The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sunday Interview

‘What ILO election means for Nigeria’

Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige led the Nigerian delegation to the 106th session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland recently where he emerged the as the Deputy Titular (Regular) member of the ILO Governing Board. In this interview with Tony Akowe, Ngige shares his view on the outcome of the election in Geneva, what it means for the country among other issues. Excerpts:

LET us start by looking at the last International Labour Conference in Geneva. How well did Nigeria prepare for the conference because there are reports that the Nigerian government did not prepare well for it.

This is important because this is not a time in government anymore when people go on trips and make it just a jamboree and don’t look at the fallout or gains for such trip. It is not a fun trip, excursion or holiday. It was purely business as some of you saw there. I make bold to say that the preparation we had this time around was one of the best that the Ministry ever had. We organised members of Nigerian delegation in committees especially the government side. You know that it is a tripartite delegation that always goes for this meeting in the spirit of tripartism which is the ILO concept and the way they have been operating for long. In this tripartism, it is the government on one leg of the tripod, the employers on one and the union/workers delegates as they call them on another leg. You can also do tripartite plus when some other people are invited to go and come. You can have civil societies coming, you can have members of quasi-governmental organisations coming and so you call it tripartite plus. So, this is a composite thing and as I said earlier this is one of the best arranged team that left the shores of Nigeria for the ILO Conference.

But that is contrary to what was reported in a section of the media

I read some newspaper reports alleging that Nigeria did not prepare before going for the conference, that there were no meetings held. This is not true. The ILO office in Nigeria sponsored a pre-conference seminar which was held here in Abuja and in that meeting; the tripartite delegation that would represent Nigeria was represented. The government side was represented and led by the then Acting Permanent Secretary, Mrs Bawa, representing the ministry, accompanied by other directors – the Technical Department of Occupational safety and Health was there, Productivity Measurement and Standard whose director was actually the coordinator on this side and worked in synergy with ILO Country Director, Dennis Zulu for the pre-conference meeting which was held in Chelsea Hotel here in Abuja for two days. The Nigeria Labour Congress led by its leader Comrade Ayuba Wabba and his TUC counterpart, all participated actively. The Nigerian Employers Consultative Association also participated. It was led by Mr. Akinwale, who I think is a Deputy Secretary and he came with some members of NECA. So, I don’t understand why I read an interview where somebody was saying that the Nigerian delegation was unprepared. If we were not prepared, it would have shown, but we participated and I monitored it personally. I was there. At one committee work, the Nigerian delegation sat where they were not supposed to sit and the monitors alerted me immediately and I had to start looking for them, only to find out that they were there but they were wrongly seated and we asked them to go and take our sit. The tag for name place of the country was what was actually removed and they were placed back. So, there were no jamborees. What we produced in our various committees, the distillations was also reflected. Nigeria answered all the questions and queries raised about us especially in the area of maritime which we assured the committee that by September we would make the necessary returns needed from Nigeria. NIMASSA which is the agency in charge of maritime will get some technical assistance from ILO, for us to answer the few queries that were raised and we promised ILO that we are coming with those answers by September.

What is your take on the focus on green world by the conference and how do you think this can best be handled especially in Nigeria?

The first thing is that we had to respond to the Director General’s official report. That is the trend and we took the issues involved there. It was a report on Green Job, Green Environment and what Nigeria is doing. We informed them that even before the Paris agreement, Nigeria had started the process of cleaning up the environment. We had a programme to end gas flaring by 2020, so we have a programme to clean up the spillages and the dirty environment in the Niger Delta where the oil is being mined and the Ogoni is the typical example of what Nigeria is doing in that respect. We also let the world know that we had started the green belt, the green world that is supposed to go from Mauritania across the Sahara regions through our desert area to East Africa and our agency for doing that, the Green Belt Agency is already established. As a matter of fact, we discussed it at the FEC meeting recently and the fund for that is already in place. The world is happy with us. Of course, we told them that we were facing some financial constraints due to the economic recession not because this particular government did not do what it is supposed to do but because we had terrorism in the up north, vandalisation of oil facilities in the Niger Delta and the consequent dwindling of oil output, then, the inevitable slide in oil price which nobody could actually hold down. All these resulted in our not having enough resources to tackle whatever we had envisaged in the Green Belt area like moving into the full solar energy products and also other things that will help us clean our environment.

Did you make any demand from the ILO?

We made specific demands from them. We told them that we need technical assistance to help us buoy up our budgetary expenditure. I read a place where some journalists interviewed the DG of NECA and he said we shouldn’t talk about our budgetary position to the outside world, that it is monetary issue and should be internal. Definitely, he is very wrong. It is a conjoint thing, anywhere you get a technical assistance, it means that you move your resources, the revenue you earn into other areas which otherwise you could have spent. So that is why we asked the ILO to put us into the basket of those who they can assist, in terms of human and material resources.

Many believe that being elected into the position of a deputy in the Governing Board of the ILO has belittled the country. There are even reports that the country was compensated with the position having lost the position of regular member of the Board.

Honestly, there should be no misunderstanding about that. On 12th June, we were elected into the Governing Board of the ILO. The Governing Board is the Managing Board, the decision-making board. It is important to let you know that being on the board, we came in as Deputy Titular for West Africa. It has three positions allocated to it on the governing board and Africa has 13 positions all together and three for West African as it was shared. There was an intense fight to get that one position we have at the Africa Union Commission meeting in Algiers in April. ECOWAS had to play a role for Nigeria to emerge as a nominee at that meeting. At the other end, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also assisted us with diplomatic shuttles, diplomatic maneuvers that we needed to get that nomination and that culminated in our being elected in Geneva into this 122-man Board. And this Board as I said is a supervising, executive decision making board. They take decisions, look at the budget, take decision on report of committees, and ratify any committee report. This board approves technical assistance for countries. The ILO Institute for Training in Turin, Italy is under the management of this board. This Board also elects the Director General, so anybody on the Board has a voting right to determine who makes it to the position of Director General, so you will be lobbied for you to elect a new DG, for the organisation.

It is important also to note that this Board is like the Security Council of the United Nations because there are permanent representative-Russia, Britain, France etc. We are lucky our maneuvers yielded us a very positive result. The tenure is three years, so Nigeria will be there till the year 2020 and it is something that calls for cheers. I was congratulated at the Federal Executive Council. That is why I frowned when a reporter in Vanguard wrote that “Nigeria lost in their bid to get to the governing board and was compensated with the post of deputy.” It shows ignorance. He doesn’t know the configuration of the Board. The Board is a 122-man board and every member is equal. That you are a deputy does not take away your voting right. Is just like the minister and minister of state in the FEC, if they want to vote, everyone of them votes and even if you are a minister of state, you are given definite portfolios. Nigeria government was the only Anglophone country in West Africa to get into this board after 10 years of exit. In all, we have done what we are supposed to do and it is something to congratulate the country for. Besides, we got elected into three committees of the governing board. The number one is the Committee on Freedom of Association. It is a committee that oversees unionisation, ensuring that workers freely unionise. Number two is the committee on the board of ILO Training Institute. The third is the committee on Technical and Working Party that organises the conference.

Don’t you think Nigeria would have been better off being elected as a Regular (Titular) Member rather than deputy?

That means you still don’t understand me. The Governing Board is a 122- man Board. Out of this 122, you have the first 56 referred to as titular members (Regular). In this titular group, you have government group taking up 28 positions while the workers’ groups have 14 members and the employers’ group with 14 members. Among those 28 members from the government side, you have permanent members, who are the highest contributors. They are the industrialised nations like the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, France, etc. None of these nation is from Africa. The remaining positions are shared among the continents of the world. So, it is in realization of this that everybody in the governing board is made equal. The positions of titular and deputy are like having a minister and a minister of state in the federal cabinet. They both have equal rights. The permanent positions are for the industrialized nations and Nigeria is not one. So that is why Nigeria cannot key in there on a permanent basis as of right. The position for titular that came to Africa was shared, among West Africa, North Africa, South Africa, Central Africa, East Africa. What many people don’t know is that and more importantly this position was actually contested for at the AU meeting. That idea was that African countries that have not been on titular position be allowed to have a feel. That is how Senegal and Cote d’ Voire came on board for West Africa. Nigeria has been on the Governing Board as titular members for 27 years.

What will Nigeria benefit from this last ILO Conference?

In concrete terms, I have mentioned the other aspect of what we stand to gain in terms of technical assistance, training for our staff, workers in private sector which NECA represents – they will benefit from this training at the expense of ILO.

We will also have some benefits like ILO establishing skills acquisition centres in the country. We will also benefit from ILO conventions such as Labour Migration. My Ministry is actually thinking of re-enforcing our Skills Development and Certification Department, going back to the traditional City and Guild Certificate, standardizing it to be world standard, such that under the International Organisation for Migration, we can export labour like the carpenters, welders, bricklayers, plumbers, tillers etc from Nigeria to other countries. They will go there as official migrants with all their papers, this is one of the benefits. There are other labour issues like the labour deficit issues which the conference brought to the fore. The employers are there, they will know that before you layoff somebody, you will have to apply the redundancy law. It is an international forum and they will let them know that the Labour laws are to be obeyed. Besides, with Nigeria on the board and committees, we shall witness first hand issues that boarder on fair labour practices. For example last year, Nigeria was charged for Child Labour even though the charge was in a way frivolous because the tape in reference was that of Bokoharam child soldiers. So, in our defense, we had to bring evidence to show that they were not part of our regular Nigerian Army but terrorist group. Similarly, issues of Occupational Safety and Health are emphasized and brought closer home for the benefits of our private sector – things they must do to enhance safety in work places, failure of which, they can be prosecuted .

July 30, 2017
‘We must all join the anti-graft war’

Chief Bisi Ogunjobi, Ondo State-born septuagenarian meets the criteria of the typical Nigerian ‘Big Man’ considering the fact that he is a man of means who also has the right connections, carriage and charisma to go with it. But he is shorn of all the airs and haughtiness you naturally would expect from the typical bourgeois. Suave and gentlemanly, the elder statesman who boasts of over 30 years of meritorious service at the African Development Bank(AfDB) where he rose to the highest leadership cadre before his retirement in 2005, remains committed to the ideas and ideals of development both in the continent and Nigeria in particular. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, he attempts a prognosis of the sociopolitical and economic crisis assailing the continent, Nigeria and proffers workable solutions. Excerpts:

YOU are presenting two separate books to the public this week, A Journey in African Development, which is your autobiography and the other, is Transformative Paradigms in African Development. What informed the writing of these books?

Let me say that putting down my experiences through the years in the African Development Bank (AfDB), is informed by what I will say the need to get the new generation to appreciate what events have taken place in the course of my career in the African Development Bank. I’ll say that maybe close to half of my life, at least more than half of my adult life, were spent in the AfDB. When I look at the Bank and I see context in which we found ourselves, it’s basically about human development; how to improve the life of an ordinary man. And this is done through the main items of life: provision of shelter, infrastructure, food, health and development of the human capital. These are key areas in the development of any human being. And the level of development of such indices in the developing and in developed countries marks the differences between the social life of an African and that of the European. That is access to these facilities makes the difference. From an African, access to housing, good roads, electricity, and to general infrastructure like health, education much lower than we have in the developed countries. And that is the raison d’être for creating the African Development Bank and I was lucky at a relatively early age to have been involved with that. So my career path went through that. And I had the opportunity while in the Bank to work in all parts of Africa. I worked in the Southern Africa for many years where I was the Bank’s representative for the nine South African countries. I worked in North Africa including: Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, and Libya. I worked in West Africa, the whole of 16 ECOWAS countries. I was once the Bank’s Vice-President in charge of Central Africa. And that is the story of my journey in terms of geographical spread. But of course, I interacted with other international organisations like the World Bank and Islamic Development Bank, European Investment Bank that also work on African development. That is another strand of my journey. In terms of the nature, I worked with in the Central Bank of Nigeria, which is an institution not just in monetary policy but also in the development areas. I worked with Islamic Development Bank which very interestingly, although I’m a Christian and an elder in the church, is an Islamic Bank. And the reason why I could work there is simply because of my expertise. Because when Islamic Development Bank builds a road in Nigeria, the road is not going to be used by Muslims or Christians only. Unfortunately, this has been twisted in a way that people don’t see the development perspective of that institution in the continent.

Naturally, your career trajectory comes with a lot of experience. From your interactions with people in the world, what would you say is the distinguishing factor between the African and the rest of the world? I ask that question advisedly because you talk about indices of measuring development like access to health, education and all of that, which is still a big deal here but are a given elsewhere. So why has Africans failed to follow the path of success others take for granted? What do you think is missing?

I think this is a very important question and I will just sum it as governance. Governance is the way we manage human and material resources for the benefit of the people we govern. And the major difference in the two sets of countries that we are talking about is governance because in the process of that governance, you build institutions. In the process of that governance, you create human capital. That is you build people who have the education, knowledge and the capacity to move the economy forward. So in one of the chapters in my book, Transformative Paradigms in African Development, there is a key topic on governance, which is considered the key, the driver and virtually all in all to make a country or the economy progress in the direction that we are talking about. It was a paper I delivered sometimes ago. You see in the most developed countries, when you’re appointed to a position you want to see the contributions you can make to improve the place better than you met it. And of course, the system is in place that reduces or least checkmates the abuse of that office. And more importantly, if you abuse that office, there is in place structures, rules and regulations that will discipline such a person. All these are much weaker in the developing countries, so that the management of those resources is not in the same direction. It is not that our people are less intelligent, no. It’s not even education alone; it’s just your sense of responsibility towards the assignment which you are capable. And I feel that to a large extent, if you look at the history of all these countries, we have been talking of corruption everywhere, not in this regime alone. We have been talking about it in the previous administrations and all that. I think those are the stumbling blocks for this country to be where we should be, particularly when everybody knows that we have what it takes in terms of human and material resources. But in the management of these resources, governance is the key to our addressing the situation.

I recalled that in the past, Nigeria has had a smooth sail in terms of accessing funding from many Development Finance Institutions (DFIs). We just got some monies from some DFIs and still hoping for more. But just few weeks ago, the European Union said Nigeria and a few other countries was going to be blacklisted from further enjoying foreign interventions because of mismanagement of past resources. Given this donor-apathy by these institutions, some schools of thoughts have even argued that Nigeria should not be among countries seeking donor-funds in the first place. Do you share such sentiments and what do you think the country can do to be self-reliant?

