Category: Interview

Rev (Dr) Samuel T. Akande, former General Secretary of the Nigerian Baptist Convention was the first preacher to vie for election in Nigeria. As a presidential aspirant under the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), he attracted criticisms from many quarters. He spoke last week with Sunday Oguntola in his Ibadan home on the experiment, his many battles as a church leader and life in retirement.

You clocked 87 some weeks back. How does it feel at 87?

Well, I still feel young and very active. I eat well – twice in a day in the morning and evening. In the afternoon, I just take snacks. But sometimes I just drink cold water only and that is sufficient for me. Sometimes, I eat groundnuts, which Americans call peanuts. I do a lot of walking-exercise every time in the morning. I walk around our big compound for about 35 minutes.

My brain is still alert. I just completed works on the third edition of my book, The courage to live. I did the Yoruba version of it. The foreword was written by the late Chief S.O Adebo. I am working on another book, which is being published in the United States of America. The Nigerian edition will follow shortly. So, I try to keep young and active every time.

You retired some 17 years ago, what have you been doing?

I retired as the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Baptist Convention at 65 after I served there for 40 years. I was first a pastor, then lecturer at the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary, Ogbomoso. Then, I became the President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention and retired as General Secretary/Chief Executive. When I was serving as the secretary in Nigeria, I was also serving as the secretary of the World Baptist Alliance in Africa. That position took me to not less than 49 countries in the world. Now, I feel fulfilled and I thank God.

In retirement, I am running a school, which my wife and I founded some 18 years ago in Texas, USA. We call it International Institute of Evangelism that trains evangelists and teachers of the world. It is an inter-denominational school. It was registered here in Nigeria in 2000. We meet regularly every Saturday at Immanuel School, Samanda, Ibadan.

In the early 90s, you made history as the first preacher to contest an election. What gave you the audacity to contest the presidential election under the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC)?

I never thought of it until 1992 when some people came from Lagos. I can’t remember whether they were Baptists or not. They said people were pointing out that since former President Ibarahim Babangida had assured he was going, credible Nigerians like me can make a difference. I was born in Awe near Oyo but raised in Ghana. Having been a minister of the gospel who will not compromise and care so much about the welfare of the nation, they thought I would make a difference. When that message kept coming, I went to pray and felt the Lord seemed to be saying to me ‘you don’t have money but you could contest elections and you might win’.

At that time, Baptists would not hear that one of them, let alone their chief executive officer was vying for election. But because I felt God wanted me to do it, I went into it and registered with NRC. As soon as some of these Baptists heard that I had registered, they began to call for my resignation. One of the men who called for my resignation at that time eventually became a civilian president of this country. He is a Baptist. But I didn’t care. I went into it and began to mobilise, telling everyone I was going to be President.

There was this man called Chief Adeseun Ogundoyin from Eruwa. I went to him and said, ‘Ogundoyin, I’d like to contest presidential election. How do I go about it?’ The first question he asked me was how much I was earning. I said N1, 341. That was my pension, what I was being paid despite having five academic degrees, all from America. Then he said ‘since you are interested, I will help you. I will speak to Babangida that I have a candidate’. Right there, he went ahead and talked to Babangida, who said I could contest. So, I went around canvassing people.

The first amount he gave me was N10, 000. I never saw that amount of money before…

(Interjects) Even as chief executive of a large church like the Baptist Convention?

… Of course, I wasn’t receiving that much. I was only signing cheques for people. I never received that much. So, I began to campaign and the time came for me to contest the election at the state level. Many people kept criticising but I insisted I’d go into it since God said I should. But I didn’t know that God had a different plan for calling me into it. I went into it and the day of election came here in Ibadan. I won here. At that time, there was no Ondo, Ekiti or Osun states. They all came together and voted for me.

When I was declared the winner and lifted up, I had only N500 in my pocket and I was afraid someone might tuck his hands into my pocket as they were lifting me up and take the money. So, I held on tight to my pocket to preserve the money. Some of them noticed and came when I was bought down. They said ‘what kind of a president would you be if you can hold on to common N500? Then we went to Port-Harcourt for the National Convention where I also contested. As soon as we got there, people from Oyo State, now Osun, Ondo and Ekiti said ‘don’t vote for this Akande. He would not allow us to chop’. With that kind of message going round, I did not win there. I said to them, ‘you will continue to chop but you will chop and chop until you have stomach ache’ Don’t we all have it now? Since then, I have never shown interest in politics again.

But then later, I discovered that during the time I was in politics, God helped me. Before then, I didn’t have a house or a car…

As Baptist Convention President and General Secretary?

I never did. I was earning N1, 341 until I retired. What can one do with that kind of money? Then, Ogundoyin bought me two cars- a Mercedes Benz and Toyota Station Wagon. He gave me money to complete this house where we now live. Then, I realised God diverted me to politics so that He could bless me. Since then, I stopped talking politics because we haven’t made any progress at all. We are still where we were before I contested.

Is that because you have given up on Nigeria?

Sometimes one wishes to give up on Nigeria. There is no progress, development or change. Things are going from bad to worse and we are making many bad names around the world. My wife and I travelled to America one day to visit our children. We both have tribal marks. As soon as we landed in one airport and they saw our marks, they moved us to one side since they were sure we are Nigerians. They set Alsatian dogs on us. They were sniffing our bodies for cocaine. We were begging saying we spent over 15 years in the United States and our children have been there. They just wouldn’t listen to us. They released us after a thorough search.

But I am hoping that maybe one day God will raise up a leader who will be tough on the citizens. Any leader that is not tough and straightforward cannot transform this country. I had a lot of problems when I was General Secretary of the Convention. The war was too much because I was not ready to compromise and people wanted me to. That was why they kept saying Akande is bad. I have no problems over such perception. Today, I am a happy man.

Yes, people really hated your guts and said many terrible things about you. How do you react to them?

Don’t mind them. They just wanted me to compromise. They wanted me to see something that is black and say it is white. If any Baptist Church in those days tried to change our mode of worship, I would go there straight and wage war against them. I would threaten to remove them from the Convention. Today, things have changed; many Baptist Churches have become Pentecostal. They are no longer Baptists. If I heard of any pastor who did something bad, I would report straight to the ministerial board. But if I found the board was dilly-dallying, I would go straight to that church and tell them your pastor is not doing well. Because of that, they said I was confrontational and dictatorial.

Were you not?

