The Nation Newspaper

Category: Interview

  • Tayo Orekoya: Leadership is everything  

    Tayo Orekoya is the president, PEARL Awards Nigeria. In this interview with Atanda Sheriff, he speaks on how he started the award 24 years ago, preparations for this year’s award and how his first company was swindled, among other sundry issues

    It’s 24th year of Pearl Awards, what is the ideology behind it?

    The Pearl Awards actually seeks to reward corporate excellence in the Nigeria’s capital market. But as a background to that, it has to do with promoting the interest of investors and prospective investors in the Nigerian capital market. At the time the award started 24 years ago, in 1995, not-so-much was known about the capital market, and we realised that there was a gap where acquainted companies were not being recognised based on actual performance. It is using empirical data and we decided to feel this gap, so it focused on developing the growth of the capital market.

    Over the years, what have you achieved and what is unique about this year’s award?

    As at the time we started these awards, the capital market was seen as elitist market. People had the erroneous impression that before you could invest in the stock exchange, you must have huge source of money to put in the capital market. But Pearl Award contributed in changing this narrative because one of our objectives is actually to engender public awareness about the capital market. So every year, we ensure that we are able to bring to the knowledge of the people – the fact that the capital market is for everybody.

    Again, we put in place what we call the Pearl Awards Annual Public Lecture where we engage with the stakeholders, shareholders and we have the regulators coming to discuss the market and of course this also has engendered public consciousness about the capital market. Beyond that, for companies that have been nominated for the award over the years, we have seen a trajectory that shows that the share prices go on the upward trend after being nominated or winning the awards, so that is a huge plus. Also, this has engendered healthy competitiveness among the companies that are quoted on the stock exchange, both at the sectoral level and at the market excellence level.

    What are the challenges encountered?

    The major challenge we faced particularly when we started was on the issue of funding. For a new projector of that nature, we had to get support from regulatory agencies such as the Corporate Affairs Commission, Security and Exchange Commission, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria and some other bodies. It was tough but we decided to weather the storm. But over the years, we have been able to change that narrative, we have able to be creative in funding the award, we have introduced the publication, ‘The Nigeria Stock Market Annual’ which publishes the criteria, the methodology and facts and figures of how the nominees and winning companies merge on an annual basis and the publication is also publicly presented at the award night event.

    We normally launch this publication and make sales of it to fund the awards and also get support from various institutions and these have continued to keep us going. We are proud that credibility has never been an issue with the awards because right from the outset we were determined not to be just any award. So, in terms of the constitution of the board of governors of the award, we have credible Nigerians who are professionals right from the start of the project.

    Who are the awardees?

    For Pearl Award, the unique thing is we have the nominees for this year award and the nominees have been announced. We have three main categories of awards which include the main competitive category, special recognition award category, and the honorary award category. So, for the main competitive award category as well as the special recognition award category, the nominees have been released. They were released on the 22nd of October, 2019. This year’s awards will hold on the 24th of November at Eko Hotel and Signature, Lagos.

    What are the criteria in selecting the nominees?

    The award is based on the actual performance of quoted companies. We have nine clearly defined indices for the main competitive category, in line with global best practices to reward corporate excellence and performance in the Nigerian Stock Exchange. These include turn-over growth, returns, and equity, net and set ratio, profit margin ratio, dividend cover, dividend yield, dividend growth and share price appreciation and others.

    And we also have the post listing requirements in the stock exchange because for a company to be considered for this award, the company must have complied with the post listing requirements of the stock exchange. Beyond that, for the sectoral leadership awards, we have a minimum of three companies that must have complied with these requirements and also filed their annual reports with the Nigerian Stock Exchange and also been seen to practice good corporate governance. So, for this year’s sectoral leadership award, we have 17 Sectoral Leadership Award categories.

    We also have the research and collation committee of the Central Working Committee of the award which analyses the performance of these companies using their Annual Financial Reports as presented at the annual general meetings and also the Nigerian Stock Exchange yearly reports and the daily official list. So we crunch all the figures and then we are using the defined parameters to be able to have the first lead for each of the 17 sectors. And for the Market Excellence Awards categories, all the equities listed for the Stock Exchange is assessed utilising each of those nine criteria.

    Tell us about your educational background and growing up

    I studied Accounting in the university and I qualified as a Charted Accountant in 1989 and I became a fellow in 2003.

    But the interesting thing about my primary education is that I attended about seven primary schools and it is because my father was a police officer. He was always transferred from one place to the other and of course, I was changing schools but the good news is that I never repeated a class.

    My working life started in banking that was from 1982 to 1992 (10 years). I was a pioneer management staff of then Eko International Bank now a part of Polaris Bank. I opened the first branch of the bank at Ikeja Plaza located in Ikeja roundabout which still exists till date. I actually planned to spend just ten years in the banking industry and on January 3rd, 1992, I submitted my resignation to establish a company called Trustworth Finance and Investment Limited, but unfortunately, the company went down.

    Also there was a boom at a time and then a blast of finances. It was after that I also had terrible experience that I lost everything I had. To be precise in 1993, I lost about 2.475 million naira in a day and you can imagine what the value of that will be today especially if you look the rate of dollar to naira and the time value of money.

    What actually led to the loss?

    I was duped because the company was into importation then that I had to start all over again with a loan of 50 thousand naira. So, I attended many programmes and also delivered lectures and presentations all over the world because I didn’t want to go back into banking.

    What has been your motivation?

    I have always believed that success is a function of ensuring that you put smiles on the faces of the greatest number of people, and for me leadership is everything because everything rises and falls on leadership. This is part of the reason we introduced CITC Leadership Centre in our organisation in order to add values to lives.

    What advice do you have for the federal government on the closure of borders across the nation?

    Well, I won’t say I’m fully in support of border closure but I strongly believe that there is always going to be initial pain and without pains, there would be no gains. So we need to focus on self-sufficiency and since the closure, a number of gains are being made currently in terms of revenues and security. If you observed that since the border closure cases of kidnappings and other crimes have reduced. Not only that, you see that our neighbouring countries are actually crying more than us, including Ghana and even Benin Republic.

    So, the pains will be there but government also needs to put in place clearly defined initiatives that would ensure self-sufficiency and optimise the gain derived. Recall that China closed their border for about 40 years but they put in place adequate resources to ensure that their people were able to be self-sufficient.

    Who are your mentors?

    I have quite a number of mentors. These are people I read their books. I believe in the power of reading books. Zig Ziglar, who is the author of a book, ‘CEO at the Top’, is of those that are after my heart. I also appreciate the author of ‘Tough Times Never Last’, Robert Harold Schuller, also Pastor Sam Adeyemi of DayStar Christian Centre and Otunba Subomi Balogun. But my most important mentor is the Lord Jesus Christ.

    What defines your fashion?

    For me, I like to dress very well, convenient and of course occasion determines my dressings. So if it’s corporate, I like to be corporate and if it’s social, I like to be social.

  • ‘I was a mother at 15, a dropout at 16, widowed at 52, raped at 65’

    An encounter with Taiwo Ajai-Lycett offers a pilgrimage into her rousing present and the bleakness that marred her past. The details are grisly: she was a teen mom at 15, a dropout at 16, widowed at 52, and raped at 65. But she learned to deal with grief by simply ‘moving on.’ Such wisdom of the ancients defines the trained entrepreneur, life coach, actress and Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), whose losses and triumphs inspire her fans, at home and abroad, to trust in the soul of a woman who had been through the furnace and the fire, and emerged fortified, writes OLATUNJI OLOLADE, ASSOCIATE EDITOR.

    Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, 79, is a “student of the universe.” She is used to its workings and gifts of misery. Sitting under a canopy in her Ilupeju home, Lagos, on a Wednesday evening, fragments of pain shimmered in her eyes like broken glass. It’s hurtful shards whiffed through her yarn and stabbed at the air with a shattering peal.

    The effect was harrowing; her nostalgic drift unmasked pain’s route across her face and curvaceous frame.

    “I have been through the fire, I have been through the furnace, I emerged fortified,” she said, reiterating her knowledge of the universe. “I have learnt a lot from the universe. Where you have to go, you would go. The universe pushes you in the direction of your thoughts. It helps you actualise what you are thinking in the inner recesses of your mind,” she said.

    So far, the universe has seen her through spells of betrayal and misery as a starry-eyed girl and teenage mother.

    “I was 15 years old when I had a child. I became a teenage mother. By 16, I was on my own,” she said.

    That had to be scary. It was. But despite her situation, she was passionate about learning. “I knew I was going to get a good education. I was going to be a lawyer. But I knew that I was on my own. My family disowned me. They thought I gave them a bad name because I got pregnant. It was a big deal back then,” she recalled.

    Was she forgiven?

    “It’s complicated. It’s not that they forgave me, I didn’t go away,” she whispered and added that, “This feisty spirit of mine saw me through. My father wanted me to abort the pregnancy at first. But my mother thought I was a young girl. I was a baby. So, she had to spirit me away. I had the baby somewhere in Yaba. But after delivery, my father got attached to the baby. The child became his playmate.”

    Becoming a teen mom inflicted upon her, the challenges of stigmatisation and a cold shoulder from her family.

    She said, “I was ignored. I went to Methodist Girls High School from where I had to drop out. I know where my problem stemmed from; I always dealt with people older than me. Many were intrigued by my ability to engage them in conversation. So, I was exploited. That is why I am always protective of the girl-child today.”

    According to the actress, most of her critics didn’t know what she was going through and how it all happened. “They felt I was a bad girl, a promiscuous girl. And such notions about me helped me develop a high sense of discipline and morality.

    “Bad things happen but if you learn from them, they would shape your life positively.

    I studied the nature of sex. The nature of love. I don’t go into relationships for sex because love is paramount to me. There is nothing more riveting than sexual love, together. Real genuine sexual love,” she enthused.

    Her father insisted that the man who got her pregnant, Adebanji Adefolaju, must marry her and he agreed. But he (Adefolaju) perished in the Lalupon train disaster on September 29, 1957. He was among the 66 people who died out of 370 travellers in the rail accident.

    “My child, Adebowale Adefolaju, was one-year-old at the period. He is now 63 years old and father of Atinuke, 33, and Bolaji, 26. I have a son and two granddaughters,” she said.

    A maid in her father’s house

    Ajai-Lycett wanted to go back to school. She needed to find employment too because she was been ignored at home.

    She said, “All my siblings were in school but there I was, I was a maid in my father’s house. Everybody just ignored me. It’s a fascinating world. I think its a wonderful life.

    “I was the one doing all the cooking and house work. I kept my head down but I enrolled in evening school. There was no way anyone could stop me from learning.”

    Subsequently, she secured a job as an assistant teacher at St. Paul’s Catholic School at Costain. “Back then, you couldn’t work as a teacher without a Grade II qualification, I wrote the qualification exam and passed but my father refused to pay. He said he couldn’t foot the bills only for me to go and get pregnant again. Nobody trusted me,” she said.

    Then out of the blues, a letter came from the United Kingdom (UK) from a mutual friend she had with the father of her child, who was married and had resettled in the UK.

    “We used to meet in his house. Then I got a letter from one David Akinduro in 1959, who told me that he was a friend to that friend of my husband. He said our mutual friend told him what happened to me and that if I didn’t mind, I could come to England and marry him.

    “I dissected my situation noting that my father didn’t wish to educate me, and I stood the risk of getting pregnant for someone else, again, which was what everyone expected of me.

    “I went to my mother and showed her the letter. She went to my father and showed him the letter and my father refused. I told them I wasn’t going to stay back and serve as a maid in my father’s house. I wrote back to my suitor that I would marry him and live with him in England. So, I processed my passport and travelled to meet him in the UK,” she said.

    Life in the UK

    At her arrival in the UK, the wedding plans had been perfected. She said, “I arrived at night and the following morning, we were married. I found a job as a waitress in a tea shop and I started going to evening school.”