Well, I think that no country can develop with donor resources because donor resources are supposed to be to complement your own resources. So the management of your resources either the one you got naturally or the one you mobilise from the international community must be done the same way. If you don’t properly manage your own resources, you will not be able to do the same even when it comes from external donors. So the issue is management and it’s going to be even worse because you have to pay back those loans. Today everybody is talking about debt sustainability in this country. If you look at the simple fact that in 2005 or 2004, when we had to get out of the debt trap when we had about $30 billion and today we have $60billion external debt. You want to ask question, what have we used those resources for? You want to ask yourself, what impacts had the projects which we borrowed those funds for had made on Nigerians? I think it’s a legitimate question today. When people ask me the question, why have we gotten where we are? You see one of the major problems facing this country is implementation of projects and the consistency of government policies, irrespective of the government that is on board, irrespective of the permanent secretaries and irrespective of the ministers in government. So when you have consistent policies and the management of those policies which strangles the implementation of those policies will have difficulties in moving in one direction.

Two key points from your response is that the country is battling the problem of inconsistent policies and mismanagement of resources. Would you want to expatiate?

I think the issue here goes beyond giving advice because the decision makers are the ones who know exactly where they are taking us to, so is not the advice. I can have a situation to say, irrespective of the advice, what we are saying is that the government should have the clear direction of where they want to move the country. And that is where, when we now have this three-year programme, they will now have the economy framework which the government want to know, its economy recovery from the recession we are now and of course, growth. And of course when you look at the title of the programme combined recovery and roadmap. So the key element in that show is what we are familiar with and they expect that this will enable us to move in that direction. Of course, this is also now going to be bedevilled by politics, and whether you like it or not because 2019 is when another president would be installed and 2018 is the period when the electioneering would be kicked off and to a large extent politics might compromise the economics. And that is the fear which we have.

Are these fears founded or unfounded?

I think it’s a natural development. If you are a government and you want to come back, then in implementing the programmes there is the possibility of not devoting the entire resources and time to those issues because you have an election at hand and don’t forget the opposition party will be working to ensure that they cannot demonstrate whether they have better alternative. So in a time of electioneering, priorities will change and priority will be given, may be perhaps to politics rather to economics. And I think that it’s a natural tendency everywhere not peculiar to this country alone.

We’re in a recession which has lingered for over one year and government and its spin doctors have made several assurances that this will be a thing of the past before the third quarter, judging by what the top echelons of the CBN said recently. But there are no visible signs anywhere?

Let’s look at it this way, if you see from the time the new administration came in, they started with a number of policies particularly in the area of agriculture. You see those policies and now the results of those policies are coming out particularly with respect to food production. We are now in the fourth or fifth raining season, therefore the policies in agriculture are now taking root and we’re seeing positive impact of the government policies in that area because if you look at the growth rate in the agricultural sector, it’s much higher than any other sector. To a large extent also, you find that the Central Bank of Nigeria has been able to tamper the volatility of the naira exchange rate. There was a time when it was over N500 to the dollar. Now I think it’s N360 to a dollar. So you can see the impact of those policies gradually sipping in. I think there is a better synergy now between monetary policy and fiscal policy between the Ministry of Finance and the CBN. There is a lot of enlightenment on why people should pay their taxes because that is a major area of revenue generation. You see that even the price of diesel has come down partly because the refinery has increased the production in the country both in Kaduna and Port Harcourt. So we are gradually seeing the impact of the various policies that have been put in place. But the problem which I raised is how can you make sure that this is not compromised by the elections in 2018 leading to 2019? I think that is the key. If the government stays on track we will be able to achieve some level of success.

You talked about borrowing from the international community. From the double talk from the minister, she is saying yes, we want to borrow, and no we’re not going to borrow. I think those are the sort of things that give you the impression that people are not getting their handle on the economy. But I think that should not be attributed to individuals. But you know this is the first time that the budget is taking out of the Ministry of Finance. In many countries, Finance and Budget are together. But in a few other countries, they are separated just like we have here. So I believe the experience of this new structure definitely is having an impact in the way the economy is being managed. Hopefully, by the next round when we’re now fully familiar with this, things might improve.

As you acknowledged, there are a few positives by this government including the Single Treasury Account (TSA) which has stemmed leakages in the MDAs substantially among other things. However, a lot of people share the view and very strongly too that these are really not something to cheer about, especially the war on corruption which remains largely a circus show because not any big fish has been brought to book. Do you think the government is on the right track as far as the war on corruption is concerned?

I think first of all, we should know that the war on corruption is the most important war we need to fight in this country. How it is done, how effective it is, and the impact will be judged more effectively when all of us are parts and parcel of that war. Not just the government, the private sector, the individual, the institutions must all support the government policy on anti-corruption because if we look at the negative impact of corruption, it affects everybody. And therefore, the way to look at it is in its multifaceted dimensions. The judiciary, the legislative and the executive must be on the same wave length; where you don’t have that happening, that’s when we now talk of the government being selective and all that. The government is looking at only those who are not in government, which is the opposition. There is a Yoruba adage which says: ‘Eni je gbi, lon ku gbi… (If you eat mysterious food, you die mysteriously). If you’re not infringed on whether you’re in opposition or in government, you will not be affected. Besides, everybody is focusing on the federal government, why are we not focusing at the state level? Why are we not focusing at the local government? Until we have this fight or war on corruption not just at the centre but also at the state and local government levels, we will not be able to succeed as a nation. Until the legislative, the judiciary and the executive arm of government can combine in looking at it together it will be very difficult to succeed. And the question should be the moment somebody is caught the law should take its course. I think everybody will today accept that the current administration has done a lot in bringing it to the fore. How effective it has been, that’s a different interpretation. But one thing one can say is that if people are hiding the money in the closet and burial ground, it shows that they cannot put it in the banks anymore, which means the banks which used to be source of money laundering are also been very careful. I think the fight should go on but it should go a little beyond those specific individuals. We should look at the institutions. How can we make EFCC more effective, how can we give it more teeth to bite, how can we reorient the ordinary man on the streets that look don’t compromise and be able to say no to corruption. Look at the corruption people are saying, but even the ordinary man on the streets is guilty as charged. You want to get things from a ministry, the obstacles are there and unless you play balls with them, then it becomes much more difficult. It’s a form of corruption. It is rampant in schools, in the universities, offices, churches, mosques, everywhere and nobody is talking about it. I think the war on corruption has to be a holistic approach, not just leaving it in the hands of the government. I think the government has given the framework and let us all join together.

As an insider could you tell us what the modus operandi of AfDB’s operations?

Well, the bank when of course, it started was based on contributions from African countries. We gathered at the time $250million, which the Bank started with. But today, the capital of the Bank is over $10billion. Not only that we get money from or shares by African countries. The Bank has been opened to non African countries. So as of today, we have about 54 African countries and about 27 non African countries who are shareholders. So they have contributions to the Bank. But more importantly, the Bank by its balance sheet goes to the capital market to borrow and borrows at extremely fine rates. So that’s why it’s able to lend to the various countries. So it is more of the strength of the Bank’s balance sheet that allows them to borrow at the international capital market. And of course, the subscription of the member countries they use as guarantees. The Bank is solid, the shares are owned by America, Britain, and Nigeria is the largest African shareholder.

What is the size of Nigeria’s equity currently?

It’s about 10 per cent.

In terms of getting intervention is it based on the level of shares owned by countries?

Not at all. Your access to the funding by the Bank is not related to your shares. If you have good projects, you benefit if you don’t have, you don’t. It’s as simple as that. But we also have the Concessional Fund, which is the African Development Fund, which is resources provided by the non African countries to the Bank to support African countries, at least on concessional terms. The interest rate is almost zero but with a commitment fee of about one per cent. That is the resources provided by these countries on a three-year basis, we call it the Replenishment Fund. It is a combination of these that constitute resources of the Bank.

At the same time, Nigeria way back in 1976 set up the Nigerian Trust Fund in the Bank with an endowment of about $80million to support other African countries and this has been exclusively managed by the AfDB to support other African countries. The resources are well managed and today we will be looking at about $500million, in terms of the Nigerian Trust Fund resources in the Bank.

Looking back at 70, what are the fond memories of growing up, your source of inspiration and all that?

Definitely, I have every reason to thank God for what He has done in my life. I come from a relatively well-off family because my father was a businessman. He was an illiterate because he never went to school and my mother too. But both of them had passion for education and therefore insisted that all of us had to go to school. That then gave you the advantage of standing on the higher pedestal in life. And that I thank my parents for, for giving me that opportunity to start at the higher level than a lot of contemporaries. I was very much impressed at a very young age by the school uniform. The school in my town, Ikare, Ondo State, that is Victory College, from time to time, you see the pupils in their uniforms, donning white shirt and navy-blue shorts. As a little boy that had a big impression on me that I wanted to be like those students. Then in 1958, the late Ambassador Ayodele, he is from my place. He was not an ambassador at that time, was coming from Fourah Bay University, in Sierra Leone after his graduation and all the pupils were supposed to line up to welcome him when he was coming from the university. And everybody said, oh, he is coming from Ilu oyinbo (white man’s land). Nobody knew the difference. Of course, it’s overseas. And we all went to meet and I said to myself, ‘look, I want to be welcomed the way that man was welcomed.’ So my ambition at that time was to say I want to be a graduate. But at the end of the day, I had my first degree at the University of Ibadan and nobody lined up to welcome me. (Laughs)… I think those are the two things that I remember very clearly that inspired me. But I was also lucky to have a wonderful principal in my first year in school, at Ado Ekiti Grammar School. And that is Oba J. F Alabi. By August 10 this year, he will be 101. He was my mentor. He took special interest in me from day one when my father brought me to the school and I’m very grateful to him. When he celebrated his 100 years, I was with him, and by God’s grace, I’ll be with him on his 101 years celebration.

What are you doing in retirement now?

Well, I think my passion nowadays is for my Foundation. I have the Bisi Ogunjobi Foundation (BOF), which I started in 1991. We had our 25th anniversary last year. It’s all to support youth’s empowerment and community development. We have given out scholarships, we have been organising lecture series and we have diversified into supporting paediatrics, that is young children in hospitals.

Why specifically, did you set up the BOF?

You see, one of the reasons why we created the BOF was that when I was in the primary school, I had one of my classmates, very brilliant chap and he had a fantastic handwriting. When he writes, you think it has been typewritten. And my handwriting is not very good. At times, I cannot even read what I have written. But he never had the opportunity to go to secondary school. In those days, my father would buy books for me and I will take my books to him to write my name in my books. That shows the quality of his handwriting which I admired. By the time, we left primary school; I went straight to a secondary school. You know those days some people go to modern school before they go to secondary school. But I was lucky to go directly to secondary school. From there, I went for my A-levels in Ibadan Grammar School before I went to the university. So by the time I graduated, I was still relatively young, I was 23 years and within one year of graduation I had a car. And I was driving and I stopped at a petrol station somewhere in Ekiti, Ikere and the person who came to attend to me was this fellow from my primary school days and that made an impact on me. And then I asked myself, ‘how much more I’m brilliant than this fellow? If he had had the opportunities which my parents gave me may be he will not be where he is. He could have been a better person. So that is the motivation that made me say , yes, if there is anything I can do to support indigent students , I will do that. And that is why we created the BOF. That has been my passion and I enjoy doing that. We thank God for what he has been able to use us for because what I have been praying for is Oluwa lo mi fun ise re ati ogo re. (Lord, use me as your vessel) and that has been my philosophy in life.

July 23, 2017
‘My Nigerian odyssey’

From the first time Dr Gary Maxey, founder of West African Theological Seminary (WATS), Lagos, stepped on the shores of Nigeria in 1982 with his wife and four children, he has been enthralled by the many potentials of the nation. He speaks with Sunday Oguntola on the thrills and challenges of living as an American in Nigeria as well as his undying passion for his country of residence. Excerpts:

AT what point did you decide to come to Nigeria? You know I have been here for 35 years. My parent came here in 1978 for a six-week visit to teach some pastors in Port-Harcourt and that is what really sparked my own interest.

At that point, my wife and I were missionaries in Latin America but my father was so excited about Nigeria. Eventually, God used that to bring us to Nigeria in 1982.

What was your first impression on arrival?

I came with my wife and our four children, who were relatively young. The youngest was two years old. It was a very exciting experience for us. We were already cross-cultural missionaries in Mexico and Central America. So mission life was not new to us.

In fact, we landed and moved straight to Port Harcourt. We were in Port Harcourt for seven years and moved to Imo State for 12 years and later to Lagos 16 years ago.

We were invited originally by The Bible Missionary Church of Nigeria to establish a Bible College in Port Harcourt called Calvary College of Theology, which we did. We moved to Owerri where we first established the West African Theological Seminary (WATS).

How much do you feel Nigerian?

Of course, I do. This is where we live. Like I say we go live here, we go die here. There is really nowhere else to go at this point. We can move back to the United States but our work is here and 95 percent of our friends are here. We have left the States so long that we don’t have much friends there again. We have our four children in the US but they live in four different states. So, why move? What’s there elsewhere that we cannot get here? For us, this is where to be, really. We feel very much at home here. We are comfortable here.

One of your daughters is even married to a Nigerian…

… Yes, that is very correct. Our second daughter is married to a Nigerian/Cameroonian. His mother is from Cameroon but father is Nigerian.

You had no objection whatever when she introduced him?

There was no objection at all from us. The question was whether she was going to be comfortable in a cross-cultural marriage and we had little doubt about that because she had spent a lot of time here to cope. It is a very happy marriage and they have done very well.

What excites you most about Nigeria?

Nigeria is at the heart of the most significant Christian growth on the globe. In fact Africa, as a whole, is the only continent in the history of the world to become majority Christian in one century. The projection is that by 2050, there will be 1.2billion Christians in the continent, which is more than double what we have now and Nigeria is really at the heart of it.

Nigeria is the giant of Africa in terms of Christian growth and other areas of growth. So, this is the place to be. And there is nothing more important to do than to train leadership.

So, you feel at home with the culture here?

Of course, we do. Missionaries are by nature are supposed to be bi-cultural. We eat the food and do everything most Nigerians do. Perhaps, because there are many languages in Nigeria, we haven’t been able to master any of them.

But I speak a lot of Pidgin English. We have always taught students from a multiplicity of cultures and languages and there is not much compelling reason to learn one of them more than the other.

What has made you stay for 35 years despite the challenges here?

First and foremost, it is the call of God. We have the strong belief that this is where God wants us to be. Aside from that, there are a whole lot of reasons why Nigeria is a great place. The people are industrious. The people are intelligent. The students are among the best in the world.

There is a very strong drive for religion and God. So, there is whole long list of reasons to be here really for us. So, there is just a lot of positive things for the country. But again being where God wants you to be is always a compelling reason.

