Former Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, bares his mind on the state of the nation, in this interview with PAUL UKPABIO and BIODUN ADEYEWA. He also speaks about his childhood, career and family life, as he turns 85, among other issues.
YOU will be 85 on January 18. How are you looking forward to the day?
I feel no different from the way I have felt in recent times. I am looking forward to even greater maturity in age.
It is a surprise that a few weeks to your 85th birthday, you are still walking about with a lot of agility. What would you ascribe that to?
I would ascribe my physical condition to three things. First, of course, is my God who has kept me healthy. The second is my personal lifestyle, which I think has been helpful to living a life that helps one’s good health. Third is my decision to remain intellectually active. You have to keep your brain working in order to live a healthy life. To these three things I assign my good health. I have no health problems.
At 40, you had many friends to play with. So also when you were 50 and 60. How many of those friends are you still keeping now that you are 85?
I take pleasure in having friends across the age divides. If you are asking about my contemporaries at school and universities, well, they are getting less and less. But then, I still have a few friends of my age group and some even older than I am. Three weeks ago, I was happy to be drawn into the celebration of the 94th birthday of Chief Chris Ogunbanjo. And last August, I was very happy to give a lecture to celebrate Chief Akintola Williams’ 98th birthday. So I have friends who are older than I am, and I have friends who are much younger than I am. I enjoy their company as much as I enjoy the company of my contemporaries.
So, do you intend to celebrate your birthday this time around?
I do not plan to have any elaborate celebration. I will probably be at home on that day. Some friends may drop in to say hello to me and that will be it. I do not believe in opulent parties. I would not want a big party.
So, that means you will be in Nigeria on that day…?
Yes, I will be very happy to be in Nigeria for my 85th birthday. When I was 80, I was not in Nigeria. My friends in England came together to give me a great dinner party at Marlborough House, and since then, my birthdays have been in different places. But this time, I am here and looking forward to seeing my friends who may look in or who may know about the day and visit.
I do not believe in newspaper adverts for that day, and I have never encouraged anyone to do so. Though in the past, one or two friends did it without consulting me. I invariably told them afterwards that I did not enjoy their doing so.
As you celebrate this particular birthday, what words do you want to pass to Nigerians?
At my age, I must confess that I am saddened by the current state of affairs of our great country, Nigeria. I was one of those who greatly looked forward to the unity and greatness of this country at independence. Then we had high hopes. Nigeria at the time of independence was at par with countries like South Korea. We were even a notch better than Malaysia. Then, we were very proud of our country which had a very productive economy. Nigeria was then the highest palm producer in the world. We had the great Northern groundnut pyramid. We had massive production of cocoa. Nigeria at the time was vying with Ivory Coast as to who was the largest producer of cocoa.
In the Plateau area, there was tin production. Nigerians were generally more satisfied with the economy than they are now. Today, Nigeria has become dependent on one source of revenue, which is crude oil. Besides, Nigeria is one of the very few major crude oil producing countries that is at the same time a major importer of refined oil products. In my job before my retirement in 2000, I travelled round the world and I could see that most crude oil producing countries were refining it and were not depending on importing refined oil products.
As I said, now the countries that were at par with us at independence are way ahead of us. South Korea is more than one generation ahead of us. Malaysia is very much ahead of us. If you look around in virtually all sectors of our national life, we are under-performing. Our roads are nothing to write home about. Our health sector and hospitals, our quality of education too. When I was at the University College Ibadan, our graduates were ranked among the best in the world. Now the quality of education at our schools and universities has fallen. So these are the things that make people of my age to look back in anger. My hope is that the upcoming generation will help to restore the country to where it was, and to develop better.
Going down memory lane, what fond memories of early school do you have?
I went to formal school at the age of five. I remember my parents taking me to school, and I was excited to join other pupils in my home, Obosi, a town in Anambra State. It was exciting for me as a little boy. My father was working as a clerk in the civil service. My father’s letters, when I read them now, he wrote better English and had better handwriting than people of his current equivalent school grade. I still have my father’s letters and his diaries. In one of the pages in my book, there is my father’s diary entry on the day that I was born. I was born in Iyi-Enu Mission Hospital, and my father recorded that I was born at 2.30 am on a Wednesday in January 1933. The quality of education in his days was high and the quality of his letters and handwriting was better than what we have now. He had Standard Six certificate.
Was going to school compulsory for you, and were you a privileged child?
