The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sunday magazine

  • ‘Why clerics, business owners must collaborate’

    The International President of Fellowship Covenant Ministries International (FMCI), Dr. Philip Goudeaux, has canvassed for strategic partnership among church leaders and business owners.

    Such partnership, according to him, will foster the gospel and create mutual benefits for both partners.

    Goudeaux made the call at a two-day regional conference of the body in Lagos.

    He said the body exists to make such synergy work, saying, “It is an international collaboration of pastors, teachers, and businessmen and women created to build and improve the leadership and business management skills of leaders in the body of Christ.”

    The American blamed ignorance on why priests and kings must complement for the rising injustice and corruption in countries.

    He debunked the notion that most preachers in the country are living fat on members.

    According to him: “I don’t believe that pastors should be poor but I hold on to the fact that they must live and lead by examples.

    “The church of Christ was not established to fail but to succeed and for it to succeed, these two must come together.

    “You see, the connection between kings and priests is powered by the anointing. That is why we also refer to FCMI vision as two anointing for one vision.”

    The Senior Regional Director for Nigeria and Africa for FCMI, Prince NnanyereNwachukwu, said the challenge with some pastors is that they do not develop or educate the kings on their responsibilities and anointing.

    He said: “The church of Jesus Christ does not belong to the priests alone or the kings. God’s purpose is that kings and priests work together because if you separate any one from the bond, there will be no church.”

  • Annual convocation ends

    Annual convocation ends

    The week-long Renewal Congress of the Church of Evangelism Cathedral, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos ended last Sunday with a special thanksgiving service.

    Activities marking the largest annual spiritual convocation of the church with the “unstoppable healing” started last Saturday with a football match tagged Lekki Christian Football Championship.

    There was also a rally, deliverance service and evening of praise where many worshippers testified to the overwhelming spiritual bliss.

    The congress, according to the General Overseer of the church, Rev. (Mrs.) Edith Okunbanjo, was targeted “at winning souls and to glorify the name of Jesus through healing of those under the oppression of the devil.”

    She admonished Nigerians not to give up because “God will do a new thing in Nigeria.”

    The wife of the late industrialist and founder of EcoBank Nigeria Plc, Oloye Olarenwaju Okubanjo, said: “For people to enjoy God’s glory, they must not only endeavour but be ready to embrace righteousness in all their acts and deeds.”

  • ‘My 3-point agenda for Lagos West Diocese’

    ‘My 3-point agenda for Lagos West Diocese’

    Six months after his election as Bishop of Lagos West Diocese of the Anglican Church, Rt. Rev. James Odedeji, spoke with select media on how he intends to run the largest Diocese in Nigeria.  Sunday Oguntola was there. Excerpts: 

    Did you feel under pressure considering what your predecessor accomplished?

    He did well but all the jobs he did were not done in one day or one year. He was a bishop of this place for more than 13 years. I just started and what God has done these six months gives me joy that the future is bright because the period has been characterised by achievements.

    There are pressures and you cannot be a leader and run away from pressures because it is part of the package. Because you don’t want to fail, you launch into it so seriously so I don’t think we should be afraid.

    Where do you stand in doctrinal inclinations? Are you Pentecostal or conservative?

    The church I know has heritage and doctrines but I say it is an error of terminology for anybody to say a particular church is Pentecostal. Every church is expected to be Pentecostal because we all trace our origin to the day of Pentecost and so the Anglican Church is Pentecostal because we believe in the practices of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the senior partner in whatever we do in the church.

    So, when you go to any of the Anglican churches today, the new generation churches I don’t have anything against them because they have actually added to us. At a time, the orthodox churches were actually sleeping but I believe with the arrival of the new generation churches, we were already awake.

    What are those things that you will like to do differently?

    I have three major areas that I believe God is asking me to act on. The first one: this Diocese is blessed with human and natural resources but I believe that everything is not naira and kobo. I want to lay serious emphasis on the spiritual growth of the members.

    I don’t want anybody to leave church and go to hell. Spiritual revival will be my major focus because I believe that what it shall not profit a man if he gains the whole earth and loses his soul. I want to pursue that with all seriousness and that we have started.

    The second one is about youths. I want youths to be empowered, not only being able to put food on the table but being godly young men and women for a blessed generation because we are all products of our bad experiences.

    The third one is pragmatic evangelism in aggressive manners. There is no point you being rich and some people are wallowing in poverty. We have crimes everywhere in the country and this is not unconnected to the fact that in the country today, people are angry. When a poor man cannot eat, a rich man cannot also sleep.

    The split in the Anglican Communion became wider at the last conference in Kenya which you attended. What’s your view on the same-sex challenge that the Anglican Communion has been battling?

    That is the trouble, we have some part of the church that believes that should be the order of the day under the auspices of modernisation but the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), what we believe in is the authority of the scripture and that we are not going to bow down for the authority of man.

    It is human madness to say that a man and a man can get married. When God created the world, he created Adam. God could have created another Adam that would have the same features but God created Eve and when the man woke up from his slumber, the man shouted and said ‘this is the bone of my bone and the flesh of my flesh, she shall be called a woman’, not a man.

    In those days when we have some churches of some countries that are wallowing in poverty, we can be carried away. What will any establishment in any advanced country will want to give to the church of Nigeria to buy us?

    I don’t think anybody will bow down. Some of these countries are even more adamant. Persecution has toughened them and it has brought many people close to God. They are very resolute. This same -sex marriage cannot last, the battle may be fierce and dreadful but God will give us victory.

    Where and how did you hear about your election?

    I knew they had gone to the Ibru centre in Delta Delta state and I knew part of the agenda was election of the vacant Dioceses. On the agenda which we printed in this office, the election was to be on Friday so are expecting that after the election, people would come home and our bishop would be announced.

    On this fateful Wednesday, I was in the cathedral for prayer meeting till evening and went early to bed because I was tired. I was in my room when I received a text message on my phone but I ignored it since I was tired. When it came the third time, something told me to open the phone. What if there is important information for you? I thought to myself. Then I saw congratulation, God has done it.

    As of that time I didn’t know what was happening, I thought it was from some people I have prayed for in the church that have received their testimonies. I received the second one and said that might have been a mistake because there is one Bishop called Odejide and I am Odedeji. Sometimes, some of his mails still come to me but the third one was so explicit. It was at that point that it dawned on me.

    I see the election as a service because by God’s grace I have been a man that is blessed with contentment. The news was unexpected because I was never in a hurry. Secondly, I didn’t expect Lagos West. But I won’t tell you that I never expected to be a Bishop in life because I entered the work at a very tender age.

    I was 22 when I entered Emmanuel College and I was ordained at 24 and all the places where I served, God has always been there. I became a Dean at 42 and became a Bishop at 45.

  • Onwenu, Femi Sax to rock worship conference

    Onwenu, Femi Sax to rock worship conference

    Music diva, Onyeka Onwenu, and a host of other gospel artistes will set Lagos agog at the weeklong worship service of The Fountain of Life Church’s (TFOLC).