    Ajai-Lycett purchased a typewriter and applied to the British civil service’s post office department. She was employed by the department and sent to a training school, periodically.

    Despite her passion for learning, her husband, Akinduro, nursed a different idea about what she should do with her life. She said, “I was working and he was schooling, and I was supporting him, financially. That was the whole idea. A lot of Nigerians were doing it back then. At the completion of their studies and on arrival back in Nigeria, they dumped their wives at the airport. Note that, in the UK, the wives worked to support the husbands and raise the children they had together, so they never had the chance to develop themselves. They were used. Their husbands simply used them and dumped them.

    “But in my own case, it was different. We used to have these big fights. He would beat me up and try to prevent me from visiting the library but he failed to stop me. He said he was studying for both of us. That didn’t cut it with me. After work, I developed a routine of going to the library to study.”

    Ajai-Lycett supported Akinduro, till he completed his studies and qualified as an Accountant, then she called it quits with the marriage.

    “I got my own apartment, packed my bags, dropped him a note and left his home. I was going to focus on my education. The final straw was when he accused me of giving him a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD). He tried to put the blame on me. I felt mortally wounded. There was no love, no compassion, no affection, no loyalty.

    “At the period, a cousin of mine, a pathologist had just arrived from Nigeria. He advised me to go to the clinic and check myself, and luckily, I was declared unaffected. He hadn’t infected me with the disease. So, it was clear that the fault was with him. He didn’t respect me enough to apologise to me. So, I sued for divorce and I got it. The court tried to award me alimony from him but I declined. I felt he didn’t owe me anything. I just moved on,” she said.

    Life after divorce

    Ajai-Lycett’s life took an interesting turn afterwards. She met Thomas Lycett, who was with Shell, a petroleum company.

    “I met Lycett long after I divorced my first husband. By the time I met him, I was a big name in acting and business. By that time, I was studying to get a Law degree and my acting career was in full swing.

    “I was looking for an apartment and at the one I got, some people living in a big apartment, like a condominium, gave me a welcome party because I was a big name. They were all artistes too. For the party, they invited Lycett, who lived across the road and we got talking. We talked about books. He was a bibliophile like me,” she said.

    They kept talking after the party, even while he was away on a trip. She said, “He told me he wasn’t interested in a casual affair. He said he wanted marry me. He was very quiet, very clever, very perceptive, very deep…I was studying to be an Accountant then. I was doing this and that. I was obsessed about studying.”

    In London, Ajai-Lycett took courses at Christine Shaw School of Beauty Science in London, where she received a certificate in cosmetology. She also attended Hendon College of Technology, where she obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Business Studies in 1969.

    She made her acting debut three years earlier, in December 1966, in Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel, a two-act comedy directed by William Gaskill at the Royal Court Theatre in London. Subsequently, she enrolled at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

    In 1972, she left her corporate career and joined the Traverse Theatre Group for the Edinburgh Festival. She was later in a string of television and stage shows. In 1973, she was in Amadu Maddy’s play ‘Life Everlasting’ at the Africa Centre, London, and later in the year, she was in Peter Nichols’ ‘The National Health’ during the Festival of British Theatre. In 1976, she played the lead role in Yemi Ajibade’s ‘Parcel Post’ at the Royal Court Theatre. While in England, she also featured in British sitcom, ‘Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em.’

    She said, “Eventually I married Thomas Lycett in between a stage production. We had a blissful marriage. He died when I was 52-years-old. I remember him everyday. He was the one that told me that I was better off being an actor. He advised me to return to Nigeria, to teach people and share my acting gift.

    “I was married to an incredible man for 25 years. In 1971, the idea of coming back home was born. I came to rebuild, because I believe in the industry and how it should be structured. By the time I came back to Nigeria, I had become notable. I was known in the acting world and business,” she said.

    Ajai-Lycett has since, featured in several notable Nigerian film and theatre productions including Oloibiri, Tinsel, Dazzling Mirage, The Inheritors and Hear Word, among others.

    Despite her acclaim, Ajai-Lycett despises the title of ‘celebrity’ dismissing it as a sobriquet for ‘glamour girls.’

    According to her, talent and artistry should be wary of the pitfalls of ego. “First of all, as an actor, you are a member of a team. The team contributes to your success. It doesn’t matter how well you dress your delivery, without the writer, director, producer, camera man, costumier, make-up artiste and even the woman who brings you coffee on set or location, your work as an actor would never be seen as marvellous.

    “But when these folk contribute to their success and get to be stars or divas, they think that they have arrived and start to play all kinds of nonsense. They think that they are the cat’s whiskers. They think that they are celebrities,” she said.

    Robbed and raped in Egbe

    In 2006, Ajai-Lycett was robbed and raped in her house in Egbe. The same compound hosted TAL House, her private school. Then 65, she said, “I ran TAL House, a private school I meant to do good with it but my staff orchestrated an attack on me. I was tied. I was beaten. I was brutalised. My health was ruined. I was blindfolded and raped. The man who raped me complained that he couldn’t gain easy entry into me because I wasn’t wet. I told him ‘widows don’t get wet.’ I kept talking to them and asked them repeatedly, ‘Are you doing this to your mother?’ Angrily, they taped my mouth but I remained fearless and prayed all through the attack.”

    After the incident, she shut down the school and left Egbe. “That was a hard decision because TAL House was doing so well. The business was flourishing but I was not in it for money. The police came. They expected me to pursue the case. I knew the masterminds. I could have gotten them incarcerated but I simply moved on.

    Explaining the reason for the attack, she said, “They felt I was too strict. They were stealing from me and became openly hostile to me. They tried to take over my business. It felt like I didn’t own the place. When the robbery happened, I shut TAL House.

    “Look at me today, I am over it. See, the mind is a beautiful thing. When you hold on to past hurt, you tie yourself down to grief. You get infected with its poison. Rather than wallow in grief and self-pity, I picked myself up and sought medical help, ensuring that they hadn’t infected me with any STD. Then I moved on. That same year, the Olusegun Obasanjo government got me the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) national honour.”

    Few years after the sad incident, “One of them came to prostrate before me, pleading for my forgiveness. I told him to seek forgiveness from God. I told him that I had moved on,” she said.

    Moving on… 

    By simply “moving on,” Ajai-Lycett espouses a rare, wisdom of the ancients. It’s not some resolve that she stumbled upon, it’s always been her way since she became a teenage mother at 15 and suffered disdain from her loved ones.

    Years after her nasty wedlock to David Akinduro, Ajai-Lycett hosted his son in her home and gave him a warm welcome. “I invited him after he approached me on Facebook. His name is Bode. Sadly, his parents are deceased but Bode and I have a very cordial relationship.We communicate on Facebook, Whats App and voice calls. Today, I am grandmother to his children. He said his father regretted all that he did to me but he couldn’t summon courage to approach me and apologise.

    “By the time, I returned to Nigeria, he (David Akinduro) was with John Holt. I did business with his firm but he always managed to avoid me whenever I visited his office, because I had become a big star and he was too ashamed to seek me out.

    “You see, its a wonderful world. Bode, his son, was initially mystified that I could be so warm to him, the son of a man who treated me so badly, but I urged him not to beat himself up over what his father did. I bore no grudge all along. I had moved on.”

    Such is the temperament of Taiwo Ajai-Lycett. Teen mother at 15. A school dropout at 16. Abused by her first husband. Divorced as a young adult. Robbed and raped in her sixties. Rediscovered love in her 30s and widowed in her 50s.

    The language of her awareness steals from her heart to her tongue in syllabic pain and glory. Ajai-Lycett, the starry-eyed, teenage mother has grown into a cultural touchstone of sort; a veteran actress, life-coach, widow, mother, grandmother and Princess of the Agege royal dynasty

    This minute, her buried narratives unravel like a subtle admonishment of the universe, riding upon its swirl, like incantations chanted to liberate her all over again, against unbidden life.

  • Nollywood Actress Eniola Ajao opens up: my relationship with movie star Odunlade Adekola

    Nollywood actress, Eniola Ajao, jettisoned her qualification as an accountant to pursue her dream  in the movie industry. In this interview with ADENIYI ADEWOYIN, she speaks on her relationship with Adekola Odunlade, the challenges of actors in terms of money making, among other issues.

     

    How has life been treating you and what have you been doing lately?

    Life has been good. I’ve been into a lot of things. I’ve been doing good.

     What projects are you working on at the moment?

    I have two projects that were shot this year. The first one is ‘Matron’ and then the second one is Okuta Ija which I just concluded few weeks ago. I have two projects coming out soon.

    Tell us a little about Okuta Ija

    Sexual harassment, abuse and all. There is a lady in the story who had a rough upbringing.  She was abused, molested and this made her grow up to become a tough lady and she used all she had in mind to revenge after some years so she became very notorious.

    This doesn’t sound like the type of movies you do…

    I think that is because of the character I played, story line and everything that’s around the technical parts of it. We actually shot it in Nigeria.  We used several locations, several beautiful places. And it’s kind of unusual to what I’ve been doing for a very long time.

     Who are those that starred in the movie?

    The likes of Yinka Quadri, Jide Kosoko, Sanni Ali, Odunlade Adekola, Madam Saje, Alesh, Nike Hamsat, and Olaniyan Tosin.

     Most producers prefer big names in their movies. Why are you not encouraging new acts?

    That’s the situation if you write a story and you know what you’re looking for – I mean those that would bring out the best out of that story. Then you should go for the best. If the story is more of elderly people, those that can interpret the role very well to my taste, I can’t help but go for them. And they did an excellent job.

      I’ve seen your face more in Odunlade’s movies.  What’s the connection between you?

    The relationship between my boss and I, Odunlade, is that of a boss and subordinate. I’ve known him for like over 10 years now. I’ve been in the industry for the past 16 years. I was somewhere before I went to school and came back to the industry,

     What are the challenges of being a movie producer?

    It has not been easy. Let me say capital wise you know you have to source for money, source for people who will help you handle the jobs because you cannot do it alone. I will just say I am at the right place and in a good hand. Whenever I want to produce my job, my boss always gives me time which is always okay for me because I know he brings out the best out of the job. Basically, I’m not always in a rush to do anything. I’m just privileged to be under somebody that is helping me out.

     What is your first movie as a producer?

    Daramola, that was my first production,

      What was the challenge and experience?

    The experience was not good because it was my first-trying to source for money, trying to think of the character, thinking of how to pay the people on set, and their welfare. As a producer,  all the casts  and crew members are on your neck. So you just have to look out for their well-being.

     Were your parents in support of you being an actress?

    No. Actually, my dad wanted me to be an accountant. So he was against it before he died. And I promised him that I was going to finish my education, do whatever he wanted want me to do but at the same time I love acting. Acting is always what I’ve always wanted to do even when I was in secondary school. It has always been there. So, when I graduated I went into acting.

     How did you get to meet him?

    I met him in 2009 when I went to a location I think with the late Moji Olaiya. I saw him and I went to him. I told him I was a big fan and that I will like to join him. He then said he does not have a caucus in Lagos that his school is in Abeokuta. That was how it all started.

     Did you go living in Abeokuta then?

    No. I usually go for rehearsals every Wednesday. And I may come back that day if it’s not late or next.

     Is that why you appear more in his movies?

    Maybe I should say I make myself available for his movies. He will not call you to say he has a role for you. He is a very disciplined man. So whenever I hear that there’s location in Abeokuta, I would pick my bag go there immediately.

     So you have an automatic slot with him?

    Because I am under him. Definitely everyone has a slot so far you make yourself available.

    So what has been your experience, I mean, with male folks, male fans, I see a lot of comments on your Instagram page.

    It’s not been easy.  Some will call you a snob because most of them do not understand you. I’m not really an outgoing person so whenever they meet me, we just greet and move from there. Most want to create a relationship which I am not ready for.

     Is that why they say you’re a snub? Don’t you want to make friends?

    Not that I don’t want to make friends. It’s just my nature and at the same time, they don’t understand. Okay, you want to take a picture with me and you want to hold me and we are outside. I mean it’s not okay at all.

