The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday Interview

  • ‘WHAT WE WENT THROUGH WAITING FOR A CHILD FOR 20 YEARS’

    ‘WHAT WE WENT THROUGH WAITING FOR A CHILD FOR 20 YEARS’

    For over 20 years, Dr Dennis Inyang, General Overseer of Sure Word Assembly, Okota Lagos, waited for the fruit of the womb with his wife, Aity, a popular gospel musician. He shares the frustration of waiting as a minister as well as other challenges, in life in this interview with SUNDAY OGUNTOLA.

    WHAT does hitting 55 mean to you?

    It means a whole lot. First of all, I am alive and well. I am not doing this interview on life support or even from the hospital bed. So God has been good to me. Just being alive till today is enough to celebrate.

    You see, I came close to death four times and each time God saved me. The first was during the Civil War. I was about five years old and was going to the stream with my step mother when I slipped and fell into a well. It was a very deep well full of water. As I was going down, my hand caught a stick. That gave my step mom the chance to reach down and grab me.

    The second close shave with death was as a student in Methodist Secondary School, Nto Ndang, in Ikot Ekpene. I was a member of the school football fan club and we were all crammed into a pick up van heading to the stadium to cheer our school to victory. I was so hemmed in that I could not see the outside. We were singing and drumming.

    The driver was swerving the van left and right to the rhythm of our songs. I can’t tell what happened but suddenly, I heard screaming from everywhere and the next thing was that I saw myself seated by the roadside and policemen all around us. I was told that the vehicle had flipped over severally. Yet, I came out, or should I say I was brought out, without a scratch.

    Again, while in the University of Calabar, I went from the campus to Ikot Ansa to get some documents needed to collect my bursary. I was on a bike travelling at full speed on the expressway when suddenly a car crossed our path. The bike man and I saw the car but it was too late to do anythi ng. We slammed into the car and I flew into the air.

    I was going to land head first on the tar but God in His mercy intervened and provided a small spot filled with sand right on the express and my head landed there. You can imagine what would have happened if my head met the coal tar.

    The last one was around year 2000. My wife and I had an event at Golden Gate Hotel, Ikoyi. We were driving back at about 9pm with a couple we had given a lift and as we turned the bend into the Third Mainland Bridge, we ran into a group of robbers. It happened so fast that before I knew it, we were surrounded by very young boys, wielding dangerous weapons.

    They took my wife’s bag. Of course, we did not resist. I don’t know what I did that made one of them to cock his gun to shoot me. But God saved me as another member of the gang jumped at the guy and pushed the gun away.

    I have recounted these encounters to show how good God has been good to me. He preserved me because He had a purpose for my life. My joy and contentment is that I’m living out that purpose today.

    You have been through issues and challenges in life. When were the major milestones and turning points?

    Life is, indeed, full of issues and challenges. It’s the challenges that make life interesting, isn’t it? Someone said that greatness is not seen in what you have achieved but in what you have overcome. There are many things that I can talk about but, for want of time, I will pick out just two or three.

    I had a challenging childhood and that was because my father and my mother were separated. I should ask my Dad when next I see him how old I was when that happened because I never saw them together as husband and wife.

    Well, that left me dangling between two worlds. Growing up, I had the feeling that the environment was quite hostile to me. Unfortunately, the way I thought I could cope with that was to become rebellious.

    I don’t think that anyone really expected me to amount to much. But God did. He had His loving eyes on me. Before I travelled far on the road to perdition, He saved me and changed my life forever. When I decided to go to the university, I did not really know what that would entail. My father was out of the country at that time, trying to find his feet in a strange land and my mother was a Grade Two teacher. The burden fell more on her but the demands were more than she could bear, so I ended up going through school mostly on charity.

    Things were rough but I pulled through with the help of my friends. One particular year, it was a friend that paid my school fees. It was normal for me to spend the holidays with my friends because I really didn’t have a home to return to.

    As a result of that experience, I value my friends and place a lot of premium on relationships. Like the scripture says, a brother is born for adversity and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. So whenever I have an opportunity to be of help to another, I count it a privilege.

    That was what motivated me to start a scholarship scheme about 10 years ago so as to assist those who are in need, like I was. We source for funds from kind-hearted individuals and corporate organisations. We have been able to help over 20 students so far in nursery, secondary and tertiary institutions.

    Now, let me talk about the challenge I faced in ministry. I know there are many who would like to hear that. Sure Word Assembly started in a tiny room of a brothel with nothing except the clear conviction that I was in the will of God. I did not know it was a brothel until we showed up for our first service, but there was nothing I could do because we had no money to pay for a fancy place.

    We could not even afford to print a banner or a signboard. We had no public address system and no musical instruments whatever and I had no money to hire any. So we got started with a seminar which had in attendance my wife and I. There were also one convert of ours and three sympathizers who made it clear they would not be members. That was in 1998.

    Ten years after, we were a church you could not ignore in the Okota community. We had hundreds of worshippers attending our multiple services every Sunday. So, riding that momentum, we moved to an Event Centre which we got to discover was not only too expensive but could not give us the comfort we were used to. It was at that point that we decided to move to a land which we had bought few years before then. That movement greatly tested our faith and, but for God, could have snuffed life out of the church. I used to joke to our friends that surviving that period was a clear proof that God indeed called me.

    Before the movement, Ago Palace Way was good, even if not perfect. I used to jog from my house to our land. But shortly after we moved there, the road completely collapsed and became inaccessible to vehicles.  I’m talking about the section between Century Hotel and the bridge, if you know the area well.

    Just before our church junction, there was a big ditch which busses could not pass. Taxis would not take you beyond there to our church no matter how much you offered to pay. Those who drove through the ditch with their car did so at great risk. And that was a risk our members took week after week.

    Some days before preaching, I would thank the people for coming against all odds. And I meant it. I was touched that our members were so committed. Did we lose some? For sure. A lot of people could not cope and dropped out. But majority of our people stood firm.

    We knew that the road would be fixed but when, nobody could tell. In the meantime, we kept praying and I kept prophesying over the road. Whenever I declared that the road would be completed, well paved, dualised and complete with street lights, the people clapped but I’m not sure all of them believed it. I had to keep hope alive. The turning point came when, in answer to our prayer, Governor Akin Ambode looked in our direction and fixed that portion of Ago Palace Way. We are still grateful to Governor Ambode for that.

    You waited for over 20 years to have your biological children. What kept you going for that long and what lessons did you come away with?

    This was the mother of all challenges. I have documented that experience in a book I wrote for men called, Waiting Dad: What Should a Man Do When the Babies Are Yet to Come? I got married at 27. I am an only son and you know what that means in our culture. My wife was 24 and both of us were just in love. Initially, children were not on our minds. We even took some contraceptives to make sure we didn’t get pregnant. After a few years, we thought we were ready. That was when we realised there was a problem.

    My first reaction was that of a typical African man who thinks that when the baby has delayed to come it must be the woman’s problem. You know that African type that would not even follow his wife to see a doctor or accept to do a basic fertility test.

    After some years, I knew I had to do something because time was running fast. So, my wife and I started seeing doctors and we saw all types. Some would make us feel that with a little treatment, my wife would get pregnant in no time. It did not happen and we were heart-broken. And some would give us diagnosis that made the situation seem hopeless. But we refused to give up.

    It is easy to talk about it now but waiting for a baby is not a pleasant experience. It is more difficult for a teacher of faith like me. But in spite of my experience, I kept teaching that there is no impossibility with God. I would stand out there in church with my wife sitting right in front and declare that by covenant, no woman who is ‘born again’ is barren. The devil would whisper to me, ‘what of your wife?’ And I would answer, ‘she is not barren!’

    I really believed that my wife would give birth to children one day, no matter what and no matter how long. That was because I saw in God’s word that if we served the Lord, none would be barren.

    Did I mention that we did some surgeries? My wife did a surgery to remove fibroid while I underwent what they call a vericocelectomy. When all the specialist physicians and consultants didn’t seem to be getting anywhere, we tried IVF. That also didn’t work. Then we tried immunotherapy and it failed.

    So we just waited on God. At a point, we stopped praying for children. Whether it was prayer fatigue or faith, I don’t know. I told my wife that we had prayed long enough and God was not deaf. So we would pray and fast for every other thing except for children.

    In all those years, putting away my wife or having a child by another woman was never an option. Why? Because I love my wife. It did not matter to me whether she gave birth to a baby or not. I did not see her primarily as a baby- making machine but a lover and a life companion.

    And you know what? In over 20 years of waiting for a baby, my wife and I never quarrelled over it in any way. Nobody abused anybody or called anybody names. Okay, I called her names but good names. I used to call her by the names of our unborn children. But I did not put the blame on her. I took responsibility.

    I didn’t also look for a witch to blame. I guess if I looked hard enough, I could find one in her family or even in mine. We just kept serving the Lord, knowing that He would make all things beautiful in His time. Let me emphasize that our love for each other and our commitment to God’s Word kept us going. We were also blessed to be surrounded by families and friends who showed us a lot of understanding and support.

    What lessons did I learn? The first and most important is that with God all things are possible. When all hopes were gone, God came through for us. By the time my wife got pregnant, she had stopped seeing her period for four years. A kind-hearted doctor sat her down one day and told her to accept the fact that she would never be pregnant again. But God overruled medical scie nce. And He did it in a dramatic way. Now we have three wonderful children: Lovely, Awesome and Gladsome.

    Another lesson I learnt is that there is no challenge a couple cannot handle and no pain they cannot bear if husband and wife stick together. I think it’s particularly unbearable for a woman when the husband becomes a judge and subjects his wife to all manner of ridicule and humiliation. Some husbands put the blame only on the wife even when they themselves have issues to deal with.

    I also learned that you can live a happy life through your years of waiting. Don’t put your life on hold because you don’t yet have children. Keep living your life and pursuing your dream. At the end, your success and fulfillment in life will not be measured by how many children you have but by how well you have fulfilled your life’s purpose.

    Pastors are in the eyes of the storm over the tithing controversy. What’s your contribution to the debate?

    Ordinarily, I would not want to contribute to the debate because, as in every debate, people have their entrenched position, so it may just be a waste of my time. Besides, the Bible says that debating about the fine details of the law will not edify anyone but might hurt people and destroy relationships. However, since you have asked, let me make some remarks with the hope that it might help someone.

    The controversy over tithing is not new. I was born again over 35 years ago and have seen the controversy come and go. This one will also go away. What is new, however, is the social media. That puts a lot of power in the click of a blogger to start a debate or influence opinions.

    What is the controversy about, anyway? That pastors are using the tithe to live big and buy jets at the expense of impoverished church members? That is the only reason you can say that pastors are in the eye of the storm. But that is a false generalisation.

    As far as I know, pastors use not only tithes but every other contribution made by members for the work of ministry. If there are pastors who do otherwise, they are in the minority. Across the country and elsewhere, there are countless pastors who are doing ministry and serving the people at great cost. It is my view that over 80% of pastors are living below poverty level.

    Let me say this to you, and you can check it out, if you find a pastor driving an expensive car, chances are that he did not buy it. Someone blessed by his ministry might have bought it for him as an appreciation. Even when you hear that a church bought their pastor a car, if you care to investigate, you will discover that the money was not from tithe and offering.

    One or two people who have been blessed by the ministry of the pastor might have put a substantial part of the money down. Then they get a little from here and there to give it a corporate feel.

