Category: Saturday Interview

From one generation to another, members of Anyiam-Osigwe family have ensured that the legacy of their patriarch, late philosopher, Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe, endures. In this interview with Mercy Michael, the Coordinator-General of the Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation, Michael Osigwe, speaks, among other issues, on the 13th session of the annual lecture of the foundation, billed to hold later in the month in Lagos. The lecture, which has former President of Sri Lankan, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, as key speaker will address the topic: ‘Ethnic policy and national integration’.

I suppose this is the first time you’ll be having a female former president as guest speaker at the foundation lecture. What informed the choice?

It wasn’t based on gender. It was purely based on her experiential knowledge. As a former president, she actually established a ministry of ethnic policy in Sir Lanka. We feel that she has the requisite knowledge to bring an important perspective on the subject of our interest in this year’s session. So that’s really what informed the choice.

With the growing insecurity in the country, which stems from our ethnic divide, what do you think is the way forward for Nigeria?

I’m glad you touched on this issue because the issue of federal character presupposes that we do have a country. Fundamentally, the need to address the cleavages that continue to come up in terms of our ethnic divide in the country is essential if Nigeria is going to go beyond where we are now to become, not a nation of different ethnic groups, but one country. So beyond the level of politics, if you come away from the theme of politics, Nigerians love each other and they want to stay together. If you go into a market in the North, say in Kaduna, you will find out that there are probably more Yoruba women and Igbo women there than there are Hausas.

So, at the level of the people, I don’t think we have a problem of co-existing in one country like Nigeria. But when you elevate the argument and it is about who controls power and all of that, then you begin to see the danger signs. Because it’s more to do with a wrong premise in the power struggle that if it’s our turn, it’s like a winner takes all situation, which we must transcend. And when we begin to address our focus of this year lecture, you will begin to appreciate what we are trying to do. We are saying that Nigeria has to be a country and it doesn’t matter whether the president is from the South East or from the South West or from the South-South, or from the North Central, he should be first of all, a Nigerian president of Nigeria, who just happens to come from whatever ethnic group it is. So we should be able to look at the country from a perspective that this is Nigeria, and it doesn’t matter where you are from.

That’s really the issue that I think we need to bear in mind. Nigeria is not under threat by the essence of lack of living together by its people, but there is more of a political dimension to the problem which we believe, if we confront the issue and embrace a policy that will address our fears and anxieties from the various ethnic groups, we probably will be able to successfully overcome that challenge.

Do you honestly see us transcending our ethnic differences to become citizens of Nigeria and not indigenes of tribal groups?

There is no problem that is insurmountable if you apply effective solutions to it. We’ve been through a civil war, we’ve been through a lot of strives, and we have come through that. Nigeria is not doing extremely badly. It’s just that we have to be conscious of what we need to do as a people. It’s for the civil societies, for the citizenry to buy into this idea, that it is better for us to be one cohesive and integrated country. If we keep talking about Nigeria from the stand point of our different ethnic groupings, why we should control the center and what that means for us, then we are not making progress. If you become a president from the South West for instance, the person in the North West should not feel any different. Opportunities should be opened to him just like they are opened to the South West person. And then merit should be the underlining basis for progress,so that it is not about this is our turn. These are the things that we need to overcome.

How would you rate the present administration vis-à-vis the subject matter at this year’s session of the lecture?

The challenges of the present administration and their performance must be weighed against what was there before. It’s like during the time of the campaigns in America, some people pointed out that when Obama came in, the country was more or else on the brink of bankruptcy. The United States had a lot of problems and it was coming from below ground zero to pull back that country’s economy. So I think that if you are asking me whether the current administration is doing well, I believe that they are making efforts in the right direction. On the issue of national integration, I think the fact that we even have someone from the minority, the South-South, is a good sign for Nigeria, in terms of our ability to integrate, to bring people who ordinarily, if we were playing our winner takes all thing, would not have come into power.

I think it’s a good sign for Nigeria that we have a minority as president. And if you look at the government, at every given time in Nigeria, the cabinet is made up of all people from all the ethnic groups. So we are not doing badly in terms of integration. What I think is crucial is to improve on the sense of belonging, the sense of opportunity being open to every Nigerian, not just because it’s our people that are in power this. We need to improve on that, and it’s not about this administration. It is about every administration that has been in government in Nigeria. And this is not about the person that is president. It’s about the perception that we all have. Now we need to come to a point where a president from the North Central says I want to change the economic situation in the South East.

For instance, a place like Imo State has a lot of gas reserve; you take a major petrochemical plant and site it there, create thousands of jobs. So if anyone from the South East should try to lure him, he will be like ‘what are you going to do that we are not getting now?’ That’s what leadership has to do. It is not for the ordinary man on the street. It’s for those people who have the grace to be in government and have ability to influence policies, shape policies and implement them. So that’s what I think is missing.

We have not really had it good with policy implementation in Nigeria. How do you want to ensure that the outcome of this lecture will be implemented in the long run?

Throughout the history of our lecture series, we’ve been trying to invite a good cross-section of the Nigerian population. From policy makers, people in government, the academia, civil societies, students and community as well. So the audience is pretty much a representation of Nigeria. And then, we also have our publications. Each of the sessions of the lecture series, after the event, we have proceedings that are published and made available. From year one till now, we’ve always published our proceedings. So the deliberations at these sessions and the keynote addresses of the key speaker that are always very insightful, and are available to be consulted. And like I said, we do invite government functionaries who are currently in office and are able to, not just influence policies, but to shape them and implement them. So we do that.

Do you have a mechanism to monitor their success in doing that?

Well, I would say that we do impress upon them the need to, and we equally make representations along those lines. Like in the year 2002, we developed a curriculum for model education which was adapted to the Nigerian educational system. Most of the Commissioners of Education of the various states were made aware of that curriculum. The Education Minister then was also aware of the curriculum. And it was launched in Lagos. We do things like that in terms of bringing these policies or these ideas to the attention of government.

There are places that have been identified as hotbeds of religious and tribal crises. Do you have representatives of these set of people that are also going to participate in this lecture?

Most of the times, when we have our lectures, we invite government functionaries, like all the governors, we invite them. They don’t always all attend. But to buttress your point, these areas that are, if you like flashpoints, we have written to them to try and send representation or attend in person if it’s possible. But the lecture itself, the topic is topical and I think it is generating a lot of interest, and like I said, the speaker we are bringing is quite experienced. It should attract these areas you have just pointed out are flashpoints in the country. We have made special efforts to invite them.

Do you see us having a female president in Nigeria?

Yes. Nigeria is really making progress in that respect. I think we have 35 percent of female representation in political and public offices now. The current administration, I think the First Lady has an initiative which was launched before the last election. It proved quite successful in involving women in public office. Today, we have some very interesting portfolios that are being handled by women. It’s not impossible. To use the word impossible I don’t think it’s even right. It’s quite possible that we have a female president in Nigeria in not too long a time. And you people have more population. You have the votes, it’s just that you need to bring the right candidate and Nigerians will vote. In the world today, people don’t care whether it’s a man or a woman, as long as you deliver. Very soon, the basis for leadership will be on merit. I’m convinced about that.

Chief Chukwudebe Sylvester Ojukwu is the late Biafran warlord, Ikemba Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu’s 56-year-old first son. Since his father’s death on November 26, 2011, the retired Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) has had running battles with other family members. His name was also conspicuously missing in the controversial will read on November 30, 2012. In this interview with Assistant Editors, LINUS OBOGO, GBENGA ADERANTI and SEGUN AJIBOYE, Debe insists he is the true son of his father, throwing a challenge at those who doubt the veracity of his claim. He also dismisses the will as a fraud. Excerpts: 

You graduated as the best cadet officer of the Nigerian Police Academy in 1985. One would want to ask, why not the army, navy or air force, why the police?

I joined the Nigerian Police not as a cadet. I enlisted as a police constable. My life and that of my father have always intertwined. He joined the army as a private. So, everything about his life played out in my own life. I joined the police as a recruit constable in 1976. In 1977, I went for the cadet course 22 at the Police College, Ikeja. The former Inspector-General, Hafiz Ringim, was my course mate and he worked under me. People like Audu Abubakar, Yar’Adua, were all my course mates. Along the line, those of us that joined the police force with our school certificates figured that I would not measure up to be actually my father’s son, if I was not a graduate. All of you know about his elocution.

So, there was no way I would want a situation where his son became an AIG and when you ask him for statistics, he could not deliver it fluently. So, I fought hard to gain admission into the university, University of Nigeria Nsukka in 1981, on study leave. I did the course for four years, graduated in 1985, went to the law school and was called to the bar in 1986. When I was called to the bar, the Nigerian Police started being jittery because by becoming a lawyer, I was far ahead of my mates of course 22. So, they felt that this Ojukwu was going to be very fast, and the force devised a way to slow me down. That was why they delayed me for two years before I went in for the cadet course. Actually, by the time I graduated in 1985, I was entitled to what was called in public service, Notional Promotion.

Since they were afraid, each time we went for interview, they would always think that my father sent me to police to finish up where he left off in the army. But I always told them that it was not true. But somehow, the then Inspector-General of Police, Mohammadu Gambo, delayed me for two years. So I proceeded to the cadet course in Kaduna then. It was the first time police academy came to Nigeria. It was in Kano but we started with two campuses, Kano and Kaduna. So, we finished the course and I graduated as the best all round. I became the first police officer to get a Presidential Commission, not Gambo’s commission. I got a Presidential Commission, the same commission that military officers get. It became also very turbulent, because if they had promoted me in 1985 when I graduated, they would have given me a notional promotion, I would not have been the first Nigerian Police officer to get Presidential Commission. So the problem became that how can an Ojukwu be the first name in Police Academy? It caused a little bit of trouble at the academy in Kaduna.

The person that sorted it out was Fidelis Oyahkilome, who was the DIG. He stepped in and put his feet down, challenging the person they wanted to give the award. The man they wanted was a Hausa man who was 18th on the basis of performance and how could 18th be the first? This was because they were insisting that somebody from the North should be the first over all in the academy register. But Oyakhilome’s insistence made it possible for me to have the award. If you go to the police academy now, I am the first name on the honours’ list.

And then you asked me why police? I am somebody that loves challenges. The root in the military was already built by my father. If I went into the military, some of the people he taught, some that hated him, some that liked and loved him, might be very sympathetic to me or might be very aggressive towards me. So, I didn’t want that to happen. So, I decided to go to a place where he did not have such root. And the police was it. It could have been the customs, the prisons, immigrations, but I chose the police because among the whole spectrums of army, navy, air force, police, customs, that is the place where you have true nationalism.