    Tagged Worship His Majesty, the conference holds from November 26-December 2.

    Nathaniel Bassey, Nosa, Shenwele Jesu and others also will minister at the conference, the Director of Media and Publicity of TFOLC, Pastor Mrs. Oyindamola Soderu, told reporters last week.

    Others, according to her, include Femi Sax and the Mass Choir of the church.

    A pastor in the church, Femi Megbope, emphasised the essence of worship.

    He said: “Praise is marvelous for those who have something to celebrate. For those who don’t think they have something to celebrate, it is important to just maintain the presence of God. It is the first step to getting help and getting solution to any problem.”

    Soderu said worship is a weapon of warfare.

    According to her: “It takes the battles to the forefront of the enemy.”

  • Motailatu Church holds harvest today

    Activities marking the week-long first Adoption Service of Motailatu Church Cherubim and Seraphim Worldwide, Restoration Parish, Akute, commence today with the Adult Harvest.

    A statement by the Chairman and Secretary of the Harvest Committee, Engineer Emmanuel Abiodun Adegbulugbe and Sister Regina Jacobs respectively said the Primate, Prophet, Founder and Supreme Head of Motailatu Organisation Worldwide, His Most Eminence, Archbishop Dr. I.M. Akinadewo, will preside at the event.

    The week-long activities will feature bible quiz, singing competition, debate, crusade and praise night.

  • ‘I’m an impatient boss’

    ‘I’m an impatient boss’

    Dr. Mike Egboh is well-known in the international development sector as a visionary leader, an activist, pioneer, advocate, educator, and innovator per excellence. A specialist in the healthcare development sector and currently a Principal Associate with the Abts Associate Incorporated based in Bethesda in the United States of America and the National Programme Manager/Chief of Party of the UKaid (formally DfID) biggest funded health project in the world, the  State Lead Program, Partnership for Transforming Health Systems, Phase II (PATHS2), with a focus on transforming Nigeria’s Health system through astounds in service delivery and strides in governance. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf he shares his experience in managing material and human resources

    Talking about management style, what works for you?

    I follow the doctrine of Jesus. Jesus came with a mission and because he knew that he needed to succeed he got people, in this case, disciples that would understudy him, and possibly take over from him when he leaves. There is a book called Jesus Is My CEO. It is one of the books I have been reading which tells you how Jesus Christ trained and mentored people and all of that. People like Peter and Paul were able to take over and do exactly the same thing that he did.

    Having said that, I will say, I’m result-focused. I took the current job because I was able to visualise how the future would look like from the beginning. I think outside the box.

    People sometimes call me autocratic but I tell you as a leader, there are times you have to take hard decisions. Even if that person is your wife, if you’re a leader you must not shy away from taking that decision in order to ensure harmony in the system. Because there is this management principle that if you don’t get rid of your baggage, the baggage will get rid of you.

    There are times for such moment of decision. Of course, there would be hues and cries but as a leader you must not falter as this point. The project is moving or the system is moving and the problem is removed.

    Do you ever micromanage?

    I don’t micromanage. I have a weakness. My weakness is I don’t know why people don’t get it. If I ask you to do something and you don’t get, I cannot understand. Though I’m getting better now. I’m an impatient person that gives you assignment just now and want you to deliver it to me yesterday and very fast too! I can’t just understand why you don’t get what I’m getting , as such I think you should be inside my brain to know where I’m coming from and where I’m going; which is wrong!

    I don’t micromanage at all but I give people responsibility because as I said earlier Jesus mentored and nurtured his disciples. So, it gives me joy to see my subordinates are also delivering on assignments. That is only possible if you invest time and resources in training your staff.

    I just came back from the US, and two of my staff who went with me were making presentations and I watched them and I immediately sent them emails congratulating them on a job well-done. I also sent the emails to their colleagues.

    So, for me, I see myself as a human capacity builder. If I say I have over 1, 000 professionals that I have personally trained across the world I ‘m not exaggerating. They are in US, South Africa, UK, you name it. I’m not joking. Some of them are in very senior positions. I have mentored their career. I believe in it.

    I don’t micromanage. I can tell you what to do. I use my pen to mark like a teacher and say have you done this or that, what about this one, what about that one? Or I can tell you go and do it even if it’s painful for you, I’ll tell you to go and do it because I don’t just see myself as a manager, I see myself as somebody who is molding a character.

    I recall one of my staff who was always going to the toilet whenever she hears my voice, I’m not joking. (Laughs). But she is better for it. It is just like what happened after the death of Jesus, his disciples took over his mission. That is why we have the Acts of Apostle, Ephesians, etc. those are the things they did based on the master. So, I want more members of my staff to take the driver’s seat. I do visionary leadership, but it is result-oriented.

    You talked about taking decisions, what are some of the toughest decisions you have had to take as a CEO?

    It is letting somebody go, especially someone close to me. I have also had to take decisions based on my personal conviction and not in sync with management’s thinking. But I knew deep down within me that it was the right thing to do even though the organisation did not support it. So, you do it. I’m a risk taker; I take a lot of risk. If you fail, they would trash you, but I take those risks it doesn’t matter.

    In terms of motivation, how do you go around it?

    It’s God that rewards, we only award. I praise people. I gave an example about the presentation. That is motivation. The other thing is that I encourage them to go for in-service training for may be two to three weeks, because I believe that would boost their morale. It’s a learning process. A number of them, I give them career chats and I take regular feedback from them.

    But I must say human beings are pretty difficult to manage. The next thing I will do is to probably go into farming. You know, you just water plants and go to sleep but in dealing with humans you have to be ready to undergo a lot of stress, sleepless nights. (Laughs).

    What puts you off?

    One thing I hate most is corruption. I’m very vocal, blunt, brutal and fair. I don’t get along with some people very well because they don’t like my guts. Some people would not want me on their panel not because I can’t deliver on the job or assignment but because they think I will expose.

    What drives you as an individual?

    I have always this desire to give. If both of us are struggling for something, I would rather leave it for you instead of the other way round because if you leave it for me, I will feel guilty at the end. If you borrow money me, if I see you coming I will run instead of the other way round because I don’t want you to see me and think, oh, he wants to ask for his money? So that is why I don’t do business because I can’t handle it. I’m being honest. I’m very passionate about people, especially people who are handicapped. I have trained more men than women. I’m moved by needy. I like to see people succeed. Though some of them don’t return to pay homage but I cherish training my staff any timer any day.

    How do you unwind, do you have a choice holiday resort and all that?

    Oh yes, it’ Seychelles. I also prefer to go to Ghana rather than US, or UK.

  • ‘We could afford to enrich ourselves and go in 2015, but we’ve chosen to cry out’

    ‘We could afford to enrich ourselves and go in 2015, but we’ve chosen to cry out’

    DID you ever think the day will come when the discussion will be about you leaving the PDP?

