The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday Interview

  • I still wear clothes I bought 20 years ago —Former Miss Nigeria Helen Prest-Ajayi

    Stylish lawyer and ageless former Nigerian beauty queen, Helen Prest-Ajayi, is still enjoying a lot of attention in the social media despite being a mother of three. But the ex-beauty queen is not all about style and fashion as she has also made a strong impact in the area of advancing the nation’s educational development. She spoke with PAUL UKPABIO on her life as a lawyer, a socialite and a mother.

    How did you manage to maintain your good figure decades after you reigned as a beauty queen?

    As I grew older, I found that everything in life is a function of education. In the primary school, you are taught about balanced diet and the vitamins you need to extract from your food to maintain a great skin and a healthy body. We were also taught what to avoid. If you eat the right things in moderation, you will not gain weight. It is a matter of choice.

    You also seem to have sustained that aura of a queen. Is glamour something that can be learnt or it is in-born?

    I believe that one’s ability to learn determines one’s glamour quotient. What is innate is one’s desire to be glamorous. But being glamorous is a function of your interaction with the world around you. To be glamorous, you must be alive to your environment and engage with the world. Glamour is not static; it is a function of learning and continuous education. One is never too old to upgrade one’s knowledge in every aspect of life. My motto is ‘see, learn and apply’.

    Who would you say has influenced you the most in terms of fashion sense?

    And what style and fashion do you go for these days?

    When it comes to fashion, my philosophy is less is more. For me, simplicity is key. I love things that are well made and can stand the test of time. I still wear clothes that I bought 20 years ago because, for me, a fashion purchase is almost like purchasing a piece of art. I take time to choose and I am attached to it and tend to keep it forever.

    It also helps, that I have practically been the same size for the past 30 years. Having said that, I don’t follow fashion. I am influenced by any designer that makes me look good and pays attention to detail in the execution and choice of fabric.

    You got fame early in life, and from the look of it, with that fame came fortune. Why did you insist on getting a law degree afterwards?

    Yes, I was famous from the age of 19. In 1979, Miss Nigeria was the only celebrity and every young girl wanted to be her. The pageant was run by the then Federal Government-owned Daily Times. So, there was a lot of prestige and honour attached to it. I also received a salary of N6,000 per annum and a car; quite a sum then when you recall that it cost N200 to go to London and come back.

    As far as my law degree was concerned, I was already in the university studying Law when I won. So, throughout my reign, I continued with my studies. I went on to Law School with my classmates and went on to do a master’s degree in Law at Kings London. There was no question of my not pursuing my education. My parents had always drummed it in to me, so I was always aware from a very early age that education is the key to life.

    At this time, in what ways do you think that the Nigerian nation can move forward?

    There can be no meaningful economic growth in a nation if its population growth outstrips the quality of its human capacity development. This is what is happening in Nigeria right now and we are beginning to see the trickle-down effects. Sixty per cent of Nigerians are illiterate or near-literate. That is over half our population. The economic effect of that is that majority of those people will be living on subsistence wages below the poverty level.

    How does that affect the present and future of the country?

    How this affects you and I is that whatever creative business idea you might have might not have the mass market support to thrive because we do not have enough people who will be able to buy it in the numbers required for global impact. Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos could not have replicated their success in Nigeria in spite of our population because our middle class who have the education and the earning power has shrunk. And the growth in population is not increasing the middle class. Rather, it is creating more poor people who have no earning capacity.

    So, what do you think is the way out of this situation?

    The only way Nigeria can progress is to develop its human capacity, and the only way to do that is through education. Government must increase the budgetary allocation on education to at least 25 per cent and then take a critical look at areas of its education policy to ensure maximum impact in the shortest time. We have to direct our focus on education as a mere means of acquiring certificates to a means of knowledge acquisition to enable one find solutions to the critical issues of life.

    How does the country go about that at this present time?

    The key area government must take a look at in its education policy is the acquisition of learning and literacy. ‘Every child in school’ does not necessarily mean that, that child will be educated. I have seen so many people who in spite of attending the mandatory six years primary and three years secondary school, cannot still read or write or even communicate in English.

    You are sometimes in the news, appearing in highbrow society events and then, you lie low and nothing is heard from you for some time. What have you been doing?

    One hopes to be in the news for the right reasons and for a good purpose. In the last few years, my main focus has been on children issues with education being the main focus. I produced two best seller children’s books which have brought endless curiosity and enjoyment to thousands of children. As with everybody, I have seen the dramatic decline in our education system.

    When I discovered that Nigeria currently has a 60% illiteracy rate, I was so disturbed and alarmed that I decided to do something about it. I realised that literacy unlocks learning and that if we could get primary 1 school children to achieve literacy, then a good proportion of our educational woes would be solved. So, I designed and developed an intensive literacy programme called HELP (Helen’s English Literacy Platform), which is targeted at primary 1 pupils with the aim of ensuring that within the first four months of primary school, all children in the class are able to read, write and communicate functionally in English enough to be able to work through the school curriculum and gain the knowledge required for successful progress in their educational journey.

    You have three lovely children with your lovely figure still intact. How has motherhood been?

    I have to say that, for me, motherhood has been a journey and a journey that appears to be never ending. I love my children dearly, but I would not say I was a natural mother. It is not something I can wholly say I enjoyed doing. Children are quite selfish, you know. But it was something I quickly realised; that if I did not focus on them fully or give the required attention to them, I would not get the right results I wanted at the end of the day. So I decided to put some of my desires on hold and put in my best efforts. My goal was to have healthy, confident, happy, stable, intelligent young girls who can be thinking critically and independently and be an asset to their husbands and contribute to the growth of Nigeria in whatever capacity they choose to serve.

    What advice do you have for younger mothers and younger couples on grooming children?

    My advice is that child care is the responsibility of both parents; it is not for the woman alone. Each party has something important to contribute in terms of guidance and teaching. Parents should endeavour to be friends with their children. I am so surprised to hear in 2018 the number of children who do not communicate with their parents. It is alarming, especially when you hear of the meteoric rise in drug use. I believe there is a definite correlation between drug use and the relationship one has with one’s child. It is important to be close to your children and keep up with the trends of what is going on in their world.

    When you are abreast of what is going on, you will be in a better position to advise, and your advice would be better considered and respected.

  • ‘Why Urhobo should return Omo-Agege to the Senate’

    Comrade Chuks Erhire doubles as the treasurer of the All Progressives Congress(APC) in Delta State as well as the Director General of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege Constituency Office. In this interview with our Correspondent, FAITH YAHAYA, he alleges that that there is a gang-up against the Urhobo nation by some major players to emasculate the political prowess of scions of Urhobo in the state. He also highlights reasons why the Urhobo people should return Omo-Agege to the Red Chamber. He added that a vote for the APC governorship candidate in the state, Great Ogboru, is the best option for the economic emancipation of the people. Excerpts:

    Why do you think Senator Ovie Omo-Agege deserves to return to the Senate in 2019?

    It is evidently clear. When you are an incumbent and you are aspiring for re-election, the people have the opportunity of using your performance and antecedents in office as a basis for their decision. We are confident because we know that Senator Ovie Omo-Agege has done very well in the three key areas of legislative representation. He has given voice to the Urhobo people; he has done very well in terms of representation. In the Senate, you cannot talk about senators without mentioning the name of Senator Omo-Agege. He has contributed very quality motions that are vital to the survival and development of Nigeria. He has embraced very key and fundamental reforms that have brought stability to our polity. The senator played a key role in the Electoral Law that is being reviewed. He co-sponsored that bill and by the time all those bills are assented to, of course, our elections will become free, fair and credible. You will recall that he also co-sponsored a bill on Electoral Offenders Commission. It is not enough for someone who is declared by the court as an electoral thief to lose the seat, hand over the mandate and walk away. For example, if a man goes stealing a goat and he is caught, of course, the owner of the goat will recover it but prosecution will follow. That is what Omo-Agege is pursuing at the Senate at the moment. He seeks to ensure that those people who are found out to be electoral thieves should not only lose their seats but should be made to face the consequences of the electoral theft.

    In specific terms, what impact has he made on the lives of the people in his constituency?

    If you look at the quality of projects he has initiated and brought to the Urhobo nation, you can’t help but commend his efforts and selflessness in putting the people first. There is no local government area in the whole of Delta Central where you do not have a project provided by Omo-Agege through his constituency projects or through his capacity to lobby key agencies and parastatals. For this and several other reasons, I think the Urhobo nation is very comfortable with what he is doing right now and they will not be ready to lose their best and free the space for charlatans to take over the seat.

    Would you say his performance is in any way better than that of his predecessors?

    The facts speak for themselves. I think I will leave that for the Urhobo people to judge but everywhere we go, you hear people say it. On the social media and the mainstream media, even people in the opposition parties also acknowledge the fact that Omo-Agege is first among equals for his quality representation of the Urhobo people. Listen, we give it to our brother, late Senator Pius Ewherido; he started excellently well but unfortunately, the cold hand of death snatched him away from us. If you take Senator Pius Ewherido aside, there is nobody you can compare with Omo-Agege as far as this political dispensation is concerned. He has done perfectly well; he has taken Urhobo nation into national political limelight. Beginning from 2019 when Buhari is re-elected, you will see what will become of the Urhobo nation in the national political space.

    It is not enough to praise him for his closeness to The Presidency, If all politics are local, then you must tell us how he has lifted the Urhobo nation. Do you have indices of the macro-economic impact his representation has had on the average Urhobo man?

    Of course, yes! You will recall that all through 2016 and 2017, Omo-Agege went across the length and breadth of Urhoboland, especially the markets across the Delta Central Senatorial district to do direct cash transfers to the very distressed traders. We were at the Effurun Market, Ekpan Market, Ugborikoko Market all in Uvwie local government area. In Ethiope East, we went to Eku Market, Kokori Market, Abraka Market. In Ughelli North we went to Orogun Market, in fact the markets in all the villages of Orogun.  We were at Ughelli Main Market and Agbarho Market. We were at Otokutu, we were at Ewu Market, and we had to go to Okpare Market and Okwagbe Market all in Ughelli South. In Ethiope West, we were at Oghara, Jesse, Mosogar. In Sapele e were at Amukpe Market and Sapele Main Market. There was no local government we did not go to. In Udu, we were at Ujugbale, Ubogo. In Okpe, we went to Orerokpe Market, Adeje Market. That N20,000 that Senator Omo-Agege was giving to mothers, sisters and our brothers who were traders in those markets, of course, had a great impact and the feedback we have received so far is mind-blowing. Imagine someone whose entire stock or ware is N5,000 and then, he or she suddenly gets N20,000. You have almost  changed the person’s life automatically. A woman that sells iced fish that cannot afford a carton of iced fish and was pairing with someone to sell and then you give her money that can buy almost two cartons; the impact of the exercise is great. If you go round the markets and interview the beneficiaries, you will be amazed at their responses and joy. I am thinking that we will do a small media get-together with a few of those persons who were given that token cash transfer at the various markets and you will be amazed at the feedback you will get. All of these things have helped to lift our people from hunger and poverty.