     How do you reply your male admirers without knocking them off?

    I don’t always know what to say and I don’t want to be rude. So it’s better to ignore.

    But what about the male folks in the industry, those who admire and love you? How do manage them, mixing emotions with profession

    It depends on how you relate with them. I’ve people who have asked me out in the industry and I turned them down. You hear people say that in the industry they sleep with one another. But it’s what you want. Nobody can force you to do anything in this life. It takes two to tango. So anybody that’s harassed put herself in that position.

    Have you been harassed sexually on a movie set, like no sex no role?

    Never! At what age?

     How do you manage your fellow ladies- the betrayal, the gossip?

    That’s a good question. I am more of an introvert, I don’t really go out. So most times, I have, you know, lovely people around me like my siblings. And most times, I don’t associate more with my mates. I associate with people who are older than I am. They tell me things and put me through about life, so you won’t see me where they are gossiping. I can’t control what people say about me but I can control their perception of me. Anybody that gossips about me it’s their choice, but you won’t see me gossiping about people because I won’t put myself in that situation. So you don’t just say anything about me. That doesn’t mean I don’t go to party.

     You just came back from traveling from Ibadan and tomorrow you’re going on a movie set, Wednesday in Abeokuta, how do you balance this with the family life?

    Well, my people understand the kind of job I do and they understand me.

     Are you married?

    No, but soon.

     

    The relationship between my boss and I, Odunlade, is that of a boss and subordinate. I’ve known him for like over 10 years now

    odunlade and eniola
    odunlade and eniola

     

     

     How do you find time to relax with your busy schedules, movie location and everything?

    Most times I take two days off or a week and travel out of the country.

      What else do you do aside from acting?

    There are other things I will be doing in the future. I’m a business person. Let’s see how things unfold.

    It is often perceived that Yoruba movies are local and English is ‘posh’ and English actors make more money than Yoruba actors.

    It is because they shoot their own films in English. There’s nothing spectacular about them and they can see us as razz people. Most of their productions are low budget productions.  All those ones they did in Onitsha. They don’t have storylines. We do. Yorubas believe in helping one another. Feature in mine and I will feature in yours which doesn’t happen in English Nollywood movies.

    Yoruba movie industry is always based on relationships which is killing the business aspect of the industry. It’s one of the things I’m not happy about. You call me for a role and you want to pay me 200k for a role I should collect like 1million for. It’s not nice. And if I agree to do it for 200k that means I will call you to do mine for me for that amount.

    So professionally the English part of the industry has the edge

    They are not doing anything spectacular. We have a better story line. But we need to invest. They are investing their money in it. That is all they are doing. Absolutely, nothing else. So we need to cut our low budget productions.  If you want to produce like five films in a year, reduce it to two or one,  put your money together and produce that just one film and make it a standard one.

    I’ve not seen any Yoruba movie in the cinema yet.

    There are Yoruba movies in cinema. Yes. Some Southwest cinemas take it from us but if it’s not like 70% English and 30% Yoruba, some cinemas like Silverbird will not accept it from you.

     You’re planning on working on cinema movie.  Would you be producing a full length Yoruba movie?

    Most definitely. I won’t want to do that because even this life, you have to mix both Yoruba and English together.

    Are you a twin because people call you Ejire?

    Yes, I am. I have a twin sister. We look alike but not very identical.

    Are you bringing her into the movie industry?

    No. She’s not interested. People say I’m shy, but she’s more shy. She knows what I do but she can’t be part of it. But she supports.

    Why don’t you use the name Taiwo, why Eniola?

    She has her own name. I’m Taiwo, she’s Kenny. She’s Lolade and I’m Eniola. People know us.

  • My battles with randy, gay lecturers

    Prof. Edward Olorunsola Olanipekun was recently appointed the eighth Vice Chancellor of Ekiti State University (EKSU). In this interview with ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA, the professor of Industrial Chemistry speaks on his plans for the 37-year-old institution, the challenges ahead and why some projects are delayed, among other issues.

     

    What was your biggest challenge when you assumed duty as the Vice Chancellor of EKSU?

    The greatest challenge was that the university is largely non-residential. This is not a good thing for any 21st Century institution that aims to be world class. Besides, there is no staff quarters on the campus. Even the Vice Chancellor’s Lodge is non-existent. However, we shall soon have a befitting VC Lodge.

     

    ‘My challenge is that sexually abused students are too scared to speak up’

     

    Two, we have genuine investors desirous of partnering with us. So, we will be signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with some of them. Interestingly, there is an investor willing to provide accommodation for at least 5,000 students on campus. He has assured us that the project would be ready in a year. I have the proposal and the drawing. As soon as I go through it, we shall invite them for a meeting.

    You seem to be very concerned about lodging for principal officers and students…

    As scholars, living on campus has many advantages. I have a study room in my personal house. However, once it comes to real research, you cannot compare such study room with the amount of research you will carry out in an academic environment. For instance, I am a professor of Chemistry. There are certain experiments one might need to carry out for 14 hours non-stop. That’s the essence of undertaking such experiment in an academic environment.

    As regards accommodation, it is a pity that once it is about 4 pm, this university becomes virtually empty. I am believing in God that within a year, we are going to change the face of this institution.

    Considering that EKSU has a population of over 24,000 students, don’t you think a hostel accommodating only 5000 students is like a drop in the ocean?

    Do not forget that this is the starting point. If we can have at least 5000 students on campus, this will automatically change the face of EKSU. Not up to 200 students and no staff member lives on campus. Another investor came here to provide hostel accommodation for about 200 students, but I disagreed that we will only accommodate an investor providing hostel accommodation for no fewer than 2000. Our plan is that new and final year students should stay on campus. Thereafter, we can extend to other levels as facilities increase.

    We also saw generators littering the corridors of some offices. That shows there is a challenge of power, right?

    Your observation is in order. However, let me say some investors have also shown interest to erect power plant for us. We have two of them and we hope to enter into an agreement with them within the next few weeks. Interestingly, their investment will not cost the university a dime. They will be providing the services just like a DisCo (distribution company) and we will just be paying. One of the investors told me it would take just three months’ gestational period to have 24-hour power supply on the campus. Once everything is fine-tuned, they immediately mobilise equipment to site.

     

    There was a video on the social media about one of our lecturers in alleged sexual misconduct. You know the outcome of that matter. That tells you and others the direction this administration is heading. But let me tell you that my challenge is that some of the (victimised) students are scared to speak up.

     

    A university runs on committee system. Much as I would have loved certain things executed at my speed, respect must be accorded due process; so this might delay some of the projects.

    Is it true that your administration inherited huge outstanding bills?

    It is correct. However, let me thank our Visitor (Ekiti State) Governor (Kayode) Fayemi. Without him, our College of Medicine would have, perhaps, become history by now. That college (of Medicine) took off years back but was abolished at a point. The same situation would have repeated itself but for the governor’s kind intervention. Thankfully, EKSU has produced its first set of medical doctors and all thanks to him.

    We are about to have our accreditation next (this) week, and the governor has also assisted us financially. As someone from the academia, he understands the modus operandi of the university system. It is on record that during his (Fayemi) first term in office, he gave this university millions of naira which were used to complement funds from intervening agencies. Unfortunately, not a single penny has come to the university since he left.

    Let me tell you that the governor has also approved almost N1 billion as capital vote for this university; and it will be released any moment from now. We actually inherited a number of unsettled bills, but since the governor came on board, he has been releasing our subvention as and when due.

    Are there ways the university’s leadership has been reciprocating the government’s gesture?

    We have been cutting our coat according to available resources. We are trying to be prudent as well as block all forms of financial haemorrhage in the system. We have introduced what I can described as austerity measures. I want to thank the workers across board for showing a great deal of understanding, especially on some tough measures we have introduced in order to conserve resources.

    Did you have a blueprint before assuming the leadership?

    I have not yet put my vision in black and white. I hope to do that before the year runs out. Nonetheless, my vision is to propel EKSU as a 21st Century institution that is globally competitive. The institution shall be dedicated to cutting-edge research and training of entrepreneurial-minded graduates. I want a university that would be less-dependent on subvention; to make EKSU one of the foremost universities on the continent, with international recognition.

    As an insider, what are the gaps you noticed in terms of indiscipline among the staff and students?

    Let me first acknowledge that no system all over the world is perfect. Nevertheless, I want to say that our staff and students are people anybody can be proud of any time. The university is still owing them and they could have used that opportunity to frustrate this interview. They have shown us understanding and given me a great deal of support since I assumed office. Above all, they are committed to realising the dreams and vision of this new administration.

    But that will not take away the fact that indiscipline still exists…

    I agree with you. There are pockets of issues here and there, but they know I’m not a pretender. Any moment from now, we shall erect a billboard at the entrance of EKSU to warn everybody not to run foul of the rules. Secondly, we are going to install a centrally-controlled complaint box where students and workers can drop their complaints. This administration will not tolerate any staff or students found to have contravened the law of the university. We will not be afraid to implement the decision taken by any disciplinary committee in respect of infractions, however high or low such a person is.

    We do hear of allegations of sexual harassment and other misconducts in EKSU. Can your administration handle them?

    There was a video on the social media about one of our lecturers in alleged sexual misconduct. You know the outcome of that matter. That tells you and others the direction this administration is heading. But let me tell you that my challenge is that some of the (victimised) students are scared to speak up.

    But students will remain voiceless because we all know that in most universities in Nigeria, the system does not protect them…

    That might be right anyway. But there is another case of sexual harassment we have just set up a committee to look into. We are awaiting the report of that committee. Nonetheless, what we often realise is that majority of students are afraid. Based on my antecedents, I won’t tolerate indiscipline. I have said it at various fora that whoever violates any of the rules will face the music.

    Last week, an NGO visited me, supposedly to partner with EKSU on gender-based violence (GBV). I took its proposal to the management

  • My fears about level of education, displacement in the North

    Hon. Muhammad Jega is the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on IDPs, Refugees and North East Initiatives. In this interview with  INNOCENT DURU , the lawmaker representing Gwandu/Aliero/Jega Federal Constituency, Kebbi State, speaks about his fears about the level of education and displacement of people in the country, the North in particular. Excerpts:

     

    Could you tell us a bit about your background?                                       

    I was born in Jega village. There is a town called Jega in Kebbi State. That was where I had my early education. I was born in 1959. I went to Jega Primary School between 1967 and 1972.  Thereafter, I went to Government College, Sokoto, for my secondary school education. After finishing my secondary school in 1977, I went to Uthman Dan Fodio University. We were the pioneer students of Usman Danfodio University, where I did a two-year  pre-degree course before I was admitted into a full degree course.  The university wasn’t offering the courses we wanted to do; so I alongside other students who offered to study medicine, architecture engineering, and agriculture, were transferred. I was one of those who were transferred to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where I read architecture. I graduated in 1982. After my first degree, I proceeded for my postgraduate in the same course and finished in 1984.  After my masters, I went for National Youth Corps Service, which took me to the University of Nigeria, Enugu campus, in the old Anambra State. I finished that in 1985.

    What next did you do after your youth service?

    After that, I took up an appointment with the defunct  Sokoto State Ministry of Works as an architect.  I was there up till 1991 when Kebbi State was created and we went back to our state.  Working in the state civil service, I rose through the ranks  to the position of a permanent secretary. I was with the women affairs, Ministry of Works, as Permanent Secretary  and  also Water Resources before I resigned and joined politics. I resigned in 2005 and was given a commissionership, a member of the state’s executive council in  charge of local government affairs.  I was there from 2005 to 2007 before I contested for the House of Representatives. I won the election  and was in the House from 2007 to 2011.

    In 2011, I re-contested and lost my seat to the PDP candidate. I contested then under the All Nigeria People’s Party ( ANPP). IN 2015, I contested under the APC and won the election and returned to the House again. In 2019 also, I won and continued to represent my people in the House of Representatives.

