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Category: Saturday Interview

  • What attracted me to my husband – Ex-Interior Minister’s wife Safiya Demola Seriki

    What attracted me to my husband – Ex-Interior Minister’s wife Safiya Demola Seriki

    Barrister Omosholape Safiya Demola Seriki is a woman of many parts. A technocrat, business woman, motivational speaker, an IT consultant and a devout muslim. The former Assistant Director at the Bureau of Public Enterprise under ex FCT Minister, Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai, is one of the first brains to import internet technology into Nigeria. Blessed with a good brain coupled with a British diction, Omosholape became an Assistant Director at the BPE at a very young age of 26. Among other vocations, Omosholape has taken over her mother’s once thriving fabrics and general provisions business on Allen Avenue, Ikeja. The Niger State-born beauty is the Chief Executive Officer of Demani Bisket Stores Ltd., which is into whole sale of Swiss Voil, French lace, Polish lace for men, Oganza, Aso-Oke, Chantilly lace and other accessories of fashion and style.  In this interview with PAUL UKPABIO, she speaks on life as the child of the famous Mrs. Bisi Dan Musa of the Bisket Stores fame and Alhaji Mohammed Shaba of defunct Nigerian Airways. She also speaks on what attracted her to her husband, Demola Seriki, an ex Interior Minister and life working with Mallam el- Rufai.

    You have a father from Niger State and a mother from Ogun State, how was growing up with such parents of diverse cultural background? Was there room for rivalry of cultures?

    Not at all because I was mainly in Lagos, everybody spoke English. And again, I did a bit of my university education at Ahmadu Bello University. I was able to appreciate the northern culture much better. I think I am lucky all the way round because I have a group in the North and I have a group in the South. So, anywhere I want to flow, I flow.

    Tell us about your father, Alhaji Mohammed Shaba of the Nigerian Airways fame?

    He is a very nice man. He worked with the Nigerian Airways for many years. That was the period of national pride. And till today, anywhere you go, people always have nice things to say about him. That is because in the past, there were many Nigerian students that were stranded, people he helped put on flight. We had women that were stranded with their kids. He met them and gave them an act of charity. So in line of duty, he had been able to help so many people and at the same time, I think he got a lot of fame then because it was a national carrier and there were very few pilots in their little clique.

    Well, I think we spent time with both parents. But he is very laid back; he is not as strict as my mum. You could ask for money or something and he gives you without questioning your demand. But my mum will say: ‘Listen, you have to give them something that makes sense, don’t destroy them’. So both of them would always have a meeting and whatever meeting they had, if my mum said it this way, he would go the other way sometimes. And at times when she went her way, we would bully him and say: ‘Listen dad, is it because mummy has told you this? Is that why you are changing your mind?’ And he will always apologise and say ‘no, no, no it is not like that’.

    It was just interesting because I think he just left all the scolding and everything to her. He was just a cool dad but one thing with him was that he supported my mum in the area of career choices when we wanted to go into the university. We were 14 when we wanted to take our GCSE. We told him we wanted to try it and he was a bit reserved because he feared that we might not pass. But my mum said: ‘If they pass, they pass. No harm in trying’. So they agreed and paid and we did our GCSE at 14. I got into ABU at 15. Then, if you were not 16 by September, they sent you back. But I was lucky, I just survived it.

    How many of you?

    We are seven, I am the second child. I have an elder sister. I also have younger sisters who are in the entertainment industry. We grew up in a strict environment in the sense that on holidays, we had to work. We had to always be in the shop. So, that was where we played. Mom didn’t allow us to go out. She would say: ‘Anybody who wants to visit you can come; you can give them as much biscuit, sweet and chocolate (laughter)’. So, people liked coming to visit. She wouldn’t let us go anywhere, even parties. I remember a time we returned from America and everyone was like ‘oh, new kids in town. Here is invitation, here is this and that’; we were excited but she said: ‘You are not going to any of them’. And we were saying: ‘Can this be real?’ But she didn’t let us go. That is why when people say she is a socialite, they get it wrong. She is a socialite because of her work. But she was not into parties.

    When we were growing up, I always spent time with my grandmother (Late Chief Mrs. Christianah Alaba Okeowo) and she was always in her shop as well. She was one of those who started the fabric business in Lagos. She used the fabric business to leverage on so many other things; she built properties, bought lands and became big in real estate. She was one of my best friends because she was born on my birthday, which is 21st of September.

    Who do you take after?

    I knew my mom to be a workaholic. In England, if they were loading her container, if they don’t pack it well, she will enter the container in the cold. Then, if she enters, you have to jump in to assist her because you can’t watch her do it. And when she is buying or doing things, we follow her. So, you have to be there, you work and learn alongside with her. And when containers arrive and they are off-loading in Nigeria, you know you ha ve to be there. As she is working, you have to join her. You must work hard in the early hours of the day and you could eat later. But you would be so much engrossed with working that you could even forget your meals at times. At 13 and 14, my mum was sending me to the shop. I was like a supervisor. And I would try to pretend to be ‘proper’ because I wanted them to respect me. There were certain things I couldn’t do in front of them because I knew that they would copy. So, it was that kind of leadership trait that I imbibed.

    There was a joke one particular holiday, we all said to mom: ‘You know what? We have been working so hard, how much do you think you can pay us per month?’ And she said: ‘But you guys don’t have GCSE certificate, so I think you deserve only N500 per month’. And we said: ‘How much is this N500? We can buy a drink or two and everything is gone’. She was like ‘Ok, but you guys don’t have any qualification to get anything more than that’. So, that day, she did a dummy pay packet for us and actually gave us envelopes with N500 each in it, which was quite funny.

    Your mom had a philanthropic side, she was into rehabilitating destitute persons and giving them a new life. She did this for a long time until she ran into crisis for being good. What lesson did you learn from your mum’s philanthropic nature?

    Well, I think from the onset, my mom has always loved to have people around her. She was even paying her friends’ children’s school fees which I couldn’t understand because they could afford it. But she just enjoys doing it. She likes people around her and we were forced to live with that reality. I think it is from loving people around her that she now thought that there were other people out there who were not privileged, that if she brought them in and reform them, they could experience a better life and change. What people don’t know was the fact that it was an emotional offshoot of losing a child. My brother died and to her, that was the worst experience she could ever had. And she was like ‘Ok God, I will take care of other people’s children but you must take care of my own.’ That was her deal with God over my brother’s death and she started doing that and took it to another level.

    Was your late brother her only son?

    No, I have another brother. That is my late brother’s picture over there (points at a framed picture at the entrance of her office). His name is Tunde, he spent a very little time on earth because he died at 14. He was very interesting and he had so many friends and so many associates at that small age; like Alhaji Lai Mohammed’s son, Jimmy, who still talks about him till date. Jimmy will say Tunde is my best friend, I lost my best friend and that is why all of you are my sisters. This family is my family because anytime I see you, I remember Tunde because he was so good to me, he was my friend. Very funny, his friends still remember him till date. He spent a very short time but he had so much impact on many people.

     

    How did you meet and fall in love with your husband, the former Interior Minister, Prince Demola Seriki? And can you tell us about motherhood and marriage experience?

    Well motherhood, marriage life is fantastic. It is a blessing to be a mother and be married because, they say marriages are written from heaven. That it is God who chooses your spouse for you; no matter how much you try to evade reality, God chooses your spouse for you. So, Alihamdulilai, thank God for the life of my husband. Being a married woman and being a mother is basically trying to balance things and reforming your philosophy; about what you want to imbibe in your home. The first thing has to be God because the holy book says that before you die, you must ensure that you make your children know who God is. That is the only thing you have when you die, children that pray, that will be praying for you in your death. Once you put that foundation right for them, it helps them in life to sail through.

    So, what was the attraction to your husband, and was it while you were in government or after?

    It was after government. Well, what attracted me to him was the fact that he was a muslim. He loves God. Before he ends the night, he likes reading through the Quran. It was a priority for me that I marry someone with the same religion for the sake of the foundation so that we won’t have conflict.

    You are such a charming couple…

    Alihamdulilai! It is through the grace of God. It’s by the grace of God that we were meant to get married and we were meant to be. So, with everything, I put my mind to doing everything I can do to make my home run well. I try to understand his own needs and once I understand his own needs, I make sure that first thing in the morning, everything that he needs; I make sure that I do them. So, there is no fault on my side. Even at work, I try to understand both his likes and dislikes. And I try and read books on home making every day. So, I give my best in anything and leave the rest to God.

    What is your philosophy of life?

    I let God direct my life. I leave it to God. Every day, I pray to God. There are times you pray more, there are times you pray less. But there must be prayer so that God will dictate and direct. I create time to mentor my children and give them their own happiness. Their happiness makes me to be happy. But you need to give them the biggest legacy. Looking at my own grand mum with the quality training she gave my mum and which was transferred down to us, I look at great families and how they were able to raise great children to manage their legacies. For instance, I look at Subomi Balogun and I often read his own achievements like a book. He has been able to create a successful institution which he handed over to a great and disciplined child. He has been able to get a second generation. So you can see there is a level of discipline. That is what Subomi Balogun has done with his kids- successful transition. I look at the Aliko Dangotes, successful people with level-headed children taking after them in various endeavours. The Bola Ajibola clan is fantastic, seven great lawyers, a SAN and a federal High Court Judge. That is discipline. That is what I want for my children: A legacy of prudence, hard work, humility and enterprise.

    How many of them?

    I have two; I have Amani Aderinsola Adunola and my son, Ademola Abdulrasaq Atanda (Jnr)

    You are such a beautiful lady, fascinating like your mum, how have you been able to keep your beauty?

    Point of correction; my mum is actually more beautiful. She is a very beautiful woman; and no exaggeration. We took it for granted for many years and from time to time, you sit down next to her and a lot of people will pass and say ‘your mummy is so fine, she is so beautiful’ and you keep wondering what are they seeing. She is really, really a beautiful woman. So, it is from her we got our gene. But above all the analysis, beauty is given to you by God. God is the owner of all beauties and He gives people for a reason and if you misuse your reason, then you have to account in heaven.

    You studied law as a first degree and then IT for your Masters, two extremes in the arts and sciences. How did you do this?

    Well, my going to study law was actually from my mother. When I was young, I would argue about almost everything and she was like ‘Oh, you have to be a lawyer’. And I was like ‘No, I want to go and study business because I want to be a business woman’ and my mother will say to me ‘Why are you going to study business administration? In Yoruba, we don’t respect such a discipline. It is not a profession. Business Administration is not a profession; so, it is very impressive that you dump that and go and study law. When I came back from England to sit for my exams to Ahmadu Bello University, I noticed that my dad (Alhaji Mohammed Shaba) had filled in law and I got into ABU to study law. Then, reluctantly I started attending classes. And before I knew it, there were sporadic strike actions. I had to go back to England because there were too many strike actions.

    In England, I had the option to actually change it. But since I had started studying law in Nigeria and I actually found it interesting, I enrolled to study law in England. So I studied law as my first degree but towards the end when I was finishing, IT was becoming famous in Europe. There was a boom in IT in the UK and technology generally became the currency of career development and I was curious, meeting so many people that were into IT. I was supposed to go into patent law and I said ‘Ok, fine, the world is going to need lawyers that need to understand IT in order to be able to protect a lot of patent and infringement’. I studied infringement law at the university. So, I said ‘Ok, fine’. I now went to do a course on oracle that was data base development. I said ‘Let me just do this three months’ course, if it makes sense, then I will probably do my masters in IT’. But while doing the course for few months I found it very interesting. So, I now said, ‘Ok, you know what? This is interesting’.

    Even in those early years in England, you were earning 30,000 pounds per annum. Where was that?

    That was EGG Banking (England). The Scottish Widows Investment was my second job. So, immediately I applied, I started contracting. I became a contractor because there were lots of men in the industry and they used to laugh at me. I like serious-minded people and these guys came from nowhere and you will see them holding meetings in the UK. They will sit down on Saturdays when everybody was partying and they will hold meetings on what next for the industry; where are we going to? What skill do you have? What can we do together? What did you learn in your office? What can you bring on the table?

    These guys were really brain storming and the way they were thinking was really interesting. But then, they will make fun of me; they will say what are you doing here? I found it interesting you know. So, at that time I was contracting and my mom was like ‘you can’t stay in London forever, you have to come back to Nigeria’. She kept saying that to me and I was like ‘okay, when I get a break, I will come’ and then, I got a break. That was in 2002 or thereabout. I came home and my mother said, ‘Listen, you have to get a job’ and I was like ‘I am not going to get a job for the sake of getting a job’. I don’t believe in it, If I am going to do something, I want to deliver. Do something that is very impactful because down there in the UK, I never thought I could survive it and I conquered, so what next? So, she tried to convince me that ‘oh, Nigeria is not like that, you have to keep your fingers crossed’. I said okay and believe me, I got offers but I insisted that I was not going to take a job for the sake of taking a job.

    Is that how you met and worked with Mallam Nasir el-Rufai?

    Then I had a meeting with someone because my mum was always saying to people: ‘Oh, this is my daughter, she is good at this and that’; and someone will come and say, ‘There is an opening for you in that bank’ and I will say ‘ok, don’t bother. I want a job that will really challenge me’. That was when someone heard about me and the person now said: ‘Oh, come to the Presidency, we can get you a job’. And I was like ‘No, I don’t want to work for the sake of working’. Then someone else was passing and the person heard and said: ‘Oh, we know the kind of person that will be looking for someone like you—Nasiru el-Rufai. He said you need to have a meeting with el-Rufai. Before then I had never heard of Nasir el-Rufai. It was in Abuja, and then they told me to go I said no. So, they called me and said: ‘We told you to go’ and I said yes, but you didn’t book an appointment.’ And they said ‘Ah, ah, why are you so English?’. It was Dr. (Aliyu) Modibbo then. He was then SA to President Olusegun Obasanjo and he eventually became Minister (FCT) twice after then. So, he was like ‘you are too English, what is wrong with you? That they are waiting for you, Ok, now can you go? They are waiting for you’. So, I said: ‘Fine’. So, I went. Then el-Rufai said ‘sit down’ and we chatted and did everything; and he said ‘Ok, I am looking for people like you bla-bla-bla. And I said ‘ok, I can come and do some things. He said: ‘No, you can’t come and go. You have to work here 9-5. He said: ‘I want commitment, I am not looking for consultants, I want in-house people. I want to build in-house capacity’. That is what I want. He now said: ‘The only problem now is that you people from London, you want to get paid the way you are paid in the UK’ and I said: ‘Yes, sir, I have built that reputation and I have an on-going career over there’. And he was like ‘ok, we have a programme with World Bank and with UNDP and USAID. And because they engage a lot of Nigerians in Diaspora, so you would fit in’ and I was like ‘Okay, Fine!’. But he now said: ‘It could take some time’ and I was thinking for how long? And he was like it could take a few weeks and I was like ‘Listen, I booked my ticket, it is going to expire and I need to get back to the UK. And he said he would see what he can do but please, ‘let’s talk from time to time. But why don’t you come and work and then, eventually, your salary would be sorted out?’ He said: ‘If I see you every day, I will remember’. But if you go back to the UK, that is it’. I said: ‘Ok, I will think about it.’ He told me: ‘Ok, give me two weeks, we are still in talks with the World Bank’. So, I kept faith with him. It was almost the weekend before my ticket expired and I had several meetings and people were like it is not possible, there is going to be Nigerian factor, you might not get it after all’. Then I now called Nasir and I said, ‘excuse me, my ticket is going to expire’. And he said ‘oh, I am in Lagos, if you can wait I will see you when I return and I was like ‘sir, my ticket is about to expire, I have to go back to the UK and he said: ‘You know what? Can you trust me?’, and he said: ‘Go and start work. We would be able to sort something out. You just have to trust because if you go, that is it’. He said: ‘We have already had talks with them but whatever we can afford, even if it is just to pay for your food and things like that, don’t worry. We would sort it out’. So, that was how, basically I started working with Nasir el-Rufai at the BPE.

    What was the real motivation behind your conviction that working with Nasir el-Rufai was the best choice?

    I think my mum didn’t want me to go back, and then I spoke to other like minds and they were like ‘well, it is a growing opportunity’; that Nigeria things don’t just work out that way, you cannot just look at it from one side; that yes, you can make money in the UK, you can end up with a two million pounds portfolio but you are still a second class citizen but at home, it may take a slower space but the fact remains that you are at home. You are part of the system and that is what is most important, because if you are not part of the system and you leave, you won’t be able to get back. So, don’t look at the money. Just be focused and then BPE, you are even lucky, so many people want to get in there. Nasir (el-Rufai) doesn’t hire anybody. So, you are very lucky. They were like ‘you are lucky, you are lucky, you know’. And I remembered then, we all used to meet at British Council (Abuja) Roof top. There we would have different lectures, discussions and some people would be like ‘oh, what are your doing? Are you staying here now? and I will be like yes’ and someone will be like ‘yeah, she has gotten a job with el-Rufai’ and they will be like ‘Oh, it is somebody like her he hires, once they can speak English, and they have diction with a heavy resume (laughter); that he just want people like that, that once he sees their resume, that they have delivered this, delivered that, he would hire the person. So there was that joke always passed around about me and people were like ‘you are just lucky, you shouldn’t miss this opportunity’. And my mum also put a lot of pressure on me; so, I had no reason to leave for London any more, I had to get my sister to get all my (English) suits and send them down home and I eventually resumed work at the BPE. That was it.

