The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday Interview

  • PAINFUL MEMORIES of my brother’s death still flood my heart each time I board a plane —Brother of the crashed ADC aircraft pilot Atanda

    IT’S 13 years after the air crash that involved your elder brother. Do you still recall the incident?

    Yes, I do. It is something that will always stay with me; even if I try not to, it is really impossible. Also, the date fell on my last child’s birthday. So at least once a year, the memories come rushing back.

    What memories of that period do you have?

    It was a terrible experience and the pain of losing him is still there. We miss him every day. Seeing his remains was traumatic.

    In what ways did that incident affect your family till date?

    He was the first son of the family and our mother is still alive. Most of the responsibilities he was shouldering had to fall on me. He was a pillar of support, a rallying point. He was always ready to assist everyone that came across him.

    Did the incident alter your elder brothers’ children’s education in any way?

    The incident did affect them but I can say it wasn’t so debilitating as to affect them in a life-altering or damaging way. The boys today are all graduates with good jobs. Probably his presence could have made it easier for them when they were in school.

    Do you still travel in an aeroplane? When you do, does it bring back memories of your brother in any way?

    Yes I do, the moment I board any aircraft, it always brings back the old memories. I had cause to have boarded planes he was flying several times in the past. The last one to be precise was from Monrovia to Lagos when I was on pass while serving at the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) on an ADC Airline flight.

    Your brother was a pilot while you went on to the army, what influenced you into pursuing individual careers?

    I think for him, he was a cabin crew with the Nigerian Airways and he was staying with our cousin (Retired Air Commodore Layiwola Atanda), a seasoned and dogged military pilot. This might have influenced his choice of career.

    For me, it was just destiny. Each time I gave it a push, one thing or the other would always crop up. The last time I tried, it was one of my friends by name Kunle Giwa that assisted me with the application form. The funniest thing is that while I succeeded that year, he was only able to make it the following year.

    Thirteen years after, in what ways do you miss your brother?

    Several ways . Our mother still refers to him in conversations. He carried everybody along. He was very passionate about his family, both nuclear and extended. He was a rallying point and always there for everyone. He also had a very good sense of humour.

    You rose to the rank of a colonel in the Nigerian Army, how easy was life in the army?

    It was very interesting and challenging. I made up my mind to serve the nation and I served conscientiously. I enjoyed every bit of my career life. There, I had good military friends with whom I shared good times and moments. I enjoyed the mess life, especially Tombola. I maintained close relationship with my civilian friends from whom I got succour at times when things were rough. Most importantly, my wife was always there for me. She took care of the home front whenever I was away.

    What decided your retirement from the army and what future did you envisage for yourself?

    The military is a well-structured organisation. You will agree with me that only one person will be the Chief of Army Staff at a time among your course mates. Along the line, certain structures or obstacles have been put in place to weed off officers (i.e. Promotion exams, personal evaluation reports, number of attempts on promotion, age on rank and so on). In my own case, it was age on rank. You will recall that I did mention that I did not join on time. I wanted to live a modest life and be a fulfilled man.

    Are you presently living the dream of that future you wanted for yourself?

    Not really, but I am comfortable and contended. God has been faithful to me and my family.

    Did your expectation of life after the army meet with reality eventually or you had to alter some plans?

    It has always been my intention that I will go into financial management and stock brokerage after service. After my retirement, I went to the Corporate Affairs Office, Yaba, where I overheard some people discussing about security and I said to myself that I had all it took to establish a security company. I had to put a call through to one of my friends and coursemates in NDA, Deji Bamgbose MD/CEO of Proton Security Services Limited then, who invited me to his office. On getting to his office, I informed him that I had just left the service. He congratulated me for a successful career and asked for my plans. As I was trying to explain certain things to him, he quickly cut in and said I should not think too far but I should consider industrial security. That if I tell anybody that I am a retired colonel and into security, that person would certainly want to listen to me because of my background. However, I will need experience in industrial security as this is quite different from military security. He then offered to give me the opportunity with Proton Security Services Limited and that is why I found myself there up till date.

    How has retirement been and what do you do at present?

    I am retired but not tired. Retirement has been very interesting. It depends on the individual. Contentment is very key in one’s life. I will say that I am happy and contented. I presently work as General Manager at Proton Services Limited, one of the foremost security companies in Nigeria today. The company is ISO Certified and was adjudged as the best security company in Nigeria in year 2018 by American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) chapter 206.

    Would you say your early background has influenced the person that you are today?

    Yes, it has because my father was a disciplinarian.

    Who influenced you most between mom and dad, and where did you grow up?

    My dad influenced me more, and I grew up both in Osogbo and Ibadan (To be precise, Ekotedo in Ibadan).

    Would you say that you were born into a privileged home?

    No. I remember what our dad told us; he said what he owed us was education and that was to the school certificate level. He was able to fulfill that. All the three of us (boys) strove hard to ensure that we all had at least second degrees; that included my late elder brother.

    Do you recall other early memories while growing up?

    My father was an auditor; I enjoyed touring with him during the holidays. I also enjoyed going to the farm with him on weekends.

    How did marriage happen for you? Was it love at first sight?

    It was God ordained. I did not make up my mind to get married on time but when I eventually did, we met at the right time and I have never regretted knowing and marrying her.

    What has endeared you to your wife over the years?

    Her perseverance, tolerance. She is  a home maker. Other things that endeared her to me included her sense of humour, her ability to instil discipline in the children while I was away on duty and her neatness. I married my friend and till date we still play like kids around the house. When I sneeze, she knows what I need.

    Have you had the opportunity of living in different parts of Nigeria, how many Nigerian Languages do you speak?

    Yes I lived in Osogbo, Kaduna, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Jaji, Calabar and Ibadan. I speak only Yoruba language.

    Initially when you joined the military, was there any incident that scared you or made you think of leaving?

    None. I have always had the belief that I can survive anywhere. I was never scared of anything. I had that belief that the Almighty God is always with me and He has never disappointed me.

    Now that you are retired, do you miss the Army?

    Not really, I believe Army is still my constituency. I attend their functions such as WASA, Tombola, pulling out parades for retired senior officers, commissioning of projects and mess activities. Recently, the Corps Commander of Signal corps, Maj Gen CT Olukoju, organised a re-union for both retired and serving Signal officers, it was indeed very interesting, awesome, and unique.

    Can you recall any turning point in your military career? If you had stayed back in the military till date, would it have made a difference in who you are today?

    The turning point for me I can say was the day I was appointed to form and command the first ever Signal Unit to serve in any United Nations Mission Operations (NISIG 1), Nigerian Army Signal One in Liberia. May be if I had stayed back in the army, things would have been different for me now but, at the same time, if I had not left when l did, I wouldn’t have had the crop of friends and opportunities I have in the civil life now.

    Your advice to youths who may be eyeing a career in the Army?

    The Nigerian Army is an interesting place to serve. It will instil discipline in you. It is also challenging. If one is serious and committed, the sky will be his limit.

    Having spent most of your career wearing uniforms, what can you say of your sense of fashion and style? How stylish are you in mufti?

    I can’t call myself fashionable; my wife picks my clothes for me. She is my fashion mentor and stylist.

    Can you compare the lifestyle when you were growing up and life now?

    I was always with my friends flocking together without any responsibility then. Now, I still enjoy the company of my friends but with limitations because of the home front.

    What do you do at your spare moments these days?

    I play golf, socialise with my friends and read.

    Any traditional titles?

    I gave myself the traditional title of Aare Ona Kakanfo of Africa (Laughs).

    Any memorable holidays you won’t forget?

    My first holiday with my wife outside the country.

    So far any regret in life?

    No single regret. I am enjoying every moment of my life.

    During your career, were there moments that you escaped death while on duty?

    The Almighty God has always being my guardian and protector.

  • Ortom would have long been removed under an Obasanjo govt —Akume

    Senator George Akume was the first Benue State governor to spend two terms in office, a feat his former political loyalist and incumbent governor, Daniel Ortom, is seeking to replicate. Akume told Assistant Editor JIDE BABALOLA, that his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) remains in control of Benue State in spite of Ortom’s defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He explains why the leadership of the Senate has not changed, among other issues.

    MANY Nigerians are wondering why it has been difficult for APC to use its numbers and the capacity it claims to have in taking control of the Senate…

    Well, APC has numerical strength in both chambers. Even right now, we have the numbers. But the leadership of the National Assembly emerged from a different perspective. It was not in tandem with the thinking and positioning of the party. Our party had carefully zoned these positions in line with the realities and diversity of our country.

    But again, we still want to give credit to the President and the executive that we have a measure of stability in the National Assembly. We can all recall what happened between 1999 and 2003. The leadership turnover was massive, almost a game of musical chairs. Leadership change was sometimes every year or every six months—Enwerem, Okadigbo, Anyim, Wabara. Then we ended up with Ken Nnamani. So, you see, this is the difference between the approach and policies of Muhammadu Buhari and the understanding of others who came before him.

    Before Buhari, there was massive intervention in the National Assembly based on the special interests of the Presidency. There was no respect whatsoever for the concept and practice of separation of powers. That is the difference between Muhammadu Buhari and those who came before him. I do know that given the same scenario under an Obasanjo presidency, things would have changed. But here is a man who is resolute that the National Assembly should run its own affairs as best as it can. So, the ordinary man must take cognizance of this. We are all students of history. What we have before and what is happening today are worlds apart, and this is because of the different personalities and their orientations.

    You were the first to be elected twice as the governor of Benue State with several other political victories to your credit. With your erstwhile political associate, Governor Samuel Ortom, moving to the PDP, do you think that the victories of the past can still be replicated by you and your loyalists in Benue State in the forthcoming elections?

    Politics is a dynamic game. It is as dynamic as law. That is why you cannot rule out the question of alliances in political formations and the critical behaviour of political actors at any given moment. One thing that is very clear is that you can never read adequately and correctly the human psyche. You can never understand a human being fully from the way he presents himself, and that is why Shakespeare said that there is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face. Very true! When you transfer this into the political arena, it is even doubly true.

    The present Benue State governor was in ANPP (All Nigeria Peoples Party) when we won election in 1999. We brought him later into the party and made him the party secretary and started building him up. He later became deputy party chairman and rose to become a Minister of State at the national level. I fled the PDP at that time because there were forces that were deliberately constructed to deconstruct me politically. So, I had to flee to seek expression of my political career on another platform.