    If the controversy is about the propriety of tithing, let every man be fully persuaded. I tithe personally and teach my members to tithe. It is my responsibility to teach them the Word of God and not leave them at the mercy of social media. And you know what? My members have no problem with tithing because they know why they should tithe.

    And they know that the money they tithe does not fund my vanity. Of course, there are those who do not tithe, I should say, who have not started tithing yet, they are still a vital part of the church and my commitment to them as their pastor is no less.

    The summary of my submission is this: let every believer belong to a church and let every pastor teach his members why they should tithe and the blessings of tithing.

  • I developed the grit to survive from my extremely polygamous background

    I developed the grit to survive from my extremely polygamous background

    Few Nigerians are as energetic as Chief Olabintan Famutimi is at 70. Besides having to sit at different board meetings, he runs a hectic schedule shuttling between his office on the Lagos Mainland and the Lagos Island where he has to carry out most of his duties and interact socially. The Chairman of Tricontinental Group and current National President of the Nigerian American Chamber of Commerce told PAUL UKPABIO how he managed his way to the top as a businessman and the circumstances surrounding his marriage, among other issues.

    You have been in the oil and gas industry for quite a while. How has it been?

    We started in a small way, doing mainly procurement. But we concentrated on the upstream side of the industry. However, we have since expanded our portfolio. We are still in services, not in product. We have been doing pipeline inspection services, inspection of manifold equipment, topside inspection and subsea inspection for Exxon Mobil, whereby we inspected their 92 offshore platforms, using remotely operated vehicles. We did that and produced the report.

    We have done other forms of inspection with other companies. We are presently working with Shell in what is called PPMS, which is project quality management services for all their gas gathering projects throughout their operational areas. And we have been doing the inspection and reporting for them for six years. We do supply. We have high level experts on contract who come in. At a time, we had more than 300 personnel engaged in Shell who are technically our staff but are staff of Shell because they were more or less seconded to Shell by us.

    What else do you do?

    We have broadened our scope and gone to some niche areas of oil and gas business. We do corrosion management and material management for oil companies all over the federation. But interestingly, some of our technologies are not limited to the oil industry. We represent some companies that have special products and services which we deploy. One of the companies is Sponjet, an American company involved in surface preparation before quoting. And because we are doing that, we have developed quoting capacity. We do not just prepare surfaces for others to quote. And because our managing director is a world renowned material management professor of engineering, he has been able to let us be one of the most received quoting companies.

    We also represent a company called Dalink where we are able to use liquid method to repair any damaged part in any equipment on aircraft and other things. So for spare parts that are damaged and may have been discontinued in production in other places, we just repair them and they become like new. Our signage for that is ‘repair, not replace’. That is a French company. We represent another company called Enecon, an American company that has technology and materials for improving the life span of some products. In this regard, we are the sole representative of these three companies in the whole of West Africa and the Caribbeans. That is why we have offices in the Caribbeans, Trinidad and Tobago. Those are some of the services we provide.

    You are regarded as an icon in the oil and gas industry. And from your wealth of contribution and dedication to servicing the industry, one believes that you must be a core engineer…

    Interestingly, I am not an engineer and I didn’t study engineering in the university. What I did when I got into this industry was to commence a lot of studies. That was because I realised that I had to develop core knowledge of the industry, because we don’t just want to be like other companies in the industry, doing the same thing that the other companies in the industry had been doing. We decided to think out of the box. It was my decision that we should look at the pressing areas where we could make a difference. We went for the niche areas.

    And in my quest to improve and ensure our longevity in the business, I tried to do some succession planning, which is the reason why I got my friend, a world renowned expert in the fields that we wanted to go into, who had also by then served in Saudi Arabia for about 19 years and has industrial experience apart from being a professor, to join me. To do that, he had to relocate to Nigeria in April 2010. He became the Group Managing Director while I remain the Chairman of the Group. With that combination, we have been able to stabilise the system and our growth. We have been ISO-certified since five years ago and that extends to all our operations all around the world.

    So, what initially inspired you to go into a complex industry like oil and gas?

    By nature, I am a tenacious person. When I am into something, I give it my absolute best. I do everything to ensure success. From youth, I had accepted that nothing good comes easy. The inspiration is that if I get into somewhere, I must make a difference. Actually, it was my quest to go into these niche areas that brought me into contact indirectly with Professor Oluwatoyin Ashiru. It was in Cape Town, South Africa, where I was having a meeting, that his name was mentioned. I never knew he was a Nigerian. We later got in touch and started talking. I gave it the best in me.

    Going into the oil and gas industry means that you must have had a sizeable capital to start off with…

    (Laughs) Interestingly, I didn’t have a lot of money. In fact I didn’t even have much. I was more or less doing general business before I settled for this industry. I had my hands in a number of companies. I led the group that actually acquired the Odua shareholding of the Nigerian-Romanian Wood Industry in Ondo. I joined two friends of mine, Chief Olu Akinyelure, the current Vice Chairman of Southwest APC and another friend, Mr Ralph Osayemeh, and we were able to acquire the 30.9% shares in the company which we managed for some time until the politics of the federal and state governments tore everything apart. I was one of the founders of Goldlink Insurance, it was led by Ralph Osayemeh when he invited some of us into it, and we built the company to the level where it was able to be quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. I have been involved in a few other things in my life, all of them, I gain experience from as I go along in life.

    When did you make your first million naira?

    (Laughs) I cannot remember that. But I remember that by the time we wanted to buy the O’dua shares, we needed some money. One way or the other, I was able to come out with my share, which eventually gave me 40 per cent of the equity while my other partners had 30 per cent each, so we got our 100 per cent. I can’t remember when I made my first N1 million because I had been in business since I left employment in 1994, doing one thing or the other but always moving forward.

    Did you envisage then that you could rise to where you are now in business?

    I didn’t envisage that I would rise to anywhere, because I have a queer nature. I am a determined person, a workaholic. I didn’t remember myself having any particular ambition to become anything. I just kept on working. I worked for success, but I was not really setting goals for myself. I am usually happy once I have results in what I am doing. I have a strange nature in that I do not regret anything I do. If something does not go my way, I just return to the drawing board and continue in a different way. I take things in my stride. I do not brood over any misdeed. I am an extremely optimistic person. I see the bright side of life in everything.

    Were you a privileged child?

    I was not born into anything identified as privilege. Instead, I was born an unprivileged child. I am the first child of my father, and I was born into what is called a quintessential Yoruba family. When my grandfather, Chief Aruwa Famutimi, died in 1952, he had 54 children and 23 wives. My father had four wives and 23 children. I am the first born. I come from an extremely polygamous family, where competition is very tough, so you have to develop grit to survive. I didn’t have any advantage. All I knew was that I wanted to succeed. The only way that I knew I could succeed was to have education. So I determined to get education. That led me to the university where I graduated with B.sc Geography from the University of Ibadan, though I have never needed to use it to practise. After that, I have done several courses abroad and here in Nigeria, particularly related to whatever industry I find myself.

    You were abroad for quite a while. Were you tempted to marry a white lady?

    I was abroad at different times to do short courses. The longest at any time was an advanced management programme in France. I was there for 11 weeks. And in any case, even if I stayed there longer, I wouldn’t have married a white lady because I have never contemplated it.

    As a widely travelled businessman, what’s your impression about our country Nigeria?

    Well, I have travelled around Nigeria, particularly while I was in paid employment in sales and marketing, which I did for a multinational that was quoted on the stock exchange. My friendship cuts across the country. One common thing I see among Nigerians is that we are hardworking. But as a nation, we have been unlucky with good leadership, particularly political leadership, since the military took over government. As a human being, I find Nigerians interesting. You see, in the world of business and personal relationship, Nigerians have no problems with one another. I am married to an Igbo woman. One of my partners in another business is Igbo. I have friends who hail from Northern Nigeria, and I am from Ondo. Ashiru, the Group MD is Ijebu. Nigerians don’t have problems with themselves; it is the politicians that raise dust among us.

    How did you meet your wife?

    I was invited to a wedding in Oron, Akwa Ibom State. That was after my first marriage had broken. The bride introduced me to one of her friends that came with her from Lagos. I was going to be the chairman of the wedding the next day. I started talking to Ifeanyi that evening about her. And by the time we got back to Lagos, we started dating. I found that she was at the University of Lagos while I was running my business here. We got married and it has lasted 23 years now. We have two children. The boy is studying engineering in the US while the girl is trying to get admission to study Medicine here.

    Are you a member of any social club?

    I am a member of many. I have been a member of Ikoyi Club since 1975. I am a life member there. I have been in Rotary since the early 80s. I am a member of Ikeja Golf Club. I am a member of Lagos Diners Club. I am a member Metropolitan Club, Lagos Boat Club and others.

    Merely looking at you, one can see you have good health…

    My greatest point for good health is discipline. I exercise so well. I am almost a maniac for exercise. I was at the gym this morning and I go every day. So out of seven days a week, I do six days. But I do not exercise on Sundays. It was 20 years on the 10th of September since I have been using that particular gym. At a point, I wanted to reduce weight. I decided to take it out on food intake. I do not eat as much as I used to eat before. Now I am much lighter. I am presently fit. I have no ailment. I manage everything about my health with great discipline.

    How about sports?

    In my life I have not been in any major sporting competition. But I have been playing squash at Ikoyi Club for quite some time. I played squash all my young life.

    Tell us about your style

    Everybody notices these days that I always wear agbada. Although I have suits, I hardly wear them.

    You are also the President of the Nigeria-America Chamber of Commerce. How has that body been relevant?

    Yes, I am the national president. I have spent three years already as president, so I have one year to go on the job. The Nigeria-America Chamber of Commerce started the same year that Nigeria got independence. It has been our job and scope to promote businesses between Nigeria and the USA, and we have done that successfully. We are very close to the American mission in Nigeria, and we are also close to the economic management of the country. We do a lot of advocacy, capacity building and advisory services.

    Nigerians who want to do businesses with America come to us, and Americans who want to do business in Nigeria contact us, and that is even done through the commercial section of the American embassy. When American companies make enquiries, the mission passes such people to us. We then look at areas where such persons will be able to make impact in the business life of the country. That is why we took on the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act programme, and today, we are the leading managers of AGOA in Nigeria, and all other bodies work with us.

  • I SEE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT IN NIGERIANS

    I SEE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT IN NIGERIANS

    South African-born Edward Stevenson grew up loving to fly planes. At 23, he had already gone way ahead to achieve that dream. He had acquired a licence to fly small planes, and was at the verge of going for further studies to become a commercial airline pilot, when he recalled his other talents. Young Stevenson comes from a family of traders. His father was a retail trader, and he recalls selling oranges right in front of his father’s shop in South Africa at the age of six. So, faced with a decision of an eventual career, Edward Stevenson chose to study retail management. Now the General Manager of Tejuoso Property Development Company Ltd, Lagos, he is saddled with the task of putting in place the new ultra-modern Tejuoso Shopping Centre in the heart of Yaba, Lagos. He told PAUL IKPABIO how his early life in South Africa prepared him for this job, and how he hopes to transform the once fragmented Tejuoso market stalls to the ambitious biggest shopping centre in the country.

    How long have you been in Nigeria?