    Yes, I knew. First and foremost, I didn’t think that PDP was progressive enough. Don’t forget that by the time I came back, PDP had already expelled me from the party when I was in Ghana. It was when I came that they now began to run around to reinstate my membership and by then the opposition was weak. But now the opposition is as progressive as they can be and beginning to build up. So it won’t be a bad idea to join them in building a very strong opposition in as much as they will remain progressive. If they are going to be a replacement of PDP, then there is no basis joining them. I am not in this battle for what I can get. I’m governor. I am blessed enough by God. I have been the Speaker, I become governor. I should be able for the rest of my life by God’s grace, to fend for myself. But the struggle is not about myself, it is about the society, it’s about the Nigerian community. Why should Nigeria that other countries used to come and beg for our assistance, be the one now begging other small countries around. Something is wrong and a wind of change is playing; so we should just support the wind of change.

    You keep talking in terms of struggle, but there are lots of people who don’t understand what this fight between you, the president and the PDP is all about. For many people it’s just a battle of egos. Can you distill it for the average person to understand?

    What ego do I have against the president? The president is the president of the county; he is the strongest Nigerian living. Who am I to want to compete? If it is ego I will submit right now and will go to the president’s office and lie on the ground. Do you know what it means to be a president? He has attained an achievement that very few persons can attain in Nigeria. So you must respect him for that and I respect the president for that. No matter what anybody says about the president, the mere fact that he has gotten to the presidency by the grace of God and his hardwork, you can’t undermine that. But having said that, the struggle is not about President Goodluck Jonathan; it is about the system, it is about the country. It is about the kind of system he is running. He can change it and tomorrow see me being submissive. So what the struggle is about is that the president must look at the system, see what is going on, the level of corruption and say ‘look there’s a break’. If I see the break I will support him for 2015. If I see a clean break from the past, if he can chart that course, I will support him. But I have not seen it and that’s the problem. There must be a total break.

    How did you find yourself in the PDP in the first place?

    I found myself in the PDP because in Nigeria I don’t think there’s a party with ideology yet. It is now we are beginning to see APC looking as if it is becoming slightly ideological. What we had as parties were just platforms for elections and I chose the platform that everybody was running towards.

    What would it have cost you if you had not challenged the leadership that didn’t want you to run as chairman of the NGF? If you had played their way would you have lost anything?

    Yes, my sanity! I would have lost my sanity. I have told the president before… when am challenged the best comes out of me. The party didn’t even talk to me, they didn’t even say don’t run.

    But the signs were clear?

    What signs were those? So anybody who just says that I know the president, I know the chairman of the party, ‘don’t run’ then you’ll say that’s the party. There has to be a party meeting. I am a member of the national executive council of the party. They should have discussed it at the national executive council meeting where the governors will be present. If that decision was made and I disobeyed it, then you will say I went against the party’s decision. There was none.

    Did the president at any point in time make clear to you that he did not want you to run?

    No, he didn’t speak to me

    What about the body language?

    Am I a body language reader?

    Did the party chairman convey to you that the president did not…

    I say nobody! I was just hearing rumours. Apart from rumours my colleagues – the governors – will come and tell me ‘President called me today and said I shouldn’t vote for you. Not that I shouldn’t run. Okay, yes! Liyel did visit me one day… he didn’t tell how he got it but told me ‘please don’t run.’ I told him ‘keep that to yourself.’ I left Liyel’s house at about 11 PM that night. I called three of my friends and I said I am leaving Liyel’s house by past 11 to Port Harcourt, if anything happens to me just have this information. I am driving back. I entered my car and drove that night… in fact I would have skidded off the road because I was extremely exhausted and I was driving and battling with sleep. But I still drove and got to Port Harcourt at 1 AM and slept off.

    It is said that all politics is local. What is it about you and the First Lady Patience Jonathan – because she seems to be a major factor in this crisis?

    I have said it severally; she wants to control Rivers State government and I don’t think she’s elected. There can’t be two governors in a state. You can control the Minister of State for Education, that’s your…

    What’s do you mean by control? She wants to have a say in who you appoint or…

    She wants to have a say in the government. Just know that she wants to have a say. I don’t want to go beyond that; that will become too explicit. There are things that you have to keep as the governor. Just know that she wants to control the government of River State, that’s all.

    So that’s at the core…

    Beginning and end of the story.

    You look rather harmless but…

    (Cuts in) I am very harmless. (Laughter)

    Specifically Mrs. Jonathan has two charges against you: she said you are arrogant and have a bad temper…

    (Laughter) I have never heard that. I have never heard her say that. Are you sure you don’t …..

    And that if you could play down…

    (Laughter) She even accused me of beating my wife and I said to my wife: ‘you know I have never tried it before and you’ve never asked me why I would try beating you up. The reason I will never try this is because I don’t know whether you’ll beat me up. (Laughter) I don’t know who is stronger and the only way you can know who is stronger is to try it. Supposing I have tried it now and I got beaten up, my ego would have been badly bruised (Laughter). I don’t want to find out so let us remain as peaceful as we have been. I have never beaten up a woman before. Never! For so many reasons: the first is you don’t know whether I’m strong or not. The second reason is you must respect womanhood. She’s not a punching bag; she’s equally a human being like you. If she says I have a bad temper, what kind of temper? That you don’t agree with things that don’t go with your principles. If she has a superior argument, I will bow to that argument. But if it is not a superior argument, I will not bow to that argument.

    In the course of several interviews you have talked about how federal authorities took oil wells from River State and gave to Bayelsa. Just reading between the lines it’s almost as if it was the president himself who gave them to Bayelsa. Is that possible?

    I don’t want to discuss who took it or not. Just know that they have taken our oil wells to Bayelsa. If you see the documents that were filed by the Federal Government… if you looked at what the Federal Government filed they said it was a mistake that they made and they wanted to correct the mistake. So why haven’t they corrected it? They don’t need any of the parties. If you come to court to say this 2007 map of Nigeria… there’s been a map of Nigeria since 1960 and then in 2007 you change the map and take part of Rivers State into Bayelsa. When we complained you said it was a mistake and you’ll correct it. Why haven’t you corrected it since? Do you need River State government and Bayelsa State government to sit down and correct the map? All we are saying is just go back to that map to be what it used to be; that’s what we are talking about. We are not talking about taking oil well or not taking oil well; go back to the old map.

    Could you be more specific as to your political philosophy? What actually defines your ideology if you have one?

    From the way I speak, don’t you think I have one? (Laughter) You don’t believe? Eh? You don’t think I have one? I’m asking you.