    Along with my colleagues and associates, we built a very formidable platform, the ACN of Benue State, and made it sufficient strong to confront the non-performing government of Gabriel Suswan and we defeated them. But we were denied victory because of the Nigerian factor and, of course, we continued to soldier on, and we formed the APC. I brought Ortom in from the PDP. Of course, he is always coming from another political party. I planted him and he won the election. I gave him a copy of the manifesto of our party, he digested it to the best of his knowledge – at least, that was what he told me—and we expected quite a lot from him because of his humble background, just like me.

    I look at myself essentially as a village boy thrust out by society to support the under-privileged and to work for common goals. That is my mission in politics. I thought that because of his background, he would do the same thing. But we are in a situation that a governor cannot pay salaries for over 12 months or pay pensions for over 14 months and primary school teachers in various local governments too. Then you have a crisis!

    My emphasis has always been that the welfare of the civil servant is paramount and our party is sufficiently committed to the welfare of all. When you work, you must be paid your wages. Guided by the understanding of this and the position of our party, the President decided to give special support to Benue and other states. He released a lot of money to clear arrears of salaries. Most of the states took advantage to clear the arrears accordingly, but why is Benue an exception?

    There is no project in the state that was initiated, completed and commissioned by the governor. There is nothing!

    In one of his recent interviews, Governor Ortom explicitly said that he was a billionaire before he became a governor, and that you once told him that you could not run a company.

    He showed you his asset declaration forms that he was a billionaire before he became a governor? What business was he doing that he became a billionaire? He had a small printing press which I supported. And when I left government, it collapsed. Gabriel Suswan’s elder brother took over the printing jobs in Benue State but the whole thing he (Governor Ortom) was running collapsed.

    Abubakar Tsav said don’t run faster than your legs can carry you. We shall be there. The billionaire man who became governor! So, he is the first billionaire to become a governor? He was not a billionaire. He couldn’t even finance his campaign, so, what is he talking about being a billionaire? Does he have the tax records to prove it? I know what we harvested from our party and ploughed into his gubernatorial campaign. He wasn’t a billionaire. Let him show us those papers – taxes and asset declaration forms—and prove it so simply. Unless he was a seer, anticipating becoming a billionaire in the office.

    What I am basically saying is that with him, we thought the party and the state had a wonderful opportunity to work for the people. I gave him advice. I told him that the late Aper Aku remains a sign post in the development of Benue State. He had fundamental ideas and started faithful implementation of these ideas. His policies were sound until the prices of oil collapsed and it became very difficult for him to pay salaries. It was a challenge across the board in the entire country. The nation’s economy was affected. Aku found it very difficult to win election in 1983.

    Gabriel Suswam didn’t pay salaries for four months, we capitalised on that and he lost the election. Ortom is owing salaries for how many months now and, therefore, he has no right to run. What we keep telling the people of Benue State is that if you are in the public service and you want to overtake Aliko Dangote overnight, then, certainly, you have no business being in the public service. Aliko Dangote is a hard working young man. He hails from a family of businessmen and, of course, don’t forget the fact that ancient trade caravan routes passed through Kano, so they could draw from that centuries old experience. But see somebody who was born in the bush like many of us, and suddenly, you say you are a multi-billionaire, you are chasing Dangote, you are about to overtake Dangote.

    The local government system has collapsed absolutely in Benue State.  Chairmen of local governments are being sacked left and right, especially those who refused to move with him to PDP. But to him, it is perfectly right, legal and constitutional to move with our (APC) mandate to PDP. And these are the people who talk about impunity at the national level! We must always commend President Buhari, because if it were Obasanjo, he would have been removed long ago! And don’t forget what Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, the PDP candidate, said in Kogi that if you don’t pay salaries as a governor, you are not fit to come back for a second term.

    Alhaji Atiku said that as VP, he worked against the re-election of Mbadinuju of Anambra State for a second term because he couldn’t pay salaries. He said he told President Obasanjo not to support Mbadinuju for a comeback. I believe that he was also indirectly addressing Ortom. The leadership of his party is clearly sending him a message. Then, remember what governor Wike said about him; that this man could not even pay salaries while Rivers State was busy empowering young people and he (Ortom) was busy giving out wheelbarrows. Even that his wheelbarrow, how many of them were given out to youths? Three hundred and fifty. I am not a governor, but I supplied 500 Keke NAPEPs and over 500 motorcycles as a deliberate effort to empower the youth.

    Are you aware that since the unfortunate events of January last year, some of those leading PDP in Benue state are alleging that APC is the party backing the herdsmen?

    I want to put things in the right perspective. The killings in Benue State started in 2009. We had always co-existed peacefully with the Fulani. I saw it when I was a boy growing up in the village. They would come to graze, my father would give them a place and when they finished, they would leave and come back the next year. I never knew where they came from or where they went to until I got to secondary school in 1968. And the movement had always been seasonal.

    I was governor for eight years. The Fulani were there, but did you hear of killings? No. Suswan came in. In 2009, there were killings. Jonathan never sent anyone from the Presidency to go condole with anybody in Benue State. And I remember what Suswam said then; that Tiv people were eating Fulani people’s cows; that they liked cow meat. But when people were killed (last year), President Buhari sent General Dambazau, the Minister of Interior, to take a look at it all and condole us. We went to the mortuary, they addressed a press conference and so on and so forth. Who was sent next? The Vice President. These never happened under Jonathan’s presidency.

    And Buhari, the President himself, came to Benue State after the Vice President’s visit. The President ordered the security chiefs to handle things with dispatch. Through ‘Operation Ayem A’Kpatuma,’ sanity has been restored. Have you heard of such killings again? It is not because of Ortom. What has he done to stop the killings? So, this has nothing to do with objective reality. They have nothing to do with APC.

    Was APC in power 2009? When Boko Haram was ravaging this country was APC in power? When they were bombing somewhere in Kano, bombing mosques here and bombing churches there, was APC in power?

  • At 85, I still go round my 12-acre farm to pick fruits – Subomi Balogun

    Otunba Subomi Balogun is the Olori Omoba of Ijebuland (head of princes and princesses), the head Christain laities in Ijebuland and the founder of the First City Monument Bank (FCMB). He holds annual new year Christian prayers and thanksgiving in his Ijebu Ode mansion. He spoke with the OKORIE UGURU after this year’s event. Excerpts:

    Why are you always in the habit of organising this annual programme?

    God has His own way of answering prayers. It is not the way we mortals perceive it. We are a praying people. And I am convinced that the good Lord hears our prayers and grants all that we ask from Him. But it is not something that we show around but you feel it, spiritual blessings, which, for ; people like me, are very enriching. That grace of God which gives everything that human beings desire is always there. So, as I usually say, the blessings of God Almighty, and all the things we desire from Him, are always for us to see but you need to be gifted before you can appreciate the awesomeness of the Almighty God. I for one will admit at any time that I am in God’s hands, and the Omnipotent, the Omnipresent is always around me, guiding me, His light showing through me. I take the good Lord as a spiritual awesome being.  He is present everywhere with us. It takes the knowledgeable to appreciate Him.  Every step we take in life is propelled by God.

    In Ijebuland, you are very active in the tradition and culture; you are equally active in the Ijebu Christian community. Some believe the two don’t go hand in hand. How do you reconcile the two?

    Very interesting, and I am happy you asked me this question. Quite a lot of the roles I play are either hereditary or bestowed on me by the current people of Ijebuland. Originally, I am part of Ijebu royalty. I am the Otunba Tunwase   of Ijebu. Oba Tunwase was the Ijebu Oba that signed a treaty with the British government in 1892, for the British to have entry into Ijebuland after the Imagbon war. Secondly, he was the one who allowed Christianity to be preached. Thirdly, he was the one who allowed free practice of religion. He gave the land on which the first church was built in Ijebu Ode. He also gave the land on which the Central Mosque of the Ijebus was built. He held a cardinal position in the history of Ijebuland and I happened to be one of his distinguished descendants. My mother happened to be a great grandchild of that Oba, Oba Tunwase. My mother also happens to come from the Olisa chieftaincy. Olisa Odubanjo happens to be my mother’s direct ancestor on the father’s side.

    More than this, I have a very strong lineage to most of the important chieftaincies in Ijebu. My grand father happened to be a descendant of Borogun family.  Borogun family includes members of the Kuku family and also the Balogun Odunuga. Up and above this, the Ijebu people, having created the position of an Asiwaju, call it the president of the laity, Asiwaju of the Ijebu Christians. They only had one before me, the Venerable Chief Adeola Odutola. About 27, 28 years ago, I was elected immediately after the demise of that grand legend of Ijebu and by sheer coincidence, he became the Asiwaju at the age of 63, and I succeeded him at the age of 63.  The Ijebu Christians hold in high esteem the Asiwaju. The normal annual prayers, once the event is held in the Awujale’s palace, the next person is the Asiwaju of Ijebu Christians. I have thrown it open, it is not only the Christians; all my Muslim brothers are always invited.

    The Ijebu society is very unique. All of us are intertwined. There is no one who is a Christian and does not have a Moslem relation, and there is no one who is a Moslem and does not have a Christian relation. When my late mother was alive, she was the Iya Sunna for the Moslems, the most senior woman among the Moslems and simultaneously, I was made the Asiwaju of Christians. So, in the Ijebu society, we don’t know any difference, we are all together and there is hardly any Ijebu family that you will trace and you wouldn’t have relations of Moslems and Christians. I am proud to be one of them.

    Why I get so much involved is not only because I am the Asiwaju, president of the laity, but I also come from the most illustrious houses. I happened to be the head of the princes and princesses (Olori Omoba). I also happened to be the Olori Ebi of one of what we call Arojojoye ruling house. If they have not heard of it, thinking has been going on, we have now decided not to name any house after an individual. You will name it from a cognomen, Oriki, that belongs to all of us. Within that family, you have the Tunwase, you have the Adiara who are my cousins, and so many. So, because of this pre-eminent position, I get dragged in or I voluntarily offer myself to participate.