    Before this interview, I did  a search on you and found that even when education had not been widely accepted in the North, you had gone very far…

    (Cuts in) What I just told you was a summary of the education I went through because I have master’s degree  in Business Administration. I did PostGraduate Diploma in  Management; then I did my MBA.

    Is it that your parents are rich or educated that made them to give you that level of education?

    No.  My parents were moderate; they were not poor.  I was the pioneer student in my family.  I am from a polygamous home.  Those days, we enjoyed scholarship and that is why it is one of my priorities to ensure that we reach the grassroots to educate them by paying for their school fees. We encourage them to go to school.

    The situation has drastically changed. I am sure many of us at the helm of affairs enjoyed scholarship and could not have gone to the university if not for the scholarship. At that time, Mohammad Adamu Aliero(former Kebbi governor) was one year ahead of me in the university. Usman Dankingari, who succeeded him, was in the same class with me. The present governor of Kebbi State was one year behind me in the university.  They were the second set of the Uthman Danfodio University.  Things were much better then. We had scholarship. That is why when we look at what is happening now, it bleeds our heart because the situation has changed.

    What exactly are you talking about when you say ‘what is happening now’?

    In terms of access to education across the whole country and especially in the North.  The situation is worse in the North.  All those in control of the affairs of the North enjoyed free education. Mention names; governors, all those representing the state in the North, in ministerial and whichever positions must have enjoyed free education.

     What is the implication of this now that scholarship is no longer there?

    That is why we are in this trouble.  The standard has fallen because people are just after the certificate. The quality is not there and all the noise some governors are making in respect of education, some of them are not actually providing good quality education, the structures, the conditions of these  schools and even the quality teachers are nothing to write home about.

     

    Remember that I told you I started university education from the Uthman Danfodio University where I did my A levels. I was transferred to another university and we met students from all over the country and competed  with them.

     What,  in you view, is  the solution because we have had the Almajiri school but I am not sure it is a solution?

    The way out is to face education squarely.  We are just window-dressing for now.  Education, health and agriculture, these are the most important sectors that can rescue most of the states in the North.

    When these sectors are established, then you can go for industrial development.  But where people are not educated, where health facilities are not accessible, where agriculture is just a lip service, how do you expect to have progress?

    Talking about agriculture, the North supplies  a large percent of the food in the South  and the country in general.

    It could have been better if better attention is given to that area than what is being done now.

    What do you think is not being well done?

    So many things are not going straight the way they should go. So many programmes, like the CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme and a lot of things. There should be some  study so that you can improve.

    What do you think is wrong with the Anchor Borrowers Programme?

    Some of the real farmers are not involved. We have a pyramid shelve type of hierarchy. The best of the pyramid is where you have these subsistent farmers. Most of them do not have access to finance and mechanisation.  If attention is given to them, they can feed the nation easily. The food security we are talking about would be achieved easily and by now we would have been exporting agricultural products to all other African countries and even to Europe.

     As the House Committee chair on IDPs, Refugees and North East Initiatives, how do you feel that many people in the country, the North in particular, are displaced?

    It is sad, very,  very sad because most of these people left their homes as a result of conflict, either armed conflict, banditry and or some disasters.  The irony of this is that when people are forced out of their homes, they don’t know where to go. Sometimes the sons, daughters and their fathers are separated. You will see the father go to the left and the mother and the children to the right and they will never be together again. It is very, very sad. We commend the federal government for the establishment of the humanitarian ministry because the humanitarian concern of this country is very serious. Starting from the Boko Haram in the North East to the North West where you have the bandits. In  Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara, people are seriously displaced from their homes.  There are some places you cannot even travel to even now. Security issues are serious matters in this country and without security, you cannot talk of any development.

    I read that the number of displaced people would rise in the future. Does this in any way disturb you?

    It means that in the years to come, there would be more turbulence. With no end to insurgency, the crisis would be expanded and it is serious if we cannot control this at this time. The financing of the security template now is taking so much of our developmental programmes because it is competing with other needs.  By the time it expands, then forget about development, forget about peace and that will displace more people.  This is why we have to come together to see how best we can tackle this. Otherwise , we would be in trouble.

    There is so much unemployment in the country. The basic needs of the people are no longer accessible. What is the price of rice today? It is serious.

    Normally in this kind of situation, women and children are the worst hit. Children cannot run to a safer place. Mothers would be victims of rape and victims to accessibility to basic needs.

    Let us get a bit personal. You are 60 years but you don’t look it. What do you do maintain a younger look?

    Laughs. I just work hard and don’t bother with unnecesaary things. I give service to my people and by so doing, I have less stress.

    Since you have been in the National Assembly, how much would you say you have touched your people?

    Many of my people. I can’t even mention their number.

    In which areas?

    In the area of education, health and agriculture because these are the basic needs of the people.

    When you look at the country at large, would you say we are making progress or moving backward?

    There is some progress but we could have reached a higher level than where we are. Nigeria has what it takes to be great. We have diverse people. Only in my village, we have more than 15 professors. There is the need to redefine our position so that the country can be better.

    I read that some constituency projects you pushed for were not executed. What is you take on that?

    That is politics.  If you are in politics, people will make series of allegations but the truth will always prevail.  Some of the people who contested with me wanted to blackmail me but they could not succeed because they had ulterior motives.  They are not sincere. That is what it is.

    How would you describe your journey into politics?

    It is up and down. I told you I was in the House before I was ousted.  Even then I won the election but the mighty PDP then used their power. It is service to the people.

    How do you relax?

    Relaxation? I have installed Samsung Health App. Every day, I walk. There is a number of walk I have to do every day. When I get home now, I have to complete it to make sure I have attained my daily steps.  This monitors almost everything- the oxygen in the body, the blood pressure, heart rate, stress level and sugar level.

  • FOLUKE DARAMOLA-SALAKO: I briefly left acting when it became monotonous

    She is not just an award-winning veteran actress, or an excellent movie director and producer, but also the founder of a nongovernmental organisation, Passion Against Rape and Abuse in Africa (PARAA). In 1998, she made her film debut in a series titled Palace. Ever since then she has featured in several Yoruba movies. In 2013, her film, Cobweb, which she produced and starred in, got her Africa Movie Academy Awards best-supporting actress nomination. Her prominence in that sector of the movie industry has earned her a reputable status.
    The Nollywood actress has now also gained credence in the political sector of Nigeria. In an exclusive interview with Omolara Akintoye, Foluke Daramola-Salako talks about her career, marriage, challenges facing veteran actors in the industry, why government needs to invest more into entertainment industry, among others.

     

    Who and what inspired you to go into acting?

    Well, three people inspired me to go into acting while I was growing up. The first person is Uncle Tunji Bamishigbin, second is Ralph Nwadike and the third person is Charles Omiyele. I started with a talk show at DBN. I was in secondary school then. I would go after school and later when I finished school and we were invited for an audition on AIT ‘Our Time’, it was during the shooting that I met my mentors.  If you span back, it’s over twenty-five years; but the truth of the matter is over time I have been able to climb the ground at my own pace. I have gone through audition and I was not given any role. I have paid my dues; I was not just paying my dues alone, I was also combining it with education. So I always had a choice outside acting. I would be doing some other things. I always had my hands full at each point in time and I took acting as a career not as a lifestyle. A lot of celebrities do not understand being an actor or actress is a career and not a lifestyle and as a career, you shouldn’t start infusing that into your life because it is not easy to sustain that kind of life. If you are struggling and you start seeing yourself as a celebrity and living that life, you cannot sustain it. So, I saw acting as a career.

    How was your growing up like?

    My growing up was filled with love, though not in abundance because I lost my father at a tender age (three years); so we really didn’t have the privilege of knowing a father but my mum played both the role of the father and mother while I was growing up. One thing that was predominant in our lives as a family was being contented with what we had, coupled with love and hard work. That was what I knew while I was growing up.

    Fond memories while growing up

    One major significant thing I can remember is that whatever we had, we shared together in love and any form of dishonesty was never accommodated in my family. We didn’t have a choice than to be hardworking.

    Your educational background

    I hold a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile Ife and a Master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the prestigious University of Lagos (Unilag) among other qualifications in executive, leadership and filmmaking professional courses. I am a mother and responsibly married to Olukayode Salako, the Head of National Secretariat, Buhari/Osinbajo Mandate Group in Abuja. I have always worked with my husband on credible social and political projects.

    What are some of your achievements in life?

    My greatest achievement is that of my family, husband and children; my career is secondary. My greatest joy is seeing people around me to love me. Achievement is being alive, then my family. The fact that you see people around you to love you, that is the greatest achievement of anyone.

    When was the turning point for you?

    I started acting at a very young age. I’m still very active in the acting industry; it’s just that I’ve tried to streamline it to other things such as management, producing, directing. What made me to digress a bit was the fact that acting became too monotonous for me. For me, I was finicky about scripts so I needed to do something more challenging and more interesting by going into the managerial part of making the play.

    It wasn’t quite challenging for me any longer and for me I needed to do things that were more challenging.  That was why I decided to add more feathers in my cap. So I went into the managerial part of a play by becoming a movie producer.

    Tell us some of the plays that you acted in or directed

    Well I have a whole lot of them but for the ones I did for others or the ones that I acted, the one I did for Saheed Balogun – Obanla; for Lekan – Aiyekan; for myself and the one I produced Cobwebs and the recent one My Blood. I have a whole lot of them.

    What are the challenges you encountered and how were you able to overcome them?

    Well, for me, I won’t call them challenges per se, because life itself is a challenge. Coming from where I was in the industry and getting to where I’m today is not a child’s play; it takes a lot of consistency, hard work and prayers. For anything you want to do in life, nothing good comes easy. All these actually toughened me to be able to work hard to achieve the set goals that I wanted to achieve in life.

    Let’s compare when you started acting and now, what has changed?

    When I started acting, my parents didn’t want me to go into it. My mum would say “you want to go and meet those people acting and coming from my background.” For my mum being a widow, it was not easy at all. I could remember taking some of my mentors to my mum to be able to convince her to allow me go into acting. I had to assure her that I was going to represent the family name well, so I had to sign an undertaking with my mum then that I was going to be a graduate and represent my family name well by not doing anything detrimental or derogatory to my family. That is why I did my best after my first degree. I also did my masters before I started acting and I try as much as possible to keep my home as well. Unlike now that most of our young actors just go into acting without the consent of their parents and they are doing exceedingly well.

    In what ways has acting changed your lifestyle?

    I would say it has made me to be careful in what I do. There is an adage that says ‘someone that people are looking up to is not looking elsewhere’. You that people are looking up to as a role model or a mentor, you have to set the right pace so that you don’t give the wrong impression about yourself. For me, this mindset has made me to be more careful in whatever I do in life because I don’t know who is watching. First impression, people say, always lasts longer. As much as possible, this has moulded me to watch my ways and what I do in life.

    What changes would you like to see in the entertainment industry?

    Having better structures being put in place by government, that is why I’m happy doing what I’m doing.

    I’m not so happy with most of our veteran actors now. These people had made positive impact in my life one way or the other and I always look up to them, now it’s sad to say that some of them are now sick. It’s only very few of them that are doing well, not all of them. I want a situation whereby these people can be proud to say that they have served their country and their country is taking care of them by impacting back into their lives and not for them to be living in misery and penury. That was why I set up a nongovernmental organisation in order to take care of our ailing actors, because a lot of my older colleagues are undergoing health challenges. So, for me, the changes I would like to see in the industry are structures that will cater for actors by the current administration. The reason is that Nollywood is the third in the world, and for the entertainment industry to make our country that proud, and then the industry deserves better attention. With all sense of humility, apart from corruption, one good thing Nigeria is known for is Nollywood. I for one with some others are afraid and don’t pray to experience what some of our older colleagues are going through now, that is why we are somehow making preparations for our retirement because there is no structure of provision in place by government. This is not obtainable in the developed countries at all.