My father-in-law used to say there is no promotion from the centre of God’s will. This means if I am where God wants me to be, moving anywhere else is a demotion.

You have lived in Port Harcourt, Owerri and Lagos. How easy has it been relating with Nigerians?

You know you have to live in Lagos to appreciate what Lagos is really. I have a whole lot of friends outside Lagos who dread coming over to Lagos, let alone living here. The last thing they want to do is be in Lagos. But after a while you fall in love with the place and you get used to this.

The potholes, the go-slow and all the problems, you put up with all the inconveniences. This is the place to be. It is the largest Black city in the world and it is great to be here.

You are excited being here?

Yes, we are. This is the place to be.

You are at home with Nigerian attires?

Yes, I am. I wear them a lot many times.

How do you feel when you are in them?

How do you feel wearing what you are wearing? I mean you feel you have a cloth on and that is it. I am not a fashion stickler.

How about Nigerian meals?

I take all of them, I mean. I enjoy eating them. For me, amala and ewedu is the best. But my wife will say pounded yam is just excellent. But food is just food. It is just to keep you going. It is not what life is all about.

You should be naturalised after 35 years here, shouldn’t you?

Well, that is the sad story really. I have been trying for the past four years but because of the corruption and all the nonsense that goes on in this country, the process is not finished. It’s taking a long time.

Have you been denied or something?

No, I haven’t but the process has dragged on and on. You know how things are in Nigeria. Your file gets to one office and wouldn’t move on except you do what they want you to do. And the whole thing gets delayed. Sometimes ago, we were asked to pay N1million for some nonsense and we said ‘no, we won’t pay bribe.’

It is just that in Nigeria, the government is not set up to do those things smoothly and quickly. So, that is what has been happening.

But that doesn’t stop you from loving Nigeria, does it?

I hope it will be finished some day. We are tired of the long delay. It’s not something we really have to have. We can spend the rest of our days as residents but since we don’t plan to live anywhere else, we preferred to be Nigerian citizens. But as it is, let’s get on with it.

Would you like to be buried here when the time comes?

Sure, I will. I am here and there is no reason to be somewhere else. I have works to do here. So, there is no other place attracting me. There are more beautiful places. There are more attractive places but that is not what life is all about. Life is all about pleasing God.

Do your friends outside the country try to talk you to return home?

No, because my friends outside the country know what I am doing here and they are appreciative. They are very supportive of the work here. I don’t think anyone has ever said maybe I should give it up and be somewhere else.

Obviously, my wife and I will love to be closer to our children and grandchildren. That is probably the single most difficult issue for us but at the same time, we have hopes that one day some of them might consider moving over here to join us.

But life is not about living close to your family. There are always prices to pay for whatever one is doing. Being separated from our family is a price to pay. What grandparents will not want to be with their grandchildren? We get to see them once in a year when we travel for vacation.

What do you find most frustrating about Nigeria?

What shall I say? If you are in a go-slow for more than three hours, that is not a happy day. But I don’t think much of the frustrations. You just put up with whatever comes your way. We are able to live here and do our works.

You live in whatever circumstances you have. You put up with the inconveniences they might be. They are the not the issues. Those are minor things.

For Nigerians who think they must travel out to make it big, what will you be telling them?

It all has to do with your values and sense of direction. I think it is absolutely unreasonable, if not crazy for Nigerians to long to be in the US. The US is a decadent society. It is rapidly losing its Christian foundations. The United States is filled with progressive immoralities, all kinds of absurdities. My children are dreading raising their kids in the US.

Why on earth will a sensible Nigerian want to move over there? Is it so you could have light for 24 hours? Is that all life is all about? Is life all about having light for 24 hours in a day? It just doesn’t make sense to me.

If I have any message to Nigerians, especially Christians, it would be to forget all those nonsense. God put you here for a purpose. I know several Nigerians in the American Diaspora and I can confirm most of them are as unhappy as they were here. On the contrary, most of them are trapped there.

Their children are losing their African, Christian values. Their children are becoming homosexuals to the dismay of their parents and they feel trapped there. So, I just say wake up and stop bemoaning the fact that Nigeria is difficult. We all know it is difficult here.

In my case, I can leave Nigeria tomorrow if I want to. I could live in physical comfort but that is not what life is about…

…What then is life all about?

Life is about finding and living in the centre of God’s will. You will to find what God wants you to be and become that. Obviously, I can’t discover that until I get in harmony about God.

Life is not about physical comfort. It is not about material success. You could make it all about that but I am convinced you won’t be happy at all until you find God.

Which African values do you find interesting?

Africans don’t value pre-marital sex and homosexual marriage. Africans don’t disrespect their parents or marry without strong family ties. So, those are strong values that Africans should hold on tightly to. Unfortunately, they are losing them to the charming deceits from America.

What informed your current book The Seduction of the Nigerian Church?

I have written several books but this came out of my burden for revival in the church. It is the second of the four-book series I plan on revival. The first was Capturing the lost vision: Can Nigerian greatest revival live again?

I came to this country with a burden for a reviving of the church. In 1983/84, we saw revival at a massive level after the civil war. But I realised that the biggest hindrance to revival in the church is that we have had accumulation of errors, theological false teachings that have swept across the church and made it impossible for us to experience revival. We must first have reformation before we can have revival. Now, we can proceed from there to know how we can get rid of some of these poisons out of our system.

Could it be you were on a fault-finding mission in the church with the book?

The purpose is not to find faults but to correct errors among us. That is part of our Christian responsibility to confront with truth. Unfortunately because there is a large spread of theological training and education among church leaders, most of them have fallen prey to these enticing, false teachings, most of them from overseas.

America has dumped a lot of its theological garbage into Africa and because leaders do not have adequate theological training, they have innocently swallowed it. These are good-hearted leaders without enough theological depth to reject it.

WATS has always been in financial strait. How have you been coping?

Any non-denominational theological institution is naturally on its own for funding. It is extremely challenging to support a viable interdenominational institution. It is tough to get people to support it.

The history of the school has always been a history of struggle. But we have continued to do whatever God wants us to do. The struggles have not stopped us from doing what we should do every year of our existence. At any given point, we are in dire needs of financial support to move on to the next level. But God has always provided at every point.

What much more support will you require to take WATS to the next level?

You know I told you there is a projection that Christians in the continent will be 1.2 billion by 2050. That is remarkable because it will constitute 38 percent of Christianity in the globe. It means somehow the African church has to find a way to train 15million pastors in the next few years.

Even if all our theological institutions run at full stretch, we won’t be able to meet 20 percent of that need. So, theological educators have to think outside the box on how to meet that requirement. So, WATS wants to run a virtual campus, which means putting our entire curriculum online so that students can participate in theological training without being physically present.

We are working on a plan now to have one million students online by the middle of the century. It sounds crazy but that is what we will do by His grace. We want to also expand our physical campus where we can have 10,000 resident students.

It will take a lot of faith in God. It will come. It will be there by God’s grace.

Some Christians have pointed out theological education has turned many pastors more academic and not spiritual. Do you agree?

That is not true about our school. People do not say our graduates are academically sound and spiritually inferior. The reason is very simple. We place strong emphasis on spiritual formation. We believe to train the head and not the heart is just wrong. So, we have our curriculum to see to that.

But how come the biggest churches in the nation are not run by theologically trained pastors?

That is part of the problems why I wrote that book. We have been led astray by people without theological, biblical training. Our challenge is how to get theological training to those kinds of people, which is why we came up with the idea of a virtual campus.

I have great admiration for someone like Pastor Sam Adeyemi, who despite not being able to get residential theological training has benefitted a lot from tutelage of properly trained, theological sound mentors.

He has shown that by going to study at the Regent University in the United States. It is not good when a large chunk of our large church pastors do not have theological training. The African church has to correct that mistake.

What can the American church learn from Nigeria and vice versa?

Certainly, Africa has a lot to teach America about evangelism and prayer warfare. I admit we have had a deterioration of the prayer in the Nigerian church but generally speaking the Nigerian church is a much more praying and evangelizing church.

The American church can teach some issues like organisation and church administration as well as corporate governance.

What would you like to change in an average Nigeria, if it were within your powers?

Well, I will like them to get more serious with God and stop chasing the charms of America. They should get real, stay back and develop this big nation with a lot of potentials.

What has Nigeria changed in you? What have you learnt being here in 35 years?

I don’t know how to answer that question. I am here. I think I have learnt how to be patient. You can’t be in traffic for three hours and survive without patience.

July 16, 2017
‘Why few women are involved in forensic accounting’

Mrs. Folake Folashade Onabolu is the first female Certified Forensic Accountant in Nigeria and currently works at the Lagos State Audit Service Commission after years of private practice at some blue-chip companies. In this interview with Omolara Akintoye, she shares her experience working at ministries and departmental agencies across the state as well as concerted efforts by the Commission to block leakages within the system. Excerpts:

Growing up I was born in Ile Ife, Osun State into the family of late Joseph Adekanmi Olawoyin, Police Officer and my late mother Mrs. Adunola Olawoyin, who was a textile dealer in her lifetime. I personally love education right from when I was small. I remember starting school at the age of five. I went to St. Peters Primary School, Ile-Ife the to Our Lady’s Girls’ High School also in Ile-Ife.

Career journey

I went to The Polytechnic Ibadan for my ‘A’ Levels. I was among the pioneer set of ‘A’ level student in the school then. It was called School of Basic Studies then. In 1976 I gained admission to study Economics with specialisation in Accounting through a direct entry admission into the University of Ife. I graduated with Second Class Honours Upper Division in 1979. I did some other exams and I became a qualified Chartered Accountant.

After becoming chartered, I also went further to become a Fellow of the Nigeria Institute of Taxation, Institute of Management and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountant, Nigeria. There is this female arm of the Institute, which is the Society of Women Accountants of Nigeria which I’m very active, I’ve served as the second Vice Chairperson.

Currently, I’m the first Vice-Chairperson and this coming September I’m going to be invested as the National Chairperson of the Executive Council of the Society. That day I will clock 60 and I will also launch my book on Forensic Accounting, titled: ‘Forensic Auditing in the Nigerian Public Sector.’ Presently, I’m working in the Audit Service Commission of Lagos state, so it is apt to come out with such a publication at this point in time.

Experience working in different ministries and departmental agencies

Prior to my appointment with Lagos state government, I was with the firm of Coopers and Lybrand till 1987 when I became an Audit Supervisor, then I went to a Merchant Bank, as a Deputy Manager and rose to the position of Senior Manager in the bank. From there, I went to a private hospital to become the Executive Director, Finance and Administration till 2002 when I came into the Lagos state civil service as an Assistant Director State Treasury Office.

As head of Documentary Accounts Department of the State Treasury Office, I was in charge of Lagos State Domiciliary Accounts and Foreign Exchange Transactions. I was the head and business manager of the cash Management module of the Oracle Financial 11i Release of Lagos State Global Computerisation Project.

As a woman with exceptional eyes for details, I made huge savings and recovery from banks and financial institutions on behalf of the state government in excess of N400million, which earned me a letter of commendation from the Lagos State Head of Service in appreciation for my efforts.

As Deputy Director of Accounts with the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, I was made the summit Accountant for the year 2008 Lagos Economic Summit and a member of the Finance Sub-committee. I received a letter of appreciation for my efforts.

As Deputy Director of Accounts with Lagos State Government, Health Service Commission, I was in charge of the financial activities of 24 Government Hospitals scattered all over Lagos State.

Interest in forensic accounting

When I was working with Lagos state government, because of my passion for this job, I got interested in Forensic Accounting. The Institute of Chartered Accountant placed an advert in the dailies to train the first set of Forensic Accountants and I applied to become a Forensic Accountant. I enrolled for the Forensic Accounting Certification Programme which was co-sponsored by the health service commission and Ministry of Establishment & Training. I went for the training, (the Institute collaborated with American Institute of Forensic Accountant to train us then) courtesy of Lagos state government. To the glory of God, I was the only female that qualified after the training and I became the first certified forensic female Accountant in the entire public service in Nigeria as a whole.

Fond memories of as civil servant in Lagos

When I came into the Lagos state civil service, I made it known in my application that I’m coming in to add value and to the glory of God I did exactly that, because not long after I came in, I was able to do certain assignments on my own which led to the recovery of over N400 million into the coffers of Lagos state government. These are monies realised from Lagos state exposure to banks and financial institutions, I was able to look into their statements, their offer letters and make comparisons to see where the banks have been overcharging, charging unnecessary fees and the agreed rates are not complied with and this led to the recovery of such a huge sum of money.

This exercise earned me a letter of commendation from the then Head of Service in Lagos state. Due to my ability to have eyes for details, especially in debt management and verification, I was posted to so many ministries in the state: I was in State Treasury Office, and then I was moved to Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, then to the Health Service Commission. When I was in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, I was the Director of Account in charge of the Lagos Economic Summit which was a huge success. In the Health Service Commission I was the Director of Accounts, in charge of the accounts of 24 hospitals scattered all over the state, which I took time to visit to be able to identify their issues in order to address them. Then I was transferred to the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, there, I was the Director of Account of a “Study Tour of Dubai and Singapore” which was undertaken by 100 officials of Lagos state government and it was a success. Then I came back to the State Treasury Office then from there I was given a special assignment to go into the Teachers Establishment and Pensions Office. Ironically, it was the present governor of Lagos state, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode who was the Accountant General in the State Treasury Office then that sent me on this assignment because of the confidence he had in me, as a goal-getter and someone who can deliver. So I went into the Establishment and was also able to save a lot of money for the state.

As soon as I resumed there, I decided that we are not going to use the electronic payment but rather issue individual cheque so as to enable me verify the authenticity and genuineness of these pensioners making the claim. Even beyond that, the collision between bankers’ public and insider in the establishment, I was able to break into it and apprehend members of staff that were involved in the fraud. You will be surprised that people that never lived in Lagos were given ID card of pensioners to come and make claims, they were caught and Lagos state government undertook the process to bring them to justice. Also privately, I notified all the bankers that apart from the confirmation letters, I should be notified before the payment of any cheque. That also helped because by the time they were doing confirmation with me, cheques in excess of millions that we did not even write, my signature and that of the Permanent Secretaries were forged and we were able to stop them. So in Teachers Establishment and Pensions Office I was able to combat fraud. Then I was also moved to the Education Ministry from there, where I learnt a lot, it was while I was in the ministry that Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola then appointed me as a Permanent Secretary during his tenure.

In another development, out of a total of 76 pensioners slated for arrears of pension, only 16 pensioners ended up getting paid. The sum of N9,291,639.29 was saved for government.