    (Laughter) I wouldn’t know…

    Then you have a problem. It is possible that actually politicians can just be speaking the way they are speaking because that’s what they think will attract sympathy for them. It is possible; a lot of people do that. I have seen people who theorise on Marxism just because they want to be part of a government and when they are appointed they are not able to meet that principle and standard. You can even ask actually whether I live a Marxist life. I just believe that the ideas I have are progressive and I live that life. I believe that we have no business having the kind of resources that we have in the country and we can’t manage them well to turn the country around. I believe that we have no reason to… in 1970/71 the poverty index used to be 30 percent and by 2011/2012/2013 the poverty index is 70 percent. Something is wrong! We should be reversing the 30 percent downwards, not progressive growth. That’s what worries me. We can’t have reduced corruption a bit under Gen. Obasanjo and then we are at the apex of corruption in 2013. Something is wrong and the corruption is with impunity. Now you see politicians buy houses and go to inspect them in the day time with soldiers and police. Under Obasanjo people were hiding to even buy bungalow where they would live after office. But now they buy it openly. And when they are going, they go with siren, they go with police, SSS and soldiers to inspect the house they are constructing! They build mansions street by street: something is wrong. I should be asking you as journalists what have you done? While that is going on, the states are not able to receive their due. We are in court with the Federal Government on oil subsidy; we are in court with the Federal Government on excess crude. That’s why they fought the Nigeria Governor’s Forum because we asked these questions. By January this year excess crude account was about 9 dollars, today it’s 4.3 billion. What has happened to the 5 billion dollars? Somebody has tampered with it and the Federal Government should be able to account. The level of impunity when it comes to corruption is something else. Imagine the case of the Aviation Minister … and then some people are queuing up and protesting in the street saying ‘she’s from our town, don’t prosecute her.’ So corruption has ethnicity? This country baffles me.

    Aren’t you embarrassed that you are in that company?

    I don’t have a choice. Someone has asked me before what prompted me to run for office; why did I join politics. They said other governors when asked said because they wanted to serve. I said ‘who told you I joined politics to serve?’ I told the person I didn’t join to serve. I finished university, no job and I thought this was where my bread would be buttered and I started the struggle. And my bread has been buttered. So it is my turn to contribute to those people who have buttered my bread. I convert that desire to serve myself first to now begin to serve the people. So from day one, what propelled me wasn’t the service of the people but service to myself and then after that, I started serving the people. Having gotten to that point where… look I owe this nation, I owe this state; I owe the people who have helped me out of unemployment… Don’t forget that unemployment as we are talking now is 23 percent. Under Yar’Adua it was 20, under Goodluck it raised to 23 percent. People are suffering, the way I was suffering before I got employed by the people. Not everybody can be this lucky; God has not blessed all of us equally. If God has blessed us equally then all of us by now would be sitting in this hotel as I am sitting and then that’s a wonderful world. You can be an agent in the hands of God to begin to change the lives of the people. You don’t change the lives of the people by putting your hands in the pocket. That is why pressmen and people that follow me call me ‘Armstrong.’ It is because if I give you money now what will you do with it? But if I change the economy that you can on your own not depend on me, produce what will give you your daily income, then you don’t need me. But if I give you money you will be dependent on me, once the money finishes, you will want to ring again and say let’s go and visit the governor. Then you can’t question how badly or how well I am governing. Can you? So it helps to give you that freedom to be able to question governance. I think that my contribution to the growth of the country will be to reverse this trend where people are dependent on governors and public officers.

    You touched on the economy and in the last couple of months governors like you have said that the country was virtually broke…

    I said it as chairman of the Governors Forum.

    The Finance Minister said Nigeria is not broke; we just have cash flow issues. Who should we believe?

    She didn’t say that.

    What did she say?

    She said Nigeria is not broke. Two weeks or one month after, Bright Okogwu, my friend, under cross examination in the National Assembly said we are not broke but we are cash-strapped. If you are cash-strapped what does it mean? I asked an economist what that meant and he said you can’t back you expenditure with cash. What is broke?

    You don’t have money (Laughter)…

    That’s one signal. The second signal is you are not able to pay the states their dues. Last month I was paid 14 billion and I was entitled to 19.

    How bad is it?

    I have just given you an example. I was entitled to 19 billion last month and I was paid 14. What does it mean? I have lost five billion. Do you know how many roads I would have done with 5 billion? My wage bill is 8.9. If you take out that, I would have been left with 5.1. So if you added the other 5, I would have been left with 10.1.

    How do we get out of this? There’s this criticism of governors every month going to Abuja to pick up a cheque. From your end what are you doing to …

    I have an IGR that gives me between four and six billion in a month. When I came it was 2.5. Now we get between 4 and 6 billion; it depends on how bad it is, but that is not enough. You are running a government which you have to do so many projects: you are into agriculture not because you want to farm but because you want to create an alternative economy. When we came we had said that we would try and run three different economies. We would run the education economy and you can see the investment we are doing in education. We would run an agriculture economy and an ICT economy plus the oil economy. We are doing well in the education and agriculture. We are not doing too well in the ICT economy; oil is not within our control. If you check nearly all the states, the governors are now more patriotic than anybody. We are the only people shouting in this country that there is corruption. Show me any other person? The businessmen have joined. They are part of what is going on at the federal level. If the president is travelling to Ghana, every businessman will just move to Ghana. If he’s going to Cotonou, everybody will go to Cotonou. So the only people who are now saying things are going wrong are the governors. Was it like that in the past? Things are actually wrong because ordinarily before, they used to accuse governors that they were stealing, but now it is governors that are now saying ‘no, no, they are stealing, they are stealing.’ Are you not worried?

    Aren’t you saying these things just because…

    (Cuts in) Please! Please! Don’t forget that we started saying that before they stopped giving us the actual amount. We went to court on excess crude more than two -three years ago. We have gone to court on oil subsidy. We filled our case on oil subsidy since December; Federal Government has not responded till today. Under Yar’Adua, the highest he spent on oil subsidy in a year was 300 billion. The first year under President Goodluck Jonathan we spent 2.3 billion. The second year we spent 1.2 trillion. Only God knows how much is being spent now because they are no longer in contact with the Governors’ Forum; they don’t want to feed us. The only way we know now is when we get information like I had given you the information that the last we saw of excess crude oil was 9 billion. Now it has gone down to 4 billion.

    Which governors’ forum?

    There’s only one Governors’ Forum.

    Maybe the other faction is getting information…

    No. If they are getting information they are broke; they would have been asking them to pay them some money from the excess crude account.

    Let’s talk about security; how do you protect yourself these days that you don’t have a battalion of policemen around you?

    It is God. I will just kneel down and pray.

    Will God physically stand in the way of armed robbers if they are …

    God won’t let you go through the areas where the armed robbers will present. God will just say my son use the other road and you will see yourself using the other road.

    Is it that you don’t have any policemen around you?

    Very few. They have taken everybody. That tells you the kind of government that we are running. It is not the president that says take away his policemen. The problem we have is that we have people who sit down and take decisions and you don’t know who is making those decisions. Minister of State for Education will go to Mbu; an ordinary Evans Bipi who was an ex-policeman, who was a militant, will tell Commissioner of Police ‘my mother, my Jesus Christ on earth says you must remove policemen from governor.’ Then Mbu will obey. Is something not wrong?