    Thanking God annually is very personal because when I look back and see what the good Lord has done for me among the myriads oI Ijebu children and descendants, I can hold up my palms and thank God because the good Lord has done so much to me. I’m opportune and I have to show appreciation. That is why I am very much involved in the annual prayers.

    One song that is echoing any time you are involved in the thanksgiving is “Through the Love of God Our Saviour…” Is the song tied to a particular experience you’ve heard?

    No, it is not based on any experience. It is the measure of my appreciation of the ever-present, omnipotent, all seeing and all doing God, the enormous Almighty. I believe that if you put yourself in the hands of God, nothing can shake you. Whatever it is that is bothering you or affecting you, once you accept that God loves you as His own child, nothing can happen to you. What I am expressing there is not just the awesomeness that the good Lord is ever present, He is the looming person over everything about you. And once somebody is seeing success all around his life, much of which he didn’t even anticipate, I relate this to the ever present God.

    So, how did I come by it? Once I have God, I don’t worry about anything. A friend once told me that before I speak two three words, I will mention God, it is because I appreciate the awesomeness of God. I am convinced that my God loves me, so whatever success, opulence, it is through the love of God our saviour. So, if you think very well and put everything in the hands of God, you will be convinced that whatever might have bothered you, that there is God and He will take care of you. In essence, what I am saying is that I have put my cares, desires, aspirations in God and accepted His guidance and direction for my life.

    You are in semi-retirement from business, what are the things you miss most?

    First of all, I am not in any retirement. Through the grace of God, I still have my faculties. Not many people at 85 years still sit down like me. Not many people at 85 could walk around without a walking stick. Apart from the royal beaded walking stick, which to me is a fashion, all of you will see is that I am agile. You are talking of what I miss, except for the constraints of God that when you are aging,  you should appreciate it, I am not retired; though I don’t go to office again, but whenever I am opportune, I would just pop in to see what they are doing. Talking about what I miss, there is nothing. The only thing I am looking for is the grace of God and I am not being metaphorical. I believe in it.

    There are certain things I do which make many people wonder. Up till now, I am still able to memorise some verses (of the Bible). Up till now, I still remember things that happened to me about 70 years ago in details. I think I am a child of God that has been given the fullness of His grace. I live a life of much younger generation than myself. I still write long thesis; I still prepare speeches. I have that rare gift, I don’t have to be jotting out something before I talk. I am not missing anything, except that I am giving myself what you would call restraints. Just like you are on a horse back, you have to master the way you will restrain your activities. I am also conscious of the fact that I am not the young man that has seen everywhere. I have my limitations at 85. Sometimes in the week days, I wear my suit and I still remember that I was once a bank official. I still remember that I started my career as a lawyer. I still remember that I was a secondary school teacher to most of the distinguished Ijebus that you see. And I ascribe everything to the grace of God. Most of things I do, it is not me, it is God. Look round Ijebu Ode, most of my age mates, there are a few still of them still alive, but cerebrally, there is nothing you people can discuss. In fact, if you see me in suit on a week day, I don’t behave any how. I like the beautiful things of life, even in my old age and I will continue. There is nothing I miss. You won’t believe that if I go to the gym, I want to get to the bicycle and ride around any stretch, I want to do it. Even though I have elevators, I prefer walking. I enjoy going round. I have about 20 acres here (in his Ijebu Ode house). My farm is about 12 acres, I still go round on my own picking fruits, picking what to eat. My wife and I have a poultry giving us 2,000 eggs per day and that interests me. I get involved in so many things some of my contemporaries can’t do.

  • Why Buhari doesn’t need to campaign in Adamawa – Governor Jibrilla Bindow

    Adamawa State Governor, Senator Mohammad Umar Jibrilla Bindow, is seeking re-election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). On Tuesday, he formally received the party’s flag to contest the 2019 poll, at the official launch of his campaign. After the campaign flag off, he spoke with a group of select journalists on his plans and why he believes that President Muhammadu Buhari will defeat the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in his home state. TONY AKOWE was there.

    You have flagged off your campaign, what next?

    Have flagged off now, we are going to start our local government campaign. Before then, we will zone the state into three segments and start within the zones. We have already established acampaign council in each of the zones and have already inaugurated them to campaign for the President, the governor and all other candidates of the APC. By Monday, we will start going to the local governments and to continue what the zonal campaign teams have started already. Basically, this is what we are going to do having inaugurated and flagged off the campaign. You saw that the flag was given to us and l will now go round to give members of the assembly and other persons their flags.

    During the flag-off, you did say that President Muhammadu Buhari does not need to campaign in Adamawa State and you know that this is the home state of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Don’t you think there is a challenge?

    Yes, as a former senator, not only that l was opportune to be in the Senate, l was also the Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Defence and l knew how this area used to be in terms of insurgency and the way our people were suffering and what have you. I was almost the de factor chairman because the chairman didn’t like coming to the North East because of Boko Haram. He is from Rivers State and he was not comfortable coming here. Honestly after President Buhari was sworn in and we started seeing what he was doing in terms of fighting insurgency, the commitment of the President in fighting Boko Haram is what everybody here must commend. Before now, they (Boko Haram insurgents) used to go in thousands to capture villages, towns and what have you and for your information, they even captured my own local government, Mubi, the second largest town in the state. Some people will tell you that Mubi, in terms of population, is even bigger than Yola but Boko Haram almost captured that place for 14 days and at that time, the Chief of Defence Staff, Badeh, who is now late, is from there. He was in service and they captured that place and even changed the name of Mubi to Midinatumhanji Islam but immediately the President came in, before you could say anything, things started getting better and not only that, we in the state collaborated with the military and with the local hunters in the entire process. The local hunters really helped us.

    This Boko Haram thing, honesty up till now, nobody has told me the real objective of this struggle that they are doing. For me, it is just a bunch of International criminals that are trying to terrorise everybody because they would go and burn churches, burn mosques, kill children, kill women, break into banks and commit all sorts of crimes. So, what is it about? It has nothing to do with religion. There is no any religion that says go and kill women and children and something like that. Basically the President has done very well and even with the IDPs that were left with us in Adamawa. When we came in, we had about 25 IDP camps and out of the 25, l will tell you that 95 per cent of the contents of the IDP camps were not from Adamawa State, so we had to close some because we came at a time the IDPs were used by some criminals to collect money from international agencies, that they have NGos and they would come and snap children and you would never see them again; they would just go and do something else. We say no, this must stop. We don’t want to say we have IDPs and it will stop us from developing Adamawa. So, we try to send those IDPs back. Those from Adamawa were taken back to their communities and those from other communities, mainly Borno, we tried to talk to the governor to take them back and from there as far as Adamawa is concerned, our security, generally, is stable and everywhere is calm.

    Are you saying that there is no chance for the former Vice President who is the ‘son of the soil’ to defeat President Buhari?

    We want to campaign based on issues. On fighting the insurgency, President Buhari has done a lot of things in terms of community development in the state. There’s no road today in this state, federal roads, where work is not going on. You can go and verify it. From Yola as you are going to Mubi, you will see contractors working. From Mubi to Maiduguri, people are working physically now. You can see it. From Yola to Gombe, one Chinese company is also working. From Numan to Taraba, they are on site. From Mayo Beluwa to Jada, which is where Atiku hails from, that road has been there for over 20 years, nobody has done the road. That road, Jada – Ganye – Tonga, has produced Vice President Atiku; Bamanga Tukur, the former PDP National Chairman, he is from Jada; PPS to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Hassan Tukur; the former Comptroller General of the Nigeria Custom Service (NCS) is from there. Many personalities that could have done that road are from there. So, will you go and tell those people, not to vote for Buhari? This road is going on. They have seen development and change in their own lives. So, by the time we say ‘go and vote for Buhari’, they will do it. I hope you understand what I’m saying?

    The fact is that we can campaign based on issues. I don’t talk on anything personal. For me, it’s not politics. Once you start personalising things, then you are not a politician. I don’t want to be part of that kind of uncivilided thing. We want to campaign based on issues. Even in the state, if not because the President is helping us by bringing the Paris Club refund and all sorts of things, we wouldn’t have been able to build all the infrastructure you are seeing. So, when we say vote for Buhari, they will vote. You will see Buhari winning Adamawa very clearly at the end of the day.

    I want to take you back to the issue of Boko Haram you just talked about. Your counterpart in Borno State, Kashim Shettima, wept at the Aso Villa when he took stakeholders to President Buhari. Would you say the government has done enough in view of the current development since there was an initial claim that the group had been decimated?

    With the word ‘enough’ that you used, they have done more than enough. If you have said they have eradicated Boko Haram, I will say no. But whether they have done enough, I will say they have done more than enough. That is what I just told you. Before, towns were taken over. But since Buhari came, no single town, no matter how small it is, has been taken over by Boko Haram. You never see them moving in groups engaging in guerilla and suicide attacks. They may be looking for soft targets like markets where people are gathering and release bombs, killing people. But taking over villages and towns like before even in Borno, the case is now different. So, the President has done wonderfully well. Nobody can deny that, especially anybody living in the North East, particularly we that are in the front line states – Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. Before, if they tell you to come to Adamawa, you will not come because of the perception that there is Boko Haram. If they tell you that there was a time when Boko Haram operated here, even if you go to where they had reigned, you won’t believe because people have already assimilated into the community.

    In Adamawa State, we are now safe by 95 per cent. The only local government that is under military watch is Madagali that shares border with Gwosa and Cameroon because there are mountains around there and that is where some of Boko Haram men are  hiding. Let me tell you, my own belief is that the remnants of Boko Haram are the locals. Like Madagali that I mentioned, it is their children who were in Boko Haram before, who are now back terrorising their own people. While looking for food, they will come, terrorise the people they know and rush

  • I once worked as a manual labourer in Abuja even as a graduate – House Committee chair Teejay Yusuf

    Hon. Teejay Yusuf, representative of Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency and Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market and Institutions, easily comes across as a humble, easygoing politician with lots of friends on either side of the partisan political divide. He attributes his sense of humility to his past experience as a graduate labourer and the unexpected ways in which God gradually led him out of poverty and manual labour to become the representative of the well-educated people of his area in Kogi State . He spoke with Assistant Editor, JIDE BABALOLA, on aspects of his life among other issues:

    How has it been representing the people of Kabba -Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency for close to eight years?