Yes, I was because I was raised in Ghana. I went to High School in Cape Coast from 1945-1949. I taught for two years in Ghana in a town called Suhun. The very same night I got there, I met the lady who became my wife. She bought food for me and I soon as I saw her, my heart went to her. From December 15, 1949 we went into courtship until December 15 1956 when we got married. We have been married for 56 years and four months.

But you see when I was General Secretary, they prefer that I see things and look away. I knew that people were very dishonest then even in the church. As Secretary, I gave out contracts to people and they would approach me with my own ‘share’ after completion. Of course, I’d flatly refuse. One of the leaders came to me one day and advised me to compromise; that I was too tough on the people.

My reaction was that if God was behind my election, no man would be able to remove me. They tried all kinds of things. I was President from May 1, 1977 to April 30, 1979. I became Secretary from May 1, 1979 to April 30, 1991. In the last year, people wanted to remove me and I insisted they would not succeed. I retired gloriously on April 30, 1991.

Sometime in October 1990, I had got ready and packed my things for Ede where we were to meet for the monthly meeting of the Executive Committee of the Convention. As I was about to leave the Baptist building, I got a telephone call from one of the officers of the Convention not to attend the meeting. He said there were two lorry-loads of ‘kill-and-go’ policemen to arrest me. I was already in politics then. I heard the policemen accused me of bringing thugs to the meeting venue. I knew where it came from. They were the women leaders of the Baptist Convention and I never went. The policemen waited to no avail. They wanted to disgrace me and take me to Ilesa prison.

There were also allegations that you were diabolical. How true were they?

Yes, I heard all of that too. They accused me of using talisman to bewitch them. You see I had a ring. You know people can be so stupid. I bought it for $100 from the US when I graduated. When anybody graduates from America with cum laude, it means he has graduated so well with honour. So, I was putting the ring on just for decoration.

When I became General Secretary, each time we went to the convention and they would ask a question, I was always at a loss. This was because we would have tough 30-40 questions because they just wanted me to fail. I’d be rubbing my hands, thinking of how to answer the questions. Suddenly, I’d remember I had a ring on and start rubbing it. Somehow the answer would come and they would be shouting, ‘he has come o. He is bewitching us o’.

When I realised that, I discovered I had something to make them fear me. So, from that time, at conventions I‘d raise the ring and be rubbing it. They would keep shouting openly that I was using talisman. If anybody died in those days and we had confrontations before then, they would say I was responsible for it. There was the case of one pastor in Oke-Ogun, Oyo State. I helped him go to America for his degree. But he loved women too much and I knew this even before he left. We had moved the wife after he left from their official residence on the orders of the Convention. She then went to report me to people in Oke-Ogun.

When the husband returned, the woman had rented a house owned by an Alhaji in Felele area of Ibadan. This Alhaji had a beautiful young lady that the pastor was having an affair with. The Alhaji went to Molete Baptist to meet the elders and told the pastor to be very careful. But in the meantime when this man was going to America, he owed the Nigerian Baptist Convention N90, 000 and I used to write to him to pay up but he did not bulge. He kept reporting that I was harassing him.

So, one day, he had an affair with this lady again. He refused to stop because it was already part of his nature. He took his bath and walked away from the house. Unfortunately, he had contacted a charm that forbids one from crossing a river. The moment he crossed it, he fell down and died in front of a woman selling beans. When people heard he was dead, they said, ‘Akande had killed him’. In fact, the people in his town till date believe I killed him. They said the moment he came before me with the money, he just died. I simply said, ‘that is your business.’

Are you bothered by such allegations and bad perceptions?

Who cares? I am not at all. God is my protection. People are free to believe whatever they want about me but I know my hands are clean. That is why I believe I cannot die now. I am going on to 120 years. One of our lecturers in the school who turned 73 recently was visited by students. They prayed he would live to be 90 and he said, ‘No o, I don’t want to be alive up to 90’. I was like, ‘That is your business.’ I am going up to 120.

What else would you be doing till then?

I would simply be seeing all my children and grandchildren. I have five children and they are all American citizens. I want to see my great, great grandchildren. What is wrong with that? I still want to enjoy life in Nigeria. This house is on a three-and-half plot of land that somebody gave to us. I went to preach at the wedding of his daughter and printed out my sermon outline. He was so happy that he gave me a plot in Ojodu, Lagos and I said I can never live in Lagos again. I said I would take a land anywhere in Ibadan. He brought me here and handed it over to me. His name was Chief Supo Morohundiya, a successful lawyer and native of Ibadan. Somebody then came and asked why I was not building it then. The man helped me with cement and started building for me then he stopped. I took over until someone else completed it for us.

You mean you did not receive a house from the Convention?

No, there was nothing like that. I understand they do that now. But in my own case, that was how I got the house.

What has changed in Nigeria between then and now?

You see people were not running after money then. There was contentment and satisfaction with everything people had. From 1952-1955, I was in Abeokuta as pastor in Owu Baptist Church. Until then, this country was fine. But the elections of 1965 opened our eyes to the possibility of rigging. I was a member of the Federal Electoral Commission. In those days, we called it Western Region Electoral Commission. I used to have a picture all the members took somewhere. Only two of us are alive; others have died. The other man is in Ile-Ife, a lawyer. Mr. Esua was our chairman. I noticed that there would be troubles. Some of the politicians who have big names today and others who have died would come to our meetings and boast of winning.

They would say, ‘We are going to win whether you like it or not. Those of you who will not cooperate will be dealt with.’ I was particularly singled out for intimidation and harassment. They said, ‘if you are not careful, your stomach will become so big that it will burst’. We heard all of that. I didn’t know that the secretary was already in league with them.

One day, something terrible happened. Our Secretary was Mr. Ojerinola while his immediate predecessor was Mr. Oke. Oke was walking from his office when gunmen aimed at him. They thought he was Ojerinola. They were going to kill him. He was hit and he died. I preached at his funeral service. That was the introduction of violence in the nation’s electoral history.

The day of the election was fixed and I went on to Abeokuta. I was the electoral officer for Abeokuta. I went to a polling booth and saw a woman ‘pregnant’ with voter cards. I didn’t know that other members of the commission had been compromised. They had signed that the election was free and fair. But Esua did not sign. They brought the letter to me in Abeokuta. I said I can never sign such a letter. I accompanied three other members to England where we were to print the ballot papers. We were to print it in Stuttgart, Germany and I kept on telling them not to rig. They felt I would disturb them. They decided to drop me in Nigeria and went back to England to print the papers. When they came back, they declared a terrible result. That episode led to military intervention in this country. The truth is, I don’t know if Nigerians can ever change. We keep showing we are not ready for change.