    You are sounding too sure that the president didn’t order…?

    I know the president very well, he wouldn’t have ordered that. I know what the president can order and what he can’t order. The president can’t order that they should remove your policemen. If the president wants to order that they should remove your policemen, he would say remove all the policemen. I know what the president can do and what he cannot do.

    But he hears when they remove them?

    He hears.

    So what does he do?

    When you see him, ask him. You should be able to interview the president. It’s like when they took away my aircraft, I called the president and he said; ‘My God! Who did that?’ I said ‘I guess the Minster of Aviation.’ He said ‘Amaechi, I will get back to you. Let me get to her and find out.’ Up till today the president is yet to get back to me.

    The local opposition in your state say you could have done much more given the amount of money you receive. They say your so-called performance is exaggerated?

    But they have not responded to what I accused them of. I accused them of corruption, I accused them of chop-i-chop politics and they want to share in this thing that I refused to make them share. But let’s address the issues they’ve just raised. When I took over government, the wage bill was 2.5 billion, there was embargo on employment. Then Labour met me and said the governor just before he left approved 15 percent wage increase for them. I was new so I couldn’t say no. I approved that increase in the wage bill. The Federal Government increased the minimum wage from N7,500 to N18, 000 – so that is part of it. Then we began to look at the medical sector. We had only 200 doctors and our population then was 5. 1 million persons. So I engaged another set of 200 doctors and I have increased it to another 200, I have employed 400 doctors. There were no nurses; I had to hire another set of 400 nurses. They didn’t have enough architects, land surveyors – all those people in Ministry of Lands. I had to hire them. I looked at primary education and decided to take it over. In taking it over I had to also inherit the wage bill for the teachers at the primary school level. That is 2 billion per month, not per year. That blew our wage bill from 8.9 – from 2.5 to 8.9. I said okay, let’s take an average of 6 billion per month for current expenditure, multiply 6 by 12, 72 billion per year. Multiply 72 by 6? Close to 500… So you remove 500 billion out of their so-called 1.2 trillion. They say if you add my IGR it is 1.9; so let’s go by 1.9 – so you remove 500 billion from 1.9 as wage bill. Don’t forget that I didn’t go to 8, I took an average of 6. Road construction… are they also denying that I have constructed roads? All the projects we did on Federal Government roads took us 1.05 billion. We’ve applied to the Federal Government. We named the road, the contractor and how much is the cost of the contract and it came to 1.05. So remove 1.05 from the remaining 1.4, you would be left with 1.295. Then we have another 400 billion with road project that we have awarded and out of which we have paid 300 hundred. So remove 400 from the 1.29. We have completed 500 schools; we’ve not furnished but we are about to start commissioning of 350. We are waiting for Obasanjo; he is coming on the 10th. He would start the commissioning of the 350 primary schools. Some of them were at the cost of 112 million if it is in the mainland, if it is in the coastal area, it is 120. So let’s go by average of 112, let’s forget the 120, multiply it by 300? We built seven new secondary schools at 4.5 per school. We spent between 120-130 billion for power. The power they are enjoying in Rivers State comes from us; nobody has asked ‘how do we enjoy this power.’ We are making between 15 and 18 hours per day. We promised 24 hours but unfortunately we are not there yet not because we have not put the entire infrastructure in place. We now have distribution which we installed by ourselves; we have transmission lines, we have new power stations. We are going to commission one as Obasanjo comes, then the second one he would lay the foundation stone even though we have paid for all. Just for them to install, they are bringing the machine from Paris for installation so you are talking about between 120 and 130 billion for power. Monorail… we have done close to about 30 billion out of the 140 billion we are expecting. Health centers… at 140 million and we have done three new hospitals. Each hospital took us between 1.5 and 2 billion. We awarded new hospitals of international standard. I am not talking about furnishing yet, I am talking about completion of the project. This shows by far that we can account for the so-called 1.9 trillion. That’s not the argument. You know they never accused me of corruption; they said he refuses to run an inclusive government. Ask them please to define inclusion. Look at the argument by Chibudom Nwuche – that he’s more educated than me because he has a master’s degree. Is that an argument? I replied him. I said I have a Masters as well and I am a registered PhD student in the University of Port Harcourt. So what is the problem? Education is not the degree you get in the university; education is much more than that.

    They have also said that the kind of frontal challenge you have taken to the president and the party, you will not tolerate. They say you are authoritarian and have dealt with anybody that tried to challenge you at the local level?

    If you know me, you will know that I am one man who believes in rule of law. They should call one person that I have dealt with or call one Commissioner of Police that I have told to go and arrest anybody.

    The First Lady mentioned a particular name…

    (Cuts in) Let her call the person. That’s what I told Mbu when he came the first time. I said please don’t be part of politics. I will never call you any day to do anything that is illegal, if I do please refuse. But we had already heard that Mrs. Goodluck Jonathan will remove our Commissioner of Police. Imagine… She is not the Commander- in- Chief but she could transfer a Commissioner of Police and post another commissioner. The wife of the president, not the president and I have said this severally, nobody has denied it, the police has not denied, the president has not denied. I have been saying this since they posted Mbu. I said to Mbu: ‘look, I don’t mind who posted you. I don’t mind whose bidding you’ve come to serve, don’t be part of politics. Just do your work.’ I am being told today what has not happened before in Port Harcourt is beginning to happen: three persons were shot between Saipem and Agip because the woman has helped to compromise security. She brought back the militants into Port Harcourt. We are not able to hold Security Council meetings because she held a Security Council meeting at Otuoke. Wife of president calling Brigade commander, Commissioner of Police (though he said he didn’t attend because he wasn’t well) and the service chiefs. But I heard they didn’t go that day but the rest went: SSS, army. I don’t know why the naval chief didn’t go. Imagine she calling them, JTF commander, they all had a meeting with her at Otuoke. We didn’t even know that it was all of them we thought it was only the Commissioner of Police. So when the press reported that she had a meeting with the Commissioner of Police she denied and rushed to Port Harcourt that day. When she got to the airport my wife was there, the deputy governor’s wife was there to receive her at the airport. She excused everybody into the presidential lounge and asked the Commissioner of Police ‘Did I meet with you? Did I meet with you?’The Commissioner of Police said ‘No, ma! No, ma! You didn’t meet with me, ma.’ She said ‘Is it not four of you that I met with? (General laughter) It is ridiculous.

    If you were asked to do a characterisation of Mrs. Jonathan, what would you say?

    I have no say in that. I can’t do that because you must respect the wife of the president as you respect the president because if you don’t do that you are undermining the president. As for the president, I hold him in high esteem. He is a wonderful man. You need to stay with the president; you will know that he is a very wonderful man.

    So you mean you can’t say one or two words about his wife?

    No! She’s not a public officer. I can’t go there. The best I can tell you is the president. The president will disarm you; he appears when you see him to be harmless.