    It has been a truly humbling experience and very revealing too. Above all, it has opened me to a new vista of education, the type that is quite different from what we learnt in the university. But above all, I must sincerely say that I feel so privileged.

    Many people say you relate well with the upper crust in the society as well as those who are at the very grassroots or bottom of the socio-economic ladder; are there life experiences that made this so?

    Of course. I am conscious of where God picked me from and I am conscious of the fact that I will not be in the seat in perpetuity. I will not be here for life and being a member representing my people in the House of Representatives does not make me the most intelligent or the best of all human beings from my area, so it is just a privilege. I am conscious of this and I know that among the so-called down-trodden people, there are many who are even better equipped intellectually but it only pleases God to place me or any other person in our current position.

    When I was aspiring to be elected for the first time, one of the things I promised God is that if He makes it happen, I will do everything within my power to demystify the office and take away those tendencies that make it look as if once you get into office, you cease to know your environment and feel as if you have been plucked out of your environment. You cannot effectively be a representative of the people without being in touch with them. Even, in spite of my own consistent effort at home, I still have individuals who complain of not being able to reach me as and when they want. It is natural because everybody who loves or supports you easily believes that they are the most important person in your life and when they are in need or want to get in touch with you, it must be immediate. So, basically I am conscious of the people who made it happen and there is nothing that is too special or unique about me that made them give me this kind of privilege. It pleases the voter to make it happen, so it is in honour of him or her.

    You were a student union activist at the University of Jos and at the national level in the early 90s, was that your ladder to your present position and comfort?

    As I said at the beginning of this interview, I am just a privileged person that God just chose to bestow His favours upon. Yes, I was a student union activist but after graduation from the University of Jos and with no one to really help, I had to help myself and at least, get a source of feeding. I came into this city, Abuja and just couldn’t get any job with my degree in Economics; because I had to survive and I detest being idle, I joined construction sites in town, working as a daily paid manual labourer. Off and on at the period, two or three gave me the privilege of working as a labourer and you won’t believe how deeply I appreciated that because things were just too tough at home that I dare not go back.

    I graduated from being a labourer to supplying labour to bricklayers or carpenters who may need the services of close colleagues. Later, I was doing a bit more: if you wanted to do German floor, I would get the ‘contract’ and get others to join me.

    I had been on the back of tippers countless times, using shovels to tip sand that people used to build beautiful houses in Abuja city. I moved from there to supplying limited quantities of building materials, especially sand. I know where you can get the best quality of sand in villages or other locations outside Abuja. For instance, sand from Mpape and Ado areas in the outskirts used to be the best. But Mpape sand is the very best because it is river sand. I was providing labour with my shovel but later, God made it possible for me to be getting other tipper boys when I needed to supply sand to a builder in the city. I would go there, join the tipper guys to load a chartered tipper with sand so as to reduce the amount I will pay and get my job done on time.

    From there, I moved into being a sort of housing agent, linking people who wanted to rent a room and those offering it.  Later, from one room, I could get a flat and then I graduated into owning a small but divinely blessed real estate firm and I began to have properties that I manage for the owners.

    Unfortunately, many young people don’t want to start small again, people want to start from the top and in my place, there is a common saying that it is only  at  the grave that you start from the top. By implication, it means that if you want to start from the top, you could be digging your own grave. I committed my life to God and hard work as the only known pathway to any level I desire to be.

    Nigerians say a lot about legislators having fantastic allowances, what do you think about that?

    You are one of the few I have heard using the right word – “allowances”. What I hear is salaries. It is not just legislators that collect allowances; it is something that happens across board. Anywhere in the world, allowances are what are robust, salaries are just basic. Whatever they call allowances is subject to responsibilities. Let me give you an example, if I am to go to Lagos, by the policy available to me, I should go with at least a Business Class ticket but there is nothing wrong travelling in the Economy Class. Until we take it holistically and not zero in on legislators alone, we will not get to the Eldorado. If we say okay, directors, ministers and not just be mouthing things or playing to the gallery, you won’t feel that you are being picked out to be maligned or put under attack before the public.

    The allowances (of legislators) are, by my understanding, even lower than those of the directors and the ministers. Let me give you a classic example: If you travel abroad for an official function, what a legislator is entitled to is $500, while a minister is entitled to $800 per night. Meanwhile, by the order of protocol, a legislator is senior to a minister. So, we should have a robust position, a properly articulated policy as a nation. We cannot afford to continue with the current level of flamboyance as it is now.

    Would you then agree that we should have a unicameral legislature to cut costs?

    I will rather suggest a parliamentary system of government but still maintain the bi- cameral system, so that it takes away some major duplication such that when you get allowances as a legislator and you are a minister, you don’t receive double allowances. Moreover, it brings

  • Meeting Beyonce’s father was a golden moment for me —US-based Nigerian TV host Vivian Diamond Elumelu

    Vivian Diamond Elumelu is an America-based Nigerian TV host. She comes from a large family where the name Elumelu had already been popularised before she became an adult. A lawyer, Vivian wanted to take life head on. She refused to ride to stardom through the easy way by using her more popular family name. So she started a business after becoming a lawyer, by dropping her family name Elumelu. “When I started my business, I started as ‘Vivian Diamond’ because I felt the family name Elumelu was already popular and I wanted to be known for what I do and make my own mark not through riding on the family name. So I started my business with the name ‘Vivian Diamond’. Now, I am already popular as Vivian Diamond because of what I do, and that is how I wanted it.” Vivian tells us more about her struggles in the United States of America, how she climbed the ladder to the top, and how she hopes to use her life to bless others. She spoke to PAUL UKPABIO in Lagos.

    Are you related to the ex-Chairman of UBA Mr Tony Elumelu?

    Yes, he is my cousin. There is also Joan Okorodudu, the CEO of Isis Models, House of Jola and and Nigeria’s Super Model. She is my direct sister. She is actually the first born and first daughter of my dad, while I am the 13th child of my dad.

    How many children does your dad have?

    We are 15 in number.

    You have money in the family, why did you relocate abroad?

    First, there were personal reasons. While I was here, I participated in some beauty things. I was the Face of the University of Benin at a time; my face was in magazines and posters, which made me popular but shy, so moving over to the United States of America, l was able to realise much of my passion. It is not like I didn’t realise my passion here, but I wasn’t able to build on it as I wanted to. So, getting to the US, for me, was an eye opener, which made me to discover myself. I am actually still discovering myself. But it was in the US that I started building on my brand.

    Did you work in Nigeria before you left for the US?

    No, I owned a business of my own. I use to own a gym. I used to be into fitness and health. Ironically, when I returned to Nigeria now, I have eaten and put on more weight because I have been a little less disciplined about what I have been eating. But I used to help people lose weight then before I left.

    What was your gym called?

    It was called Wonder Gym For Women. It was located along Lekki Expressway. Back then in Nigeria, I used to travel here and there. So at one point, that I was in the United States of America, I did a short programme on Nutrition and some nursing programmes here and there. I decided to help women lose weight because a lot of them really think that when they get to a certain age or after having given birth to some children, that they cannot come back to their former shape or get back their dream figure. That was the reason I started that and I was giving women counselling on how to keep their body shapes. I started small before I got a bigger place. However, when I was leaving for the United States, I sold the place. Surprisingly, that same gym is still there now 12years after I left. The people who got it from me still maintain the gym.

    When you got abroad, what were you doing?

    When I got there, I studied the system. I was a teacher for a while, then I became an independent sales contractor for Cellular Sales, which was one of the major distributors for Verizon Wireless in the US. It was then that I discovered that I was good at sales. I didn’t realise I was good at it until I started working for them. It was my mom who had all along been living in the US that introduced me to the sales business. Her friend was working there and they offered me a job. The pay was pretty good. I was like my own boss. I worked with them for about four years. I was the top person in the market for all over the US. At some point while on that job, I started discovering the entertainment aspect of me. I discovered my talk show and I started losing zeal for governance closer to the people and we will have this robust Shadow Minister thing that was common in those days; it puts the government on its toes.

    Few days ago, I watched Theresa May come to report coming back from the Brexit negotiations with EU. It makes those in government more responsible. I will advocate for parliamentary system of government. I think that the presidential system is too elaborate and expensive for us and unfortunately, we don’t have a culture of selflessness as a people.

    Some of the major challenges facing Nigeria require a focused bi-partisan approach to resolve, irrespective of party affiliations. What is your perspective about possibilities of having politicians really working together to move the nation forward?

    Things have not been fantastic on that score but I totally agree with you that, that is the way it should be. |But unfortunately, we have not been able to breed a truly nationalistic culture in the minds of our people, there seems to be no genuine national agenda. The executive must come out with a robust policy or developmental plan for a minimum of five years ahead but I would have loved a 15-year national rolling plan like we used to have in those days. With such, irrespective of your political party affiliation, we would all have agreed that this is the road map and it should only be on the procedure that we will disagree. But as per the destination, there wouldn’t be need for us to disagree, irrespective of whether you are PDP, APC, APGA or PRP. So, because there is no clear cut ideological position about what this country should be, we’ve not been able to work together in a focused, productive manner.

    Secondly, unfortunately for us, the quality of some of the people in vital positions of authority, their depth and their capacity to reason outside the box is a bit challenging. You can’t give what you don’t have. Some people, while they are still in government, after they had won elections, still behave like they are in opposition. Some people win elections and forget that they now owe allegiance to the entire people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; some still assume that such allegiance should still be to PDP or to APC.

    I must be sincere with you that across parties, we’ve not done well as per taking Nigeria as a project and reducing the acrimony that is common with partisanship. That level of patriotism and focus on the common good is far from being fantastic at the moment.

    Presently the federal executive and legislature are having issues over the Electoral Act Amendment bill. Do you foresee the possibility of overriding the President’s veto?

    We will get into it; I believe that that is the way to go. We will try to be able to get the number required. I see no reason why the president will act in a manner that I think is somewhat un-presidential. Right from the beginning, from the way he has acted, he didn’t want the Electoral Act to be passed. This is the fourth rejection of the bill from him.