    So, what would you say inspires the senator to do all these things?

    Naturally, preparation is the key. You know, proper preparation precedes proper performance. Number two is capacity; the legislature is not a place for charlatans, you need some level of intellectual capacity to be able to properly engage in legislative business and besides, Omo-Agege is a man that has passion to serve. When you are driven by passion and  a sense of purpose, knowing that your people are backward, your people are the fifth largest ethnic nationality that has been consigned to the backyard in national political scene, you will go there with a sense of mission and purpose to say, this is what we need to do to bring back the Urhobo nation to where it ought to be in the national political space. So, he did not go there knowing not what to do and because he was driven by passion and he has the mental and intellectual capacity to pursue the legislative business, he went there straight away and began to engage. You will recall that eight months of his mandate were stolen by the political buccaneers in Delta State and by the grace of God through the court, he was able to recover the mandate. Thereafter, they also went back to work with the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, to deny him the opportunity of being sworn in as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, two months even after the court had declared him as a senator. But as soon as he got there, he hit the ground running. Another thing I want to say is that Omo-Agege is privileged to have a very wonderful team. We are proud of the team that he assembled, the best hands that you can find in Urhoboland are today working together with him to ensure that the cries of Urhobo man are crystallized into ideas, motions and bills and all of that to take us out of the woods.

    No doubt, the election in the senatorial district will be tough with the calibre of candidates from the other parties, like Hon. Evelyn Oboro of the Peoples Democratic Party and Ovie Ugwanogho of the Social Democratic Party. Can Omo-Agege weather the storm?

    First, you have to understand that people go into business with different goals. In elections there are people whose goal is just to have their names on the ballot paper such that when you visit the Independent National Electoral Commission’s website, you will find their names there as  one-time candidates of political parties.

    What message do you have for the people of Urhoboland?

    To the Urhobo people, I need to let them know that there is a gang up against us. There is a conspiracy by a cabal in Delta State to destroy the political power of the Urhobo nation and they are doing it through economic strangulation. This was hatched some time in 2005 in Government House, Asaba, and since then, they have been consistently and dutifully executing this agenda to weaken the Urhobo nation politically. They are deceiving us, assuming Okowa wins, that in 2023 they will give power to Urhobo and I tell you it is the biggest lie. They have planned to hand over power to Ijaw in 2023. How do they want to achieve that? Recall that in 2007 when Ibori and his people had said that the power would go to Delta South that we had aspirants from Delta North, Delta South and Delta Central  Uduaghan was there, Senator Omo-Agege was there, Pius Ewherido was there, Ejaife Odebala was there, several Urhobo people aspired and Okowa was there too; Otega Emerhor, all of them from the three senatorial districts. Now in 2023, what do they want to do? They have strangulated all of them and that is part of the gang up to ensure that in 2023, no Urhobo person is able to rear his head to aspire for the PDP governorship ticket. So, they have their plans. What I need to tell the Urhobo people is the time is now for us to redeem ourselves. The time is now for us to come together to work and make Ogboru our governor in 2019. That their vote for APC in 2019 is a vote for the liberty of Urhobo nation, a vote for APC in 2019 will be a vote for the destruction of that evil plan against the entire Urhobo nation. I challenge them to tell me that this is not true and I will ask them if David Edevbie, who is currently the Commissioner for Finance, is being allowed to do his job as Commissioner for Finance. Ask David Edevbie if he can raise N100 million  for any election now. So, for the Urhobo people, please Senator Omo-Agege means well for you, he is here as your messenger and he is doing the job well. Urhobo people say, Omororioro oya she oro ke, meaning you sell gold to those who know its value. Omo-Agege knows the value of the mandate that has been given to him and that is why he is working day and night to ensure that he doesn’t disappoint the people. He will do more if he is given the chance in 2019.

  • My encounters with Margaret Thatcher’s men as a college principal in UK –Tourism Practitioners President Odusanwo

    Oyo high chief, Chief Abiodun Odusanwo, is the President of the Institute of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ITP) as well as the Vice President, Federation of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (FTAN). He lived in the United Kingdom for many years imparting knowledge. Apart from being a director of Education Qualification Agency, he represented Black and Minority Ethnic Groups in Lewisham Strategic Partnership. He spoke with OKORIE UGURU about his life, career and his passion for empowering people through education.

    MY background really is that I am an educationist in terms of the fact that most, if not all my post-graduate experience, has been in education. I started in 1982 after my MBA in England. I was a lecturer at the London College of Further Education. I also lectured in a number of further and higher education institutions. I taught virtually everything when it comes to Business Administration, apart from teaching Law and Statistics. I taught Marketing, Tourism, Business Administration, Principles of Banking, and so on. I have been into human resource development; that is my main trust. I saw myself as an agent of change. I want to see people transformed into achieving competences that would enrich their lives.

    Have you always lived in England? I left for England in 1976. I was born in Lagos, but I am a native of Ijebu Ayepe. I had my secondary education at Remo Secondary School, Sagamu. It was an Ionian schools. In fact, my school was really the first mixed secondary school in the whole of West Africa. It was established in 1945 or thereabout. I was actually meant to travel. It started with doing some correspondence courses in those days. I actually worked with the Nigerian Airways as a commercial officer. By that time, they had not built this new international airport. It was under construction. That was actually my first step into tourism and aviation industry. This stimulated my interest in the industry. After working at the place for some time, I travelled to Italy in 1976 and moved to England mainly because of language, because I always knew that I was going to study Business Administration.

    On getting to England, I went to City Polytechnic and studied Marketing and then International Business, specialising in tourism. What was life like as a growing up child? My dad sold Lino, what they call carpet, at Idumagbo Avenue in Isale Eko; Jankara to be specific. You know, all those Baba Ijebu (Ijebu indigenes) are into big commerce. I was in fact born into a Moslem family. I even studied the Koran in primary school. I actually went to Ahmadiyya, where we wore white uniform. But what changed all that was that I went to Remo Secondary School, Sagamu, which was a pure Christian school. It was then I opted to become a Christian. It was a matter of choice.

    That time, having gone from Lagos to study in Ijebu, I was one of the flamboyant students. We bought things from Kingsway and so on. Is that to say that you were born with a silver spoon? Not really, but with a very nice spoon. Going to secondary school in Remo made me become a Christian, because when I want to pray, I want to pray in a language I understand, and that made things easier. When I left school, the idea was really to travel out despite the fact that my dad wanted me in his business. But I had made up my mind that I was not going to go into business. Was there any special reason for that? Really, my dad had a couple of houses in Surulere and so on, but I really wanted to go to school. My dad was very disappointed that I refused to join him in the family business. Any reason for that? I was well mannered, very enterprising. That was why after secondary school, he wanted me to join him, but I refused. I ran to go meet my grandmother and reported to her, that this was what my daddy was saying.

    She asked me: ‘Why don’t you go?’ She said people were actually praying for such opportunities. I told her I didn’t want to. Was your decision based on the secondary education you acquired? It was just a matter of choice really. I wanted to actually get something that is mine, something I can say I generated this. In other words, you wanted to run away from your father’s shadow? Yes. Also being from a polygamous home, I just said I didn’t want the rat race. When he went to report me to my grandmother, she appealed on my behalf. Then I started working.

    In the City Hall, my uncle, Sanwo, was the paymaster. I went to him to engage me. My father called him and warned him not to give me a job; that he was going to disown him if he did, and that if I wanted a job, I should join his business. I said okay. Then, there was labour office where after you left school, you could just go and queue and you would get a job. I went there but I did not like the offers available. I then went to meet my aunt who took me to the old Nigerian Airways. The Personnel Manager, Mr. Makinde, told me, ‘Your sister is such a nice person. Nobody can terminate your appointment in Nigerian Airways unless you steal.’ That was where I started my career. While working, I started correspondence classes and then I travelled to England. In our own time, education was a meal ticket. So long as you had your qualification, you were okay. That means your motivation was the meal ticket… I was not looking for a meal ticket. I just said I must be educated to be independent. I started studying for my qualifications. I was interested in developing and contributing to my environment. When Federal Polytechnic, Bida, was established, they came to England to interview people and I attended the interview.

    That time, I was actually a part time marketing lecturer in England. When the interviewer asked me my definition of marketing, which is making profit through customers’ satisfaction, the man was looking for one long definition but I didn’t go with that. I didn’t take the offer because I was not ready. At that time, I was hoping to do my PhD as well. The second interview I had, which was equally interesting, was for one bank, BCCI or something like that, because I also taught banking. They wanted to employ a trainer for banking. They got my name through the Institute of Bankers because they had a directory of banking teachers in England. I got the job, but the man said: ‘Sorry, we cannot employ you because one, you are not from the North; two, if we employ you, you will be the highest paid Nigerian and you are the general manager of the bank. I told him you people came here to employ me as a British person. He said unless they bring me in as an expatriate, and I said I didn’t mind.

    I continued with my part-time and full-time lecturing. As at that time, there were so many Nigerians in London, but only a few of us managed to do proper jobs like being lecturers or part-time lecturers. Many of my contemporaries worked as security guards, cab drivers and so on. Through my part-time lecturing job, they started asking, so this man can do this? So, it was like blazing the trail, because not many black people were into lecturing, not to talk of Nigerians… Yes. So, how did they react to seeing you in an area that was like an exclusive preserve of the white? They were quite pleased. There is a college called Central London College. I was the head of department. Somebody came out looking for the department, because they couldn’t call my name, Biodun, they called me Mr. Abbey. They told him to go and see Mr. Abbey.

    The man was asking me who Mr. Abbey was. Because you were black? Yes. Some Nigerians that I came across, I tried to assist them to excel. In 1989, I think I was a lecturer then also. I told them that no Nigerian person should come to me to give them reference for security jobs. If you want reference from me, you must apply for a proper job. Through that, many of them applied for proper jobs. Why did you decide to do so? They were qualified to do all these jobs. They were qualified to work in the office as opposed to marking time doing cleaning and so on. So the idea was for you to push them to go for better jobs? Yes. It helped enormously. It created a pool who would say if it were not for that man, I would have still been doing those menial jobs. It was not just Nigerians, but blacks generally.