    Was there a culture shock since you never really liked to work in Nigeria in the first instance, considering your background as someone that worked with multi-racial crowd in the UK?

    The culture shock was not too pronounced. First of all, the environment was very good. BPE under Nasir, Mrs. Irene Chigbue and Bala was a fantastic experience altogether. BPE under Nasir, when you were in there, you wouldn’t know you are in Nigeria. Not that Nigeria is bad but these guys made sure that the money that was set aside to make staff comfortable was really spent on what it was meant for. The whole place was comfortable; from the driveway, everywhere was neat, everywhere was clean. Everybody had their own computer. And in terms of commitment from management, the dedication was hundred percent.

  • Why Jonathan can’t declare for 2015 presidential race now

    Why Jonathan can’t declare for 2015 presidential race now

    The ever youthful, ageless and daring Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, was in his elements on Monday when he hosted a team of journalists to a no-hold-barred interactive session at the Kano State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja. YUSUF ALLI, Managing Editor, Northern Operation, captures his mood.

    WHAT is your take on the invitation of the new PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Muazu, to you and four others to return to the party?

    Let me start by welcoming you to the Kano Governor’s Lodge here in Abuja and to also thank you for the way and manner many of you are conducting yourselves in supporting our democracy. I think that is good and we on our side as politicians will continue to do whatever we can to ensure peace and stability of this country.

    On the issue of PDP, let me congratulate Ahmed Mu’azu for becoming the chairman of the PDP. He is yet to come to me, but I know eventually we will meet, even if it means him coming to tell me that he was elected to be the chairman of the PDP. He may probably ask me to go back to the party. I think he should also know, and everybody should know, that it took us many years, from 1998 to 2013, to be in PDP and worked so hard for the party to succeed, and also benefited a lot from the party.

    People must know that it was very painful for us to leave the party. Now that we left the party, because we are people with a lot of supporters, many supporters, not only in Kano but across the country; we took a lot of time to make consultations to leave PDP for APC. Going back to PDP can even take a longer time.

    Isn’t Bamanga Tukur’s exit an olive branch?

    But the issue is, for me, I have never told anybody about the way and manner Tukur was handling PDP, because I am conversant with the relationship between the president and the chairman of the PDP. I know very well that whatever Tukur was doing was not just initiated and executed by him. Whatever he was doing, he must have been consulting the president for saying or doing anything during his time.

    Now that things have backfired, whatever was remaining was not rightful, therefore they saw the need to change him. I’m happy now for them that they now have Ahmed Mu’azu. For me, Mu’azu and Bamanga Tukur have similarities. One, they’re both form the North-Eastern Nigeria, and you know what is happening in the North-East now in terms of security, economy, socio-economic activities in those states.

    I don’t think anybody in this country, not only in the North-Eastern Nigeria, but all Nigerians who are conversant with what is happening, can ever be happy, and by extension, they cannot be happy with this administration. The two of them are, of course, Hausa-Fulani. The two of them were businessmen before coming into politics. The two of them, I believe, cannot support, right deep in their hearts, they can never support the candidature of President Goodluck Jonathan, especially now that he is preparing to contest for the third term. I’m sure by extension, other Nigerians will kick against third term, whether by any other person. Third term is a taboo.

    Do you say third term or second term aspiration for the President?

    Of course to us, their term started in 2007. He was two years vice president; he was two years president. 2011 to 2015 will be four years, so if you add the two, whether you want to say eight years or six years depends on who is doing the arithmetic.

    But for them, they are pretending that they started in 2011. I saw them talking about it on the television, that they are just two and half years old in government. They started long before 2011, almost two years. I am not a lawyer, but I kept on seeing eight years everywhere, and two plus six plus four cannot be eight, that is if you don’t consider his days as vice-president or acting President.

    Even from 2015 to 2019 under normal circumstances, they are looking for extending the four-year term to six years. So, you can see how the extension keeps on moving on and on.

    What is wrong with Jonathan’s re-election bid?

    Under normal circumstances, many people won’t worry, especially if the economy, if the security, if the development of the country are moving very well. Unfortunately, we all know what is happening. The economy is not good; the security is not good, especially in the North-East and many parts of the North, and I think this is the time for Mr. President, the Commander-in-Chief to come out and do the right thing. The right thing is to come out sincerely to either negotiate or fight what is happening in the North-East and others. I think the days of pretence should be over. I am surprised that many of the ones that we were able to talk to, they understand us that many people are not serious in fighting the criminality that is happening in the North-East and other parts of the North, because some of them are saying that, na dem dem.’ I don’t think that if you’re a governor, everything in your state is your own, not owned by ‘dem dem.’

    If you’re a president, everything should be managed in such a way that there will be security of lives and property. This issue of security and that of the economy are very important; the issue of education is very important. I remember when there were some real security issues in the South-South, the then President Umaru Yar’Adua, had to come up with a programme, whereby the young men and women who were into that were being asked to come and put down their arms and ammunition for better programme. I think the programme is still on there.

    I think Federal Government also has to come up with something, not only for those who are committing and disturbing peace; they have to come up with something for those in the North-Eastern Nigeria. I am not from the North-East; I am from the North-West. We’re poor, but I can say that the North-East is very poor, and I think somebody has to do something about it.

    The issue is not allocating N2 billion in the budget; I think the issue is beyond the budget. Some of these things can start from any corner or part of the country. But if they’re not handled properly, they can spread across the country. We’re very lucky that we’re very friendly with Cameroon, Niger and Chad, so I think there is need for better action.

    We have to make sure that there is peace not only in Nigeria but also in their countries, because if you look at the North-Eastern Nigeria, where all these countries meet, especially around Chad Basin, you can see that there is need for a closer working relationship with these four countries. Fortunately and coincidentally, that is where some of these security issues are happening. We need to do more on that particular security issue. We need to do more on the issue of fighting drugs. Drugs must be fought; drug barons and all those who are into it must be fought at all levels, at federal, state and local government levels. There is always a relationship between drugs and criminality.

    As a former Minister of Defence, we have a new Chief of Defence Staff who said latest by April, we’ll forget about insurgency in the North-East. From your own experience, do you buy into this, because you’re still talking about negotiation?

    You see, the Nigerian military are well-trained and very competent, but what requires now is their welfare; give them the required arms and ammunition. Once that is done, and if there is political will, especially from the Commander-in-Chief, with the right rules of engagement, that is really possible.

    But you see, it has always been possible to stop what was happening within similar short period of time in the past, but I think the issue, in my understanding, is the political will to do so. What we’re doing now is not the option. The two options that we have now, on one hand, are negotiations and agreement for those concerned to put down their arms and ammunition. On the other hand, the second option is for the Federal Government to use whatever it can to ensure there is peace in that region.

    I have no doubt in my mind, as a former Minister of Defence, that they (the military) have the capability; they have the wherewithal to deal with the situation. I think what it requires now is the real mobilisation to ensure that there is peace in that corner of Nigeria.

    From your analysis, what advice will you give President Goodluck Jonathan? Should he forget about contesting in 2015? Is he not qualified?

    From what I know, if you’re talking of being president for eight years in this country, he is not qualified. But I am not a lawyer, and I am not taking it from the angle of law. Others will do that. For those of us who are politicians, we will take it from the angle of public court. Third term is not acceptable in this country, and a term limit must be respected, not only in Nigeria but across other countries.

    Look, I was governor from 1999 to 2003 in Kano State. Eight years after, that was 2011, I came back. So many people came to me and said ‘go to court.’ In fact, many other people were interested in going to court on my behalf, to Supreme Court, to get interpretation, because in their opinion, I still have a chance of contesting election again in 2015, depending on the pronouncement of the Supreme Court.

    But the fact of the matter is whether you’re good or bad, you’re not alone. You have to keep on moving. Life is dynamic. I have been in the Kano system then in the PDP from 1998 to 2011 when I contested election and up till now. Before then, I was also in other parties, especially in DPN. I dominated the party, and I think to a large extent, in the country in terms of who became governor in those days.

    You cannot say that I was governor for four years, and now because I was outside, I want to do another two terms. To me, that is extension of term limit. That has never been accepted anywhere. In politics, what is permanent is change. We have to accept change; we have to keep on moving since life is dynamic. What even worries us, and that is one of the major reasons why I left the party, is non-appreciation of the mood of the people.

    Nigerian people are looking for change, and probably that was why APC decided to say it will seek change. That change is very crucial; it is very important. People want change in this country. There’re so many things that are going wrong, and the worst is that those who should listen are finding it difficult to listen; to even understand, to have the capacity to appreciate the circumstances, the situation that we are in. That is a huge problem.

    Whoever comes out to advise them, they will send their aides to go and say they should be taken to psychiatric hospitals, while in the actual sense, it is their principals who should be taken to psychiatric hospitals, because you have to know when you are strong; you have to know when you are weak. I worked for them in PDP in 1999; I did in 2003; I did in 2007 and I also did in 2011. Many of us who are the pillars of the party are either out of it completely, or are sitting on the fence, or are warming up to cross the border, because nobody wants to stay under a decking that is collapsing; the decking there is collapsing.

    We’re the pillars of PDP whether they like it or not. It is now that they will begin to see the facts of the matter. The new chairman of the PDP, I’m sure, can do nothing. There’s absolutely nothing he can do. But I know he really loves the job like Tukur, who actually wanted the job. He may want to be saying things; some from the bottom of his heart; many of them just from the mouth. The fact of the matter is that they know, even themselves right in their hearts, that Nigeria deserves a better leadership in 2015.

    Even when we were there in PDP, people were saying that the party will rule for 60 years. It is not 60. It is 16 years. Ogbulafor was saying 60. Every chairman was saying 60. It is not 60, it is 16 years. It is only that you did not hear them well. In 2015, they should go.

    You see in APC now, I think everybody has learnt a lesson. Everybody. All of us – our leaders, ourselves and our supporters. Everybody is feeling the pinch. So what we are saying is, this party is very important, whether they are doing good or bad.

    You said politics is dynamic, and the essence of life is to keep on moving. Now you said you’re no more contesting governorship either legally or morally. Do you consider the 2015 presidential elections as one of the processes of movement?

    No, no. Let me tell you, first and foremost, I am a politician, and that is what every right-thinking politician should be. You stop there; you make your own contributions. And it is for other people, especially at this level, that will come out and say ‘yes, it is Mr. A or Mr. B that we want to support.’ I will not advise any politician to arrogate himself to the level of feeling that ‘look, it is me!’

    From history and statistics, it is very difficult to see anybody who decides to arrogate himself to that level becoming president, especially in Nigeria. Most of those who were presidents, including this one, I’m not sure if he ever contemplated coming to be vice president or the president. At a time, it was some people that decided to say it should be Jonathan; I’m sure his mind was not here.

    I think also that was one of the problems. During those days, there were no wider consultations. Until such a time when the president of this country and chairmen of these leading parties are allowed to go through the rigour of elections themselves and allow people to elect them based on their belief that they are competent, and they can do the job in their own personal assessment, we will continue to have problems.

    Look at the selection of even the National chairman of PDP; I don’t think anybody from my state, my village was consulted. It was just within one, two three people, who will make decision, and at the end of the day, one may pick, like the case of Tukur, it was one person versus everybody or against everybody in the North-East, when they were appointing him. Look at the consequences. And the same thing is on the ground now in that party.

    That is why we’ll continue to have problems, because the chairman of that party can never come out on issues to tell you his actual mind. He has to look at his shoulders to see who is there so that he doesn’t make a mistake, because you just need to annoy one man for you to be kicked out of the position. And because of the enormity of the benefits of that seat, nobody wants to leave it. They want to stay there; they speak from so many sides of their mouths, and at the end of the day, when the chips are down, they have to go.

    I can tell you, it is the same system; in the same way that others go, that one will also go.

    If the offer comes or if Nigerian people decide to say ‘we want Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso to be our presidential candidate, what will be your attitude to it?

    The issue is we have elders; we have friends and supporters; we’re entitled to so many people, not only in Kano, but across the country. What I believe is at an appropriate time, APC will sit down at a very large forum to decide on who and who should be allowed or supported for the position. I can assure you there will be an internal democracy within APC. It’s not a matter of appointing one man to say ‘you’re the one; there should be internal democracy not only at this level, at the national level, but at all levels.’

    That is the only way we can show the difference between us and PDP, where one man will sit down and decide who becomes the governor of Kano State. If they don’t like you, whether you have 90 percent of the votes, others are sharing 10 percent of the votes, it doesn’t matter; they will still say no to that. We have to change. You cannot be from one other corner of the country, and the other one from the other side, and you just sit here in Abuja and decide for the people who becomes their governor and who becomes their chairman.

    We have passed that level in Kano, and that is why we have a very formidable group. People believe in us; people see us as fair; people who can at any given time say this is the right thing. Once we say it, they know we are serious about it, and that is what is in our hearts; that is why we have a very powerful support from our people, because of the trust they have in us.

    Recently, the president submitted names of ministerial nominees to the Senate; two people are from your state, Aminu Wali and Jamila Salik. The big talk is that the president actually nominated these people to give Kwankwaso a good fight in Kano; what will you say about that?

    You see, sometimes when I hear that, I just laugh. Why? It is because these people, before coming in, didn’t have history and geography in their minds, and they refused to learn very fast. They have been consistent in fighting what they would have ordinarily regarded as their difference. We are good people by any standard; we are well respected in our locality, and that is how it should be. You don’t respect anybody who doesn’t know me, to respect him. If you want to know who is good and who is bad, go to his locality.

    You don’t meet somebody at the airport or at the motor park, because he is carrying 25 cellular phones and doing all sorts of things to think that he’s a good man. No. If you have an architectural work to do, get a good architect. Many people are making mistakes in this country, even though I wouldn’t call it a mistake as such, because they are not politicians themselves; they always believe that every man is a political animal; that is not true. If that is correct, then we can say everybody is a good footballer. How many people can play in Chelsea or Arsenal or Barcelona? Very few. None of us here can play in those teams.

    But anybody assuming that any foolish man can play Barcelona team, that is politics because it is not like architecture, electrical design where you will see so many things where if you are not in the field, your head will start aching and that is why many of them will think that they will go to Kano or Sokoto or any other state and pick anybody and then tell them: ‘Go and fight them.’ Even though they are being consistent not only in Kano and that is their biggest undoing. They go to a state to punish them because that is how we see it. They go to Kano and pick people to punish the people. Those that are not welcomed in the society, they pick them to punish them. We don’t like you, we will take your enemy whether you like it or not, they have to be there and that is a huge mistake. It is a huge problem for them and therefore a good thing for the APC. Anybody who thinks that this calibre of ministers, not only from Kano but across the country, can deliver and save the larger interest of Nigeria, they are dreaming.

    If you put all of them together, only one or two can deliver. I believe people are not happy with some of the presentations. You don’t just go to a state and pick somebody from the minutest minority and say he is representing the people and that, in politics, should not happen and once it happens, it is an abnormality.

    Were you part of the agreement to allow Jonathan only a term in office?

    I was not a governor at the time, and even if I was a governor and he decides to go against what he had signed and you ask me this question, I would say, I don’t care. We are not lawyers to go to court to ask it to give one declaration or the other. Our own is to ensure that the good people of Nigeria, at the appropriate time, take the necessary decision. Here, I want to advise all those concerned-the armed forces, INEC and all the stakeholders should try to do the right thing. I will be surprised if the members of the armed forces are happy with what is happening in the country because they are human beings and a part of the society. A lot of money is going down the drain, wastages everywhere. Before you heard of people stealing millions and now we are hearing of billions and trillions and all these things cannot help anybody, including the security agencies. And security agencies must understand the meaning of democracy and know that they are here to serve Nigerians and if they want to play politics, they should go and remove their uniforms and we give them a place in the political arena.

    Look at what is happening in Rivers State. That man called the Police Commissioner is a disappointment to the Nigeria Police. Yet, many people do not want to open their television and see. He is not only a PDP member but I think he is a tool to madam. That man, Mbu, will end up destroying himself professionally because by merely showing his face trying to defend what is completely wrong, he is disgracing everybody, including his family. When we are talking about capacity, the capacity of a leader is to identify areas, issues that should be tackled at the right time. You don’t stick out your neck to defend what should not be defended at all. If everybody is saying that an officer is doing the wrong thing, why should you continue to defend and use such an officer to cause impunity all over

    the place? People should have the courage to resign.