    In the first one, you had the sequence of elections as a major reason. In response to the two rejections afterwards, what the National Assembly did was to have a detailed look at his letter and pick every item he had raised as a concern and treat them in accordance with his suggestions. By implication, he was just giving those excuses deliberately. He now waited till now and then said that it is not good to shift the goal post in the middle of the game. They are now quoting General Abdusalami Abubakar without quoting him in full. Abdusalami said you can only do that if the parties involved come together, but which parties did he call? Their alternative argument was that ECOWAS Court says you should not bring new laws so close to general elections but we should all ask when they started respecting the ECOWAS Court that gave rulings on several issues, including the illegal detention of Col. Dasuki (rtd) without being heeded sales. I left but they wanted me back. I went back, but the entertainment aspect of me kept pulling me over. So, I left sales again to concentrate on my talk show, which became Vidia Brand.

    What is that about?

    It is the home base for all other Vidia brand platforms. We have categories, talk show, television network, which is a station, we have a TV decoder that is portable and you can actually take it around with you on the go; as long as you have wifi, you can connect whereever you are. The decoder is Vidia Afrik. You can watch the station anywhere you are in the world. The challenges we have with that here is that it uses wifi, which is still expensive here in Nigeria unlike in Europe and America where wifi is cheap. So, we are still working on how to make it accessible here in Nigeria. Vidia Talk Show started in 2015. I got different offers; eventually, I got on to three different stations. It did so well but initially, all I wanted was just to get my talk show on television station. I didn’t plan to have my own television station. But I ended up having one.

    What were the immediate challenges for you as a Nigerian in the US?

    I am an a. I studied a Diploma course in Social Works at UNIBEN before going to Ambrose Alli University for five years before getting a Law degree. So, getting to the US, I wanted to start my Law office there. I attached myself to a family lawyer. I used to follow him to court  over there to see how it is done because their system is a little different from ours. So, when I started the entertainment aspect of my work, I started with the African Americans and they accepted me, even more than my own people because the first time I launched my TV show, I went to the first Nigerian television station in the US to showcase it. They looked at it but turned me down. I smiled and left. I then went to an African American TV station which was much bigger in size and name than the Nigerian television station, and more diverse with viewership cutting across Americans, British, Chinese, Africans and so on. They accepted my talk show, which became popular. That was when the Nigerian television station came pleading that I should air my talk show on their station. I had to accept because they are my people. As much as the African Americans accepted me first, I still knew that I am Nigerian and needed acceptance too from my people. And that also enabled me to mingle with my people in the US more than I was doing before.

    You also did some acting back in the US. How did that come about?

    I got into that when I needed the popularity before the television and hosting a talk show came on.

    Where are you based in the US?

    I am based in Houston, Texas.

    Is the system over there different from the system over here and how favourable is it for a Nigerian, a foreigner to survive and rise? I don’t mean someone like you who was already loaded fund-wise before going?

    Well, (laughs) I don’t know. But the truth is, wherever you are in the world, it is your zeal and ability to survive that will determine whether you get through or not. But there are some people over there who have everything but they are just lazy and they do not make much waves. It is even people from Africa that make the wave more. But don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that the whites or African Americans are not making waves and even the Nigerians there, but for each person, it is the individual determination that decides. For instance, not everyone who goes there is focused. It is a place of opportunity. It is easier to get discovered there. People watch you and if they see that you can do it, they come to you.

    You have been in the United States for 12 years now, does that mean that you may eventually get to marry a white or an African American?

    (Laughs) It doesn’t follow. There are Chinese and Indians there too. I used to live in Denver, Colorado, which is dominated by whites, before I moved to Houston, Texas, because my mom was there at that time. I didn’t regret it because Houston has people with diverse nationals. Right now, I am still focusing on the work at hand.

    Who is your ideal man?

    My ideal man would be someone who is loving, very caring, he would be my number one fan, my cheerleader, very supportive, someone that is focused, smart, intelligent, hardworking, and a go-getter. He will be someone who when I need someone to fall back on or lean on, he will be capable for me to fall on him or lean on him, if that happens at all. You know, once in a while, no mater how strong you are, you feel or you need to lean on someone, perhaps when you return home, and you need someone to take the stress of the day off you.

    So you are in Nigeria, what will you be doing while you are here?

    I will be launching my talk show soon. Though acting takes much of one’s time but if I can squeeze it in, I will do some acting too. The focus of my talk show is about touching lives from all spheres of life. I am also an Ambassador for Global iland Connect owned by Africans in technology space. They have apps that help to guide daily living. They are based in America but are also here in Nigeria.

    How long are you going to stay in Nigeria?

    Still working around that, but I will ensure that I do the necessary things that I need to do here before going back. But that at the same time does not mean that I won’t travel or shuttle between here and there, if anything over there needs my urgent attention.

    You are also into charity, will you be doing that here too?

    Of course, I will. I plan to visit orphanages, the less-privileged homes. The truth is, I am still learning how to get around over here. I have a team though that is putting all that together for me.

    What was growing up like in a large family like yours?

    I will not say that my dad loved the others less, but I was pampered by my dad. I was my dad’s favourite and I was close to him. He brought us up well and I still have that as a guide for me in life. He was an upright person, a writer; he fought the Nigeria-Biafra war. He was in the military and was well read. He studied at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. He was a good father. He retired as a military officer and worked at Tin can Island, a royal father from our home place. So we are royalty, princes and princesses where we come from in Aniocha North of Delta State. I was called Oge-daddy. There was no one else that their names were added to daddy except me. It was quite interesting growing up in a large family. People have different personalities and you learn to live with them and by the end of the day, we are still one big family.

    How many wives did your dad have?

    He had three wives and my mom was the third wife.

    What fond memories of the US do you have so far?

    I have many fond memories but I can recall when I got invited to motivate the girls in the new group that Beyonce was just putting together after Destiny Child. In the US, I am also a motivation speaker. So  I was invited on the day of the launch to inspire the girls. I met with the girls and also met Mr Knowles, Beyonce’s father. He also dropped some powerful words of knowledge to impact our lives too because he has been in the industry for a very longer time. That was a golden moment. That was in Houston where they have a studio. Mr Knowles had just released a book then.  So I planned an interview for him for my talk show.

    Another good memory was when I was acting on set and I was called to come over to interview Mr. Godwin Obaseki who is now the Edo State Governor for my TV talk show. He was not a governor then but was campaigning and they needed me to host him on my programme so as to reach Nigerians in the US.

  • Why I admire Buhari, Osinbajo, Adeboye, Awo-Redeemer’s varsity new V-C Anthony Akinlo

    In spite of his high office, the new Vice- Chancellor of Redeemer’s University, Prof. Anthony Enisan Akinlo, exudes humility. A professor of Monetary and Development Economics, he has spent virtually his entire adult life working at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) before he moved to Redeemer’s University a few months ago. He took pride in being born to the family of poor farmers, as he told PAUL UKPABIO and BIODUN ADEYEWA the story of his rise from the countryside in Ondo to the ivory tower in Ede, Osun State.

    When exactly did you assume office and what has been the feeling?

    I assumed office on October 1, 2018 and God has been helping me to forge ahead. As for how it feels, I will say by the grace of Almighty God, I think I have settled down now.

    Tell us about your journey to Redeemer’s University.

    I am a stakeholder in Redeemer’s University. I still recall back then at the camp when Daddy G.O. (Pastor E.A Adeboye) showed the vision and mission of the university to us. He gave us a pictorial view of the university during the monthly Holy Ghost service. He showed us how the university would be in the future and that actually caught our interest. Since then, we have been following the trend and seeing to the happenings in the university.

    Did it occur to you at that meeting that you could one day become the vice- chancellor here?

    Not at all. As a matter of fact, I am more into academics than administration. Most of my life, I have been into research, so I never thought of being the Vice- Chancellor of Redeemers University even though I submitted my application this time when the office was to be vacant. What happened was that when the vacancy advert was published, I did not see it. But one of the pastors under me sent a text message encouraging me to apply for the job. The young pastor said that the person who sent him the message used to be a school mate back in the university. I told my wife, we prayed over it and the Lord asked me to apply.

    What immediately came to your mind when you got the appointment?

    The first thing that came to my mind was that it occurred to me again that when God speaks, He keeps His word. Many years ago, a man came to me with a prophecy that one day, I would have something to do with Pastor E. A. Adeboye. I was already a pastor then, so that prophecy did not register until this happened. That was when I recalled the prophecy.

    Tell us about your background.

    I come from a humble background. I grew up knowing my parents to be farmers. After primary school, I gained admission to secondary school, but there was no money to go further. My father said the way out was for me to go to a teachers’ college where we would be given a stipend. So I was at the teachers’ college for three years, saving the stipend I was paid. And when the opportunity came, I enrolled for GCE examination and passed four out of the five subjects I read all on my own. After that, I was told there was another one called advanced level. I was posted to a remote village and there I studied. As God would have it, I passed. I got admission to study Political Science but my interest was Economics. So I stayed one more year to teach, and in a miraculous way, I got the admission.

    What was the miracle?

    Initially, I got to OAU and was told that I couldn’t get admission because I failed English. I told them I did not. I showed them my result. The admission officer advised that I should go to JAMB office in Lagos and sort it out. I had never been to Lagos, so I looked for somebody to take me there. We got there at 10.30 am and the place was filled to the brim. The gate was inaccessible. I stood out there with the letter in my hand and suddenly, a security officer inside the building was coming straight to the gate and raised his hand beckoning on someone to come. Almost everyone raised their hands, but he said no. He then pointed at me where I was standing with my cousin. I raised my hand and he told me to come.

    I got closer to the gate, and he asked what the problem was. I told him that I had a letter from OAU to rectify my result. He ordered that the gate be opened for me. The man took me straight to the computer room where I met a woman; the head of the computer room. I narrated my plight. She opened the letter, called for my file and they saw that what was written in my result was different; that I passed English. She told me I could go, that it would be corrected. As God would have it, the woman recalled that there was no more space in Economics; that JAMB would offer me Sociology. Eventually, she did a re-think and said I would still be offered Economics, which was my choice. That was how the Lord did it for me.

    Four weeks later, my letter arrived at the school and I graduated in Economics. After National Youth Service, I returned to Ife for masters and later for Ph.D. As God would have it again, I did it in a record time of 10 years. All through my time in the university, I enjoyed accelerated promotion without lobbying.

    Who among your parents influenced you the most?

    I would say both parents. My father was a disciplinarian, which affected our upbringing. They were both honest, straightforward and religious.