Part of the measures I put in place to combat fraud was notifications to banks to carry out verbal confirmation of cheques in addition to written bank confirmation letter from the ministry. This led to the discovery of unauthorised and fake bank confirmation letters in respect of cheques to the tune of N5million which were subsequently not honoured by the bank.

Painstaking internal verification exercise by my team led to the discovery of a fraudulent staff that was handed over to be investigated by the State Task force on the directive of the State Accountant General. The threat to my life by this staff led to his being investigated by the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) on the directive of Head of Service. Due process is being followed to bring him to book.

On my retirement as a Permanent Secretary, I was again re-appointed by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as a Commissioner in the Audit Service Commission, a newly established Commission and a functional one. The state is the only state that have complied with the move by the federal government that all states of the federation should has an Audit Service Commission with its own audit law as well as the implementation of the law by establishing a functional Audit Service Commission by appointing a Chairman and members of the Commission.

So the Commission is in charge of all auditors in Lagos state government, be it external auditors or internal auditors and they report directly to the governor. The Commission is responsible for auditing policy issues to the Lagos state government. And we have had lot of activities since we came in, especially retreat and sessions which are beneficial to the auditors in the state. All these are being geared to improve service delivery in the area of auditing in the state. Auditors are to ensure that ministries are not operating negatively that they are going in the right direction and are following prescribed laid down rules and regulations, as stipulated either in extant laws or circulars of the state government and the Commission is doing very well in this area.

Hazards of the job

These are not challenges as such because challenges to me are stepping stones to greater heights. I could recollect when I was moved to the Teachers Establishment and Pensions Office and we directed that we are not using electronic payment but rather issue individual cheques. I started receiving threatening calls warning me that I shouldn’t carry out any verification that if I try it they will kill me. There were concerns about my safety and security especially as a woman at the time. But I did not allow that to deter me, I still went ahead with the verification exercise and it was a huge success.

Managing work, life balance

I’m married to a wonderful and an understanding husband who is a medical doctor and he gave me all the necessary support which I needed at that time. Our marriage is blessed with four wonderful kids, two girls and two boys, some are married. In fact I’m happy to tell you that I’m a proud grandmother.

Passion for mentoring

I believe in mentoring. As far as this profession is concerned, I have some people that I look up to. I have some female Accountants that I’m training to become experts as far as this profession is concerned. Apart from my biological children, I also have some other children that I’m sponsoring their education, presently they are in the secondary school and I intend sponsoring them to the university level.

Life’s philosophy

I believe that with God on your side, coupled with hard work and dedication you can do exploits. I believe so much in the power of God with hard work, not even the sky is your limit.

Relaxation regimen

I always go for early morning exercise, I go to the gym, I love cooking, reading a lot.

Final word for prospective women accountant

As women we must realise that we are in a male-dominated work environment. We must understand that women have natural occurrences, which may not be due to their making; they get pregnant, go on maternity leave but that shouldn’t hinder their getting to the top. Women have great potential and they have the tendency to get to the top if given the right support. We must also ensure equality in wages and think of succession plan for women.

July 9, 2017
ABIODUN KOYA

Abiodun Koya is an opera singer who has performed for about ten presidents across the world. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, she talks about how it all started in Washington DC, getting inspiration from General Olusegun Obasanjo and more.

HOW did this career begin for you?

It began when I was born into a great family of five. I am the last child; I have two brothers and two sisters. My father, Mr. Rufus Koya, played classical music always. I was born into it. I grew up in Ijebu Ode in Ogun State. It was one of the rarest families playing classical music in the entire Nigeria at that time. He played it 24/7. I was born into it; I fell in love with it and picked it up. Actually everyone in the family fell in love with classical music but mine was different; I had an unusual interest for it. My dad had this Sony stereo system and he had all the records. He studied abroad and he always played them and I loved it.

When I was age three or four , though I couldn’t express myself verbally , I knew about the orchestras, violin. I had seen the pictures and videos and I would go into the kitchen and take two sticks of broom and start playing with it round the house. I was indirectly communicating and my dad got the message at that tender age. Then, when I was six, he bought me a tiny violin just to practice with and a tutoring book, and that was it. And then, I would sing in church, birthday events and sing in my house. It was obvious that I wanted to become a singer and I started writing songs. Short songs, poems and I was very arty.

Was your father also in music?

No, he just loved music. My father is a retired educator. He was into teaching but music was something that he picked on the side.

Did you go on to study music?

Yes. My parents wanted me to become an accountant or a business woman, but I hated maths. I failed maths; that was my own challenge. I was very arty and I excelled in other subjects like literature, economics, government, social studies other than accounting and mathematics. I smashed it and by age 15, I had finished reading all the hard philosophical books in my mum’s library. Here we are talking about Shakespeare, Ola Rotimi and Wole Soyinka’s books.

What was your mum into?

She studied literature and she was also an educator.

What did you study?

I have a degree in business management and a masters in music.

How did you develop your career in music?

It was from that childhood experience. When I grew up, there was no avenue for me to do any form of classical music. It was just the cultural group, which was the only outlet that I had in school. I also loved taking part in stage plays. I loved writing short stories as a kid. I also loved designing dresses for my doll. I was extremely arty and it got to a point where I was also so hungry for music; the passion for singing and writing music spilt over. Each time the radio was playing music, it got my attention. I was a radio head. I would just stay hooked to the radio, listen to all the commercials. I still remember those commercials like JIK, OMO, butter, butter mint and I can still sing them.

What was the experience like studying music for your masters?

It was an unusual experience because I studied it in an all-white school and I had to pay out of pocket. At a point, I decided to just drop out and also my career was booming then and so I could not do two things at the same time. So, I got to a point where I told myself that if I returned, I would just take a couple of classes and that is it. And my mentor said, ‘you don’t need masters; you are already a great singer. You have two vocal coaches, you have your experience’ but I had so much fun. But I just believe that whatever you want to do, you learn it properly, the right way.

How did it all start for you career-wise?

I was getting invited to embassies because I studied in Washington DC. I got invited to embassies, political functions and, at a point, I sang at the Democratic Republic Convention in the United States. I was given the honour to sing there, so if there was a president coming into the country, I was the ‘Go to girl’. I was initially just singing the American anthem for national days, and that was how it started.

What made you stand out, when there were so many other people around?

I was very driven, tenacious. I was very eager, I was a business woman too. I was business savvy. I knew how to package my talent and that helped. Initially, I would sing the American anthem and I would just move away and they would play the music if the Embassy of Italy was having their National Day. I realised that they would need someone to render both anthems at the event and I said to myself, what is stopping me from learning the Italian anthem and I would just do both together. So, I sat down and wrote down the challenges and learnt the language and the songs. Not necessarily that I needed to learn all the language, but just what I needed for the song.

So, I went back to the ambassador afterwards and told him that he should give me two weeks’ notice and I would be able to give a good presentation. They loved it. The thing is that I was very hardworking, very anxious and very eager to learn. I was very accepting of other cultures and of course my God-given talent. The problem is that most people are not willing to go outside the box. They are not willing to do so much, most of the other citizens.

So how did you move on from the embassies?

I also got invited to political functions, social events and all the embassy events. If you see my presentations, I am usually on point. I would ask my clients, ‘do you just want the pianist to accompany me or do you want a chamber orchestra?’ I have a chamber orchestra, I have everything. It’s your budget, if your budget can afford a chamber orchestra, I would bring my chamber orchestra. If what your budget can afford is a pianist or guitarist, I would still make the presentation nice. Sometimes, I would do a research on the colours of the country’s flag. I put my heart into it and I make it look good. Interestingly, they always go back to the ambassador asking, ‘who was that?’ and they would say, ‘can we have her manager or agent’s contact?’

You are known to have sung for about ten presidents across the world, how does this feel?

Yes. I think the first president that I sang for was my country’s president, President Obasanjo. It was one of those events at Washington DC. I have actually sung for him for about two or three times now. I also sang for the president of the Republic of Benin, President George Bush, President Barack Obama, president of Senegal, president of Ouagadougou, president of Burkina Faso, president of Congo , president of Angola, President Ellen Sirleaf of Liberia, Prime Minister of Bahamas and Kofi Anan, who is a world leader.

What is the inspiration or motivation for you?

Motivation is to be my best; but above all, I see myself as a music doctor. You would agree with me that music does something that other things won’t do. So, I go out to my performances with that mentality. You touch lives through music. You never know who is planning to drop off the roof after that event. Perhaps, my music can change someone to think of hanging around and seeing that maybe life is not that bad.

What are some of the messages in your song?

Love. I like to sing about love. Love is the greatest force in life. It is a beautiful thing; if you have it give it because a lot of lives depend on it. Sometimes, some people make it a do-or-die affair. It is that important and we have to keep love alive. I think it is a life-giving element; it can give you life. Even with the recession, I think that love is the starting point. If we turn around to start showing ourselves love, these arguments, kidnapping, terrorism won’t be there. It is all happening because there is no love. All we need is love, really. My philosophy is love is a currency, spend it and receive it.

How long have you been away from Nigeria?

Almost seventeen years. I was studying and working on my career, especially the kind of education that I received. I received the best; I was really exposed to the best of the best. For example, one of my vocal coaches is Chinese. And she is amazing. I have been with her for about thirteen years now. Unfortunately, she has cancer now, so we are praying for her. But, I am grateful; I would never forget her because she gave me the foundation of vocal techniques and the skills. If I didn’t have that foundation, it would be difficult. I have a slim body and people always ask me how come such a huge voice from this slim body?

Yes, the wonder of God is there, but I give credit to my teacher. I have access to great teachers, coaches and a wide array of music and also access to knowledge of composers, studying about their lives. What they went through, what they were thinking about while composing the songs, what the ambience was like. Questions like was there political unrest? Where they really religious? Did they have a family kept coming up for somebody like me? Who is always very curious? I had access to them and for me that really helped me step into their shoes and sing the songs as if I knew what they meant or what they wanted .I sing because of passion and purpose.

How many languages do you speak now?

I don’t speak in them but I can sing or read them. Four or five languages: Italian, French, Spanish, Latin and German.

What are you coming back home to do?

I am at this point now in my career that I want to do something a little bit different. It is called the cross over journey into pop music. I want to experiment and add a sort of pop movement into my way of singing and also garnishing it with my heritage, my African element, in terms of instrument. I am even thinking of coining out a genre for myself, called afro classical.

You sang at the opening of the Obasanjo Library in Abeokuta, what was the experience like?

I was the only artiste given that privilege to sing. I was so nervous for one or two reasons; it was just a presidential shut down. I had arrived like four or five hours to the venue and the security was overly tight but I was because of the gathering of world leaders, a lot more than I was used to. Secondly, because I am from Ogun State and this is home for me and I also wanted to give my best. This was happening right in my state, for my presidential father, General Obasanjo, and of course, my royal father, the Alake of Egbaland, was also there.

How would you describe General Obasanjo as a person?

I think the world of him. He is very fatherly and there is this calmness around him. Any time I want to see him, I could see him because he believes in my talent; he is proud of me, my achievement and always says that he wished that a lot of the young people in the Diaspora can be like me instead of getting involved in 419, fraud and yahoo. He said: “Everywhere you go, you always bring glory and honour to Nigeria. And he has told me to input folk songs into my repertoire and I will definitely do that.

You were also at Vice President Osinbajo’s thanksgiving. Was this a fallout from the Library launch?

No, it was separate. I just got that invitation and call; that I should come and sing. I was able to sing my new song, ‘Lift up Nigeria.’ The first time I premiered it was at the grand opening. At the Villa for the vice president, I sang it in honour of the president and the vice president. The message came because I was feeling bad about the way Nigerians talk bad about the country, bringing it out with their own mouth. I thought that was an ungrateful act and I believed that it takes one person to start a positive revolution. It is a song that can work wonders, if you receive the song with an open heart.

What are the other things that occupy your time?

I have a non- profit organisation, a charitable organisation, called the Courtesy Foundation. I have had it a number of years. I was giving under-privileged boys and girls scholarships around the African continent. Now that I am back, I have gone on a tour, been to some orphanages and schools already. I intend to do more, especially girls around the country. What I usually do is to organise a concert to raise funds for the scholarships. I also love touching widows.

What motivated you to do this?

My father was a philanthropist in his own way. He loved to help the underprivileged. That was what I saw him do while I was growing up and I picked it up.

July 2, 2017
‘The university must show its relevance to society’

Eyitope Ogunbodede, the Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife, Osun State, is a professor of Dentistry, specialising in Preventive and Community Dentistry. He was inaugurated two weeks ago as the 11th VC of the university. In this interview with Edozie Udeze, he shares his vision and mission for the university and what new ideas and programmes he intends to bring on board to reposition the university.

The first process to elect the Vice Chancellor was thwarted and all the unions on campus came out to protest. What are your plans to incorporate all the unions and groups that made your emergence possible now that you are the V.C?

Well, I can tell you that OAU is a very great university and I know you would have been following the history of this university. It is even in our alumni anthem. There is a phrase there that says there’s aluta against all operations. So, once you do something and it is right and it is the way it should be, everybody will congratulate you and support you in what you are doing. Now, when we meet in council, we consider everything right. So all the contestants, all the people involved in this, I can assure you, will be carried along. So far, I have received congratulatory messages from all the contestants. That means that the process was actually acceptable to everybody involved. So once you have that, it means everything is fine. I have also been in contact with all the different groups in this matter. I can therefore assure you that even those with different opinions – all of us are coming together now and we must develop Obafemi Awolowo University to an enviable standard. So, as of today, we all have some level of unity of purpose. And I am quite happy this is coming early in my tenure.

In your mission statement, you said that part of your vision for the university is to reposition it for national relevance and global importance. What do you really mean by that?

You know as of today, universities in Nigeria are actually not contributing effectively to developmental programmes in the country. And what we intend to do here is to position ourselves in such a way that we will be very relevant in all national programmes and in the development of the country. We want what we are doing to be anchored around national development and growth. This is in terms of research, in terms of services and so on.