Are you still angry with the Nigerian Baptist Convention on some of the ill-treatments you spoke about?

I am not angry again. Those who did it God has dealt with them. I don’t attend Convention sessions again because I am too old for that. But you see all the young boys who are there now don’t listen to advice. Yet, none of them was born when I entered the gospel ministry. One of the retired General Secretaries was four years old when I joined the ministry. They don’t ask me for advice and I don’t need them to ask me. There was one of my successors who packed all my documents to one side.

Another one living in the house that I built for them ordered his family to be cooking close to the plaque that registered my name to obliterate it. It took another Secretary to undo that injustice. So, I have been through a lot but I have forgiven them. I believe the reason why God has preserved my life is to confirm that I am their leader. I am still their Baba. They cannot wish me away.

Alhaji Tijani Adamson is one of the very few people who are privileged to have lived for a century on the planet earth and still looking very good to live for many more years to come. He would be 100 years on May 29, 2013. During his hey days, he served the police force under the British Colonial masters for 33 years. He retired as an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP). In this brief but exciting encounter with INNOCENT DURU, he tearfully recalls the ugly circumstance that led to his mother’s death. He also speaks about his early life and other interesting issues. Excerpts: 

SIR, can you let us more about your background?

I was born in May 29, 1913 into the family of Adamo Mohammed Gborigi. My father was from Kogi State while my mother was from Lagos State. I went to St. Peter’s Primary School, Lagos. I passed my Common Entrance Examination into Christian Missionary Society (SMS) Grammar School, Lagos but there was a snag: I was denied admission on the grounds that I was a Muslim. I felt bad but I devised a means to secure admission into the school the following year. So, I changed my name to Festus Adamson the following year, so I was admitted into the school.

After my secondary school I was with Habour Works briefly before I joined the Police Force in January 1936.

Tell us the circumstances that made you to join police because I understand that people didn’t like joining the police then?

I simply loved the police, there was no circumstance that prompted me to join it. It was basically the love I had for it and my burning desire to help my country under the British rule that made me to join it. In the course of my service, I attended so many courses abroad. I served the police for 33 years before I was retired in 1969 under the Inspector General of Police, Kam Salem. I joined as a recruit and I passed through the ranks until I retired as an Assistant Superintendent of Police.

When I was in the police, there were hardly cases of armed robbery the way we have them nowadays, but there were cases of burglary but murder was very rare. Then government was able to control arms importation and smuggling of arms was almost impossible. The government was very tough with this.

Can you recall some of your defining moments in the force?

Yes, that was when I was deployed to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Police Force. There, I proved myself as a worthy officer, a dogged fighter officer so much so that I won the plaudits of my superior officers. I was assigned to investigate some criminal cases. I investigated the suspects and they were convicted. I was given a commendation letter duly signed by Mr. Hodge, a European officer, and an award in recognition of my courageous effort.

I remember when I was assigned to investigate a case of treasury breaking in Ughelli, Warri. I was assigned with a police vehicle, a driver and four other members of the CID. When we got to Asaba, we went on ferry across to the other side of the road, where we entered our car. Eventually, we got to Onitsha in Awomana where the stolen money from Ugheli treasury was recovered. It was God who protected us.

Also, I remember when I was transferred to Gboko Division of the Police Force in Benue State. Then, I was assigned to an area leading to Nsukka, where many saw an escape route. It was at the height of the political crisis involving the Sardauna of Sokoto, the late Alhaji Ahmadu Bello and Takar. During the period, the area was seen as the Middle Belt. They were not Hausa, so they wanted to break away from the Northern hegemony. But the Northern leaders didn’t take kindly to it and they wanted to prevent them from pitching their tent with the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Action Group. So, that led to a riot. I was sent with my team called Riot Team to disarm the natives who were fighting with bows and arrows in 1951.

I was also the head of the team that was sent to Badagry when the British government introduced the payment of tax in the area. The indigenes kicked against it and there was heavy riot. One of our members was killed and we dealt with the indigenes seriously. We were able to subdue them, seized their guns and arms. When you paid your tax, you would be issued a receipt, which you must always carry with you always.

You joined the police when Nigeria was still under the British rule and after the independence, can you tell us the difference that was introduced to the force then and the transformation?

There was great change and transformation. We were trained to be very disciplined .But after the British left, we were not allowed to remain actively in the force, so we were posted out. I was the Chief Security Officer in Boston, an Indian textile company in Lagos. So also were many of my colleagues.

At your age, there is no doubt that you have lived through many bitter-sweet experiences in life. Therefore, can you tell us your happiest moment in life?

Ah! That was when I performed the holy pilgrimage to Mecca in 1961. It was when I travelled to Mecca for Hajj in 1961. I am a strong believer in Allah and He always answers my prayers. The more I call Him, the more He answers my prayers.

As a man who has gone through so many things in life and as a staunch Muslim, is there anything you would have got that you never get?

No, there is nothing I asked for that God has not granted me. If I ask for anything and He doesn’t grant me, it may be there is an evil or danger in it. I wake up in the middle of the night to say my prayer (Ta’jud). Every Sunday morning and Thursday night, I do it. It is a special prayer. When you stick to it, you will know and respect God and human beings.

What about your greatest regret in life?

My greatest regret, this is something I don’t like talking about, but all the same I will tell you. It was the circumstance surrounding the death of my mum. I had a brother, Abdul-Lateef, who was very stubborn and arrogant. He had misbehaved on a certain day and my father was trying to scold him. So, I intervened and chastised him. But he soon engaged me in a fight. In the process, my mum was summoned. But while she was rushing to separate us, she hit her feet against an object, fell down and then died. I don’t always like to talk about it because it makes me cry (Wiping welling tears from his face).

As a young man then, full of life, can you tell us some of the antics you engaged in then maybe as a result of your youthful exuberance?

As a young man, I had my own fair share of youthful exuberance . I remember this incident very well. As a police officer in charge of the Ebute Metta Division, Lagos, I was assigned to provide security to the Awori people who were celebrating the Elegba festival. While the ceremony lasted, the participants and guests were served assorted drinks, which they drank to their satisfaction. I first drank a bottle of stout beer. Then, they also served brands of whisky and brandy, which I also drank. Later, I left the venue and went back to the police barracks where I was living. When I got to the barracks, I started feeling dizzy and my steps were wobbly, so I fell down. I then began to vomit till the following morning. Could you believe I slept in that vomit? From that moment, I resolved never to drink again and my prayer was answered.