    What is your vision, and focus for the university at this time?

    Let me say that by the grace of God, we want to make this university the best in Africa. We are already working towards that. We have the goodwill, which is the name of the founder. So all we need to do is to build on the goodwill. He told me of the vision of the Lord for the university and we are working towards that as a team.

    Is there a special mandate given to you by the Visitor?

    Yes, it is to move to the permanent site. We need to develop the new site. The management and stakeholders are already working towards that to ensure that before long, we move there. After the School of Medical Sciences, we will then progress to the School of Medicine. It will be one step after another, and we intend to expand our academic programmes.

    Recently, we were at the NUC where it was agreed that other programmes will be expanded. We want to increase the number of faculties, introduce new market-driven courses and re-package defunct courses because the world is changing every day. For instance, people are not studying Geography like before but we re-branded Geography, introduced GRS as part of it and changed the name, and it is now attractive by bringing in other courses that are related to it. History became un-attractive until it was merged with International Relations. That is what we will be doing along with changes in the modern society.

    How about the post-graduate programmes?

    That too is in progress, we have just taken a giant step in our discussion with NUC towards our having Ph.D in Mass Communication here. We have also mandated all departments to work and ensure that they start their M.Sc and Ph.D programmes. That also means ensuring professors in each of the departments.

    What plans do you have for the alumni?

    They are a major stakeholder in the university. I had that experience at OAU, where I was part of the team that established what later was to interface with the alumni. We will bring them in. As a matter of fact, based on prophecy from the Visitor, he said that a time will come when Redeemer’s University will not charge school fees; it will be the alumni that will pay the students school fees. And to the glory of God, it has started. Few weeks ago, the alumni offered scholarship to some students here. Right now, we have opened up channels to interface with them. The executive have come and they have already chosen some projects on which work has also commenced.

    How about funding?

    That is not work for the Vice-Chancellor alone. We have notified departments to come up and think outside the box to create programmes that can bring in the funds. It is work for everybody, though my office also has a major role to play in it. In terms of our investment portfolio, we are working on how to come up with the best investment options. No doubt, we could have leakages here or there, so we are being pro-active in that regard too.

    Most people who work in the university environment end up marrying there. Was that the case with you?

    (Laughs) I guess it is because that is where we meet the people we know. You won’t expect me to go and marry outside the university, because how will we meet? Most of the time when we travel for conferences, it is still people within our circle that we meet. Also because there must be a unique thing that must join us together. It is easier to get someone from within the campus too. Again you hardly find a person in academics going to parties, which is usually a good meeting point.

    How did you meet your wife?

    Mine is a different case entirely. I was my wife’s teacher without knowing that she would much later in life be my wife. While in school, she was highly cultured. She used to kneel down and greet every one of us. So my colleague, who is now with the World Bank, used to say that she was the type that one should marry. I didn’t know how to talk to the opposite sex in that direction. After she graduated, I was somewhere and my sister was seeking for admission to the University of Uyo. I remember that my wife’s father was the registrar at Uyo. So I asked some of the students if they knew where she was. That was how I got information that she was working in a bank in Lagos. I collected her address and phone number and put it inside my bible. But then also, I was looking for someone to marry because I was not the outgoing type at all. Interestingly, six months after, I was praying when I heard the voice of God say that I should go to the girl at the bank and tell her that He said that she is my wife. I waited. But again, I went to the mountain at Ikire, as I got there, I saw a man in white suit. He collected my bag. He told me that I could go back to Ife; that my problem was over. He said that my wife knows me and I know her but that we had never discussed having a relationship. That the two of us would just come up naturally; that my wife worked in a bank. I came back and started prayers that God should reveal her to me. I started a three-day vigil. That was when God told me to go and meet that particular girl.

    Supposing she was already married…

    I didn’t know if she was already married. I travelled to Lagos, told my brother what God said and he was making jest of me. I went to the bank where I saw her at the counter. I called her attention. She was shocked to see me. She actually thought I came for banking transaction, but I told her I was there to see her. She asked if I remembered her, I nodded positively. I told her the Lord spoke to me ‘that you are my wife. Go and pray. If it is true, then come. If it is not true, don’t come.’ I carried my bag and returned to Ife.

    A month later, her father was coming from Uyo to a wedding, so she came over. She told her father that she wanted to marry a lecturer. The father said never, because lecturers were considered poor then. The father was angry. But surprisingly, the following morning, the father said he was sorry, that whatever God had said to her was what she should do. Six months after, we had a wedding. Today, we live a happy life.

    Academic life seems to be cumbersome. How do you balance your lives as a couple?

    Well, both of us have a triangular lifestyle. It is usually office, church and home. These are the places you can find us.

    What about now that you are a vice-chancellor?

    It is a different ball game entirely. I can now see that I can’t run away from the public anymore.

    What advice would you give to couples?

    Trust is essentially the basis of marriage. If I travel to wherever, it cannot occur to my wife that I am doing something contrary where I am. It is just not possible. Or she travels and I nurture such thoughts; it is not possible. We trust each other. If you ask my wife where I am at any particular time, she can tell you.

    Who is your mentor?

    The truth is that before I joined the Redeemed Christian Church ministry, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was my mentor. I have been an ardent supporter of that sage. I’ve read virtually all his books. I learnt so many things from him, particularly about women, money and discipline. But when I joined Redeemed Church and met Papa Adeboye, I read everything about him too. I also admire the Vice President’s character. I am not a politician but when a man occupies that exalted office and he has a single house, has a particular car he owns, I admire such people of integrity, because even some local government chairmen can boast of having houses in Abuja or every other place. Then also the President who has been GOC in places, worked several years, travelled far and wide and owns just one house in Daura; that, to me, is the height of integrity.

  • I seek success with my head, not with my good looks

    —S’West Legislators Forum chair Omidiran

    Football enthusiast, philanthropist and politician, Hon. Ayo Omidiran, is reputed in the National Assembly for her cerebral contributions and distinct dressing style. The member of the House of Representatives, who represents Ayebaade/Irewole/ Isokan federal constituency in Osun State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is not only the leader of the Osun APC Caucus in the House, she is also the Chairperson of the South-West Legislators Forum. She spoke with VICTOR OLUWASEGUN and DELE ANOFI about her politics and lifestyle.

    One of your legislative interests is human capital development and you are also in the committee on women affairs. How do you feel about the fact that the number of women in the parliament is dwindling every four years?

    It is a big issue that we have tried to address collectively as members of parliament since the 7th Assembly. Unfortunately, our environment does not encourage women to go into politics. A lot of people we even try to draft as women when we see that they are women of substance are reluctant. I told you earlier on that I was already affecting people’s lives. But the biggest platform to really affect people’s lives is to represent them. As a representative of the people, you have to champion anything that will affect them here, make sure the laws don’t affect your own people negatively and champion causes that will affect them positively.

    Whatever we want to do, instead of helping individuals all the time, we now think in a broader way and try to help communities. When you sink a borehole in one compound or ward, you have given water to more than a thousand people in some cases. Then when you go to a village and sink a borehole, two to three villages will go to those villages to fetch water because they are always close to each other. These people cry for water, and if I were not here, I would not even think of it. So, we try to get women to come into politics because of our natural makeup. We are very kind-hearted and there’s less distraction unlike men who are easily distracted by girls, who call the men even when the men don’t call them.

    There are lots of women in politics now, but they are used for canvassing for votes, dancing at rallies and serving at meetings. But when it comes to real politicking, women are always quietly pushed back. For example, in 2007, I got the ticket of AC free just to encourage women. In 2011 when we had changed to ACN, I also got the form free as a woman, and in 2015, I got the form of APC free as a woman. But this year, APC is charging 50 per cent of the cost of form for women.

    Forget the cost, the concept has already excluded a lot of women. Because when you buy a form, there is no guarantee that you will get the ticket. In Uganda and Rwanda, they have more women in parliament than men. We got them to talk to us and they said it was a deliberate policy; something they put in their constitution. We tried to make that amendment here but it failed. So, what will the women do? We will continue to struggle to make sure that we are better represented at every level, especially in elective positions.

    You are known as a colourful dresser with your own brand of bright prints. Is that intended to make a cultural or fashion statement?

    First and foremost, I dress for comfort. Because when I am in the sporting arena, I don’t wear traditional dress; I wear jeans and suits. I wear gowns too. But my first concentration is comfort. I don’t like to inconvenience myself because I want to look like everybody. That is number one. Now this my dressing here, I’m Yoruba and I’m representing a set of people who most of the time dress like this. You know when you are a representative, when they look at you, they must have an idea of where you are from.

    In the 7th Assembly, I used to dress differently; not consistently like this. On some days, I would wear traditional attires. On some days, I wore skirt suit while on other days I wore pants suit. That was how I used to dress in those days. The only common thing everybody knew was that as a Muslim, I don’t leave my hair open. I was always covering my hair with a cap. And even up till now, anywhere I go and I’m not in traditional attire, you will see me cover my hair with a cap. When I was much younger, I used to just love showing off my very long, luscious hair. But now, I just pack the hair under the cap. It is maturity really, and part of showing that my area is mostly Muslim.

    You know in Ayedaade/Isokan, we have more Muslims than Christians. So I am a Muslim and I dress as a Muslim. I decided to dress in Ankara in the 8th Assembly to make it easier for me to do my work. You can see that my buba style is oleku. It is like I am wearing blouse but it is still the traditional buba. So it is very functional dressing, it is decent and a lot of our colleagues tell me that their wives are always admiring me when they see me on TV. Some of them will say, ‘Get me some of these materials,’ and I tell them, ‘your wives need to learn how to tie the gele (head gear) like I tie it, because getting the material is different from that. So I have to get them the material and the head gear.’

    You see, the way I put it together is just about me. It is very simple. I believe the simpler, the better. So, it is just that I have eyes for good colours and good prints. I choose what I buy depending on my mood. Sometimes I wear dark colours, sometimes I wear bright colours, but most ankara come in bright colours. It is a fashion statement. It is also comfort and functional dressing and convenience.

    Being a woman first and then a pretty one in a male dominated political environment, don’t you feel the pressure, like being intimidated while putting your views across?