When I was starting this interview, I did tell you that I had course mates as Ringim and others. And anywhere I go in Nigeria, I have my mates there. They are all over the place. If I go to the Yar’Adua family, I have friends there and everywhere. And the best place to make friends is in the war front. Outside the force, some people can camouflage when things are going well. Some people can see you in a very exotic car, well dressed and all that and get attracted. But in the war front, you are forced by the situation to be the human being you are. If things get so bad, you might even see that man you are very afraid of going stack naked. That is why the best friend you can make is in the trenches, in the war front. That was what triggered up the Nigerian independence from the colonialists. A lot of Africans had respected the whites but after the Second World War, where Africans also fought, they discovered that the same white man cried like blacks when injured. They discovered that they were also human. That was what led to the agitation for independence.

Considering your successes in the police force, your father must have been proud of you?

He was. I am his clone. He did not do anything without me.

It seems you have so many things in common with your father. do you speak Hausa like your father, too?

There is one thing you should know about Hausa. Do you know why the NDA is located in Kaduna? The NDA being in Kaduna, most times officers speak Hausa. There is no where you can have training three years training there without you understanding the language, even in passing. So, having trained in Kaduna, there is no way I would not have understood passable Hausa.

You retired from the police not as DIG or AIG, would you say that you had a fulfilled career in the police, especially when you consider the fact that some of your colleagues either rose or have risen to the zenith of their career, would you say that you had an accomplished career in the police?

I was accomplished. I was the best of the best. And then, my uncles came to the police and entreated me to come and manage my grandfather’s assets. My grandfather had acquired certain things in terms of estate. And I was told that the things he gathered were perishing. They used that and entreated me. They asked me to leave the police to manage the assets. I felt it was right. I cannot keep on gathering when the ones my patriarch had gathered were wasting away. So, I had to go and manage them. At the time they asked me to manage them, there was no hope and my uncles were quarrelling with my father. In the interest of peace, because they told me that they needed everything to be together just as the old man had it when he was alive. I left to do just that without even knowing where I was going. But God being on my side, what I went into blind-folded became a success story and became very substantial. It is on the basis of all these, that they are fighting me and you see my name allegedly missing in the will.

Why was your name missing in such an important document as the Will of your father?

Will, Will, Will, that was not my father’s Will. He did not write that Will. All the things that have been written are within the realm of speculations. The media have been writing without seeing the Will. I took pains to get the Will because it concerns me. I am giving you a copy of what they said is the Will so that the public can get educated. It is not my father’s Will. It was forged. You can see the signatures are different. The signature on the Will is not that of my father. I am a trained police officer. You can take a look at the letters he had written to me and other documents I showed you, the signature on it is different from that which is on the Will. I know what I am talking about. His true signature is in the archives of the Federal High Court. And my father that you are talking about was a former Military Governor of the Eastern Region. He signed edicts, laws. So, his signature is within the domain of public records.

And because I knew him, he was not the type of person that took rubbish. They went and forged the signature. If you check all the documents, you will find out that the signatures on them do not correspond with that on the will. My father was such a person that when he signed a document, it was like Ikemba. And Ikemba moved straight. Ikemba moved like lightening. If you see his signature, it is deliberate. It is never shaky.

With the demise of your father, Ikemba Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu, an apparent leadership vacuum has been created in the Igbo nation. What does this portend for the Igbo as a people?

The Igbo are a unique people. And there can never be a vacuum in leadership. As long as there is exclusion in the polity, where the Igbo perceive themselves to be excluded from the national scheme of things, there will be something like a supernova. There may be jostling for power, but eventually, as biblically promised, God will never leave His children without a champion. And champions emerge because of circumstances. Champions emerge as a result of challenge. If there is a challenge of oratory, God will provide a leader for the Igbo leader who is given to oratory. If it is a challenge of marshal war, which was what produced my father, the Lord will provide such a champion. The situation that created my father was very marshal. So, it will require the same circumstances to have somebody of my father’s stature. So, a leader will emerge. There will never be a vacuum in Igbo leadership.

We don’t wish for that, but do you foresee a similar circumstance in the future to necessitate the emergence of such a person like the late Ikemba?

Yes I do. The circumstances that happened then were circumscribed by injustice. The only way to obliterate or prevent a repeat of history is to learn from the past. You know, history is very simple. So, those who fail to learn from history will repeat it. Once we have a situation of injustice again, we will have a repeat of history. But if we make sure that there is justice and equity, there would be no need for that. It is very simple. It is only the human nature that corrupts leadership. If for instance, there are 36,000 kilometres of roads to be constructed across the country and provisions have been made in the capital expenditure for that project, if you make it clear and transparent for everyone to see that each state of the federation gets 1,000 kilometre, nobody will question it. There would be justice. And our leaders would walk on the streets without security. Our leaders would sit down with everybody without fear. It is only when we do not do the right thing that problems will arise because there is an injustice.

If out of the 36,000 kilometres of roads, somebody decides to take 5,000 to Ondo State simply because he or she is from there, there is no amount of preaching you will do that people will listen to you or be convinced that you have not perpetrated injustice of the highest order.

An instance is when you have a government official who earns N5 million a month and there is another Nigerian who is earning a miserly N5,000 per month, how do you expect peace to reign? There will certainly be no peace. That is why a leader must rationalise all these contradictions, which is what leadership is all about.

Given your analysis of the Nigerian situation, would you say there is justice and equity in the land?

Definitely no! We do not have justice and equity today and that is why you have pockets of dissent all over the place. There is the Boko Haram, the MEND, MASSOB, the OPC. If there is justice and equity, there will be peace and all the ethnic militia springing up will be in their houses sleeping.

With regards to your exclusion from the Will by your father, what further claim can you still make to the late Ikemba as being your father, as the outcome of the testament has revealed your rejection as Ojukwu’s son?

My exclusion from my father’s Will does not smack of my rejection legally. As a lawyer, I know that you have the power to Will your property to anybody legally. But being a son or a daughter to someone is more sacrosanct, and so it is. It is not something you can wish away. It is so natural. So, a man’s exclusion from a Will is as far as property goes. And with regards to disinheritance, the law provides that if you want to disinherit your son or daughter, you must state in black and white that you are disinheriting your son. And since the Will did not state that I was being disinherited, there is nothing like disinheritance. What has happened is what could be regarded as an unmentioned child. That is the position of the law. So, that is the way it is.

You have only tried to employ legalese to explain away the unfortunate development arising from the Will. But the true position, as we speak, is that your father disinherited you and which culturally could be interpreted as his outright rejection of you as his son. Are you still insisting this is not the case?

No, it is not disinheritance. It is simply exclusion, and by law, it is allowed. If you go to people like Chief Sunny Odogwu, Chief S.N. Okeke and the rest of the elders who were his friends, who had been with my father and me, they know my relationship with him as a son. So, the picture you have painted is not the case. It is only those who are his enemies that are playing this up.

Why are you (The Nation’s team) here today to interview me? You are here because you have seen a trace of him in me. So, does the current situation not smack of irony that those who claim to be his brothers want to throw away the best representation of Ojukwu? It is because from ab initio, they hated him.

As the first son of the late Ikemba, why were you prevented from burying your father, which was against the Igbo tradition?

I took them to court for not allowing me to do ‘dust-to-dust’. I am still in court and that is why the Will suddenly surfaced. The Will came to kill the case in court. There was a build-up to what is now unfolding. I was into the management of my father’s property. My grandfather had told my father not to go to court over his property. That was the injunction he left for everybody. I was mindful of this since I learnt of it from my father before he died.

When my father was taken to England for treatment, those who claimed to be his brothers went to Abuja to swear to an affidavit that he had become a vegetable. According to them, my father should not count in the management of OTL (Ojukwu’s Transport Company). My father was not happy about this, even on his sick bed.

I returned from England, where I was with my father to discover that I had been sued. So, you can see that they were the first to run to court over the property of my grandfather in complete disregard to his (my grandfather’s) instruction. They broke my grandfather’s covenant. In any case, I did not shy away from the suit they instituted. The court, however, dismissed their case while upholding my own case over the management of OTL.

When they realised that the case over my management of the transport company was still subsisting, they had no defence and they had to threaten me to withdraw the case before I could be allowed to play the traditional roles allowed by the first son in the burial rites of my father.

When they did the funerals of my father and I did not perform the rites because they prevented me from doing so, it was then people began to see through their antics. Again, they realised that I was not cowed.

Their next trump card was the Will, which they forged purporting that it was done by my father. It is rather curious that if you had to debar someone from performing the ‘dust-to-dust’ ostensibly because he was not the son of the man, how did you know that he was not the son of the man when you have not seen his Will? Or did they see the Will before his burial? Does it not sound strange to you?

Chukwuemeka junior claimed in some media reports that the Will purported to have been read was not the original Will of the late Ikemba and you are claiming also that what you have given to us was the Will read. Which one are we to believe? The one your younger brother said was yet to be read or the one already read?

When there are many Wills and there is a contention, it means there is no Will. The answer is that there is no Will. If my brother claims he has a copy of what he deems the original Will and which he is not supposed to be in possession of, that again is fake or warped in itself. He is also challenging the Will which was reportedly read, which I insist was a concoction. I have given you a documentary evidence to prove to you that what was read was a concoction.

Part of it is that I was not mentioned. I must be mentioned because I am his child. And if they claim I am not his child, then the correct test to determine all that is a DNA. This is not something anybody can wish away. The Will they read would have been sacrosanct if it mentioned my name but that nothing was given to me. So, for it (Will) not to mention my name, means it was fake and somebody has to prove to me that it was the original Will of my father.

That I was barred from performing ‘dust-to-dust’ was discriminatory and it is against Section 42 of the Nigerian Constitution, which says that no child should be discriminated against on the basis of circumstance of birth.

There was a report that a DNA test was done on all your father’s children before he died. How true is this and were you part of it?

Well, they said there was a DNA test. But the lawyer who wrote his Will claimed that he did not see me. According to him, when he came back in 1982, I appeared and disappeared for 30 years. The lawyer who said he wrote the Will said that. This was somebody who said he did not include my name because I fought him over JAMB office. The lawyer who said that was supposed to be the lawyer who wrote the Will. What he said has been proven to be mendacious. So, for a lawyer who could fabricate all this, how is he supposed to be believed? The so called DNA test was said to have been done in secret. But how can a DNA test be done in secret? A DNA is usually done and made public. I doubt strongly if this was so. Everything is a grand conspiracy.