I think in fairness, I would say that it was normal for the families that were educated to send their children to school. But all around too, there were illiterate parents who did not value education, and some families who did not have the means to send their children to school. Some of us were fortunate to have literate parents who valued education and so sent us to school.
Was your mother literate too?
My mother was literate, but not as literate as my father. My mother left school at Standard Five.
Do you recall any other fond memories of your early years?
Yes, I recall my days as a boys scout. I joined when I was 10. We used to play pranks then when we went camping and had to go to the forest to fetch firewood for old women and old people generally. I remember my first time in the forest, I was about to cut firewood and the chap next to me shouted, ‘Look at that!’ And right in front of me was a cobra. A deadly snake. I ran. I enjoyed my days as a boys scout.
Then, I was living with a relation who was a headmaster. At that time, parents in my part of the world would send their children to live with relatives who were teachers in the hope that the teachers would impact much on their education. So, my father sent me to live with his cousin who was a school headmaster. I went to CMS School, Gbojigboji, Agbor, in today’s Delta State, and from there, the headmaster was transferred to CMS Central School in Oba, Anambra State.
After my primary school, an educationist, the Late Mr E. Oli, who was educated in England, Oxford University, and had returned to become a tutor at the CMS Grammar School called Dennis Memorial Grammar School in Onitsha and was subsequently appointed the principal of Okrika Grammar School, had decided to establish his own school based on his experience in England and in Nigeria. He was my father’s good friend.
My dad told him that he was giving him his son for his new school. That was how I became a student in the second intake into the Merchants of Light School in Oba. After five years there, I was lucky to make extremely good grade in the Cambridge School Certificate.
Who was your role model then?
At secondary school, I took a particular interest in my Latin teacher, Mr. Aneto. He is late now. He taught us Latin in a way that fascinated me. His personality was something I greatly admired, and I regarded him as my mentor. That was why when I left school, for 18 months, I taught Latin and Mathematics at Emmanuel College, Owerri. I then took the entrance examination to the University College, Ibadan (UCI). At that time, UCI, Ibadan, admitted students on the basis of entrance examination. They selected the best performing students from around the country.
Although my father wanted me to go to England to study Law, which was not offered then at the University College, Ibadan. I insisted on going to read Classics, which is Latin, Greek and Philosophy, because I had been greatly influenced by my Latin teacher in school.
Did you get to learn Yoruba language when you were in Ibadan?
No. We were ensconced in the university hostel. Except, of course, the fact that I was able to pick a few Yoruba words. At that time, Nigeria was a lot more united than it is now. At that time, it didn’t matter what part of the country you came from. As you know, my wife is Yoruba and I am Ibo, and we have now been married for 55 years.
Did you both meet in Ibadan?
No, we didn’t meet in Ibadan. When I was in Ibadan, she was schooling in England. And then after Ibadan, I was recruited by the CDC (the Commonwealth Development Cooperation). They had a regional office in Lagos that looked after their operations in the English-speaking West African countries; that is the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria and Southern Cameroon. I was recruited by the CDC and then sent to England, to their head office, for training, and to other institutions in England.
At the beginning of 1961, I was posted back to Lagos. In February 1962, the Chairman of CDC then, Lord Ovwick, was visiting Nigeria officially, and I accompanied him and the Regional Controller, Sir Peter Meinertzagen. We went into a meeting with the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. At the meeting, the Prime Minister asked a number of questions about CDC-supported projects in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Gambia, and the Chairman asked me to answer the Prime Minister because I had desk responsibility for these projects. So I answered the questions.
At the end of the meeting, as we were going, the Prime Minister called me back and said, ‘Young man, we need people like you to come and work for the government of your country rather than work for a British institution.’ Nigeria at that time still depended on a number of British experts to work for Nigeria. For example, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Finance, who was at the meeting with the Prime Minister, was an English man. That was how I got recruited into the Nigerian Foreign Service. And that is why my book, my memoirs, is partly dedicated to Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa who got me to join the Nigerian Foreign Service.
What happened after?
I worked for about a year in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here in Lagos, but was later posted to New York, to the Nigerian Permanent Mission to the United Nations where I worked under Ambassador Chief Simeon Adebo, one of our most respected civil servants. And when the Commonwealth secretariat was established in July, 1965, the first Commonwealth Secretary General, Arnord Smith, came on an official visit in November 1965. At a meeting with the Prime Minister, he said that he was keen to build up in London, at the new Commonwealth secretariat, a team of Commonwealth diplomats who would, in his own words, help him make nonsense of the myth of racial superiority. He said he was looking for sound diplomats from a few Commonwealth countries. And he said he wanted a diplomat of a middle rank level from Nigeria. I was in New York when instruction came from Lagos that the Prime Minister had directed that I should go to the new Commonwealth secretariat. That was how I got seconded to the Commonwealth secretariat.