Let me quickly give an example. We don’t want to be a university that will be criticising government without reflecting on the ideals we are propagating in our own institution. So, if we believe or agree that electricity should be constant; that we should have a 24-hour supply of electricity, for instance, we should recommend how we think that should be done. And we should also try to ensure that in this university we are quite able to do it; to achieve such a feat. If we tell government that everybody in Nigeria should have access to potable water, we should be able here on campus to have access to same first and foremost. If we tell government that we want our primary schools to be ideal, to be at certain standards, we want to begin with those we have here. Then we make the government see that this is possible. We also have a secondary school here. And if we want government to lift the standard of secondary schools in Nigeria, ours here has to serve as an example first. So, we have an ideal environment where we can actually showcase what a university should be. Once we have done that, we also want to go further than that. We can now tell government that since we have been able to do it at Obafemi Awolowo University, it is possible. Then we want government to replicate this all over the country. And so secondly, we are assisting government for us to have what I can call comprehensive development strategy. We will also organise talks. We will select topics that are very crucial to the development of Nigeria. Then we will engage all the experts within and outside the shores of Nigeria that can assist us. Then we proffer solutions to those problems militating against national development. After that, we can hand that over to government. Thereafter, we can tell government in which areas we can assist to have a better Nigerian society. So, that way, the university will become relevant.

You also said there are many resources that can be tapped here to improve the internally generated revenue (IGR). Again, how will these resources, when harnessed, help to increase research grants and capacity?

What I mean by resources is the abundance of professionals in different fields of academic pursuit on this campus. I didn’t mean natural resources, anyway. I actually said we have resources within the university to effect every necessary change in this country. We have, for example in OAU, about 400 professors; that is what we have, apart from associate professors. And so, if you get to a particular town and then you ask them how many of your people are professors and they tell you 400, you expect that town or city to have the best of everything. Here, therefore, that is what we have. That’s the resources we have and so we have professionals in virtually all areas of human endeavour. We now need to tap into those resources; we need to task them to come up with something aside from the lectures we give to our students. They have to come up with something concrete that will impact on the immediate environment; that will impact on the state where we are. Something that will impact on Nigeria and will be recognised nationally and internationally. So, that’s the mission that we have. It is also exactly what I think we should be engaged in right now. This is what I want to be able to achieve as the VC of OAU.

My first way of looking at this is to challenge every department. Yes, we have to teach the students, we have to do research but what is it, you have to give to the community where you are located? If you are in the department of Fine Arts for instance, you have to train some other people in the community to be able to do outdoor work; to be able to know how to do some other art works to survive. Can you still go a step further to help them market what they’ve been able to produce? And then if you are from the department of Animal Science, can you train people in your immediate community in maybe animal husbandry or whatever. Let us therefore begin to do things in such a way as to reflect on our environment. Yes, we are in a university; we are from a developing country and therefore have a lot to do. The purpose of establishing a university in a developing country is a bit different from that of a developed country. So we have to live up to expectations of the founding fathers of the university.

You are now heading a university widely known for the restlessness of its students. This is a hot bed of student protests. How do you intend to carry them along to avoid incessant disruptions of academic sessions?

Well, I have been here in this university for 40 years. I therefore had for those years served the university at different levels and in different positions. I served at the level of staff associations, departmental and faculty levels. In fact, I have served in virtually all the important committees in this university, whether business committee of the senate or whichever committee you can think about that is important in this university. So, I understand the students very well. The students we have in OAU can be harnessed for the development of Nigeria. And that is what we are trying to do. Great Ife students are passionate about OAU and the spirit is always there for the good of all. So it is that passion that we will harness. We have to work on it. The kind of support people have been giving me since I became the VC shows the way forward. People have been calling from different places, saying what do you want us to do together to help the university? It is now left for us to imbibe that spirit and then move on from there. We will not therefore disappoint because we will work with those who want the university to prosper. I am quite optimistic that we’ll make something positive out of what you’ve just described as the restless character of the students. Our people are knowledgeable, competent, committed and quite ready to work to make OAU a better institution of higher learning. Here, people want to see things done and they have not been disappointed. Often times, leadership never live up to their expectations. So what I will do now is to do more and ensure I do not disappoint them.

You are a professor of Dentistry, specialising in Preventive and Community Dentistry. What does that mean?

Okay, you know sometimes people say prevention is better than cure. But it is not only that prevention is better than cure, prevention is always cheaper. So, what I do actually is to prevent people from having oral diseases, dental diseases and the rest. So, we provide strategies for people not to have such oral diseases at all. Even when they do have them, we prevent the complications; we prevent them from being disabled somehow. But for us, we think that that should be the approach even in life itself. As a professor of preventive and community dentistry, I ensure that we do not wait until people have dental problems before we talk to them on what to do. And also we do not stay just in the classrooms or in the hospitals. We also go to the communities to talk to them so that they do not come to us when the matter has become a bigger problem. The example we always give is the issue of someone who has an open tap that just pours water into the room. You can decide to mop the floor as the water is running. But if you want to prevent it, all you do is to go and close the tap. So there are people who wait until they have diseases before they come to the hospital to have it cured. In our own case in the preventive and community dentistry, we do not wait until patients get to that stage. In fact, we are looking forward to a near future when people will no longer have to come to the hospital for dental problems. If I can take that further, what happens in the advanced countries now is that the hospitals are closing down walls. Some of their walls, they are making it open to people who are outside to come for exercises, to come for check-ups and do so many things that will make it possible for people not to come for admission.

You are an advocate of the scrapping of facial marks. How does that affect dentition?

No, no, I am not saying that facial marks affect dentition. I am saying that the same people who used to put on facial marks, they are also the people who did extractions. That was in the local environment. It was the same set of people who used to do circumcision. They would extract teeth, and they would put tribal marks. So it is the domain of the dentist to look at tribal marks. It is not beyond him to look into that. Even in modern days we have moral and maxi facial surgeons who ordinarily today if there were to be facial marks, they would be the ones that would be doing that for people. It is in the domain of the dentist from the lower portion of the eyes to the neck. It is not just the mouth only. No. That also covers the cheeks. I must also say that we may not be taking tribal marks now, but the Americans, the Europeans and others now put on tattooing and other bodily marks. Even though some of these things are not permanent, but there will still be a time when people would see it as ornamental and then come back to it. So, what I have done in that Dental Museum is to keep the record of some tribal marks as a memento. It shows that we have had many as types of tribal marks and where you can find them. In other words, it is historical, it is monumental.

Going back to the Dema Dental Museum you established in the heart of Ile-Ife, of what importance is it to the host community?

Well, you know I have just mentioned it to you now that I want to see a situation where every department contributes to help the host community. People who have been going there, they leave that place having a better understanding of oral problems and conditions. They also leave that place having a better understanding of ways to keep and maintain their oral health. This is so because when you get there you learn about smoking and what it does to your health, to your general body and so on. When you leave there, you learn about the delay in taking care of your medical condition, whether dental or not and what can happen when you do so. And then when you leave also knowing that there is a career path for people who want to study dentistry. And so you also leave that place getting to know how to take care of your teeth; how many times you have to brush in a day; how many other things you need to use apart from tooth brush. What of chewing stick? It is therefore a place where the community can go to learn and not just about oral health, but health in general. Dental students equally make use of the place for their training at the graduate and post graduate levels to see the extent to which they can go as far as dentistry is concerned. There, too, people can learn that whatever your discipline, whatever your profession, you can always contribute something to the community. Always also, try to have a museum that can showcase your profession. That’s the first specialised dental museum in the country and so that goes as a model for other areas. Like a science museum and so on can be built too. In fact, there should be an auto museum. There should also be a museum for journalists, all sorts to take care of different professional areas of our lives.

In Nigeria, dental health seems to be far removed from the common man. What is the role of the Nigerian Dental Association to bring this nearer to the people?

You know the issue is that we have very few dentists in Nigeria. The situation is better now. When I came into dentistry, for example, it was at a time when there was only one dentist in my state. That time it used to be a combination of Ekiti and present day Ondo State. So that time there was only one dentist – one Dr. Omole of blessed memory. He used to travel to all the towns and villages in Ondo State. Each time, it would be announced in the town he would visit next. People would then troop there to see him for their dental problems. The man would always be on radio. I then said I would no longer read medicine; I would read Dentistry. I wanted to be like this man. Then when I applied to Ife, my first choice was Dentistry, my second choice was Dentistry. That was how I came to Dentistry, instead of Medicine that I’d wanted to read. Of course, I am telling you this just to let you know that the Nigerian Dental Association is trying its best. But when you compare the number of dentists with the medical doctors, it is so small. But I am so sure that with time you will see the impact of what dentists are trying to do in the society. And the general problem all over the world is that dentists stay more in the clinics. They do not go out to meet the people. However, the situation is changing now. You now see more dentists going into the communiti

June 25, 2017
PDP crisis great danger to Nigeria’s democracy -Dickson

Governor Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State is passionate about the ‘big ticket’ infrastructure projects his administration has delivered, or is presently executing. He ticks them off one after another: a world class diagnostic center, roads, flyover bridges, hospitals and the Cargo International Airport which he said would be commissioned before end of the year. Dickson who has been in office for five years, points out that in spite of the dip in revenue accruals to the state, his government introduced free and compulsory education at both primary and secondary levels, built modern schools and started boarding school system for the first time in the state and spent billions on scholarship of Bayelsa and Ijaw students abroad. In this interview with selected journalists in Lagos, the governor who is the Chairman of the PDP’s National Reconciliation Committee bares his mind on the leadership crisis within the party. He also speaks on the secessionist agitation in the South East as well as the recent quit notice issued against Igbos in the North by some youth groups. Festus Eriye was at the interaction.

What is the future of your party, the PDP, in the light of its well-advertised divisions?

I think the right question should be what is the future of Nigerian democracy? The tragedy of our democracy today is that we have neither a strong political party in government, nor a strong party in opposition. You all know the efforts my committee made to reconcile the various tendencies in PDP so that the party could come back on stream to play its role as a credible opposition platform. As a matter of fact, Nigeria’s democracy is worse for it without a strong PDP. Unfortunately, our party has not been playing a role of an opposition party because of the needless crisis plaguing us. What is happening in PDP is a great danger to Nigeria’s democracy, but I still believe that all hope is not lost. But what is happening in PDP is not just peculiar to PDP, it is also happening in APC. For our democracy to be secured, we need a strong party in government, strong cohesive united party in government, pursuing their democratic agenda as well as a virile party in opposition. But so far our democracy is weak because of the absence of these. There is crisis in APC, it is brewing and nobody is talking about it. The sooner we in the PDP salvage our platform that is now terribly suffering a lot of de-marketing, the better for our democracy. It is unfortunate that a political party has to go to the judiciary to resolve an internal problem that is essentially political. Relying on the court to resolve internal crisis is an indictment of the political class; it is an indictment on the democratic credentials of all players. My belief, my views might be in the minority, but my belief is that the judiciary is been overworked or over-labored unnecessarily by political actors of all parties. We have abdicated our responsibilities as political players; we have surrendered too much to the judiciary. We have involved the judiciary in too many unnecessary political issues, thereby exposing them to ridicule and we are not helping the judiciary. Political leaders who are key players in the democratic system should show the maturity, the political temperament to be able to recognize and solve problems within themselves and see politics as essential element of democracy, which is a market place of ideas. We all do not need to belong on one political party. Even within our parties there are tendencies, there should be contestation of tendencies but

the irony in Nigeria is that politicians are more militant than the military. Honestly, politicians in Nigeria do not know how to argue, disagree amongst themselves. We don’t listen to ourselves, we can’t argue amongst ourselves. If you hold a divergent view, you are marked for destruction or blackmail, or tagged as doing antiparty activity and this is so because our political actors, leaders neither have the skills and the democratic temperament to drive the political process. These are partly the reasons why the crises in both PDP and APC are strong. In the US, for example, you see all the tendencies playing out; Clinton on the center of the Democratic Party, you have Bernie Sanders on the left of the Democratic Party and others – so also in the Republican Party, all marketing their ideas

But I am confident PDP will still bounce back after the Supreme Court judgment. But my view is that we have no business going to a court. If PDP leaders had agreed to implement our template for reconciliation, a national unity convention would have held this month to elect a brand new leadership. The irony of it is that the judiciary does not reconcile, it only adjudicates. Even after the Supreme Court judgement, the party will still hold a convention and embark on aggressive confidence building and reconciliation. So what is the real reason for going to court?

I was opposed to Senator Ali Modu Sheriff when some of my colleagues and others brought him. I didn’t like that. I thought that our party needed a fresh face to craft a fresh message after losing power at the center. Losing election is bad but that is not the end of the world for a party or for a politician. Unfortunately, those who brought him for whatever reason, fell apart with him. And when the Appeal Court upheld Sheriff as chairman, I as a product of the law, as a law-abiding citizen adhered to the court judgement by duly recognizing him as chairman and the same people said I was a Sheriff man! As politicians we shouldn’t be law breakers or hold the judiciary in contempt. We should not personalize judicial pronouncements by selecting the verdicts to respect!

Why should a politician, for example, want to pocket his party? Why should you be the one to select the national chairman and secretary and all the other posts, they must be in your pocket for you to be a member of that party…does that make sense, is that not madness? If that is the thrust of a politician then you can go and form a political party of your family and be in charge then, but once it’s a national party, it is an aggregation of all interest and top of which is the national interest. After the Supreme Court judgement, PDP must address many its problems top of which is funding

What is your position on the recent quit notice given Igbos in the North by some youth groups?

I condemn in strong terms the quit notice on Ndigbo. Nigeria has gone past that. We must remain as one indivisible country because our strength lies in our diversity. We didn’t even need the civil war we fought as a country because it didn’t result in anything. I support what the Northern Governors Forum and their counterparts in the East have done. I read the statements by my governor colleagues and I believe that all governors are united in this to see how we can promote peaceful co-existence and harmony.

I believe that the APC-led Federal Government could have done more in the area of promoting national unity in the country. I have spoken about this severally; the country was too divided. The Federal Government should consciously promote national cohesion, unity

and unite the various ethnic groups in the country. But unfortunately government has not done enough to promote national cohesion whether in the national management of federal political power, appointments or in evolving a national strategy to deal with the menace of herdsmen. The government must evolve the right strategy to contain all these as quickly as possible.

What is the status of the new airport you are building in Bayelsa?

When I came on board, I wanted an airport in Bayelsa State – the heart of Ijaw land – to boost our economy and play an active role in the Gulf of Guinea. I lobbied the Federal Government for partnership on the airport. But I was told contract for sand filling of the airport was already given to someone by NDDC, which they said was about 50 per cent of the cost. I said no problem, but I wanted to drive essential elements of this airport by myself so that it won’t suffer unnecessary delays.

I told the contractor, your contract with NDDC stays; I am not interfering. I cleared another place and gave the contractor that place to stockpile that NDDC sand. After all, we can use it in the other development projects in the state. Up till date, the contractor has not delivered on the sand.

I then took over the dredging of the sand for the airport proper and called in the biggest dredging company in Nigeria and gave the contract to them, paid them. Then I went to the Bayelsa State House of Assembly and insured a N50 billion facility to deliver on the airport and tied it to the various contracts that would be awarded.