What is it about you that your siblings and uncles seem to be so afraid to warrant what you have called a grand conspiracy against you?

Let me give you one hypothesis to make you understand. I made an approach to you and told you I had bars of gold deposited under the seabed and I asked you to try and retrieve it for me. I also told you that if you retrieve them, you will be entitled to 50 per cent of the value of the gold. You are being given 50 per cent because of the inherent danger in going under the seabed. Of course, I am making you this offer because I did not expect that you will succeed. So, I decided to increase the percentage to 60 percent. But unknown to you and me, providence would smile on you as you get closer to the bank of the sea and suddenly a mermaid throws the bars of gold at you even before you dive into the sea. It means that you no longer need to go as far as the seabed to fetch them.

After that, you tell the man who sent you, here are the bars of gold. Can I have my 60 percent of the value as you promised? He suddenly begins to dribble you because he thought you might not make it or that you would die in the process. The man begins to tell you that the 60 percent you charge was too much. The scenario I painted captures my experience and my current ordeal in the hands of those trying to tell the world that I am not the son of Ojukwu. When I was given the brief or contract to try and recover the property of OTL, nobody thought I would succeed.

I could jolly well have left the police force to recover the property and ended up not recovering them. And that would have meant that I would not have anything to fall back on up till now. But because I succeeded, they suddenly remembered that the 30 per cent I was given was too much. The 30 per cent meant that I was richer than those who even had shares in the company. If you give someone 30 percent, you will agree unarguably that that person is going to get something big out of the deal.

They are fighting me because of what they thought I made. So, that was why my siblings and the rest of them felt that allowing me to stand before President Goodluck Jonathan to collect the N1 billion the Federal Government was to give would add up to my already filled sack of money I already had. But they forgot that a labourer deserves his wages and not inheritance. Even the Bible recognises the fact that a labourer is worthy of his wages. Does it not surprise you that the same people my father was in court with are the same people I am also in court with? It is clear that I am fighting his war.

You were also reportedly quoted in the media to have said that you are richer than your father. Are you actually richer than your father and how much are worth?

I did not say that. You know, you journalists have a way of colouring stories in a way that makes it appear different from what the true situation is. I remember saying that the assets I have are more than what they are fighting me for. It is not about property but about one’s lineage. And if I leave without challenging it in court, 40 years down the line, somebody will look at my son in the face and ask him, when this thing was done, what did your father do? So, one has to go court to prove that you are his son. You can have one million naira today and robbers can snatch it from you but nobody can snatch your lineage from you.

It is what I made of my disengagement from the police that has paid off and turning others’ heads against me. The decision I took some years back has paid off for me as wages and some people are trying to take it away from me.

Your father is believed to have brothers who are professors, engineers and what have you who are established in their chosen field of endeavours. Why are they not rallying round and supporting you as their brother’s first son who needs to be supported? Why does everyone, including your uncles, seem to be supporting your younger sibling against you?

Their grouse against me, essentially, in their thinking, is that I am cornering everything. But the truth is that if I turn over the estate to them, they will in turn, turn round to sing alleluia to me. But they fail to realise that the estate would not have gotten to them in the first place, but for me.

Remember that the entire estate was given back to my father by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. And if the estate were still in the hands of my father till today, it would have been one of the estates Bianca would be suing for in the last suit she instituted. And the case would have remained in court for 20 years. So, by extricating the estate and keeping it, they want to take it from me, but without at the same time giving me what is due to me. And that would be tantamount to enriching them.

Why do you think they are aligning with your brother against you?

That is because I am holding the ‘goat’. Chukwuemeka forgot that we were out with our father driving on the highway and suddenly, he (Chukwuemeka) found himself driving into the bush. He remains my younger brother. But he must come out from the bush so that I can show him the way. I cannot meet with him in the bush because I do not know if there are traps. He was also excluded from the funeral rites of our father. He was not part of the burial committee.

According to Igbo tradition, when a man dies, his first son is expected to inherit his Obi. In the case of your father, who inherited his Obi, you or Chukwuemeka junior?

It is Emeka because those using him against me encouraged him to inherit my father’s Obi, all in a bid to slight me. I recall that when Emeka’s mother died, my father told him to his face and right in my presence that ‘you are not my eldest son’. He had to beg me to attend his mother’s funeral with him. He cannot deny that he begged me to attend his mother’s funeral. He phoned pleading with me to attend his mother’s funeral.

In what capacity was he begging you to attend his mother’s funeral?

Of course, as his elder brother! When our father’s mother, that is our grandmother, was still alive, he took all of us to her homestead in Agbaru and she was asked who were these children she brought home with her? She said ‘they are my grandchildren from where I got married.’ And the elders said bring the first child let us bless him. And our grandmother pushed me forward to be and I knelt down and they blessed me before Emeka and others. Could the mother of our father be lying that I was the first son of her own son? All the text messages Emeka sent to me when our father was sick are still in my phone. And each time he inquired about our father, he would always ask ‘how is dad today’? why did he not say how is mom today?

How is your relationship like with your step-mother, Bianca?

She remains my late father’s widow. She is also trying to fight for her children. That was why she ensured that the all property my father acquired when they were married went to her. Of course, nobody begrudges her. But for anyone to go a mile extra to say my name is not in the Will is not something that will go unchallenged.

Have you ever been bothered about what is happening in the family and tried to settle all these differences without fighting dirty in the media?

I am one person who believes in the truth. And for me, if you err and recognise the fact that you erred and you are ready to show remorse, there is no reason why forgiveness should not come. But when you try to grandstand, there can be no settlement in sight.

What role did your father play in the burial of your mother because there are insinuations that your mother allegedly led some federal soldiers in a failed bid to capture him in his bunker during the civil war, a development that reportedly made your father to turn against you and your mother?

That is also another lie. My mother was a primary school teacher and the most peaceful person you could find on earth. She was teaching in a Roman Catholic convent. It will also interest you to know that my father met my mother as a virgin. That is why I am an exact replica of my father. I was born with purity. I was the child of his strength.

As for the role my father played in the burial of my mother, I was with my in-law when I heard that my mother was dead. So, immediately I rushed to my father to tell him what happened. He wanted to go for her burial, but he was too frail. I prevailed on him not to stress himself. He drew me closer and hugged me and started shedding tears. So he sent Bianca and his Chief of staff, Colonel Nwobosi, to represent him at my mother’s burial. He told him to go and make sure that Sylvester was doing the right thing. His Chief of Staff returned and told him that from what he saw, he was sure that I had taken care of everything. My father surprised me when he ensured that Bianca was at my mom’s burial.

My mother made one statement about my father to the effect that he was a very principled man. My father, before he died, regretted not marrying my mother. She was a woman with pure love.

Remember the famous Oyewole twins of Abeokuta and the delight the media took in reporting the exploits of the identical twins and unraveling the mysteries about them, particularly in the 1970s and the 1980s? It took the men themselves to unravel the mysteries in a joint autobiography they launched to mark their 70th birthday.

While everybody knew them as Femi and Dotun, it was difficult to distinguish the bearer of each of the names. Their resemblance extended even to their signature, such that one could sign the cheque of the other without the bank manager knowing. As young men of school age, you could punish one for an offence committed by the other without suspecting that the wrong person was being punished.

But they were clean and disciplined personalities; one of the very first set of Nigerians to study abroad. They were also known to be deeply devoted to God and service to humanity. Many of today’s acclaimed professors in science and science-related disciplines passed through them.

They did practically everything together and very few things separated them. Indeed, only their jobs in their latter years did. Even at that, there was still a similarity – one retired as the Deputy Registrar at the West African Examination Council, Yaba, Lagos and the other as Deputy Registrar at the University of Lagos.

However, death, the inevitable scourge of humanity, did separate them. In 2006, Femi, Pa Dotun Oyewole’s identical twin passed on at the age of 84. Six years later, 90-year-old Pa Dotun Oyewole, sat in the cozy living room of his sprawling mansion on Onikolobo Road, Abeokuta awaiting a team of journalists and activists who would be talking to him on his experiences as a young man, now a nonagenarian and the best way he thinks the nation can help its senior citizens.

While Femi was not around, Pa Oyewole’s wife of 57 years, who recently turned 80, sat comfortably beside her husband in admirable companionship. Spotting a red shirt over a navy blue trousers and a black belt to match, Papa looked once more like a fresh school teacher while Mama looked resplendent in a long gown made with the local adire fabric for which Egba people are well known.

After an exchange of pleasantries and apologies for the late arrival of the reporter for the chat, Papa was asked the first question: how come he read Physics in an age when it was more popular to read Classics, History or Law?

It was providential, he responded. He and his late twin brother had finished their secondary school education at the popular Abeokuta Grammar School when a man by name Awokoya, who later became a professor, came to the school. He observed that the Oyewole twins were keenly interested in science. He took them on, teaching them publicly and privately.

At the very first attempt, they passed the science subjects in flying colours, and thus began their adventure into the world of science. The journey took them first to Yaba High College in Lagos, which was then the first and only higher institution in Nigeria, and the University of Durham in the United Kingdom on government scholarship.

Back in the country in 1951, Papa and his twin brother went straight to their Alma Mata, Abeokuta Grammar School, from where they had been recommended for the scholarship which saw them through university. Under the tutelage of their principal and mentor, the late Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, father of the late afro beat musician, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, they devoted their energy as youths to producing greatly needed scientists for the emerging nation.

He said: “When we arrived in 1951, we were full of energy, and the first students we handled from that year felt the full thrust of our energy. We created a study session known as PREDEV (pre-devotional period), which lasted for one hour before the morning assembly at 7 am. We also had another session after the close of school. The extension period had no limit. We stopped when we were tired, and the pupils enjoyed it as it enabled us to cover the syllabus. Science became more popular and most students opted for science subjects.”

So prolific they became and so result-oriented their youthful energy turned out that by the time they celebrated their 70th birthday in 1992, they could count about 94 of the students they trained who had become leaders in many sectors of the nation’s economy. They had 30 professors spread across the first generation universities; seven in the judiciary; 15 in Medicine; five in engineering; seven in the armed forces; 13 in education; 14 in business and industry; three in the media and entertainment and four traditional rulers.

Examples include the late Biafran warlord, Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu; the late Prof. Olikoye Ransome-Kuti; the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti; Senator David Dafinone, the majority leader in the Senate in the Second Republic; Chief Julius Adeluyi (Juli Pharmacy); Chief Oluwole Adeosun, former Managing Director of First Bank.