    When I was in the NDDC, I resigned when I saw the way things were going. But I should not stick out my neck because of the allowances we were being paid. I resigned honourably and told them the position of the NDDC and within a few months, they saw what I told them and they dissolved the whole board. I want to appeal to my brother, Attahiru Jega, that he should do the right thing as far as the conduct of elections is concerned. Long before Jega came out to say that there would be no election in the North East, we had heard the boys around them talking about the fact that they would not allow election in the North East. And just from the blues, we heard him talking about it also. I don’t think that, that is good enough because a few weeks after Jega’s comment, there was a very successful election in Yobe State, which is probably the epic centre of the security crisis and nobody was killed.

    In 2013, you are saying that there would be no election in so and so places in 2015? That means you don’t respect the capacity of the C-in-C yourself or that is what he wanted. Otherwise, no one should be talking about specific areas where they would be no election. It means that they knew that they would not take an appropriate action to quell the crisis there. These are some of the things that INEC must guard against, because people are not happy with the last election in Anambra State, because it was a complete shambles. If INEC cannot sit down and conduct a credible election in one state after all the preparations and the billions spent, I think that there may be some problems in 2015.

    How do you react to the defection of G5 into APC and the problems it has generated so far? Those who were there before your defection alleged that the five governors have hijacked the party structure from them. Is that so?

    You see, what APC said and what it has done is not different from any other party in that particular respect. In APGA, the leader of the party in the state is the governor. In Labour Party, you cannot say that Mimiko is not the leader of the party in Ondo. In APGA, Governor Obi is not only the leader of the party in his state, he is also the National Leader and BoT Chairman. In PDP, every governor is the leader in their state. Today, by the grace of God but with due humility, I can say that I am the most senior governor in this country because I was a governor in 1999 to 2003 and nobody who is governor today, was a governor in 1999 to 2003. And those who are even challenging my authority as the leader of the party in Kano, I took it from them. They did not put me there. I took it from them; it is not that they wanted to give it to me. They did not support me. When I was a governor, most of them were civil servants and so on. They had no access except if I decided to see them.

    Now, you don’t do that. You can be a president but does not know how to handle politics. Otherwise, how can five governors leave your party in one fell swoop? You can be a governor but does not know how to handle politics. It is part of the lack of understanding of politics that is responsible for what is happening now. Politicians should take every opportunity to reconcile with others so that at the end of the day, they can have more people to support or succeed them. Nobody succeeds in politics with a high degree of enmity. If you say he is not your leader, did you put him there or are you his senior? Most of these decisions were taken with all of them not knowing that the governors would defect to the APC. At the end of the day, we went there long after they had agreed on who is to be their leader. And it has to be the governors because you don’t expect the governor to be going out begging for a post.

    Who is the leader of the PDP in this country? It is Jonathan, whether he is doing the right thing or not, he remains the leader and you don’t expect him to do otherwise. Those who were not with us now were certainly not with us in 2011. We won election with Kwankwasiya and from 2011 today; we have succeeded in doing so many programmes that have touched the lives of so many people. So many people have now changed their minds and so many people are apologising for not supporting us in 2011. That means if given another opportunity to do another election now or in 2015, we have additional votes in Kano, because we are much better and our position is much better than it was in 2011.

    Secondly, even those who fought against us in other parties and joined the APC, for example, CPC, anybody who is CPC in Kano today and supported Buhari in 2011, is with us today. Even ANPP Senator Gabiru Gaya, the only ANPP Senator, is with us 100 percent. The nine members of the ANPP in the National Assembly are with us. In the state Assembly, we have 31 PDP and now APC 31 and nine ANPP. Eight out of nine have signed up with us; the minority leader is saying he is working out on how to bring the rest and I say fine, if you succeed good, if not, you remain the minority leader in the state. If you take elders in the state, all of them are with us.

    So, I have never seen such a powerful party in Kano as the APC today. Even under PRP, I was a civil servant but that time it was the common man or the masses that were supporting PRP, but today, everybody in Kano from the top to the bottom wants to be identified with the APC. They know that if they don’t join us in APC, that they have already lost the election. That is why we are so happy about the coming of the APC. As a leader, one is likely to step on toes but what is important in politics is to see how to reconcile and make a better politician and by that, get more people because politics is a game of number. So the number we have now, we can say, we thank the Almighty God.

    Have you reconciled with the former Governor, Shekarau?

    We have no grudge with anybody and our doors are open for all to come in. For those who are not interested in working together with us, who want to move the goalpost in Kano, I don’t think that will be acceptable to anybody. If all governors are leaders of the parties in their states, you cannot come and say that the five who defected to APC cannot be leaders of the parties in their states. If you set a criterion, it must apply to all, whether you like the face of the person involved or not. If there are problems that affect governors, I cannot run away because I am the governor and I take the good things and the disadvantages as well. I have programmes that have never been heard of in the history of the state. We have free education at all levels and we have established two universities and people are very happy with what is going on in Kano today. I believe that we have the capacity to win more votes in 2015 in Kano with or without merger.

    Have you looked at the timetable released by INEC recently?

    I think it is one of the things that we know. We know that the President has been praying to have his election first. He tried that during the last election in 2011 and the National Assembly refused to allow his election to come first , they put it second. The order in 2011 was National Assembly first, then presidential, governorship and State House of Assembly elections.

    Now, I don’t know how they influenced INEC to put his election and National Assembly election first and then two weeks after, they do State House of Assembly and gubernatorial elections. I think the presidential election should come last. That has been the correct thing; you deal from the bottom, you don’t start from the air. We have seen many elections that we had problem with the presidential election.

    But if you have structure on the ground, at least you have structure. And the way they are going about it, especially going by the utterances of those that are always visiting their dining tables and sitting rooms, I think there may be some agenda. If you hear what many people from their side are talking about, it is like they are threatening everybody. And with that, they want to go to the presidential election first, I think that is a big mistake. I think that should be reversed, the National Assembly must look at that. You don’t just sit down and put their election because that is what they want. What criteria did they use? How and why are you starting with the presidential election? I think that is giving a lot of concern about the activities of INEC. People are really concerned and I think INEC people should be concerned also.

    It is very easy here in Abuja to sit down and take decision and whether you like it or not, you have to take it. I was surprised, I haven’t heard what el-Rufai said, but I heard him on BBC and if what he said on BBC is correct, I don’t see why the SSS should be looking for him. I don’t know what el-Rufai said but the fact remains that people are really angry. They should know, people are angry. And it is not only in Kano State or in the North-West or in the North, it is across the country. You see, I always advise my friends who are talking about this North, South, Muslim, Christian, and all these dichotomies. You see, the fact of the matter is that people are angry either in Rivers or Bayelsa, Delta, Kano or Sokoto. In other words, from Kano to Calabar to Kebbi, people are angry, things are not happening.

    Do you suspect any bandwagon effect as a result of the INEC timetable?

    I think that is what they are angling for, that is what they are planning. You see, the bandwagon is not the only issue; the other issue is that they want to intimidate people; if you don’t vote for me, I will do this, I will do that. That is what they want to do; we all know the tricks, we have been in the game long before many of them. They want to use intimidation. I don’t think anybody on that side is really serious and believing that they will win elections under a free and fair atmosphere. I think it is about INEC, it is about security agencies, intimidation; it is about money.

    From your experience so far, do you think the APC can dislodge PDP in the next election?

    Why not? It is very simple. You have to understand that in politics, there is fatigue. We mean, if a party is elected one, two and three and four times, the fatigue will begin to set in. We have elected the party four times and they (PDP) are trying again for the fifth time. Is it the only party? People are tired and they need change. You cannot do that in America or any civilised society. You cannot win again. That is why America decided to say after two terms go, let us try another one. Otherwise, Clinton would have been president for the third time but they said: ‘You are good but go and we appreciate you.’ That is the fatigue. Even in Britain, it is the same thing. I was in Britain when the political crisis started with Margaret Thatcher and they said: ‘Please, madam, you did well but go because you are not the only one; go.’

    That fatigue is showing in PDP because they are not doing well and that is the issue. They are Clinton, Obama or Margaret Thatcher. So that is even worsening the situation and the economy is declining and there is no end in sight. That is why you see the Police Commissioner in Rivers State not willing to leave the state. I think Mbu should be taken to Nasarawa to face the boys who killed over 100 policemen and security men. They have hit the limit of their stay in Nigeria and they should leave the scene in 2015.

    Everybody is feeling the pinch of the fatigue of PDP. If you want to see me back in PDP, go and bring the governor of Rivers State. I want to see him smile and in PDP. That will be one; two, tell your man that we don’t want the decking to fall on me. We don’t want to lose election. The writing is there on the wall. All the arithmetic people are making is wrong. People are not just imagining that the President can lose election or governor can lose election, but I lost in 2003. Some of these people should know-Ahmed Muazu lost election as governor and as a Senator and ran away. I think he needs to be more careful than Tukur.

    What if Jonathan declares for re-election now, how will you react?

    The temperature is very hot for them now, he won’t do it. I have seen all sorts of write-ups by some of your colleagues, but all these will fizzle away; realities will come out whether they declare now or they wait till whatever. They know they cannot declare; they cannot declare. That is why they are not declaring, they said till they get INEC nod. Did they do that during the 2011 election? They did not do that. The temperature is very hot now, it is not easy to say I am declaring. If the President declares now, Ahmed Muazu will run away because I don’t think he will stay there to defend that. And I think as long as the declaration is hanging, the temperature cannot get cooler than it is now.

    Have the security agencies briefed you on the attack on your father? Was it done by Boko Haram, gunmen or snipers? Was the attack part of the so-called watch-list syndrome?

    Well, I was really shocked when I heard the news that some criminals were in my hometown and they are attacking the mosque where my father was praying. We are very lucky that the target they decided to attack, they did not get him but even then, we lost three people and 13 people were wounded; some of them are still in the hospital.

    I was surprised and I never thought anybody will go to that extent of attacking somebody who is over 80 years but on the other hand, you remember they attacked the Emir of Kano on the street of Kano itself and they killed quite a number of people and wounded many. So, it is not a total surprise but I am yet to hear from the security agencies, we don’t know the people talk less of the motive but whatever it is, I believe that has always counselled me to do the right thing. Whether it was because of me or because of him, because so many traditional rulers were attacked in the past and we hope that will stop; that will not help anybody.

    You see, as bad as that is, it shows clearly; if it is real Boko Haram, that the fight is not between Muslims and Christians and I think that is very important. Because if a church was attacked and some people are making noise that Muslims attacked them, now, we have Emir on the street of Kano. Ado Bayero is our spiritual leader. Now, we have my father who has been a traditional ruler since 1955 and they not only met him in his house in the palace but in the mosque and so the attack was not only on my father but also on the mosque.

    There is no particular pattern, those that are attacking are not only attacking churches, they are attacking mosques too. Those who are attacking are not only attacking Christians, they are attacking Muslims too. They are attacking traditional rulers, politicians and even, we lost a correspondent from Channels. I am sure there are other pressmen that were attacked too. So, it cuts across the globe; there is no just pattern and that is why I think the Federal Government has to do something more cogent, something more tangible.

    We read in the newspapers that some people came from 500 kilometres and attacked only three installations and went back, it should not happen. We have enough resources to protect ourselves. In this game of politics or leadership, security first. We should not be allowed to be sleeping with one eye open and one closed because of fear. Government has to come out and do something reasonable, something strong so that we can sleep well. Some of these things, if they are not contained properly, they have the capacity to consume many places and they can go right across the country.

    Before it started, nobody thought that it was this serious that the Nigerian Army and Nigeria Airforce will be battling with this issue for this long and it is still on. So, I don’t have any information from any security agencies and I think it is good if we can have an information. I think that will help and that will help also the credibility of those concerned.

    election. That is why we are so happy about the coming of the APC. As a leader, one is likely to step on toes but what is important in politics is to see how to reconcile and make a better politician and by that, get more people because politics is a game of number. So the number we have now, we can say, we thank the Almighty God.

    Have you reconciled with the former Governor, Shekarau?

    We have no grudge with anybody and our doors are open for all to come in. For those who are not interested in working together with us, who want to move the goalpost in Kano, I don’t think that will be acceptable to anybody. If all governors are leaders of the parties in their states, you cannot come and say that the five who defected to APC cannot be leaders of the parties in their states. If you set a criterion, it must apply to all, whether you like the face of the person involved or not. If there are problems that affect governors, I cannot run away because I am the governor and I take the good things and the disadvantages as well. I have programmes that have never been heard of in the history of the state. We have free education at all levels and we have established two universities and people are very happy with what is going on in Kano today. I believe that we have the capacity to win more votes in 2015 in Kano with or without merger.

    Have you looked at the timetable released by INEC recently?

    I think it is one of the things that we know. We know that the President has been praying to have his election first. He tried that during the last election in 2011 and the National Assembly refused to allow his election to come first , they put it second. The order in 2011 was National Assembly first, then presidential, governorship and State House of Assembly elections.

    Now, I don’t know how they influenced INEC to put his election and National Assembly election first and then two weeks after, they do State House of Assembly and gubernatorial elections. I think the presidential election should come last. That has been the correct thing; you deal from the bottom, you don’t start from the air. We have seen many elections that we had problem with the presidential election.

    But if you have structure on the ground, at least you have structure. And the way they are going about it, especially going by the utterances of those that are always visiting their dining tables and sitting rooms, I think there may be some agenda. If you hear what many people from their side are talking about, it is like they are threatening everybody. And with that, they want to go to the presidential election first, I think that is a big mistake. I think that should be reversed, the National Assembly must look at that. You don’t just sit down and put their election because that is what they want. What criteria did they use? How and why are you starting with the presidential election? I think that is giving a lot of concern about the activities of INEC. People are really concerned and I think INEC people should be concerned also.

    It is very easy here in Abuja to sit down and take decision and whether you like it or not, you have to take it. I was surprised, I haven’t heard what el-Rufai said, but I heard him on BBC and if what he said on BBC is correct, I don’t see why the SSS should be looking for him. I don’t know what el-Rufai said but the fact remains that people are really angry. They should know, people are angry. And it is not only in Kano State or in the North-West or in the North, it is across the country. You see, I always advise my friends who are talking about this North, South, Muslim, Christian, and all these dichotomies. You see, the fact of the matter is that people are angry either in Rivers or Bayelsa, Delta, Kano or Sokoto. In other words, from Kano to Calabar to Kebbi, people are angry, things are not happening.

    Do you suspect any bandwagon effect as a result of the INEC timetable?

    I think that is what they are angling for, that is what they are planning. You see, the bandwagon is not the only issue; the other issue is that they want to intimidate people; if you don’t vote for me, I will do this, I will do that. That is what they want to do; we all know the tricks, we have been in the game long before many of them. They want to use intimidation. I don’t think anybody on that side is really serious and believing that they will win elections under a free and fair atmosphere. I think it is about INEC, it is about security agencies, intimidation; it is about money.

    From your experience so far, do you think the APC can dislodge PDP in the next election?

    Why not? It is very simple. You have to understand that in politics, there is fatigue. We mean, if a party is elected one, two and three and four times, the fatigue will begin to set in. We have elected the party four times and they (PDP) are trying again for the fifth time. Is it the only party? People are tired and they need change. You cannot do that in America or any civilised society. You cannot win again. That is why America decided to say after two terms go, let us try another one. Otherwise, Clinton would have been president for the third time but they said: ‘You are good but go and we appreciate you.’ That is the fatigue. Even in Britain, it is the same thing. I was in Britain when the political crisis started with Margaret Thatcher and they said: ‘Please, madam, you did well but go because you are not the only one; go.’

  • We want to beat Guinness Book of Records—Couple touring Africa in an old Benz that uses vegetable oil

    We want to beat Guinness Book of Records—Couple touring Africa in an old Benz that uses vegetable oil

    Mr Mark Sampson and his wife are South Africans of British origin. The two environmentalists left their jobs in Cape Town, South Africa to embark on a trip round the entire circumference of Africa with their two children. And this they are doing in a 1978 model of Mercedes 911 which uses vegetable oil instead of petrol or diesel. They had travelled by land for six months when OKORIE UGURU met them at the 2013 edition of Carnival Calabar, where they spoke about their mission. Excerpts:

    Mrs. Sampson:

    What is Africa Clockwise all about?