    That time, as a Commonwealth citizen, one was allowed to work for 20 hours a day as a student. So, I told them, for those 20 hours, why not go for proper jobs? With that, many of them got the necessary experience for future employment. Then after you have lived in England illegally for seven years, you get your stay. I also encouraged them to do short training programmes. At the time you moved to England, by virtue of your qualification, you could apply for other jobs. Why settle for teaching? I think it was my drive to improve the lot of people. Like I said, according to my background, work was not an issue. I thought having done all these, why not assist other people? That helped because it brought in better understanding of blacks. Also at that time, I started getting more interest in tourism and I applied to many institutions for a PhD in tourism but they refused. I was asked to do tourism in either of two countries: Gambia or Spain.

    Those were the areas they wanted me to focus on. I told them I wanted to focus on Nigeria and they said Nigeria was not a tourists’ destination. So, I asked myself what I could do. I said I must study tourism. I knew also of many doctors and professors who were my senior colleagues in the academia. They said the two were the areas they could easily get supervisors. These supervisors were also working for their own research interests as well. While working for my PhD, I got so involved in lecturing. That is why I have not yet completed it. I became a college principal during the Margaret Thatcher era. You can imagine what Margaret Thatcher was to black people. I mean she was a conservative prime minister. Being the head, there were so many issues with immigration and I didn’t deal with so many of those guys; I dealt with the policy. I called them.

    Many were able to regularise their stay in England through our establishment. So, at what point did you decide to focus more on Nigeria? I actually represented Britain when it came to the harmonization of tourism education across Europe. I was also involved in educational development. In fact, vocational education development generally. I travelled to many parts of Africa as a member of British team. During the Abacha era, we were discouraged from coming to Nigeria. But after that, I started coming back to Nigeria, spending few days at a time. Despite not frequenting Nigeria for so many years, my mind was still in Nigeria. Why do you think you were honoured by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, with the Aare Soludero of Oyo chieftaincy title? It was because of my contributions to Nigerians in the Diaspora.

    I featured in so many publications. I supported lots of good causes which had to do with Nigerians in European communities. I was an employer also because I went into consultancy training for blacks. I grew a very large base of Nigerians in my support for the community in London, helping people to stabilize. But the honour from the Alaafin came as a surprise to me. When top Nigerian dignitaries came to Europe, I was among those that would represent the Nigerian community in meeting with them. When Alaafin once came, we went to meet him. He told me he had heard about me; about how I was supporting the black community in London. When the letter came that the Alaafin wanted to honour me for my contributions to the Yoruba race, I was shocked, because I was not expecting it. He said they were proposing to make me the Aare Soludero, meaning ‘the person that helps in making life more conducive’. But they said I could not have an Alaafin title without being a chief somewhere. Then the Oba of Akinmoorin gave me a title in his domain before the Alaafin’s title.

  • Between Achebe’s legacy Igbo culture and society (VI)

    Archbishop Tutu XE “Tutu” noted that “. . . without memory it would be virtually impossible to learn: we could not learn from experience, because experience is something remembered. I would forever have to start at the beginning, not realising that a hot stove invariably burns the hand placed upon it. What I know is what I remember, and that helps to make me who I am.” Concluding his remarks on the elemental connection between experience, memory and history, Archbishop Tutu made a poignant observation of the relationship of the three—experience, memory and identity—to the destinies of nations. He noted that: “Nations are built through sharing experiences, memories a[nd] history.

    That is why people have often tried to destroy their enemies by destroying their histories, their memories, that which gives them an identity. That is why new immigrants who want to become naturalized citizens of a new motherland are asked to appropriate significant portions of its history, its collective memory.” We need to fix the problem within, so as to be better fortified to face the problem on the outside.

    So long as we treat our past heroes and heroines, as though they have no part to play in our present and in our future; to that extent do we leave ourselves open to the perils of ignorance, lack of direction and “ad-hocing,” so to speak, our way through one crisis after another; one charlatan after another.

    It is only by conserving and consecrating the immanent majesty of our history, culture and the great personalities who played indelible roles in them; that we can straighten our backs and hold high our heads; because we know that nobility, excellence and integrity, are not only a demonstrable part and parcel of our history and culture; are not only our birthright, but are coded into our DNA!

    Consequently, I subscribe to the second development model, which I call the: “Inside-Out Development Model” for Ndigbo; which advocates judicious and conscious leadership of Igbo States at the local government, gubernatorial and national levels; a development model which presumes that Igbo States have the internal capacity and dynamism—defined in terms of human capital and socio-cultural resources, as well as financial options—nationally and internationally —to bring about dramatic infrastructural transformation of their capital cities, to begin with; as well as their agriculture, agribusiness, healthcare, transportation and communication systems, and all levels of formal education.

    I contend that Igbo leadership has failed to record, institutionalize, popularize, project and celebrate the men and women who have brought out the best in us; so that our youth and others younger still can know that great men and women have already laid the foundation of a great nation of people, worthy of adulation and emulation.

    It is that failing, I contend, more than any “marginalization” from “outside”—by the current Federal government (or any other Federal government, for that matter, in the future)—that has left and leaves Ndigbo dismayed, adrift, and seemingly, unhinged.

    Commerce, trade, entrepreneurship, personal accumulation of vast sums of money, etc., have their place of relevance and importance in our existential scheme of things.

    However, commerce alone, no matter how successful, has never and will never, take the place of culture, intellectual creativity and history. A man with a bagful of money, but who knows not from whence he cometh or whence he tithers; will end up not much more than a vulgar careerist or a conspicuous consumer; contributing little or nothing to the great pillars of the edifice of human history!

    As one of the vignettes in the forthcoming second volume of my Aphorisms, states: “We are too poor not to care about money, but we are too rich to care only about money.” Rich in intelligence, culture, creativity, spirit and avocation; to be hamstrung by only mercantilist groveling for sheets of colored paper and shiny pieces of alloyed metal coins!

    The British historian, Hugh Trevor Roper, who made the insolent but fictitious claim in the 19th century, that African History does not exist, could not have made such a statement about ancient Egyptian, Chinese or Indian history! And the simple question, for us all, is why?

    We must lay the down – in brick and mortar – architecturally and in the form of functional modern infrastructure, the evidence with which generations that come after us, and those that come after them, and so on and so forth; can, not only determine the level of our “development,” if not our “civilization;” but can take stock of and pride in our footprints on the proverbial sands of time! For example, what is stopping the Governors of the Five Core Igbo States, from getting together to build light rail systems connecting their state capitals and a number of key commercial and educational conurbations within their respective states?

    The need palpably exists and the financial resources as well as technical expertise can be harnessed domestically and Internationally. What, then, is stopping such a fruitful development?

    In my estimation, three principal factors have stood in the way of such fruition: (1) Lack of imagination; (2) Lack of political will; and (3) Corruption. In my opinion, therefore, we need FIVE (5) types of audacity:

    1. The Audacity of Hope – President Barack Obama titled his bestselling autobiography, The Audacity of Hope. Why? Simply put: Because hope gives us faith and faith sustains our hope until the things we hope for materialize. It is psychic as well as spiritual “nuclear fuel” which human beings use in difficult times to keep up their morale until their faith blossoms into tangible reality; through “positive action.”
    2. The Audacity of Imagination – The greatest theoretical physicist—Albert Einstein—was once asked what he thought was the most important quality a person should possess; and he answered without hesitation or equivocation: Imagination!
    3. The Audacity of Intellectual & Literary Erudition – The gift of the spoken and written word—of the power of oration and/or penmanship; are critical skills with which human societies have battled historical ignominy and cultural irrelevance. The ancient Greeks are a good example. Here were a small and relatively powerless people perched on the Aegean, who regardless of the later exploits and conquests of the Macedonian—Alexander the Great—literally wrote themselves permanently into history—through philosophical musings, astronomical schematics, taxonomies, legends and mathematical speculation.

    This is not unlike how immediate post-Colonial Igbo pioneer novelists, such as the likes of: Cyprian Ekwensi, Chinua Achebe, Chukwuemeka Ike, John Munonye, Onuora Nzekwu, Flora Nwapa, Buchi Emecheta and several others; wrote Igbo people—their culture and philosophical worldview—permanently into the storied annals of modern African and world literature. And a number of others are continuing in that noble footsteps: the likes of Ben Okri, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sefa Atta, Helon Habila, Teju Cole and others still; and I would like to add my humble self.

    1. The Audacity of Creativity – the drive and the guts to actualize one’s God-given promethean talent. To stick with it, to pay the price of due diligence, to postpone gratification in the service of the actualization of one’s talent; those are the hallmarks of the sublime, the hallmarks of the infinite! And, finally;
    2. The Audacity of Political Will & Action – the great Founder-President of modern Ghana – Dr. Kwame Nkrumah – aptly stated that: “Action without thought is blind and thought without action is empty.” To have men and women who have the power of conviction, the stamina of unwavering commitment to the goal of the elevation of their people, and have the determination to see that project through to the very end!

    Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, we can, with or without the Federal Government:

    Build an Igbo “Hall of Fame” here in Enugu—the spiritual “capital” of Ndigbo;

    Erect a War Memorial – having as its centerpiece what I call “the Wall of Tears” – a towering wall of marble on which the names of every Igbo person (perhaps even, every Easterner), who lost their lives in the pogroms in the North and in the Civil War–combatant and non-Combatant—all three million plus of them; or as many of them as can be identified, are engraved on that wall; with a non-stop water fountain frothing our unending respect and gratitude as well as an eternal flame burning in their eternal memory. We could add an arcade of the statutes of the most memorable warriors that fought in defense of Igbo land: Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu; Chukwumah Kaduna Nzeogwu; Christopher Okigbo, Timothy Onwuatuegwu; Joe Achuzie, Phillip Effiong, Joe Achibong, as well as many other too numerous to mention here. I will even include in their ranks, the white American young man—Bruce Mayrock—a University of Columbia student, who, on May 29, 1969, set himself on fire in front of the United Nations Building in New York, in order to protest the death and destruction, especially the horror of the millions of starving Biafran babies and children!