Other notable names include the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade; the late Olu of Ilaro, Oba Adekanbi Tella II; the Owa of Ijeshaland, Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran; and the Osile of OkeOna, Egba, Abeokuta, Oba Adedapo Tejuosho..

But what has become of that prodigious energy today? Would Pa Dotun Oyewole want to compare his life as a youngster with his experience now as a 90-year-old? Would Papa want to teach the current generation of youngsters what they should expect when they become old?

The foregoing questions elicited an exciting response from Papa. As if the raw strength of old had suddenly surged back in the old but graceful body, he lifted his two hands and started swinging them in the air. “I’m not old; I’m not old,” he said repeatedly in his feeble voice. His wife interjected, telling the interviewer that Papa did not like to be described as an old man.

Many things in Papa’s immediate environment speak volumes about a man who is enjoying his old age. His belief that he is still a young man is obviously helpful. After all, it is said that age is a thing of the heart. Papa lives in a house that will be the envy of today’s upwardly mobile young men in the cities.

The house, including the gates and the fence, was painted in immaculate white. The sparkle of the white colour reinforced the brightness of everything in the house. Papa does not share with many Nigerians the horror of fitful flow of electricity. Electricity in Papa’s house is supplied from a huge inverter, about the size of two giant deep freezers combined. When the inverter needs to be charged, it is done with the aid of a standby generator. This means Papa’s life is saved from the dangers of carbon monoxide because the generator is not in prolonged use.

But can age be wished away? Does life not ebb away as age advances? That age is taking its toll on Papa was very obvious. The very first thing Papa did when the interactive session commenced was to go to his study. He emerged with a 12-page curriculum vitae—a rare display of talent, industry and accomplishments. Asked what that was meant for, he said: “I can’t talk much. Everything you may want to know about what God has enabled me to accomplish is in that document.”

And as the interview ended, Papa whispered: “I didn’t speak very well tonight.”

Although there were assurances that he did very well, Papa knew who he was as a young man. “You don’t know me,” he said. “If you do, you will know that I did not speak very well.”

Indeed, if Papa was an orator when he was young, he was not on that night. His sentences, though in perfect diction, were broken. Sometimes, he forgot his train of thought in the middle of a sentence and the questions had to be repeated to get the complete idea he was trying to get across—all evidence of senility. Even though Papa does not like to be described as old, the reality abounds: the broken sentences, the forgetfulness and the failing voice.

What about loneliness?

The answer came instantly: “Not with her (wife) beside me.”

A broad and appreciating smile graced Mama’s face. Both of them had been married for 57 years. The body language of both of them showed that for as long as they stay together, neither can be lonely.

What food does Papa like best?

The answer came from Mama” “Eba and amala.”

What about family life?

They are blessed with six children; all graduates. And all but one of them lives and works abroad. The reporter could count just three persons in the palatial mansion, namely, Papa, Mama and a man who appeared to be helping them in the house. Perhaps there were others. But there were signs of some sort of loneliness.

•Mr. Akande is a communication expert and Lagos-based pastor.

SITTING cozily in front of a moderately furnished building enjoying the cool evening breeze, Deborah Owodehinde, 70, seemed contented with life. Beside her were children who could pass for her grandchildren. She caressed them and communicated with them in a manner that could be understood only by the children and the old woman. There is no doubt, Owodehinde and the children are bonded. Some of these children have been with her since the day their mother gave birth to them. They know no other person than the old woman whom they all call Mama. Mama is the founder of Enuogbope Orphanage and Health Centre in Osogbo, Osun State. The home started in 1987 when Owodehinde retired as principal health sister. The orphanage attracted the Osun State Ministry of Social Welfare. The ministry officials too have been bringing abandoned children to the home. “I started this orphanage home as far back as 1987 when they brought a girl from Ede ,Osun State to me to nurse.Later they brought another girl within a few months interval, and we started nursing them with my income with assistance from some of the parents,” Owodehinde reliving how the orphanage started. Though she enjoys what she is doing, thrice she had either felt like quitting. “There was a period I got fed up because I had nothing to feed them and no care from anybody,” she said in a low tone. She didn’t have to wait long before manna came; the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) came and donated a twobedroom flat and a toilet to the orphanage. While she was happy that she had overcome the challenge, there was a financial crunch too. At this point, “I felt like dispersing these children,” Owodehinde confessed, but Governor Rauf Aregbesola came in from nowhere and donated N200, 000 to the children. The money really helped as the old woman continued with her passion. From the cash, she was able to engage more people to take care of the children. The CBN came again to the rescue by sinking boreholes and provided tank for the orphanage which has been a big plus for the home. She is happy that some people have been so good to the home. Right now, the proprietor of the school these children are attending has waved the tuition fee for one of the children. Though the children in the orphanage are happy, there are stories to tell about them. For the little beautiful Kafaya, life would have been better, if her father had made a right choice for her. Kafaya was brought to the home when she was two days by her father, and ever since, the man disappeared into the thin air. “If I see the father, I don’t think I will recognize him, “ said Owodehinde. The old woman is not happy because while Kafaya’s dad is not ready to do anything, he would not allow those who want to better the life of the girl to do so. “Many people have come at different times to take the girl to either Lagos or the US, but the father has always refused. There was a particular person that brought an adoption letter from the United States, but the father refused. And that girl can not even recognise the father. The only contact to the father is a friend to Kafaya’s father who seems not interested in the welfare of the girl,” she said sadly. For the eight-year-old Taye, it was a double tragedy. He lost his mother and twin brother at birth. He knows neither any family nor other home than the orphanage. Though his father is alive, the man is too poor to take care of him, so, Owodehinde had to take the child from his father. Taye, who is currently in one of the primary schools in Osogbo, is happy and enjoying himself. When The Nation visited the home, he was full of life and even took time to pose for a photo session. While children like Kafaya find it very difficult to get somebody to adopt them because of one hindrance or the other, some of the children have been very lucky to have had somebody adopt them. This category of children are those abandoned and brought to the home from the ministry. She lamented that those who brought their children prefer to have the children stay in the orphanage than allowing those who are ready to adopt them take them away. While orphanage could locate one of the parents of Taye and Kafaya, Mose was picked from the street. According to Owodehinde , somebody from the street brought Mose to the home. Mose has not been that lucky. According to Enuogbope boss, someone would have adopted him, but he was sick at the time the person showed interest in him. Mose’s problem is compounded because as it is right now, at the age of three, he has not started walking. “We are giving him food and medication that would make him walk like a normal child. He can talk, crawl and respond to anything you say, ” Owodehinde said, explaining Mose’s situation. Her bid to give life to motherless children has brought her pains too. She is disturbed that some of the children are not cooperating, irrespective of her efforts to make life meaningful for them. “There is this one that is very stubborn. They advised me from the school that I should allow him to go before the age of 6, if I was not looking for trouble. I called the father and they picked him from the home.” The boy still visits the home, especially during the festive seasons. The boy was three months old when someone brought him from Kaduna to the orphanage. He could have been adopted, but his father refused. Recalling when the boy was brought from Kaduna, Owodehinde said: “The child did not look like a human being when they brought him here, but we nurtured him. While he was here, when his mates were in the class, he would leave the classroom and be walking about aimlessly.” Each time she remembers the case of a girl she nurtured to a lady gives her goose pimples, though she has promised herself not to relent in her bid to give the girl a good life. She said she brought the girl to her home when she was still young. But her rebellious attitude is giving her serious concern. Narrating her experience, she said there was a particular year she travelled and left this girl at home, and before she returned the girl had made away with all her things. “One of my daughters located her; she took the said girl to her house. Again like a leopard that will not change her spots, she misused the opportunity by stealing in that woman’s house too. It was while there that she sat for her school certificate examination twice. She is yet to pass the examination. “Twice I procured the form of the school of nursing for her, but she refused to do the entrance. “I told her that I was ready to continue to train her because I don’t want her to be jobless. I’m still waiting for her to return. She was brought to the home when she was 14 days old,”Owodehinde said. It is not all the children at the orphanage that were picked from the streets. Some of them were brought to the orphanage either by the father or the mother. Those who were brought by their fathers most times lost their mothers at birth and their fathers feel they cannot take care of these children alone. For those who were brought by their mothers most times feel they don’t need such children, and they believe rather than kill such children, they are better off in the orphanage. Unfortunately for these children, most often, their parents are not seen again. According to Madam Owodehinde, the children fare better in the orphanage than with any of the parents . The encouragement from her family has been tremendous. According to Owodehinde, each time he travelled abroad to visit her children and other family members, they would send cash and materials to these children. At 70 plus, she agrees that the job of taking care of these children is tasking but she is fulfilled. “When something is in your blood, you will want to satisfy people. I like to help people, and I like to take care of children. That is why I’m in it,”she said. She confessed that though they are doing everything to keep the home going, there is no denying the fact that the home still has financial constraints. She insisted that she is doing everything possible to make sure that these children are part of the larger society. “It has always been my desire to make these children part of the society by taking them to places , but I have not got the ability to do that. Because when they experience this, they too will know that they are part of the society. Sending these children to school has been another issue for the home since I would want some of them to stay with me until they attain the age of 12 when they will be able to take care of themselves and know the difference between good and bad. “When we first started, we used to discharge these children at the age of two or three , but the next thing you will hear after leaving this home is that they are not properly taken care of, “ she said with regrets. Her grandchildren are not afraid to identify with the children at the orphanage. ” Each time I travelled abroad, those children will pack their things and say grandma give them to the children. And the ones in Nigeria play and stay with them and they have accepted the children in the home as their family members,”she said.

To many tourists and fun seekers, the annual Calabar Carnival has come to represent something of a pilgrimage. They look forward to it with great eagerness. To them, it is one glorious moment in the state’s annual calendar of events. It holds so much for them- the razzmatazz, the glitz, frills and thrills.

So, it was once again welcome to Calabar, welcome to destination Cross River State, welcome to nature and welcome to hospitality, as the 2012 edition of the Calabar Carnival got off to a rousing start with the lighting of the Christmas tree, on December 1, by the Cross River State Deputy Governor, Mr. Efiok Cobham at the Millennium Park.

The Christmas tree lighting was followed by a four-kilometer paradise city walk against HIV/AIDS as well as the opening of the Calabar festival village at the Cultural Centre Complex. Gospel musician, Buchi, thrilled fun seekers with his characteristic reggae flavoured tunes.