So, immediately the dredging companies verified, they went to the bank, they knew that their

money was there in the bank. They worked day and night and within one year, they finished the dredging, and we expanded the scope of the airport from two kilometers runway to 3.5 kilometers because we have to make it commercially viable. Right now it is only in Lagos that all these big cargo planes can land, even cargo plane servicing the oil industries bring in oil tools, big cargo planes carrying merchandise – they can’t land in Port Harcourt; they can’t land in Enugu, they can’t land in any other airport in the South-South. Cargo planes can only land in Lagos, Kano and Abuja airports. So we had to structure it for that type of traffic – to cover the South-South, South-East. Big cargo they bring in from China and other places can land in Bayelsa when the airport is completed.

So we are building actually the biggest state-owned airport. The contract was awarded to Dantata and Sawoe and it is now almost 90 percent completed. We now have the runway, we have the terminal building, now I am awarding the contract for the navigational instruments; when they are installed, you have the airport.

By why an airport with so many airports in surrounding states?

The airport will open up the state, enable people to fly into Bayelsa and fly out both for business, pleasure and generally create a hub for businesses. The airport will help to take Bayelsa to the world and bring the world to Bayelsa State. You know Bayelsa State is a historical center of oil and gas, yet there is no activity and when you ask the companies why they are not in Bayelsa, some of them would say because there is no airport; they can’t fly in and fly out. So we don’t even control elements of the oil trade because there is no airport, no seaport.

So you started the airport from scratch?

We started from the scratch, there is no federal government or NDDC sand in that runway, that is the point I am making. I wanted the state to be in charge of the essential elements of the airport, sand filling, runway, once you do that, you have gotten an airport. I wanted to drive the essential elements of the airport and I am happy that it has paid off. So by the end of this year, I will be commissioning the airport which is one of our biggest infrastructure investments. There are a lot of companies outside that are in touch with my team and I and we will also be meeting with many more. They want to use it as a hub, they are coming in with planes, to run their services, fly from Bayelsa, Lagos, Abuja and other cities and also service the Gulf of Guinea. Most of you don’t know that you can stay in Bayelsa and service the Gulf of Guinea because we are at the tip of the country just by the ocean; you fly thirty minutes from Bayelsa and you are in Equatorial Guinea. So that is the way it is and that is the market we are targeting. I will be reaching out to a lot of business people, because the airport is not just an airport, we want to make it as I said a trading hub. I want to talk to businessmen, all these importers, come and build warehouses. So from China, for example, they can come, it is going to be actually a trade zone, a free trade zone, the airport itself. So all the goods coming into South-South, South-East and most other parts of the country will be there, there will be market for it – that is why the airport is very important.

Are you also building infrastructure to enhance operations at the airport? If you can connect a road between the airport and the East-West road, that can take one straight to Warri, then you will also be thinking of capturing the Warri market…

It is all part of the calculations; we have done a road now going to Amasoma, which late Governor DSP Alamieyeseigha started but which my government re-awarded to CCC. The company did a great job, they built corners, bridges, from 2012 when I gave them the job and the road is very solid. But we are doing a road from that road to the airport, so from the East-West, you can easily get to the airport. We will capture all that market – Warri, Ahoada, Ughelli and so on. But we have a strategic plan targeted at opening the airport for business because it can accelerate our development. To develop any state, or any nation, you must create a business-friendly environment, build the capacity of the people as we are doing in Bayelsa and build the infrastructure that can attract and encourage businesses to grow. So we have a strategic plan and that’s why this airport is so critical to our development as a people.

There is a plan for a deep sea port from the airport, about one hour drive, you get to the Agge Deep Sea Port. Again, we have been labouring to build the road that will take us to Ekeremor, the next local government which is 50 kilometers. These are the big ticket projects we will commence. When you visit Bayelsa you will have an idea of what we go through to build roads. We are already building the road from Sagbama to Ekeremor which is about 50 kilometers. We have sand filled about forty seven kilometers already. I moved in a second dredger recently – even in this recession we are doing that even though it is costly, very expensive. They are pumping sand day and night because we have got to get to that local government and see how we can move from Ekeremor to Agge – which is about 67 kilometers from Ekeremor. We also did another 70 kilometers to get to Agge that is by the ocean.

As I always say, the wealth of Bayelsa lies in the sea. We have the most beautiful beach in the whole of this area, the Agge beach – white sand, long stretch of beach, lot of things can happen- tourism, maritime-related investment and that is the best location for a deep sea port in this country. As we know, we don’t really have a deep sea port in Nigeria, we have lots of trans-shipment going on. The Ekeremor road I talked about will cost

over N40 billion! I am even scared there will be other variations, because of inflation and the exchange rate and so on. We are bent on delivering that road before the end of my tenure. We have already stabilized up to fifteen kilometers, sand filled, stabilized and now vehicles can run on it. Already they are calling me that the economy is improving, there are young people who are now in the business of loading vehicles in some of the Ekeremor communities for the first time, and they have some young men in the parks shouting ‘Ofoni! Yenagoa!’

From that deep sea port to remote areas, we are opening up a joint trade corridor in the South- South and South-East because the end of my local government, Sagbama Local Government is very close to Onitsha and there are a lot of oil facilities – gas flaring going on. What I have started doing as part of our strategic plan is to engage even the oil companies, NNPC, and I have visited all of them, gotten their support to provide power 24-hours. We have acquired 400 hectares space of land and we shall make it a huge market for industrial estates linking it up with the South Eastern market – Onitsha and so on.

How much of these can you finish before 2020?

As I have said the airport is already being completed- end of this year. As a matter of fact, some months back, an aircraft on a mission landed there and took off, because what we call an airport is a road, essentially fortified road with the navigation materials. So they will be delivered. We are working with our partners collaborating on the big industrial park, collaborating with IOCs, the NNPC, on supply of power. They are flaring the gas even as we speak. We are converting gas to power, so that when we have 24 hour supply, it will now be a manufacturing hub for companies that want to manufacture. Part of the challenge in Bayelsa State is we don’t have strong private sector participation. The whole economy revolves around the state government expenditure, so that puts a lot of pressure on governance and affects the politics adversely. These are the reasons why we need the participation of the private sector.

Two days ago Shell’s country chief was my guest in Bayelsa, a lot of things are changing, and the international community know the narrative about Bayelsa is changing. People can see life-changing projects and government projects are impacting on the people and there is stability. We have invested heavily in security and today, Bayelsa is the safest and most stable state in the Niger Delta – even though it is the epicenter of the Niger Delta issues, concerns and struggles. Next week, I will be receiving the Agip Country Chief, I have met the NNPC MD, last week and I interacted with the Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo to market the Brass fertilizer project as well. I will also meet the chairman and management of the Brass LNG project, Dr. Jackson Gaius-Obaseki in Lagos before I go back to Yenagoa. You can see that my agenda is to a large extent delivered, the social investment end fully delivered. You have the best public schools, not private funded schools in Bayelsa State.

In Bayelsa we have made a revolutionary intervention in education not only in terms of the scholarships that we are giving out and our students are doing very well but we are building schools, schools and schools. As you know, I did declare emergency in the education sector, but it was not just a political slogan. I really meant it. Primary and Secondary education are free and compulsory in Bayelsa State.

We have committed over N55 billion, building schools, on scholarships, building quarters for teachers, building laboratories, boarding houses, libraries, supplying books, supplying uniforms, paying JAMB, NECO, WAEC. We now have for the first time boarding schools in the state.

In the Ijaw National Academy, for example, a school we designed and built from scratch in Kaiama – it was a massive forest designed – built from scratch. It is now like a university but it is a secondary school. You have 1,000 students right there now, all on state government sponsorship and it is boarding. We feed them three times a day and their uniforms are provided. We select the best students from all the primary schools, boys and girls, top students, and they do an examination and we select the very best again and tell their parents from now on till they end their secondary education, these students are state government ”property”, what you do is only buy buckets, cutlass and then the hostel wear.

We are embarking on massive mobilization of people. I had to even threaten parents and guardians by telling them ‘I have built the schools, the facilities are there, the children have been tested, exams taken to select them school by school, the best set, if you don’t allow your child to go I will order your arrest.’ I have built the schools and I have equipped them and given uniforms, books, feeding free and I have taken pains to send people to go around and select the best 10 in every secondary school. Those ones were brought together and they took exams and we took the very best. We said ‘This is the list, you parents only buy buckets, cutlass, brooms and house wear of N5,000 and now send that child to the school.’ Do you know that my press team is still running adverts telling parents to release their children to go school? Look at Ijaw National Academy… 900 Bayelsans were offered admission, the remaining 100 are Ijaw drawn from states like Ondo, Edo, Delta, Akwa Ibom and Rivers because a Bayelsa governor has a responsibility to cater for the Ijaw outside the state. The head girl in the Ijaw National Academy is from Edo State and I selected them four years ago. Initially what I did was to give scholarships and send them to the best secondary schools in the country. After building these schools, I brought them back home. So in every local government we have well equipped schools and in Kolokuma-Okpokuma Local Government alone, you have Ijaw National Academy and the Sports Academy.

Is the state not taking on too much by doing that?

Well, that is the reality of Bayelsa and the reason we are doing that is because unless you consciously intervene and build a new generation of citizens, leaders, there is no meaningful development that you put on ground that can last. That is why we are investing in human capital development.

We have put in place laws and measures to sustain what we have done even after leaving office. We have sponsored the ‘Right to Education Bill’ which is the right a Bayelsa child under the age of 18 has to educational support. Now these are necessary because I don’t want anybody to defund education after me. The second one is the Educational Development Trust Fund. By this June we will begin to take contributions. I have appointed one of our respected elder statesmen and leaders in this sector, Professor Turner Isoun, former Minister of Science and Technology, former Vice Chancellor of University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt to chair the Educational Development Trust Fund Board. We have made a case for the oil industry to key into it and the provision there mandates them to put a certain percentage of their CSR budget every year to support it so that it doesn’t amount to double taxation. Also, all corporate players, every Bayelsan contributes to that fund – all of us, civil servants, political appointees beginning with me, everybody, will generate quite some money. Once it is there, that fund will be used not to build schools because we have already done that but to sustain feeding of the students, supplying computers, feeding, uniforms, routine things, can be done with the funds.

What kind of guarantee do you give to investors on security considering the volatile terrain?

I acknowledge that we are starting off from the position of disadvantage, where there is a mindset that in places like Bayelsa, that if you go and put in something there, something bad will happen to you. That is a mindset, it is a perception, which is why we are having this type of interaction with the press. We are going to have more of it and actually that is why am keen to host most of you, a number of you, am not talking about investors out of Nigeria, even a number of you have not visited Bayelsa, you haven’t visited the creeks and communities out there to even see how the people live. What you hear about Bayelsa is actually exaggerated. In Lagos, for example, if you keep a diary of crimes committed per square kilometer, per population, of course you know what happens but it is not reported because the media houses are all here. Lagos State is number one in crime yet the investors have not left Lagos. Crime is crime and we condemn it. Look at what happened in London within the last three months, terrorist attack worse than what is happening in Nigeria, except in some areas in the North East.

The guys who put up the travel advisory exaggerate our situation. The US Ambassador spent three days, returned back safely. Two days ago, the Political Secretary to the British High Commission visited Bayelsa and I receive high profile international diplomats almost on a daily basis because they know what is going on in the Niger Delta. I tell them this narrative about Nigeria, Niger Delta and particularly Bayelsa has got to change, for it is over-exaggerated. Bayelsa is safe for investors. On a daily basis, you see people in far-flung creeks in Bayelsa drilling oil. There are people evacuating crude on a daily basis, from Brass terminal in Bayelsa, from Forcados, from Bonny and everywhere in the Niger Delta but when there is a little incident it is blown out of proportion. Security is an investment and for that investment to happen it takes two, the public and private sector to come together with the government, creating the enabling environment – which is what we are doing.

June 18, 2017
We’ve changed Nigeria’s foreign affairs’ narrative, says Onyeama

Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama in this interview with Assistant Editor Bola Olajuwon and Correspondent Vincent Ikuomola sheds light on how the Buhari administration has changed Nigeria’s foreign affairs narrative in two years fighting insurgency, corruption and his vision for an enduring foreign affairs policy.

What have you been able to do to address Nigeria’s foreign affairs burden that the Buhari administration met on ground?

Yes, when we came on board, what was the image of Nigeria from the perspective of the outside world? Let’s take security: What was Nigeria in the news for all the time? We were in the news because of Boko Haram, Chibok girls and disastrous engagement of the government about security challenges. That was what Nigeria was becoming to be known for. You will recall that the then Central Bank governor announced $20 billion hole in the financial resources of the government and he was pushed out and that captured the attention of the world. You will also recall that there was a sudden collapse of oil prices and the economic challenges the country was facing was so enormous and so our image at that time was that of Nigerians facing the Sahara, Mediterranean and those fleeing the country. So, it was a very negative narrative really about the country.

The first positive narrative was that for the first time, Nigeria was able to have a peaceful change of government from one party to another and Mr. President came on board. So, we had now the possibility of rebranding the country and developing a new narrative and this was the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Not just changing the narrative, but also in terms of actions that we took. With regards to the security narrative, of course Mr. President made a very decisive intervention; military strategies completely changed, which were extremely important. But equally important was the foreign policy strategy that redefines the security narratives of the challenges.

So, we reached out to all the neighbouring countries and formed multinational taskforce and that was extremely important. We reached out to other foreign countries and we were also able to convince them to come on board and to help us in the fight against terrorism because terrorism has become a global challenge. So, it was the foreign policy thrust of the government that was able to build a coalition that has successfully dismantled Boko Haram.

Then, if look at the other challenges – governance and corruption – again it was foreign policy thrust in which we engaged with international communities that enabled us to get foreign countries to support the anti-corruption struggle of this government. Again, the narratives shifted to one of the government that is seriously fighting corruption.

Thirdly, with regards to the economy, we had to now project the image of the country by gaining confidence of foreign direct investment into this country. And again, this requires a foreign policy strategy that ensures a successful outreach to other countries. Leaders of other countries saw the credibility of the President and this government and started a different narrative of how we are facing economic challenges, moving from a mono-economic of oil to diversifying our economy.

So, in two years, I think we have been able to gain the confidence of the international community that this is a government that is serious and that they can do business with.

Outside the picture you have painted, what can you also say is the foreign policy thrust of this administration?

You know, ultimately what every country wants is a strong economy and prosperity for its citizens. On a global economy as we have today, we have to be competitive and deliver economic dividends to our country. So, our foreign policy is to transform our country economically to become competitive in the global market place. So, we are re-orienting our foreign engagement to promote economic development.