    We can establish a Photographic Museum as part of the War Memorial, that shows pictures of virtually all aspects of the Civil war, from its carnage to its most sublime displays of courage and technological achievements;

    We can build a state-of-the-art Igbo Language Center, as part of the War Memorial and Photographic Museum Complex; bringing to bear every technological and pedagogical innovation, tool, method and data; to ensure that as many of our children born—at home and abroad—have a place they can not only come to develop the facility of speaking, reading and writing our language; but in which some of the finest pieces of modern African literature that has been written by Igbo authors, are collected and conserved as well as translated into the Igbo language;

    We can build a Light Rail System connecting Enugu and the University town of Nsukka; connecting Enugu, 9th Mile Corner, Awka all the way to the Bridgehead in Onitsha; Another line going from Enugu to Ihiala, to Owerri, all the way to Port Harcourt on the Atlantic seaboard.

    The proposed light rail from Enugu to Nsukka is less than thirty miles; the one through to Onitsha about 50 miles; and the one through to Port Harcourt no more than 300 miles. (The Ethiopia-Djibouti Rail Line that was recently completed in a partnership between China and Ethiopia is 472 miles or 759 kilometers.)

    We can build an iconic structure, using the finest and most representative artistic and cultural motifs of Igbo material culture, what I call: “Uno Ozo;” to scale up, rehabilitate and celebrate that splendid meritocratic aristocracy of the Ozo-Title. A structure, conceptualized and designed by the best Igbo architects and constructed by the hands and labor of the best Igbo masons, craftsmen and builders; which generations to come will use as the sublime milestone of the glorious presence of their forebears; as well as consecrate as the “cultural and spiritual heart” of Ndigbo.

    Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, which of the foregoing initiatives can we not accomplish because of so-called “marginalization?” The social, economic, political, cultural and psychosocial impact putting in place the foregoing (and so many others projects still); would be so powerful, producing such multiplier-effect—economically, socio-culturally and politically; as to make complete nonsense of our so-called “marginalization.”

    In the second volume of my Aphorisms—forthcoming in 2019—one of its vignettes, states that:

    “Until a people or a nation crystallizes critical aspects of its history in brick and mortar, parchment and quill; [such a nation or people] have no memories its succeeding generations can immortalize, and hence, use to sustain the élan or spirit, never mind the identity of their nation!”

    I especially like the slogan on the advertisement billboard of the beer called: Life, which, incidentally, is produced in Igbo land and it reads:

    “Progress is our Culture.” Nothing can be a more fitting epigram for and of Igbo history, ethos, national personality and identity! Let us roll up our sleeves and get back to what made the Igbo people the talk of the nation and the world: our industriousness, inventiveness, innovativeness, audacity, dynamism, tenacity and sagacity!

  • Why I have refused to retire at 80 —Ex-Foursquare Church GO Farombi

    At 80, former General Overseer of Foursquare Church, Rev. Gabriel Farombi, can afford to be blunt. That’s because he is a father figure to most of the church leaders today. Many of them have actually passed through his spiritual tutelage. Farombi has been blessed with longevity; a few days ago when he celebrated his 80th birthday, he danced with ease and told of how he still spends time engaging in 24-hour marathon prayer sessions at his church in Chicago, USA. It was a home coming for the birthday boy at 80, and an opportunity to speak the truth to the present-day church leaders and regale his friends with some of the trials and challenges he faced early in life. He spoke to PAUL UKPABIO and BIODUN ADEYEWA.

    How do you feel at 80?

    I want to thank God because at 80 years old, I still walk on my own. I don’t need to use a walking stick to  move around. I bless God for that.

     Are you fulfilled?

    By the grace of God, I can say that the Lord has made me to be fulfilled. I also feel fulfilled because the Lord saved my soul and made me a born again as early as when I was 20 years old. So for the past 60 years through the grace of God, I have served the Lord in various capacities in the church, I have travelled far and wide, to make Christ known to the people, and should Christ come now, I have assurance that I will rule and reign with Him since He has given me the grace to serve Him in the land of the living.

     Any regret?

    I have no regret because there are people who lived long like me but they did not know God when they were able to go up and down so they knew God when it was almost too late for them. So I have no regret because God arrested me early, took hold of me and He has used me in the last 60 years.

    Tell us about some of the life challenges you faced

    There is no one that has not faced trials and troubles in life but I can say that in the midst of them all, God has been with me. The Bible says that many are the trials of the righteous, not of the wicked. When you desire to do a good thing, not everyone will want it.  But the Bible says that in the middle of all the trials, God delivers the righteous. So I was delivered from trials from friends, neighbours;  people who I expected not to have doubt about me, people who have been jealous of me. Working for God also meant having a price to pay. I remember in the year 1992; we travelled to Kenya and after the work there, we had a desire to go from there to Uganda and Tanzania. But on the way, we had a ghastly accident. If not for God, I would have perished there. The vehicle summersaulted three times and at the end of it, we fell into a ditch and we were pulled out of the car wreck.

    Another tragedy of that particular incident was that, the people who saw the accident, who we thought should help us, did not help us; instead they got there and stole our money, everything including our passports. The brother who was taking us to Tanzania rushed us to the hospital but for almost one hour,  the hospital could not offer us first aid and the bedsheet was drenched with my blood. They said they had nothing to offer not even cotton wool. But thank God we survived and came back to the people who took our money. They refused to return our money, but they were gracious to return our passports.

    What happened after?

    We returned to Nigeria and people felt concerned and came to Eko Hospital where serious intensive medical check was carried out on me and no bone was affected.

     As a General Overseer of the Foursquare Church, did you have challenges?

    As a General Overseer who God used to lead the organisation for not less than 15 years, it was a privilege, the Spirit of the Lord was high both voluntarily and inside the church. I relinquished the position; we were not forced out. In the midst of it though, we had people who were faithful and people who were jealous of our position. But the Lord gave us the ability and grace to go through it all. Once the Lord calls, as long as we are in alignment with Him, He would not leave us nor forsake us. The Lord helped us to be with the people in the church, with wisdom, grace and love. Outside the church, the Lord also helped us to be with the people and to ensure that the calling was fulfilled. The purpose for making us to be leaders was fulfilled in expansion both spiritually, physically, financially and numerically. I thank God for that opportunity.

      So what occupies your time these days?

    By the grace of God, we have a ministry in the United States of America. The name of the Ministry is Refreshing Ministry International. One of the major things we do is prayers. We see a lot of changes through prayers. I am based in Chicago; we pray early in the morning. The reason we chose to pray in the mornings is because Jesus said those who seek me early shall find me. We pray when there is less noise and everywhere is cool. In Mark 1:35; it says before the sun rose up, Jesus went and prayed. When we pray, people join in online from Canada, Britain from different parts of America. As a result of this, people started sending prayer requests and God answers their prayers. Many pending divorces have been shelved off. You know in America, divorce rate is high. There was also a Nigerian mathematician who went to Nepal, a communist country to work. He was practising Christianity there and they could kill him because it was against their law. He was caught and detained but because of prayers, the Lord made them to release him and he joined his mother after five years of separation.

     What are some of the things that shaped your life?

    I remember that in 1962, I went to one of the gospel churches, the Apostolic Faith in Ibadan,  and the man of God who is the founder, Ogunnaike,  preached for one hour and afterwards ended the message without the grace. He said let us go and wrestle with God in prayers.

    We were about 500 then. I prayed and was tired after one hour but people were still there praying. I felt uncomfortable to leave, so I continued praying. After another 30 minutes, I stood up and noticed that three seats were vacant, so I left. The same happened in the evening. But then when I was leaving,  the Spirit of the Lord told me that the reason I could not pray like the others, was because I didn’t have something extra, which is the spirit of praying. As a result of that incident, God transformed my prayer life. I started praying for longer hours.

    Now, the Lord has trained me to pray for 24 hours. The first Friday in our church, we pray for 24 hours. We start from noon to the next day at noon.

     Do you have any role model?

    I had some people. One of them is Morris Cerrulo, who I copied the 24-hour prayer from. I read it in one of his church magazines. He is a Jewish missionary. The Holy Ghost put that in my heart and that was how we began it too.

     If you were not a man servant of God, what else would you have loved to be?

    Before I was apprehended by God, I desired to be a rich man, to enjoy myself. I was already working towards that direction to do business whether crooked or straight in order to make money. But thank God that I was called by God. He knew that kind of lifestyle would not augur well for me. As at that time, almost every weekend, I was usually at parties, enjoying myself even in the church. I didn’t want to change my lifestyle. That was why when I went to a gospel church and there was a call to the altar, I refused to go despite having spiritual urgings.

     Where did you grow up?

    I spent most of my life in Lagos because I came to Lagos in 1944. I served in various positions in the church. I was once a Sunday schoolteacher, a member of the choir and an organist. There was hardly any position I did not fill. When I became the General Overseer, I had the opportunity to be travelling abroad. Though I spent most of my time in Lagos.

     What would you say informed the church to choose you as a General Overseer?

    In Foursquare Gospel Church, we choose our leaders by election. Having filled so many offices in the church as the secretary, music director, treasurer of the church for decades,  when the election drew near, I protested against my name being included. I told them I was not qualified, that there were people more qualified than I was. So I was told that my name will be there and that it is the people that will decide who they wanted. I was actually the youngest among the people.

    There were people who I met in the church, people who pastored me were on that list, and so on. I wondered why I should stand in an election contest with these people whom the Lord used to sharpen my life. The Lord used the people to chose who He wanted.

    When did you start your ministry?

    It was after I relinquished the position of the General Overseer that I started it. I felt I should be doing something. I started it here in Nigeria, but it wasn’t as big as it became abroad.

     At what age did you retire as the General Overseer of Foursquare Church?

    I must have been around 60 years old then.

     You retired only to pick up another work, so when do you think that you will retire?

    (Laughs) That will be when the Lord decides. It is the Lord that gives the strength. In the Bible, we are told that Moses was called when he was 80 years. Ordinarily, one would have thought that at that age, Moses must have become useless. But the Lord enabled him to do rigorous assignments for the next 40 years! And he died at the age of 120 years. So even when he was old, his strength was not abated. The Bible says that he was as strong as he used to be. His eyesight was still sharp.

     At 80, do you still preach sermons?

    Yes, I still preach more than I used to do when I was here in Nigeria. Now,I wake up at 5am to preach; I also preach in the church; more people are calling for me to come here and there. Mine is not a case of looking for somewhere to sleep, eat and die. No, not at all. I am still at work.

  • Life as a single mother is tough – Female drummer Araola

    Female drummer, Aralola, is a full-time musician renowned for her dexterity on the talking drum. Popularly called Ara, the single mother speaks with PAUL UKPABIO on how she manages to combine her role as a mother with her travels around the world as a musician of note. She also opens up on her seemingly close relationship with her ex-husband and what it portends for both of them.

    You have been around for some time and one would expect that by now, there would be many other female drummers like you, but that has not been the case. Is that an indication of how challenging your job is?