    Africa Clockwise is an indication of the direction we are travelling in. We left Cape Town six months ago, and we are travelling clockwise round Africa. We are trying to go around the coast as much as we can; around the circumference of the continent. We planned it would take us two and a half years. And it is a climate-change project because this truck does not run on petrol or diesel; it runs only on used waste vegetable oil or palm oil. At the moment, it is palm oil. We’ve run on sunflower oil, soya beans oil and coconut oil.

    How did you develop the vehicle? I know that most vehicles run on petrol or diesel?

    It is not common in Africa, but in Europe, it is happening quite a lot. People are adapting their diesel engines. Oil engines are easier to convert. It is not a complicated process and does not pollute.

    What is the idea behind Africa Clockwise?

    The idea is that we are going clockwise because of the direction and we are going clockwise because we are trying to point out that we have to be aware of the time. Time is running out on us. Climate change is coming and the impact is going to be huge and we in Africa are going to be hit hardest. We need to prepare. We are also trying to beat the Guinness Book of Records for the longest journey made on alternative fuel, and to draw attention to the fact that we need to find ways of living without polluting. So, we are attempting to do 60,000 kilometres around the continent. At the moment, the world record is 40,000 kilometres, so we hope to smash that record.

    So, how many kilometres have you travelled so far? Which countries have you passed through to get to Calabar in Nigeria and what are the challenges?

    We have done about 10,000 kilometres so far. We are already a quarter of the round the continent. We have passed through Namibia, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Congo-Brazzaville and Cameroon to reach here. We are enjoying Nigeria immensely.

    When you leave Nigeria, where will you head for?

    We will head along the coast. So, we will go to Benin, Togo, Ghana and further down to Senegal and so on, then to Morocco before we cross into Europe briefly. My brother is getting married, so we are hoping to tie all these together. Then we come down to Northern Africa and then go down the East coast for another year.

    And then back to South Africa?

    We hope to get home by the end of 2015.

    Did you time it so that you would be in Calabar, Nigeria for the carnival?

    Absolutely. My husband is a stand-up comedian. That is his job. He has written a show about climate change. But my job is carnival. I run a carnival in Cape Town. That is my job. So, I have timed it beautifully to be here at this time because I really wanted to see the biggest carnival in Africa which is the Calabar Carnival.

    Can you confirm that?

    Absolutely! I don’t think there is any doubt. Well, I personally have not seen any bigger one. In Cape Town, we have an enormous carnival tradition. It has been happening for 100 years. But in terms of the type of band and so on, I don’t think there is anything to touch it on the continent.

    What are the challenges you have had on the way?

    I think my husband should address it.

     

    Mr. Sampson:

    The challenges so far are firstly, mechanical challenges. A 1978 Bull Mose Mercedez 911 is an old truck you find everywhere, especially in Nigeria. We have never seen so many trucks. Every bush mechanic along the village anywhere we go, people could always fix this truck.

    The challenge for me has been learning to be a diesel mechanic and also the challenges with our health. I have been ill and my daughter has been ill. You know it is the tropics and the weather has been hot. And working hard filtering cooking oil, going to pick up 50 litres, 100 litres everywhere, lifting it up to the roof, making our fuel everywhere we go, it is physical.

    I have lost nearly 15 kilos in six months and yet I have to stay strong and well because we are working ourselves really hard. It is much harder than we ever expected in terms of having to collect fuel. A lorry that weighs 10 tonnes uses a lot of fuel. So, we are constantly looking for fuel, constantly fixing the truck and constantly fixing ourselves.

    You chose the difficult option when you could have done that more easily with petrol or diesel…

    I think it is an example for everybody and also the practicality, because we are not rich people. The thing is that if you are not rich, you have to be adaptive and adaptable, creative and resilient. That is where the people of Africa come in. This is why we think Africa can inspire the rest of the world when it comes to coping with these challenges from the environment, because climate change problems like flood and so on. You know all these problems that we have because of climate change; a lot of people having to move and under a lot of stress due to climate change.

    So, to be able to adapt to that, you’ve got to be resilient and creative. Poor people have had to do that. In Africa, people have struggled for so long; struggling with all sorts of problems, AIDS, poverty, war and crime. And I think having to struggle on this journey in an old vehicle using cooking oil is just another example of people in Africa making a plan. We can do it in Africa.

    People come and help us wherever we are. If we are in some million-dollar vehicle, all rich, we would not need anybody’s help and we will never meet the people. But we need help all the time. The same way Africans need one another. It is Obuntu we call it in South Africa; that is the spirit of the people. I am because you are. We are all connected. What I do affects you and what you do affects me because we are one big family.

    We are all in this together. As species, we need each other. This has been a great example of that. The further we travel into Africa, the more we realise that everybody is willing to help. Everybody is friendly. Nowhere in West Africa is dangerous. We have been treated with such respect and love. We are singing the praises of Nigeria. It is a fantastic place.

    What has the reception been like in other countries?

    It has been an amazing reception in every country and the big surprise was the Congo-Brazzaville and the DRC where we thought we were just going to go through as quickly as possible because of problems. But it turned out that the people were so friendly and there was no problems. Even in the rural areas, we are always finding people who know how to work on the trucks, people who are interested in what we are doing, other families. Because we have children, we end up staying with a family in a little village somewhere, eating cassava with them, eating fish with them or whatever we could find in a natural setting and living as they live.

    We don’t have a lot of money. We spent everything to put this together and we gave up our jobs and now we are living purely on the rent from our house which enables us to pay for visas and everything else. We have lived cheaply. It means we live connected with people. You know that rich people don’t connect with each other or anybody else. I think that is something we see in our community in South Africa. A lot of rich white and black South Africans are isolated from one another.

    Could you talk about yourselves?

    I moved to South Africa from England 20 years ago to work in the Red Cross children’s hospital in Cape Town. I have a scientist background and about 15 years ago, I became a professional comedian. And now I do shows often based around science projects about genetics, about our shared African heritage, that we all evolved from Africa and that we are one family and there is no such thing as race.

    My son is black and I am white, but he is adopted and he is also my family because we are all one family. So, I did shows about climate change because I want to talk about the family because my children are now going to inherit what we leave in this planet; the mess that we leave through being greedy and taking too many of the resources and squandering our connection with nature. We are not connected with nature anymore. I like to do a lot of that with jokes, at five schools, colleges and for businesses. That is how I make my living, just telling people facts, but in a humorous way.

    I find that really fascinating in South Africa because people are really very receptive to comedy and there are some good messages to put out there about the strength of being South African and being African. A lot of people look down on it and say they want to be European, they want to be American. But coming from Europe, I’ve had the best life I could have had because of Africa, and it has made me a strong, better and most spiritual person.

  • 2015: Jonathan should honour the agreement he allegedly had with governors, if there is any-Ex-Kwara Governor Bola Latinwo

    2015: Jonathan should honour the agreement he allegedly had with governors, if there is any-Ex-Kwara Governor Bola Latinwo

    Retired Group Captain Salaudeen Adebola Latinwo is former military governor of Kwara State, in the short-lived regime of General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) between 1984 and 1985. A native of Offa, Kwara State, Latinwo is an aviation technology and management specialist. He is also a public affairs analyst. In this interview with Deputy Editor, VINCENT AKANMODE and Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, Latinwo recalls his travails in the military which culminated in his early retirement from the Nigerian Airforce. He also laments the crippling corruption bedevilling the country, ditto the aviation sector and shares his perspective on the proposed national conference, even as he accuses President Goodluck Jonathan of suffering credibility deficit on account of his several failed accomplishments. Exercepts:

    You had always wanted to be an aeronautic engineer before you were cajoled against your wish, by the late Sardauna of Sokoto and the then Premier of Northern Region, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, to get enlisted into the Nigerian Airforce. How much of your dream would you say you eventually realised?

    The point was that as a young man growing up, there was always that ambition of wanting to be a doctor, a lawyer, an accountant or an engineer. The engineering we knew then was aeronautic and everyone wanted to be an aeronautic engineer. Fortunately for some of us, there was this call then by the Sardauna of Sokoto to be part of the young airforce that was being put together then for the country. While some of us thought the opportunity was something that had to do with the building of an aircraft, others thought it was about the military.

    Initially, some of us were reluctant because we did not want to have anything to do with the military. But somehow, the Sardauna of Sokoto recognised the fact that the Northern part of the country needed to be strongly represented in the air force. And so, he started looking for young men with the potential to be enlisted. We were called to the Government House in Kaduna and convinced to take advantage of the opportunity provided we were qualified. It was like a father talking to you and that was how about two or three of us were shortlisted and taken to Germany for the training.

    It was when we got to Germany that we realised that it was a military affair, when they started issuing us military uniforms. When we saw that it had more to do with the military than the building of aircraft, some of us insisted on returning home. We made it clear that it was not something we wanted to do. But we were persuaded to stay and we did. We were told then that being an air force officer was all about prestige, power and authority.

    So, to answer your question, I will say that I did not, as a matter of fact, realise my aeronautic engineering ambition. But some of my children have surpassed that with PhD in aerospace engineering.. In fact, my last child has a Ph.D in aerospace engineering.

    Did any of your children take after you militarily?

    No, but they have been able to excel in their various chosen careers. When you remember the terrible experience some of us had leading to the premature end of my career as an air force officer, it was not something to encourage the children to voluntarily to take after me in terms of career. But despite everything, I still remain grateful to God for His love.

    It is obvious that you are still seething with anger and resentment. Do you still hold the grudge against those you feel were part of your travails and premature exit from the air force?

    It was not exactly about anger, but about unfilled career aspiration. It could be saddening when you remember how you were cajoled into starting something that was initially not part of your life’s desire only to see it, having taken the bold move, terminated abruptly in what I will call the prime of mine youth. At 42, I was a Group Captain, but I would not say that was how early I wanted my career to come to an end. It was a painful experience to find oneself roped into something you knew nothing about and I was faced with the threat of my life being brutally taken away for no just cause. And by a stroke of divine providence, my life was spared.

    Of course, as a human being, you are expected to hold a grudge. But when you realise where the opposition and hate is coming from, what could one do? It came from the very top level because some people wanted power at all costs and in so doing, they stopped at nothing to actualise and retain it, even if it meant doing away with those perceived as standing in the way. This kind of thing is often very prevalent in a developing country such as ours where someone must pull two or three people down through blackmail and conspiracy just to grab power.

    With that being said, I took everything that happened to me as part of my sacrifice that I needed to give to Nigeria as a developing country. I have since moved on because as long as I remain alive, life must go on. One must learn to put aside grudges and move on in life because the attributes you have will always assist you to forge ahead to the envy of those who do not want you to succeed. It was not an easy experience to be forced out of what you know and love all of your life into a world you hardly understood their language. A world where people tell you they are coming while they are going.

    A lot of people would want to attribute your travails and subsequent exit from the force as part of the consequence of the military incursion into the political governance of the country. Would you say that was your own price for the military involvement in politics?

    There is always a misconception in that regard. My understanding is that the military had to step in when there was excessive corruption and ineptitude in the system and they did that for a reason. Unfortunately, in the course of trying to restore sanity in the system, some people had personal ambition and agenda which tended to subsume the larger mission for the intervention.

    My answer to your question is to try to assess the military by narrowing it down to regimes rather than the military as a whole. Every regime must be broken down and assessed by whatever contributions it made while it was in power rather than by wrongly generalising the military. The military incursion was more of a necessary action to better the lot of the country. It was true that some regimes came and twisted everything to zero level and squandered the respect the people had for the military as an entity.

    Whether this is true or not, there was the perception that the country would not be where it is today if the regime under which you served had endured a little while longer. How correct is this perception?

    I think it is matter of personal opinion because nobody knew what would have happened after one and a half years. Sincerely speaking, for the one and a half years that the Muhammadu Buhari’s regime lasted, it was straightforward and focused. It came out with the War Against Indiscipline (WAI), the queue culture, the monthly sanitation culture, among other policies meant to reorient and mobilise the people and galvanise that nationalistic fervour in them. The moment a leader is able to manage the people in the way that they should act, they will be able to see a future where they will not think of stealing public money and doing those things that will bring the name of the country to shame. It was apparent that people admired and embraced the policies the regime of General Buhari was instituting. But unfortunately somebody thought otherwise and decided to alter the regime.

    What is your comment on the alleged highhandedness of that regime?

    No, it was not highhanded. There was no doubt that there was a lot of corruption and embezzlement within the system and the administration said: ‘We heard this and that about your corrupt practices.’ So, the onus was on the politicians to prove that they were not corrupt. But in life generally, sometimes you need to do certain things to galvanise actions from the populace. That was precisely what the regime did at the time. In life also, you cannot sit down and have things too easy with you. If you desire an orderly society, you must be ready to pay a price. That was the price we insisted the Nigerian society must pay. If trading in cocaine was your business and we found out that it was destroying our image internationally, it meant therefore, that you could lose your life by doing business in cocaine. As a matter of fact, that tended to frighten people. I think that was one of the few things people saw as being highhanded.

    It was rather unfortunate that those who succeeded in pulling the regime down were key members of the same regime. That, in itself, highlighted the personal ambition that was at play. I have read about a country which found out that an issue like religion was becoming too difficult to manage and it had to hands off religion as a policy of state for 10 years to concentrate on issues that were of economy. For 10 to 15 years, nobody talked about religion. That is how a nation is built. It must be built on sacrifice from all and sundry, both the leadership and the lead.

    Given your revulsion for corruption, how do you react to the N255 million armoured car scandal surrounding the Minister of Aviation?

    By now, the President should have asked her to step aside until investigations are completed. Stella Oduah is one out of about 170 million Nigerians. Neither the country nor the Ministry of Aviation will grind to a halt if she is shown the door. Even if she was the one who founded the PDP, as far as it has become a party for everyone, it is no longer her party. Therefore, giving her the boot is not something that requires long contemplation. Of course, she could be brought back after the investigation if she is found not culpable. There is no point pampering her and appearing to be glossing over the scandal.

    Aviation is a serious sector. It is like medicine where if you put a quack gynaecologist as your brother or sister in place of an expert, all the patients will die one after another. So, in aviation, you do not put anybody as minister simply because the person is close to you. It will be a recipe for air disaster. The moment corruption has crept into the sector where a minister is exposed to such temptations as gifts of armoured cars, then, there is real and present danger. That is what we are witnessing. (The minister, however, on Thursday denied that the cars were bought for her).

    Still on corruption, the regime which you were a part of postured to be fighting corruption at the time. How would you defend the allegation of ’53 Suit cases’ against that regime and which no response was offered until it was sacked?

    In my mind, I think people got it wrong on the issue of the 53 suit cases. Well, I was not at the headquarters then, but what I gathered was that the father of the ADC to the head of state was returning to the country and he (ADC) was at the airport to assist him with his luggage. I really don’t think there were up to 53 suit cases. But the whole thing was blown out of proportion and out of mischief.

    I knew both General Buhari (rtd) and the late General Tunde Idiagbon very well. They were strict, honest and distinguished gentlemen who operated a zero-tolerance for graft and sleaze. These were men who did not know what was going on at the airport. If his ADC’s father was returning to the country and the boy was at the airport to assist him, I don’t see what is wrong with that.

    Do not forget that this is a country where people take advantage of situations just to blackmail you. And this particular incident could not have been an exception. Even though I was at Ilorin then, I was not fascinated by the story because there was no substance in it. It was more of making a mountain out of a molehill. Beyond this singular incident, I do not think there was any incident that you could lay hands on and say this was what that regime did in terms of compromising itself.

    I was part of that regime and it was one that was honorable, focused and determined to straighten issues. If you look at the character of somebody like General Buhari, you will understand that he is someone with a very strong personality. He is passionate about what he upholds. It is this passion that has been driving him to see if he can turn things round for the country, if allowed the second chance now that he is in politics. Buhari has so much to offer this country and he is propelled by this self-belief and determination. Judging him from his military performance, Buhari is more than capable. But as a politician, I cannot say because that is quite a different constituency altogether. He is not one who listens to gossip. I just hope and pray that he will be allowed the chance one day to offer his service in a leadership position.

    Have you been in touch with him ever since his administration was terminated?

    I have not been in touch with him. Sincerely no! There was really no personal relationship or close relationship. It was purely official. He was my boss as a senior officer and head of state.

    If Buhari believes he has something to offer, do you also believe that he’s got something to offer?

    Well, given the circumstances we found ourselves, we need somebody who is very firm. For now, I do not know of any. The only challenge is the difference in circumstances. At first, he operated under the military, but is it the same circumstance now? No. that is where there could be a constraint. If we have to stay together as a country, then we need somebody as firm and honest as Buhari. I think he has got the attributes. This is not to say that I am recommending him for anything or canvassing for him. So, you have to get me right.

    Some of your colleagues are in politics either in elective or appointive capacity. What has kept you away from politics?