How are we going about it? We are going about it by putting in place mechanism to make the Foreign Ministry a hub to facilitate a direct market access for business and traders to 119 markets around the world and to facilitate the foreign direct investment from the 119 countries around the world into Nigeria with no bottleneck at all, just through the interface of the Foreign Ministry. So, we want to transform the Foreign Ministry into an effective agency for Nigerian trade promotion. To transform the economy, the Federal Government has put in place some mechanisms to change how Nigerians do business and the way people do business with us – the Ease of Doing Business. What are you doing to change attitudes of diplomats in our embassies?

We are building a portal in each of our embassies in 119 countries around the world. We are going to have a trade officer, who will be responsible essentially for trade promotion, and through this portal, any Nigerian business can upload unto the portal and it will go into 119 countries and our embassies or missions will be responsible for promoting and finding access to market in each of those countries. We are going to redefine the job description in each of the embassies and have a mechanism for tracking and evaluation for performance. So, each embassy and mission is going to have target for business match-making and their assessment will be based on delivery.

Beyond the vision of trade promotion, how prepared and equipped are the officers to understand the new vision and mission?

Capacity-building is an ongoing process and we would want to invest more in constant training and we are partnering with some other countries that have also developed economic diplomacy of their side of foreign policy action for us to also imbibe best practices. But you are right, I think that the appropriate capacity is of importance and a lot of these will also be done at the entry point, getting the right people and also putting in place good training programmes.

We are in recession, a situation, which has seriously affected Nigerian embassies and missions. Do you think we can achieve the required impact with lack of funding of the missions as well as the country’s foreign obligations?

There is a strong case we are making for increasing the funding for foreign missions and in fact, for all our foreign engagements. There are comparisons that were made with other countries; what countries spend and the percentage of their budget on foreign affairs and what Nigeria spends. We spend far less than all the countries on the same level as ourselves. If you look at Egypt, South Africa and other countries, you will find they are spending five per cent and 10 per cent of their budgets on foreign affairs. If you look at Nigeria, it is not up to one per cent. Clearly, if you spend the money, you will also get a better result. So, I think we can do more in that direction. But we have to leave with what we have and we are looking at imaginative ways of addressing some of the issues.

What about the issue of owing of rents and staff salaries?

We are going to be engaging the Ministry of Finance and the Sovereign Wealth Fund and certain banks to introduce a mortgage system, where we could be paying mortgage in Nigeria in naira as we try and acquire and own more of our properties abroad. We are facing this problem because a lot of our properties are on rentage and so, when we have this high and low in our financial system, we certainly have challenges in paying rents. So, we are looking at that.

Then, owing staff salaries in a lot of these countries, again we are also looking at that and how we can make direct payment. But on the other hands, we are preaching prudence in managing resources by these embassies. So, we are trying to do a lot on that.

On the ministry idea of rationalising the embassies, how far have you gone?

We have made proposals and we are in the process of rationalising the embassies and keeping people within the agreed range, in terms of numbers of staff. We are also looking at closing a few embassies. So, it’s an ongoing process. It is something that will take a lot of time and in fact, what has become apparent actually is the enormous cost of closing the embassies and downsizing. On the face of it, it is not a win-win, where you just reduce cost and you are done with that. But its enormous cost will make you wonder whether that is the way to go. So, that is why we are also looking at other options rather than just closing or just reducing staff.

Nigeria is not getting favourable gains from agreements, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the ways Nigerians are being treated. What do you think is responsible and what are you doing to correct that?

That we are not getting what we deserve, I won’t agree that is correct. In terms of positions, I think we were selected in most of the positions we competed for. Then in terms of respect, you will find that a lot of African countries look up to Nigeria to drive processes. Like in the case of the Gambia, they looked up to Nigeria to lead that. Many heads of state are coming here. You find that in big international meetings such as G7 and G20, Nigeria is invited. Our President is invited to sit on the top table. Nigeria has been on the Security Council a number of times. So, I think we are getting quite a lot from what we deserve.

On the issue of the ways Nigerians are been treated in foreign countries, I think we also have to look, unfortunately, at the fact that we also have a lot of Nigerians in foreign countries that do not obey the laws of those countries. Some are involved in criminalities, in drugs, in prostitution, human trafficking, 419 and a lot of irregular immigration. If you have been dealing in drugs and you are convicted, they will execute you. If you are involved in prostitution and drug dealing in some countries, you might have people attacking Nigerians. So, unfortunately, the reality is that we have a lot of Nigerians who engage in criminality in a lot of these countries. What you find in the news very often is that Nigerians are being executed in this country and Nigerians are being deported in this country. So, we have to also look at that, otherwise, I wouldn’t say if there were an agenda in all these countries to target Nigerians or to treat Nigerians badly, because after all, in a lot of these countries, Nigerians are thriving, doing extremely well even in South Africa; a lot of Nigerians are doing fabulously well in the U.S. and all over the world.

Why the question came up is because of what our people are facing in South Africa, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Experts said what we are getting are not in consonance with what we invested there. What do you think the Federal Government is doing differently to correct the impression?

I think the reason why we have not been able to always benefit economically in a lot of these countries is because a lot of our businesses are not really structured to get market access in other countries, because there are lot of things that are involved – you need to have the capital, foreign exchange and the resources to go out and catch a market. And I think that, that is what is lacking and also intelligence – I mean not having knowledge of the terrain in a lot these countries, how to navigate and make investments. That is why we in the Foreign Ministry are now trying to do, to be the agents to facilitate that market access for Nigerian businesses. We cannot just blame it on these countries themselves.

I said we are trying to create an arm in the ministry where every Nigerian business that wants to invest in any country or wants to export to any country, will be able to go through the foreign affairs and our embassy in the country. They are going to follow for them to get into these countries and invest or partner different partnerships that will benefit the two countries.

What is state of the recovery of the Abacha loot?

Nigeria is dealing with illicit financial flows and the most important thing is to get the other governments to support the process. In the past, there was a belief that if you return this money to Nigeria, other people will embezzle the money. That is why the Swiss have attached conditions. What we have been able to achieve in this government is to give that confidence that this government is not going to embezzle money that is sent back. So, they are working with us to get the money back. We have hundreds of millions back already, and there are others in the pipeline. It is a very bureaucratic and legal intensive process, but the important thing is that we have the goodwill of all these countries in helping us to get the money back.

What do you want to be remembered for?

One, we are trying to make the institutions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and embassies stronger. We are not up to 21 century institutions in our work procedures, the infrastructure we have in place and the capacity of the people who are working there. The first legacy I will like to create is I will have to do a comprehensive auditing – the first comprehensive list of the Foreign Ministry and its embassies. It is that analysis that will enable us to be able to have a roadmap so anybody who come into the ministry in five years to 10 years’ time, he will have that blueprint to take on to improve the ministry. We don’t have the resources to do all of that, but at least we know what needs to be done.

Number two, I think we are in a globalised world, and it is a global marketplace and for each country to survive, we have to be a competitive agent to earn us global market place. I want the Foreign Ministry to be vast and active in facilitating Nigerian business market access and promoting Nigerian businesses without any of the huddles and bottlenecks to attract foreign direct investments. The foreign ministry will not just be about diplomacy, which of course is very important, but will be an active agent in trade facilitation and trade formation in the country.

The third legacy I would like to leave is the immediate access for any Nigerian outside to have access to the Foreign Ministry and the embassies, if they need help or they have complaints to make. So, there will be a Foreign Ministry that will be apt and at the fingertips of every Nigerian all over the world.

June 11, 2017
NIYI OSUNDARE ‘Our society has lost its sense of shame’

A Distinguished Professor of English at the University of New Orleans, USA, Niyi Osundare is a prolific poet, dramatist and literary critic. A vehement champion of the rights to free speech and one who believes in the power of the spoken word, Osundare maintains that African poets have no choice but to be political. He uses his poems to criticize government and seek ways to make the society better. In 2005, he was caught up in Hurricane Katrina, and he and his wife were stuck in the attic of their house for two days. In December 2014, he was awarded the Nigerian National Merit Award (NNMA), the country’s highest award for intellectual and creative achievement. His literary records show that he has over 20 books to his credit with various literary awards from across continents. Some of these awards include Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, Fonlon/Nichols prize for “Excellence in literary creativity combined with significant contributions to Human Rights in Africa”, The Tchicaya U Tam’si prize generally regarded as Africa’s highest prize for poetry, and many more. Osundare turned 70 in March. In this interview with Edozie Udeze at the University of Ibadan, he takes a deep look at the Nigerian political, social and economic situations, and his experiences from Hurricane Katrina, state of Nigerian Literature and more.

Let’s talk about the state of the nation. How do you assess President Muhammadu Buhari’s two years in office?

Mixed blessing, oh, mixed blessings. If you want to know who people are, it will be important for you to know where they are coming from. This is no apology at all for the present government. But they have to know the kind of country they inherited. This country was already dead by the time the APC came to power. But we didn’t know, because the then ruling party was papering over the cracks in readiness for the national election. No one knew the rot in Nigeria was so deep, so pervasive. I don’t believe what I am seeing now. In my many years on earth I have seen a lot of this country. In fact, several aspects of my development are parallel with the development of Nigeria itself. I knew Nigeria when it was at its best. This was in the six years after independence. Since the civil war, we’ve never been the same.

Now, I have never seen Nigeria so corrupt, so blatantly, so thickly, so animalistically corrupt as it is now. Just look at the horrifying legacy of the PDP regime. Look at all the monies, raw cash, being discovered all over the place – water tanks, warehouses, public buildings, private residences, cemeteries, etc. Some people would say this may be a photo trick. But you see raw cash; real raw cash stacked here and there in their dizzying billions. You don’t need any guru to tell you that we are a crazy people, ruled by crazy scoundrels, in a crazy country! …….No wonder, the Naira has been reduced to a miserable piece of paper. By around 2012, 2013, the Naira had actually started losing value, but it was being propped up in all kinds of ways by a government anxious to win the next election.
The Stock Exchange had tanked and the Naira had plummeted. Now the election is over, and all the gedegede (rot, decay) is out. And then the issue of the Chibok Girls. They were abducted under such crassly irresponsible circumstances that some Nigerians are even doubting that they were ever abducted! The naysayers are insisting that Nigeria’s terrible tragedy and shame must have been stage-managed! A terribly insane superstition that is an insufferable affront to commonsense and trivialization of the unimaginable suffering of these girls, their families, the nation as a whole, and the entire global human community. Every rational human being is constrained to ask: was there any government/governance in Nigeria when this tragedy unfolded? Were the rulers in Abuja awake or asleep, or simply too busy stealing and squandering Nigeria’s resources, to care? Nigeria was simply a big, dysfunctional ship adrift – captain-less, rudderless…… And, of course, the nation’s money-spinner, the NNPC became an ATM machine for all kinds of corrupt politicians and political agents. There was no control.
So this is the kind of country that was taken over by the present administration. Virtually everything we consumed was imported from abroad. I still remember that between 2013 and 2014, I bought a few things not because I needed them but because I wanted to see where they were made. Tooth-picks came from India. Spoons and other cutlery came from China. Some other things came from Brazil. Ironing boards from Turkey. The rice from Thailand or wherever, and I was wondering how can a country depend so pathetically on products from other places. We are not even talking about our cars, you know. Go to Nigerian roads, you see Mazda, Toyota, Honda, Mercedes, BMW, Kia, etc; all these cars come from other countries. Every car you buy produces money, plenty of it, for somebody far away. So we are only consumers, pathetic, notorious consumers of the products of other people’s intellectual and physical initiatives. This is the kind of situation we are in. I am not saying the previous government created all these problems; the issue is that they deepened them. These are the problems the present government inherited.
And the question now is: what have they done to improve the situation in the past two years. The answer is, very little so far, but in our present circumstances, that little may total up to so much in a number of cases. Take the anti-corruption “war” as an example. This is a “war” that is neither total nor thorough, but is producing some revelations that we only witnessed in the early years of the Obasanjo Presidency. In our present circumstances, naming the venal criminals that have brought us to this pass and shaming them in that process cannot be seen as an idle stunt. Since, in the last analysis, no crime is, actually, anonymous, those who commit those crimes must also have names. As for shaming, my issue with this is that our society has lost its sense of shame. There was a time when shame possessed a high deterrence potential, a virtue we have since lost to the monster of impunity. Nigeria’s political and economic thieves – and they are dangerously powerful thieves – work with impunity; operate with impunity because we are not calling them out. They have developed some thick skin because the country itself has lost its sense of shame. If you called someone ole (thief) in my childhood days in Ikere Ekiti, it was like calling him a leper.
Nigeria is a country ruled by powerful thieves who would do everything to make their crime anonymous. Look at our Senate; the president of that Senate stole his seat. Each time he holds the gavel and bangs it on the table, he bangs away at the conscience of the nation, of the world. And he forgets all about that sense of decency. For goodness sake, how can someone like Senator Saraki talk about corruption? And he has a number of other legislooters who dance around him – impunitous court jesters. What kind of country can these lawless folks be legislating for or in? What kind of apathetic people are Nigerians? And, by the way, that gang recently launched a book on – wait for it – CORRUPTION! Can anyone ever think of a more painful salt in the wound of a nation? What I see in Nigeria at the moment is a combination of tragedy and farce – a terrible combination indeed; the type which precipitates an ugly revolt if not a tidy revolution.
Finally, like I said yesterday at the poetry festival, this is a dying country. Yes, it is a dying country. And that is a phrase – I’m using with every sense of caution.
And by some kind of happenstance, the President of the country is ill at the present time. My sympathy goes to him. Nigerians have to remember that their president is also a human being. As human beings, we are nothing other than complex contraptions made up of vulnerable parts. But transparency is extremely important. We want to know what is happening to the President. Those who pray among us should be able to know where to direct their prayer and what affliction they want to train their vatic trajectory on.
Let nobody make a regional or ethnic or religious or political mileage out of this. This is no moment for opportunism or insensitive gloating. But let the nation know where its President is and what is actually wrong with his health. This is a matter of accountability without which democracy can only be a sham, some Byzantine conundrum. And, specifically, this is no time for coups or rumours of coups, as my friend Yakubu Mohammed, has poignantly put it in a recent column. We are tired of military adventurism and its ruinous excesses. A nation that has survived the perilous machinations of a Babangida and an Abacha must think twice before tolerating the “Fellow Nigerians” mantra of another military junta. We are tired of them. They do not have the solution to our problem. They are part of our problems. During their time we had a civil war. It was their action that led to that civil war – coup – counter – coup and so on. They are a force of destablisation.
So the situation in Nigeria at the moment? As the Yoruba would say the hen is perching perilously on the rope; no peace for the rope; no peace for the hen. The economy is extremely bad. People are hungry. The kind of letters I get from home – from people I do not even know. Help out with school fees, help out with housekeeping money. I find it difficult to look the other way. So what is government doing about this? People are hungry; people are dying. Last week when I came from the US and I was standing at a newspaper stand, one woman said to me, “oga, please give me money for food. And not just only me; I have three children and my husband has run away”. I wanted to buy three papers, but I ended up buying one. I added the balance to whatever I wanted to give to her. There are many desperate people in this country. And the terrible irony is that as Achebe would put it, ‘we are people who live by the ocean, but wash our hands with spittle’. Nigeria has enough to go round; more than enough, yet we are where we are. Do our governors and legislators and ministers see what we see, feel what we feel; hunger the way we hunger, fall sick the way we do?