    Well, by nature I’m not a very soft person. I wouldn’t say that I take my looks for granted because at least I try to maintain my colour and make myself remain beautiful. But then, it does not matter to me. It is just one of those things. I am grateful for my looks, but that is where it ends. I used to tell my children that my look was a disadvantage growing up because people always believe you don’t have anything upstairs if you are beautiful. And I think it comes from people who try to use beauty as an advantage over what they have upstairs. But God has created women with extra advantage. You have your head and your tail, you can choose the one you use. If you choose your head, you will go very far in life because people will realise that you’re getting things done by merit. You will get the respect of those people and you will attain what you set your mind to. If you use your tail, you can’t go as far as using your head, and you are going to lose respect after some time. So, irrespective of looks, I always encourage women to always use their head.

    Let me give you an example: go to a secondary school and ask for the last exam. You will find that girls make up 80 per cent of the top 10 in the classroom. It shows that girls are naturally brilliant. But then, distractions come in, so they stop reading, and at the end of the day, you may have reduction in output. So, you can decide to use your brain for the advancement or your tail (beauty). If a man is handsome, he cannot use his handsomeness to get marks. So, women are blessed.

    So, as I was saying, I don’t feel intimidated, because you can’t intimidate me. When I was appointed to the FIFA committee in 2006, the FIFA U-17 and U-20 women’s World Cup Organising Committee, it was the first time and I was the only African in that committee. Whenever there was a meeting in Zurich, I would be the only black among all whites. There was a time they delayed the meeting for a few minutes because my flight had a delay, and I felt so good. It was not because I am a black woman but because I always made my presence felt. I was never late for meetings; I always contributed when I needed to and to the extent that I started teaching others how to do things.

    Also, when I was a board member of the NFA between 2002 and 2005, I was the only female among 21 members. After about two years, I asked the men why none of them had ever taken me out, and the response of one of the men remains one of the best compliments anybody has ever given me. He said: ‘It is not that we don’t admire you, but there is something about you that keeps saying hands off!’ To me as a married woman, that was the best compliment anybody could have given me. I don’t do it intentionally, but out of my actions and interactions, they don’t see a frivolous woman, and that was because I saw everybody as equal.

    I don’t see any reason why anybody will want to intimidate me. You will be intimidating yourself when you are incapable of doing the job assigned to you. You will be afraid because you know you are not at par with other people. Sometimes, my children call me a bully. I will rather keep quiet than tell lies. So anybody who has dealt with me knows. Even my constituents. And they appreciate me for my truthfulness. But it took a long time. If you ask me for something that I can’t do, I will tell you immediately. They used to hate me for it, and my political colleagues will tell me that politics is not like that. But I will say no, if we are going to establish a relationship with these people, we have to start on the truth.

    You have a very beautiful tattoo. What informed that?

    I had this tattoo after my election in 2007 when votes were not counting. I was the choice of the people, but the result was announced from Abuja and it was given to the candidate of the opposition party, Hon. Etteh, who happens to be my sister. After that election, it was a baptism of fire for me as a first timer. So, I had to go and cool off in the USA where my children were staying.

    One day, when we went shopping, I saw a tattoo shop and I said I would love to get a tattoo. I didn’t just pick a tattoo, I picked a tattoo that has a meaning. If you check my tattoo very well, it is a rose surrounded by thorns, and in the midst of thorns, the rose will still blossom. To me, no matter the challenges, you will still make it. I had it in November 2007. It was my birthday gift, and any time I look at it, I don’t see any impossibility. So, it is an inspirational tattoo. It is beautiful and colourful. But the tattoo tells a story that what will be will be no matter the challenges if you don’t give up. My husband loves it.

    But in this part of the country, people see a matured or a married person wearing a tattoo as a deviant?

    Where I come from, tattoos are normal. My mother had tattoo. There used to be local tattoo and they are still tattoos. They will even say that I am modern instead of having olden days’ tattoo. I have the modern one. Like I told you, it is a meaningful tattoo; not that I have a face of an animal or something else. It is an inspirational tattoo. Everybody I explained it to have always looked at it differently from then on.

    I want to tell you that I have had people come to me to say that they love my tattoo. Nobody has really looked down on me because of the tattoo. I remember a day I sent a picture on twitter and somebody said, ‘Honourable with tattoo; na wa o.” So many people attacked the person without me saying anything. Maybe the person does not have elderly ones with olden days’ tattoo. Your personality matters the most. If you are lying to the people, before long, they will see through you. So, it is about the real you and not just an aspect of yourself.

  • My grey beard is a brand god himself gave me – Veteran actor Jibola Dabo

    Last Wednesday, Nigerian pop star and now movie producer, Innocent Idibia, popularly known as 2Baba, had a premiere of his movie ‘The Power of 1’ at the prestigious Silverbird Galleria in Victoria Island, Lagos, and one of the celebrated members of the cast at the red carpet was veteran actor , producer and director, Jibola Dabo. Among others, he was the cynosure of all eyes as he stood out with his now branded grey beards. He spoke to PAUL UKPABIO about his three decades in the Nigerian movie industry, his marriage and his travels. Excerpts:

    One noticed that the ‘Power of 1’ movie has a collection of veteran artistes, could that have been the reason you acted in the movie?

    (Laughs) Of course not; I got the script, I got a call from a long time colleague and I realised that I would like to be part of such a historical project. That was the reason I accepted the script.

    What was it like taking part in the movie, acting with a cast made up more of veterans?

    It was great; it was good working with most of the cast members who are in my age range. It was good coming back together, but there were also others who are of the younger generation, and I really did enjoy working together with them too because we learn everyday. Like I always say, I have never met somebody who doesn’t know something of what I know. So, I learn and work along with people. The young blood’s infusion into the movie helps me to align and keeps me on my toes. So it was a wonderful time.

    What do you think of the concept of the movie and the message?

    I don’t think it is a concept as such. ‘The Power of 1’ is a script written by the society. It is a mirror in the sun that reflects the society that we live in. I am not limiting that to Nigeria alone, but to Africa as a whole. And we can also see it on a wider scope, which is worldwide. It is never an advisable thing to say that until there is a convergence of the whole community or village before one takes a stand. That is what the movie is about; that one voice can create an unfathomable awareness. Some people will say that to stand alone cannot be done here. But you see the movie says that as an individual, you can change some things and not necessarily until you have the backing of the whole city. It is talking about the change in our country and that can happen when you, when an individual takes a stand.

    How many years will you say that you have been in the movie industry?

    I have been in the movie industry for about three decades now.

    What can you say of those years, are you proud of what Nollywood is today?

    I was here before the present movie industry as we now know it. Then there was no Nollywood. But then we had an industry. Even right from the 70s, the 80s before I left Nigeria, and I was going back and forth, coming back to stay and doing the same kind of business here, dance theatres, so I was there in the era when money was not being made and this era where money is being made and practitioners are living large within the industry.

    Which means that now the actors are faring better?

    Of course actors are faring better now. I do not remember in the 80s when we gathered for movie making and actors were parking cars on arrival atmovie locations. Then I recall that we were lucky to even find money to take transport back home after each day’s work. But now you find actors parking expensive cars, dressed up to the nines and living in highbrow areas of the city. We didn’t have that kind of blessing then; we were just popular for nothing.

    You play a lot of sugar daddy roles in movies, are you a sugar daddy in real life?

    (Laughs) You need to check my lifestyle again; I am not a sugar daddy in real life. I have a lot of young ladies that are attracted to me, or like to be with me. But that I must say is mere admiration.

    What actually led you into acting in the first place?

    I grew up acting. I was acting even before I entered into formal school. I do not know how I got there; I only know that I grew up with the arts. It was something that I grew up and saw myself doing. So I cannot say when it started. It was when I started using it to get money that I realised that okay, I am indeed an actor. But it was something that I had been doing all along.

    If you were not an actor, what else would you have loved to be?

    I would still have been an artiste; I don’t know how to do anything else. I am an entertainer; that is my life. The truth is that when I am not acting, I am into dancing or graphics or something similar. I have always been in the arts; my life has always been interwoven with entertainment.

    You are a role model to many people now, but who were your role models?

    I hope this doesn’t come out as being arrogant. But the truth is that I had no role models. That is because we grew up not having a teacher, someone to coach us; so life itself was my teacher. I watched some people that I admired and I gained one or two things from them, older colleagues, some of them are still alive; people like Larry Williams who also acted in ‘The Power of 1’ movie. We studied in one of the best universities of the world in the United Kingdom. We were working together in the late 80s during Larry William’s playhouse and I listened to their speech pattern. There was also the Late Sam Loco; I watched them all. They were few of them like that, the Late Justice Esiri, I watched these people but not like they taught me in a classroom. But I gained a lot from just watching them. I studied Mass Media, I didn’t even study Theatre Arts.

    You have been keeping a grey beard for 20 years now, why and when did you decide to keep a beard?

    I guess I am blessed. This is a brand that some people struggle hard to create. It is a brand that God Himself gave to me. When I was in dance theatre before God moved me into acting, I had always kept the beard and when it started turning grey, it was just there. That’s because even my siblings who are older than me do not have grey hair. Mine is from God.

    In Nollywood movies, we see you as a flamboyant fashionable and stylish person, are you so in real life?

    I want to say yes because sometimes I find it difficult to distinguish my real life from the life I live in the movies. Let me give you an example: when I went to costume rehearsal for the present movie, I asked the costumier what is the concept of costume for this character? Who is this character? He looked at me and replied: “You are the character.” I have had a lot of young producers interact with me and before I knew it, they had written a movie script around me. And usually I do not know about it, until they call me that I have a role in their movie. I try not to limit my clothes or dress sense to a particular tribe or people. Some people think that I am Ibo because of the way I wear their clothes. Some even think that I am Ghanaian, that because when I take on a character, I become that character so that I don’t play a flat character. When I take on a role, I learn the interjection of the dialect I need to speak and I work hard with my continuity person and director to get the right pronunciations for words.

    Many people who have children from different women say that they did not really plan it. What can you say about yours?

    Oh, I didn’t plan it that way either. It is never really planned. The problem is, and I want to carefully say this, because of the younger ones so that when they read it, they will get what I am saying. They have to be careful and plan; no one plans to fail. If you do not get marriage right the first time, it will be difficult to get it right again. If you don’t get it right, it will lead one to other women trying to get it right. And for a man like me who has been around the world, I just found myself in that situation.