    My own way or my attitude to politics is quite different from other people’s approach to it. I knew I could not fit into the brand of politics being played here. I like doing things in an honorable way. Our politicians are people who say one thing and turn round to do the other. I am someone who stands on his honour. I know places where people find it uncomfortable when they see people like me around them because they know that I operate on the side of truth.

    I have since made up my mind not to be involved in serious politics but to be making contributions when asked upon. I do not want to be involved in active politics. Maybe the opportunity will come one day, but if it does not come, maybe my children will be the ones to take it up.

    Some people are already expressing a sense of foreboding ahead of 2015 because of the opposition to the return bid by Mr. President and the likely backlash this will trigger. Do you nurse this fear as well?

    No. I do not nurse the fear. As a matter of fact, I understand there is an alleged agreement he purportedly went into with some people. I do not know how true this is. But if there existed such an agreement, for me, it is only honorable to honour it. It might be difficult to say there was no agreement, because politicians of the Nigerian hue hardly do anything or go into something without an agreement. So to turn round and say there was no agreement is unacceptable. If the atmosphere was friendly, cordial and involved two to three men and you accepted it, then it is only honorable to abide by it. But if you decide to bring the law or constitution into it, it becomes unmanageable because you have defaulted in your honorable position to honour what you conscionably went into. There is no basis to make recourse to law or constitution because you did not remember the law when you went into an agreement.

    He will be looking for crisis, anarchy if he reneges on an agreement he purportedly went into. I recalled talking about the manner I was retired with my wife and I told her that if this was the sacrifice we had to make to keep the country together, then we had to let go what they did to me. That was how we put the whole thing behind us. This is the way leaders should look at issues. They should learn to look at issues beyond themselves in the overall interest of the country.

  • Senators don’t earn bigger salaries than ministers and judges –Senate’s spokesman Abaribe

    Senators don’t earn bigger salaries than ministers and judges –Senate’s spokesman Abaribe

    Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe is the Senate Committee Chairman on Information. He was also the deputy to former Governor Orji Uzo Kalu in Abia State from 1999 to 2002. He had a frosty working relationship with Kalu and survived three impeachment attempts. In 2007, he was elected the Senator representing Abia South Senatorial District. He was a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant for Abia State in 2011. In this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, Abaribe relives his trying times as deputy governor, saying that he was naïve at the time. He also speaks about the Nigerian project, insisting that the Igbo nation has not been fairly treated in the national scheme of things. Excerpts:

    A lot of Nigerians have advocated a sovereign national conference but the President opted for a national conference, which the National Assembly endorsed. Why this conference when similar ones had offered nothing in the end?

    If you recall the last NBA Conference in Calabar, the Senate President reiterated the need for a national conference. And it was on the September 17 when we resumed for the 2014 legislative year that Mr. President, in his speech welcoming senators back from their vacation, also reiterated the need for a national discourse, so to say.

    Let me say that it is necessary at this point for us to engage ourselves in a discussion. The reason for the discussion is that we seem now to have got into a position where people, rather than talk to each other, are settling issues through violence. In every part of the country, what we are seeing is violence from one end to the other. Things that could be resolved by mere discussion and seeing another person’s point of view, we just try to resolve them with people taking extreme positions.

    The essence of democracy is to be able to see the other person’s point of view, aggregate it and be able to reach some form of accommodation if we have to all live together. The only way to do that is by having a discussion. That is why when the Senate President mooted it, the Senate was behind it. And once the President also agreed and announced it during the Independence Day broadcast, the Senate quickly endorsed that position.

    The bottom line, of course, is this: it is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war, like the late British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, once declared. That is exactly where we are now.

    But why is the word ‘sovereign’ so dreaded by political office holders as well as lawmakers?

    It is because of the word ‘sovereign’. We are operating a system presently where we have the sovereign state of Nigeria with three arms of government. When you now wish to introduce another sovereign, what that means is that you are willingly giving away the sovereignty that is already embedded in the established structure of government. No two sovereigns can exist side by side. It is either you have the sovereign that is already embedded in the constitution, that we are already running, or you abrogate it and bring in another one.

    Sovereign national conferences happen in countries where you have already decided that you no longer have a country; you just want to have a means to secede. If it is a question for us to sit together and discuss our differences and determine our way forward, that can be done without necessarily having to abrogate the systems of government.

    We also feel that when you now put in such a thing and you want to call it sovereign or whatever name, what you are looking for is anarchy. I say this with due respect to those who seek to have a sovereign conference.

    What we are saying is that if you want to go ahead to talk about a sovereign conference, you are going to deal with who confers that sovereignty on the sovereign conference you are looking for? Sovereignty comes from established process, established protocols and established structures that we already have and I think that, that is the reason why we really shouldn’t waste our time dealing with the semantics of the word ‘sovereign’.

    I can give you a simple example. I am an Igbo man, I come from Abia State. Even within Abia State, I come from the Ngwa stalk. Even within the Ngwa stalk, we have the Nkwa-Ngwa nationality. So, at what point will we decide who will represent us, assuming, as it is commonly said, we have between 250 and 300 ethnic nationalities in Nigeria? For the Igbo race, would we be represented by one person? The Igbo nation has five states. Are we going to be represented by five different persons? If we would be represented by five different persons, who will represent me in Abia State? would it be the person that comes from my own ethnic nationality, the Nkwa-Ngwa, or somebody that comes from the Ngwa nation itself? Or is it going to be somebody that will represent Abia as a group?

    You can see all the questions that will arise when we start to pursue this aspect of sovereign conference. In fact, I read something interesting that was said by Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State in which he said what was the need to have a conference when we already have people who are representing us in the National Assembly, at the Senate level on equality of states and at the House of Representatives level on constituency basis? Why would we now seek a different set of people to represent us? You could see that there would be all manners of questions that would arise from the conference.

    But for us in the Senate, what we say is that if Nigerians want to talk to each other, if Nigerians are presuming that there would be something to be gained from a discussion between various groups, we are all for it. That is the position of the Senate.

    Recently, Prof. Ango Abdullahi made a statement to the effect that the North is not afraid of Nigeria breaking up and the people going their separate ways. Is that an indication of what the conference is all about?

    He is correct. You should not live in this country with fear. The North shouldn’t be afraid to make their positions known. But as I told you, which North is he referring to? Is it the physical expression or the geographical expression? Is it an emotional expression? There must be some point in which you must have to locate the statement because that same statement may not be agreed upon by somebody from the same place he comes from, who may have a different position.

    What we think is that for a dialogue of this nature, everybody must come to it with confidence. You shouldn’t come to it with a gun to your head, so to say. When he says the North should not be afraid, I agree with him. Nobody should be afraid. You should come and lay your cards on the table and let us know what is it you want and other parts of the country would also respond accordingly. That way, we would be able to reach an acceptable conclusion for all.

    What do you think should be the agenda of the Igbo with regards to the conference?

    I think the Igbo nation and the disparate groups within the Igbo nation will all meet and take a position, and when our position is enunciated after our meetings, then we can come up with something. I am a small person in the larger Igbo nation. I am representing Abia South. In the Senate, there are 15 other senators and one thing that we were taught as representatives of the people is that you should not put your own position forward until you talk to your people. I will confess to you today that I have not had any meeting with my people in Abia South to enunciate or to determine what our position would be. And until that happens, I am not at liberty to presume to speak for them for whatever may be their position.

    I will plead that you give me the time to talk with my people before I tell you where we would need to go. Also, I think that the 13-man committee set up by Mr. President would first of all set out their modalities and that would also guide us in the ways that we would also meet and make our positions known.

    In general terms, would you say that the Igbo nation has had a fair deal in the Nigerian enterprise?

    In general terms, no! We think we have not had a fair deal. We think that we the Igbo nation contribute so much to the country. We think that the Igbo nation is actually the glue that continues to hold the country together and we think that that fact has not been properly recognised by the rest of the country as it were.

    What are the Igbo senators doing to galvanise that recognition?

    Part of the reasons why we are having this conference is also to be able to ventilate these feelings. I am not a pessimist. By my profession as a politician, I am an optimist. Therefore, I would continue to feel that something good will come out of this conference.

    Given that we have had several of these conferences in the past and nothing came out of it, why should Nigerians be hopeful this time around?

    I will agree with you that sometimes it looks that way. But if you are an optimist, you will also feel that the mere fact that something had failed in the past does not mean that it will fail again. And so, an optimist would always want to try and continue to try. When I was younger, part of what we were taught in school in order to be able to do well was that if you try and you do not succeed, try, and try and try again. I think that if in the past we had conferences and those conferences did not achieve their results, nothing says that this particular conference will also not achieve its own resolve.

    Even at the time we had those conferences, I don’t think that we had been faced with the type of challenges that we are facing today. I think that there is no Nigerian who does not recognise that we need to deal with the problems we have today to be able to confront our tomorrow.

    Let us talk about your party, the PDP. The PDP has finally imploded to the point that its centre can no longer hold. Where does it go from here as the crisis continues to simmer?

    I do not think that the PDP has imploded. I do not agree with that assertion. I belong to the PDP. I am of the PDP. What I think is that a few persons within the PDP are dissatisfied and are expressing their dissatisfaction. This does not mean we are having a new party and so forth. But that is simply a way of expressing their dissatisfaction.

    There are several ways of expressing your dissatisfaction. You could decide to leave or go to another party. You could decide not to participate in what they are doing. But that does not remove the fact that PDP is still there as an entity. That is why if you noticed, at a point in our debate in the past couple of weeks, somebody tried to bring it up in the Senate and we said no, you cannot bring it. This is not the place where you ventilate party disagreement. You should go and deal with party disagreement at party level outside of the chamber. I think that the crisis will be resolved and very soon.

    The PDP in Abia State where I come from, there is no disagreement. All of us are working with our governor and all of us are committed to the PDP in that state.

    Would you say in all sincerity that all is well with the PDP?

    I will say all is not well because there are some disgruntled people. But what we have to do will be to resolve those issues with those who are disgruntled. But that does not mean that the PDP has imploded as you said. That is too strong a word to use.

    You were recently confronted by a group of protesting youths who demanded to know how much senators earn. Were they convinced by what you told them?

    I think what happened was that they probably did not expect that they were going to get a response. My feeling is that they came, assuming that they were just coming after sending a letter saying that they wanted to meet with the Senate and that nobody would bother to see them so that they would go home and claim that it is normal that our leaders are insensitive, they don’t want to talk to us, they don’t want to do anything.

    So, they were surprised that we actually came to see them, because I was in the chamber and the Senate president called me that he just got a letter now in the chamber, that there were a group of people who wanted to engage the Senate. We had no problem with that because they are Nigerians. They have every right to come to talk to us and we agreed to go and see them.

    The Senate President asked me to go with some senators to speak to them. I went there and they started listing their demands. You could see how rowdy the situation was. It was rowdy like I said because they never expected that we would come. Be that as it may, they now reeled out their demands. Their spokeswoman made allusions to the National Assembly budget and so forth. I needed to correct the impression because what I felt was that all along, there had been this impression given that the cost of governance is located in the National Assembly. I had to make the point that the total budget of the National Assembly, being the third arm of government, which includes the staff, the bureaucratic staff under the National Assembly service Commission, over 2000 persons, the running of the National Assembly as it were and the running of the different offices of the people who are there, including the offices of the National Assembly Commission and so forth, everything amounts to three per cent of the total budget.

    I then said to her: ‘If you are looking actually for reducing the total cost of governance, this is actually the wrong place to come to because you have 97 per cent residing elsewhere and you are coming to find out what is happening to three per cent. I told them that it was not that we did not want to answer them, but that you might do much better to cast your net wider than you are casting it here. They insisted that our salaries are jumbo salaries and all that, and I said I was going to give them my pay slip so that they could see that I earn the same thing as a minister and I think as well as a Supreme Court Judge.

    That is how it is actually done by the Revenue Mobilisation. But when they want to call the salary of a Supreme Court judge, they don’t call it jumbo salary. When they want to call the salary of a minister, they don’t call it jumbo salary. So, why is it that the same salary that comes to this arm of government is referred to as jumbo salary? It is the words that are being used in that manner that tend to pit the public against us. That was exactly what happened on that day.

    You were reportedly shunned by the traditional ruler and elders of your constituency on the allegation that you were not transparent with the botched visit. How did the plan crumble?

    That is what happens when you have what is called jaundiced journalism. Nobody asked the question, how was I shunned for coming to my place? What did they mean by planned visit? The point really is that the person who wrote that story simply went ahead to write what I would describe as yellow journalism, which we all know about. What was the visit about? That is the question that was not asked. The story was just concocted.

    What really happened was that the governor of the state made a statement stating that in the interest of Abia Chatter of Equity, come 2015, there should be a rotation of the office of the governor among our three senatorial zones. Abia North has produced a governor, same with Abia Central, and that it would be the turn of Abia South in 2015. Certain people within the Abia South Senatorial Zone decided that we would meet to thank the governor. But because some other people also want to run for governorship from Abia Central, they organised themselves and said our visit would mean their preclusion from the governorship race and that it was not in consonance with the constitution. They went to make a complaint to the governor and the governor said he did not want to heat up the polity, and advised that we shelved the visit. That was how the visit was shelved.

    Rather than report the truth, somebody now turned around and didn’t report what happened. They simply said that I wanted to come home and I was rejected. Does that make sense? It did not make sense. I did not bother to refute it because there was absolutely no need to. Those from Abia South know my relationship with them. These are the things that happen once there is a looming clash of interest. All sorts of people will say all sorts of things. Really, it doesn’t mean anything. When the time comes, it is certain that everybody will know who actually is loved by his people and who is not loved.

    I have been in politics since 1999. I left government house in March 2003. I ran for election in April against the incumbent governor and I lost. Yet I bounced back in 2007 to win the senate against the incumbent governor with the whole machinery of government in place. That should offer an insight into the type of political asset that I am. I have built one of the most enduring political structures in Abia State and it is still there till today. Those who are a little scared of it think that they could get at me by planting all these things. There is no need to bother about that.

    What has been your relationship with your former boss, ex-governor Orji Uzor Kalu?

    I really have no relationship in the sense that his interest is different from mine and I am representing the people in the Senate. Our paths do not cross. Since our paths do not cross, we have no interest that overlaps in any way.

    What was your relationship with him like when you were deputy governor, given that you survived about three impeachment attempts under him as governor?

    Let me say that the whole country had an idea of the type of relationship we had. A relationship that witnessed three impeachments as deputy governor was not a relationship that you will call a very good relationship. I would think that our relationship was not the relationship that would be described as very good. I think we have learnt a lot of lessons, especially for me. Kalu made me to grow up quickly. I was a little naive at the beginning but I quickly grew up because of what happened.

    Be that as it may, that is now in the past. I do not want to waste my energy recalling or reliving those experiences. I have taken the lessons from what happened then and I have moved on.

    If you have another opportunity to work with him again, how readily would you jump at it?

    No, I won’t.

    Why not?

    Because I do not think that our personalities would be agreeable with each other.

     

  • Row over death of man pushed off moving bus…Family demands body for burial

    Row over death of man pushed off moving bus…Family demands body for burial

    THE only thing that would stop the tears of Tawakalitu, whose husband, Saheed Alabi, allegedly lost his life in an encounter with an official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority’s (LASTMA) on February 2, 2012, is the release of her husband’s body.

    The 30-year-old bus conductor met his untimely death after his bus was flagged down by some LASTMA officials at Toll Gate area of Ketu. The errant officials were said to have dragged him down from the moving vehicle, leading to his death.

    His body was taken to Ikorodu General Hospital and has not been released for burial in spite of protests by his lawyer and family members.

    Recalling the incident, Tawakalitu said: “I was at home the day the incident occurred. My husband’s elder brother, Fatai, called me on the phone and said that my husband had died while he was being trying to stop his vehicle.

    “He was said to have been dragged down while the vehicle was in motion and he fell on the pavement and died. We reported the incident at the Ketu Police Station but we have not got any response.

    “I was carrying a three-month pregnancy when he died. I have since been delivered of a baby boy named Waris on August 8, 2012. We have appealed to the authorities of the hospital to release his body to us but our appeal has been turned down.

    “I feel it is high time we called on the relevant authorities to release the body to us so that we can point to his tomb when the four children I had for him grow up.”

    Tawakalit said that life had become a nightmare since the tragic death of her husband and she now lives on charity.

    She said: “I don’t have enough money to feed my children or take care of their education. I need help to provide for their needs, especially my baby. Although the erring LASTMA official offered me N50, 000, I rejected it on the basis of advice from my lawyer.

    “Shortly after the incident, some members of a Lagos-based charity organisation visited me and paid my children’s school fees. They even brought some rice and beans for me during the Ramadan period.”

    Several petitions forwarded to the police and LASTMA authorities over the matter are yet to yield results as Alabi’s body remains in the mortuary.