    I have been in the country for more than a decade. I come and go. But here at Tejuoso, I have been around for two years. When I came to Tejuoso, the place was filled up with small market people. If you look around Nigeria and other places in the world, you will notice that the market environment is changing. The market stalls are changing into proper retail shops. That was my mandate when I came here. So when I got here, I had to create a shopping centre instead of an open market. I had to create larger shops that appeal to the people on the street and at the same time appeal to the guy up there in the corporate world. So we had to turn things around, merge shops, make it attractive and enable shoppers’ easy movement.

    We are thinking about convenience, relaxation and entertainment even within the shopping environment. So we have brought in domestic food court, 450 shops, entertainment section, and we are bringing in cinemas. We even have in-house radio. So we are going to make this place as interesting as possible for the shopper who normally goes to a SPAR or Shoprite environment. We are here for everyone.

    Tell us about your background

    I come from a retail background. From the age of six, I was selling oranges outside my father’s shop in South Africa. So I understand how a shopping environment should be like. I have worked at The Palms Shopping Complex, and some of the people working with me here have also worked at The Palms. We have gathered expertise with my team.

    What have been the challenges so far?

    The last two years have been tasking for almost everyone in the country. I think now that SPAR is opening here, it is going to give our customers and tenants a lot more of confidence about this whole idea, and they will come here to open their shops. In the last year, we have struggled to get people into the shops. Money has been tight in the country and a lot of people who were eager to get in had to wait for money to get to them.

    Now we have quite a number of people inside our shops. For instance, we have about 200 traders in the shops on the second floor. There are four floors here. So from this week, the ground floor will also start to be busy. Now we have about an average of 4,000 people coming here on a daily basis. When SPAR starts operation here, it will be about four times that number of people coming in and going out of this place. And we are looking forward to that because a lot of people who used to go as far as the Lekki or Ikeja to shop at SPAR will now have to come here, which is closer.

    How about security?

    We have the MOPOL (mobile policemen) and other security operatives. We will soon have a Police Station at the shopping centre. Also, we will have a fire service station so that we do not have issues. We have a bank, and the ATM they have here is among the top ten in the country. I know that because they give me feedback. We are also looking at having Stanbic, UBA and some other banks here.

    How easy is it to manage a huge complex like this?

    I have been here two years. The first floor is 9,000 square metres, and we have four floors. The basement for the car park is 14,000 square metres. It is huge, probably the biggest shopping centre around the country right now. By the time we open all the shops, it will definitely be the most visited shopping centre across the country. We are creating proper directions to guide people on how they move around the shops and floors.

    Of course, we have sections. For instance, we have the hair fashion people in a section, the electronics in a section. When you are hungry, you know the food court is on the third floor. When you want to use the bank, you go to the banking section, and the cinemas are in their section. So we have demarcations and everything in its proper places. That makes the administration of the place easy for us despite the fact that the entire complex is huge.

    For chaotic traffic situations. How do you intend to manage that?

    We have an underground car park that can hold 350 cars. So, to get to the complex, you go to the top of Tejuoso and come in through the underground where we have the car park. We are talking to a management company that will manage the car park for the entire complex. When we are fully open, the first month will be free parking. But afterwards, we will charge a fee. That is because we do not want a situation where people come from all over the place to park or abandon their cars here. The entire car park space has to be for customers coming to shop here.

    I can see that the shopping centre is already busy, but you are here taking about an opening date. What does that mean?

    (Laughs) The truth is that we are not fully open yet. We are only partially open. The shops have been opened for a year now. What I can say is that we are opening in sections because people have been through a difficult time in the last two years. Many who booked for the shops have not begun operations yet. But with the latest opening of SPAR here, that will jumpstart other things. So I guarantee that there is going to be amazing foot traffic in all the stores in this shopping centre.

    Do you see its location in Yaba, which seems like the city’s centre, as an advantage?

    I think it definitely will be of a pretty advantage. There is definitely no competition around us. But even if there were to be competition, we have a huge advantage in the sense that the area itself had for long been popular as a shopping place. So, all we have done is to create a conducive environment where more and more people get to shop in comfort. The place is already popular, so as we keep opening the sections, more and more people will come in.

    Yaba is the centre between Ikeja and Victoria Island. So, the people here, instead of going to those extreme places, they will come here, once they know they can get car space and they can also see what to buy and even take food bites from the food courts around. What we want is that when people think of bubble gum, for instance, what readily should come to their mind is that they can get it here at Tejuoso. And when they think of where to get the biggest television, they think of the electronics section here at Tejuoso Shopping Centre. It is open to all persons. Anyone is welcome here. It is a shopping centre that caters for everyone. When you come in here, you will find something that is appealing and affordable.

    Now that you have an ultra-modern market here, what became of the small traders who used to hang around here?

    What we did was to accommodate them through an arrangement whereby they could pay for new retail shops in the new Tejuoso Shopping Centre. And this negotiation went down well with them and most of them have been able to come in here and get a better lift for their product visibility. At the moment, if they were still on the street in the open, they would have been paying more there than they are paying here. So we have a section for small and medium-sized businesses. We also have a section for large-sized businesses on the ground floor. And on the third floor, we have the entertainment section.

    Ninety nine per cent of the people that are here already are happy with what is on ground. But we want to be more than what we are presently. They will be happier when we would have opened up all the sections and accommodated all that we intend to put in place. I was speaking to the Iya Oloja (market leader) in the trading area on the second floor, and I was explaining to her the other facilities that we would be bringing in soonest, and she was amazed and excited. She says she can’t wait for it all to be in full operation. She loves the movies and she wants the cinemas to become operation soonest.

    I notice that you are passionate about your work. Where does the passion come from?

    Whenever I take up a challenge, you have to believe in that challenge. This is not a normal shopping centre; it is not Palms or Ikeja Shopping Mall; it is more than those. It is a shopping centre with a combined mix catering for everyone. Myself and my team love challenges. Some of them have been with me for over ten years in other businesses in Nigeria. I see the potential of this enormous project. I see where we are going to. I know that this is going to be focal point where the government and people of this state will come around and be proud of, and even want to have something like this around different parts of the country. I have the confidence in that, and so does my team.

    What is your source of inspiration?

    I see the potential in this country. I see the entrepreneurial spirit. It is amazing. People here are hardworking. I see them wanting to get ahead. No one sits idle. They want to move forward. They want to get ahead. If I am out of Lagos for more than two weeks, I develop the urge to get back here quickly. I have developed that sense of urgency that most Lagosians have.

    If you have lived and worked here all these years like you said you have, which Nigerian foods are you familiar with?

    I have tasted almost all your foods.

    You definitely do not work for 24 hours in a day. How do you relax?

    I try out some exercises. I have a son in a boarding school right now in South Africa. Four times in a year, I go to South Africa to see him. I also have a group of friends here in Lagos who I bond with too. They are Nigerians, Indians, Lebanese, English and so on. We go out to restaurants and cinemas to catch fun.

    Apart from SPAR, which other international retailers are you expecting?

    We are expecting quite a number of them; Sportsworld and some others that I do not readily want to disclose right now.

    Any special reason why you decided to be in retail marketing business?

    Yes. When I was 23, I had to make a major decision in my life. I had at that time gone into training to become a pilot. I had my licence to fly small planes, and it was time to take the decision of whether to continue with my commercial pilot education and become a commercial airline pilot or to continue with my retail career. In the end, I made the decision to face a retail career. So I went back to study retail education in South Africa before coming to Nigeria.

    What readily gives you pleasure?

    The shopping centre here will cater for the individual and families. Next to the cinema, there will be a section that can cater for minors, a creche, lounge where you can spend your evenings with your wife or girlfriend and restaurants with international cuisines. So, it is soon going to be a place where everyone fits in and as you can see, it is already taking shape. We now have a new and better Tejuoso for everyone.

  • How my husband DIED TWICE

    How my husband DIED TWICE

    Elder Adekunle Oshingbesan, a retired Sales and Marketing Director, Berger Paints Plc, died November 5, last year. He was buried in his Agege, Lagos residence December 22, after a funeral service at Winners Chapel (Province 20), Agege, Lagos. 

    My husband, Elder Adekunle Oshingbesan, a retired Sales and Marketing Director, Berger Paints Plc, first died February 22 last year at 3:03 am”, his widow, the Proprietor of Divine Blessed School, Eyitayo, said.

    “He was coming out of the room in our Agege residence; he fell down, gasped and died. I looked up into Heaven and gave God 10 reasons why I didn’t want him to die, including that I wanted him to see the delivery of our grandchild after 13 years of delay; birthday celebrations of some of our other grandchildren; his own 74th and my 70th birthdays. I struck him with the ‘mantle’, saying he had to wait to see all of these. The Holy Spirit told me to dance like a mad woman, which I did for three hours. After that, I called his name, he opened his eyes and came back to life.

    “When he died again November 5 last year, I thought it was like that of February. He woke up that morning and sat on the bed, pretending to be sleeping. I sneaked out of the house to our church’s first and second services (at Winners Chapel in Sango-Ota, Ogun State), knowing that he would come for either the third or fourth service, but I did not see him in church. I bought some of his favourites, including, cocoa, chin-chin and plantain chips which filled my bag.

    “I got home that day, but there was no one to receive those things from me; I was told he was sleeping. I ran into the room, pulled up his hand, pressed him, called him, but there was no response. I told the people in the house to leave him for me for three hours, thinking last February’s kind of death was repeating itself. However, when Bishop David Oyedepo of the Winners Chapel told me it was time for my husband to go back home, I accepted he was dead.

    “Oyedepo called me and said I should give him 15 minutes, which became 40 minutes; he called me back and told me: ‘Look, my Father said He demanded; He said it was enough. He (my husband) wanted to go and when he saw the light, he signed the paper himself; he was not forced’. It was at this point I accepted that my husband was dead.”

    She continued: “I first met my late husband in a shop in 1966 while I was plaiting hair for a lady and the first thing that came out of his mouth was, ‘this is my wife’. I looked at him, nodded my head and hissed. I never knew the angel stamped it; we got married December 25, 1967 in Osogbo, and we lived in a small one-room apartment with just a radio, standing fan, chair and a four and half iron bed. We were contended and admired by many.

    “When we had our first child, we had no cot but we were happy.  My husband grew to the position of Sales and Marketing Director at Berger Paints Plc. He schooled both in Nigeria and abroad. He made me travel all over the country and outside, including Ghana, Europe, America and India.

    “We both struggled and grew up together. Youths should believe in starting and working together, knowing that one day they will be great. My husband was not the type that would take bribe from any one and that gesture opened doors for him. We were able to build two houses.  He taught me never to take bribe. He was an epitome of integrity, honesty, humility and a philanthropist. He could do anything to make others happy. He did not want anyone to be unhappy. He was a loving husband, a father and grandfather that others should emulate”, she said.

    These were the words of Oshingbesan’s widow at his funeral ceremony, which held at Winners Chapel (Province 20), Agege, Lagos, followed by a reception at 10 Degrees Event Centre, Oregun, Lagos.

    At the church service, after prayers and praises, Pastor Reuben Akpa, the church’s Provincial Pastor, urged the gathering to live full and die empty.

    “God created everyman filled with talents and gifts; He expects us to make use of our potential while on earth and die empty. Good people do not die; they live forever because of their impactful lives, good names, the value they added to others and character,”Pastor Akpa said.

    He described the late Oshingbesan as a good man that engaged in the race of life, gave his life to Christ and Jesus helped him to succeed.

    “He influenced the lives of many; his name and family will live long; and his children will be blessed because they are the seeds of a righteous man”, he said.

    He urged the widow to hold on to God, adding that the children should follow the footsteps of their father, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of their faith.