    You were recently nominated as Brand Ambassador to Eliezer Properties, what impact has this made on you as a person?

    Well, apart from Eliezer Properties, I was also a brand ambassador for Suru Group Investment; the contract just got expired. Now to me as a brand ambassador, I’m not just there as a figure head but rather to see how to make the company to move forward. So, basically, as their brand ambassador I try as much as possible to bring in new initiative, innovative ideas for the company to move forward. This automatically will elongate my ambassadorial appointment with them. My being their ambassador implies that I must add value to them coupled with the fact that their market has a touch of the elitist class and that of grassroots. What my managing director of the company wanted was a mixture of both and someone coming from my background of someone that is well read and I relate well with the middle class and the grassroots. My being the brand ambassador fits in properly. He told me that I can fulfil the three classes perfectly well, hence I was nominated.

    Let’s talk about your upcoming event, what is it all about?

    The event will hold at Anchor Centre. We don’t want a situation whereby we will organise a seminar and people will not attend. It’s our fifth anniversary and I started Passion Against Rape and Abuse in Africa (PARAA) five years ago. Every year, I try as much as possible to give back to the industry and my community. Last year, I sponsored four young women that were involved in unwanted pregnancies by empowering them financially and materially and today that are doing well. This year, I want to reach out to my veteran colleagues in the industry. A lot of them have done so well for Nigeria and they deserve more.

    So in my own little way, I said to myself what can I do to bridge the gap between the actors and the people out there as a representation of Nollywood? So I’m organising a pension scheme through which PARA will be supporting about 10 veteran actors financially. Aside this, we will also be giving them stipend every month for their upkeep, all on November 29th.

     But for other veteran actors, we’ll be celebrating them,giving them awards. The aim is for people to understand that we are doing serious business and are having fun at the same time and we are celebrating life. Apart from the veteran project for this year, I’m also unveiling my clothing line on that day and it’s majorly for male. Most times I’m the one that styles my husband and this is how I developed passion for male clothing line and accessories, so I’m launching the clothing line on that day.

    What is your definition of style?

    My definition of style is to wear or use whatever I’m comfortable in and what makes me feel good. For me, style is not something that has to be elaborate or expensive, but something that makes me look good.

    What do you treasure most in life?

    My family: husband, children, my mother. My career is secondary.

    How do you relax?

    I read a lot, play games. I prefer to be indoors or I travel out of the country (at least three-four times a year) whenever I want to relax, because I spend most of my time outside.

    Do you believe in mentorship?

    Yes, of course, I do.

    Who are your mentors?

    My mother is my mentor; she represents true value of womanhood. My husband is my greatest critic. I was someone that was very impatient, but my husband has taught me to be patient. In America, Anita Baker represents entertainment and family. She is doing well in the industry and her home is intact. Celine Dion is also my mentor. In Nigeria, Aunty Joke Jacobs: she represents someone that has been able to combine the corporate world with Nollywood industry. Shola Shobowale represents motherhood’s true definition of professionalism, doggedness and determination. They all have what they represent in my life. To every individual I met I try as much as possible to learn or gain some things from them.

    What kind of person is your husband and how did you meet?

    My husband is Mr. Kayode Salako. He is a human rights activist. There was this programme he was doing at that time; that was how we met. We started as friends and today we are married. It’s been five years that we are married and I give God all the glory.

    Describe him in one word

    He is dogged and patient.

    How have you been able to joggle your marriage, career, humanitarian work together and are still sane?

    I place everything on a scale of priority; my family comes first. I will not jeopardise my family for anything in this world. Followed by my career, then others. I’ve been acting now for over 25 years; at a point it became monotonous to me,  that was when I started the humanitarian work.

    What is your assessment of women in the entertainment industry?

    I say kudos to the women in the entertainment industry. Every individual in the industry has a message to pass. You can’t take anybody for granted; we all have our calling in the industry. For women that struggle to bring out stories in the industry, I say kudos to them.

    Any plan to go into politics?

    Yes, of course. I’m first of all a celebrity before I became a politician. All my life I’ve been a card-carrying member, and I try as much as possible to be involved now because if you are not involved, you cannot complain.

    What is your philosophy about life?

    Live well, try and impact positively into humanity make a difference.

  • ISAAC OLADIPUPO: Why i resigned to co-found Afrilearn

    Isaac Oladipupo fell in love with books at a pretty early age. A graduate of Management Technology, who wrote his first book, Success Power, at the age of 21, and a former journalist at Genevieve Magazine, Oladipupo, in this interview with Dupe Ayinla-Olasunkanmi, speaks on his passion, Afrilearn, an EdTech company working to provide world-class education for Africans and ‘Success Stories Africa’ and mobilising to empower young Africans in developing communities across Nigeria.

     

    HOW was life after completion of your first degree?

    In 2012, I graduated from the Lagos State University and did my National Youth Service Corps in Obubra, Cross River, Nigeria. It was an interesting experience; story for another day! Shortly after my service year, I founded Mediawise Digital Agency to meet the increasing demands of media services from celebrities and organisations.

    In May 2013, I joined Daystar Christian Centre as a media executive.  Between 2014 and 2015, I completed my masters degree in public and international affairs at the University of Lagos.

    I eventually resigned my role at Daystar in 2019 to co-found Afrilearn, an EdTech company actively working to provide world-class education for Africans anywhere, alongside my resourceful friend, Gabriel Olatunji-Legend.

    What inspired founding Afrilearn, and what’s it all about?

    Afrilearn was inspired by the burning desire to fill a critical need which is fast becoming a menace across our continent. You see, nothing empowers like knowledge and with over 200 million youths in Africa, this continent’s future success is largely dependent on its ability to hone the skills of its youth population through quality education.

    As we speak, over 20 million young Nigerians are out of school. As a nation, we have only about 150 universities to cater for a country with over 200 million people. More sadly, we have over 263 million young people globally whose educational hopes are completely dashed.

    To solve this problem, Afrilearn was born to provide quality education for Africans anywhere through personalised online video classes that cover the educational curriculum from primary to tertiary levels.

    This means, as a student, you can now study at your pace on Afrilearn ahead of your class and ace your school examinations successfully. For schools, it means teachers can now have their students learn on the Afrilearn online platform to make their physical teaching experience far more seamless.

    Also, to reduce the over 80% WASSCE failure rate, Afrilearn also offers computer-based free past-questions and solutions for WASSCE, UTME, GCE, ICAN and other African examinations. This also means discerning schools can now partner with us to have their students gain access to use the Afrilearn platform when preparing for exams like WASSCE, as this would drastically increase the success rate of their students.

    All of these are accessible at myafrilearn.com, and we are open to collaborations with schools, relevant organisations and partners towards delivering this revolutionary project for the transformation of Africa’s educational sector.

    How challenging has it been building Afrilearn for Africans?

    To be candid, it’s a whole lot of work but we’re loving every bit of it not just because Africa is in dire need of this solution but also because young Africans deserve education at its best. It has been pretty challenging as we have had to bootstrap so far. We’ve enjoyed the support of a great team so far but we’re currently looking for audacious software developers who are genuinely passionate about building the future of Africa’s educational technology with Afrilearn.

    What stage would you say the Afrilearn project is currently at?

    Currently, we have over 10 years of computer-based free past questions and answers on the platform, and people have started making use of them. We are at the video classes content production phase and we have quite a long way to go. We are converting the entire education curriculum for primary, secondary and tertiary education into engaging video content. We want people to fall in love with learning, so we are delivering these contents with fun such that Africans anywhere can log on to the Afrilearn platform and have an exciting time learning irrespective of their level.

    We are also forming a coalition of the best teachers across the continent to help deliver these quality educational contents in a timelier manner.

    Tell us about ‘Success Stories Africa’

    Prior to now, alongside a solid team, I used to organise the ‘Success Stories Africa’, widely regarded as the most impactful gathering of young Africans in developing communities. At ‘Success Stories Africa’, we mobilise free conferences and life-changing skill acquisition training in Agriculture, Graphics Design, Fashion Designing, Make-up Artistry, Broadcasting, etc, to developing communities across the country.

    Several beneficiaries of our skill acquisition trainings have become budding entrepreneurs building on the valuable lessons and opportunities received at the conference. Many of them even began to train others with overwhelming feedback of changed lives.

    So far, we have held six editions of the annual ‘Success Stories Africa’ and empowered over 7000 youths across Nigeria. We, however, realised that model of empowerment wasn’t sustainable as people were asking for more, and the conference only held annually. These demands coupled with personal experiences and the disturbing discoveries made by my co-founder and I contributed to building what is now known as Afrilearn, which would include practical skill acquisition video contents, delivered online via technology.

  • How I escaped the war front as 16-yr-old Biafran soldier — Senator Nimi Amange

    Senator Nimi Amange former represented Bayelsa East in the upper chamber of the National Assembly. Recently, he threw the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party into distress when he suddenly defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) with his supporters. The lawyer and petroleum engineer spoke with PAUL UKPABIO on the reasons for his action, his lifestyle and other issues of interest.

     

    You trained as a lawyer. Are you still into legal practice? It is difficult to marry politics with other things unless you are just a political appointee. But if you want to hold an elective office, it is difficult to marry that with law practice. You cannot be going to court and contesting election. So I hardly practice these days because I’m still in politics.

     You look trim and fit. What is your fitness secret?

    (Laughs) I have always looked fit and trim. I try to keep fit. I always check the state of my health. I try not to eat more than two times a day.

     You stay more in your Nembe home town these days. Why do you prefer staying there to living in the city?

    Yes, I live more in the village. I actually don’t leave the village unless I have a very important thing to do or attend to outside the village. I rarely go to the city because I like to be with my people. I am a politician, and as the leader of my people, I could need their votes at any time. So I have to live with them and identify with their daily issues and challenges so that when I am representing them, I would not be a stranger to their needs. That is why I live here in the village.

     You studied Petroleum Engineering and Law. If you were a youth, what would you prefer doing for livelihood in the Nigeria of today?

    Initially, I wanted to study Medicine after reading law, just to keep my brain alive, but I could not because of political activities. When I left employment as a petroleum engineer, I decided to concentrate on politics. I was good in the sciences, and that was why I was able to study petroleum engineering. As a matter of fact, except for Religions Knowledge and English, I did not do any other arts subject. I had a good focus on the science subjects.

    After Petroleum Engineering, I wanted to read Law because I was always pushed to leadership positions. At that time also, I wanted to study Law because I wanted to be on my own. I didn’t want to continue to work for the government or work for some other organisations, so I started thinking of a profession that I could go into and be on my own. I also studied Law because I took it as a challenge to excel even in the arts despite being a science major.

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan said he grew up not wearing shoes. What was your own condition like in your early years?

    (Laughs) Well, in my own case, I went to school during the day and fished at night. It was from the proceeds of fishing that I was able to pay for my school fees throughout secondary school.

    Who were your role models as a youth?

    I don’t really think I had a role model when I was much younger. But something kept me going, and that was the fact that I was in Biafra during the civil war. I saw the industry that was being exhibited by the Igbo then. Though I was still going for fishing at night to sustain myself, I took to trading early in life. That is why when I was in secondary school I didn’t find life so difficult. I had grown up fishing and engaging in small trading. That was the beginning of my business activities.

    I remember that after secondary school I went to teach. My salary then was N125. I started business with my first salary. I didn’t even buy any personal thing for myself; not even bathroom slippers. I went to Aba to buy articles, returned to Nembe and sell. My stay in Igbo land helped me because I started speaking Igbo language and I was able to trade with them.

     As a child, what inspired you to seek education?

    After Biafra, I returned to Nembe and finished primary school. My mother was happy and she encouraged me to go find a teaching job. But I believed in education. And before I left for Igbo land, a secondary school had already been established in Nembe by the Catholic Church in 1965, and I saw how nicely they dressed in white shorts, shirt, canvass and socks and I was in love with it and wanted to be one of them. So I did my secondary school in Nembe, moved to Warri and then to Port Harcourt. But I attended the Law School in Lagos.

