become your oyster to achieve even greater things. Polygamy though has its good and bad days. Sometimes the bad days are more than the good days and sometimes you learn to hold on to the good days whilst you wade through the bad days.

It has given me a positive outlook on life and a desire to strive to be successful in all I set out to do. In Africa, we do not count wives or children, but I would say the life change that it has given me is the amazing siblings I am blessed with. Being able to throw a party with ourselves and still feel the bond and love, I would never trade anything for that.

You grew up having a dad that is influential. Were you ever affected by his own issues and did they make you weaker or stronger?

Yes, I have an influential dad. Life itself is full of issues and lack of them would only make life boring. Beyond the issues are the perks: the perks of having a surname you mention and doors open. You are singled out most times and treated specially. You have a surname that breaks every closed door and makes the unavailable available. His issues are only a part of life. Like my elders would say, you can never truly appreciate happiness until you have tasted sadness. The issues do not have any effect on me at all.

How did you meet King Sunny Ade? He seems to keep appearing here and there in your life…

King Sunny Ade had done a song in honour of my dad years ago. I think I was about five years old at the time and my name was mentioned in the song. I still get people saying to me, ‘Oh, this is the face of Homto from that KSA Song’.

King Sunny Ade always plays in all of our events that I can remember. Even as far back as my dad’s 35th birthday. He performed at my village in Agenebode for my grandfather’s burial. He performed at my siblings’ weddings and even on my traditional wedding day. I met KSA through the influence of my dad.

What can you say about your relationship with KSA? What kind of person is he?

I do not know KSA personally aside from dancing to his songs on stage.

Have you heard people insinuating that he could be the father of your son? What do you tell such people?

Everyone is always looking for answers to their questions. Even though the father of my child is not in our lives, a decision he made which I choose to respect, my son knows who his father is, and the father knows he has a son. What more can I say? I would rather keep my private business private.

Life can be stressful for a single mother. What has your experience been?

Being a single mom is as beautiful as it can be thorny. I never truly knew what it entailed until I got into it. I must say it has been a wonderful experience bonding with an intelligent, handsome and smart child like my son. He reminds me so much of my dad. I would never trade the bond and love we share.

As per stress (laughs), for a mom who dealt with an obsessive disorder, I could not let anyone touch him or come close to him. I immediately get jealous. It was really bad in the early days. I have never had a nanny for him in the last six years, and I have had to manage him, manage myself, manage my home, manage my businesses and still stay sane. When I look back, I know it can only be God.

What led to the obsessive disorder of you not letting or wanting anyone touch him or come close to him?

After childbirth, women, probably due to the magnitude of hormones in their system, suffer different fates. Some come up with post-partum depression, some do not suffer from anything at all and come out okay, whilst what I had is termed post-partum obsessive compulsive disorder.

In this part of the world, mental health is still not regarded seriously. These are things women go through. Some find a channel to let it out while some do not! It is still regarded as “white people syndrome” but it happens to black women as well. I can only hope sooner than later we actually face the issues that we have rather than run from them or put them under a carpet so it does not put its head out.

How old is your son? You seem to have passed the creative bug to him too…

My son is six years old now. He keeps reminding me not to treat him like a baby anymore, he is a man now (laughs). He is more interested in fashion, modelling and photography. He would be on his first runway show next year.

Do you look forward to marriage some day?

Hmm, marriage (laughs). It is a good thing to find a confidant, a best friend, a ride or die who shares same values as my father. When I do find that person, then we can open that chapter.

Tell us about your dream man?

(Laughs) He does not exist.

What lessons did you learn from your short time in marriage that you would like to share with spinsters and newly married ladies?

I learnt that friendship is the most important ship you need to sail on the sea of life. Communication, understanding, tolerance and mutual respect should be the guiding anchor on the ship. It is not how long you courted before the marriage; it is how healthy the relationship is. That is what determines the success of that team, because at the end of the day, it is the team that has to make it work.

Is love enough for marriage?

In my opinion, love is a feeling that you have when you want to feel it with whom you want to feel it with at the time you want to feel it. I can decide to love five people in a day if I set my mind on it. So I do not believe love is a prerequisite for marriage, let alone it being enough.

When another opportunity for marriage comes up, will the opinion of your son matter?

The opinion of my son would matter greatly in any relationship, let alone marriage. My son is very protective so he needs to be comfortable with you. We all pray who ever we eventually choose as spouses would love our children much more than they even love us. So if I do not see the bond or your need to bond with my child, trust me, I do not count it as a relationship.

What is your most valued beauty asset?

My dark skin

What else would you love to be that you are yet to?

I would love to be the Senate President.

Any regret so far?

I live life very conscious of my decisions. I would never regret what made me happy at some point. So no regrets at all.

There was this comment on social media where you were referred to as a rich girl. Do guys approach you because they see you as a rich lady?

It was after I got into my previous marriage that I realised it was never love. It was all about being with Homto (Dokpesi’s daughter) for what she has, not who she is as a person.

My ex-husband had issues, and when a man cannot deal with his issues, he starts abusing you physically, emotionally and mentally. I tried with him, it did not work. You know with men, once they come out and say a woman is barren, a lot of people believe it. He said I was barren. But my dad stood strong by me. That is why I owe my life to him. My dad paid for us to go to the UK to do tests. Afterwards, my baby’s father appeared. That’s why I do not hold grudges against my baby daddy, because he was the reason all the doubts on my fertility was put to rest. But in his own case, we had broken up for a while, and there were rumours of my dad being named the chief of staff to the then President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. All of a sudden, he was back, and up until 12th of February we saw and spoke. He was well aware I had got pregnant. We discussed it and he promised coming to see my family.

On the 14th of February 2014, a chief of staff was named, which was not my father, and my calls and messages from that day were never answered, even till this moment! These are brunts that we face; not because we are not good people but because we may never find people who love for who we are, but people who love for what one is worth or what they can gain out of one.

So, I truly do not live in the minds of men or have an idea on what their thoughts and intentions are. But I am guarded on friendships and relationships, because at the end of the day, everyone has a reason for every action.

I don’t have any. My only hope is to be able to aspire that as a young woman, no matter how life may have tilted your crown, it can still shine. As for my ex-husband, he realised his mistakes but it was too late. The same girl he referred to as barren, the same girl he made his family believe was not good, has turned around to have a child and is doing well in several businesses.