It is very amazing that even at your old age you still have good memory, what is you secret?

There is not secret behind it. This gift from Almighty Allah, I still do lots of things people consider as unique. I still bathe myself. I walk without the aid of walking stick and I see, read without eye glasses. Well, maybe I will consider myself lucky. I thank God for this gift He gives me.

As a Muslim, how many wives did you marry?

I married three, but two have died and I have 16 children. My first born, who is doctor, is now 73 years old. As an appreciation of the grace of God in my life, my children, friends and well-wishers will celebrate 100th birthday soon.

Cosmas  Maduka, chairman of Coscharis Group, was the archetypal conservative businessman until he hit the headlines over his entanglements with another businessman, Ifeanyi Uba. In this interview with Rita Ohai he touches on their unresolved dispute, his business philosophy, attitude to politics and sundry matters.

During the (former President Olusegun) Obasanjo administration you received some major waivers. As a result, speculation arose that you played the role of financier for political activities from the background?

People are entitled to their opinions. The truth is that an industrialist like me cannot be completely neglected in the economy. You can get your voice to count by the things you do. Mother Teresa was not the greatest business woman in the world but she influenced politics. Nelson Mandela is not the richest man but he is an icon because of the things he has contributed to humanity.

I play my own role as an industrialist and philanthropist. It is my own way of running a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

There was this controversy that generated a lot of news on the relationship between Ifeanyi Uba and you. Cases of fraud and political manipulations were cited. What really happened?

The case of Capital Oil and Coscharis is a very painful one that frankly, I do not like to discuss. It is like talking about having children with a woman that is barren. People from my area do apprenticeship and build from there; it is part of our social welfare, almost like slavery. We have always been our brother’s keeper and profit is usually not the driving motive.

So this kid brother of mine (Uba) approached me in 2011. I was sitting in my office when my phone rang, and he told me about how some people were trying to take over his business. He said things that were related to me and invited me to see his structures. Of course, I could not turn him down. I went there and I was impressed with what I saw.

Many of the boys from my state mismatch funds. They take short-term funds and put in a long term project by borrowing heavily. That is a way to commit suicide because interest rates can kill you. This was what Uba did and the first advice I gave him was to sell his facility to pay down his loan so that he can start all over again. I took him to different banks trying to get support for him because I could not let his business go down. If you go to Capital Oil’s jetty, you will not believe it is a structure created by a Nigerian but he had borrowed so much. In the process, I got what I did not expect because he did not keep to the commitment that he made to me.

I think he (Uba) has a problem and only he knows what led him to do what he did. My concern is that he let me down and messed things up between me and my bankers. We are still on the matter. Talks are going on and he made a public apology at the Senate hearing. We are negotiating with AMCON to take over his business so that he can pay the money back to me.

All the youthful exuberance he displayed were bad ideas people gave to him and he realised later that it was not the right thing to do because you do not hurt people who go beyond reasoning to help you. It creates pain in my heart but the matter will hopefully be resolved. What is important is that I have learnt my lesson.

He has been saying that your motives are politically related such that you seek to stop his political ambition, what is your stance on this?

Ifeanyi as a person is a boy with too many ideas and I think he needs somebody like me to play a role in his life in order to remodel him. Most of the things he does are not obtainable. He has some very weird and crazy ideas and I have told him to his face. We have an adage in Igbo that literally means that if you have not been able to cultivate the small portion of land in front of your house, you cannot be called ‘the king everyone is afraid of’. It will be wrong for anybody to advice Ifeanyi to go into politics with so much debt hanging over his head. He is a brilliant boy that started a business but he has mismanaged his funds. He needs to sort that out first and foremost. He has political connections and I do not care about that. Can you say that because you have political connections, you no longer owe a person you borrowed from? Will any law court say you do not owe when there is “clear evidence that you did not pay? It is not sustainable.

Somebody needs to talk to you directly and say, ‘hey guy, clean your mouth, it is smelling’, and it is only the person who loves you that will say that to you. All the other people will see you carrying shit on your cloth and be calling you a king and saying that you are looking good. That is how some people deceived one king in the Bible and he started dancing naked.

When Ifeanyi told me he wanted to enter politics, I asked him why he would want to do such a thing. I have no ambition whatsoever of going into politics. I am a businessman with no interest in it at all. In fact, you will never see me in any political gathering. I want to be known as a businessman and stay focused there. I want to be respected as an entrepreneur who is much focused. One thing I have always feared is distraction and I do not have a television in my house.

Has there been any move by leaders and village elders to reconcile you both and is there some progress in this direction?

The village elders tried initially but Ifeanyi was not interested because as far as he is concerned, does the village chief know what N10 billion is all about? It is something they cannot conceptualise. The idea is that he is going to pay, that is what he has always said. We talk and his position is that he will keep his promise and that is all.

Coscharis as a conglomerate is not a quoted company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, what is the reason for the hesitation?

It is all a matter of choice by the owners of the business. It is a model we have chosen to adopt. If you go to the United States of America, I can show you many family businesses that are not publicly quoted. The owners of the business may decide to hold their stock and get family members to manage the business.

Of course, the right thing to do would be to go to the stock market and invite other Nigerians to share from the wealth you have created by buying into the company. We thought about it four years ago and by the time we were preparing to go to the market, it crashed. And we felt it was not appropriate to go at that time because we did not want to throw away the value we have created for nothing.

There are many things that drive people to go to the stock market. The first is security. You can run a business where you think that there will be some political risk for you to run the company and hold the stock on a private equity basis. If you get the company quoted, it becomes Nigeria’s company and if your political opponent or whoever decides to destroy the company, he will be undoing the country. That is why people like us stay away from politics due to the enmity it causes.

The other thing that can drive you to go public is to safeguard your equity because sometimes you need additional money to expand your business. Coscharis has no such problem and we are not desperate. We saw a lot of people packaging emptiness, companies with no history and just speculations to sell on the stock market between 2008 and 2009 and they ripped people off.

A lot of people lost a lot of money and confidence in the Nigerian stock market. So we think it is not the right time to go but ultimately that is what we are going to do. When it will happen is something we do not know yet. Sometimes it is also good to manage things the way we do in a very conservative manner. When you go public, it gives a sense of confidence but sometimes you may have professionals who may not view things the way an owner would.