On the list of artistes gracing the festival are Akon, 2Face, Femi, Flavour, Iyanya, Davido, Timaya, Duncan Mighty, Naeto C, Ruggedman, P-Square, Mo Eazy, Jukebox, Jonathan Butler, Kunle Ayo, Moses Phillips, E-Ben, Tiwa Savage, Omawunmi, Nigga Raw, Sunny Neji and J Martins.

Others include Basket Mouth, Jimmy Jatt, Julius Agwu, Wizkid, Wande Coal, May D, King Feladey, Mr. Xto, Effiom Trombone, Ras Kimono, Blaccky, Big Bob & Da Bingy Soldiers, among others.

Also listed are Gen. Brown Bread, Chantaman, Prince and Princess, Betsy Akan, MI, Ice Prince, D’Prince, Real Pound and Monkals.

There will also be a command performance by Brazilian group, Vai Vai Samba Band School of Brazil, winners of Rio 2012 carnival.

While lighting the Christmas tree, Cobham, who was assisted by his wife, Glory, Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Larry Odey, Masakela, Senior Special Adviser to the President on Ethics and Values, Mrs. Sarah Jibril and representatives of sponsors and development agencies, said the 12-year-old event has grown bigger in scope and volume.

Cobham maintained that the state government will continue with the festival because it is a celebration of love, hospitality, courage and resilience of the people in the face of challenges.

The deputy governor commended the sponsors for identifying with the festival in different ways and described the lighting ceremony as a tip of the iceberg as the best would come during the other days of the festival.

A Special Adviser in Governor’s Office, Mr. Nzan Ogbe, who described the festival as a great gift which the state has for the nation, said it is one of the best ways in its rebranding process.

Ogbe appealed to the Federal Government to partner the state in the 32-day event which is delightful to the soul.

The Group Managing Director/ CEO First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Mr. Bisi Onasanya, in his address, said as a partner, the mutually beneficial partnership has enabled the bank to return value to a key stakeholder community by improving the social and cultural calendar of the state of the state.

According to Onasanya, who was represented by Mrs. Nkiru Harry Eze, the bank prides itself on its corporate social responsibility and sponsorship initiative which reflect its commitment to being a major contributor to the socio-economic and cultural development of the country.

Modelled after the Rio Carnival of Brazil, the Calabar Carnival is unarguably a carnival every Nigerian has been proud of and one that hold its own among other world famous carnivals. Going by the sheer number of foreign tourists at this year’s edition, there is no doubt that the Calabar showpiece has brought Nigeria some level of honour and respectability in carnival presentations in the world.

Uniquely, the Calabar Carnival which has come with its own colours, enthusiasm, liveliness, spirit of participation, competition, and the ambience of the city is a world apart from the three cloned cultural carnivals presently in the national calendar of carnival seasons; which include the Abuja National Carnival, the Lagos carnival and the Port Harcourt carnival.

The tree lighting event attracted a vast concourse of fun seekers, tourists, as well as ecstatic residents.

The well nurtured venue literally came on fire, as soon as the lightening was over. In attendance were the wife of the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Glory Cobham, Senior Special Adviser to the President on Ethics and Values, Mrs. Sarah Jibril; Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon Larry Odey; Mr. Nzan Ogbe and Nkiru Harry Eze, who represented the Group Managing Director/CEO, First Bank, Mr. Bisi Onasanya, among other personages.

An elated South African music icon who could barely contain his excitement about what he beheld of Calabar delved into a subtle marketing of the state to the global audience: “It is one of the safest places in Africa with peace loving people. I am proud to be part of the festival as it is a win-win situation for everyone.”

For the first time as well as regular visitors to the state capital, the air of celebration wafts strongly across the Calabar skyline. This could be felt as the aircraft makes a landing on the tarmac of Margaret Ekpo International Airport. At the airport proper, the festivity was already in full gear.

Having been economically disempowered with the loss of her 76 oil wells, the state government has since turned the attendant economic challenge into an opportunity by looking inward and harnessing the vast tourism potentials that abound in the state.

This explains why no stone is being left unturned by the government at ensuring that all that is needed to bring about a memorable carnival is put in place. As part of government’s deliberate policy, all streets in the state capital are swept and decorated, lawns are pampered, buildings given an added gloss. Every year, the fever of Calabar Carnival spreads like a virus and morphing gradually into a contagion. Nobody is left behind in the carnival train. It is this kind of fervour that has come to define the warmth, hospitality and tourism culture of the state.

According to Mr. Ndubuisi Allor, Chief Executive of Allor Holdings, “a period like this is what makes Calabar and indeed Cross River State a unique place to be.” No doubt, Calabar is now to many people a place to be, a place of an unforgettable experience, a paradise on earth, a fun seeker’s hideout, a getaway from the madding crowd.

As it is customary with the organisers, there is a conscious effort to surpass the previous year’s edition by offering lip-smacking packages in terms of scope and content. Each edition must be memorable with the experience boldly etched in the mind.

Speaking on this year’s edition of Calabar Carnival and what makes it unique, Special Assistant and Chief Press Secretary to Governor Liyel Imoke, Mr. Christian Ita said: “The uniqueness of this year’s event is that while it is still called Calabar Carnival, the focus of the government under Governor Liyel Imoke’s administration is to make the entire state a tourism destination. So it is ‘Destination Cross River State’. In other words, this administration is taking the scope of the carnival beyond Calabar to include the entire state. It is a deliberate policy of this administration to consciously market Cross River State as a tourism brand to the whole world.

Before, during and after the carnival, our visitors can decide to take a tour of other tourism sites spread across the state. It is a total package. Apart from showcasing the cultural heritage of the state, in terms of music and entertainment, there are a variety of activities lined up for the carnival. They include royal dance, fashion show, drama, DJs parade, adult and children carnival day run, beauty pageants, the green concert, golf clinics, skating competition, dancing competition and novelty football competition, among others. These underline the distinctive and multifaceted nature of the Calabar festival as a unique global carnival brand.”

Chairman of Tricontinental Group of Companies and Deputy President of Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce, Chief Olabintan Famutimi, has come a long way from his humble beginnings in Ondo town. Without a formal training in Medicine or Pharmacist, he worked at management level with blue chip companies in the pharmaceutical industry before left for the oil and gas industry to set up Tricontinental Group, which today has branches in Angola, Canada, the Caribbeans and the USA. He recently handed over the running of the Group of Companies he established to Dr. Oluwatoyin Ashiru, an acclaimed engineer, as he contemplates retirement. These days, Chief Famutimi finds time to cruise around Nigerian waters in his yacht which he anchors on the Lagoon at Victoria Island. And when he is abroad, he hires a posh car and drives around for adventure. He tells PAUL UKPABIO that he deserves every bit of the pleasure because “I have worked my ass out to get this far.” Excerpts 

Would you say your background as a child has influenced your person?

To a large extent, the things that I do now have their foundation in my childhood.  To start with, I come from a family where you had no choice but to struggle: a polygamous family of four wives and 23 children. And I happened to be the first born. So, from childhood, my life has been that of struggle as I grew up in the midst of so many children. There was no way one would want to lag behind because the competition was keen and the mothers were all ready to push their children.

As a child, your success was your mother’s gain in a polygamous home. And so, during my childhood and youth, I was forced to be competitive. I was all out to achieve tasks. We also knew then that in a polygamous home, if your father gave you an opportunity to have education, it was a priviledge and not a right. If it turned out that you were not doing well, he would turn the attention and support from you to others.

So, I had no choice but to work hard and have good grades and excel. To a great extent, that sharpened the way I grew up into adulthood.

Tell us briefly your early journey to the top

I was smart enough to look around me and realise that it was only if I was educated that I could escape from poverty or just learning a trade like my father. I did my early school in Ondo, and higher school in Molusi College, Ijebu Igbo where I had the best result in Ijebu province, AAB, in that year’s Advanced Level GCE. I then came to Lagos where I taught as a secondary school teacher for a while before I applied to the University of Ibadan to further my education.

I had no guidance. Nobody was telling me what to do. So, I asked for the most difficult course because I was looking for challenges. I was told that Geography was the most difficult subject. That was how I applied to study it. I was automatically given admission because of the result I had. I spent three years there. After the first year, I got a scholarship. When I applied and started the course, I was not sure where the fund was going to come from. Three years later, I had one of the best results in 1971. Five of us got Second Class Upper division. It was believed that if I had done some other social science courses, I would have had a First Class. It was four alphas to make first class in other social science courses, but in geography, you needed five.

Can you compare the system of education then with what obtains now in Nigerian universities?

Nigeria was totally different then. There were just five universities at the time I went into the university. Our student population was low. Perhaps it was just over 5,000 then. We enjoyed the best as undergraduates. We were all in hostels, served breakfast, lunch with half of a full chicken, and an equally sumptuous dinner. Our laundry was done for us and in the final year, you had a room to yourself. Life was so good in those days as Nigerian students. And by the time we were graduating, there were many companies in Nigeria that were doing well, and they were waiting to give us employment. For this, they set for us job interviews. They were actually struggling to get us. So in our final year, the big companies like UAC, SCOA, Leventis and others came around and we were being recruited straight from the universities.

As a graduate, I had three job offers from UAC, Elder Dempstar Shipping and Lintas Advertising. Getting out of the university and being unemployed was unheard of in those days. We were being pampered and made to feel really wanted and needed. I picked the job offered by UAC under their graduate management programme. Young graduates from Nigerian universities and those returning from abroad were put together, trained and posted to subsidiaries of UAC. I was posted to Kingsway Stores. UAC had a training school that offered the best of management training. That was where I started my career.

Although you did not train as a pharmacist, many still recall how popular you were in the pharmaceutical industry. How were you able to achieve that?

My niche has always been hard work.  Wherever I worked, I was usually known for hard work. That differentiated me. At a stage, I had to determine that when it was time for my annual leave, I would buy a ticket and travel abroad. Because what used to happen was that whenever I was on leave, I would be at home and all around me I would be seeing people going to work. I would feel so idle and end up going to the office. Then I would sit on my table and worked as if I was not on leave and still closed late.  In later years, I realised that the only way to enjoy my holiday and not turn it into work all over again was to spend the time outside the country. So what I later started doing was usually to buy my holiday ticket the Friday before the commencement of my leave. That way, I was sure that my annual leave would be work-free. That became a strategy to tear myself away from work.