    He appears?

    Why I said he appears is that with the actions that happen outside, you will be wondering if this is the same president I saw last night.

    Someone likened him to a snake?

    Somebody said that he said that; the president said that there are two animals in the bush: one is the tiger, the other one is a puff adder and that he is that one. He said the tiger makes noise. If it is coming to attack and you hear the noise you should be able to run. But the puff adder just stays and strikes. That is what they said the president said; I was not there. I don’t want to mention the person’s name.

    With regards to the idea of inclusiveness, they said you have been highhanded over Obiakpor local government…

    Obiakpor Local Government… I wasn’t involved; it was the house of assembly. He was found wanting in the areas of financial management and he was suspended. They said okay we are investigating but we need you not to tamper with the documents so we suspend him. When we finish, if you are not guilty, we will reinstate you. It is between him and the state house of assembly, I have no business with them. First police takes over the place; he goes to court. We went to court, police was directed to quit the place, they refused. They don’t obey court judgement. If you liken what is going on to a military government, you wonder whether the president is running a democracy, a civilian government or military government. I used to accuse him of running a civilian government, not a democracy. But now I don’t know whether to say it is a civilian government or military government because a civilian government has a similarity with a military government. The difference is that the person in charge is a civilian in attire not in military uniform. But sometimes you see Abacha wearing French suit or you see President Babangida who also was a military head of state wearing agbada. So the fact that they wear military uniform is not what makes them the military government. What makes them the military government is first: they are military officers, secondly because the orders they issue are by fiat and not by democratic process. So what is the difference between the current government and Abacha’s government?

    Then they said there was a meeting where one local government chairman came late and you first of all fired him and later reinstated him. Some people say the fact that you did that shows that you are devious…

    Not one chairman… we have what we call inter- governmental meeting where we bring everybody together and say ‘listen, the fact that I am governor does not mean that I am an expert in governance.’ So let’s hear your view. We take up the issues one after the other. Council chairmen will not come; if they did, they would come 2 to 3 hours into the meeting. So that day we needed to set an example. It wasn’t one; they were nine.

  • Babangida’s govt knew about Dele Giwa’s death –Debo Bashorun

    Babangida’s govt knew about Dele Giwa’s death –Debo Bashorun

    Major Debo Bashorun (rtd) was the embattled press secretary of the ex-military President Ibrahim Babangida. He is about to release an explosive book on the death of Dele Giwa and the alleged government involvement. He spoke on this and other issues to Associate Editor, Taiwo Ogudipe.

    WHY has it taken you so long to come up with this book?

    Launching this book at this particular time is deliberate. But the book has been ready since 1994 when I was in the United States. I was already through with the manuscript but I was looking for an ideal situation or timing where the book will not be misconstrued to project what it does really meant to be. I’ve chosen this time to come out with the book so that nobody would say I’m being sponsored by some politicians either on the right or the left, or that somebody has given me money. So, I’ve decided to come out clean now for the public to judge and to know what transpired when I was in the presidency of General Babangida.

    How did you start your military career?

    I got into the army as a private soldier. The story of how I did that is very interesting. I had a job with one of the big commercial companies in Lagos. I was sort of given a little promotion and I went somewhere to celebrate it with my girlfriend. That was immediately after the first military coup in the country in 1996. A soldier whom I later understood to be a recruit came in and badgered on us. We gave him drinks. He wanted to snatch my girlfriend and take her away. I resisted. He rained blows on me. He thereafter went to Abalti Barracks (in Lagos) to get his colleagues and came to sack the whole area. That was when I made up mind that I was going to join the army to correct that injustice.

    Where exactly did the incident happen?

    It was at the Boundary Hotel, Idi Oro (in Lagos). At that material time, Lagos Colony and Western Region had their boundary at Idi Oro.

    How was your growth in the army?

    I got into the army, I was trained and as soon as we graduated, I was posted to Ibadan. It was at Ibadan that one of the guys who were with me as recruits came back after a brief foray to the war front with the rank of lance corporal with just a stripe. I was still a private soldier. I was thinking if he could become a lance corporal, I should be one too, knowing full well that we knew each other during the training. We knew those who were better than us and those who were not as good as us. So, this guy came in and started telling us stories about the Civil War. I got mesmerised and said I was going to fight in the war front to get some promotion myself. And that was how I did it.

    I had my baptismal fire in the Second Division at the Onitsha Sector. I was wounded. I came back to Lagos as a staff sergeant. I was sent to the Armed Forces Resettlement Centre at Oshodi. It was one of those days when the then Colonel Benjamin Adekunle used to go around snatching soldiers from the streets. He came to that unit and I was one of those who were sent to the Third Marine Commando. We were shipped to Port Harcourt which had just been liberated.

    I became a platoon commander, a battalion commander. My battalion was 31 Battalion, 12th Brigade under the command of Lt. Col. Macaulay Isemede. One Captain Sotayo was the Brigade Major. We had the likes of General Lawrence Onoja in the brigade too.

    How did you get to be with Babangida?

    After the Civil War, I realised that infantry officers are not all soldiers. As good as they came that time, there wasn’t any future for them. So I decided to look for something else that could guarantee me a future. On my own, I decided to become a journalist. I started reading on my own and I took the exam to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism where I had my first stint with journalism in 1971. I took subediting course. The NIJ was then at Apongbon (in Lagos).

    It took a while for me to get into the Information Unit. I virtually had to force myself to get into where I thought I might be useful. In the infantry they were not allowing soldiers to leave. But I put pressure on the authorities, sending letters of request. Eventually, they caved in. So I joined the Public Relations Corps which was then under the command of Brigadier Folusho Shotomi. He groomed me and sent me to sandwich courses here and there. That was how I learnt through the ropes.

    The first coup made IBB Chief of Army Staff. Prior to that time, I had a two-year stint undergoing the editor course at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism then at Victoria Island in 1980. I also just came back from a UN assignment. I was posted to become the public relations officer to the then Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Wushishi. That was where I first met IBB who was then the Director of Army Staff Duties. We got along fine. He was the person who actually created the environment for me to thrive. Gen. Wushishi was one officer you wouldn’t want to work with. He did not care about the welfare of the junior officers. But Babangida was a different kettle of fish then. He was very popular in the army, very well liked. That was when we got together.

    During the second coup, he moved from being the Director of Army Staff Duties to become the Chief of Army Staff. Babangida sent for me and he said I was to be his public relations officer. The relationship blossomed and I got involved in his domestic issues, his flagstaff house, the staff there, the family and such other things outside official scope that he asked me to carry out. So, we became very close and friendly.

    Eighteen months after that, he and his team struck and he became the head of state after they toppled General Buhari. And he just took me along to continue to work for him and I became press secretary to him.

    Babangida had a very good press then. How did that come about?