    I don’t think so. More female talking drummers have emerged and are doing quite well. But Ara is the most popular because she is the pioneer female drummer. That is not to say that others are not doing well.

    Are you happy with the few number of women in the Nigerian music industry?

    No, I am not. Brands need to engage us more than they are doing now. That is not to say that female artistes are not doing well. But the number needs to increase

    What do you regard as the unique character of your music?

    That, definitely, is my style of drumming and musical arrangement.

    Do you have a role model?

    Professor Wole Soyinka and Stevie Wonder are my role models. But there are others who I am yet to meet.

    Are there performances or shows you would not forget easily because of what they mean to you?

    Of course, they are numerous, and I must confess that I hold all of them very dear to my heart.

    I know that you keep a band. Isn’t it expensive to do so?

    Yes, I keep a band and it is expensive. But it is a must for a brand like mine.

    How have you managed to sustain the loyalty of your band members over the years?

    They have loads of respect for me and I treat them well. We are like a family now. The relationship has gone beyond music.

    How come you are in love with long braids?

    It is still my style. I created it. It was given me in a dream. However I have added something more to my braids.

    And what other adjustments have you made to Ara?

    I have introduced more drums. Ara is the first female talking drummer but also the queen of drums. However, I keep learning new drums. I keep searching out new drums. And even then, I consider that I have only just begun.

    What kind of fashion appeals to you?

    As per fashion, decency matters to me. Being an omoluabi (a cultured individual) is part of the Yoruba culture. Comfort comes next in line to me when it comes to fashion. But even then, I keep to my unique and unusual style. Ara is not just my stage name. Aralola is my given name. My grandpa saw something before he named me Ara. Whatever I do is ara (style). And that is how it has been.

    How are you coping as a young mother with a hectic local and international schedule?

    I am passionate about what I do. It is not easy, but it is what I love, so I can’t complain.

    What unique experience can you share as a single mom and what words of encouragement do you have for working single moms in terms of caring for their children?

    No matter what, young single mothers should make sure they never take out their frustrations on their children, because it could be really difficult sometimes. It is not easy playing both roles, I must confess.

    Does your son attend your shows?

    Yes, he does, and he loves it.

    What vanities of life have you not been able to resist? Some ladies for instance they buy shoes every week. For others, it is perfume…

    I honestly have none.

    Your ex-husband is a prince. Do you notice any sign of royalty about your son as he grows?

    Yes, I do, and I do tell his dad.

    Are you still in touch with your ex-husband?

    Yes, I am still in touch. We are very good friends now. He has remarried.

    Are you looking forward to re-marrying?

    Yes, I am.

    Any particular specification about the type of person he should be? I mean are you particular about him being white or black?

    (Laughs) He should be a God-sent. I guess that should sum up the requirements.

    What lessons would you say you learnt from your former marriage?

    My friendship with my ex-husband has taught me a lot about life. At some point, I never wanted to see him or even hear his name mentioned. But today, we talk and go on dates with our son. We have both learnt our lessons and we are more matured.

    How many more children will you love to have?

    I will love to have as many as God wills.

    What advice do you have for young people looking forward to a musical career?

    They have to believe in themselves. They must be disciplined, dedicated and determined. They have to respect the elders. They have to treat people well and never get carried away. It is important to also be humble and remember nobody reigns forever. Everyone has their time to shine. The Michael Jacksons, Felas and Bob Marleys of this world are few. Some have been forgotten.

    Which of the world leaders are you looking forward to meeting soon?

    President Puttin of Russia, Xi Jinping of China, Trump of America, Theresa May of UK and President Macron of France.

    What gave you the confidence that you could sing as a child?

    I was shown a vision at age 7 about my future. I had started drumming at age 5. My parents knew I was a special child from birth, and my mum said from the time she was carrying me in her womb, she knew I was unusual and special.

    Who writes your songs?

    I write my songs. But I also work with any good song writer that I find.

    Why were you particularly attracted to the talking drum?

    It was during a festival. It was that particular time of the year in Ondo. I was in Primary school when I first played the talking drum, and it never left my memory. I was playing other drums then though. But even then, I knew there was something uniquely different about the talking drum. So I got attached to it.

    You do some crazy things on stage. Do you usually plan for those moments or they happen naturally?

    (Laughs) Those crazy stuff, as you call them, come naturally when I am on stage. I guess that is the Ara in me. Then also, I can say that I rely on 70% rehearsal while 30% is reserved for spontaneity.

    How rich is Ara and what does success mean to you?

    Success to me is the number of people I have been able to impact on and add value to their lives; not money or material things. I always have it at the back of my mind that we came to this world with nothing and we will go back with nothing.

    How much time do you have for yourself?

    Hmm. I have not had a vacation in the last 10 years. I am sure that I need a vacation now.

    If you had an opportunity for a vacation now, how would you spend it?

    I will use the time to eat healthy food, work out and sleeping.

  • My nine-year sojourn in prison for crime I knew nothing about

    For Mr. Abiodun Taiwo, a 43-year-old transporter, February 7, 2009 is not just another day in the calendar. It was the day he set out for work only to end up in prison where he spent nine odd years of his life for a sin he insists he knew nothing about.

    Like he always did, he had set out from his Imota, Lagos State home in the Camry car he used as a taxi. He had worked till about 11 am and was dropping off passengers at Ikorodu garage in Lagos when two men approached him and asked if he could take them on a private trip.

    “This was business for me, so I asked them where they were going to. They told me they were going to J4, in Ijebu Ode (Ogun State). I asked them to pay N15,000, but they negotiated for N10,000 and I told them to add N500 to it because I would need to sort out the way bill at checkpoints. The two men agreed to N10,500 and we commenced the trip.”

    Taiwo, however, said he started growing suspicious of the two passengers when they told him that they were actually going to a party, but the car that was supposed to take them there disappointed. “I felt that the driver must have disappointed them because they did not want to pay the right fare,” he said. He recalled that when they got to a spot after Imota town, one of them said they would like to pick two of their friends at Agbowa because they were all going to the party together.

    “I obliged them because I had already charged them for a full trip,” he said.

    “When we got to Agbowa, we picked the two people who wore the same ankara ceremonial uniform they were wearing. Since they previously told me that they were going to a party, it just seemed normal to me, so we continued the journey.

    “Along the way, I stopped over at a filling station and requested for a part payment of N5,000 so I could buy fuel, and they agreed. I bought N3,000 worth of fuel and kept the remaining N2,000 in my pocket. I had concluded within me that once I dropped them off, they would give me the balance of N5,500 and I would return to my base.

    On getting to a town called Itokin, we saw a police checkpoint. The policemen stopped us and requested for my particulars. I gave them everything they requested. At another checkpoint, we saw another set of policemen. I gave a token and we continued the journey.

    “On getting to Ijagun, we saw a highway patrol team of policemen. They asked me to park the car and I did. Then one of the policemen asked why we were all men in the car. I explained that it was a chartered trip, and he said it was fine.

    “He requested for my particulars and inspected the car’s boot. He said it was all fine, but he requested that I buy a drink for him. I gave him a token and was about to start the car when his boss asked me to stop. He queried the fact that I had only male passengers in my car and I explained to him that it was a chartered trip. He asked all of us to alight from the car so he could search the car. So I asked the passengers to alight for the policemen to carry out their search. To my surprise, the four passengers refused to alight. Their action attracted the attention of the other uniformed men at the spot.”

    Taiwo said at the initial stage the men refused to alight, he thought that they might be men of authority or influence. “So, I was a little hesitant but confused. When the policeman opened the front door where one of them was seated, one of the three in the back seat brought out a gun and began to shoot. The policemen took cover and the four men alighted and ran into the bush.

    “I stood rooted on one spot in shock and disbelief as the entire scenario played out. When they recovered from the initial shock, the policemen started shooting in the direction of the suspects while they also shot back.

    “By the time I came back to my senses, I could not take my car and I did not want to run so the policemen would not kill me. They kept shooting and the robbers who also kept shooting back. No vehicle passed on either side of the expressway.

    “As I stood rooted beside my car, I began to hear the sound of siren coming in our direction. An army entourage drove towards us in their pickup van and a jeep.

    “When they reached our location, which was close to Ilase Barrack, they stopped and asked what was happening. The policemen told them some robbers had escaped into the bush but they could not enter the bush to fish them out.

    “The soldiers entered the bush and left their commander standing with the policemen. The commander asked the policemen who I was, and they said I was the one who drove the robbers to the location. He did not even wait for the rest of the story before he shot me in the head and I fell down. But I thank God that the bullet only scraped a part of my head. I passed out for a while before I regained consciousness.

     

    The way to prison

    “By the time I woke, I was drenched in blood and found that three of my passengers were lying dead on the ground. The remaining one was shot in the leg but terribly wounded. They packed all of us into the back of the police pickup van and took us to the police station at Igbegba. When we got there, they interrogated us and threw us into the cell.

    “The next day, they brought me out with the surviving suspect and asked him who his accomplices were and their hideout. He described the place to them. They took him in their vehicle and went to the location he had described while they sent me back into the cell.

    “The policeman who led the team to Ijebu Igbo was called Oba while one Sergeant Wasiu Tijani went with him. They returned from the raid with three other suspects. Then on the third day, they went to search the houses of the three men who had just been arrested and found guns.

    “When they got to the house of the third man, they found nothing, but they took away his property. They said because of the time that was left, they could not conduct a search at my house, so we waited till the fourth day.

    “On the fourth day, we left for my house at Imota. They searched everywhere but could not find anything (incriminating).

    “My wife had already left the house, because when she did not see me, she called my mum and explained my absence. My wife left for Ijebu Ode to meet my mother. So the policemen broke in and searched everywhere but didn’t find anything.

    “When the people who live in my area saw them, they all fled for safety. The only person who had the guts to make enquiries was dragged by his trousers and was about to be thrown into their vehicle before I pleaded for him for mercy.

    “One thing they did that surprised me was that they selected some of my good clothes and packed the drinks, the deep freezer and the generator I bought for my wife, because she was selling drinks from the house. I was still planning to get her a shop for her business.

    “By the time we got back to the station, it was already evening, so they sent us back into the cell. They didn’t attend to my medical needs at all. On the way back to the cell, they discussed amongst themselves that if I were indeed an armed robber, I would have more exquisite things at home than the freezer, generator and clothes that they packed. When we returned to Agbowa, they packed at a restaurant, opened my deep freezer and took drinks with their food. When they finished, we went back to Ijebu Ode Area Command. That was around evening. They locked us all in the cell. The robber who was shot in the leg eventually died that night.