Every boss that I had worked with knew me as an asset. I believed that nothing was too much for me to take on. I was always looking for challenges. Though I studied Geography, I have not applied to work for any job that is directly on that subject. After leaving Kingsway, I worked at R. T. Briscoe Nigerian Division. I then went into the pharmaceutical industry. I became the Head of Marketing for a UK company known as Boots. From there, I went to Beecham, and then to Pfizer Products Company Plc.

Most of my career was in the pharmaceutical industry. I was attending local and international conferences, and most of the pharmacists in Nigeria that I was regularly interacting with did not even know that I was not a pharmacist.  My movement from one pharmaceutical company to another was always through attraction. Pfizer interviewed me a year before I finally joined. We couldn’t agree initially.

I remember how shocked the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure was when he got to know that I had never been to school to study any of the medicine-related courses. He was amazed. Though I did not get involved in drug mixing or core professional work that belonged to them, I was versed in the knowledge of what they were doing. I read extensively.

Now the field I am in, the oil and gas industry where we provide services for companies in the upstream sector, we are also into corrosion management, tests and inspection. I set this company up in 1977. I ran it successfully until two years ago when I brought in the Group Managing Director, Prof. Toyin Ashiru, who is a professor of engineering. Again, most people are still amazed that I have no training whatsoever in any aspect of the engineering field. And to have been able to establish a company like this and employ all the engineers, direct the growth and get to where we are today and still be undaunted, is much to say. But I must let you know that I have worked my ass out to get this far.

How big is your oil and gas organisation?

 In Nigeria, we have our head office for the group in Lagos and, still in Lagos, a big office for a subsidiary of the group. We have offices in Port Harcourt, Warri, and operations in Eket. We have locations in Canada in Trinidad and Tobago to cover our operations in the Caribbean where we are sole agents to some agencies. In the USA, we have an office in North Carolina and Houston. We are setting up operations in Angola. So, to some extent, we can be called a medium-scale enterprise. The number of direct employees is over 400. We are also contract manpower suppliers to some oil companies in Nigeria. We employ people and then deploy them to the oil industry.

You are from Ondo town, studied in Ibadan and Ijebuland and then moved to Lagos. Which of these places are you more inclined to?

The point is that I have more friends who hail from Ijebu than Ondo. However, one way or the other, my path and those of my Ijebu friends always cross and we joke a lot. Sometimes I tell them jokingly that the only good Ijebu man is a dead one (laughs). But then, I wine and dine with them. And three of my children are married to Ijebu people (laughs). So I believe that I am a very cosmopolitan person. I relate across. I have no discerning line in choosing my friends or who I relate to. My wife at home is an Igbo woman. The man who is running my organisation now is from the famous Ashiru family from Ijebu Ode. So, I am not limited.

What do you see as challenges in the oil and gas industry in present day Nigeria?

A major problem has been the reluctance of the International Oil Companies (IOC) to recognise the indigenous companies. Since the international oil companies started operations in this country in 1958, they have, unfortunately for the country, been given and enjoying such free hand to do whatever they like. So they have kept their operations under wraps. Until recently when the government began to put pressure on them to open the field to indigenous players, not only in exploration and production but also in services, they used to give all the contracts in support operations to companies from their home countries. So we ended up having a situation where until recently, every dollar that was spent in the oil and gas industry was sent back to their home countries. The jobs went to natives of their home countries.

They kept giving the excuse that we didn’t have the experience. But there was no way we were going to gain experience without being given the opportunity to try and train and become professionally alright. But now, the government has put in place a legislation concerning local content. Now there is change. But we are not yet there totally until the field is opened up and more and more Nigerian companies are involved before we can totally say that change has come. So, a major challenge is that the major foreign oil companies are not opening up opportunities for indigenous firms. Some of these IOCs are however better than others. But they are still hurdles.

Do you see the situation improving soon?

It is for the government to stay the cost by insisting that the major IOCs accept their commitment because the government has compelled them to sign on this. By the time this is done, we shall improve. As it is now, they are forced to do it, and even if they are doing it reluctantly, they still have to do it.

Nigerians also have a fault. We are so individualistic. Let us even take our eyes away from the IOCs; some of these contracts are beyond what one man’s company can do. The average Nigerian businessman’s attitude is not helping matters. We are not thorough and we are always looking for short cuts. We collect contracts and look for ways of getting the money without doing a thorough job. We spend the money on what is not even related to the business. The persistence to sit back and do long term thinking and take long term actions is not there. We need to develop attitude to learn and become good. The oil industry is so big there are so many aspects of it. Whichever aspect one wants to go into, it is better to learn, train and develop. The owners of the business, that is the foreign companies and a few indigenous companies, will be more comfortable if they are sure that when you are given the contracts that you will deliver and you won’t cut corners. That is not easy to find among Nigerians. We are short-term thinking people.

Then, of course, there is the challenge of finance. And here, the Nigerian banks are the problem. The things they ask for, you wonder what they are after. We have banks that we have been using for decades but they have never supported us on any business even when the contracts are from blue chip organisations. Loans in Nigeria, when they decide to give, the interest rate does not help long term investment. You can’t be borrowing money with interest rate above 20 per cent. It is killing. Such situation is unfortunate for businesses that are international in nature.

Meanwhile, we are in competition with other organisations all over the world providing same services. If they are borrowing money on two or three per cent like it is happening in some countries around the world, and you are borrowing money at 20%, you can never compete. Meanwhile, the world is now a global village and we have to compete. Other companies support local businesses by making funds available, but that is not taking place here. There are funds that are available overseas for you to fund your businesses here. But the catch there is that you borrow in hard currency; that is FOREX. You use it for business in Nigeria, but before you say Jack Robinson, the exchange rate has changed. So, what you thought you were going to pay back changes and you need more money to pay back. Before you know it, you are in debt.

But you are also into business in the West Coast. How easy is that kind of operation?

From experience, I can say that it is easier with the English-speaking countries than the French-speaking countries. That is why it is easier for us to operate in Ghana. We have principals that we are agents to on the West Coast, up to Angola, though a bit more difficult there because they speak Portuguese. Very few speak English. The concept of ECOWAS is a good idea but we still have a long way to go with the processes.

Are we making any impact with gas as an alternative to heavy dependence on oil?

It is unfortunate that Nigeria has continually been flaring gas. We have not harnessed our gas and used it the way we should. Take the case of power generation; Nigeria is celebrating because we are generating 4000 kilowatts of electricity for a population of over 160 million people. Meanwhile we are flaring unbelievable quantity of gas. During the military era, investment in development of the oil industry was more or less abandoned. Generation, transmission and distribution were all neglected. The civilians came to tackle it but there is not enough understanding and planning in their desire. They are busy in the wrong direction. One can recall the case of the generating plants set up and commissioned without the thinking of where they would get gas from.

So, what we have on ground is places that can generate power but no gas to go there. The only gas pipeline that comes to Lagos passes through the Gateway. The government has liberalised the field. People want to come and set up. Even we too. But there is no gas. There are about 900 derivatives from gas that can be produced here. Meanwhile, we are importing all of them and flaring gas in the Niger Delta. Nigeria is actually a gas zone. We have more gas than oil. So, the government should look more in this direction. If government goes after gas, much will be achieved.

As oil producing company operator, why in your own estimation are we having repeated fuel queues at our filling stations?

That is easy to solve. Government has no business in the importation and distribution of oil and gas products. As long as government, because of political convenience, insists on controlling the selling price of fuel, we will never get out of shortage. The reason we do not have dollar investment in the building of refineries in Nigeria is because of the control of fuel prices here. It’s so totally illogical. You want people to come and invest their money to build refineries here and refine fuel, but when they finish building them, you tell them what price to sell. So, if you tell them to sell at a particular price and their cost of production is more than that, how will they make their money back?  You tell them at that point that you will subsidise by paying them the difference. The problem that arises at that point would be how they will be sure that you will keep your word, especially for a government that is not famous for being consistent and in a place where promises change immediately after elections and the personalities in government also change.

When Obasanjo came, he gave licences to prospective refinery builders, but none of them has broken ground to set up refineries. The only ones we still have are those built by the government. They are drain pipes. They are not efficient, commercially-driven organisations. And when they sold them in OBJ’s last days, Yar’Adua came up and he was blackmailed into suspending the sale. I don’t see Nigeria coming out of fuel shortage soon.

Stepping into the shoes left behind by your predecessors usually comes with a measure of nervousness. The anxiety of ensuring your legs fit into them is one thing; the burden of expectation is another. Are the fresh legs big enough to fit in? Can they carry the shoes?

These were questions that hung on the lips of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) community following the appointment of Prof. Rahamon Adisa Bello as the new vice chancellor of the 50-year-old institution on November 12, 2012.

Striding into the coveted office as the 11th Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG can be quite intimidating. Yet it is a rare opportunity for Bello to prove that it is not so much about the dog in the fight but the fight in the dog. And for the ‘large shoes’, his legs are more than sizeable.

As the former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Management Services), Prof Bello is rather too familiar with the inner workings, duties and responsibilities of his new portfolio, particularly as he had served in the office of the Vice-Chancellor in an acting capacity since May 12, 2012, following the sudden passing away of his predecessor, Prof. Babatunde Sofoluwe, early this year.

A rounded academic and astute administrator, Bello began what could be described as his nomadic career as a Mechanical Engineering Technician with the Nigerian Tobacco Company (NTC) in 1969, after he graduated from the then University of Ife, Ile-Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), in 1974.

After his spell at the Nigerian Tobacco Company, Bello had a brief stint with the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources as a Petroleum Engineer.

While many of his ilk would have found themselves lulled into complacency of attractive and remunerative career prospect at the NTC and the Petroleum Resources Ministry, Bello’s unquenchable appetite for knowledge necessitating his calling time on salaried jobs. He proceeded to the University of Waterloo, Canada, where he earned M.A.Sc (1977) and Ph.D (1981) in Chemical Engineering.

Upon his return, he joined the service of the University of Lagos as an Assistant Lecturer in 1977 and rose steadily to the posts of Lecturer II, Lecturer 1 and Senior Lecturer, in 1981, 1982 and 1985 respectively. He was appointed Associate Professor in 1991 and Professor of Chemical Engineering in 1998.

A specialist in Biochemical Engineering Processes, Bello has carried out researches and consultancy in Industrial Biotechnology, as well as offering consultancy and professional services to various organizations, including the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd., Elf Petroleum, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Proceng Limited, among others.