    A letter written to LASTMA by the counsel to the family, Mr. Omobolaji Adejumo, reads in part: “We hold brief for Mrs. Taswakalitu Rashidi Alabi and Rukayat Alabi, the wives of Rashidi Alabi, the bus conductor dragged down from a moving bus by LASTMA officials, resulting in his untimely death.

    “Our brief further revealed that it was on February 5, 2012 that Alabi was killed when he was going about his lawful duty at the Toll Gate end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway at Ketu.

    “The most painful aspect of this scenario is refusing the family the right to bury their dead, which has compounded their sorrow ”

    The refusal by authorities of Ikorodu General Hospital to release Alabi’s body to his family and the the notice that abandoned bodies in the hospital prompted the Nigerian Bar Association, Ikeja Branch, to step into the matter last year.

    In a letter written by the NBA to the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, dated August 24, 2012, it said: “The attention of the Nigerian Bar Association, Ikeja Branch (Human Rights Committee), has been drawn to a newspaper advertisement of August 19, 2012 by the Ikorodu General Hospital mortuary to the effect that it would give mass burial to bodies in its morgue unclaimed within seven days of the publication.

    “We respectfully bring to your notice that the body of one Rashidi Alabi, an alleged victim of a fatal attack by a LASTMA official earlier in the year, precisely sometime in February, lies in the morgue of the Ikorodu General Hospital.

    “Please, be further informed that there is an ongoing police investigation into the cause of death of the said Rashidi Alabi, with a view to prosecuting those found culpable of causing his unlawful death.

    “Of course, the Coroners Laws of Lagos State prescribe a mandatory coroner’s inquiry into the death of any citizen of Lagos State whose death occurred in questionable circumstances.

    “In the light of the above, we hereby humbly request the exception of the body of the said Rashidi Alabi from the intended mass burial.”

    Speaking on the matter, Adejumo said: “We think that it is an injustice to a family whose breadwinner was killed in controversial circumstances by law enforcement agents to pay a public hospital for taking custody of his body. Let them release his corpse for us to bury.

    “Bear in mind that our clients are Muslims and in Islamic tradition, the dead are buried within 48 hours and the wife stays indoors for 40 days after burial.”

    In a telephone conversation with our correspondent, Police spokeperson, Ms. Ngosi Braide, said she had no details of the incident. She said: “I don’t have the details now, but I’ll communicate with you as soon as I get the details.”

    Attempt by our correspondent to get the response of spokesperson of LASTMA, Mrs. Bola Ajao, was not successful. She did not acknowledge the first text message sent to her phone by our correspondent asking him to resend it. She also failed to answer her calls when our correspondent again called to know if she got the second text message.

     

  • My unfulfilled dreams as a governor

    My unfulfilled dreams as a governor

    What is your take on the nation’s current political situation?

    As I said before, Nigeria has always managed to survive. At times, it seems that the nation will crash tomorrow. But from there, it gets up again. So, we will continue to survive but under very big strain. At the same time, we should not take things for granted. See what is happening in other parts of the world, such as the Middle East. One after the other, there were demonstrations in Morocco, Egypt, Libya, Syria and other parts of the world. That means that people are becoming more and more aware of their civil rights.

    And most of the problems are economic. The gap between the rich and the poor is too wide. We are not saying that everybody should be equal, but we must keep that gap close enough. These are some of the things we should not take for granted and believe that nothing will happen. Let us not stretch our luck to the breaking point. Let us ensure social justice and equal opportunities for everybody. These are some of the things that if we do, the country can survive.

    Let us also harness our resources. It is not only oil but also solid minerals. Let us invest enough in agriculture and manufacturing. These are the real sectors of the economy where we should put in enough resources and develop them. We have been talking about electricity for decades and nothing seems to be improving. We cannot develop as long as the real sector is not developing. The real employers of labour cannot employ. The highest employer of labour today is the government. That is very wrong. In the developed economies, the government employs a very small percentage of the work force. Not more than about five per cent. Here, the private sector is almost dead. These are some of the issues we must tackle if the country is to be peaceful.

    What I think is going on is that our nation has been on a continuous drift and that drift has not been halted, and it has affected our lives in all sectors-economic life, social life, anything you can think of. Nothing seems to be working. I think that something needs to be done. Otherwise, we would get to a point where we would not be sure of what is going to happen next.

    Why has it been difficult for people like you to disregard their political affliations and come together to do something?

    Even if the elite want to transform this country under whatever name you give it, they must carry the people along. If you don’t carry the people along, whatever you are doing becomes elitist. Now, the wants of the ordinary people are not so many. They want three square meals a day, ability to send their children to school, attend the hospital when they are sick and secure jobs for their children after they leave school, and so on. So, these are the basic needs of the ordinary man, and no matter what you are transforming, if you don’t carry them along and you don’t try to meet with these needs, you will never succeed. It means you are doing an elitist transformation where only the elite gain.

    So, let us see how we can look very seriously downwards and see what the man on the street wants. We have enough resources to meet these wants.

    We have had almost 40 years of military rule. Will you say the country is moving forward with democracy?

    I would say we are moving forward, but it depends on which direction. We are moving forward, and you should know that there is a learning process. A lot has happened. A new leadership has emerged. The only problem is that we are not as committed as our forefathers-the Ziks, the Awolowos, the Aminu Kanos, the Sardaunas, and so on. In their time, they were so committed and the fight was different. The fight was against the white man and the aim was to gain independence for Nigeria, which they achieved.

    Unfortunately, we have not been able to manage ourselves well thereafter. And this happened because after the white man left, we started fighting ourselves. The struggle for power has been raging since then amongst ethnic groups, political parties, religious bodies, and so on. So, that has been the confusion and the ordinary Nigerian is the worst for it.

    Recently, you raised the flag of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State. What do you think are the chances of the party in Igboland?

    I see a very bright chance for APC. The South-East has followed PDP from the beginning till now and has nothing to show for it. In 2011, we had a body called Igbo Political Forum and we were working seriously towards having an Igbo President elected. Our target then was 2019. Our ambition then was that at the latest, by 2019, Igbo presidency would become a reality. But we scuttled it,

    2019?

    Yes, 2019, at the latest. But we messed it up because of selfish needs. Some people jettisoned the organisation in the last minute and worked for themselves and not for the Igbo. And today, as far as PDP is concerned, there is no plan for Igbo presidency. In APC, 1 think we have an opportunity. I tell the Igbo that if they work hard under APC and support the party, my projection is that by the year 2023, an Igbo man will be President.

    2023?

    Yes. We’ve got to be realistic. I said latest. It is possible we get it in 2015. But my personal projection is that latest by 2023, we will get it.

    After who and who might have ruled?

    The way things are going, whoever rules from 2015, by 2023 at the latest, an Igbo man will get it.

    Even if Jonathan comes back? Are we making an assumption that an Igbo man will become President after him?

    No, I’ve never believed that the next President after Jonathan will be an Igbo man. That has never been part of my plan. Knowing Nigeria the way I do, I don’t want to be over-optimistic and then promise our people what cannot happen. I don’t see President Jonathan handing over to an Igbo man.

    Why is an Igbo leader like you talking this way?

    It is not possible. We know the trend. Even when I was in PDP, I was part of the extended caucus that signed the minutes of that meeting we had in the Villa, where we agreed that after Obasanjo, a northerner would rule and after that, it would come down to the south. So, within PDP, there is no hope that after Jonathan, another southerner or an Igbo man would move straight into the Presidency. This was the calculation we had in 2011, and we told our people then that we had an option. That was the time we met with the northern group under Adamu Ciroma. And we had an agreement. It was in the papers. It was published and we signed.

    Do you actually realise the social implication of what you are saying?

    What is it?

    You are telling your Igbo kinsmen that…

    (Cuts in) I haven’t said anything other than that ‘latest’. The meaning of ‘latest’ here is that they can also have it earlier if they work hard. I want to be on the safe side and I say if we work hard, latest by 2023, an Igbo President would emerge.

    Would emerge?

    Yes.It may be shocking to you, but that is the truth of the matter. Those who promised us 2015, where are they (laughs)? The same people who promised us 2015 are the people telling us today that Jonathan is entitled to a second term. So did they not know in 2011 that he would be entitled to a second term?

    So, when you people were pursuing the presidency in 2015, Igbo wasn’t even in the agenda?

    Yes. What realistically we were thinking at that time was 2019. They promised us 2015, but realistically, we knew that was 2019. I know you are shocked. You will be shocked. You want me to say we will have Igbo president tomorrow. You can’t have it without working for it. What’s the organisation on the ground? What contacts have you made? Or is it that by 2015 an Igbo man will be president?

    Be realistic. We lost 2015 in 2011. If we had followed the programme in 2011, probably we would have had it in 2015 or 2019 latest. This is the truth. I will never believe that a South-South president will hand over to a South-East president. I said then and I’m still saying it today, that it would be impossible in the Nigeria context. So, why not work for something that is possible? There was an interview Chief Edwin Clark granted; I think it was in June. I saw that interview as being frank.

    What did he say?

    He said that the Igbo were not yet prepared for the presidency; that they had not started any move to run for the presidency of this country. He said the South-South started in 2003, and he concluded by saying that when the Igbo are ready, they would help the Igbo.

    So getting prepared to run for a Nigeria’s presidency has now been turned into an ethnic and violent affair? That is the kind of preparation I see the North making.

    No matter the method they use in their own case, the question we are asking ourselves is, what is the method Igbo people are using now?

    Let me return the question to you. What are you people doing to produce a president of Igbo extraction?

    There are many groups. But for those of us in the APC, we look at what is happening today, an Igbo man could probably in 2015 indicate interest. My party has not zoned anything. We have not decided where the presidency is going. So, the Igbo man could have a chance in 2015.

    Assuming he does not make it in 2015, whoever gets there, the Igbo man can now prepare very well and see that by 2023, an Igbo man would be President. That’s the situation.

    Your calculation does not even work?

    Why?

    Because you have assumed that after Jonathan, it will not be an Igbo man but a Northerner…

    Yes. But I didn’t say a Northerner. You didn’t hear me mention any ethnic group (laughs)

    Okay, I concede. Now, it would be any group after Jonathan and Jonathan may end his tenure in 2019 if he is re-elected in 2015?

    You can’t assume. I’m talking from the point of view of APC. And from the point of view of APC, are we expecting Jonathan to be re-elected? No. You are asking me, but I cannot tell you what any other person is doing on the APC point of view. I’m calculating that if the Igbo don’t make it in 2015, we must definitely work hard for it. Nobody will dash you the presidency. It means that the Igbo should come into APC and work hard for it.

    So, your ‘hard work’ is in the context of APC?

    Yes, in the context of APC. That is why I cannot speak for PDP. I’m speaking for APC. For me, the PDP is gone.

    Gone, in terms of?

    I mean our chances in PDP have gone. We lost it in 2011. I tell you the truth, no matter the way you see it, we lost it in 2015. We need to start positioning ourselves through APC to be sure that if we don’t make it in 2015, because my party has not in any way said the presidency is zoned to this side, we must begin seriously to work under APC and achieve it latest by 2023.

    But there is still a problem there?

    What problem?

    A lot of Igbo people see the APC as a Yoruba party.

    Some say it is a Yoruba party, others say it is a northern party. Why can’t we make it an Igbo party? That is why we’ve got to work hard in APC. You can see the baptism it is getting. Some say it is a Yoruba party. Some say oh, it is a Hausa-Fulani party. They just give these tags to scare our people away. APC is a Nigerian party and a lot depends on how you work on it. If in the 2015 election we work hard, I promise you, APC will take a minimum of three states out of the five in the South-East. And that will be the beginning.

    Can you name the states?

    I don’t want to name them. Any of the five is an opportunity.

    Would you take Anambra?

    By the grace of God. That would be the beginning.

    You already have Imo State, right?

    Yes, we have Imo State. So, we will add one more. And I said minimum. Supposing we take all the five. Mind you, it is not the powerful people that vote; it is the grassroots people who would look at the APC as a party that wants to cater for the ordinary people. And by the time we release our manifesto, by the time we start working, start our campaigns, you will see that the ordinary man will see that that’s where his salvation lies. So, he can leave the elite in the PDP.

    We hope to be in control of the centre. For us to execute our programmes, we hope first and foremost to grab the centre. We’re not joking. It’s not a question of dragging people out of the centre. And the group that needs the APC most is the Igbo.

    What makes you think so?

    Yes, I think so because when our states key into the programmes of APC, we will see development in Igboland. That is one. Again, the Igbo presidency we’re talking about becomes more realisable, unlike in the PDP where there’s no programme for it. But some leaders come out and say you will get Igbo presidency tomorrow morning only for them to get ‘settled’ with contracts, etc. When they get these things, as far as they are concerned, Igbo Presidency can wait. We’re not like that in APC. We are quite dedicated.

    Are you going to run for Senate again under APC?

    I can tell you, I took part in the formation of APC. I was one of those who planned the merger, and at the time we resolved that, we took our ambitions and put them in our pockets. By the time we finished merging and the party settles down and everything has been put on ground, you can come up with your ambition.

    So as at today, I cannot say what I’m going to run for. I’ve not even given it a serious thought if I’m going to run for something or not. Our preoccupation as at now is to put APC on the ground. Having been registered, registration is just one step. The next thing is to put it on the ground, and that is what we are all working towards. As for our individual ambitions, everybody has his. But it’s not an issue yet.

    What is your guiding philosophy about life?

    My guiding philosophy about life is to act according to my conscience at all times. Once I consult my conscience, whatever it tells me, that is what I do. And when I do it, I have no regrets. But once my conscience is not clear on an issue, I will not try it. But I believe that we are all human beings. Even when probably you have been placed in a better position, you must try also to help those who are down to get up. These are the things that guide me in life.

    I try to treat my fellow human beings as humans and always regard whatever position I find myself as a temporary position, because no position is permanent. I believe in it so much. You can be there today and tomorrow you are down, next tomorrow you are at the top. But what kills many of us is that when we find ourselves in certain positions, we think that it will last forever. One day, you will come down. If you have that at the back of your mind, it will make you to behave well. It will make you to treat others as you will like to be treated. My philosophy of life is for me to act according to my conscience. That is the summary of my philosophy.

    Are there things you remember today with regrets? Are there things you could have done differently if given another opportunity?

    Of course, yes. For everybody, it has to be. You cannot, with hindsight, review what you did for eight years and find all of them quite in order. There must be a few that you believe that, well, given hindsight today, I would have done them differently. There are always.

    Can you give examples?

    I may not be able to give a lot of examples, but I would say that one of the things that I want to do that I did not do well, was the issue of technical education. I remember it till today. I had a philosophy that I wanted to do real technical education, which meant establishing artisan schools, craft schools. I think that is what we lack. We can have all the engineers in the world, all the doctors, but we don’t have artisans. That is an aspect of my administration that I think that I did not do quite well.

    Secondly, it was my ambition to link up the three cadres of health management; that is the primary, secondary and tertiary health. I did not quite link them up. There were some of these things I failed to do, which I think I should have done. But in any case, lack of resources also contributed to it; not that I did not know that they should be done.

    Another thing I believe I would have done differently is the issue of Imo State University. I thought of establishing two major campuses of the Imo State University, but I could not get them working. The teaching hospital in Orlu, the College of Engineering in Okigwe, I started them but I could not get them to the level I should have got them to before I left. These are some of the things I could not achieve as I desired. Subsequent regimes should be able to continue from where I stopped.

    What did you accomplish during your tenure as governor?

    What makes me feel happy most when I remember Imo State is not the structures on ground, but the human capital I was able to build. To me, that is what makes me feel happy. In my time, I had this poverty alleviation programme and it helped a lot of people. When I go to Imo State today, you see market women I would not even remember recounting what my poverty alleviation programme helped them to achieve. I have had many of such experiences and they gladden my heart. It is not just the issue of structures.

    In my time, we did not have so much money, but we were doing some contracts. We made sure that we distributed them well. It was not a question of getting one contractor to build everything. We distributed them and spread them among contractors from the three political zones, so that the idle youths in the villages would find work to do. This made me happy. I remember the state secretariat in Owerri, which has 10 large buildings. The buildings were given to 10 individual contractors spread among the three senatorial zones in the state. Anytime I visited the construction site, I felt happy seeing youths who would have been idle in their villages working at the sites. These engagements prevented them from taking to crimes. All these made me happy.

  • Northern leaders missed their mark on Boko Haram -Ex-Anambra Governor Mbadinuju

    Northern leaders missed their mark on Boko Haram -Ex-Anambra Governor Mbadinuju

    Former Anambra State Governor, Dr. Chiwonke Mbadinuju, has expressed serious concern over the worrisome state of insecurity in the country. In this interview with INNOCENT DURU, he speaks on the attitude of Northern leaders to Boko Haram and bares his mind on other burning national issues. Excerpts:

    When President Goodluck Jonathan declared state of emergency in three northern states, the menace of Boko Haram died down for some time but later came up again after the President felt the country was winning the war against terrorism. What in your opinion is actually the problem?