    Short of praising myself, the Nigerian press was very generous to him because of his antecedents as the Chief of Army Staff. He was then detribalised. He called people by their first names. He looked into the welfare of soldiers and officers under him as well as those who were not even under him. So when the coup against Buhari happened, the ovation was very loud for Babangida, saying here was the man who would solve the problems of the country. Everybody was saying He was God sent.

    But as time went by, it was discovered that not all that glittered was gold. We thought at the initial stage that we were going into a welfarist government. Gradually, things were taking a turn for the worst. The people were becoming poorer through our policies. And those who dared protest were either thrown into detention or brutalised. Those were the accusations that General Babangida himself on assuming office levelled against the government of Generals Babangida and Idiagbon. When he started getting into these, some of us who were closer to him tried to appeal to him. But you know in the army there is a limit to how you can go.

    Was he not listening to his advisers?

    You remember Chief Olu Falae was one-time Secretary to the Government and Head of Service. He was a professional to the core. But it is one thing in the military for you to be a professional and it is another thing to be under a commander who doesn’t care what you know. So that’s the problem with the army. There are still traces of that in the army today but the army is changing. Thank God. However, it is not what you know in the army. There is a saying in the army that if you know your rights and you are not given, what can you do?

    However, I wasn’t privy to the meetings between Babangida and the likes of Falae. But some of us were sounding boards to what was going on. We collected data from newspaper clippings and so on. We collected bits of information from friends and from what people were saying and handed them over to him. But it was left for him to either take action the way we thought it should be done or he did it his own way.

    Some observers were of the opinion that your regime seemed to liberalise drug running, a malaise that General Buhari was accused of handling in a draconian manner. What do you have to say about this?

    Well, the records are there for everybody to see. When we were in the army, as chief of staff, one of the assignments that I catered for was handling people coming in and out through the airports. I would be sent to clear the people. At the material time, I wasn’t aware that anything was wrong.

  • Convoys of the high and mighty

    Convoys of the high and mighty

    OFFICIAL convoys in Nigeria are today seen as symbols of power and authority. As they blaze their ways through the over-chocked traffic in the busy Nigerian streets and broad expressways, they leave behind them tales of glamour, power, recklessness and blood.

    Over the years, the harvest of souls in this dangerous game of exhibition of raw power and grandeur has continued to grow, leaving behind the wailing of helpless citizens.

    The latest casualty is former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and popular award-winning novelist, Professor Festus Iyayi.

    The great don and man of letters was forced to bid the world farewell last Tuesday in Lokoja, when a vehicle in the convoy of Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State rammed into the bus conveying him and other colleagues to Kano for the National Executive meeting of ASUU.

    It was believed that the meeting the professor was to attend would have led to the university lecturers calling off their four-month old strike.

    All that has again been kept on hold.

    Iyayi was President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) between 1986 and 1988.

    Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Kogi State Sector Commander, Mr. Olakunle Motajo, who first gave an official account of the accident to newsmen, said preliminary investigation revealed that there was wrongful overtaken by the governor’s convoy. He said investigation had started.

    Dr. Sunday Abada, an ASUU member who was also part of the ill-fated ASUU delegation, had also given The Nation an account of how the accident happened.

    According to him, “About 15 union members from various institutions, moving in a three-vehicle convoy, were on their way to Kano to participate in the NEC meeting scheduled to hold in Bayero University, Kano (BUK) today.

    “We were on our way to Kano State for our NEC meeting holding tomorrow when a vehicle in the convoy of Governor Idris Wada on full speed left its lane and collided with the vehicle conveying our members along the Abuja-Lokoja Expressway. Prof Iyayi died on the spot.”

    Some residents of Banda community, who witnessed the accident, according to earlier reports, also said the two vehicles collided and the ASUU bus somersaulted three times before hitting a big tree in the bush.

    It would be recalled that the accident, which occurred at about 11am at Banda village on the Lokoja-Abuja Road, is the second fatal crash in one year involving the governor’s convoy.

    On December 28, 2012, Wada’s convoy crashed on its way to Lokoja from Ayingba, Kogi State.

    Wada’s Aide-de-Camp (ADC) died on the spot. The governor’s leg was broken. Other officials suffered varying degrees of injuries.

     

    History of convoy crashes in Nigeria

    Convoys of Nigerian officials have been involved in fatal accidents since the days of military administrations. In most of the cases, over speeding and reckless driving have been identified as the major causes of the crashes.

    While many observers explain away the habit of convoy drivers of military leaders, that of the drivers of civilian presidents, governors and other top officials since 1999 have remained a puzzle.

    It is on record that Nigeria has lost several lives as a result of this habit.

    In the year 2000 alone, it was reported that senior officials were involved in at least 15 fatal crashes, most of them in convoys.

    On June 8, 2001, one person was killed and several others injured when a car in the convoy of the then president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, “somersaulted and crashed.”

    An eyewitness account said the accident occurred when Obasanjo paid a visit to Sokoto. He said the driver lost control of his car at high speed as he was trying to avoid an oncoming truck. In the process, his car somersaulted several times, leaving a passenger dead and several others injured. He said the driver, who survived, however lost an arm in the crash.

    On Friday, October 9, 2011, a police sergeant was killed and another one injured in an accident involving the convoy of Zamfara State Deputy Governor, Ibrahim Wakkala Muhammad.

    Muhammad was travelling to Sokoto State to flag off the airlift of intending pilgrims for the year’s hajj when the incident occurred.

    In the first week of January 2013, it was reported that the convoy of the Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly, Lawal Jimoh, was involved in a ghastly motor accident that killed a police escort.

    The Speaker was travelling to his Okene home town when a heavy duty truck ran into his escort van at Osara, along Okene road.

    Though the Speaker’s vehicle was not affected by the accident, the Speaker’s Chief Press Secretary, Austin Akubo, who confirmed the report admitted that a police corporal, Lamidi Akeem, who was in the affected escort car, died at the hospital from injuries sustained in the crash.

    That was barely a week after Governor Idris Wada of the same state had an auto crash which claimed the life of his aide, Idris Mohammed.

    It was on December 28, 2012, that the governor’s convoy was involved in the fatal accident that killed his security aide while the governor, Wada, broke hs leg. Two other top officials reportedly got injured in the cash..

    On April 19, 2013, it was reported that Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, narrowly escaped death, as his convoy was involved in a near fatal accident along the Orlu/Owerri road.

    In that incident, the governor’s official car was involved in a head-on collision with a Mercedes Benz car, whose driver rammed into the governor’s convoy after losing control of his car.

    Just this month, November, there was controversy when two innocent pedestrians died as unidentified government convoy allegedly caused an accident in Lagos.

    Media reports said the two pedestrians were killed, while no fewer than nine others were injured after a tipper rammed into pedestrians at the U-turn end of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

    Eyewitness accounts and Federal Road Safety officials said the tipper was avoiding a government convoy of seven vehicles that allegedly drove recklessly into the expressway from a side road around 11.30 am that day.