And how was the experience?
My experience at the Commonwealth secretariat was unique because, so far in the history of the Commonwealth secretariat, I have been the only officer who rose from being an assistant director to a director, assistant secretary general, deputy secretary general and eventually to the secretary general position. I was in the Commonwealth secretariat for 34 years with the exemption of the three months that I was invited home to serve as the foreign minister in the second administration of President Shehu Shagari, before soldiers overthrew President Shagari’s government. So I returned to my job in London.
You are more or less a citizen of the world…
Yes, I have in the course of my work travelled to over 100 countries. I have been to all the continents and all parts of the world. I have interacted with every racial group on the globe.
As we entered into your home, we saw a photograph of you with the late Nelson Mandela on the wall. What was your relationship like?
I know that many people would claim to have been friends with Mandela even when they were not (general laughter). But I can tell you that Mandela was a very good friend of mine. He wrote the foreword of my book, and he also wrote the foreword for my biography, which was written by a Canadian. So the picture you saw there was the picture taken when I took my family to see Mandela on a day that the South African government conferred on me their highest national honour for non-South Africans. Thabo Mbeki was the president then; Mandela had retired. So that picture was taken in his home. In the picture is Mandela, my wife, my daughter, my son-in-law and myself.
One recalls that you were helpful in sustaining the unity of Nigeria while you were secretary general at the Commonwealth, especially during the June 12 crisis. Looking back now, what do you see about Nigeria?
My contribution to the unity of Nigeria was particularly to the country’s return of democracy. You may remember that when General Abacha was Head of State, Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth. I then sympathised with what I believed was the position of the majority of my country men and women. I knew that they were thirsting for democracy and did not approve dictatorship. So while being comfortable with the suspension of the Abacha-led government from the Commonwealth, I entertained the hope and worked for the return of Nigeria to democracy and to the Commonwealth. In my book, you will see the story of my last conversation with General Sani Abacha on the day that he jailed Obasanjo. I called him from London to tell him that I was surprised and not happy that he had detained a former head of state who had very strong democratic credentials, because Obasanjo was the first military ruler who willingly handed over power to civilians.
I told General Abacha that Obasanjo’s democratic credentials were acknowledged the world over. I had met with Abacha in his first few months as head of state. I was trying to persuade him to respect the verdict of the election by handing over to Chief MKO Abiola. I had put up a proposal to him and he rejected my proposal. I spoke many times with him on the telephone from London, but after our contentious conversation on the day he detained Obasanjo, it became the last day I spoke to him.
When General Abubakar succeeded him, he invited me to visit Nigeria. I came to Nigeria with Koffi Annan who was the UN Secretary General. I agreed to help the process of Nigeria’s return to democracy. I sent electoral experts who came and worked with the then INEC Chairman, Justice Ephraim Akpata, who had visited my office in London to discuss the sort of help that the Commonwealth could give to INEC. And for the election itself, I sent a very powerful team of observers led by the former president of Botswana, Sir Ketumile Masire. During the Abacha days, NADECO leaders used to visit me in my house very frequently. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was one of them. I am glad he acknowledged that in his book about the heroes of Nigerian democracy. I was keen that democracy should return to Nigeria. I was therefore glad when elections were eventually held, and General Obasanjo, who happens to be a personal friend of mine, was elected president.
In the course of serving this country and the Commonwealth countries, did you ever experience a close shave with death?
I can recall two experiences in which I thanked God for helping me to survive. The first was in 1968 in the middle of the civil war, when the then Commonwealth Secretary General was trying to broker peace, to settle the conflict between Biafra and Nigeria. Although in the negotiations that took place in London when the two sides sent delegations to London from Lagos, led by Chief Anthony Enahoro, and from Biafra, led by Sir Loius Mbanefo, the Secretary General kept me away from being involved, being a Nigerian. When things got to a point where Emeka Ojukwu’s agreement was required, I offered to the Secretary General that I would go and talk to Ojukwu and he reluctantly allowed me to go. I went to Biafra on a mercy flight, which was organised by the Roman Catholic Church that carried medicine and food to Biafra. The journey took me to Lisbon in Portugal, to Sao Tome and from where we landed in Biafra at midnight, for that was the only time planes landed in Biafra.