    “On the fifth day, they then brought us out one by one and started asking for our statement. I was then left alive with the third person that was captured. Our lives were spared because they didn’t find guns in our houses. We were strangers to each other.

    “They brought us out for questioning and asked me to tell them about the four men I was driving. I told them the truth. I had never met them in my life before that day, and I didn’t know anything about them other than the fact that I was a driver taking my passengers to their destination.

    “That infuriated them and they started beating me. They said I didn’t want to confess to my crimes. The soldiers returned to the cell and also tortured me, asking me to confess to crimes I didn’t know about. Because I was not learned, and I didn’t know how to write, they wrote something different from what I said.

    “When the officer was done writing, he asked me to sign the document. I told him since I couldn’t read, he should read what he wrote to me. He ridiculed my lack of education and slapped me. When I considered all the torture I had experienced, I signed the paper, not knowing the contents.

    “Two weeks later, we were moved to Eleweran. When we got there, they packed the items they recovered from the dead robbers and told the new officers that the items were recovered from members of our gang who they had shot dead. The officers didn’t even wait to hear anything as they began to beat us again. It was not a palatable experience.

    “The officer in charge of the case at Eleweran requested for a statement from me. The officer who brought me warned me not to say anything other than what they already wrote in the statement, which was their word against us. They made it clear that they were not willing to listen to our sides of the story. So, they did not write anything afresh and we had to sign it.

    “They told their colleagues that we were members of a deadly gang. This was on the 15th day of April, 2009. I then left everything to God and stopped talking.

    “When my parents heard that I was moved to Eleweran, they came over to the station. My father was the Chief of our town, so the officers removed his beads and threatened to throw him in jail if he did not pay N50,000. My father gave them the N50, 000 before he could be allowed to see me.

    “On seeing me, my father broke down in tears and asked what really happened. I told him the truth and it infuriated the officers who started beating me afresh. They told me to tell my father I committed the crimes, otherwise they would kill me before nightfall.

    “I had heard news of how easily it was for them to kill people in that station, and I knew that if I didn’t say what they said, I would end up dead. So I told my father, “Baba, I was told to tell you that I stole.” I knew that my father would understand what I meant, seeing that I was forced to confess to a crime I knew nothing about. That was how my father left.”

     

    Encounter with cell doctors

    Salami recalled that his head injury healed after he had taken care of it by himself with help from some inmates he met in the cell.

    He said: “While I was there in the cell, the wound on my head healed as I took care of it by myself. The inmates I met in the cell, who had different types of gunshot wounds advised me to pour hot candle wax on the wound so the heat would kill any bacteria that tried to thrive.

    “Eventually, we were taken to the Ijebu Ode Magistrate Court 2. That was about seven months after. From Eleweran to the station, we spent two months. They took us to the court on September 2, 2009. “They first took us to the magistrate court which didn’t have anything to do with capital offences other than to keep adjourning till the ‘PI’ advice from the DPP would arrive.

    “My family members kept struggling to bail me because that was the only thing they felt they could do. While we were in the cell. As for me, I began to pray in the cell. I prayed that I knew God had a plan for me to have been involved in this problem. If not, I should have died with the others. So I began to ask God to reveal the purpose to me.

    “So I began to pray regularly. In less than two months after I got there, I was made the pastor in the cell. So, every morning and evening, I would handle the prayers for them. Little by little, I became more intimate with them as I conducted services.

    “As they called me pastor, I continued in the path God showed me. Later, they made me an interpreter for services during weekly and Sunday services. I interpreted for the Sunday school teacher and even the pastors who came regularly to speak to the inmates.

    “I kept at it and continued. I couldn’t speak English but I understood it when it was spoken and could interpret it. So despite no ability to read or write, I grew in the calling of God upon my life. As time progressed, I was made a commissioner of police, which was the highest rank in the cell. And we oversee maintenance of law and order in the cell.

    “Afterwards, I was made the CJ, then IG who was the person who handled every money that was brought into the cell. After that, I was promoted to Adviser, who was the closest to the Provost, the highest rank in the cell.

     

    Free at last

    “In 2013, advice arrived that we were guilty and had a case to answer. Before it arrived, I met with a Pastor called Favour, from Foursquare in Ijebu Ode. I used to interpret for him whenever he came to preach and he really liked me. Whenever he came, he used to give me gifts as much as he was able to give at the time.

    “When the case got to the High Court in 2015. Investigations commenced and eventually in August 2017, the judge said he didn’t find anything in all the findings and we were free to go. My father was already old and had sold everything he had just to ensure I came out of the prison, including my uncompleted building on my piece of land. My wife took our five children and dumped them with her mother in Sagamu then went ahead to marry another man.

    When I came out of the prison, 17th August, 2017, I went to my father’s house and started living there. When I arrived home, people rejoiced with me because they were happy that I was now free.

  • My battles with homicide, cultism, kidnapping —Delta CP Mustafa

    Delta State Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Mustafa, MNI, is an expert on explosives. In this interview with OKUNGBOWA AIWERIE, he speaks on rising incidents of crime in Delta State and the nation at large, measures that are in place to check the menace as well as cultism, among other anti-social activities that are prevalent among the youth. He also speaks on the preparations of his men for the 2019 general election in the state.

    Why did you join the police force?

    I desired to serve my fatherland. So when I finished my youth service in 1985 in Ibadan, I went back to Borno State. I stayed there for three months and then left for the Police Force. As a matter of fact, I picked the forms to join the Police Force on the closing date. I took the form and filled it, then I attended the interview and thereafter I was called for training in Ikeja.

    Your varied training ought to have prepared you for this office in Delta State. How have you brought your experience to bear on your job?

    Well, after being CP EOD in Jigawa and FCT, I have had very robust training and experience. I am here now and we are addressing any challenge with my team of officers. Well, my experience so far has been okay. I have understood the terrain and we have a team of six area commanders and 52 Divisional Police officers and other operational units all over the place. With the good team, we can face all the challenges here. So, on a daily basis, we are very busy mopping up arms, sensitising people and stakeholders. I think people are on board with us. I think the people are on the same page with us.

    How has your varied training programmes impacted on your job as a police officer?

    Yes, we have seen a lot of our colleagues abroad and we have had a lot of work experience. We have worked in the UN and other international organisations, and this exposure has helped us. It has also polished us as gentlemen police officers, and the foreign exposure has made us to understand the international best practice. And when we come back home, we should be able to relate some of these experiences. With a lot of experience as CP, I think one is well prepared for the challenges.

    What measures have the police put in place to check alleged attacks by herdsmen in parts of the state?

    It is the same way the Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has managed the situation. Our situation is very comfortable here. We try as much as possible to nip situations before they escalate. We hold meetings with stakeholders, including all the chairmen of local governments, and put other preventive measures in place in all the local government areas. After our enlarged monthly meetings with all stakeholders, we report to the SSG. We had one back in 2016 and in 2017, where we brought all the stakeholders to a meeting and the Special Assistant, Security and Special Assistant, Non –Indigenes, who is a Fulani man, we all had a meeting. Even the herdsmen, the people are very comfortable with them and also discuss with them. The farmers also are very comfortable with them. In certain places like Abraka, Ethiope West LGA, we have introduced motorcycles patrol for the vigilantes and policemen, and it has been helping because it deters any kind of anti-social behaviour from anybody.

    Even the herdsmen themselves know that they cannot just commit a crime and get away. There was an incident in Onicha Olona, Aniocha North LGA where one of the motorcycle riders committed a crime. There was a clash and somebody died, and the members of the community people handed the culprit over to the police for punishment. Where we have cases like this, we bring in the Mobile Police Unit. We have also brought in helicopters from Abuja to Ughelli North LGA following reports of the activities of herdsmen, and we deployed over 450 Joint Task Force including DSS, Army and NSCDC, to clear up the forest of the menacing herdsmen, but they had moved away one month earlier. But all the same, my men swept the entire forest area and the community people saw it and appreciated it.

    So, in any place where we are having challenges, we sit down and address it with community policing, hunters and other stakeholders. In some instances, we even turn the herdsmen back to the states they are coming from, so they know it’s not easy for them. We try to nip every challenge in the bud by interacting with the people of the various communities. So we don’t really have serious issues here.

    What is your command doing to check the menace of cultism in secondary schools in the state?

    The menace of cultism is being checked by the state through the State Ministry of Education through orientation. We also are doing a lot to curb the menace of cultism. A Volunteer Anti-Cult Group works with us just like the vigilantes. In places like Kwale, Ndokwa West L.G.A, many are also renouncing cultism in schools. I also make myself available to talk to students and interact with them. There is a lot going on in the fight against the menace of cultism. Also the church is waking up to its responsibilities to fight cultism, educate the youth and also the family system as agents of socialization. Because if we go back to the olden days, it was not like this. So we have to look at parenting, social media influence and the influence of Western movies children watch nowadays.

    Elections in the country are usually marred with violence. What plans are in place to check election violence in Delta State?

    The government is doing its best to conduct credible elections in 2019. That is why stakeholders are educating the populace on the need for the electorate to have their voter cards. The people should go out and get their voter cards because that is the only way they can exercise their franchise. For example, APC primaries came and it has passed. Despite the parallel congresses, it was devoid of violence. There has been a lot of sensitization and other stakeholder meetings. I believe elections in the state will be devoid of violence.

    Why did the Police Command establish new area commands in the state?

    We created three new area commands. Now we have six area commands with the creation of Agbor, Ozoro and Sapele added to Warri, Ughelli and Asaba. Some divisions were moved to new area commands. This means more hands are available to help in policing the state to be more effective and more efficient. So it makes it easier for supervision and productivity will increase.

    What is your advice to politicians for the forthcoming elections, bearing in mind the fact that they are not under your complete control?

    Politicians should know that things are now changing. Voters themselves are becoming more sophisticated. Citizens should be screening politicians for us to get it right, so that those who have skeletons in their cupboards would not get into power, I believe INEC and other stakeholders will do their duties so we will have less frictions and good progress. If we do things that way, most of the problems will be reduced.

    What are the challenges you face in terms of policing Delta State?

    Some of the challenges we face in policing Delta State include the high number of homicides. Many occur from provocation, even the slightest of it. There are also cultism, armed robbery and kidnapping which is on the increase. So we are putting up a lot of preventive measures to reduce these occurrences. Also, auto accidents; there is a lot of it. So we are looking up new methods to tackle it with the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). We still have logistics challenges. We need more vehicles, perimeter fencing of police stations. In the case of Onicha Olona, for instance, the community’s members would have had some problems attacking the police station that was burnt down if the police station were fenced.