    After the sermon, Pastor Israeli Akintayo prayed for the Oshingbesan, family.

    At the grave side at the Oshingbesan’s residence in Agege, Pastor Dayo Paseda urged the people to improve on whatever they are doing and maximise their lives, noting that only genuine work with God guarantees eternal life.

    The late Oshingbesan’s second child, Adejumoke Oshin-Wright, said her father lived a fulfilled life.The deceased’s third child, Mrs Bolatito Ilori, described her late father as everything one can find in man. “He was a complete man; he lived an exemplary and distinguished life,”she said.

    The fourth child, Mrs Ololade Triumph- Obatan, said: “My daddy was generous and diligent”.

    The last child, Dr Mosunmade Oshingbesan, said: “Dad was a nice man; he was humble; he loved his wife till death. He loved his children and he was always there for so many people”.

  • How BoI intervention funds are helping female entrepreneurs

    How BoI intervention funds are helping female entrepreneurs

    Iyalode Alaba Lawson is the first female president of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and also the leader of the women’s group known as NACCIMA Women’s Group (NAWORG). In this interview with YETUNDE OLADEINDE, the NACCIMA boss talks about government interventions for women entrepreneurs, her achievements and challenges as NACCIMA president and more.

    What role can women play to improve the economy?

    We must not look down on the role that women are going to play.  The women are the architect of the micro economy in this great country. They are the ones moving the GDP of the country with either their formal or informal trading that they are doing. And so, we are the architect and the engine room of the growth of the economy and that is why we say that when they produce, we must exhibit what they produce.

    Women cannot be underestimated. We signed an MOU with FIIRO and our women would be trained to be well advanced, even in ICT or in any research that is going on in FIIRO. We thank FIIRO DG and her team for giving us that opportunity. This collaboration is a good one.

    It is by exhibiting what they produce so that people would know about it and then patronise them. When they produce more, they create jobs and when they create jobs, they alleviate poverty. Definitely, you see that it is interwoven. It is  a chain that cannot be broken.

    This is the eight edition of NAWORG International Women Exhibition (NIWEX),  what are some of the achievements over the years?

    There are many. More women are now into entrepreneurship; more are being trained and some of them are moving from informal to formal and we have seen so much progress. They are enjoying the funding from Bank of Industry (BoI). Even the market women amongst us are benefiting because we reach down to the grassroots and not only to the elites. Some of the women are moving from their informal trading and they are making shea butter products. They go into the villages and some of the progress can be seen in the packaging and branding. Those doing tie and dye are enjoying the money from BoI. Each group was given N8 million and we formed them into cooperatives. All these are the gains and the success stories of NACCIMA business women’s group.

    What are some of the challenges?

    The main challenge is the funding but I want to thank this present government. Even our market women get loan from them. That loan has even made it better for the women and they are now using their phones to transfer money and refund the money back to BoI. So, you can see that it has so many advantages. THE loan  is between  N50,000 or N100,000. If your first pay is N50,000, then the next one would be N100,000.

    If you finish paying the N100,000 loan within the stipulated time, they will  give you moratorium and this is very good. If you pay your N100, 000, then you are entitled to N200, 000, just like that. And from their cooperatives they are entitled to N500,000 and all this makes the economy to grow at the lower level and I am very happy with this and I am grateful that our women are coming out to fulfil their dreams. By doing this, they would help their husbands and ensure that the homes, the communities, and extended families are taken care of.

    What can government do to empower these women?

    We are really working on it and I must tell you that the government has been very positive by giving them intervention funds that helps. Most of the problems that the women in businesses face are funding, financing and government has been trying by putting in so many intervention funds. However, in the implementation of these funds, there are so many bottlenecks in getting these funds and we want the government to look into this. They must make sure that these intervention funds reach the hands of those medium small entrepreneurs to enable them to fund their businesses and meet the demands of the people.

    What is your advice to women who are not economically empowered?

    I would like them to go and be entrepreneurs. Even if you are selling water, you are an entrepreneur. If you are making pots or involved in petty trading, it is the same thing. I want them to go out and learn a skill and use their talents. They should not bury their talents but use it. Everyone is blessed with a talent; my talent is different from yours. But if we can collate it, it would move the economy. They should go out and speak to some of them and we will mentor them because they need mentoring and they would be of good use to themselves and they won’t depend on anybody.

    You are known for mentoring women, what advice do you have for Nigerian women?

    If you are in position, I want you to help the downtrodden ones. It is not just money, some people just need advice, and some need closeness to give them direction. Some need just a little word of encouragement. I want them to open their doors to others to gain. I want them to open their doors for mentorship. Mentoring differs because when someone gets close to you, then you would know what he or she wants.

    It is on that basis that you can help and as I said earlier with all the intervention funds, if it is money, you can then tailor such into a cooperative or into something else. I am trying to restructure the Federation of Business Women in West Africa (FEBWE) and I am looking for those who can use their hands in ICT, so that they can compare and compete favourably with other countries in West Africa. We have about 16 countries and we are going to be moving together. It was launched in Ghana a few years ago and this is the Nigerian chapter. I am the chairperson and I am mentoring those who can use ICT because they would be dealing with organisations like UNIDO, UNWOMEN, ANWBN and others. So, as women, we must compare and contrast to see what we can do to uplift one another. Then at the end we can sit down and see them growing. This is usually my joy when I see them growing. I love this so much and I do it quietly sometimes. But sometimes, a number of these women come out and say that you have mentored me. I always feel good at such moments.

    Let’s talk about some memorable moments as NACCIMA president

    It was a great day at my investiture. Just before I was nominated and elected, there had been different challenges especially when you have had 18 national presidents who are all men. So, coming out as the first woman national president, I would have passed through challenges. I have just spent six months but my success stories are there and I thank God for giving me that opportunity. Let others talk about my achievements, don’t let me do that. Let them compare and ask what has Alaba Lawson done that has made her to be head and shoulders above others.

    One of the first things that I did that I can talk about is the first-ever NACCIMA Conference in Abuja. It is going to be an annual event and it is going to be a great one for NACCIMA, at least to know that we can move the economy forward. It was great working with Pascal Dozie, his wife and the team. Here, many learnt how to move our economy through agriculture. Let’s go back to tilling the land but in a mechanised way. If our forefathers could till the land and build the first tallest building in Africa then with the proceeds from Cocoa, what are we waiting for? Let’s get back to the farms and ensure that agric is business and we can move the economy forward now that oil is no longer viable.

  • How Amaechi, Magnus Abe fell apart

    How Amaechi, Magnus Abe fell apart

    Chief Andrew Uchendu is the senator representing Rivers East Senatorial District in the National Assembly. A seasoned technocrat, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a well known grassroots politician in Rivers State, Chief Uchendu has been a recurring decimal in the political equation of Rivers State since 1999. He had served for three terms of 12 years as a member of the House of Representatives, representing Ikwerre/Emohua Federal Constituency before being called upon by his people to move up to the Senate. He spoke to some journalists on the issues/crisis in.

    What is happening in the Rivers State chapter of your party?  Is there a crisis currently ravaging the APC in the state?

    Clearly and simply put, there is no crisis in Rivers APC. What a lot of people, especially you people in the media, are misunderstanding and interpreting as crisis is the fact that distinguished Senator Magnus Abe (the APC senator representing Rivers South-East) opted out of a decision we all jointly took to strengthen the party ahead of 2019 elections and continue to pursue his personal ambition. Constitutionally, he has the right to do that‎ but it can never constitute crisis in the party. To the best of my knowledge as a senator of the federal republic, all the party structures from ward to State levels are intact and there’s no crisis.

    Are you saying ther‎e are no two APC factions, the Amaechi and Magnus Abe factions?

    What factions? Please don’t say that. There’s one APC in Rivers, with one chairman Chief Davies Ibiamu-Ikanya and our leader remains Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. Let me take you back a little into the history of the emergence of APC in Rivers State. You need to understand that we were all in PDP but a situation arose when our leader, Rotimi Amaechi,‎ and his other colleagues in PDP then decided to move away from PDP to APC and when we joined APC, he became the only leader in the party and at that point in time, his structure is almost the same as the APC structure and that continued until after the election in 2015. At that time we were having APC structure, equal to Rotimi Amaechi structure, this is very fundamental for you to understand. After the elections, His Excellency, Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi now directed that because of his extremely busy engagements and official duties, he was going to step aside to allow Dakuku Peterside (the Rivers APC 2015 governorship candidate and now DG of NIMASA) to sit in and re- organise the party and that went down well with all of us (including Magnus Abe). And Peterside was doing that diligently.

    But as time went on, our leader (Amaechi) observed that people were beginning to pursue their individual political agenda and our collective good and progress as a party was suffering, terribly. A series of meetings were held in Abuja and Senator Magnus Abe attended, I attended, Dakuku Peterside attended with more than thirty leaders of the party in Rivers State and the honourable minister told us of his observation that Abe and Peterside were pursuing their individual ambitions at the expense of the party and that was not good for all of us and he advised them and admonished them. I remember on a very good day, my friend Senator Magnus Abe, in an attempt to assure Amaechi of his total loyalty (to Amaechi) for life, said and I quote, “Your Excellency, I would like Nigerians to learn from my relationship with you and no matter the situation, I will not betray you”. Magnus Abe said this in the presence of other leaders at a meeting held at our leader, Amaechi’s house in Abuja.

    Can you recall when Abe said this, when the meeting took place?

    That should be early in the year, I can’t recall exactly what day or month; and then the bubble burst. A meeting was held in Abuja, the final meeting where the bubble burst. Because of the decision of Dakuku and Magnus to go against the decision of our leader, to hold on to their political ambition in the interest of the party, he said and I quote “because of the inability of Senator Magnus Abe and Dr Dakuku Peterside to comply with the decision to wait, hold on, on their political ambitions and help to rebuild the party, those that are for Magnus Abe should go with him. Those that are for Dakuku, follow him and those that are for the party, join me (Amaechi) in rebuilding the party”. And I stand to be corrected. I am a national honours holder and I put my integrity on the line. I tell Nigerians nothing but the truth.

    In a recent article he wrote, Magnus Abe threw up an issue that those sympathetic to him, his supporters are being systematically removed from office, how true is this?

    There was no such thing. I will try to differentiate between the leadership of Amaechi and the party in the state. By the time Abe continued to pursue his individual political ambition, a new trend and interest had emerged but that does not mean that the party structure was not there. It is now Amaechi’s structure and Magnus’ structure. This has nothing to do with the elected main party structure. After the decision was taken on the need to rebuild the party, we now separated the wheat from the chaff. So, when the Dome declaration was made and Abe continued with the pursuit of his ambition(against the overall interest of the party), which of course he has a constitutional right to do, Hon. Chidi Wihioka, leader in Ikwerre Local Government Area followed him, Hon. Tony Okocha, leader in Obio Akpor, followed him, Hon. Wogu Boms, the former Attorney General and leader in Phalga followed him and we decided to meet as our own political think tank in Ikwerreland because it was obvious that there were vacancies. When Abe came with his own personal approach that was not helping the party, vacancies were created and I think expectedly, Amaechi has the right to fill those vacancies; they were his nominations and not APC structure in Rivers State; they were LGA leaders in Amaechi’s political structure in Rivers State. This cannot constitute crisis in anyway. Even the state party chairman said clearly that those changes had nothing to do with the party structure in the state.