That was not as scary as when I left from the same Biafra airstrip on a flight that carried ailing, rescued malnourished children out of Biafra. That was the only way I could get out of Biafra. We flew from Biafra to Gabon. At a stage on the journey, I thought we were going to crash. We had flown into a storm and the plane wobbled, and I believed it was the end.
The second experience was in 1980 when as Commonwealth Deputy Secretary General, I was going to represent the Commonwealth at the Independence Day celebration of Fiji Island. The international airport is not in the capital. You landed at the airport and then flew again for another 25 minutes from the airport into the capital. I was travelling on the same flight with the Deputy Foreign Minister of China and the Deputy Secretary General of the UN. It was a night flight in a small plane. We flew into a bad storm and everyone in the plane was saying their last prayers, and I thought that was it. When we landed after 25 minutes, for two minutes, nobody talked, nobody got up from the seat. And all of a sudden, we all started clapping for the pilot.
Do you have any regrets?
The truth is that I do not recall anything that I would have done differently. Every human being makes mistakes, but I do not recall a major mistake that I would have done differently.
What would you like to be remembered for?
That I tried to serve humanity.
Was there any objection from the family when you proposed marriage to a Yoruba lady?
Initially, the two families opposed our marriage. My father was not alive when I proposed to my wife, but my uncle, who was the head of my family, and my auntie, who was acting as my mother, was. My auntie came down to Lagos and cried all night that I could not find any Ibo girl to marry! And on her side, my late mother-in-law was very unhappy. They said how could my wife go all the way to the East for marriage? But thank goodness, my father’s second cousin was an Anglican Bishop and wife’s father’s second cousin was Sir Adetokunbo Ademola, our first chief justice. My uncle, the Bishop and Sir Adetokunbo Ademola agreed that we should be allowed to marry. This made the two families to mellow.
After the marriage, my late mother-in-law became my closest relative, and she would every summer come to England and stay with us. She had herself been educated in England where she had also worked. My wife comes from a line where her grandmother had also been in England and her father was a lawyer and a pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. That is why for every Christmas, we go to Obosi, my home town. We actually returned yesterday(Monday). And every Easter, we go to Abeokuta to celebrate.
What is your take on the humanitarian crisis that has risen from the killings in Benue, Rivers, and Kaduna states?
I must confess that I am very sad about the general insecurity in the country. We seem, as a society, to be getting inured to loss of human lives. I think that human life in every human society is attributed with sanctity. In the Nigerian society, it seems we are gradually losing consciousness of the sanctity of human life, because every day, we read in the newspapers about so many people killed either by Boko Haram or by marauding herdsmen or by kidnappers or by cultists. There is general insecurity and the value placed on human life seems to be going down and down. It saddens me because most of my working life was in societies where if one human being dies under questionable circumstances, the government, the law enforcement agencies will rise to action. But here in Nigeria, I read abo ut these deaths and see that the law enforcements and the authorities are not doing much about them. So I am worried. That is why and for many other reasons I have been advocating for the now commonly used word ‘restructuring’. Because when this country was a true federation of four regions, the country was doing better. There was greater security, greater development and less corruption.
But the structure we now have that obliges us to spend as much as 80% of our revenue on just administration, because we have 36 states with governmental structure replicated in all the states. It has got to the state where most of these states cannot pay their civil servants, with many being owed their salaries for many months. Instead of focusing on producing, we now go to share allocations from the Federal Government. I believe that in this country, given its character of multi-ethnicity, multi-religion and multi-cultures, we need a true federation where the federating units should be more viable than what we have now. We should have no more than eight federating units. These will be better able to plan their development, benefiting from healthy rivalry and competition between them, and check corruption which has been one of the greatest drawbacks we have had in the country.
If we get your above suggestion right, do you think the economy will equally be okay?
Oh yes, if we have more viable federating units, they will be planning their development. Each will be developing at its own pace. There will be stronger basis for planning and pursuing development. There is no part of this country that does not have economic strength and resources. Liquid and solid minerals exist throughout the country. Chief Obafemi Awolowo was able to plan and encourage the development of cocoa industry in the West. In the East, Dr Okpara was able to plan the development of palm produce industry and in the North, Sir Ahmadu Bello was able to plan the agricultural development and the mining of tin in Plateau. If we have more viable federating units, we can plan the overall development of the country better. And now that we have oil in commercial quantity, the federating units would be able to plan and manage these resources appropriately.