    One hardly finds the President of a country who says it is easy job ruling his people. President Jonathan may not be an exception, more so when he is not only saddled with problems of infrastructure, security and welfare and so many other needs then from nowhere he was suddenly confronted with the war of insurgency of a most vicious type as was never seen in Nigeria.

    I believe Nigerians never bargained for what we are witnessing today in the form of a war of attrition imposed on us by Boko Haram insurgents without warning, and even took unawares our well trained army, navy, air force, police and other security agencies.

    President Jonathan came into office from one crisis to another: from acting president to a “doctrine of necessity” to become President. I don’t know if Jonathan has in fact enjoyed the office of the President since his ascendancy. But he can take solace in the saying that ‘uneasy lies the head that wears the crown’.

    Having seen Nigeria gradually being over-run by insurgent Boko Haram and quickly took control of three states of Bornu, Yobe and Adamawa, Nigerians immediately knew that the game was up and that we must be able to match the invaders one on one and out run and out class them, at least so we thought. It easily became an internecine warfare and none could predict when and how the end would come. Nigerians were dying in their hundreds in churches, mosques; army and police headquarters not exempted. The die was cast.

    Jonathan must have decided to take the bull by the horn and without further equivocation, he quickly declared state of emergency in the three states mentioned above. Thereafter, there was a sigh of relief, Nigerians greeted Jonathan for the masterpiece steps he took as many foreign countries began sending him congratulatory messages while many thought the worst would soon be over. It was not.

    The Northern Elders were bewildered and consistently called for amnesty. The President hesitated a bit but obliged them their request and immediately set up a committee headed by the Hon. Minister for Special Duties, Turaki, (SAN). Everyone thought that the solution had finally come but the euphoria was short-lived.

    Not much came out of this. But even wives and children and relations of Boko Haram were released from detention in the hope that this would assuage the feelings of parties on both sides, still killings continued. The JTF did the best any trained security group could do to achieve good and lasting result, but with not much result in terms of the objectives of government.

    Even when the ‘Civilian JTF’ volunteered their services to complament the efforts of JTF, hundreds of the young people were massacred in the war front and in cold blood. It was a good gesture and good effort but not the type government had in mind for a lasting solution. That dream died faster than it was conceived.

    In the final analys, is no one could sincerely blame Jonathan or his government for having not done enough. Even America, both at home and in the middle-East, Britain in Northern Ireland, Turkey, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, and other countries fought insurgents but failed even till today. This nevertheless is a passing stage all over the world. Nigeria did not deserve anything like this, more so when true Nigerians were never insurgents. Our problems were rather imported from abroad and they were meant to destabilise our country.

    The beginning of the solution to this big problem is to first of all trust our President and his administration that they are doing their best under the circumstance, knowing that this is a wide-world phenomenon.

    Do you think the problem is being fuelled by anything the northern elite and leaders ought to have done but have left undone?

    It is good you mentioned Northern elite and leaders in respect of the problem of Boko Haram in Nigeria, particularly in the North East of the country. Why I seem to like the Northern elite and leaders is mainly because they seem to know their destination and how best to get there. They are not like men who are in a hurry but choose a longer route. They often try to hit the nail on the head.

    But the only time they seem to have missed the mark is on the issue of this Boko Haram. The gravine had it that some people actually encouraged Boko Haram in their bid to stop President Jonathan’s second term bid.

    Some of the Northern leaders have opposed almost every move Jonathan has made to carry out his programme of tranformation. Thus, when President Jonathan declared state of emergency in the three North Eastern states, even foreign nations commended him but the Northern leaders rebuffed it and opposed him. The Northern leaders furthermore called for amnesty for Boko Haram as was done for the South-South militants. But surprisingly when President Jonathan bent backwards to appease them and granted Boko Haram the amnesty, they were the same people that turned round and rejected amnesty; even a faction of Boko Haram turned round and rejected amnesty, saying it was the government that needed it. This cat and mouse game did not show seriousness on the part of some of the Northern leaders.

    It is this prevarication that delayed the full implementation of government’s programme for full eradication of the hideous Boko Haram sect. As it is now, only few people will believe that it is not the Northern leaders that are in a way fuelling the activities of the sect.

    I recently read President Jonathan’s statement in the press that the Boko Haram is giving Nigeria bad name. So the question is, when will this be over? But for me, and majority of the good people in this country, I say that it shall surely be well with us. Indeed we will wait and see the magic wand the Northern leaders will use in driving out Boko Haram from Nigeria when it is the turn of the North to rule Nigeria.

    What is your take on the Nigerian Governors’ Forum crisis? Why has it degenerated to the point it is now?

    Indeed, the ‘Nigerian Governors’ Forum’ (NGF) is a good thing and a good concept for Nigeria’s political and economic development as the governors activities complement those of the National Assembly (NASS), as well as the policies of the President. But as we know, absolute power corrupts absolutely, which is the sad aspect of the NGF today. In fact, I was in the first set of governors that started the NGF in 1999 smoothly without the hiccups we have noticed recently.

    Still, we don’t throw away the baby with the bath water. If the present governors know ‘from where they had fallen, they should repent and do the first works’ as in the Book of Revelations 2:5.

    In governance, the co-operation of the three arms of government is absolutely necessary. No one arm can govern alone under our constitution: not the Executive, neither the Legislature nor the Judiciary. The wheel of the nation’s administration cannot run smoothly without the three in motion. It seems, therefore, that while the Legislature has constitutional oversight function over the Executive, the Governors Forum does not have such function or powers.

    The governors in their forum tend to keep penetrating into the activities of the Executive, tending to pry deeper and deeper beyond constitutional limits. Where this happens, the Executive is bound to kick and to complain, leading to frictions as each branch continues to guard its powers jealously. An example is the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF). The fund is an innovation that would benefit all Nigerians, but the governors politicised it. I often use the analogy of the children who were hungry and their father wanted the whole yam in the house cooked so that children would feed well for that day. But their mother objected and proceeded to cook only some and kept the rest for the rainy day. The mother here taught a good lesson that we should not consume all we have, and all at the same time.

    Let us immediately look at the face-off between the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the First Lady,Dame Patience, and the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, on the one hand and Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, on the other hand? What do you think is amiss?

    It is, in fact, revolting to me and to all right-thinking persons to lump together President Jonathan, his wife, and a Minister of State (Education) and squared them up with Governor Amaechi of Rivers State. We must learn in this country to give honour to whom it is due. We as people must learn to respect our leaders and not use foul language against them. If we are not able to respect our President and leaders in this country, then we should not expect foreigners to respect them, or even respect Nigeria for that matter.

    Finally, if I were Governor Amaechi, I will not wait for the Presidency to approach me for settlement of any rift. Rather I will seek audience to see the President and apologise and ask him what I would do to restore the former good relationship. What I am saying is not theory. It happened to me as governor when our great party leader ‘single-handedly’ stopped me from my second-term bid. Not only that, I was blackmailed and wrongly accused of a crime I never committed and the same party leader believed the accusation against me by my opponents; I was nearly killed for a crime I knew nothing about.

    But after I was set free, I took time to visit Baba twice in his hill-top mansion, Abeokuta Ogun State, and slept in his room the two days I visited him and was well received with sumptuous meals. Furthermore, my said leader also allowed me to give ‘words of exhortation’ to worshipers in his Chapel at Abeokuta. At the end, he told the congregation that the problem was from my people and that he had forgiven me over all that was done to me. Everyone in the chapel rejoiced.

    A friend I told of this encounter asked: Who should forgive whom? Should it be my leader who wronged me or me who was wronged? We laughed over it, as I told him that I could not be greater than my leader and master. That was how we reconciled. Things like that should be examples in similar situations. At least, I am alive today, healthy and still being politically relevant. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

    The PDP has been enmeshed in series of crises in recent times. Why is the house divided against itself?

    For PDP, the house has not quite divided. Don’t forget that PDP has built and maintained a very large empire for all and sundry to take shelter under the umbrella. When it is said that PDP is the biggest party in Africa, it makes sense. The bigger the party the bigger the trouble. But the PDP’s trouble does not affect winning in election. The party knows how to close ranks when the chips and down. The PDP house may have divided but not against itself as your question seems to suggest. As for the party and its electoral gain, I say that the taste of the pudding shall be in the eating.

    Even from the so-called ‘noise’ emanating from the camp of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), it should not worry anyone. The ‘noise’ represents activities like in a factory, if there is no noise as you approach a factory, it means there is no production going on, and the factory is dormant. But if there is noise, it shows factory is at work and producing. In fact, for a factory, the louder the noise the better for it and so it is with the NGF. Noise- making is not always a bad thing.

    From all we are seeing, the polity appears to have been heated up ahead of the 2015 elections, what does this portend for the country and our democracy?

    They are the politicians that try to over-heat the polity by their actions and utterances. If politicians play according to rules of the game, it will be seen that politics can be an interesting game, but shifting the goal post in the middle of a match is nothing but stealing.

    When once politicians discard the rule of law, equity and due process and begin to carry ballot boxes and writing results and heaping cash at the door steps of voters to entice them, it means the voters have deviated from the norms of democracy. The 2015 elections may be different, even if better than the earlier 2011 election adjudged to be the fairest as was promised by President Jonathan himself. However, we hope is not lost.

    Some sections of the North have demanded for the return of the presidency to the region in 2015. Do you share their sentiment?

    You talk of the presidency ‘returning’ to the North when the South East has indeed not tasted the office at all. I am not saying the North won’t take their turn but it will be at a due time. I believe in one thing at a time. Let Jonathan complete his second tenure first; then the South-South will know they have taken their due share. The next issue will be between the North that has had three civilian heads of state and several military heads of state, and the South-East which has not tasted the office for the first time. Between the North and South-East, where will equity and fairness lie? Will equity be in favour of those who have produced the President and several Heads of State, or will equity be in favour of the South-East that has not had even one President? There is no need assuming that immediately the South-South finishes, it will rotate to the North. To such an assumption, Zebrudaya would say emphatically, ‘Fa-fa-fa-fa-foul o’! When the time comes to decide, all the six zones shall come together and discuss the merits and demerits of which zone shall get the slot. Let it not be said that it is a forgone conclusion that the rotation will go to the North. Suppose it goes to South-East? So what?

    Do you think the choice of Dr. Umaru Dikko as the chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the PDP is a welcome idea?

    Umaru Dikko is one of the best politicians and administrators produced by this country and nurtured by former President Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the Second Republic. I worked as and Assistant to the then Vice-President, Dr. Alex I. Ekwueme in Shagari’s Administration and I had occasions to interact with Umaru Dikko who was the Minister of Transport and who ably handled the distribution of rice and other scarce commodities made available through his office to all the needy in all parts of the country.

    For the PDP to appoint Dikko to head the disciplinary committee and for him to accept to chair the committee is a plus for the party. I only pray that his health is good enough to handle the tedious assignment.

    I know Dikko to be fair-minded and dedicated to whatever assignment was given to him, he discharged them creditably. So he is indeed a ‘fit and proper’ person to do the job and do it well without fear or favour.

    Recently, Senator Arthur Nzeribe said the South East has nothing to show for the support it gave to President Jonathan. Do you feel the same way?

    My good friend, the distinguished Senator Arthur Nzeribe is an enigma. Even out of government, he is still quite in touch with everything happening around him. Like Zik of Africa, Arthur maintains a library of files of ‘who is who’ in many spheres of endeavour. If you mention a person, or bring up a topic, Arthur will give you a rundown of the person or of the event and its chronology. At a time his health was somehow, but now he is rejuvenated. One can understand when I described him as an enigma.

    Recently, he gave an interview in which he advised the Igbo to forget the 2015 presidential election. Arthur says his mind not minding whose ox is gored. A debate between Arthur and my other good friend, Orji Uzor Kalu, also another enigma, will be interesting.

    A debate of these two accomplished politicians on the plight of Igbo and how they can come into the main stream of Nigerian politics will be in order. But Orji Uzor Kalu believes that Igbo deserves to be given the chance in 2015, while Arthur felt that Igbo deserve the presidency but not in 2015. The debate shall go on as it has been every four years. One of these days, it must be the time of the Igbo to take their turn, and when that time comes, no human being can stop the move.

    As for whether President Jonathan deserves further support by the Igbo and whether he has done enough for the South East to vote for him again in 2015, that will be a matter for further debate. But for me, it is fate that brought Jonathan in as President of this country. When he was Deputy Governor in Bayelsa State, little did he know that he would be governor, and from being governor, he became Vice-President, and then Acting President; and finally President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, whoever assisted him to succeed must have been used of God, and should not boast.

    Would it be in the interest of the region to support him again if he wants to go for a second term and what would that mean for the chances of the region to have one of his own to occupy the nation’s number one seat?

    Actually, President Jonathan has not declared that he would run for second term, though he kept saying that he will reveal his plans in the year 2014. So, we need to respect his decision and wait; 2014 is just around the corner and he will tell Nigerians why he wants second term, whether it is by the constitution or by virtue of his accomplishments in office in the first term of four years. The time is at hand. He already presented his mid-term accomplishments. To me, it will not be fair for the Igbo to abandon Jonathan if he decides to run for second term, but we’ll wait and see what happens or develops.

    What is your take on the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra State?

    There are major political parties competing for the office of Governor of Anambra State. APGA is the present ruling party. It is followed by the PDP, the Labour, and APC (not in a particular order). As a PDP stalwart, I will do all I can to make sure the PDP candidate wins back Anambra State, which I first ‘captured in 1999, and it got lost through political intrigues and inordinate ambition. This is the much I can say now, but I sincerely believe that the bones shall rise again. It is well.

     

  • How I spent 12 hours among dead bodies

    How I spent 12 hours among dead bodies

    Why did SOKAPU declare a six-month mourning period for the late former Governor of Kaduna State, Sir Patrick Yakowa?

    He was our hero and the first democratically elected governor from Southern Kaduna. He was our rallying point and a role model. He was somebody on the road to fulfilling our dream of participating in the act of governance in Kaduna State. Before Yakowa, they had declared Government House as a no-go area for my people, and then God gave us that slot. Can’t we celebrate such a man?

    First, he was a man who was completely detribalised. He treated the Hausa, Fulani and the others equally and was not a religious bigot. He was fair to people from all religions. In fact, some people even felt that he was more disposed to the Hausa Muslim community than the other communities. But that is the nature of the man. He believed in fairness.

    The bridges he built within the short period he was around are bridges I am not too sure we will get somebody to build in the near future. He was a real bureaucrat and an administrator, and was so friendly to people. He wasn’t a thief and did not steal government money to enrich himself. Shouldn’t we celebrate such a life? Shouldn’t the people of Kaduna State celebrate such a great man?

    We declared the six months and we rounded it off with prayers. We asked the Muslim community to join us in praying for the repose of the soul of that gentleman, as well as for peace and stability of Kaduna State. Some of them responded. At the St. John’s Catholic Church where we held the prayers, there were Muslims who came for the service, including his former Secretary to Government, Lawal Ismaila Abdullahi. That tells you that Yakowa transcends religious or tribal lines.

    You can see that even after death, people are still following him. That was why we declared the six-month mourning period. We are still mourning him and will only stop mourning him when we have one of us occupying the Government House again, because wherever Yakowa is, that was his dream. Until that is achieved, we will not rest.

    At the service to end the six months of mourning, you spoke about the threat to your life by the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau…

    The issue of insurgency in this country has placed virtually everybody under threat. But I know that in two or three video releases, the leader of the insurgency group particularly warned me to desist for fighting the cause of my own people. I didn’t take it as anything because that is what life is all about. I have heard them say the same thing to the President and governors and anybody who has an opinion that is contrary to what they believe.

    Let me say that the people who started this insurgency had a genuine cause, which was hijacked and politicised. They said they were fighting corruption. They were after equality and justice, and everybody believes in that. I believe in that. If you are a group that is out to fight for justice, equality, fairness, I am for you. But when it becomes the issue of bombing innocent people, killing those who are even sympathetic to you, that is where we disagree.

    I come from a community that is grossly impoverished, but I won’t carry arms against the state. I will shout and tell the whole world that there has been injustice against my own people and we have been marginalised. So, give us what belongs to us without taking arms or throwing bombs. This is the kind of struggle we want every Nigerian to engage in where they feel short-changed. Now, the struggle they started with has lost value and people now see them as killers and murderers. So, the genuine mission they started with has been abandoned; it is now political Boko Haram.

    I have seen people who are trying to make themselves relevant politically by using the name Boko Haram and trying to show the world that they have sympathy for them when in the real sense, they don’t have sympathy for these people. They are just using it for political reasons. Now, the government has taken action, what are they saying? The story has changed. Who were the people that were talking about amnesty? What are they singing today now that government has acted? You can see the complacency in the whole thing.