    What about Magnus Abe’s complained that he is being marginalised without benefits or patronage from the APC system to his supporters? How true is this?‎

    You know, like I do that there is no one dispensing favours from the A‎PC national level other than the Federal Government. But let me tell you something that will clearly disprove that claim. There was a time when our leader, Rotimi Amaechi, confided in me that he had chosen an Ikwerre son to be nominated as the Executive Director, Finance and Administration (EDFA) for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), we agreed on it. But suddenly when he called a meeting of his core group, I think about five of us and Abe were present. Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi now informed us that he had made the concession to Magnus Abe to produce the EDFA of NDDC because he pleaded with him. I was shocked, I am an Ikwerre man, I was still in the Tribunal and wasn’t a senator then. I was shocked and immediately he made the pronouncement, Abe quickly stood up and said “I nominate Mene Derek”. So, Magnus Abe cannot say his supporters are being marginalised. Mene Derek, the Executive Director of Finance and Administration of NDDC, was conceded to him and he nominated the young man.

    As ‎a chieftain of the party in Rivers State, can you honestly say to Nigerians that the process that would lead to the emergence of APC governorship candidate in the state will be free and fair?

    If we fail to assure a level playing field for those to contest, all what we have been doing will be a waste of time. It’s sad and most unfortunate that some people are just making unnecessary noise in the party in Rivers State. Take the case of the APC non-elective congress, we all do know that LGA congresses are held at the LGA headquarters and not at the party secretariat. Announcements were made, the delegated committees to handle it from Abuja were in town and instead of going to their different LGAs for the congress, they went to the party secretariat where the congress was not scheduled to hold, so they could accuse someone of lack of level playing ground. A time would come when the party will schedule congresses and then primaries and it is not going to be an Amaechi’s show. It will be handled by those coming from Abuja, sent by the national headquarters. So, this issue is completely premature and totally unnecessary.

    Lets’ talk about politics without bitterness. Recently Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike announced SUV gifts of jeeps for Rivers State National Assembly legislators. We saw the videos of most of your APC colleagues in the House of Representatives in Government House, Port Harcourt, collecting theirs from Governor Wike. Have you gone to collect your SUV gift from the Rivers State governor?

    I just returned to the country but nobody (from Rivers State Government) has told me about the car but somehow I heard about it. Well, if he bought cars, it would be in keeping with past precedence ‎that has been there in Rivers State. It started with former governor Peter Odili and I would have being surprised if he does otherwise. I recalled dedicating my certificate of return to the reconciliation, peace and development of Rivers State. Because coincidentally, I am the oldest elected Rivers son in Nigeria and I have a role to play. I went further to say that I will pay a courtesy visit to the governor and I have followed that up with a formal letter, courier-serviced to his office two months ago and I am still waiting for his response. I cannot be a successful senator of the federal republic without working with the minister of transportation and the governor of Rivers State. I have written a letter to the governor seeking for a meeting but no response from him and now he is talking about a mundane issue like car collection. I want us to work together to better the lots of Rivers people. Issues around the car gifts are different.

    But you would agree with me that the car issue was controversial…

    My response to this is that the governor has his priority. My own priority is the welfare of my constituents. I wrote to the governor and the minister of transport for a meeting. While the Minister has given me a date, Wike has not responded to my letter and now they are talking about cars. What is that?

    What do the division and cracks in Rivers APC portend for your party in Rivers ahead of the 2019 elections?

    Well, in politics, only one event can change the outcome of an election. I have said here that there is no divided house in Rivers APC. What we are experiencing is multiplicity of interests and you can’t call that a divided house. I have said that there is no crisis in the party. But I need you to recall that in recent history in the PDP, factionalisation led about seven governors to leave the PDP to join the APC; APC was not given any chance because no such grouping in Nigerian politics had ever worked and PDP was like an octopus that had been in power for many years, but a party under 12 months of formation was able to dismantle a party in government for over 16 good years. Is that not surprising? Have surprises stopped taking place in the world, in politics? In APC, I can assure you that as we speak, no person has been penned down as a chosen candidate. No one will anoint any candidate. The candidate would emerge through consultations and elections.

    As a long-standing member of the Amaechi political family, just like Magnus Abe, please tell us about the relationship between Amaechi and Abe ‎

    I joined Amaechi’s political group in January 2000 when he was like six months as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly and I got to know about him and Abe and from what he told me and what I heard from other state legislators, Amaechi worked hard to make Abe the minority leader in the House. Abe was then in APP and he made it possible for Abe to later join his party then, the PDP, and the friendship grew. Amaechi used his political clout to make Abe the Commissioner for Information during former governor Peter Odili’s second term. Aside that, we all worked for Amaechi’s governorship ambition until we had the K-leg saga. I recalled speaking with Amaechi when he was in Ghana and he allowed us to meet with Celestine Omehia who was the PDP candidate then, that if we did not work hard for PDP to win, we cannot pursue the case in court and I remember that Magnus Abe was in the meeting. For purposes of record, I called the first meeting on how to raise money in pursuit of Amaechi’s case. Nyesom Wike was at that meeting and it was held at my residence. We levied ourselves one million naira each, and Wike as the only lawyer amongst us was selected to liaise with the lawyers handling the case. I have heard him (Wike) say several times that he made Amaechi governor but that is not true. Personally, I didn’t see Magnus anymore (after the meeting in Uchendu’s house) but immediately after the Supreme Court judgement that announced Amaechi as governor, I saw Magnus and Amaechi together and I was worried. I asked what was going on. Magnus Abe became the Secretary to the State government. I am equally aware that there was a point Amaechi came out to ask Abe to contest for the Senate seat against the run of events. But that was not successful but when another opportunity came, Amaechi made sure Abe went to the Senate. Now, why I am disturbed is that the relationship was like ordained from heaven and when this, his (Abe’s) personal ambition came up, we were still at the elections tribunal. I am equally aware that Amaechi retained the Chambers of Lateef Fagbemi to handle these cases and underwrite the entire legal fees up to even when the face-off was on. There was nothing Abe wanted that he didn’t get from Amaechi‎. This is my knowledge of their relationship and that was why when he said that it is good to keep friends, I agree with him but now I don’t think he still stands by that position.

    A lot has been said about the seemingly recent romance between Senator Magnus Abe and Governor Nyesom Wike, what are your thoughts on that?

    I am aware that Senator Abe, Amaechi and Wike were in very effective working relationship during Amaechi’s first term as governor of Rivers State. I admire‎d that from outside. I am not within their age bracket and will not share in some of their jokes. But as an elder, I also observed that when the face-off between Wike and Amaechi started, the nature of the relationship between Wike and Abe changed immediately. I am aware that calls were no longer being exchanged between them for years. So, now Amaechi and Magnus Abe have their own issues and it started coinciding with when Magnus Abe is now hugging and cheering Nyesom Wike. I think we should look at that type of relationships twice. Are they really genuine? That’s the way I look at the situation.

  • Alumni who don’t care about their old schools are selfish

    Alumni who don’t care about their old schools are selfish

    Dr. Kemi Emina is the National President, University of Ibadan (UI) Alumni Association, The Delta State University, Abraka lecturer and former Special Adviser on Research and Documentation to the former Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly. In this encounter with DELE ADE-OLUWA, he speaks on the need for old students to get involved in the affairs of their alma mater, not only as a way of giving back to the institutions which made them, but also to ensure their sustainable development for the benefit of younger generations. This, he says, is particularly crucial now that most tertiary institutions are financially distressed. Emina, whose executive has built a 54-bedroom postgraduate hall of residence meant to be donated to the management of UI, is spearheading a fundraiser that would rake in at least N100 million yearly to support the university in terms of research, scholarship and infrastructural development. Excerpts:

    What was your experience as an undergraduate in the University of Ibadan?

    My very first idea about University of Ibadan was also through the seminary. I was among the first students who were brought into the seminary to do a degree programme without necessarily writing JAMB because the seminary is an affiliate of the University of Ibadan. That was my first stint with the University of Ibadan. Once in a while, the lecturers of UI would come into the seminary to teach us. Prof. Bodurin, Prof. Ladipo, Dr. Bello, Prof. Ajayi of the Economics Department all came to teach us at the seminary. And once in a while, in the evening, we would go into the university, the zoo and the theatre. But we were guided by seminarians. That was how my relationship with the university started.

    Which period were you in the university?

    That should be 1985. I did three years here in the University of Ibadan and a year of spiritual studies. The lecturers had a great impact on me, especially Prof. Bodurin and Prof. Ladipo. They were my early lecturers. There were also Prof. Ajayi and a young and pretty lady who people called Masoya. Masoya was pretty and she was conscious of the fact that she was pretty. She would come to teach seminarians who apparently were going to take their vow of celibacy. She would come to the seminary wearing a fine skimpy dress and short skirt. She covered the necessary parts anyway. She was pretty and she was bound to distract you. So when we were having a class, we would just pray that the devil would not tempt us. We would want to focus more on what she was teaching. She knew that she was a source of distraction to us. I think she enjoyed it, but we would always pray against the devil.

    So, how did you get into journalism and end up a university lecturer?

    Yes, I was still serving in Kafanchan when I had an offer to teach in the College of Education in Kotangora. I actually went there to see the place and I had to go back to Delta State during the holiday. I went back to Delta State just to rest with my younger brother. While there in Delta State, I got an offer to work with The Pointer, newspaper which was then an emerging newspaper house owned by the Delta State Government. I did not read journalism at all, but I took the job. I was never unemployed for a month or two. I have been fortunate, and the job just came like that. I worked for them for some time. That was around 1994. I know my GMs then would always ask, ‘Kemi, why won’t you go for further studies?’ They always asked me, especially one Elu Ekele of blessed memory.

    I was supposed to be a reporter, but I was more into feature writing. I wrote features throughout, going to different parts of the country on sponsorship. When the Pope visited France around 1996/97, I was to be one of those that would cover Pope John Paul II. The visa and everything was ready. But I came home to get ready and my mum died, and that prevented me from making the trip to France. Later, I found myself getting involved in union politics in the NUJ. I became the secretary of the Pointers Chapel and I was also a member of the state council in the sense that I conducted the election twice as the Secretary of NUJ Election Screening Committee. I headed the Disciplinary Committee. I was the Chairman of Press Conference Committee. I was also the Chairman of the Fundraising Committee, NUJ, Delta State. But I had to leave because I felt that journalism makes you a perpetual boy.

    And the person who gave that idea which I tried to closely and critically examine was also a very senior member of the NUJ, who then was NAN Editor in Delta State. He was also the state chairman of NUJ. I would visit him in the evening and he would say, ‘Look, Kemi, journalism is good, but I think you can also do some other things with your life.’ He was a forthright man. He was good. So when the pressure on me now from my GM to go on further studies came and this man was putting pressure on me again, I succumbed. So I came to Ibadan and did a master’s degree in Sociology. It was a new field entirely. I finished the Sociology programme within the space allocated to it: about nine months plus. I still had a year plus of the two-year study leave I was given, so I took the form to do a master’s in Philosophy and I got the admission to do the master’s and I continued.

    I finished the Philosophy programme and returned to work. But this time, because they said journalism was making one look like a boy perpetually, I began to feel that in me too. I told the editor that I would rather want to be on a desk and wouldn’t want to go out to either look for news or write features. But you would still read my bylines in the papers for unique interviews. I would do very special interviews, but you would not find me in a group of journalists doing interviews and all that. I preferred that they would write send it down to me and I would edit the news, not because of pride, but because I felt insulted when they treated me like a boy. It was in the process of working as the Chairman, Fundraising Committee of the NUJ and the Chairman of Awards for NUJ when crisis broke out in Delta NUJ under the chairmanship of Emiogunde when (Smart) Adeyemi was the National President of NUJ.