A deft player, Bello is not one contented with playing at the domestic league alone, having variously plied his trade with international agencies like the National Project Manager for the UNDP/ILO project on “Strategies for Self-Employment Promotion” between 1991 and 1992.

A ‘hot commodity’ he came to personify at various stages, Bello’s services were also in hot demand in his home state of Ogun. And in 1994, he was appointed from his UNILAG office and made a member of the Ogun State Executive Council as Commissioner for Special Duties; a position he held till 1996.

Prof. Bello was a member of the Central Working Group of Vision 20-2020 and served as alternative Chairman for the Energy and Transportation Sub-section.

A man always in a hurry to run with his vision for the university, he has, since his appointment, hit the ground running by unfolding his lofty agenda for UNILAG, foremost of which is to make the institution the first to be reckoned with in Africa in the next five years. For Bello, time is really of essence and everyone who wants to run with his vision must quickly get on their marks.

Not exactly on a coat tails of his late predecessor, Prof. Sofoluwe, Bello has typified what a team player ought to be by inviting every institution’s stakeholder to join his transformation train and help realise his dream.

An indication that his doors will at all times be opened to all, the Vice-Chancellor, immediately after he was sworn-in, swung into action by holding various consultative meetings with Committee of Provost and Deans of Faculties, academic heads of departments, student faculty executives and all staff unions, where issues ranging from upgrade of academic facilities to new arrangements with several institutions in China and USA, improvement of academic programmes, research, staff welfare and projects in the pipeline were unveiled.

Nothing could be more reassuring. Accordingly, the Vice-Chancellor informed his expectant audience that a unit which will coordinate and promote research activities in the university was in the pipeline. In his words: “In the course of time, the Unit would grow to become a department, coordinating group research proposals, promote end-use of research findings and attract grants for research activities. The drive, he said, is to take the University of Lagos to a comfortable position in the league of top class universities in the world.” Currently, UNILAG reportedly ranks 9th in Africa.

Fazed by what he described as the stifling learning environment in the institution, Bello also assured of an urgent need for a facelift by promising that in a matter of few months, teaching infrastructure would begin to don a new look. As part of the upgrading exercise, each classroom would have interactive ICT board, internet connectivity, air-conditioning and comfortable seats

Matching words with action, he hinted that funds had already been earmarked for the project. He also said the university library would be spared by his transformation train.

Determined to eradicate a seeming class structure existing on the campus, the Vice-Chancellor said in line with the upgrading exercise, more toilet facilities will be provided in all the faculties. He noted that “the use of different toilets by staff and student in the faculties would be eradicated. In its place, it would be just male and female toilets. This, he noted, is intended to create a wholesome responsibility for the maintenance of the toilet facilities in the faculties.

Aware of the university’s limited capabilities, the new Vice-Chancellor is not looking to rest on his oars. Accordingly, a robust synergy and collaboration with local and international institutions is well underway.

Leading the pack of local institutions lending their support to UNILAG is the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), which has concluded plans to build a Maritime Institute in the university.

UNILAG was chosen for the project because of its pool of intellectuals, immense contribution to national development, topography and location near the lagoon.

Following on the heels of NIMASA is the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It has set the necessary machinery in motion for the construction of an ultra-modern “Centre of Excellence” project in the university. When completed, the project will include an academic facility and a five-star hostel.

With assured infrastructural transformation, a top-ranking varsity in Africa, a peaceful and conducive academic environment, the University of Lagos would hardly ask for more. But the next five years will define Bello’s place in the institution’s history.

Benson Igbakpa is the Commissioner, Directorate of Transport, Delta State. In this interview with Assistant Editor, AUGUSTINE AVWODE, he explains the activities of the state government in the transport sector. Excerpts: 

As the man at the head of the Directorate of Transport in Delta State, what would you say are the vision and policy thrust of the directorate in the state?

The vision and policy thrust of the Directorate of Transport in the state are tailored in a way that they conform with the Three Point Agenda of His Excellency, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan. In summary, the vision and policy thrust of the directorate is to provide safe, reliable, effective, efficient and integrated transport operations and infrastructure that will best meet the needs of passenger and freight services. Ours is to provide Delta State with adequate, sustainable, affordable, comfortable and safe transportation services in all modes. The directorate is responsible for the design, supervision, and administration of traffic control devices, inter-city/intra-city transportation and water craft services; we ensure effective management, control of road traffic policies, safety of lives and property on our roads. Besides, it is also incumbent on us to provide transportation infrastructure such as jetties, buoys, pillars, and terminals and stop shelter, lay-bys and so on. And don’t let us forget that the directorate is also saddled with evolving active strategies for the channelisation and dredging of inland waterways routes in order to provide easy access to riverine communities in the state.

Delta State has now joined the league of states that have banned the use of motorcycles, popularly called Okada, at least in some cities…

Yes, and it is because of the above that we resolved that Okada should leave our major highways because there is no way in which they fit into this vision and policy thrust for the state. They are not safe, reliable, effective, and efficient. They can’t be said to be sustainable, affordable or comfortable means of transportation. If you consider the accidents that are results of recklessness on the part of Okada, you will feel terribly aggrieved. In terms of security, they are the ones that will trail and give information to kidnappers about people, when to strike and where. These are some of the things we have considered and we think Okada, as a child of necessity, is not a thing we can afford to keep in Delta state any longer.

What informed the policy of giving some of the recently commissioned buses in the state to private operators?

If you look at government’s business, the ones that are successful are those that have the private touch. In Delta State, the transport sector has been a marriage between the private and public sectors and that is the way it has been. Now, among our operators, the best ones today as we speak are the ones we have partnered with in the private sector. We have a government operator, the Delta Line, but the private sector’s performance has been very encouraging. All the private operators are doing well, very well. And that is why we have no hesitation in engaging them.

The government and your ministry have been criticised on account of the recent 1,250 tricycles launched in the state. They claimed that it was for political patronage.

That is very funny. I sat with His Excellency the Governor, and it was agreed that these tricycles should be given to the commercial motorcycle unions. The plan has been on since January. That is why today when people cry and talk about the ban of Okada, I wonder why people should be complaining because it is a policy and enlightenment that have been on since January. These tricycles have been purchased since last year but it has taken time to put them together, assemble and change them to the state colours of blue and white and other things. We have been telling them that one day, you are going to leave the roads and when we finished doing that, we told them that you are not just going to leave the roads but you are going to be the owners of these tricycles.

And how did we do that? When I resumed as Transport Commissioner, I met about 8-9 unions of these Okada riders in Delta State and I think that was chaotic. It was not healthy enough and I told them I don’t want to deal with more than one or two; so go and streamline yourselves. No union that has factions can expect to do well or survive. So I begged them to please come together that we are young men, let’s come together because as a Commissioner for Transport I was not ready to deal with multiple factions. They heeded the plea and came together except for one that is hiding somewhere due to ego or so. So they have their leaders and have been doing their things. When the governor commissioned the tricycles, he handed them to the unions. They are to collect the money and pay into government account, and when we see the proof of payment, then I release the number of tricycles they have paid for to them.

So they were the ones doing the distribution really not the government and there was no particular yardstick used in distribution as only the Okada riders are the ones doing it, so it is not a tool for political patronage.

A large part of the state lies in the riverine areas. What efforts is your ministry making to ensure an effective transportation in the riverine areas of the state?

We are very much aware that a large part of the state lies in the riverine areas. And we have eminent people from these areas. But we must agree that transport has been a problem in those areas. However, the happy thing is that, like I keep telling people, His Excellency is like Nostrademus, the man who saw tomorrow. He keeps playing ahead. In January this year when there was problem about subsidy removal, the governor already had 100 Hiace buses in place in Delta State. So when people were busy fighting, he was busy commissioning and rolling out buses. For the people in the riverine areas, he has made sure that while those in the hinterland are being taken care of, they are also provide for. In line with that vision, the State Executive Council approved the purchase of 130 water buses, (18 seaters). And as we speak, we have taken delivery of 110, as soon as the remaining 20, which are already in Apapa Port are delivered here, they will be commissined by His Excellency and they will be given out. But in Delta State we believe that the private partners are the best to work with because they have proven that over time. We believe in the PPP arrangement.

Critics say all the government is doing is to waste money and misplace priority because there are no motorable roads in the state. How would you react to this criticism?

Well, yes, it is a known fact that we all have challenges with roads. It is not peculiar to Delta State. I challenge anybody to go across the states in Nigeria, there is no state in the country that doesn’t have challenge with roads. More so, this is the South-south, this is the Niger Delta, what it costs to construct a kilometre of road here is not what it costs in another place. Again, Delta is a peculiar state in that it is not a one capital state. Yes, Asaba is the capital city, but we have so many cities. We have Warri, Ughelli, Sapele, Agbor, Abraka and all these cities have to be looked at the same time. When people are comparing Delta Sstate with other states, I laugh because there is no basis for comparison. Delta Sstate is a mini-Nigeria. Besides, the governor just read the riot act to contractors few days ago.

Three days ago, the governor did not work in his office. He practically moved his office to the Ministry of Works, he was there for hours, where he discussed with contractors, did approvals and gave them marching orders. He actually gave them up to December 15 to perform, to shape in or be shipped out. He is ready to pay, work and get your money. The governor is not sleeping over the road issue in the state. But the critics should know that while we are talking about roads, we don’t do it with our teeth, we do roads with money. The resources are such that they must be judiciously allocated to cater for other needs in the state. People who say it is a waste of money must rethink their opinions. Today, Delta parades the cheapest transport fare in the country. Our transportation is being subsidised by government. Any distance that will cost you N50:00, you pay N20:00, the government pays N30:00. So in most cases, the government pays about 75%. People are free to talk but they should cross check their facts.

What are the challenges facing the transport sector in Delta State?

The basic challenge facing the transport sector in Delta State, I would say is that of the attitude of human beings, especially as it affects what the government is doing in the state. The basic challenge, as is usual with all government businesses, is scarcity of resources. It is a major problem. I know that His Excellency the governor has a wonderful agenda to transform everything over-night but because of limited resources, not everything has been done. When I spoke a little while ago about the attitude of human beings towards government property, you just imagine somebody coming into a clean, air-conditioned bus, carry meat with blood dripping from it and would like to just keep it anywhere; and in fact some find it difficult to pay or not wanting to pay at all just because it is government owned. So, in summary, the attitude of the people towards government property or business and the dearth of resources are the major challenges facing the sector in the state.