You cited Coscharis as being a strong company, how are you able to source for funds to run such a large organisation without public input?

We retain a lot of our earnings in the business and looking at our antecedent, we have been able to build unprecedented credit rating within the banking industry. I do not think there are many organisations on our scale that borrows internationally and locally under a negative pledge like we do. No bank led to asks us for collateral to us. Shumitomo Bank of Japan, for example, funds us with $40 to $50 million without collateral.

We are an owner-driven business that retains a lot of our profit and we pay our bills. For us, these are areas we pride ourselves in and because we have unlimited credit, it does not make us crazy enough to spend money like a child in a candy shop.

So, frankly, liquidity is not a problem for us, our challenge is finding profitable businesses that we can nurture. We believe in slow and steady growth and we are not in a hurry to impress any man. We want to play in the first five of any area of business you find us in.

As a pioneer in the automobile industry, why have you not pushed for the local manufacturing of cars?

Locally manufacturing a car is a concept people have but they do not understand what it entails. It is a policy that should be driven by the state. The government must be prepared to industrialise Nigeria by providing power. God, when He decided to create this world, started by saying ‘Let there be light.’ Everything we need to empower this country is available but we need energy because it is an indispensible element of success.

But with major players like you in this sector, can you not push government to promote industrialisation?

Yes, we are approaching them and we have been singing this music. I am not involved in politics, so the leaders of this country must provide the enabling environment for industrial development and growth. Eighteen years ago, we went into Ghana to make investments and till today I have never bought a generator there. Their government did not push us to do it but we saw an opportunity, a service gap and as an entrepreneur, I chose to fill the gap. Money follows service.

In Nigeria today, we have a 160 million workforce that do not have good jobs. In other words, there is a clear competitive economic labour cost. If they provide power, many companies that are running factories in other countries would want to come and take advantage of the competitive manpower so that they can beat their opponent in other climes. This is something we are not taking advantage of.

Lagos State today asks us to provide capital contribution as what they call ‘thirty percent for infrastructural development’. Sometimes, it could be as much as N400 million. I just built an office in Lekki and we paid over N120 million to Lagos for ‘infrastructural development but I am putting the road in that place today. Lagos did not build any road there and we have sunk boreholes.

If you want to do business in Nigeria today, you would have spent 40 percent of your capital that should have gone into production in providing infrastructure. These are hurdles that make businesses not to thrive.

Why should we be focusing on building automobiles and airplane when we have climatic conditions that make farming profitable? We have very fertile ground that we are not developing. Calculate the amount of money we have spent importing rice and wheat. Why can we not grow these things here when nature and everything is in our favour and we have the competitive advantage?

Go to Abuja and you will see banana that is imported from Cameroun. That is madness! The leaders do not see clearly what they need to do. They have mismatched priorities and we need to stop this idea of calling for the manufacture of cars. Let’s manufacture food first.

I set up a motorcycle-roller-chain manufacturing industry in Maza-Maza that we shut down because I had to import power and import the diesel that would run the generator. When we finished, a guys who is going to buy this product is getting it from an importer at 40 percent cheaper than your cost price.

Manufacturing is not a status symbol, it is an economic advantage. My machines are still there and they are not running anymore. I would have gone down to the village if I had continued with that manufacturing. You do not do things to make people happy and we are saying we should start automobile industry.

With your constant reference to the food industry, are you planning to get involved in agriculture?

Yes, we just acquired about 2,700 hectares of land in Anambra State. We plan to cultivate raw materials for the factory we want to set up. It is an agro-allied industry that should create about 3000 jobs when carried out successfully.

People are importing palm oil in this country and it is a shame. Malaysia came to us to take the seedling for palm kernel and today contributes over 25 percent of their gross domestic earnings. In Nigeria, all of us are wearing white shirt and coming to Lagos to look for car manufacturing industry. We are not serious-minded people.

Your business relationship with the Japanese is well, known but we have noticed your recent affinity for the Chinese, why the shift?

I saw clearly that China is a sleeping giant that has woken up. I was a kid when the Japanese started their economic revolution and we used to laugh at them.

I saw the Honda Civic for the first time and we used to mock it because it looked like a box but today they have taken the world by storm. However, the Japanese could not find their confidence as they would produce something and write ‘Made in England’ on their label. Over time, they have become known as the original while Taiwan serve as the fake version of the product, the same thing with China. But give China another 10 years and you will be amazed. China saw an advantage in Africa very early and the next world economic miracle is going to happen in Africa obviously.

The West has reached their climax and their economy is not growing by anything more than two percent but the African economy is growing at about seven percent. Imagine this happening for the next ten years. Everybody is having Africa’s strategic programme in mind.

If Nigeria’s economy keeps growing the way it is, by 2020 our economy will be bigger than South Africa and by 2050, if we maintain the same growth, we would have the twelfth richest country in the world.

Once electric power is put in place, you will see unprecedented economic revolution taking place in this country. Look at what happened in the telecommunications sector. The capacity is there. Other countries are not giving birth to children the way we are. Africa is still producing babies like dogs.

If we fix this country, people like me would be multi-billionaires because I have sachet water to sell to 300 million people. Even if I sell at N10, multiply it by 300 million people and you will know what I am sitting on. This is a goldmine, the Chinese know this and are planning for it.

It will happen in your generation. I am sixty-four and in another six years, I will be seventy. If I am asking for 100 years that would be like asking for third-term but people like you can still get to benefit from it in your sixties or seventies.

We have seen the gradual dominance of China in the African economic space, are they better allies than the United States and Europe?

It all depends. You cannot say they are better allies because the biggest minus the Chinese have is the one of trust. No matter how big you are, you cannot access credit from China. They believe in cash transactions. As at today, whenever you want to do business with them, the Chinese want you to pay a deposit before the product is produced after which they will demand a cash balance. It is a policy that over a period of time, they will mature and change.

Their government can give you some lease with stiff conditions but fellow business partners will not. China’s government may grant you some concession as long as you allow their citizen to come and work on the project. That is not even wrong because they are struggling to provide jobs for more than one billion people and these are things we do not do in Nigeria. We are busy trying to be our neighbours’ big brother.

We are fighting up and down for Rwanda, Botswana and South Africa and we will never ask for anything in return. It is not how to live! Our leaders have not done well in those areas. We should not reach out without having a foothold in those economies because we help to liberate them and we spend our taxpayers’ money and sacrifice our lives for ‘good brother thing’ and come back. This is wrong and the Americans will tell you that there is no free lunch because they have interests to protect.