    The fact is that there were people who were feeding fat from the Boko Haram saga. Now government has acted and their means of livelihood has been cut short. So, let us wait and see the new song that they will sing.

    At the memorial service, you also spoke about an accident you had. How did it happen?

    I was working in a bank and we went to Lagos for a workshop. There was crisis in Lagos and there was no movement. Northerners were also being hunted. We went to Lagos by air and we were caught in the crisis. We couldn’t leave Lagos. We were staying in a hotel close to Abiola’s house. Somehow, they learnt that there were northerners in that hotel and they made effort to set it ablaze. So, the hotel management arranged a luxury bus and smuggled us out of Lagos at night.

    About 15 kilometres to Ogbomoso, our vehicle ran into a broken down trailer and most of my colleagues and friends died. I was unconscious for several hours. I found myself among dead bodies for at least 12 hours. By the time we were rescued and taken to the General Hospital in Ogbomoso, I had lost about 70 per cent of my blood and they were surprised that I was still alive.

    I was later moved to Baptist Medical Centre there in Ogbomoso, where I was rehabilitated for about one week before I was moved to Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, where I spent about one year. God spared my life and today, I drive around on my own and can do virtually anything anybody can do.

    What was it like being on the sick bed for that long?

    First, that was not my first accident. But that was the longest period I was hospitalised. Thank God that I have a very enduring mind and spirit. I don’t give up easily about life, probably because of the advantage of being brought up in the village. That ruggedness in me enabled me to be able to withstand things. It was like being put in prison for one year, and I made sure that I did not allow stress to come in and weigh me down. I was one of the liveliest patients while I was in the hospital.

    To me, it was like a period of reorientation and rejuvenation. It was like being sent to prison and you come out reformed. You look at life from a perspective different from the way you used to and you appreciate God. You now look at this thing they call life and realise that it can cut at any time. It is like NEPA light and God can take it away at any time. That accident conditioned me and prepared me for whatever challenges I am facing in life, and that has made me to be very rugged.

    Southern Kaduna communities have been under attack from unknown gunmen for some time now. What is SOKAPU doing about them?

    Since November 2011, we in Southern Kaduna have witnessed incidents of organised and sporadic attacks on our communities. It started like an accident in a village called Fadia. Shortly after, there was an attack on Bitaro village in Jaba land. From Bitaro, there was another one in Kusom, a village not far from the Gwong community where the late Governor Patrick Yakowa hails from, as well as other attacks around Kagoro Chiefdom and several other attacks in Bajju land in Zangon Kataf Local Government. There was another serious massacre in Gbagyi land in a village called Chukun, where over 18 people, including a priest, were murdered.

    The most recent one is the one on Attakar land, where three villages were wiped out on the hills and more than 100 houses were set on fire. In fact, in that place, the only building remaining is a church that was partly damaged. That attack recorded close to 60 deaths. Two weeks later, there was another attack in that area where 12 people were murdered and more than 78 houses were set on fire. The casualties were more of women and children, and their foodstuffs and personal belongings were burnt.

    Those attacks left us with the responsibility of resettling more than 15,000 internally displaced persons. We have tried to understand the motives behind it and our understanding has been that the Fulani have been the major suspects. The second set of people we suspect are thieves who come to steal cows. We have a chain of security operatives in that area mounting road blocks left and right. But what surprises us is that despite these attacks, we are yet to get reports that one person has been caught and prosecuted.

    It leaves us wondering what those security men are doing there. Are they not brought there to protect lives and property? Is it that their number is insufficient or that they are not doing what they were sent there to do? Otherwise, how can these people always beat them hands down? So, the community is worried. The union has been involved in resettling these internally displaced persons, providing relief materials to them as well as restoring peace and confidence in the people there. We are worried that if government and security agencies cannot protect lives and property, what alternative do we have as a people? We are saying that if they cannot, let them leave so that we can organise to protect ourselves. We have the people, the knowhow and we will use whatever strategy it takes to defend our land.

    I have seen it happen in the Niger Delta where they are defending their land. The Afenifere did it. The people of Nasarawa have in recent times been defending their land. The Tivs have been defending their land against these attacks. So, what we are saying is that we also have the ability to defend our land. We will mobilise the people to protect the land. But if the security operatives feel that they are there with a good intention and they are there to execute the mandate given to them to protect lives and property, then we are prepared to collaborate with them.

    You can see what is happening in Borno State, where the youth are working with the JTF to point out those who are involved in the insurgency. Our people are ready to do same, because we know the terrain and how to go about hunting for our killers. We are saying that the security operatives there should find a way of keying into this vantage position to make their work easier.

    What has been the response to all these attacks by the state and federal governments?

    I complained to government about the attack in Attakar land. There were three villages that were first attacked. The villages are about 10 kilometres apart from each other, and they have only 25 soldiers there. These soldiers do not have helicopter or a motor bike. The people want to go and farm and rebuild their villages, but that threat is still there. If these people are not protected to the level where they can go and farm and rebuild their homes, there is an impending danger of hunger, and that is going to bounce back on government.

    It is cheaper for government to improve security there and allow people to go and rebuild their land and farm. That will relieve government of the burden of feeding people who have been denied their means of livelihood. We are saying that government should improve security in the area and the security agencies themselves should collaborate with the people. The materials taken to those internally displaced persons were grossly inadequate. These attacks came at the beginning of the rainy season. Where do you want them to go?

    Initially, they were occupying primary schools. When the schools resumed, they were forced to leave. Because of the hospitality of our people, many of them had to be absorbed into people’s homes. Many of these people don’t have food, clothes and other basic necessities of life. So, how do you want them to start life all over again? That is why we are saying that government needs to do more. It should not be a one-stop thing, coming at the beginning of the attacks and disappearing. The rehabilitation should be a continuous thing.

    Apart from providing the basic needs, what is government doing to make sure that this does not repeat itself? Government must be proactive. They should put machinery in place to ensure proper and adequate intelligence gathering as a way of preventing future attacks. Government should not just wait until there is an attack and they provide bags of rice, spaghetti and other items. That is not what government should be doing.

    What is your assessment of Kaduna State six months after Yakowa?

    The score card for the man who stepped into the shoes of Yakowa is better told by a survey of the opinion of the people of Kaduna State. We are still making an assessment of what the man has been able to do in the last six months. He promised that he was going to continue with all the projects of his former boss. We are monitoring all those projects. We are trying to find out, where Yakowa stopped, how much was voted for those projects? How much has been released and how long it will take to complete them with the governor in office now? We are monitoring all the projects that are of interest to us.

    The score card will reveal whether the man is really interested in completing what his former boss started. I have seen appointments in the government and for our people, a few appointments are good, and I give him kudos for that. But I want him to improve on the nature of those appointments. If you look at appointments at the federal level, we have not been treated fairly. I say this with confidence because of the number of appointments that has been given to Kaduna State, how many of them have gone to Southern Kaduna despite the overwhelming support we gave the ruling party?

    Southern Kaduna gave over 51 per cent of the total votes Mr. President got from Kaduna State and more than that in the governorship election. But what do we have to show for it? Some committee appointments and membership of some boards. We do not have a minister. The ministerial slot that is supposed to be ours is being held by somebody from Zone One. The governor is from here, and the normal arrangement is that where ever the governor comes from, the minister comes from the other side. Now that the governor is from Zone One, automatically, the ministerial slot is supposed to go to Zone Three. As we speak, that slot is still there, held by somebody. It is left for the governor of the state to ensure that he fights and correct that injustice.

    If I were in his position, I would have fought this in Abuja to ensure that this dysfunctional situation is corrected. As I said before, the body language will determine so many things in future; both the body language of the governor and the body language of the people of Southern Kaduna.

    The Senate Committee on Constitution Review has practically dashed the hope of all those agitating for new states, including yours. What is your take on this?

    That thing the Senate committee did was grossly wrong. They hurriedly went to submit their report on the basis of certain documents that have been updated. The documents they used were the ones that were submitted in 2010 whereas we had submissions that we made in 2012/2013. We were asked to update those documents and submit them, but now they are giving the whole world the impression that those of us agitating for state creation did not meet the requirements, which is not true. What I expect the Senate to do is to say that certain things were missing and we should update them in view of the realities on ground, and any group that meets the requirement for state creation, the state should be created.

    We know that the process is cumbersome, but that is why the Senate committee is there in the first place. They are supposed to propose amendments that will make state creation easier. It was because we knew that the process is cumbersome that we had those sessions to ensure that when people who genuinely need a state make demand, they get it. The state Houses of Assembly, the House of Representatives and the Senate are the organs we need to create states. Once 2/3 of those people say yes, this is what we want, why should we be denied?

    In the case of Gurara State which we are demanding, I must say that we have all it takes to have a state of our own. We have the capital, the human resources, the land and every other thing that it takes. Our state has a lot of potential and we are capable.

  • ‘Akintola Williams’ charm lured me into becoming a chartered accountant’

    ‘Akintola Williams’ charm lured me into becoming a chartered accountant’

    Yesterday’s Mama’s boy, Chief Olukayode Akindele, is all grown up: Today, he has become a super dad and a grandfather. He is also an accomplished businessman, with a very rich success story. Indeed, Chief Olukayode Akindele is a pride to present and future generations of chartered accountants.

    But even then, starting out in business for him was not on a roller coaster. He, however, maintained that a man’s background is a most important aspect of him. “It is the foundation. I am blessed. I cannot claim that I was not privileged while growing up, I was privileged. As a matter of fact, I went to some of the best schools in Nigeria. For primary school, I went to Corona School in Ikoyi, King’s College and St. Gregory’s College for secondary education, before going abroad for further studies. So my background has been solid, upper-middle class and Christian,” said the amiable chief.

    However, despite his privileged background, Chief Olukayode Akindele had to climb the ladder of success with a dint of hard work and dedication, which he said started from childhood. “I was born in Lagos, lived in Lagos until I went into university. I was born in Montgomery Road, Yaba. From there, we moved to Apapa, then to Surulere and later Ikoyi. My father, Otunba Theophilus Oluwole Akindele, was a civil servant. He was the first Director that Post and Telecommunications had. He was also the Director-General of Communications when the late Nigerian Head of State, Gen. Murtala Ramat Muhammed, was the Federal Commissioner for Communications, during the regime of Gen. Yakubu Gowon.

    “My mother was a great influence in my life. She was a very devoted Christian and we used to wake up at 6am to pray and 6pm to pray. That was one thing we had to do, even if you had to be sleep, you still would be kneeling down for the prayer. And I thank God for it. My mom was the greatest influence in life. She devoted her entire life to my dad and her children at home. That was her real work in life, the home! She took care of us and did everything to make sure that we are what we are today. We thank God for her.”

    Even as a child, Chief Akindele had always wanted to be wealthy. “I just wanted to be wealthy and have a voice! And to be wealthy, I thought one had to be a businessman. So I wanted to do Business Administration. To have a voice, I thought one had to be a politician.”

    But at that point, his father stepped in and created the difference in his life. “My father said no, to both. He asked what business had he, that I wanted to take over from him. He told me to go and be an engineer or I should go and become a doctor. Eventually, I settled for economics, which I studied at the university.”

    Chief Akindele speaks fondly of his father, because he recalls how he charted his future profession for him. “My dad is still alive. He is still strong and agile. Though the funniest thing about him now is that, when he goes out these days, he holds a walking stick. But when he comes back, he is usually not with it. He forgets it there. So we tell him that he uses walking stick because it is fashionable, not because he needs it (laughs). That is one thing we have in our family, we are strong and have longevity.

    “When I came out of the university, I thought I had made it! But then, my father took me to Mr. Akintola Williams. There, Mr. Akintola said to me, B Sc Economics is nothing; it is HES, which meant ‘higher executive service’. He said that would be the best position I can ever get. But to be wealthy, you have to be a professional, an architect, engineer and so on. He at the time was a chartered accountant, and I was impressed by his style. Within me, I decided at that point, that I was going to be a chartered accountant. That is why and how today, I am a chartered accountant.

    “I guess that is the advantage of being in the upper-middle class,” he replied and continued: “I didn’t have to do anything. It was much based on the relationship that my father had with Mr. Akintola Williams. The moment that I made up my mind to be a chartered accountant, the whole door was laid wide open for me to walk in. He took me, right straight into London, St. Bright Street, to one of the leading firms. There Mr. Akintola Williams introduced me to the senior partner, and that day I was signed on.

    “In those days, one needed to be signed on as an associate clerk. So I was signed on and that began a wonderful, robust exciting career for me. I knew that it was what God wanted me to do because of the way it came. It was a total surprise to me. I liked Mr. Akintola William’s style the moment I saw him. I loved the way he spoke the Queen’s English. I loved his very nice apartment. He talked to me like a very gentleman. He didn’t talk to me like I was a small boy; he talked to me like a gentleman. He referred to me as ‘the young Akindele’, and had a nice air about him. I wanted to be like him. So I thought that if it is the fact that he is a chartered accountant that made him that way. I’ll rather be a chartered accountant. At that point it became what I felt like doing, and that is how I became a chartered accountant.”

    Even then, the then young Akindele soon found out that being a chartered accountant was not a day’s job! “In those days, it took four years to go through the ‘article ship’, that is what it was called. I went through it, I found it very interesting. I qualified in 1980, and then came home to Nigeria. Since then, I have been based in Nigeria.”

    Life as a returnee chartered accountant favoured the young Akindele. He adjusted easily to the Nigerian system. “I came back because I was married, I had a son and I knew that I could make it within the Nigerian system. Here, jobs were chasing me. I had five jobs where I had been given letters of appointment. I decided to choose and work with D.O. Dafinone because the firm gave me the best offer, house, car, and treated me like an expatriate in Nigeria, while others were just offering me car loan. Chief Dafinone was going into the Senate then to become Senator Dafinone. He was a good teacher to me, not only in accountancy as a profession, but also on common sense and how to survive in Nigeria.

    “The condition in Nigeria then was not bad, Volkswagen was N6,500 and Peugeot 505 was N12,000 with air conditioner; generator was N6,000. So whatever your salary was, we had plenty left in our hands. Armed robbers were not stopping people to collect their cars. There was stealing, but they allowed you to park the car first. They didn’t stop people on the road. Nigeria was okay, if you had N1000, you get £900 for it; you could go to England for summer when you had your annual leave. The return ticket was N32,000. Surviving as not difficult, it was about how well you wanted to survive.”

    But he never forgot his mother’s training of working hard. “By my personal nature, I am not somebody that wanted to be an employee, so my sojourn with Chief Dafinone was just two years. I joined probably June 1980 and left in October 1982. I greeted him farewell and started my practice in October 1982. I worked hard. Unlike most Nigerians who started in the sitting room, I started on Broad Street and still have the office till today. It remains my main office. My philosophy: ‘people don’t really care what you look like or where you stay, when you are a professional in a service industry,’ your personality and environment determines whether people will come to you or not. That will also determine the class of people that will come to you.”

    He shares his first lucky break with us. “My first lucky break was based on professionalism and honesty. When I was leaving Senator Dafinone, he had a client, a very wealthy man. I was handling the account for two years. The way we were taught in England, it was not just to put together the account but also to look at the account after you are done, and advise the person. So I used to sit down with him, talk about his account and advise him. When I concluded his account the second year, he told me, “okay we see you next year.” That was when I told him, “no, you won’t be seeing me next year.” I told him that I was going to go and set up my own practice. So, he said, ‘then I need you.’ I told him no, it is unprofessional for me to take my employer’s client, that I can be struck off from England, since I belong to England and Wales. I am a member of ICAN by virtue of my belonging to England and Wales. So the man said “no, I am going to call David and tell him that I want to move to you, because when I had David, he had time for me, but now he is too busy for me. I will tell him that I am giving you my business account to handle for me.” That was how I got my first big break. The man had some big American clients too. I still remember the first cheque I got from him. It was in pounds sterling. He took me to London, we had a meeting, I charged him 3000 pounds, and he looked at it and cancelled it and increased the amount greatly to my surprise. He took me to that meeting as his accountant, while the man who is now known as Senator Udo Udoma was his lawyer. That was my big break!”

    Many years after, Chief Olukayode Akindele says: “I am grateful to God, things have gone well for me, I cannot think of any regret professionally, I am as big as I wanted to be, there are many big jobs that I turn down because I look at the stress involved in each of the jobs. I have enough clients; I get more than I can cope with and work hard on it. I am based in Lagos and have my business links in Abuja, London and Lagos, because it is still the commercial centre of Nigeria. What we have in Abuja is physical money and policies. That dictates the commercial life but at the same time, if you are not looking for government money and government patronage, Lagos is the place”.