    Crisis broke-out in Delta State NUJ and I tried to mediate to see that there was peace in Delta NUJ but peace was not forthcoming. Meanwhile, I had an offer to join the university. I had my appointment letter with me. But even at that, I could not join them because I was still with NUJ. But when the crisis continued, I left. That was how I left journalism.

    What was your job prescription as Special Adviser to the Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly on Documentation and Research?

    That alone would let you know that I was in the engine room. A lot of people saw me as the think tank. I had to do a lot of things. I had to advise the Speaker, look at possibility of his speeches and what he had to say at any given time and all that. My schedule required that I should be on top of my game—what he had to say, how he said it—and I put them together for him. It was quite challenging, given the fact that the Speaker then brought a lot of life into the legislative business in Delta State. He was a vibrant young man, who was ready to take challenges and do a lot of things. And he needed a kind of vibrancy from his support staff of which I was one. So he put a team that was also forward-looking like him. Unfortunately, he left. He had issues with his colleagues, so he left. But I was still there serving.

    Can you trace the journey of your involvement in UI Alumni association and ascendancy to its presidency?

    The ascendancy to the presidency, I never planned for it. But I love UI because UI loved me first. In my local chapter at Asaba, I functioned very well with them. All assignments given to me, I tried to carry them out. In the Asaba chapter, I have persons who matriculated in the 1950s. We have persons who matriculated in 1948. So, for us in Asaba, we are simply small boys. We cannot, given our tradition, be there and the elderly ones do menial jobs. So, I was ready to do the little jobs for the association.

    Like I said, UI first loved me before I loved UI. That was why I was doing very well for UI Asaba Chapter, including some of my colleagues, and they gave us some awards, even at a tender age. And along the line, they felt that we were good enough to begin to hold some positions, and I was made the publicity secretary of the association. They had to even bend the constitution for me during my time when my tenure expired, and I continued. And because of that, later, when there was vacancy, they did not even look at my age, they raised me up to become the second vice chairman. They also felt that I was good enough to represent them at the national level. They asked that I should represent them at the national level, so I came into the national association as ex-officio.

    After my first term as an ex-officio, there was another election that enabled me to come back for a second term. You know, I was not ready to leave my position as ex-officio. Like I told you, I had a very intensive job. So, any other thing was going to come in as headache. Now, between my first and second tenures as ex- officio, my colleagues felt that there should be a change in the association. They felt that I should lead the association at that point in time. But I had a different idea. I also felt that there were certain persons in the association who were more capable to lead the association than myself. One was a lady and the other was a man, who lived somewhere in Lagos. But as fate would have it, they felt that I should lead them. I went into the election with the very viable support of my colleagues, because God was actually with me. And since then, I have been working with my colleagues.

    The truth is this: I have heard so many people say that I have done so many things for the association, but I do not like that. I have not done so much for the association, because I never worked alone. I was working with colleagues. I am not the brightest, but I would say I am the luckiest, because I have men and women who would go out of their ways to do things, and at the end of the day, I take the credits. You know, I am virtually a very lucky President. In the first place, they wanted me to lead the team, and I led the team. Secondly, they would do the work; they do not have to wait for me. They would do it as if they are doing their personal jobs, but when people see it, they would think I did it. I just take the credit.

    Some believe that people who get involved in association activities such as this do so basically to peddle influence or gain advantage for themselves. What is your reaction to this?

    That is not correct. But I would not deny the fact that in the midst of working for the Alumni association, I have gained one or two things. But God who sees my heart will know that that was not the motive. Now, I will give you an instance in Delta State: once upon a time, we had many Uites who were commissioners and so many people who were permanent secretaries. Successively, they became heads of service. So, when maybe one of them has an occasion or something to do and he thinks who can do this for me, he calls me and says please can you help do this? I know one who later became a head of service, and the chairman of the local government wanted him to help organise seminars for workers, and he said, ‘Good! I think I would recommend someone for you.’ He recommended me to them and I did the workshop for them, and one or two naira came into my pocket. I have been able to get corporate jobs by the virtue that I am a member of the association whom they see as working.

    Now, all these things I am telling you was just when I was a floor member in the Asaba Chapter. Now, my moving into the university has a lot to do with the alumni activity. The then vice chancellor, who is also an alumnus, just felt that this guy is a great organiser; he could also do one or two things for me. He wanted me to be the university’s P.R.O. He invited me and offered it on a platter, but I said that I did not want it. And they could not understand how they could be offering me such job and I was saying no. They gave me an appointment letter, but I said I did not want it. Based on the alumni activity too, when Zenith Bank came into Asaba, I was also offered a job there. They said that I should leave The Pointer and join Zenith Bank. I said no! That I preferred to be where I was. As president now, I have met people through the alumni association, whether they are alumni or they are not. So, there’s a lot of advantage.

    But, that should not be the motive or incentive. Old students need to get involved in the progress and development of their alma mater. I just think that those who show apathy to this responsibility are selfish. Honestly, I just think they are selfish. If there is any institution in Nigeria that ought not to be poor, it is UI. But some of the alumni of UI, I do not know. I think they are either selfish to themselves or they are wicked. But things are gradually changing. There are so many Uites too who think and breathe UI. They love UI so much. But I want to say that they are just one quarter. I am talking from experience. Three quarters are keeping to themselves.

    What’s UI alumni’s population?

    They are over 200,000, but the people who are active in the Alumni association are just a thousand, maybe two thousand in the whole country. They are not just there! But because we know we have the human resource. That is why the NEC of this association that it pleases God to let me lead now has evolved a scheme where we are thinking we are going to capture at least a hundred thousand alumni and then give them the task of giving us a thousand naira each year. Give us just one thousand which you would have used to take beer, and we will plough it back to the university. If you give the university N50 million every year from the Alumni association, UI will change, because I know the financial capacity of UI today. As a member of the governing council, I know that the University of Ibadan, in terms of finance, is walking a tight rope. But that is where the alumni association ought to come in.

    So, in the next few months, I intend shopping for the alumni wherever they are with cap in hands to beg that if it is N1,000 you give us, if we aggregate N1,000 from about hundred thousand persons altogether, you will know how much it will give us.

    That’s why we formed the University of Ibadan Alumni Trust fund. It is a 10 to 11 member- committee of great UItes to man that board as independent from the executives of the Alumni association. To manage the funds and then plough it back to the university. So I would use this opportunity to beg all Uites even friends of UI who can give us N1,000. We are not asking for more than N1,000. If you want to give us more than that one thousand naira, you can. I, Kemi Emina, I am not signatory to the account, so do not get worried we are going to embezzle your money. I am not a signatory to the account. Even if I am signatory to the account, I do not intend to tamper with it. The little money we have had, I believe I am opportune to have gone to one or two schools abroad to have one or two programmes carried out, and I found what the alumni of those universities have done.  I went to the University of California, Beckley. I was also at Portsmouth in UK. You see big buildings and this family or that family was said to be responsible for putting it up. You will say how come this big building? And you would see some that the alumni of the university built. Big structures! And I asked myself why can’t the University of Ibadan alumni do the same? Why can’t the alumni of the university come together and do something for the university so that people will see it as coming from the old boys and old girls?

    That informed why we chose to build the 54-bedroom PG hall of residence. But mind you, the Omolayoles, Dr. Michael Omolayole, who is the founder of alumni association in Nigeria, University of Ibadan, conceived building the PG hall. So, the idea of building the PG hall is not mine. I simply looked through the books and I found it there that there were plans to build a PG hall, but apparently, they could not do it at that time. So it just happened during my tenure. Like I said, I am not the brightest, but I am the luckiest. The project is completed and it was supposed to be commissioned by his Excellency, the President, in September, but because of one or two crisis…The PG hall is of 54 bedrooms, en-suite. That means it has a bedroom and it has a kitchen to encourage post graduate studies, especially if you know that UI is almost 60 per cent post graduate, 40 per cent undergraduate. We have built that, we will commission it and hand it over to the university authorities as our contribution to the growth of scholarship here in UI.

    Not only are we doing that, we are also providing scholarship for 26 brilliant students. We catch them from year one and it will be every year. And we also try to participate in university games. That is what the executive I lead now plans to do, because UI must lead. But with this novel project that we have, of which we are trying to get the alumni to give a thousand naira each, if we can get that off ground, we can say to Olayinka every year we are giving you N100 million to put into research and look for what will cure cancer. Put it into research and look for how we are going to drive malaria out of Nigeria. Put it into research and let us see how we can breed this or breed that. It will go a long way because we have the best of brains here, but we do not have the funds to carry out research. There are so many great Uites who God has blessed. Give us a little of what you have.

    I am pretty sure that the people who gave the little money we used in building the PG hall, if they come here tomorrow to see it, they would want to give us more. The highest budget we had for that building was N33 million and that project is also N250 million. So the next question is where did we get the other money? Some people gave us N1,000 each. One of them was an alumnus, Mrs. Folashade Ogunaike, who lives in Lagos. I am so happy talking about her. She went begging her friends and colleagues she could reach and she was collecting N1,000 each from them and she put down their names and sent them to me. That was part of the funds for the building you see. The big donors are the ones I said N33 million. We had N10 million, N5 million and others who gave one thousand naira. That is part of the building you see there. Now, what you will find in that building is 54 bedrooms en-suite, which are all completed. The place is fenced, we have borehole water and NEC decided that we should also energise the place by installing a transformer. But it has been built out of the N1, 000 we were able to gather from people.

    Mrs. Ogunaike did not give me just N1, 000 herself, she gave me more. She was able to rally her friends who gave N1, 000 each. I wish all Uites can be like her. We should just realise we owe the university this obligation, because UI has given so much to us all, we should give back. I met a Uite, a lady who is a professor in Benue State, we got talking and I asked her, ‘What are you going to do for us?’ And she asked what she could when she is just a teacher. I said look, I need a borehole at the Alumni Centre. Do you know that if you can aggregate N2,000 monthly and we put them together you would have given me half of the money in sinking a borehole? Then, she asked how much it costs to sink a borehole. I told her N500,000. And she said you mean N500,000? I said yes. Two months later, she sent N500,000 into the account. All she did what to send me a text that ‘My president, I have sent in the N500,000.’ That was what solved the alumni’s quest for water in the past three years.

  • ‘I was motivated by Nollywood to go into shoe business’

    ‘I was motivated by Nollywood to go into shoe business’

    Lagos-based business woman and fashion buff, Elvi Kioupouroglou, was full of excitement at her annual show, Sip & Shop party, at one of the event halls in Eko Hotels penultimate Sunday. On display for her shoe exhibition was an exotic range of shoes from top designers across the globe. There to sip and shop were top society ladies, including former Lagos First Lady Dame Abimbola Fashola, Chief Mrs. Florence Ita-Giwa, Nollywood actresses Kate Henshaw and Omotola Jalade, popular comedian Basket Mouth and top business women as well as men, many of who came with their wives. Kioupouroglou later granted PAUL UKPABIO an interview in which she revealed what it takes to run her leading online portal, ‘myworkshoes,’ and the challenges of fashion business in Nigeria. 