    We are appealing to both state and federal governments to provide all this. And then there is the issue of manpower also, and arms and ammunition which are not readily available to the police to carry out effective policing in the state. The issue of manpower has been a serious one in the Nigeria Police Force for a long time. We have only 300,000 police officers to police over 180 million Nigerians.

  • Most people don’t know I’m also a PREACHER

    Frontline Nigerian fashion designer, Zizi Cardow, has evolved with the years. From the funky girl bitten by the bug of fashion and style of the 1980s,
    she has become an acclaimed fashion icon and ambassador of modern day. She has traversed virtually all the known terrains of the fashion industry
    with numerous local and international awards adorning the walls of her showroom in Ikoyi, Lagos. In this interview with PAUL UKPABIO, Cardow relives
    her journey to the top. She also speaks about the lifestyle and values that have enabled her to stand out in the competitive fashion industry.

    You have received quite a number of awards as can be seen on the walls of your office. Which of these is the closest to your heart?

    I always feel it is the very first one, which I received in 2001, because that seemed to have heralded the other awards. It was the Designer of the Year award. Where did you get that from? It was from the Nigerian Fashion Show. It was a competition for designers, and I won. It came with an all-expense-paid trip to Dubai. For me, that was inspiring. It was the push I needed to inspire me to know that I have what it takes to be there. How long did it take you to attain the feat? It took just a year. And that, I think, is why the award meant so much to me then and now. The brand Zizi Cardow was created in the year 2000, and in 2001, I won the award. What were you doing before then? Before then, I was doing a lot of other things, mostly contracts and supplies to companies and clothes-related business. I was servicing the oil companies and the shipping lines.

    I was supplying uniforms, electrical equipment and so on. At what point did you decide to go fully into fashion business? That was when I decided to set up the brand. The thought came to me when I realised that I needed work that would be an everyday thing. You know with contracts, it was not something that was every day. Sometimes, for two months, there could be no request for supplies. But again, it wasn’t like it was bad either, because it was continuous and rewarding. But at a point, it became somewhat monotonous. It wasn’t challenging. At that point, I had in mind an idea of what I wanted to do. I wanted to do designs with ethnic fabrics. It became an irresistible passion as I started working with aso oke, ankara, tie n dye and so on. Where did the talent come from or did you always have it with you? (Laughs) Well I guess it is one of those things that people refer to these days as ‘follow come.’ But at what point did you notice the creative design talent in you? I think it was embedded in me, because I didn’t have any formal training in it and still do not have any formal training in it. I just knew what I wanted to do, the kind of things I wanted to design. I had a flair for art and designs, so I started to cut things, learning and correcting myself, invariably using myself as a mannequin.

    The thing about art and designs is that you can never say that you are perfect in it; there is always a learning process somewhere in it. So I am still learning, I’m still trying to get better and better, urging myself on to a state of perfection. How about cutting? How did you handle that? Of course, that is the most important part of it, and that is where passion for what you do comes into play. I taught myself how to cut. That is because if you don’t have a passion for it, that becomes a problem. For instance we see it every now and then. A lot of people have come into the fashion industry now because it is the in-thing, not necessary because they have a passion for it. That is why you see a lot of works that lack originality. A lot of people are copying and pasting! That’s why you also see a lot of people open shop and after a period of six months or a little more, they close shop! Is it really expensive to start a fashion business? Oh dear! It’s actually a capital-intensive business. However, it wasn’t for me a money-driven desire. It was a thing I wanted to do because I was passionate about it.

    I wanted to be good at it and I also wanted to make a name out of it. I wanted to do something different. When we started, ankara wasn’t really what people wanted to wear like they wear now. I wanted to make clothes with ankara and stand out. Glory be to God, here we are today. About 20 years later, everybody, as a matter of fact, the whole world is thinking of ankara in the context of fashion designs. Ankara is now popular and accepted in high society circles. You have here an award from the US Consulate in 2017 for your role in leadership and mentoring conferences for emerging entrepreneurs… I even have a more recent one from them. The one I got this year, 2018 was at the University of Port Harcourt where I did a lot of speaking and mentoring for young people.

    It is a way of giving back to the society. What have been the challenges for you so far? It is the same thing we have in other aspects of business life, which is lack of infrastructure. And more lately is the issue of lack of copyright laws strong enough for designs. It makes it a little bit difficult in protecting your intellectual property. There is also the problem of staffing. And what do you mean by that? Staffing as in having the right people to work with me; people who know and practice the right ethics. Presently, our approach to ethics is a bit appalling I must say. There’s little regard for integrity in labour. Everyone wants the easy way out to the top.

    The staff sees work as a transitional phase. Are you saying it was not like that when you started out? To an extent, it wasn’t like that. One still had a measure of loyalty to the workforce as it were. Then, after internship, you stayed to learn more and gather your strength. But now, after internship, they are gone to be on their own even when most of them have not gathered enough to move closer to perfection. They move out to run their own business. Everyone wants to be someone else. So it’s difficult now to get staffs that are there to think out of the box, have their own initiatives to apply to work, and generally be around to support the business. Over the years, would you say that there has been good growth in the number of fashion designers? Yes, I think good designers have been coming up almost every day. Nigeria at the moment should have the highest number of ‘designers.’ And these designers are good? Well, that’s not for me to say.

    In recent times fashion designers in Nigeria have been talking about going into mass production. What is your take on that? Frankly, I don’t see Nigerians being ready for mass production in that sense of it, especially mass production of local fabrics. But if you say mass production for other kinds of fabrics, okay. And that will mean assembling all the necessary skills involved to get you mass production. That is because it is not just about cut and sew when you are talking about mass production; there is a whole lot of dynamics that come along with it. I don’t also thing that we have the facilities here to enable mass production. It will involve going outside the country to do so, and that will involve forex. Also, I think I have been in the industry long enough to know that Nigerians, to an extent, will buy mass produced clothing when it is brought in from abroad, but will not buy when designed by Nigerians. The fact that it is designed by Nigerians and it is mass produced means to them that Mr Lagbaja has it, Mr Babatunde has it and Mr Faari has it! To Nigerians, it means that a lot of people have it.

    But then they forget that when they travel out, they go to a high street store and see more than a thousand of a particular product, and they still buy it because it is assumed that is what is in vogue. But when they see such over here, something shifts in the head and they don’t want it. Mass production here will bring up the issue of quality control, and I can tell you that not many of the ‘designers’ we have here, are up to that level. You spot the looks of a model. Is it required these days? (Laughs) Fashion is what it is. You have to do what you preach. For instance, if I am a barber and you come to me and see my hair looking crap, I don’t think you will want to trust my judgment for your hair. As a fashion designer, one has to look good coming to work just like every other person. If someone comes to your office and see you looking shabby, the person starts thinking that you are probably not competent enough to handle the kind of job he or she wants to give you, or just think that you would not be able to interpret it. Does that mean that you model your clothes? Yes, I do. I always have my clothes on.

    Looking back now, can you link your background with what you are doing at present? My mum was a seamstress, but I didn’t have an opportunity to sit down to learn it because I was in a boarding school. I then returned to Lagos and started working at the age of 17 at a boutique owned by a Polish lady in Apapa. I guess that background may have also influenced me, because I grew up being surrounded by clothes and fashion. I loved wearing clothes. I remember then mini was in vogue. It was the punk age, the 80s. I loved that era. It was the age of bright colours; you find yourself wearing two other different clothes at the same time, earrings here and there, it was just a very funky age and interesting. I think I got caught in it. Are you saying that particular age is not here any longer? Well, not really. Fashion evolves and revolves. At present, I think we have done a whole 360 degree, and now it is like nothing is in vogue and at the same time, everything is in vogue. Mix and match, we have the 80s, 90s, every era is in vogue now. I think before the end of the year and early next year, we will have more for the 80s back in vogue. What part of your work do you like the most? I think it is the creation process because it is the most challenging, the most organic and at the same time vulnerable. Because at any time while you are on it, it could go all wrong. For me, the conception process is personal.

    That is the reason why I have not considered going on mass production, because it would leave me without that personal aspect of production and creativity. There is something fulfilling about that creative aspect; that involvement in hand cutting your materials and then someone comes in and say, ‘Oh, it looks so good, I just have to have that, I can’t do without it.’ That way, the end kind of justifies the means, from the berthing to the completion of the process, which brings with it joy that is personal. What was childhood like? I grew up in Apapa (Lagos). My parent’s home is there. That means you come from a comfortable background… Thank God for that. My mum, like I said, was a seamstress. But at a point, she retired to become a full time house wife. My dad was a contractor. He was into crude oil business. I remember growing up to see that around the house. He was a civil engineer. Did you aspire to be a civil engineer too? No, I started understanding myself after school. If I wanted to be anything, it was to be a criminal profiler. That is because I believe that it is quite interesting. (Laughs) And then I would have been able to profile the average Nigerian. That is way off from what you are doing now… Yes, I agree with you, it is way off. But in a way, I am in tune to that side of me, because I analyse things a lot. I don’t accept things on their face value. I look beyond.

    There is always a reason, a motive. So when someone tells you something, most often, they are not telling you the whole story, so you have to ask your own questions to get to the truth. There is always a grey line in between the black and white. .As a designer, what’s your favourite colour? I sometimes think I don’t have a particular colour. But somehow, I know that my favourite colour is closer to black, though I do not use black in its entirety. I use it to match other work. You seem to work a lot. Do you ever play? I do make out time to play. But at the same time, I do not take myself seriously. I also do not take life seriously. I go clubbing with my friends, have a little drink with friends, relax or hang out in a lounge with friends. I do a lot of entertainment. I entertain at home. I have friends come over, sit and chat over a bottle of wine. We talk about so many things around our environment. Sometimes I find time to write sermons and I do a bit of evangelism as well. When did that start? Oh, that is another part of me that people don’t know about, which I also do not put out there in people’s faces. You know as you grow older, you tend to realise what is more important in life. Every other think is fickle. And you start to understand that there is a greater being that you will be answerable to. Then you begin to see things in perspective and then you begin to have an inner peace in you which no material thing in life can replace. It had always been there in me but I did not yield to it. About four years ago, I made a decision to yield to it. So that means that you ‘church’ a lot now? (Laughs) I don’t know if I ‘church’. I actually don’t do ‘church,’ I do Christ. And I have had opportunities in recent times to be called upon in Abuja, UK and other places to speak about Christ and about my conviction.