You just talked about our issue with security; do you think Boko Haram should be granted amnesty?

Their actions are illegal. Why are they asking for amnesty? If they drop their guns and stop killing people, government will stop going after them. Their leaders who are doing these things should leave the country because they have not done well. If you kill people with impunity, you should be brought to justice.

Boko Haram is a man-made problem that is not different from the former militants in the Niger Delta. It is a political tool for some people. It is a problem for politicians and they will solve it because they are destroying the northern economy.

Captain Elechi Amadi is the author of the widely acclaimed The Concubine among other literary works, a former Commissioner for Land and Housing, former Commissioner for Education and currently  Chairman, Rivers State Scholarship Board. In this interview with Precious Dikewoha in his home at Aluu community in Ikwerre Local Government of Rivers State, he says Achebe can never be replaced. He also speaks about his school days with Achebe, his experience in the den of kidnappers, and a host of other issues.     

How did you meet Chinua Achebe?

I got to know Achebe in 1948 at Government College, Umuahia when we were both students. We were not only in the same school we were in the same house – Niger House. At one point we were in fact in the same dormitory and he was the prefect. He was three years ahead of me.

He was soft-spoken, diligent, and hardworking and like most boys from that school, reliable and honest. Even in those days one habit of his became noticeable – he always carried a book. Even when he was marking out portions for our grass-cutting chores on Saturdays, he would have a machete in his right hand and a book in his left, with his forefinger buried in it to mark where he had stopped. This picture is particularly vivid in my mind. After school days, we went our different ways, but whenever we met, the passage of time will make no difference. We would recall incidents during our school days and laugh endlessly. He had an honest and rather infectious kind of laughter.

When he convened a meeting of authors at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka for the formation of the Association of Nigeria Authors, Chinua was his usual humble and unassuming self. Humorously he said he had convened the meeting not necessarily to form an association but for us to debate whether writers who are known to be half-mad and individualistic could in fact come together to form an association. His humble and relaxed approach fired our resolve to form an association, and ANA was born.

In 1954, Ekwensi published People of the City. I was thrilled that a Nigerian could write a novel. Then in 1958 came Achebe’s Things Fall Apart which received instant global acclaim. A novel written by my own schoolmate and friend! Wow! I rushed for a copy and did not put it down until I finished it. I have no doubt at all that I drew much of my inspiration to write from Ekwensi and Achebe.

Some critics refer to writers who published novels after Things Fall Apart as “Achebe’s children”. Well, Yes and No. Yes, in the sense that I and some others drew inspiration and the courage to write from him. No, in the sense that while there may be common features like proverbs for instance in his work and mine, my style and orientation are quite different. There are no white men in my books, and gods and the supernatural play a more powerful role than in Achebe’s books. Again, while Achebe deeply explores colonial politics, I am preoccupied with the intricacies of our people’s culture. As the general editor of the African Writers Series, Achebe described The Concubine when it was published as ‘an unusually successful first novel’. I could not have had a better encouragement than that.

I believe the Civil War affected Achebe very deeply and probably robbed him of the Nobel Prize. Between A Man of the People (1966) and Anthills of the Savannah (1987), Achebe’s creativity had a lull of twenty years which dealt a fatal blow to any Nobel Prize ambitions. But that apart, I am convinced that Achebe deserved the prize for his enormous impact on African Literature. When I met Chinua in January 1989, he gave me a copy of Anthills of the Savannah in which he wrote: ‘To Elechi with admiration, Chinua’. This book is one of my treasured possessions. This great literary icon admired my writings, so critics beware! I will always remember Chinua as a giant in African Literature, a literary role model, a consummate craftsman and above all, a friend.

Why is it that when people die, even those who disagree with their ideas and ideologies while alive would express appreciation and honour to them?

Well, that is because people don’t want to speak ill about the dead. When they know you are dead even your enemy will try to speak good about you. I will miss him, his death reminds me of the good days in Government Collage, Umuahia, but he is gone and his work will immortalise him. That is one joy of a writer. When you no longer exist, your work exists and speaks volume of you, but only when your work is good which can be determined by the readers.

The Concubine is more than 40 years yet people still ask for it, which means the work is good. Generation replaces generation, but Achebe will not be replaced by any one, but we can have people who want to be like him and people who are good in doing what he was doing but no replacement.

As a two-time commissioner and now Chairman, Rivers State Scholarship Board, you have no mansions, no expensive cars. You even deny yourself of lavish life style. Are you hiding your money somewhere?

(Prolong laughter) No, no, that is how I choose to live my life; it was the kind of life I was brought up with when I was in Government College, Umuahia. It is part of me and I cannot change it. There is nothing in this life that could make me live extravagant life. What makes people live above their means is that they want to have everything in the world which is still impossible. Before now I only have one Volkswagen car, but one day during the meeting of elder statesmen, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi decided to give each of us a gift of Jeep. That is the jeep I am using today.

Even when it was given to me I did not make use of it for a long time until my driver and family started complaining that I should make use of it. In my philosophy you can’t live in two houses or sleep in two beds at the same time. All one needs in life is to live a simple life. Nigeria is not progressing because one man has decided to accumulate the resource that could change the lives of ten communities while pretending to be serving the people. But philosophically when I analyse life, I thought it is a waste of time being busy taking what does not belong to you. Why not use that time to do other things that could benefit society? I mean the time you want to spend thinking on how to get 40 houses in Nigeria and abroad, use that time to think on how to create a positive impact on your environment and society at large, especially in touching lives of the less privileged.

You love your village so much and prefer going to work in Port Harcourt from your village. What is your relationship with your people?

It gives me joy that I can live among my people; it would have been something else if I was living in the town then sneaking to the village every month or once a year. I wouldn’t have been comfortable because it is like living in exile. Why should you be running away from your people? Don’t forget I was brought up from the village and I enjoy walking in the forest. I like the atmosphere of the environment. For more than twelve years I stayed in the village, I know my people and they know me. Each morning I will open my gate for free movement. I have no security or body guard. Before now I don’t have wall in my compound. It was when I was kidnapped that my friends said no you must fence your compound. That was how I fenced it. If not, I prefer the type that my neighbour can walk into my house from any corner to see me.