    So how about your children?

    My children have been a blessing to me. One thing that I regret in life is not having been there with them as in going out in the morning and being there with them in the evening. I have always been coming and going.

    How about your artistic works, which actually brought you to limelight?

    Sincerely I don’t know. I was already popular before I travelled in the 80s. And when I came back, it was like that and then I later decided to look into the home videos. I have done jobs that made so much noise. However, I was stopped in Switzerland and all they said about me was the role I played in Superstory. While people in Nigeria may say that passion or other works I have done brought me into limelight, people outside this country think differently. So I really don’t know. Someone in America called that the Kingdom that we made two years ago in Abuja is making waves over there.

    Did you eventually get round to marriage?

    Yes. I am married now. And I want her to be kept away from the public for now until at a particular time when she is ready for the public.

    We read somewhere that there was a time that you wanted to commit suicide, what happened?

    (Laughs) What happened was that a young man came to me and I granted an interview.  He saw me as someone who had been luckily blessed, having been away to England and places, always having fun and he thought that my life had been a bed of roses. So I told him no, I had worked and tilled the land, that I had hawked on the streets and after high school, I couldn’t find a job; that I contemplated even putting an end to my life. But the way the young man wrote it, it was like I actually bought a rope and tied it to my neck. It wasn’t like that.

    What is life really like for an actor, producer and director like you?

    It is difficult, strenuous, tasking and time consuming. But the joy is when you see your job being appreciated, and then there is nothing comparable to it, especially that moment that you are being appreciated. We were there at the movie premiere and before the end of the movie, people were already clapping that it is a good work. That is the joy.

    Do you have any memories of your early life that you recall?

    I remember trekking back and forth to high school in those days for more than six kilometers every day. That was in Owo where I was born and where I grew up. That’s something that doesn’t really happen much these days, but then it happened to me. And on Fridays, I used to follow my uncle to the farm to go and work. There was no access to computers, no access to television. So  if life is tough for you today, it doesn’t mean you won’t make it in future.

    What do you do for relaxation?

    Do I get the time for relaxation? Well, what I would love to do for relaxation is to go to the beach, I like physical training to relax my nerves. I read and when I watch movies, I do it like I am in a classroom, always looking for new ideas.

    In Nollywood when do people retire?

    This is an industry that has no retirement age, as long as you can open your mouth and speak and then move your muscles. I cannot retire but I can slow down to help myself because no matter how agile I may feel or look, the organs may say differently; so I can only do less but not to retire.

  • Why I wear white Tiv attires – House Committee chair on FCT Orker-Jev

    Before his recent appointment as the House Committee Chairman on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Hon. Emmanuel Orker-Jev had functioned as the Chairman House Committee on Rules and Business since the inception of the 8th Assembly. In this interview, which he granted just before he was moved from the Rules and Business Committee, the lawmaker, who represents Buruku Federal Constituency in Benue State tells VICTOR OLUWASEGUN and DELE ANOFI the pressure of running the engine room of the House of Representatives. He also explains how he unwinds after the hectic hours in the green chamber.

    For more than three years, you have been the Chairman of the Rules and Business Committee in the House of Representatives, which is considered the engine room of the House. How have you been coping?

    I really cherish the opportunity given to me by the leadership to chair the committee. When we came initially, the stress was much because everybody wanted to prove himself, especially the new members. Some would put pressure on you. There are times you have 300 to 400 motions at a time while in a given week, you can’t move more than 30. Imagine having 200 motions and everybody wants their motion listed at the same time! It only takes God’s grace, otherwise, you sour your relationship with people who would think that you are preventing them from shinning.

    We learnt that some even come threatening that their motions must be listed. Did that happen to you?

    It depends on the kind of person you are. If by the way you conduct yourself people believe that if you are induced you will do certain things for them, they will go and tell the story and people will come to you. From the first day, I made it clear to people that they didn’t have to offer me anything for their items to appear on the order paper. And by the grace of God, I have not heard any accusation from anybody. I believe in building integrity. It is easy to think that if I collect anything or get material edifice, I will be better placed; but your name will be sacrificed in the process.

    Talking about desperation, at the early stages, some people came and attempted to shout, but I knew it was an act of desperation to satisfy people, so I handled such with a big smile and we became friends when I insisted that the right thing should be done.

    How do you feel in situations where the motion being presented had been treated before and dumped into the trash bin only for some members to rejig it?

    We have our standing rules and I always insist that we are guided by our standing rules, which says that you cannot re-present a matter that has been disposed off within the same session. By our rule, a session is one year, usually from June to June. But outside of that, you can re-present it. So, if it is in the second session and somebody raises that issue, I will refer them to the rules that nobody has breached any rules.

    There are times that somebody will point out that this matter had been disposed off in the last session, meaning that we are right to bring it. But since we are still trying to pursue the implementation of what was brought, it will amount to wasting the time and resources of the House to represent it again. In that case, the House may say no rule has been breached, but for the purpose of saving time and resources, why don’t we try and implement what the house agreed on?

    Talking about rules, are you not surprised that many members don’t even have an idea of what the rule says or they have it but do not read it?

    Thank God, it is not everybody that does that. When you have a coalition of 360 people across Nigeria in one place, I am not here to judge anyone. It is true that some don’t particularly pay attention, but a lot of members here take their jobs seriously. At least, if they want to have something on the floor, they investigate to find out which rules they are making reference to. So, I can’t contradict what you are saying because it happens in some instances. But majority are still very alert to their responsibility. Even if they don’t know, some will rush to me, saying, ‘Chairman, I want to bring this up; which is the rule that applies to the circumstance?’ I will let them know the rule and they do the right thing.

    There are two bills that have been causing a lot of concern. The grazing bill and the water resources bill. What is your take on them?

    There are actually three or four bills on ranching. But on a second thought, taking a legal eye at the bills, it was decided that the Land Use Act gave the custody of the land to states, i.e., the respective governors. So, we cannot sit down in Abuja and do a law on land that will cover the entire federation. That is the responsibility of the state governors, and because of that, we put those bills in the cooler. That is why some states took on the challenge to come up with those laws, like in Ekiti, Taraba and Benue. So, legally, it is the states that should come up with those laws.

    As for the water resources bill, you know that I came from a very contentious area and some read a lot of meanings to it. I consulted with the man that brought it and he said the bill was done in accordance with international best practices. I am still insisting that he should give me the brief so that we take a second look at it because the speaker said we should go through the bill and also get in touch with the Chairman of the House Committee on Water Resources, Pategi. So, the matter has not been settled yet. When I get the written brief of what is in the bill, it will determine whether we should revisit it or not. Those were the explanations Pategi gave me when I went to meet him on this matter. So, the matter has not been concluded yet.

    You are a lawyer with long standing experience. Some people say that some of the bills brought to the floor are cosmetic. Do you agree with that?

    I don’t. When the Speaker took over, he brought what was known as the legislative agenda for the Eighth Assembly, one of which was to reform our archaic laws. He put together a panel of seasoned lawyers both within and largely outside because most of the laws came about during the colonial era and can’t apply in the modern society. So, they sat and recommended about 300 instances where we could reform our bills. So, that is why you have a large number of bills.

    Cosmetic? No. As a law-making body, we are entitled to making laws in all areas of our lives, both critical and non-critical. Just today, I was discussing with somebody who was talking about the university he graduated from 15 years ago which does not have record keeping capacity. If you have laws making it mandatory, will you call it cosmetic? Elsewhere, you have records of 500 years still being kept somewhere. We should have that kind of scenario here too. Every area is important; not just the critical ones.

    You have rural development and youth empowerment as your area of legislative interest. Are you happy with the development in the rural areas and the level of youth unemployment in the country?

    Definitely not. But it is the function of the way out federation is structured. You now have a situation where if you go to the state where the local government is supposed to be clearly autonomous, the states use the money meant for them and dish it out as they wish, forgetting that rural development is the responsibility of the local government. So, I am not happy. Until we allow the local government to function as stated in the constitution, we will continue to have this problem. The money for local government is appropriated only on paper. In reality, the state spends their money for them.

    On the issue of unemployment, when you have unemployed youths, it is like a time bomb. If the youth that are actively involved, they won’t have time for cultism, drugs and so on. So, I am not happy. This administration promised to take care of that, but if they have, it is for us to see.

    There are allegations that some members of the House only come in, sign the register and go. Is it true?

    I would say that it is illegal if you have not attended at least 181 days of sitting in one year. I can’t give that answer. I can only speak for myself when it comes to matters like this.

    Everybody has been sent here by his constituency to represent them. It will be unfortunate if people are indeed doing that. I can’t deny that there are such cases, but it is not for me to pass judgment. It is left for the people that sent them to know after four years whether the people they sent actually represented them or not.

    E-parliament is supposed to tackle people like that, but it is not working…

    You know how it is. The present leadership attempted to do that but it failed us. Even though the willingness to conduct the affairs using e-parliament is there, the experts who are supposed to put us through failed us. So, what can we do? There would come a time where we would perfect the e-parliament and begin to track everybody’s persuasion.

    What is the total legislative days for a year?

    The minimum number of days which is 181 days has only been fixed while the maximum has not been fixed.

    Let us talk about your social life. How did you meet your wife?

    I met her through a friend who introduced us to each other and we got married. I am not the partying type and you won’t be too wrong to call me an introvert. Nobody thought I would be a politician because I felt politics was for rough guys. But somehow, my community drafted me into politics. I am the first person in my constituency to have won election twice; not even as a councilor or a local government chairman. This is my third time in the House.

    In the National Assembly, the number of female legislators is dwindling. What is the remedy?

    The communities should decide who they want to represent them. If you say that females should be given a certain percentage, I don’t know how that could be sorted out in the field when it comes to politics. Until that debate crystalises, I don’t have a very strong opinion on that.

    Since you are not the partying type, how do you spend your leisure time?

    I play the guitar and do video editing because I have a studio in my house, not as a professional.

    You always appear in white traditional Tiv attire. Is there any reason for that?

    No. I am just in love with white. Some have preferences for colour but I just love wearing white. In the evening, I wear jeans and T-shirt, which are not white. But in terms of formal dressing, white is my favourite colour and, of course, I am a proud Tiv man.