    Although it was not immediately established which government official was in the said convoy, a report quoted an eyewitness as saying: “It was a convoy of about seven vehicles. There were four jeeps and three escort vans. The escorts were riot policemen.”

    According to some eyewitnesses, about 11 persons were hit, while two died on the spot.

    Since the number plates of the vehicles in the convoy were allegedly covered, there is still controversy over the owner of the guilty convoy.

    There is also the crash involving the convoy of Governor Adams Oshiomhole along Auchi-Warrake Road in Etsako Local Government Area of Edo State, where three journalists died.

    Reports claim the accident occurred when Oshiomhole’s back-up vehicle, conveying security personnel and the government house press bus, collided with a tipper.

    Shortly before then, the convoy of Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State was involved in an accident along the Ogoja-Abakaliki Expressway in Ebonyi State. The governor was on his way back from the funeral of Governor Martin Elechi’s mother in-law. The accident reportedly occurred because the driver did not see the potholes.

    Also, the convoy of Delta State governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, was involved in a crash on the Asaba-Ughelli expressway. It was gathered that the accident happened when the driver of a commercial vehicle, who came face to face with “the lead vehicle in the convoy at a very sharp and narrow bend, lost control and somersaulted repeatedly into a nearby bush, leaving the occupants with wounds.

    Few months earlier, two persons died while six others were wounded when their vehicle had an accident while travelling in the convoy of Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu to Lapai area of the state for a campaign rally.

    Another five persons died when the convoy of Katsina State Governor Ibrahim Shema crashed. The Aide De Camp, ADC, to governor Shema and four others lost their lives in that crash.

    The list appears endless.

  • Patience Joseph: The runaway bride

    Patience Joseph: The runaway bride

    HAVE you watched the movie, “Runaway bride? Interestingly, you run into a young lady who was married for about seven weeks after an ‘arrangee’ marriage by her parents who hail from Kogi State but resident in Bauchi. Almost in tears, the lady who clocked 17 years old on 5th September, 2013 tells her story.“ “My Dad, Mr. Sunday Joseph, wanted me to marry a man, Emmanuel Eche, a banker. They actually linked up through a friend about two years ago. Then I was 14 plus going on to 15 years. The man came to our house one day and had a chat with my parents. When he left, my mother told me that he was interested in me and wanted to marry me.”

    Patience was in JSS three and marriage was the last thing on her mind. “I am the only girl in the family and I have three brothers. I told my mother that I was not interested. She was angry and she did not say anything. The man kept coming to our house regularly. There was a day he came with drinks and kolanuts. He is older and there is a gap of twenty years plus.”

    She continued: “So, I told him that I wasn’t interested and that he would be wasting time waiting for me. I finished WAEC this year from Urban College in Bauchi State. My desire is to further my education and study Mass Communication.” You ask if she took the JAMB examinations and she replied this way: “No. My father asked me to get married and forget about education.”

    He persisted and made the visits more frequent with gifts. “Whenever he comes and was about to leave, he would dip his hands in the pocket to give me money but I would reject it. Then he would call my father and report that I was refusing the gifts from him. At such moments my father would be visibly angry and he would beat me mercilessly. I was beaten so many times that I have lost count, it can’t be less than 50 times.”

    Then one day, Patience was told that the suitor and his people were coming to know the extended family. “He came with his parents and I started crying to show that I was not interested. Then my father’s sister asked me why I was crying and I told them that I was not interested in the marriage. When my father came back, his sister confronted him and asked him why he was forcing me to do what I did not want to do. My father was angry. After the introduction ceremony, my father told me that we were going to see my grandmother. He took me to a herbalist place and the man gave me kola nut to chew. I collected it but refused to chew it. ”

    Then the herbalist asked her to stand up and repeat an oath. “He said that if I refuse to do what he told me, I should be ready to bear the consequence. I refused and he asked them to give him a razor. Two men held me down and they gave me incisions on my hands, my forehead and my chest. After that I was crying and my father took me home. When I got home, I told my mother what my father did but all she said was, ‘that is good for you’.

    Two weeks after this, Patience reported the incidence to her pastor in church. “ I attend Deeper Life church with my parents in Bauchi where they are based. I told the pastor everything that happened and he asked me to come back the following Wednesday for prayers. I showed him the incisions and he prayed for me. He asked me to continue praying and that the ‘medicine’ wouldn’t have an effect on me. Initially, the pastor did not tell my parents that I had confided in him. The guy my parents wanted me to marry is also a member of the church but when the story became public knowledge, members of the church called him and advised him to stop forcing himself on me. Instead of listening to the advise he changed to the Redeem Christian Church of God.”

    When the pressure became so much, Patience ran away from home. “ I ran from Bauchi to my aunt, Joy Shuaibu, in Lagos. I was in her house for a week and they arrested my boyfriend, who is also called Emmanuel. He slept in the cell and was detained for about five days. His mother pleaded with me to come back home so that they could release her son. They later traced me to Lagos and when my aunt heard that they were coming she took me to the police station at Grammar School in Ojodu to make a compliant. The police did their best but my mum said that I must leave with her. I went back to Bauchi and for two weeks I was kept under close monitoring by my father.”

    She adds: “ I thought that the man was going to give up at this point but he didn’t. He came to the house and was still talking about marriage. I refused to talk to anyone in the house and it affected me psychologically. He started paying the bride price and other things to my parents. The wedding Invitation was printed and slated for 24th August, 2013. The traditional wedding took place and I was locked in and teleguided, so that I would not run away again. The wedding took place at the Redeemed Church in Bauchi and I was a very sad bride. It was the saddest day in my life.”

    Honeymoon? They were far from this in all ramification. “We went home after the wedding and I refused to talk to him. He then called my father and told him that I was proving stubborn. I refused to have sex with him even on the night of our wedding. My mother came to talk to me and I shouted at her. Then one Sunday morning in October, I was playing a song by Rihanna on my phone and he shouted at me saying that I was playing worldly music.”

    It was a Sunday morning and they were on the way to church but he drove her straight to her parents place. “ It was barely two months after the wedding. I got on a keke which stopped over at a fuel station and he caught up with me there. He asked me to give him my phone but I refused. He beat me up and tore my clothes to shreds and left. I was left with my bra and underskirt. Everyone around tried to rescue me because in the north , you hardly find women being exposed in public that way. I took public transport back to his house and started to pack my things. I called my parents but they told me never to come back home. In anger I tore all the pictures we took together and took my bag to the other room. I lost my appetite for three days and locked myself up in the room . On the fourth day , I was hungry and I ran to a restaurant . There I told someone my story and I was assisted with some money. First thing the next morning , I ran out of the house to Lagos. I am so afraid and don’t know what would happen to me.” They are also threatening to deal with my aunt who supported me”, she relates in tears.

    Her mother, Mrs Joseph corroborated Patience’s story, saying that Eche was the family’s choice for her. “ I want her to go back to her husband because that is the best thing for her. It is my sister that is teaching her all this nonsense.”