Look, your best protection is the good will of your people and not just arming yourself. It is very difficult for anybody to hurt you when you are good with your people. Your people are your best protection. I enjoy the village so much, though there is this challenge that the villagers believe because I am working with the government there is enough money in my house. So, every day you will see some school children coming to my house, asking for help. Some of the requests by the children are minor and I try by the grace of God to attend to their needs. And every market day, the widows will come knocking asking for money to buy fish and I also attend to them. Maybe because I attend to them that is why they feel I am harmless, of course I am, (laughter).

Wouldn’t you consider that it is because of lack of security around you that made the kidnapers to abduct you; could you tell us your experience when you were kidnapped?

No, it was not because I had no body guard or security apparatus that made the boys to kidnap me, because even those who surrounded themselves with military armour are being kidnapped. The fact is that the people who did this to me were small boys from my community who went to hire gunmen to kidnap me. They are three in number and none of them is finding peace because the community did not support them. One of them is dead, the other one jumped bail and the last one has been running from one place to the other. The parents came begging me to plead with the police to forget about the case. But I said no if I didn’t prosecute intelligently I may end up encouraging kidnapping in the community. But that did not scare me because as I earlier said, I am a village man. I was brought up in the village and I love the village. If not my experience as a village man I would have suffered so much finding my way out from the forest when I was released by my abductors.

I was kidnapped at 8pm and blindfolded to unknown destination within the community, as they drove me to the forest I didn’t know when it was morning. Even when they bought fast food and water for me I did not know. It was later when I requested for water that they gave me but I could not eat the food because I did not know what they gave me. Though the water I drank helped me a lot, it gave me the strength to walk for two hours in the forest to get to the village. The kidnappers were not ready to harm me but only interested that I should tell government to bring money. When they asked for ransom I told them that I don’t have money and they said they know I don’t have money but I should tell the government to bring money, though at the end I was allowed to go. But what I am trying to say is that if I was not brought up in the village it would have been hell for me to direct my steps out of the forest.

As scholarship board chairman, how do you cope with desperate politicians and individuals who want the names of their children to appear on the scholarship list?

Everybody knows I am methodical. I don’t give scholarship. I am only the board chairman. What we do is that when we receive allocation, we advertise and people will apply, those who applied will be handed over to a competent examination body. It is the body that examines candidates and submmit the list of successful ones to us. Some times people will come to my office pleading for assistance to ensure that the names of their children came out but I always tell them that it is unethical to change somebody’s name for someone else’s name. If your child did not make it this year let he or she wait for another opportunity. The process of application is transparent. For now, we don’t have money to send people for study. We have 154 overseas scholarships but they have since been reduced because some are graduating. Three hundred local scholarship beneficiaries receive N250,000 annually while their counterparts abroad receive N5m due to the courses they are studying over there. By the grace of God some of the students will be graduating late this year and by 2014 more will also graduate.

How do you cope with your wives and children, managing to maintain peace among them?

I have three wives and they are all doing well. I try as much I can to look after them. Things I can do I tell them, the ones I cannot do I also tell them. Yes, I have more than one wife but they are living in peace with one another and the secret is that I am honest and open to them. What I give to one I try as much as possible to give it to the other. I have also made them comfortable in a way that they could take care of themselves and their children. All I need is to relax and they pass food for me to eat.

Are we expecting any literary work soon?

Yes, very soon it will be unveiled to the public. It is a collection of science fiction titled: When God Came and the Song of the Vanquished.

Tongues wagged a few years ago when Juju music maestro, Chief Ebenezer Remilekun Fabiyi, better known as Ebenezer Obey, started singing his old songs after becoming an evangelist. The special appearance shows brought back the music legend in his full element. He told SUNDAY OGUNTOLA why the shows have come to stay and how he discovered he was born to sing. The renowned musician, who clocks 71 on April 3, also spoke about retirement and his rumoured plans to remarry.   

When you started special appearances and performances for your friends some two years ago, a lot of people, especially in the Christian community, became worried that you were probably returning to secular music. How do you react to this?

People don’t need to be worried. The reason why people should not worry is: number one, God Himself called me. I was not called by man; neither did I call myself. God called me Himself. Two, I am not a baby Christian. I know what I am doing. Everything I do is according to the leading of God. I don’t do anything except God asks me to. I don’t want to satisfy anyone.

So, I am covered and not exposed to contamination, like people are saying. So, nobody needs to lose sleep over me. I can understand their worries but they need not worry. Four, music is my profession. That is what people know me for.

When God called me, I dropped it for 15 years. I was only doing ministry. But when the time was ripe, God told me to use special appearances as an outreach because it is drawing more people to God. I was only singing in churches and revival services. Then, I started singing for our partners, sponsoring our crusades and ministry works.

But at a time, people started wondering why I was only reaching out to fellow Christians. They argued even Jesus wined and dined with sinners. So, why shouldn’t I? So, I prayed about it and felt led to go ahead. So, the special appearance outreach is reaching people for God.

After all, you find lawyers, judges, doctors and others in ministry. They do not leave what they were doing or their professions but use them as platforms to serve God. So, why not music? This is what people know me with. Obey is music and music is Obey. So, I see nothing wrong in using it to serve God.

Some people insinuated you probably considered going back to secular music because gospel music is not viable enough. What would you tell such people?

There is a lot of rubbish people say that you don’t have to react to every time. People just open their mouths because you are a celebrity and say nonsense…

…They even said you were probably broke and needed money to survive?

Do I look like someone who is broke? I can never be broke because my treasure is in heaven. It is hidden in the supplies that come from God. When there was famine, God sent Elijah to the brooks. He hid it from others and a bird was supplying him meals. So, my treasure is not here on the earth. But if I need anything, God will provide because there had never been anything I needed that God has not given me. He is a good God and I am serving Him with all my heart. So, my treasure is hidden in the treasury of God and I can never be broke. If it is about eating good meals, riding good cars and wearing good clothes, I am rich already.

How do you feel at 71?

I feel great and thank God. As you can see, I am okay and kicking despite my active years on stage.

Do you consider yourself lucky that you have no health complications at your age despite your frenetic past ?

I consider myself very, very lucky. The Lord has been so good. Even if I have challenges, they are not as overwhelming as you will think. My mind is sound and my health is unfailing. I am not alone at all. I don’t feel alone. I am not alone.

What regrets do you have?

I don’t have any regrets at all. God has been more than gracious to me.

No unfulfilled childhood dreams at all?

There is none at all. I have always wanted to be a musician and everyone around me knew about it. I did not want to be anything else but a musician. So, I am fulfilled and my dreams have come true. When my mates were dreaming of being doctors and engineers, I simply wanted to be a musician and nothing more. I started my band in 1957 while still in school.