    A few days ago, you had an exhibition at Eko Hotel in Lagos. What was it all about?

    It was an opportunity to meet with our customers in a relaxed atmosphere, showcase our new stock and sell off at discounted prices.

    Is it something you do regularly or it was just a one-off thing?

    We host one Sip and Shop party every year.

    How long have you been in shoe business and how has it been over the years?

    We’ve been in the business for eight years, and it has been good.

    What has been the experience of selling online?

    The experience is getting better and easier. We are grateful to the success of A few days ago, you had an exhibition at Eko Hotel in Lagos. What was it all about?

    It was an opportunity to meet with our customers in a relaxed atmosphere, showcase our new stock and sell off at discounted prices.

    Is it something you do regularly or it was just a one-off thing?

    We host one Sip and Shop party every year.

    How long have you been in shoe business and how has it been over the years?

    We’ve been in the business for eight years, and it has been good.

    What has been the experience of selling online?

    The experience is getting better and easier. We are grateful to the success of Times have changed and we have to keep up with the times as technology is the future.

    We saw many top society ladies at your event. Are your products exclusive to them?

    My products are not exclusive to top society. Everyone loves original things.

    When was the first time you saw the most expensive shoe you ever wanted to have?

    That was in Milan, in 2009.

    How many shoes would you recommend for a lady?

    A lady should have as many as shoes in her wallet as she can afford, as long as she has a healthy spending habit relative to her wallet.

    How would you describe yourself?

    I love originality and I love the art of well-crafted shoes.

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

    Yes, it did.

    In what ways?

    I always read about Hollywood while growing up. That was what influenced my interest in fashion.

    Who would you say influenced you the most as a growing up child?

    My Dad influenced me most.

    Tell us about some of your fond memories of childhood?

    I was a bit of a Tomboy. And that should tell you a lot.

    What is your educational background?

    I had a BSc degree in Human Anatomy.

    What then led you into shoe business?

    It was my keen interest in Hollywood lifestyle that led me to shoe business. There’s a world of art in fashion that is involved in shoe making and business.

    How relevant are shoes to today’s woman?

    Good shoes can make a good impression.

    If you were to advise Nigerian women on how to take care of their shoes and feet, what would you say?

    Never wear tight shoes. Do not walk in heels you cannot manage. Avoid fake high-heeled shoes as you may injure your ankles.

    What future do you hope for the Nigerian Woman?

    I hope we have a future where we stop buying fake shoes.

    What is your normal day and weekend like?

    On a normal day, I work and take care of my children. At weekends, I take care of my home.

    How do you catch fun?

    I catch fun by going out with friends.

    And hobbies?

    My hobby is tennis.

    What does success mean to you?

    Success to me is getting to a level of business where you are confident and anxious for nothing.

    What advice would you give to women aspiring to become business women like you?

    Women should believe in themselves. A woman has to work very hard, and learn from her previous mistakes. If you fail, try again.

    What is married life like for you?

    My marriage is a loving friendship. We have a strong will to uplift each other for as long as we live.

    Do you really have time for the family, considering the demands and nature of your business which involves travelling?

    My business does not require traveling as such.

    What do you consider the secret of marriage success?

    It is faith, willingness by both parties to make it succeed and mutual respect.

    Do you still find time to do ladies’ things like cooking and so on?

    I cook every day.

    What kinds of clothe do you like wearing?

    I love clothes that show feminine silhouette.

    What determines the kind of clothe you wear on a particular day?

    That is determined by events and weather condition.

    What fashion accessories would you not do without?

    I cannot do without my earrings?

    What fashion item do you value the most?

    My shoes.

    If you were not in the business you are in now, what else would you have loved to be?

    I would have loved to be a pediatrician.

    How do you spend your holiday and which is your most memorable holiday?

    I always spend my holidays outside Nigeria with my kids. Every moment is memorable.

    Tell us about some of the countries you shop for your materials, and the peculiar things you like about those places.

    I shop in Italy, Greece, France, America and Spain. There are slight differences in style in each of these places, because of their culture.

  • ‘How we survived the bomb blasts that rocked our neighbourhood in 2002’

    ‘How we survived the bomb blasts that rocked our neighbourhood in 2002’

    At its highbrow location on Isaac John Street, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, Babessalam Home is not conspicuous because of its high walls. Until recently when the Lagos State Government insisted on a sign post, Babessalam Home operated quietly, offering charity without noise. Founded by the late oil mogul and philanthropist, Alhaji Wahab Iyanda Folawiyo, the home has impacted on the lives of many children, some of whom are today full fledged adults with families to cater for. And Babessalam Home is not just an orphanage but a dream home where orphans are offered luxury and some even attend schools abroad, paying fees that run into millions of naira per session. In this interview with PAUL UKPABIO, Babessalam’s Home Director, Imam Idris Hassan, says the dream of the founder was not to deny the children any comfort it can afford. 

    WHAT is Babessalam Home all about?

    It is one of the registered orphanages in Lagos State. Babessalam means door of peace. We take care of less privileged orphans.

    How long have you been in operation?

    The home was formally opened in December 1990. The population from time to time has been growing and fluctuating. But today, we can say that we have children who have passed through primary school to secondary school and then to the universities. Although at the university level they no longer stay at the home here, the home still finances their education. Some of them study outside Lagos while some study outside the country. We have those who have even finished their university education.

    Do you have some who have finished school and got married?

    Yes, we do have such record. Many of them have actually got married and now have their own children and families.

    If you have attended their weddings, how do you feel at such events?

    I feel like any other happy and proud parent.

    Now that some of them are grown up, are they giving anything back to the place?

    Yes, they do from where they are directly or indirectly. They have an alumni association now. They fund it themselves. They visit here from time to time.

    How does it feel to work here?

    It is a good feeling. My biological children come here regularly, and we all interact as one big family. In our own home here, the feeling among the children is the same feeling children outside here have with their parents and siblings elsewhere. Every other person is your brother and sister and the adults are your parents and family members. They wake up, attend to their usual morning duties, eat and leave for school. When they return, they attend to their homework. Their ages also determine what they do around here.

    Is their social life restricted?

    Honestly, this is like a normal home. The children here interact at school and here in their home. They are, for instance, one of the best in Karate in Lagos State. So, they go out to compete with other children on different platforms. Some have won medals in football and other competitions.

    Do you choose the school they want to attend?

    They choose for themselves. But for the younger ones, we chose. It all depends on the circumstances. We look at the interest of the child, because as parents, there are things we understand which a child may not.

    Are they open to scholarships?

    Yes, the window for that is always open. In a normal home, you need support here and there from other people, morally, financially and otherwise. But we do not have extraordinary situations. Sometimes like in every normal home, things go smoothly. At some other times, you are challenged. But we thank Allah for our situation.

    We learnt that some of your children here school abroad.

    Yes, they do. A child may receive scholarship to do so. At other times, the scholarship may not be total, which means we still have to support with feeding, accommodation and books. The scholarship could be for tuition. So if we have to assist, we do.

    What has been your experience in more than two decades of running the orphanage?

    Well, we have lots to be thankful for, especially the vision of the founder who was very supportive, the family and, more importantly, the children themselves who are the main yardstick for our own assessment. Many of them are not just taking care of themselves today but also taking care of families and building people. So many things you see around here that gives us cause to say Alhamdulilahi.

    At what point did you join Babessallam?

    That was in 1999.

    What brought you here?

    It was the desire to give my quota to the development of humanity. Like any right minded person, I felt the need to help the less privileged in our society, spiritually and materially. Religious wise, we have been enjoined to be supportive of the less privileged in the society, especially the orphans. The vision that caused the founder to set up Babessallam home was to give a home and good care to the orphans in our society; people who are left with no means of survival whatsoever.

    And who was the founder?

    The late Abdulwahab Iyanda Folawiyo.

    And this place has been managed by his family members?

    Well, it has got nothing to do with family members managing the place or people of his tribe managing the place. Just like the children here, it has nothing to do with tribe. It is more of humanitarian.

    What are your expectations from the children?

    Our expectations from them are the expectations that every father or guardian or family expects from their children. Our expectations for them is that they would be able to live a decent life.

    Do you have limitations on expenses or acquisition of luxury items you expose them to?

    There are no limitations. We provide for them whatever we can afford. We do not say because they are orphans they should not have something that they desire. We do not stop them from desiring what they want, nor do we hold them back from having what we can get for them. If we stop them from having a particular thing, it is for their own good. So, no matter how expensive what they desire is, if we see the necessity or need for them to have it, we get it for them.

    If we see the need for any of them to attend a school of N2 million per session, we arrange it for the child. We do not say because the child is here or because the child is an orphan, we deny the child. We actually have some of them here who attend such schools. My biological children do not attend schools that are that expensive. They do not even attend schools whose fees are a quarter of that amount. But that does not make me to think that the children in this orphanage do not deserve such, nor does it make me think that they should not get the luxuries they wish.

    If we have a child at the orphanage who needs to be sent to London for a surgery, we will not hold back and say because she is an orphan, we will not send her there. If what she needs is not available here, then we can go to any length to get it for her from somewhere else. So we do not have any limitation in what we provide for them. We can go to any length to ensure that the children in this orphanage have a better life. If we see a good opportunity for them, we allow them to have it.

    Now that the founder of this orphanage is long gone, does the family still support the orphanage in any way?

    Yes, they still do.

    If you were married at the point you took this job, how did your wife react to it?

    My wife has always been pleased with my job. She is actually very supportive. She has the same attitude and perception of life like I do. She is at home with what I am doing.

    Your job seems to me like a 24-hour job because you could be called upon at any time of the day…

    Yes, I know. But my wife understands that too. And that really doesn’t matter to her. As a matter of fact, it is a normal part of our normal everyday routine. She knows I love the work and she enjoys being supportive too. I know that with my job, I can be called at any time. There have actually been such cases whereby I would be called at odd hours. Actually, there are no restrictions to when I can be called. And I move at any time of the day. It is just like a father in a home. If you have to move at midnight to a hospital because your child is sick, you will move. You won’t even think twice about it.

    How does that affect your social life?

    It is normal. I still have a healthy social life. Again, like any father in a house, running the house does not affect a father’s social life. A father’s social life is actually tailored around the system in his home. Whatever socials his family’s system does not allow, he will not keep. So, I would say that my social life is normal in accordance with the time that I find available for me.

    How long have you been in Lagos?

    I have been in Lagos for the past 19 years and some months. But I am from Kogi State.

    What can you say about Lagos?

    Anywhere is good and anywhere is bad, depending on how you live your life. If you want to see the good side of a place, then live a good life. But if you live a carefree life, then it could be bad. But Lagos has been good to me. Lagos is a good place to live in when you truly understand the city.

    What is your motivating force apart from religion?

    It is the upbringing that I have that determined the kind of life pattern that I have today. If you are from a good family and you are determined to make an impact in the society, you will. I think what has also been paramount in my life is the upbringing that was passed down from our forefathers. That has been indeed impactful. Education goes a long way, but passion also helps. Taking care of the needs of others has its divine rewards. So a main factor also motivating me is that I see my work as a fulfilment of what the creator demands of me.

    What is your greatest virtue?

    That should be humility. My upbringing inspired me to be humble. I see and feel passion in what I do, and that is where I derive my happiness. Again, I relate my work to the will of Allah.

    Where do you see this orphanage in the next 10 years?