    Any memorable family holiday you cannot forget? That is amazing. I never have holidays. When I travel, I go for work. At a point, even my daughter said she would not travel with me again because I am always at work. Thank God, she is done with school now. She completed her master’s degree last year. Absolutely, I am more relaxed now. She schooled in the United Kingdom. How do you describe yourself? I would say I am a happy go lucky person. When you meet me, what you see is what you get; no pretence. You keep a coloured hair style. Any special reason for that? Yes, the simple reason is because I don’t have the time for it, so I got myself a cut. That is another aspect of me; I am not a high maintenance person. That is, I am not a girlie-girlie person. Most people think they know me until they meet me and see a different personality. I believe we are here to enjoy the life that we have been given. Enjoy it responsibly. And in enjoying it, we should be thankful that we have been given such opportunity. We should not worry over a lot of things, because it is really not worth it. What does success mean to you? Success means life; a good life for that matter. It means having friends around you and getting a good laugh.

    Do you still do shows? I mostly take part in shows abroad. If I take part in a show here, then it has to be my show. I have taken part in shows with other people here in time past, but it didn’t end to my liking. I’m looking forward to having one before the end of the year, another in South Africa, London, Houston and France. That is why I said that when I travel, I travel for work. What is your imagination of what a woman’s wardrobe should look like, and how many shoes do you have? I think a woman should have essentials. It should not be over the top. You shouldn’t go to somebody’s wedding and dressed more than the bride. I think it is ridiculous and ethically, it is wrong. There should be more of talks on how people should dress. I don’t know what to say about a woman’s wardrobe in Nigeria, but for me, an average wardrobe should have a few pairs of trouser, dresses that you can wear to anywhere. There was a time I had between 350 and 400 pairs of personal shoes. That is one of the things that growing up makes you to realise does not make sense. So I started giving them out to charity periodically. Now I should have about 50 left but still cutting down. Half of the time, I do not even wear them. I have clothes that I have never worn before which I’ve had a long time ago. Now I know its vanity and I am doing something about it.

  • I’m a full-blooded LAGOSIAN –Obanikoro

    Former Minister of State for Defence ,Senator Musiliu Obanikoro is a household name in Lagos and Nigerian politics. In this interview with INNOCENT DURU, he talks about Nigerian politics, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his quest to represent Lagos West Senatorial District at the National Assembly. Excerpts:

    The news is everywhere that you are aspiring to represent Lagos West in the Senate. Can you confirm this?

    I am running and it is important that I do this. I am not contesting out of desperation, rather for the preservation of our heritage. I am not desperate because I believe power belongs to God. In addition, I am running because I believe having served at various levels and increased in stature by the grace of God, I can do more in the service of Lagos. Do you think you can win with the direct primary which the party just introduced? Let me start by informing you that it has always been in the party’s constitution, but the activation was however championed by Asiwaju, strongly supported by the President and the new Chairman. We must thank the trio for returning the party to the people. This will give hope to the hopeless, ensure respect and pride of place for all. Do you have the consent of the national leader, Senator Bola Tinubu? Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is the father of us all and politically, we are all under his umbrella. So, when your children are contesting for your attention, you try to be as fair as possible. Even if you prefer one to the other, you cannot show it. He is a father and we have to respect him for that.

    He is our benefactor. He is responsible for what most of us are today by the grace of God. We have to respect and honour him at all times. During your first stint in 2003, you represented Lagos Central. Why Lagos West now? Well, firstly, do not forget that Obanikoro is originally from Lagos West. It is actually my ancestral home. Obanikoro is originally from Ojo Local Government and our forefathers created and named Idoluwo in Lagos Island after Idoluwo in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State. I am also from Ikare, Oriade LCDA area of Amuwo Odofin Federal Constituency. So, that is where my forebears came from and there is a saying in Yoruba that, no matter how sweet a place is, you can never forget your home. Therefore, it is homecoming as far as I am concerned. I am a son of the soil whether it is in Lagos West, Lagos Central or Lagos East; more so, because my wife is from there. From whatever angle you view it, I am connected to the three senatorial districts in Lagos.

    Don’t also forget, Lagos is a cosmopolitan state and if people can come from other states to contest in Lagos, why can’t I, a bonafide Lagosian choose where I want to contest in my own state? As I have said, Lagos West is truly where we came from to settle in Lagos Island. You are sounding so passionate about Lagos, what is your driving force? I wasn’t too young when Lagos was created in 1967, hence there is history to Lagos which a lot of people do not know. Lagos is the bye- product of hard work and resilience of our founding fathers who were hell bent on removing the stigma of ‘no man’s land’. At a point, they were so agitated to have their own state.

    To drive home the urge and the significance of the creation, they were ready to accept just Mainland and Lagos Island to ensure its creation as a state. Leaders like Brigadier General Mobolaji Johnson, Justice Teslim Elias, Alhaji Femi Okunnu, Alhaji Lateef Jakande , Oba Adeyinka oyekan,late Adeniran Ogunsanya, Late TOS Benson, Sen Sikiru Shitta-Bey and host of others, led the struggle for this state to be created and we lived through this struggle and the joy which followed when the battle for the creation was won. Can you highlight some of your legislative achievements during your first term in 2003? We did a lot then and if I want to go on by way of record, I was the first senator from Lagos to demand a special status for Lagos on the floor of the senate although it did not pass. I must also commend the efforts of Senator Remi Tinubu because I followed keenly her efforts in ensuring special status for Lagos which was in tandem with what I tried to achieve as a Senator. I want to commend Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for finding a lasting solution to the ocean surge at the bar beach.

    I was also responsible for moving a motion that brought the federal government to Lagos to find a lasting solution to the perennial ocean surge. The issue of casualisation of workers which is strongly engaging the attention of the leadership of the labour union was one of such motions proposed as a law when I was in the senate. Engaging workers under this condition to me is slavery. When you employ an individual on casual contract, they have no right to anything and they work for years without any benefits accruing to them. Everybody knows that as we age, the capacity to work reduces; so it is an abuse of their productive years knowing fully well that when these casual workers get to their off peak, they will not have anything to fall back on as gratuity when they are old.

    To me, that is sheer cruelty and wickedness. I tried to ensure that we pass the law at that time to put an end to casualisation, but unfortunately, I think it went as far as second reading. Also, if you look at the national stadium in Abuja, it is to the glory of God and my efforts that there is a velodrome covering the indoor area of the stadium today. There was a very severe thunderstorm which blew it off when I was in the senate. It took two motions on my part to get it restored by Julius Berger. I had to move the motion twice because it didn’t get the desired attention at first. When the contractor however realised that I wasn’t going to back down, they moved in to fix it. I also introduced fuel pump certification bill. The amount of money that the average Nigerian loses to pranks played by fuel station owners is unimaginable and criminal. Most of them have tampered with the pumps with the sole aim of making undeserved/illegal profit on the back of hard working Nigerians and therefore, stealing their hard earned income, thus wrecking untold economic hardships on them.

    This bill would have eliminated that. The idea behind it was to make it a law to rectify these pumps every six months, but unfortunately, that also got to second reading before the end of our tenure. We did quite a lot and we achieved a lot in terms of motions and bills that we put in place. We were able to pass couple of bills but they did not have direct bearing on Lagos; but they did particularly for Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Being a grassroot politician that you are, have you thought of involving the youths and women folks in your campaigns and programmes? For me, that is automatic. You cannot have effective politicking without involving women and youths. In fact, what I achieved as a young man struggling to be known politically, is far more than what I am doing presently.

    I believe that the youths of today are the leaders of tomorrow, and so the earlier we engaged them, the better for the society. Any leader without succession plan must be a fool. So, training and mentoring them is part of the succession plan, because it is natural that you will quit the stage at some point and you want to be sure that the people who will succeed you, have the required capacity to also pass on to the generation that is coming after them, a better society than the one they inherited. I also believe in the engagement of all stakeholders; the spirit of the more the merrier is at play here. Bringing every segment of the society together is always a winning idea. Sidelining or marginalizing any segment of the society for the other is always detrimental to the good of the society and no leader does that and succeed. What should the people of Lagos West Constituency expect from you? The Lagos West is the most populated senatorial district in Nigeria, and apart from the fact that Lagos itself deserves special attention; we must begin to challenge our society to the reality of paying more attention to where the population is.

    If you look at civilized societies, they pay more attention to where they have large population, because if you do not take care of your people, they will resort to self-help and self-help can come in different shapes and forms. It can come in a positive or a negative form; but where people are neglected, most often times we have self-help coming in the negative form. So, this is why government needs to invest more where our population is concentrated and there is no better place to jumpstart that kind of thinking, than Lagos West. We must come up with programmes that can engage the people and there are so many such programmes that we have thought of and we intend to work with other senators to ensure the programmes are initiated and passed into laws. With the rate of defection that is hitting the APC to PDP, do you think the APC is still on the winning side? Politics is dynamic and it is not static. If you look at the issue of Nigeria from the beginning of our experience as a nation from the first republic, we had this too, but people must be given the opportunity to learn and evolve. The best way to grow is to learn from experience which is your own personal experience and the experiences of others. To be honest with you, I have not seen anything extraordinary in what is happening in Nigeria. It has happened elsewhere and overtime, they were able to overcome it.

    In India, it was worse than this at some point, but because there was no military intervention they have perfected their democracy to the point that their democracy is now stable and elections have become routine. I believe at some point all these activities that we are seeing will be injurious to all the actors and they would be compelled to find necessary solutions to it. Necessity they say is the mother of invention, but if you do not allow these things to happen, it will blow in your face at some point. Allow it to play itself out, because anything that has a beginning must surely have an end. When it is going to end, I may not be able to tell you, but I can tell you that this experience will be a guide and a lesson to the generation that is coming after us. There is a challenge to every generation and if we cannot perfect it, those who are coming after us would; maybe that would be their challenge, to stabilise the democratic experience. I can say to a reasonable extent, that my generation was part of the generation that brought this democracy we are experiencing today.

    We were not the leaders at that time, but followers of those who made this possible and now we are at the center of the game, but we are also going to step aside at some point and another generation will take over. So, a generation fought for the independence of Nigeria, but unfortunately, we had a military intervention that messed up the society, but we are now back to a democratic rule. One thing most Nigerians do not know when they say white people do not practise “do or die” politics is that, they do not need “do or die” politics in the western world because they have perfected a means of taking care of everybody. If you are in the senate today and you are no longer a senator, there are opportunities waiting for you automatically to tap into, but we do not have that in Nigeria. Those are the kind of things that once we perfect them, desperation goes away, winning at all cost goes away, this would