     What was your experience in Biafra?

    I am already working on a book about my Biafra experience. It was quite an experience. I was conscripted into Biafra army at age 16 and had three weeks training. Thereafter, we were to go to the war front and fight. But luckily enough for me, my aunt who I was staying with had a discussion with a colonel in the Biafra army who was a man from Nembe. The Colonel drafted me to S&T (Supply and Transport) and that was how I escaped going to the war front.

     When was the turning point in your life?

    At the end of my studies, I worked at Elf Petroleum, now Total. And after 15 years, I decided that I was leaving the services of Elf Petroleum. Some people thought I was mad to have taken such a decision because I was in a good position and earning a good salary. But I just decided that I would leave, even as the Chairman of the Elf branch of PENGASSAN. I regard that as my turning point because at that time, I was not ripe for retirement. My age was not up to retirement, but I felt I had to leave.

    When I left the employment of Elf Nigeria Limited, which is now Total E&P, I did not go home with any money, because after my gratuity and all other outstandings, I was in the negative by N366,000 because I had taken a loan to build a house and another loan to buy a vehicle. Knowing that the following month I was not going to receive salary, I still took the bold step to leave regular employment, moved to Abuja and went straight into politics in March 1998, during the formation of PDP as a party.

     

    ” I was conscripted into the Biafra army at age 16 and had three weeks training. Thereafter, we were to go to the war front and fight. But luckily enough for me, my aunt who I was staying with had a discussion with a colonel in the Biafra army who was a man from Nembe. “

     

     Is it really true that you have left the Peoples Democratic Party?

    I have left the PDP. I left the party when I found that an individual had decided to take over the party. This is not the way it was when we brought the party to Yenogoa. Party leaders were meeting regularly then to take decisions that affected the party. Party leaders allowed primaries and supported winners after general contest. But now, an individual, because he has been elected governor, decided that all the councilors must be his boys, all the eight chairmen of local governments must be his boys. Annoyingly, the person he picks to be his deputy governor is from the same local government with him. I looked at it and noticed that the national body did not do anything about it, so I had to leave for where I can be useful to my people. That was why I left to join APC. Definitely by the grace of God, APC will win the gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State.

     You said somewhere that your hometown Nembe did not have a secondary school until 1965. Are you happy with the state of education in Nembe today?

    This is one of the problems I have with the incumbent governor of the state. Former Governor Sylva, who is from Nembe, established a college of education before any higher institution in the whole area. But when the incumbent governor came, the first thing he did was to move that College of Education to his village. Have you ever heard of that? After that, he has established two other higher institutions within his own area. Does he expect us to be happy with his action?

    If you were given the opportunity to go to the Senate again, what do you think you would add?

    I am always working for my people. I joined politics because I wanted my place to develop the way the other places are developing. I am also worried about the 13 per cent derivation money. We are the major oil producing community but we are not getting anything out of it. We are getting nothing because the governor believes that the money is a windfall and he uses it the way he likes. It is unlike other states like Abia, Imo, Edo and Delta where they have created oil producing area development committees. Once money comes from the

    federation account, that is the 13% derivation, it is shared between the state and the oil producing area development committees, which uses its portion to develop the same communities. But in Bayelsa, it is the other way around.

    I think that Bayelsa is one of the states where that kind of committee does not exist, meaning that here, the producing areas do not have any development. You can see that the road from Secretariat to Nembe was constructed by NDDC and STDC. The governor did not do anything. If I am back in the Senate, I will try to see that the money can be channeled directly to the oil producing communities, maybe not by way of cash, but by way of projects. Also the Petroleum Industry Bill that has been lingering for so many years, I would try to ensure that the bill sees the light of day so that the nation can benefit from that if the bill is passed.

    For some time now, it seems the agitation in the creeks has subsided almost to zero point. What would you adduce that to?

    The success goes to the combined effort of the communities and the Nigerian security forces. They have indeed done a good job. The amnesty programme has helped too. Most of the boys were moved, some went for training abroad, and some have been back and are now working as entrepreneurs. From the analysis given by NNPC, pipeline vandalism is still there but not as high as it was some years ago. But they are still working hard to see that it is pushed to the barest minimum.

    You paid your way through school through fishing in the coastal waters of Bayelsa State. How is the business of fishing now in the state? Is it growing compared to the time you were growing up?

    It is not the way it was in those days. Then, you could fish and move out of your community. Paddle for just 10 minutes outside your community and you would get a whole lot of fishes. But now, you must move very far into the sea before you can get fish because of the pollution of the water. So we are not enjoying the fishing activities like we used to do in those days.

     Your hometown Nembe is about 15 kilometres away from Oloibiri where oil was first found in Nigeria. It is surrounded by about 200 oil wells. How rich is the average person in your hometown? What is the average standard of living in your place?

    Well the community is in the hands of the chiefs. I don’t know what takes place in other communities in the whole of Bayelsa State because I have not visited all. But I can say that this is the only community in Bayelsa state where the government is not doing anything in terms of development, because the electricity that we are enjoying is an understanding between the oil producing companies and the community. They gave us generators and gave us diesel to run them. Government does not care whether you have electricity or not. Then the portable water we enjoy in the community was given to us in the early 70s when Elder Spiff was the governor. We service the water system. The community chiefs do the regulation. If there is pump failure, it is the community chiefs that see to it. We don’t have local government activities here because the local government chairman lives in Yenegoa. He visits once in a while to come and pay salaries and returns to his place. Those are the issues.

     You have not contested an election in a long while. Do you have a plan to do so?

    If I have a space, I will try my best. But power belongs to God. I still have the interest of my people and I believe that they too believe in me; that I can represent them effectively. So if there’s a chance to go back to the Senate, I will do that.

    Do you really miss the Senate?

    Not exactly, but I am not interested in executive positions. I prefer the Senate because law making is about the development of one’s area and community. Some people may think that executive positions are better, but for me, I know I can contribute to the development of my people more from the Senate.

  • My 32 days in Ife Prisons

    He held sway as the deputy speaker of the Osun State Assembly for eight years and took an active part in the struggle to reclaim the mandate of former Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola during the latter’s first term in office, ruffling the feathers of the powers that be and paying heavily for it by way of persecution that landed him in prison. Akintunde Adegboye, a lawyer, engineer and estate consultant spoke with GBENGA ADERANTI about his prison experience, life as a deputy speaker, the misconceptions a lot of people have about political office holders, especially lawmakers, among other issues. 

    You participated in the struggle that brought Aregbesola to power. How was the experience?

    We started the struggle in 2004 when we formed the Oranmiyan Group. I was at the forefront with the likes of Chief LayiOyeduntan. We were having meetings in his house at the Oroki Estate. Aregbe (Aregbesola) later came to join us with their own group and we came together.  We were in the Alliance for Democracy (AD) then and he was a member of the AD in Lagos. That was how we started until the election in 2007.

    He was our governorship candidate while I was the candidate for the House of Assembly to represent Osogbo. Before then, the Alliance for Democracy (AD) had metamorphosed into Action Congress (AC) and then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Election came and we won. We had 11 members in the House.

    On the day of the election, you know that PDP was in power with Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola as the governor, so it was a matter of do or die. The PDP was running down the members of CAN. Eventually, we won the election. We believed that we won all the seats, that was the reason we went to the court. Aregbesola was not declared the governor. We had 11 members out of the 26 in the House, meaning that 15 were for the PDP. But after the election, some of us were declared wanted for disrupting the peace of the land because our members protested.

    In my own case, I had to run out of town. I was in exile for 52 days because I was declared wanted ‘dead or alive’. But we needed to come back to collect our certificates of return and get sworn-in as members of the House. We couldn’t do that until the last day, which was June 2nd, 2007.

    At the point of entering for the inauguration, some of us were arrested; I think three out of the four that were declared wanted. We were arrested and taken to police custody. The following day, we were arraigned and were remanded in Ife Prisons. I was in the prison for 32 days before we regained our freedom and went back for our inauguration. That was how we started going to court. We were discharged and acquitted after four years; that was in 2011.

    You know that Aregbesola regained his mandate on 26 November 2010, after three and a half years, and in my own case, it was after two years. There was a party going for nomination but the logo was not on the ballot paper—PPA, which was being used by PDP to see that I was not the accredited candidate after polling 27,000 against the 8,000 polled by the PDP.

    So the case was at the tribunal here and we won. But when we got to the Appeal Court, the court said any election in which the logo of a party was not on the ballot paper, the Electoral Act 2006 stipulates that the election remains void and the election should be rerun. My party said no, we were not going for a rerun. That was on November 2nd, 2009. We didn’t go for the rerun and the PDP candidate came for the election and they completed that tenure. So by 2011, it was an automatic ticket for me because of the pains I went through. I was the candidate for the 2011 election, which I won with 29,000 to 4,000 against PDP. That was how I came back in 2011.

     

    Talking about your 32 days in Ife Prisons, how was the experience, considering the fact that you were not a common criminal?

    There are two different cases for whosoever is in prison. It is either you are awaiting trial (we call them ATM) or you have been sentenced. In our own case, we thought it was going to be for a few days. The days we were arraigned, the lawyers applied for bail. Initially, it was at the magistrate, but the Magistrate said he had no power to handle the case and that we should be remanded. He said he could not admit bail verbally but written bail application.

    The time we knew this could not be treated was when we eventually went to the high court. The judge now said: ‘We are sorry, we just have to look at the written bail whether it matches what can be used to give us the bail. Since our own was not just ordinary, it was political, that was the reason we went for so long. It was an experience that was not too palatable. We still have pains till today. I had never been to the police cell not to talk of prison. What they called your bed was nothing to write home about, and prisons services were not good. After how many years I have left there, I still go to the prisons to see prisoners and talk to them.  It was not a good experience. The 32 days were like one year.

    Considering that you had a taste of what prisoners go through, did you eventually do something about the prison when you became a member of the House of Assembly?

    We have been saying that it is better for whosoever is going to lead to visit places like the prisons and health centres to see how they fare. I told you that I have been going there to render necessary assistance not only to the prisoners but at times the people working in the prisons. At times, you will see some inmates who are supposed to go to court not going because there is nobody to fuel their vehicles. The prison service itself is worrisome. Some people will just collect the money but they won’t do the necessary things. Some inmates won’t have legal assistance; they won’t have anybody to visit them.

    I had an experience of somebody who was charged for armed robbery, even the case file was missing and he was there for many years.  The government would not know that somebody is in their custody. Family would come, but it would get to a stage they won’t be able to come again.  Somebody will be there for 10 years for an offence whose sentence will be just for six months or one year; nobody to ask of him, nobody to fight for him.  It is an experience that is not palatable.

    With the state of political development in Nigeria, do you see politicians still being given the treatment you got when you were in opposition?

    I can say we can still have such, but not in this part of the world. When Aregbesola came into power, he said whoever among his followers would want to hound the opposition would be disowned. There was a case of some people in Ijeshaland and even here (Osogbo) and Ejigbo where our party members were happy that we had won the election and would want to do to the opposition like they did to us. He said the police should arrest those people. In Ilesha, some PDP stalwarts arrested a lady and she was raped. They even inserted a stick in her private part. But when we came to power, Aregbe said we should leave them to God. That is how a true democrat should behave.

    A true democrat believes that today I may be in power, tomorrow I could be in opposition. If you hound opposition today, that means tomorrow you would be hounded and the cycle will continue.  You see, we have had peace since. That is why you see PDP coming into APC and APC going into PDP, because they still believe they are together.

    Talking about people changing parties, nobody would ever believe that Aregbesola and Oyinlola would sit down together. What lesson has that taught you as a politician?

    In my own case, if I’m tired of the APC today, and APC is not moving into another party or APC is not transforming into another party, I won’t join another party. There is nothing that can happen that would make me say I want to defect to another party. I’ve never done that in my political history. I’ve been in politics for almost 30 years, and in all my political life, it has been just in one way. If I’m not satisfied with the APC, I will sit down, because I see politics as pastime.