Most critics of the Buhari administration say he has not jailed any of the people involved in corruption yet to serve as a deterrent to others and that the fight is selective. What is your comment?

Those critics have a reason for feeling the way they do and saying what they say. The anti-corruption war seems to have a predictable plot: arrest, take to court, make quite a fanfare of it, go through all the legal motion, get an adjournment, and watch the hue and cry taper off strategically or erroneously. The case drops out of the headline, and before you know it, from public consciousness. From what I have noticed, the law could be a nasty drag; and in Nigeria, it is doubly so. As I have said on some other forum, a lot of legal hairsplitting and shenanigans are being used to frustrate the prosecution of corruption in Nigeria. Most of the cases are knocked off on technical grounds. The EFCC needs to be more thorough, more professional, more proactive, and smarter. The law is a cumbersome ass: what may appear as a clear case to a layman may collapse under scrutiny in court. Most of us often forget that judges are human beings too. They have friends, families, professional colleagues, etc. Take the case of judges and other judicial officers currently facing trial for gross corruption, before other judges, their professional mates. I do not know if Nigeria has got to that stage in which a judge would be able to “jail” another judge as required by the law, without feeling a tinge of espirit de corps. Throw into this mix the nature of the presidential system we pretend to run: can the Presidency really fight and win the anti-corruption war without the cooperation of the Legislature and the Judiciary? How eager, how willing could a Senate President who is himself on trial for corruption be in a war against corruption? It’s this kind of tissue of circumstances people have in mind when they say “Corruption fights back”. Yes, it does. And it has a lot of stolen money to do this. This, however, is not to throw down our hands and let the monster win. The country needs the cooperation of every citizen to be able to prosecute a successful anti-corruption war. Nigerians surely need to be more critical, more willing to cultivate a system of values that is less corruption–compliant.

Would you still like to lecture in Nigeria again?

Ah, a septuagenarian! Since yesterday we’ve been talking about the issue of my “return”. A colleague wrote me six years ago about it as if I am an Andrew, someone who has abandoned the country. I replied him by saying no, no, I have never left the country. How can I come back to a place I have never left in the first instance? Exile is only a state of the mind. There’re thousands of Nigerians, who live in Nigeria but their minds and aspirations live elsewhere. And there’re many Nigerians who live abroad whose minds and aspirations are at home. I have never considered myself an exile. If I return to this country on a Thursday by Monday or Tuesday, I am at the English Department of U. I. You know, I left this country for family reasons. This is what people do not know.
Most people do not know that I had to leave the country in 1997 for family reasons. Even then, I have never been far from Nigeria, as I come home twice or thrice a year Most of the time, I am here. Two universities that are very important to my career are the University of Ibadan and the University of New Orleans. New Orleans has been kind to me, allowing me to come legitimately on leave of absence, on sabbatical and so on to Nigeria which is my home and research base and my laboratory and I go back to the US. So I come home three or two times in a year, on my own money. Last year I think I spent over $7,500 on tickets alone. A chunky portion of a teacher’s earnings! And when I am coming, I have books to share with colleagues and graduate students. When I was leaving this university in 1997, I did not abandon the four PhD students under my supervision; I combined their supervision with my tasks at the University of New Orleans, and they completed their doctoral programs in record time.
This university has done so much for me and I’ll never forget it. So, I never left Nigeria. This is one country where my life took its bearing. I have not overlooked UI, especially the Department of English. They have been gracious to me, very, very gracious to me. One of the most important values in Africa is gratitude – gratitude, yes gratitude. All the cultures I have studied I have seen that people place much premium on gratitude. And I have to say thank you if you have done something good for me. But now that I am 70, have to lean more closely to home. In Nigeria, I have three constituencies. They are education, the mass media and the publishing industry. These are the three areas to which I will continue to pay attention until I breathe my last.
People say to me how are you managing to cope, with all the problems in this country? There’s something that is still human about this country and that is what pulls me home most often.

Since 1986 when Professor Wole Soyinka won the Nobel Prize in Literature, Nigerians have been looking forward to another one. How soon do you think Nigeria can have another Nobel?

Ha, ha, I am not going to be eloquent about that because it is a question I have been asked so many times, especially in recent years. I am not a member of the Swedish Academy. I wouldn’t know, but I know that the Nobel Committee have the entire world as their constituency – the entire world. And some balance is extremely important. I just wouldn’t know, but I know good literature is coming out of Africa and in spite of all our problems. From those who are here at home, on the continent and our compatriots abroad, people are working. I teach African Literature, literature of the African Diaspora and I teach African and Caribbean literature and so on. But I know that the quality of our writings, not all of it though, is very high, given the kind of problems we have here. Here I try to send my e-mail for three days without success, but in the US I can do that within two minutes. There are ways the problems around us also inspire us to write. These problems also spur us to creativity. African literature is still growing. It’s a mixed bag of the excellent and the barely tolerable. Just as is the case in other parts of the world.

What endearing lessons did you learn from your 2005 Hurricane Katrina experience in New Orleans, USA?

Oh, very, very important question. It has taught me new lessons but it has also reinforced the lessons I knew already, one of them is the attachment to maternal things. For about seven days, my wife and I had no shoes because we left our houses with none. And my wife had a blouse and I had a shirt upon pair of shorts. That shirt was torn when they were trying to get me on the boat. We had some money in our banks but no access to them. We were nonentities because nobody even knew who we were. We had no identity cards on us. Yet for several days we survived. We survived because of the generosity of other human beings. We had a taste of American generosity. America itself is a complex society. There are racists and bigots, but there are those who feel for others. There are many who are large-minded, kind, generous to fellow human beings. At times over-generous; everywhere we went people gave us things free. We went into a pharmacy that didn’t charge us. In America, because we had rashes all over our bodies and the doctor prescribed drugs and the pharmacist said oh you are Katrina people. Just take the drug and go, do not pay. When I was wheeled into a hospital in Birmingham I was suffering from dehydration. I was weak and while the nurses discovered I had no shoes and somebody disappeared and within five minutes, he came back with a pair of shoes – lovely shoes. And I asked him, did you buy this? And he said no; one of the doctors at the hospital came, looked at my feet and went and removed his own shoes. Does it matter whether that person is black or yellow or white or brown or whatever? I was touched, I was really touched. Incidentally those shoes were a little too small for my feet. I wore them for sometimes and I kept them as mementoes.

When people say that I am optimistic, yes, I am, because I know we human beings are basically good. Not the issue of religion or race, no, no, we are all human beings to begin with. So, that reinforced my trust in the goodness of people. The man who rescued us is a Cuban-American with little education. He is an artisan. He used to pass by. But one day I went to his lawn when he was mowing it and I spoke with him. And he said to me, you are a university professor? And I said yes, what does that matter and we laughed. We became friends. Nobody knew he would be the one to save us. Twenty six hours after Katrina when we were choking, no food, no air, and we were in the attic, he was the one that came to boat us out.
But for him, we would have died. That’s a Cuban-American. I have a long one for him in my Katrina Poems. That’s a Christian who loves grace but also loves sacrifice. When eventually my daughter saw him she said I want to thank you for giving me back my parents. Look, supposing we had perished, what of the kid for whom we went to America? She would have been an orphan and that would have been a double tragedy. Side by side with the lesson I learnt was my suspicion about governments, about politicians. The Katrina tragedy wouldn’t have happened if money voted for the building of the protective walls had been spent the way they should be spent. For a long time America neglected the safety of the people around the area. Truth has to be told. That’s the only thing I know how to do. Katrina was not totally a natural disaster. It wasn’t God sent; it was man-made.
What has that taught me? That to him whom much is given, much is also expected. If I have been blessed that way, I also want to bless others. Pass on the goodwill, that is it.

When you had the Nigerian National Merit Award in 2014, you were quoted to have said that it wasn’t the Federal Government that gave you the award, but your colleagues who examined your body of works…?

Up till now, people still ask me why did you accept the award from President Jonathan? Why did you accept that award? But I tell them President Jonathan didn’t “give” me an award. It was my colleagues who did. What I got was not one of those doled out on October 1, every year, but this one was based on peer review and assessment of your work. It was done in strict confidentiality. It had integrity. As I said, there are people who have won the prize in whose company I am proud to be. Chinua Achebe won it in 1979; the first one. Soyinka is an awardee, so also are J.P. Clark, Bamgbose, Banjo, Adamolekun, Mabogunje, Osofisan, Laz Ekwueme, Oluponna, Chukwuemeka Ike, Alagoa. I am extremely proud of it. I didn’t have a second thought about it at all. The NNOM is a worthy reward for intellectual and creative excellence; an award to be encouraged in a country that doesn’t lay much store by excellence. No, no. President Jonathan did not “give” me an award, but he was gracious to me in his presentation of the award and in his generous encomium.

Who among young Nigerian poets are your favourites?

Oh, well, I am sure you know you are not going to get an answer. That reminds me of one of the last interviews the poet and artist, Obu Udeozor, had with Professor Ben Obumselu… (Ah, that man’s mind! The way he talked; very articulate, soft, humorous and uncanny). The poet kept pressing him to identify his favourite Nigerian poet, but the man never really gave a specific answer. ….. No, I am not going to engage in ritual of anointment. But I would say that a lot of good poetry is being written in Nigeria by the younger ones. Oh, yes, it is so. Poetry still remains the most patronized, the most practiced of all the literary genres in Nigeria. Hardly any week passes without one or two poets writing to me with one request or another about an ongoing or completed manuscript. Unfortunately, I have not been able to cope with all the demands… I wish I was in the position to accede to all these requests. It is not possible, but what is clear is that people are writing good poetry in Nigeria. And a lot of the poetry is really remarkable stuff. The kind of social consciousness our generation had… There was a point the generation after us rebelled against it, and went inside and came out better. But I am witnessing a renaissance of the kind of answerable imagination which powered the poetry of the second generation, no doubt a consequence of the resurgent anomie in the country.
So, some good writing is going on, but there is still a lot of work to be done to improve the quality of the “rendering”. There is a vital need to deepen our insight through a deeper familiarity with our indigenous cultures and languages. For genuine decolonization is a perennial process.

June 11, 2017
My Dad is my biggest source of inspiration

From gaining admission at age 14 to study Dentistry at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, to building a multi-million naira printing and branding company, Dr Taiwo Oyewole, the young CEO of Solakat Print House, is a reference point for excellence in business and enterprise. A firm believer in the vast potential of African nations to become economic giants, he shares the secrets of his staying power with HANNAH OJO.

You have a degree in Dental Surgery, what informed your foray into printing and branding?

My venture into printing and branding was a coincidence that became a passion. I wanted to get some materials printed for a non-profit organization I was involved with when I was on campus but I could not get a good print solutions provider. I went ahead to do it myself using some background knowledge I had in the past. My Dad runs a publishing house, Solakat Unik Publishers, and I had been privileged to go to the press with him a couple of times. That became the foundation of my inspiration and experience in business.

Dentistry is a daunting discipline; how did you combine the rigour of academics with business demands?

That’s one question I get asked over and over again. First, I took some time to understand my personal capacity. I knew I could handle it because I cover quite a number of academic materials within a limited space of time. Secondly, I had to master the art of time management. I cut off unnecessary social distractions and always made sure my focus was preserved. Above all, the God-factor gave me an uncommon edge. I went on to graduate among the top five in my class and built a multi-million naira company. I also held several leadership positions before becoming the President of a reputable non-profit organization on Campus.

The printing industry appears to be crowded, what digital techniques do you employ to set yourself apart?

For us at Solakat Print House, we want to redefine the Nigerian printing industry through an unwavering display of integrity and outstanding customer service. We want customers to get the quality they want and at the time they are supposed to get it and change notion that the print industry in Nigeria is unreliable. We recently launched an e-commerce platform, www.solakat.com.ng, which we believe will grow to become Nigeria’s top online print and brand shop. On that site, you can get real-time quotes, upload or request designs, pay and have items delivered anywhere in Nigeria. Our price calculator system is flexible and allows users to order for just about any quantity. Also, unit prices reduce very significantly as order quantity increases. We also have the most affordable prices across the web and we deliver top-notch quality with a fantastic customer support system.

As an entrepreneur operating in a tough climate like Nigeria where infrastructure is often lacking, what lessons can you pass on to aspiring entrepreneurs?

First, you need some good focus. It’s very easy to be discouraged in the Nigerian business environment. But, to build an empire, you must stay with it. Nobody builds an empire by hopping from one business to the other. Stick to your vision. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Make realistic goals and take deliberate steps daily towards its achievement. In all, don’t forget to give back to the society. Let’s contribute our quota to making our country greater and better.

Do you have mentors who inspire you as an entrepreneur?

Yes, I do. In fact, one of my biggest lessons in business is the place of mentoring. The biggest is that people are everything, that your greatest assets are the people on your team. Back to mentoring, when I started out, I made a number of costly mistakes because I had to learn my lessons by myself. However, when I got a business mentor, I learnt a lot vicariously. From just listening to his stories and watching him do business, I avoided a lot of potholes and my business grew dramatically. My Dad also remains my biggest mentor in business and a tremendous source of inspiration. If it were not for his unflinching support, the business would have died in its early stages.

Who are your models in business and how do you hope to impact society?

I have a number of them but Strive Masiyiwa and Aliko Dangote top the list. I have a passion for Nigeria and the African continent. I believe in the vast potential of African nations to become top global political and economic giants and I want to contribute to this through a number social innovative projects. I have a foundation that is committed to youth development through awareness clubs, scholarships and other programmes. By investing in the younger generation, we want to impact the future trajectory of Africa. I particularly want to take up social projects that tackle hunger, leadership, education and entrepreneurship challenges in Africa.

June 4, 2017