As the nation continues to seek ways of tackling the problem of insecurity nationwide, the Catholic Archbishop of Ibadan, Dr. Felix Alaba Job has said the only way out is for the nation to put an end to corruption.  The immediate past President of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) opined that bloodshed would not stop in the country if Nigerians don’t rise up to stop corruption.
The amiable priest who spoke with INNOCENT DURU, reflects on his retirement due next year and other issues. Excerpts:

You have been ordained a priest for 46 years. How would you describe the journey so far?

It has been a glorious, pleasant and challenging journey all the way. It has been glorious because it has shown me that God is present in my life and that He chose me as an instrument in His church and for the sake of His people He has appointed me, so it has been glorious. It has also been challenging because of the ups and downs that we have in every human life. In this journey, I have the good and the not too good; I have seen the beautiful and some ugly periods of life. At my age, I only look back and say Oh Lord how wonderful you are!

  You said you have seen some challenging period in life. What are these challenges? Could you recall one or two of such?

In my life at over 74 years, I can say that I have a few ugly periods in my life and I am not complaining about them. There is the challenge of people not accepting your sincerity, of people not accepting you for who you are as a student, as a priest, as a bishop, as  an archbishop etc. I do not like raising any hue and cry about what one has suffered because when you look at others, you will discover that yours is no event at all, nothing to write home about. So why would I talk about that? It is better to talk about the goodness of God which pervades all things and which makes life to be what it is. This is my life.

Your retirement is fast approaching. How are you preparing for this and what would you be doing after your retirement?

First of all, the retirement is coming and that is the canonical age. In Canon 410 paragraph (1), when you reach the age of 75 as a priest, bishop or cardinal in the Catholic Church, you write your letter of resignation. Mine is already written, but I will not tell you when I will send it. It is now left to the Pope to determine what would happen next. The present Pope reached the retirement age and gave his resignation letter to his predecessor who said: ‘Alright I have seen it, hold on’. In the Catholic Church, when you reach that age, you write to the Pope informing him that you have reached the age, then it is left to him to determine whether to accept it for that moment or for other moment. In Canon Law, we say, he accepts it nunc, that is now or that he accepts it nunc et protunc  that is I accept it but stay there till I put another person there. He could also say you have done very well go now and rest.

 After retiring, I will be no less a bishop because I am ordained a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. At that point, the retired bishop can only be an emeritus, he would still remain the bishop of that diocese in which he attained the retirement age, but he will not be the active bishop or the local ordinary of that diocese. In my case, by the grace of God, I hope I do not die before June 24, 2013, if I live to see that date, I will on that day become the archbishop emeritus of Ibadan. I will still have my faculties to officiate like a bishop but not to rule the archdiocese of Ibadan. If the Holy Father says ‘Stay there till I appoint somebody’, on that day that he appoints somebody, I lose my authority as a local ordinary, but I do not lose my faculties as a bishop. I am a bishop anywhere in the world.

What do I plan to do? I do not want to count my chicken before they are hatched nor do I want to cross any bridge until I reach it. However, I hope and pray that the Lord would keep me in good health of mind and body, and give me the opportunity to minister at grassroots level as a parish priest if the new archbishop gives me a parish here. In my 46 years as a priest, I have never gone on holidays really. I will take some months to rest and allow the new archbishop to settle in before I come back, if God permits me.

Is there anything you would want to do differently if you have the opportunity as an Archbishop?

As it is rightly said, the only permanent thing in life is change. I will not want to live and do as I had done in the past. I will want to be current and read the signs of the time and to live in the spirit of the church at that particular moment. This year has been inaugurated by the Holy Father as a year of faith, that is preaching and spreading the Word in new ways.

I will want to look at evangelisation in a new way and make my contribution the way that the church is asking us to look at things. I will not want to dwell on the past where everything we had was quite different because the new era of evangelisation is an era of bringing Christ to the people of today. Yes, we cannot face tomorrow without today and yesterday.  Yesterday was glorious, today should be better and tomorrow should be more glorious. I will want to immerse myself in rejuvenating the church, in preaching the word of Christ to modern age and in helping, with the help of God, to make Nigeria a better place.

After your retirement, is it possible you consider getting married, since you will no longer be an active priest?

Whoever has that notion is chasing the wind. It is not in the Catholic Church and since 1974, everywhere I went, I always challenge my people to challenge me. I always say ‘I challenge you to challenge me, if there is anything that I have done that is not right, challenge me’. Anybody thinking that a retired priest can get married is having a wild dream. Celibacy is forever and ever. I will still remain the former archbishop until my death. As a metropolitan archbishop, I wear the sign of that post which we call pallium and would be buried with it. The issue of marriage does not come in at all. The issue of doing what you like does not arise. You abide by the rules and regulations of the church forever. Do you see a former president who says he is now free to do whatever he likes?

  Many Catholic churches have continued to come under terrorist attack in the North. What is the church doing to curb this?

All of us have seen that the current malaise that we have seen is not just an inter-religious problem, it is a socio-political problem. We have condemned it in every form possible, but we approach it differently from the political world. We approach it with prayer because prayer can do many more things than the human minds can think about. We pray for the change of heart of those that are involved in this. By this, I don’t just mean those who carry out the project, but also those who finance these dastardly acts.  Those who are so hardened in their minds to think that they can continue to destroy human lives with impunity, we are really storming heaven with prayer that God will look kindly upon us and change the situation.

For the sake of protecting the lives of the worshippers, don’t you think that tight security measures should be put around the churches?

I agree with you. We are doing something, but is that enough? Who could go to the United Nations office before this attack? Yet they penetrated it. Who could imagine that they could penetrate the police headquarters? Yet they did. Did you not read how these suicide bombers kill themselves in order to kill others and has that deterred them? There are some things that we humans, even though God has given us authority over all things, there are some things we cannot do.  The church is taking serious steps as you can see in respect of the attack of the cathedral in Bauchi in which many of the security men were killed. It is because of the measures taken by the church that the suicide bombers were not able to get into the church. Humanly speaking, we are taking enough precautions but we need to pray more to the Lord to stop all these.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) recently condemned the Federal Government for planning to spend some millions of naira on birth control. Why was this considered a waste?

Birth control and not the control of the people who bring about the conception. You are asking, is it bad to procure abortion? I will say yes. Though shall not kill applies to everybody and no one has the right to break that law of God because none of us can create ourselves.  You know that there are couples that want children and cannot get. Does it mean that nature is against them? It is God who creates and it is He who multiplies.

 We are opposed to the idea of promiscuity which leads to uncontrolled actions of human flesh and turning of wombs into mortuary. When I have the opportunity of talking to the youths, especially the females, I do ask them if they can sleep on a foot-mat and they will say no. You will not sleep on a foot-mat because it is meant for dust. Today, the slang is to ‘have fun’. Sexual life has been turned to fun but is it really fun to beget a human being? If you went doing the act and the result comes out and you say it is unwanted, what a language? An unwanted human being! If God should decide not to want any of us, where shall we be? Look, if we have money to spend, should we not decide to spend it on things that would improve the living standard of the citizens?

Today, we see our ladies saying that they are making up. What do you make up? Is it not what is lost that you make up? The lips that are still supple are what they are painting, but is that natural? Where do we manufacture these things in Nigeria? They shade themselves up in many colours and I want anybody including pharmacists to tell me that all those paintings are not chemicals. Do you put chemicals in your eyes? We help others to develop their economy. Our government is promoting promiscuity when talking about condom and all these artificial birth control methods.  We have seen the results of artificiality, why do we want to promote it? We know that those who are sending us these articles for use by our own people do it to dismember and reduce us artificially.

Looking at the problems of corruption and insecurity in the country, would you support the creation of state police?

Corruption and bloodshed are sisters or brothers, if you like. There is no where you have corruption so endemic that you will not have bloodshed. To stop bloodshed is to stop corruption because when people are at peace with themselves, when they have their rights and perform their duties, there would not be bloodshed. What we are saying is that to stop corruption is a task that must be done.

We canonized and politicised corruption when we got crude oil. Towards the end of Gowon’s reign, when he declared Udoji award, that was the beginning of corruption, but I was told that was not what Udoji commission recommended. There were people in position of authority who were not prepared for authority. They saw so much money and said what do we do with it? They said give an arrear of one full year to every civil servant. As at that time, civil servants were not up to three percent of the population of Nigeria. They spent the money of all on the three percent. You see how injustice started. In fact here in Ibadan, I knew what happened due to this Udoji award. Some police officers in Iyaganku went to Dugbe and bought and bought and bought because they got a year salary in arrears. One of them loaded a taxi cab with all he had bought and went to the barracks and in his excitement, he called his neighbours to come and see what he had bought. When the taxi driver saw that the fun was too much, he drove away with all that the policeman had bought.

That was the beginning of another form of corruption. Some of the load carriers disappeared with the goods of some of these civil servants at Gbagi Market. Then, civil servants saw people who were coming to get contracts to sell to others at the corridors of the office and started adding 10 percent on the contracts. From 10 percent, they began to add 20, 25, 50 and 60 percent.  Let me tell you categorically, the Third Mainland Bridge was built at the longest point because of money. It could have been at a shorter spot. This is how we have been losing money. A bag of cement is now N1, 800, whereas in India, it is less than N500. The same 50kg of bag of cement that we sell here for N1, 800. We are talking about state police and all of that, is that the problem? That is not the problem. The police could arrest anybody before but during the long era of military rule, they were put under foot. Was it not when Obasanjo came as a civilian that he raised the salary of the police? What is needed is to pay the police adequately, train them properly and recognise their position in the constitution of the country.

When you are talking of corruption, you are talking about the endemic problem in our society, and how can you stop it? In the history of the church, we learnt of the reformation in the 16th Century after which a counter reformation came and said real reformation must start from the head and all the members of the body. Eliminating corruption must start from the President to the last boy or girl in the classroom. Corruption has eaten deep into us. I am praying that this would not lead to a greater bloodshed than the one we already have. Imagine a governor, a local government chairman that we elected and a civil servant who was in the same classroom with you receiving about 50million a year, but putting up buildings of N250million. Where did they get the money?

Can’t we see that there is a great and massive injustice? When we elect a local government chairman and his wife begins to get salary, as a civil servant, is your wife also getting salaries from your office? We are saying that they should remove from the Constitution the privileges called immunity.

If you have your cake, you can’t eat it. Why should people elected to serve the common good be untouchable even when you see the ills they are perpetrating? Why is it that common fund will be taken and not accounted for? It is until we Nigerians decide to stop it that it can stop. God will not come to stop it and we should not multiply the avenues of this corruption.