    Here in this part of the world, nobody is teaching politics. If they say what is your profession, nobody will say it is politics. I have my profession; I’m a lawyer, an engineer by profession and politics by calling or pastime.

    What you’re saying in essence is that legislating should be made part-time…

    There was a time we went to the US, particularly the state assembly in Atlanta, Georgia, and this question came up. It was part-time. Their own part-time is not like the part-time we are thinking about here. You can’t do the two together here, but you can do it there. In the US, you can go for your teaching job and later come to the House. But here, it is almost 24hours per day. Unless we sit down very well and couch it, work it out on how it can be done, it will be difficult.

    It is not possible to have part-time state or national assembly. People will be coming to you that they are your constituents; they are the one sending you to the House, unless you want to tell them not to come to your house. They won’t come to the gallery at the assembly to see how you are performing. What they come for is money. At least you must know your representative, you must see how they perform. That is the essence why we have the gallery. Come to the gallery to watch, but they won’t come. What they will come for is for you to give them money. Somebody cannot go to the farm and come back to work as a part-time lawmaker for now.

    Even the economy is so bad that if you want to do part-time, there is no way you will not steal, that you will not be corrupted. For now, I can’t see it working, but it would have been better.The young ones now are becoming members of the assembly. I hear that a 31- year-old is now a Speaker in a state assembly. Will you say that person should have part-time plan for the house of assembly? What has been the experience? Somebody who has not been a councilor, who has not been a chairman of a particular area, it can’t work. But I believe it would have been the best for us. The economy too is not encouraging.

    I read in a report that when you were a lawmaker, at a point, you could not fuel your generator. What could have gone wrong?

    That was then. Some of us would want to say it as we see it.

    But many believe that politicians, especially lawmakers have so much money?

    When I was saying it, I meant it and I still stand by it. It was at the birthday special programme for Mr. Special then. We couldn’t fuel our generator and the government could not pay for electricity. There were two things but it was only one that was reported. Why did we have generator in the first instance? It was because there was no light from the national grid. We needed to do our legislative duties of going to the house at least three or four days in a week and getting there, there was no light, there was no fuel and there was no money. The executive would give certain amount of money per month for running of the office. Normally, we have three tiers of government: the executive, the judiciary and the legislature. Of these, nobody would say one is superior, but we know it should be the legislative first before the executive. But since they have the money, they have the custody of the entire money, we just have to go and beg since they have the money.

    However, when people look for power and such power does not include money, they are powerless, and that is why legislature would go and beg the executive. We’re entitled to certain amount of money per month to run the government. It is supposed to be at the first week because we want to run that month. At times they would owe two, three months and even salaries. When I was there, our salaries would be the ones to be paid after paying all the agencies. And the running grant would not be paid as and when due. So we begged them. There was a time we needed to travel officially out of town. We needed certain amount of money and we had to go to Wema Bank. The Wema person said ‘Oga, it is 15 per cent o’. That was the interest. But when they are paying you, would they pay with interest? This was the experience. That was why I said some people are looking at us and they are seeing us as bad people.

    At least if the hospital was not giving all free because there was no money, the other facilities that you constituents and electorate must have enjoyed, it is you that they know. They will come to you. And we have been telling them, we’re sorry o, it is only that some of you won’t move nearer to us, you would have known these problems. We can’t at times fuel our generator.

    What are the things you are missing right now as a private person?

    When you’ve been with your people for a very long time, you still want to at least serve them once you have signed that you want to serve your people. But now, you have moved from being a public person to private person, some people, even if they want to come, they will say I’m sorry I have other things to attend to or may feel this one has left. That is the only thing I see there, but I’m enjoying myself.

    A prominent politician once said deputies are spare tyres. You were a deputy speaker. How true is this?

    Whoever made that statement is right. If somebody is a deputy, he can only perform ultimately, optimally if the Number One is not around. So it shows they are spare tyres. But in some cases, you have some Number One that would delegate, but not total. He will delegate the power of leadership of such organization or institution to his deputy, but not always. We have seen experiences where Number One will exchange words with his deputy. Some will not delegate authority because they don’t want their deputies to know anything about the running of that place.

    But in my own case, at least I can say I didn’t experience such. But it was not total. Because if it were to be total, that means he was not capable. If somebody is capable, he would leave some duties to the deputy. It can’t be total. But I enjoyed working with my Number One because he at least gave me the opportunity to showcase my experience.

    If you were given an opportunity to be made a speaker or deputy speaker again, what would you do differently?

    You know in this life, the more you grow, the more you learn. That is the reason for somebody who has the experience to still move forward so that you would use past experience. You will figure out where you tried, where you failed and see the necessary innovations to put into it. It is only when I’m there that I know we have done this in this way, why can’t we put more efforts into this? But I believe that I will still do more in terms of legislation. This is the number one duty of a legislator, and moving closer to the executive without jeopardizing the power of the legislature. Because at times, your friendship with the executive will cause you many things since you’re expected to introduce checks and balances.

    Challenges like insecurity and religion were alien to the South West but now they are issues. What is the way out?

    Do we say alien?

    Aregbe was the governor, religion nearly became an issue. On insecurity, Fulani were never a threat in the South West, but now things have changed. That is what I am saying.

    Let us detach the two. One is religion. In every house in the South West, you see Christians, you see Muslims living together. Even some are living together as husband and wife. Almost every family has either religion. In Aregbesola’s case, it was only the system that escalated religious imbalances. Here you would see pastors inviting an Alhaji for programmes. I’ve been to churches. Last Sunday, I was in Ilesha in a church, Cherubim and Seraphim. But in a situation that some people want to be mischievous, they now want to pitch religion with politics. The two cannot go together.

    During Oyinlola’s regime, the governor was a Christian, the deputy was a Christian, the SSG was a Christian. Even during Aregbesola’s regime, among the executive members, Christians were in the majority. In the House, the Christians had the majority. Yet they claimed Aregbe wanted to Islamize the state.

    On insecurity, first it is because the economy is bad. We have the herdsmen. But I read in a paper that not the herdsmen but the rustlers that are causing insecurity. You can see a case where somebody was given a cow and he is bringing the cow down South. On the way, the rustlers stole all the cows. Instead of going back to tell the owners of the cow that the cows had been stolen, he would come down to find the means of getting arms and ammunition, because he wants to replace the lost cows. I think that is the reason we have kidnapping. But here, we have been living with the Fulani since I was a toddler. We have some of them who even their parents were born here. Such people, can we call them the Fulani herdsmen that are killing our people?  Though we have cases of Fulanis and farmers clashing in Osun here, we have a team that looks into it.

    While you were in the prison was there a time you were frustrated being a politician?

    In the prison, they knew I was not what I was arrested for. When you see a criminal, you know this is a criminal. They knew I was put there unjustly. I won an election in April 2007 by a wide margin. Could I have gone out the following day to start burning the houses of the opponents? My father’s house was burnt on the 16th of April 2007 and my father was 90-years old then and he was to be burnt in that house, because they went around 1 am, thinking that my father was in the house. I didn’t even have that in mind, but somebody just called me and said can’t we go and take Baba out of that house? I said go. But I knew of my late father; he would say whatever would kill him would kill him inside his father’s house! It was the family house. The house is built inside our family compound.

    When they got there, they said Honourable said we should bring you. He said for what? They said they didn’t know. He said okay. He went inside and dressed. They didn’t  even go with a car, they went with motorcycle and they brought him to our house. That was between 7pm and 8pm. By 1 am, the house got burnt.

    The following day, somebody came and said his father’s house was burnt the previous day. He came to look for the burnt honourable elect’s father. How frustrating that was. Before then, we had been declared wanted.

    Inside the prison, those people saw us as people being victimized. They said I should not worry, that there was a reason God kept me there. That was the way we looked at it. But the experience was bitter. How could I have won an election and be kept in a prison? We thought that the court would just sit and give us bail, but it was not so. It was an experience we can never forget. In spite of that, because we wanted to serve our people, we knew we could experience such. It is easy now. Somebody wins an election and he is sworn-in. It was like we made way for the people coming in now.

    As for my children joining politics, for me whatever the Lord has ordained, whether you like it or not, it must come to pass. But my children are young because it was late before I started having children. They are still toddlers. If they grow old and they want to go into politics, I won’t stop them. But I would guide them on the type of politics they must play. I believe that it is only God that can give and it is only God that can take. Some don’t believe in that. I don’t because of political position go to pastors or Alfas. If you pray for me, I allow you to pray for me. But to just go to somewhere because there is a powerful man of God there, no, no. It is only God that is powerful. I believe in my God.

    So if my children they want to go into politics, the only thing I’ll do is to advise them on the type of politics to practice. Some join politics for position. It is never done. You will discover that you can’t plant in a farm today and start harvesting. Some people they jump from one party to the other because they were not given tickets. I wanted to go to the House of Representatives in 2018 but I was not given the ticket. I was made the chairman of the campaign in our federal constituency. I was the one taking candidates to the nook and crannies of my federal constituency, the senator, the reps and the members of the State House of Assembly.

  • ‘Intels owes Nigeria over $140m’

    The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, in this no-holds barred interview with Deputy Editor Olayinka Oyegbile and Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, speaks on her quest to turnaround the fortunes of the NPA vis-à-vis her battle with people with vested interests and the different challenges she confronts daily on the job. Imbued with the strength of character and common touch like her famous historian father and social critic the late Prof. Yusuf Bala Usman, the graduate of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, and University of Leeds, UK, speaks on her mission. Excerpts:

    SINCE you came on board, you have literally shaken some tables and taken some earth-shaking decisions. For instance, the Intels deal generated lot of controversy and you pulled that through. Would you want to shed more light on some of these decisions?

    Well as it relates to Intels, they were providing us with services of collecting of revenue from port operations. They were not remitting as and when due. When I came on board, we signed a supplementary agreement which required all revenues generated to be paid into the single treasury account (TSA) where all revenues generated should go. Following that agreement, Intels has been very difficult in making payments to us. They have not paid us. They owe us over $140million that they have not remitted to the TSA. So we felt that such non-compliance will not be accepted, such impunity should not be accepted and hence, we issued a notice of termination to them. We are going to advertise for a replacement company that would offer such services at a cheaper cost because Intels is charging the Nigerian government 28% for revenue collection and typically such commissions are limited to 10-15%. You hardly see where an agency is collecting 28%. So we have initiated a process of termination and we are also going to court to ensure that those monies not credited by Intels are paid back into the government coffers.

    Also, we removed a monopoly that hitherto existed where oil and gas cargo only terminate in certain ports in the Eastern Port in the region. That also stifles the industry and not allow for you to thrive as a business concern. Even if the distance between your oil platforms is closer to certain terminal, you cannot go; you have to go to Onne Port and journey because you mustn’t pick up without using those terminals. We got that approval and that is ongoing because you can see from the Egina that berthed here. If we hadn’t removed the monopoly, the Egina would not have been able to berth here. And right now, Shell Petroleum Development Company is also commencing servicing of their operations from Lagos area. And they had even detailed the submission to us which articulated the amount of revenue savings. We got that letter last year from them, indicating savings of millions of dollars, all because of the removal of the monopoly. That’s an important milestone. So introducing the TSA is one of the revenue saving measures that we have embarked upon.

    The NPA prides itself as the gateway to the nation’s economy. You have talked about the new revenue streams you have created since you came on board. Could you give us an overview of what the NPA can generate if it’s fully operational?

