Mrs Ebele Okoye is the Regional General Manager-in-charge of five airports in the South-South/South East Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN. She is also in charge of the Port Harcourt International Airport. Last weekend, she bagged another award in recognition of her commitment and dedication to service by the Institute of Corporate Administration. In this interview with Precious Dikewoha in Port Harcourt, she bares her mind on the challenges facing her as a manager, the ongoing project at Port Harcourt International Airport, her private life and other interesting issues.
BEING a woman at the peak of your career, would you have got enough headaches from men in the discharge of your duty?
Well, the men I come across in respect of my job, I will say, are wonderful men. They have always encouraged me; the male folk you know are the ones that will assist you when you are down. Even when you are not making progress they will be there to ensure that success is being achieved, they have been the best of friends. The success we are celebrating today at the airports, some of the staff members are men and they made their own contribution, and with the help of God they encouraged me to get to the level I am today. I don’t have any problem with my male counterparts and subordinates. But when you talk about men especially in a working environment, there is the other side of them. Although, there are well-defined job schedules for everybody, but our paths cross often. There is no problem as such. Yes, men would want to show that they are men. When you give orders, some are not ready to take instructions from an ordinary woman, etc. But when you know your onions, no one would joke with you. Male chauvinism, to me, does not count because every where I had worked, I proved my mettle. The challenges are the same; I mean the problems a woman faces in a man’s world are the ones we face too. But I don’t believe in messing around to get along. Be on top of your game. Be at your best at all times. The sky would be your starting point.
Is your family not worried with your job?
No, they are not. I started early in life to have a family, some of my children are now adults; my last child is 18 years and in second year in the university. The truth is that my family understands my job, so they have nothing to worry about. Of course, they know I can always take care of myself. I will say that God has been so wonderful to me. His grace is always sufficient for me.
What role did your family play to get you to where you are now?*
My father was a business man while my mother was a teacher. I grew up in Onitsha, Anambra State where my dad had a business. They were both loving parents but firm from a tender age; I wish my siblings were taught to work hard and be honest in everything we do. My father would not tolerate slothfulness at all and mummy too could not stand a liar. They were both my model and I always prayed back then to be like them. My parents loved education and would spare nothing to send us to school. They put us in the best schools around and when I entered the university, my parents were very proud of me. It was a dream fulfilled.
You have been receiving awards in recent times and you just got one today, what is the secret?
The only secret is God and hard work; I want to thank the noble Institute of Corporate Administration for this honour being done to me. Awards of this nature, I believe, are given purely on merit measured by human efforts. I wholly subscribe to James Allen’s submission that in all human affairs there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the
result. And like one-time president of the United States of America, Theodore Roosevelt, once posited, man was not intended to be an oyster. He is to get to action by seizing the moment. This is what I have been able to do at the Port Harcourt International Airport since October 2012. I got into the saddle as the Regional General Manager in charge of the five airports in the South-South/South-East Region. This is not the first award that is coming because of the efforts men and women made to achieve greater heights under my supervision. When I got the letter of this honour, I felt humbled on the one hand and also elated on the other. The letter said the fellowship was in recognition of my dedication and commitment to service, upwardly mobile and visionary approach to administrative matters, professionalism in service and public spiritedness. I was most humbled by the fact that somewhere, somehow people are taking note of our modest contributions to the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan.
This award is coming on the heels of one recently given to me, or, may I say, us by Port Harcourt Weekly Watch. On that occasion, I said we were here to do our duty as dictated by the Civil Service Rules of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I still want to reiterate that we are doing what we are paid to do and therefore we do not expect commendations as it were. Be that as it may, it is always heart-warming when you are called up like this by people you never met for celebration and appreciation.
What could be the difference made as the regional manager, looking at the condition of Port Harcourt International Airport from the day you were posted and today?
I was posted to the airport in October 2012, and the challenges on ground were awesome and overwhelming. We had to contend with using make-shift tents as the arrival and departure halls. Rains would come and the tents would be blown off and we would start all over again. The walk- ways were scattered almost on a daily basis by the carts of the handling agencies.
Nothing like conveyor belts in the kind of the situation, coping was stressful but today we can beat our chest and say we have made some progress. Although we are not yet there, I am sure in no distant time we will get there and every one of us will be proud of belonging to this nation. In these 15 months, a lot of projects have been embarked upon by the federal government through the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the airport itself. In June last year, we commissioned three locally executive projects that added to the landscape of the airport. These include a remodelled guest house, a total facelift of the administrative block, a new car park for blue chip companies with a recreational garden beside it for relaxation. All these were executed through direct labour with the meagre resources available to the airport.
But some travellers have complaints of slow-pace of work at the Port Harcourt International Airport?
There are a lot of projects going on at the airport; as far as I am concerned the works are going smoothly. Within the air side of the airport, projects are going on with the speed of light. These include a new International Terminal, a new Cargo Terminal, an Apron Expansion, a Pilots’ Lounge, an Emergency Operation Centre and a Protocol Lounge for VIPs. The 60 percent part of the remodelled terminal building has been put to effective use even though we are handling both international and domestic departures, we are confident that in no distant time the remaining 40 percent would be completed which is the arrival for both international and domestic passengers. We are doing our work the way it should be done without waiting for any ‘Thank You.’
Considering the kind of cheap awards that people receive these days, I hope yours are merited?
As I said earlier, it is our hard work; it will surprise you to know that for the last one year, there have been many individuals and bodies calling to congratulate us on what we are doing. All glory for what we have been able to do in this short period belongs to God Almighty. Without Him, we will not achieve anything. Of course, award of recognition has become bastardised in this clime since it now goes to the highest bidder, but I was recognised without prompting and without any monetary inducement. I am very happy for what this institute has done; this will encourage us and other people out there to contribute their best to the growth and development of their fatherland. I have dedicated the awards to my staff members here at the Port Harcourt Airport and others in the other airports which I oversee in the South-South/South East Region. What can an individual do in the type of circumstances and job schedules that we are constrained to execute?
Your record shows you have been doing well from one stage of your career to another, what are your strategies?
It is simple. The lion can be tamed. It is a thing of the mind. I read a book in my secondary school days titled The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan. There is a quotation there I never forgot. It says: ‘The secret of playing a part is to think yourself into it. You can never succeed for long unless you think yourself into it.’ Whatever you want to do in life, address yourself into it, no matter how hard, you will overcome. Then I believe attitude is everything that will take you to the highest altitude.
As a mother, how would you react on the issue of child abuse and rape?
Let me begin by saying child abuse is a crime against God. Any woman or man who is into this evil act will never be forgiven by man and God. No, don’t mention rape! It is an abomination. I am a mother; I cannot contemplate the crime of anyone molesting my daughter or any other girl for that matter. Rapists are sick people that should be confined to a psychiatrist home permanently.