How did it all start for you?

My father and mother were from Abeokuta. I was born in Idogo in Yewa South where I grew up. Everything about Obey started there. My mother said I was very active in the choir. My mother wanted me to be a medical doctor or a lawyer. She never thought music could feed anyone, let alone make one successful. She did not want her son to be a musician. One day, after many months of disagreements with her, I asked why. She said musicians would always smoke, drink and womanise. I looked at her in the face and said, “I will go into music and I promise I will be a good example. I will not do all of those things.”

And she believed you?

Of course, she did. Since that day, she never stopped me again. But before then, it was a tug of war. She was a good disciplinarian. She would lit her lantern and sneak into my rehearsals. She would grab my hands and take me out of the rehearsals. She would talk to me for hours on how musicians were never-do-well. Amazingly, my band boys would start drumming to invite me and she would ask me if I would go again. Of course, I would and go inside. Trust me, I would seek for opportunity for her to sleep and sneak out for the rehearsals despite her admonitions.

So you were head-clear music was your calling?

Yes, I was. I left school at Secondary Modern level simply because of music. I just knew that was what I was born to do.

Was it a dream, revelation or something that showed you this?

I can’t say anything showed me. I just had that conviction that I was a future star and music was my path. I loved music and it was my passion. I thank God my mother saw my glory before she died. She came to realise music was my calling and was grateful I followed my instincts.

If your mum had her way, where would you have been?

I probably would have been a frustrated lawyer or an unfulfilled doctor. But for sure, you wouldn’t have heard of Obey. The music in me would have died unsung. But I don’t blame her. She only wanted the best for her son and didn’t see how music could make that happen. She was just being a loving, kind mother. There were no successful musicians to point to then. So, she was insisting I should go to school but I knew I was cut out for music.

Did you know music was going to take you this far?

I did not know. There was no way I would have known. When the success started coming, I was stunned. But I kept my head cool and continued with my passion.

If you were to ask God for just one more thing, what would it be?

Father, please let me do Your will. Let me spend the remaining days of my life doing Your will. Let Your will be done in my life.

What would you consider the breakthrough point in your career?

That was when I was looking for a recording company. In those days, there was no demo or anything to record your music. You must find your way to the studio of a recording company. I trekked all the way from Mushin to Abibu Oki Street in Lagos to get a recording deal. I started from Mushin to Idi Oro, to Alakara, to Moshalashi, Yaba then found my way to Sabo, Alagomeji, Post Office, Oyingbo. I then crossed to Iddo at the Railway Terminus and used the pedestrian bridge to Carter. I landed at Idumota and found my way to Abibu Oki. When I got to the gate, the gateman stopped me. He said I would not go in. I insisted and he said I had sugar-coated tongue and allowed me in. I got to the receptionist and told her I was a future star and wanted to be recorded. She said the artiste manager was on leave and I should come back in six weeks. I started telling her I am a future star. We dragged it on and on. Then, the MD suddenly phoned on the intercom and asked, “What is all the noise about?”

She explained I was shouting I was a future star and would not go. The man said she should send me in. The moment I got to his office, I just went flat prostrating. I forgot he was a white man. He listened to me and I said I was a future star. “Please, don’t pay me sir. Just record me and you can pay later when you have made all the money,” I told him. He just looked at me. He called one Yoruba man and said I should be given a try, that I sounded confident. Immediately, the man came, I switched over to Yoruba and kept telling the man I was a future man. That was how I got recorded and the rest is history.

Is it true you were always fighting with KSA in those days in the secular music world?

No, there was never a fight. KSA is a good friend and we remain close.

There were stories you two arranged fights to sell albums?

There was nothing like that. We never fought. People were only looking for troubles where there were none. I think our fans started the whole thing. They just imagined we were fighting because they were fighting who was the best among themselves

You have been at music for over 50 years. People will like to know how much of music is left in Commander Ebenezer Obey.

The whole of my being is music. All I know is music. I don’t know anything else but music.

You still write and produce songs?

Of course, I do. I still write songs, perform live and compose. I record special albums for people. I record songs. I am still very active in the industry because there is still so much music within me. The world has not heard the last or best song from me yet.

How much are you reaching out to the younger generation in the music industry?

Some of them are re-recording my song. They come to me and I give them my blessings. I do it free of charge to them to re-produce my songs. They have approvals as many times as they request.

What about collaborations?

Well, I don’t have to appear with them. They ask to re-produce my songs and they get approvals without much ado.

Are you thinking of retirement any soon?

In life, the path and destination of man belong to God. I will be 71 but my life is in God’s hands. Everything I do is determined by Him. So, I cannot talk of tomorrow now because Jesus asks us not to be anxious. I will keep doing what I should and lean on Him. Whenever He says I should step aside, I will gladly do. So, I leave everything in His hands.

Do you feel appreciated and celebrated enough as a legend by Nigeria?

Let me put it this way. Even though that is how it looks, I appreciate the way I am celebrated. The doors are now opening and the nation is appreciative. I cannot ask for more because God and this nation have been good to me.

Your wife of several years died in 2011. There is no doubt you miss her a lot

Of course, I do. You can see I am sitting right opposite her portrait. I see her every day when I sit here. That shows how much I miss her. But as a child of God, I know He brought us here and will take us when He decides. I miss her but the grace of God is sufficient.

Out there, people are saying you might re-marry…

… Well, I don’t have anything to tell them. Right now, I am not married. But let’s wait and see what will happen.

Your next concert is a joint live performance with the Apola King. Can you talk briefly about it?

It is part of the Africa Mission Conference. The truth is, evangelism and mission need awareness. Everyone needs to know how to support and get involved. So, that is why I am supporting the ministry of Rev Idowu Animasaun, who God gave the vision. He started many years ago in Badeku. So, I am joining him for the concert to unveil evangelism and mission. The concert will unveil how the early missionaries started and broke the grounds. There will be opportunities for people to understand missions and ask questions. So, it will be a good time in God’s presence.

When was the last time you performed with Rev. Animasaun?

Oh, that must have been in the 60s and 70s. We were into secular music then. He was known as the Apola King then. So, I am supporting him so that the ministry can attract more support. Since he received the ministry, he never hid it; he told everyone about it and what he has been doing is quite remarkable. So, we would be doing a bit of the oldies because there is nothing wrong with the music then. All the beautiful songs I have sung before when they request, I will give them. We are using proceeds from the concert to support mission works through Rev. Animasaun’s ministry.