    (Laughs) Well, it’s difficult for us to say that because it is tied to cargoes coming to the ports. So even if Nigeria has the most improved ports, it has to be that that item is allowed for consumption in Nigeria. So one of the things that we have is the automobile tariff we put in place. So we have terminals like the RORO terminal made for vehicle. So now because of the 70 per cent cost of duty, it has dropped completely. So our revenues are really subject to what comes in or goes out of the country. For example, rice has been banned for importation. That’s a huge item that used to come in through our ports. So quite a lot of items have been classified as banned or some there are high import tariffs on them. So that automatically reduces the volumes of cargo that are coming. So it’s difficult for us to equate that because it’s inflow and outflow. We also seek to improve on our export by providing the necessary enabling environment to fast track and prioritise exportation. Some of these items are for example, solid minerals; we have noted request for exportation of kiln, it’s a volume issue so the more volume the export, the better because the cost is very cheap. So if they now pay much for port dues to export, it’s not worth their while. But that is also an item for our solid minerals exportation out of Nigeria. So in certain instances like that we look to see how we can encourage the exporter. If there is a certain mineral you want to export, once the volumes are high, we are looking at providing them a tariff regime that encourages them to do it. The more volumes you bring, the cheaper we will give you for harbour due. So these are some of the things we do to sort of address the need to have more export as Nigeria seeks to become more self-sufficient.

    We’re looking to see how we can maximise our revenue while ensuring that the operational activities of the ports remain steady. We note the need to recognise what is required as it relates to both the Eastern and Western ports. The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) operates two regions of the port. At one side is the Eastern, which has Port Harcourt, Calabar, Onne and Delta ports respectively while the Western port comprises Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports. So we look to see how we can restructure the ports in terms of development and also ensuring improvements on equipment and also ensuring that we have ease of doing business within our operations.

    There has always been that belief and impression that more attention is focused on the Lagos or Western Port. Why? And what are you doing to make sure that the Eastern Port is also productive?

    As you aware, the cargo or shipping business is a destination of choice and concessionaires decide where to take their cargoes to; as such, you can’t tell somebody you must go to Onne, or you must go to Calabar for example. So people decide where they want to take their cargo. And some of the reasons that inform the destination of a cargo involves where the final consumption of that cargo is. For example, in the Western Port, you have the manufacturing around the Lagos corridors, Ogun State manufacturing, so that consumes quite a lot of items that are being imported. To a certain extent, you also have large markets within the Lagos environs; they also are consumers of these products. You have Dangote Industries, you have Flour Mills and you have all manner of activities within Lagos and Ogun States so that in itself is the consumption within that area. On the other hand, you also have people that are taking or bringing in cargoes up to the hinterlands, so there is also a need to have defined route or cargo movement. If you want to take your things to Kano how easy is it for me to move from Calabar to Kano? Is the road navigable for articulated trucks? Is there a clear path to where I can get? Because in the Western Port for example, if you’re going to Kano from Lagos, you know your road already once you come you’re going and you know articulated trucks go through that route. These are some of the reasons that inform the choice on where you will take your cargo to. So people tend to come to the Lagos environs for the immediate evacuation of their cargo because that is where they want to take their cargo.

    We have noted the concerns within the Eastern Port. Some of the issues we have are on draft limitation. As you are aware, our Calabar Port has a draft limitation. Hitherto, I inherited a Joint Venture for the Calabar Channel Management Dredge and that was a big issue that we had to cancel. It’s an ongoing investigation about an unverifiable dredging works. So we have started another process. But it translated into huge volumes to the extent that we are looking at spending about N45-50billion on dredging of Calabar Port. When you look at the volumes of cargo that can come to that region, it’s very high so there is no justification in terms of revenues coming into the port to justify that volume of investment.  But indeed, even if you dredge, you will only dredge to 10 metres. And right now, the global trend for shipping is deep seaports. So spending that amount of money will not attract the current trend of vessels being made. So those vessels that are being made now require deep seaports, about 17 metres draft and you cannot dredge 6-17 metres. So what we are doing now is we are encouraging bringing in flat bottom vessels to Calabar and we are encouraging having deep seaports in that area so that it would address the issue in totality. It’s like you want to do something but that thing you want to do has been overtaken by events. Even if we spend N50billion, we will only dredge it up to 10metres and now vessels of 10metres are not the vessels that are in trend. The vessels that require 17metre are the trend so it’s of no value for the Nigerian government to invest in that. So we are working on having flat bottom vessels as well as encouraging deep seaports. Delta is also one of our Eastern Ports, and it has a limited draft because of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPPC) Pipelines that have been buried in that location. So in the last year, at the end of 2018, we got approval to dredge the Escravos Bay, which permitted a depth of about 7.5metres that would enable vessels to that side. So we can go deeper than that because of the NNPC pipelines that are buried there. We are discussing with the NNPPC and I remember saying to the GMD that let us start the process of relocating the pipelines. It may not happen in a year or two years or five years but we must understand that that location requires deeper depth and start the process of relocating the pipelines. So this is the Delta Port. The Port Harcourt Port is in a bad state. We have commissioned a condition survey. They have submitted a report which will determine the totality of investment into that Port Harcourt Port because it has reached its limits in terms of utilisation. So the conditional survey had provided what is required. So we need to literally build new kits, new infrastructure, in that place. And when we look at what is expected of the vessels type that would come globally now, do you want to invest in this kind of port now when you can invest in deep seaports to enable you now reach where you want to go. Onne Port is in a good state. We have the attendant draft required and it’s a port that usually has a lot of oil and gas cargo and transactions so every other activity there is available, they have a private container terminal that is operating there. So this is the summary of what the Eastern Port entails right now.

    And one of the other things that I forgot to mention about the Eastern Port is charge on insurance cost. The vessels that are coming to the Eastern Port for example, have to have war insurance for coming into the place because there are lots of piracy and even besides insurance, they have to pay money for private security. So if you are coming to the Eastern Port, you probably need to engage private security to guide your vessels. So it’s very discouraging   for the shipping companies because of the high rate of piracy. That is one issue that is responsible for the unviability of the Eastern Port as it relates to the shipping industry.

    As part of boosting the security infrastructure, recently four tug boats were commissioned. Do you have a working relationship with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) with regards to the issue of security at the ports and the waterways?

    Well, we do have that. We are working with the Nigerian Navy, NIMASA and we have the Marine Police to facilitate securing the waterways. So we work with the Marine Police. One of the areas that is directly ours is the terminals. So when you come into our waterways we need to ensure that your vessel is safe. So we support our Marine Police by providing the necessary equipment to man the waterways to facilitate a secured discharge of the port.

    The issue of ease of doing business at the port is paramount and that explains why the Vice President came up with the Executive Orders. How has the port fared in all of this?

    One of the things that have to do with ease of doing business inside the port is that we need to have scanners that scan our cargo. So every cargo that comes in goes through 100 per cent physical inspection so you can imagine that delay. The next challenge with the ease of doing business is the fact that all agencies of government interface with consignee, the SON, etc., we need to deploy single windows in our ports. We need to call upon the Nigerian Customs and be engaging with them to fast tract that.

    Everybody thinks that if you bring your cargo into the country and it doesn’t get to your warehouse it is NPA’s fault. No. NPA’s work is to allow the vessel to come in and berths with your cargo uploaded from the vessel through the terminals and when that is done, it’s no more our duty. At that point if Customs doesn’t come to inspect your cargo for three weeks, I always say it, it’s not the NPA’s fault.  If Customs need to physically examine your cargo, it’s not NPA. If you need to see National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Quarantine or whatever, it’s not NPA. The Nigerian Customs is the lead agency for inspection. So they must do the single window. But nobody cares to know this. All you hear is NPA this, NPA that. (Laughs) So there is that misconception. But for me, at the end of the day we are government. We need to step up our efforts to ensure that we provide services for the citizens. Again, it’s very frustrating when other people’s job affects yours. So your rating is tied to other person not doing his job. That is very frustrating. So when I see the Nigerian Customs declaring, oh, we made N12billion, I say no, you need to improve on your infrastructure, let people judge you on the fact that every container has to be moved. So how do you honestly say that we have physically examined all cargoes coming into Nigeria?  We really need to assess ourselves in terms of services we provide and what we are providing beyond the numbers. If it takes someone three days to clear his cargo in another place but it takes you three weeks or four weeks to finish all those interfaces and that’s not our responsibility. Then when you come out of the port now, you need to have another transportation of cargo. So over the years, we abandoned the utilisation of inland waterways, e have even not explored inland waterways. We have abandoned rail everything is on the road. So we must fast track our deployment of rail. Thankfully, the Nigerian Railway Corporation is working on that. We have marginal service at our single gauge into the port. They even have wagons and what have you. It’s not every terminal or port they get through. So when you also look at the Apapa corridor, you have the tank farmers and they are also another issue. They should actually be moving their cargo through pipelines not through roads. So that just compounds all of that traffic. But as they are going to deploy the rail, we have also been granting permission for badge operations so that people can move in and out using badges. We have locations in Epe, Ikorodu, and I think somewhere around Badagry they want to have locations where they would use badges. So they want to do a survey using our inland waters for movement of cargoes. So when we talk about the actual congestion at the ports, we need to understand that the state and local government must recognize that truck/motor parking is in fact their responsibility. So for instance, the Lagos State government needs to provide truck parks. We have made that proposal severally. Orile Park they say is available but they have concessioned it and the concessionaire has not finished. All we keep hearing is stories back and forth. You can’t have a situation where all trailers are free to move anywhere causing traffic congestion and using the roads as a transit channel for trailer parks. We even advertised three times seeking for people to come and license trailer parks. What we want to do is to license trailer parks and only trucks coming from those trailer parks will access the ports. As it relates to port location, we recently terminated Lily Pond, which is a terminal that we had hitherto but because of the persistence traffic congestion, we have cancelled the lease and we are using it as a transit location for trailer parks.

    Another idea tied to the Executive Orders is the idea of having the port run 24 hours. How far is the NPA close or far from that goal?

    The Executive Orders is for us to do 24 hours operation in Apapa Port. So the NPA has started that. But the challenge is that other agencies of government don’t run 24 hours. The Apapa Port that was designated in the Executive Orders for 24 hours port operations; we provide that service to the extent that after a while my staff said, okay, why are we going if other people are not going?  We also probably need weekend service. I also advocated having customs clearing on weekends. Banks would come and open weekends so that they can clear on weekends and that reduces the congestion and everything.

    What do you hope to be remembered for after your exit from the NPA?

    I want to be remembered for instituting transparency and accountability and operational efficiency. Transparency and accountability is very important to me. And when I see some of the agreements we have entered into as a government, I really wonder how we allowed our country to sign on those agreements. So I have had cause to terminate a number of them. I’m reviewing a lot of them. For me, I think people need to be held accountable and then we need to have more transparency. Demystifying government is very important so people can see. We have seen a lot of instances where organisations tend to hold on to things. So I think it’s safer to let it out. Once everybody knows, it reduces the problem of what do I do next, whose responsibility is what? I believe in having a clear and transparent ways of working. You see most staff in government agencies tend to see government as a third party so they can do whatever they want. So these are some of the things I want to be remembered by.

    As a daughter of the famous historian and social critic, the late Prof. Yusuf Bala Usman, what are the fond memories of growing up with your dad?

    On my father! I would say I was brought up in a university and was always part of the intellectual discussion. My father encouraged us to speak our minds, and pushed us to engage him on things that we felt we didn’t understand. So that formed the premise in which I was able to question status quo. You know, I’m not held back by inhibitions or have this idea that government can’t be questioned. Or if someone is your boss, he can’t be questioned. I was brought up to question things. As a young child, I was ever inquisitive, why are you doing things like this, what’s the reason? What informed your choice and judgments? So I don’t get intimidated by authority or people in authority. I speak my mind and I say whatever I think. So that gives me that freedom. My father always encouraged us to think like that and I also refused to be put in a box to think in a particular way. I chose to be who I am and I chose to question the status quo and challenge authority. So even when I’m working with my colleagues and other agencies of government, and they ask me why have you not done this or done that, and when I speak to the press I’m told not to say that. I tell them no. Let people know it’s your job and you haven’t done it. Let everybody know. So once we are pointing fingers at ourselves we will start sitting up. And I think that freedom, boldness and confidence to speak comes from how you are brought up. My father brought me up like that.