    It was someone who established this place. And many years after he has gone, the place is still vibrant, promising and building up people. So, I see it getting better and better. I am sure this place still has better days in future.

    What are the present challenges?

    We thank God that there are no extraordinary challenges. People come here and wonder how we cope. But then, over the years, we have been able to standardise our systems and get along. The major challenge we would have had is behavioural challenge. But we thank God that the children here are well behaved. So if you come here and see any child’s behaviour that you think is odd, you can at the same time be assured that it is also a behaviour that you can find among children outside of here.

    The children here are normal children. As their parents here, we correct them when they go astray and commend them when they do well. In correcting children here, we look and accept them from the prospecting of being our biological children because with a perception like that, it helps us to relate well with them and correct them in love. We do not over-amplify their errors.

    For instance, if a mother out there sees a strange pen in her daughter’s bag, she asks her daughter, ‘Why did you take somebody’s pen?’ And if the same mother sees her daughter’s pen in another child’s bag she will ask the child, ‘Why did you steal my daughter’s pen?’ Both are the same situation, but the words used and the interpretation are different. The woman used a different word for her daughter and a different word for the daughter’s friend. So we are cautious about the words we use for our children here.

    The challenges that we face here are the same challenges that children who live with their biological parents face. For instance though it never happens here, but let’s say the children here wake up on a particular day and there is no food to eat, it would not be new in the world because even in homes where children have their biological parents, such do happen. But we thank God that it doesn’t happen here. And if there are no school fees, as parents, you try and solve the problem. If a child is sick, as a parent, you take him or her to the hospital.

    Your work is that of service and you probably won’t be as wealthy as you would want to be considering the effort and time you put in here. How do you feel about that?

    Wealth is good, but contentment is even better. Success, to me, is contentment. If you are contented with what you have, you are already wealthy. Even the richest man still asks for more. You hardly meet anyone today who says what they have is okay or enough. But there are basic things that one needs in life. When you have that, you are okay. Some may desire to have 50 houses, but how many will they live in? Yes, I am wealthy because I am contented.

    How standard is your environment here at the orphanage?

    It is very standard. I can say that in Lagos, the environment here is one of the most expensive. Close to us here is the official residence of the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly. They deserve this and many other good things that come to them. They are special children. If we can afford school fees of N2 million for some of them, it certainly means that the issue of daily food or feeding is not a problem. If you cannot feed somebody, then you cannot even give the person such a privileged school opportunity. So if you have a way of creating such educational opportunity for the person, it means you have a way of creating opportunity for the person to have decent food, because food comes first.

    I can see that you have received awards in the last couple of years…

    Yes, the awards come from organisations and schools where our children here excelled in various fields. We have award of commendation some years back from GRA Residents Association. There is an award that we have got consistently over the years from one of the children’s schools, and another one from an Islamic foundation. That was this year.

    What qualifies a child to be accepted here?

    The child must be an orphan and at the same time less privileged. That is because you cannot be looking for assistance for someone who does not need assistance.

    Does it mean that it is only orphans who are less privileged and discovered by your orphanage that can be accepted here?

    Not necessarily. We receive orphans even from government agencies. Individuals and organization may make the first move before we get involved.

    There are people who abandon their babies and children. What advice do you have for such people or people who are in such desperate moments and are thinking of such?

    What I can say is that they should pull themselves together. Whatever challenge they are going through cannot be forever. There are people who when they face a difficult situation, they just break down. That shouldn’t be. They need to pull themselves together, think properly and consult the right people before taking action, because in most cases, they will later come around to blame themselves and regret their desperate action.

    For instance, during the Ikeja Cantonment bomb blast, many people lost their lives because they were confused and ran helter-skelter without knowing what was pursuing them. It is unfortunate that young people are not taking religious teachings seriously. In Islam, for instance, a lady is not supposed to get pregnant without being married. Even in Christianity too. So if we comply with this doctrine and religious standard, before a pregnancy comes, there will be a man in the picture who will be responsible for the pregnancy, and everyone would have already known the father of the expected baby. But the situation we have in our society these days is that, a lady is already delivered of a baby before we start asking her who the father of the baby is. And in most situations, the lady herself does not even know or is sure of who the father of the baby is. So, in such a situation, the lady is not prepared for the challenges of having and keeping a baby.

    There is also societal neglect of children and wards by parents as they are growing. So there are issues and factors that lead to all these things, and we all have to come together to look into them and reduce them through religious ties, community responsibility and enlightenment. A mother should not give birth to a child and then go and dump the same child in a refuse bin or market place or any other place that is hazardous to the child.

    So during the bomb blast, how did you handle the situation?

    We were all here and none of us was hurt despite the fact that we are close to the cantonment. We however gathered ourselves together and moved out of our buildings to an open space. But those who were even further than here ran in confusion and fell into canals.

    Have you had a case where a young mother dumped her child and you later picked it up only for her to surface after some years to demand for her child?

    We haven’t had such a case. But sincerely speaking, there is nothing wrong in that. In such a situation, all we would do would be to think through what will be the best thing to do at that moment, in the best interest of the child, not the mother. Everybody has their focus. But for us, at that point, the child is the focus. As an orphanage operator, I know what I am looking for. Our focus is protecting the interest of the child.

    What is your advice to the public?

    My advice would be that we be our brother’s keeper. Whatever assistance you can give to the people around you, do it. Most times, we do not help our neighbours. We think more of hurting them than helping them.

    Also to our younger ones, I will advise that they stay off vices. Here we try as much as possible to make sure they are enlightened about vices and they are urged to leave responsible lives. That is because you cannot offer what you do not have. If you are not responsible, you cannot make somebody else responsible. If you are not God-conscious, you can hardly make somebody else to be God-conscious.

    We make them to have self-esteem here, at school and every other place. We also make them to understand that what makes them to be called orphans is not crime. Anybody that loses his parents is called an orphan. Everybody will lose their parents at some point; the only difference is that their parents died much earlier. We all will be orphans at some points in our lives. It is a normal thing.

  • I stayed alone for four years to avoid distractions —Oduduwa varsity’s best graduating student

    I stayed alone for four years to avoid distractions —Oduduwa varsity’s best graduating student

    Ibraheem Kabir Adeyemi, a graduate of Computer Science from Oduduwa University, Ipetumodu (OUI), Osun State with a cumulative grade point average (CPGA) of 4.94, emerged the best graduating student at the 5th convocation ceremony of the university recently. Twenty-year-old Adeyemi, who claimed to have lived a “triangular lifestyle” in his days at the university, spoke to GBENGA ADERANTI about the secrets of his academic success, among other issues.

    YOU have just emerged the best graduating student of Oduduwa University. What was your CPGA?

    I graduated with a CGPA of 4.94.

    Why did you choose Oduduwa University?

    I chose Oduduwa University because I could see the potential in the school. Being a relatively young university, the kind of structures which the school management had been able to put together in such a short period of time, really impressed me. I also had a family friend who graduated from there, and he really convinced me that the standard of teaching was excellent. He got a scholarship to study in the UK after he finished.

    How many times did you sit for university entrance examination before you got admission into OUI?

    I sat for the Joint Matriculation Examination (UME) once before I got admission into OUI, though OUI was not my first choice.

    How was the experience waiting for admission?

    Waiting for admission was a real turning point for me. That was the point I realised that in life, you can only depend on yourself for support, and you will only get what you work hard for in life. I was really anxious during that period, but I thank God everything worked out for the better.

    At what point did you decide to apply for admission into OUI?

    I decided to apply to OUI as my backup school in case my first choice school did not work out. Though I was picked in my first choice school, I was not given the course I wanted. OUI gave me the chance to achieve my dreams and took it.

    What were the reactions of your parents when you told them you were going to study at OUI?

    My parents were really supportive of my choice. They understood that it was what I wanted. I had to convince some of my siblings, because I come from a very big family and my parents always encouraged us to share ideas with each other.

    What was your preferred course and why?

    My preferred course is Computer Science because I have always had a flare for computing as a kid. I always had interest in how this device has been able to revolutionise the world as we know it. Growing up, my uncle had a cyber cafe where I would go every weekend. He would allow me to surf the web, play games and solve problems online. I guess that is where I first developed my love for computing.

    What were your experiences at the university?

    My experiences in Oduduwa University were really memorable. I had lot of good experiences in the school. I guess my best experience was going to check my result at the end of each semester. Most of the time, I  knew I was going to have all As, so it was self gratifying for me because I believed that all my hard work for the semester had not been in vain.

    I guess my worst experience was in my third year. I lost one of my very close friends. It was a really tough period because i didn’t have a lot of friends. So, losing one of them really made me sad.

    How did you manage to come tops in the school, considering the distractions one faces as an undergraduate?

    When I resumed in my first year, i had my mind set on being the best that I could be.  I made up my mind that what was important was my studies only, and I was not going to allow anything hinder me from achieving my goals, no matter what. I had friends, but I have always been blessed with the ability to see through people.

    I always knew when someone was a good influence or not, and I thank God for the few friends I had in school. My resolute rectangular life (class, hostel, mosque and library) kept me away from all forms of distractions. I always stayed alone throughout my four years, because I enjoyed my privacy a lot.

    At what point did you resolve that you were going to be the best graduating student?

    That would be in my third year. I met this lecturer who took a real interest in me. He made me to realise that although I was a really brilliant student, being brilliant is not enough to achieve success in life. There is a difference between being able to excel in academics and being able to excel in life. He explained to me what it takes to be a computer scientist and the need to excel in whatever I lay my hands on.

    How did you achieve this feat?

    Hard work, God’s favour and determination really helped in achieving my goals. I also gained a lot from tutoring other students, because this helped me in refreshing the things I had read a long time ago and also made me recognise the aspects I needed to improve on.

    Tell me the challenges you faced as an undergraduate of OUI?

    I faced a lot of challenges as an undergraduate, but with God’s help and grace, I was able to overcome them. One of the most important was changing the general cliche that smart people are not sociable. I engaged in other projects apart from academic work and picked up other hobbies apart from reading. I thank God I was able to balance them all.

    What were the factors that helped you to come tops?

    I would say the major factor was being resolute. I was extremely determined to achieve my objectives, no matter what, and this helped me a lot in achieving my goal.

    Do you have any plan to lecture in the school?

    considering the fact that the institution is willing to absorb its best students?

    If given the chance to, I would like to impact knowledge and I would also like to apply my skills in the emerging start-up sphere in Nigeria in order to make our country a better place. I have a secret passion in helping others achieve their goals. That is why my friend and I are launching an online tutoring platform where students can meet capable tutors in various skills they have interest in, such as programming, academics and the likes.

    What is that thing about OUI that you are not going to forget in a hurry?

    It has to be the lecturers. I met lecturers who changed my orientation and made me think differently every day. The mosque too. It was always my safe haven; always very quiet and serene.

    How easy was it for your parents to pay your school fees?

    My father is a businessman and my mum is a retired teacher. My parents are the most remarkable people even though they don’t have much. They are willing to do anything for their children so far as it is for their education. it was not easy but they always found a way. I thank God for them.

    Was there a time you felt like quitting the institution?

    Not really. My understanding of education as a whole changed a lot when I went for internship. I realised that especially in the field of IT, most of the skills you require are in the outside world; they are not taught in the classroom. Even people who are not IT majors can pick up those skills and become more relevant. I realised that I had to be focused on academics and also learn relevant skills like programming and the likes in order to be relevant in the industry.

    What is your plan for the future?

    I would like to be successful.