Obong Victor Attah is an accomplished architect and former governor of Akwa Ibom State from 1999 to 2007. A man who does not believe in sitting on the fence over an issue, he once led a protest as a student at the Ahmadu Belo University Zaria, Kaduna State over alleged frustration of Nigerian architectural students by the then British lecturers. Long before then, he had protested against his parents’ church, Qua Iboe Church, by opting out to join the Catholic communion for refusing him baptism because he was too young to raise the required dues. In this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, in his Abuja office, Obong Victor Attah spoke about his journey in life, regrets, his first kissing experience and sundry issues.Excerpts:
How would Obong Victor Attah describe his essence?
There is really no one essence to describe a man. Your question is a multi-dimensional one. That is, if you were to ask my staff what kind of man I am, they will define me as a type of employer that they know me to be. And if you ask any member of my family what kind of man I am, they will define me differently by telling you that I am the kind of husband, father and grandfather that they have known me to be. Similarly, if you were to ask my political associates what kind of man I am, they will also tell you that I am that kind of politician that they know me to be.
So, you asking me about my essence, all I can tell you is that I try to be a decent human being with principles that will stand me before my Creator and I can only say that I have done my best.
How would capture the kind of family were you born into?
Without sound immodest, permit me to say that I was privileged to have been born into the family of educated parents. My father, the late Bassey Attah was the second Nigerian ever to have a university degree in Agriculture and the first to obtain a Master’s degree in the same discipline. My wife also, was an educated woman who was a school teacher. So, I can consider myself born into a privileged family.
Coming from a background where you father was Nigeria’s second graduate of Agricultural Science, and the country’s first Master’s holder in the same discipline, how were you inspired or influenced by all of this, educationally?
I was positively inspired. I grew up to realise the value of education in human development. My father believed so much in the importance of education. When he returned to Nigeria after completing his education in the U.S., he was sent to Moore Plantation in Ibadan and later to Oil Palm Research Station (OPRS), which is now called NIFOR, in Benin, Edo State. Much later, he was sent to the Cameroun. This was a time when Quinine was our only cure for Malaria. So, my father was the one who developed and grew all the Quinine plantations used for the treatment of Malaria then as well as the banana plantations in the Cameroun.
The reason I am telling you this in relation to education is to let you know that I was born at a time when he was leaving for his studies in the US in 1938. He returned to Nigeria in 1945. He studied through the Second World War years.
Upon his return, to Nigeria, he was moving his children of whom I was one of the seventh from one part of the country and from one station to another. I remember that in those days, even when you studied English as a language, you actually taught in the mother tongue.
So, at Moore Plantation in Ibadan, we were trying to study Yoruba, which we eventually did not speak. In Benin, we were also at the OPRS trying to speak Edo, which we also did not speak. It was the same situation in Cameroun, trying to learn one of the languages, which we ended up not speaking.
With this unsettled life, my father felt if we went on like that, we were not going to be educated if we continued like that. So, he sent my mother along with the rest of my siblings back to Uyo so that we could live a settled life and pursue our education. His decision was a demonstration of how much he loved education. He made sure we did not only have to go to school, but a school good and decent one at that. He was determined to push us as far as he possibly could, educationally.
How was your growing up like?
I must say that it was quite interesting. When you grow up in what could be described as a privileged family, certain things come your way naturally or as a giving. There is this story that I am going to tell you without mentioning names. There was this incident in which someone, in an attempt to abuse us, told my siblings and me that we were trying to be like the joneses. But someone else who was listening, quickly stepped in and said the family we came from, were the real joneses and so we could not be trying to be like the joneses.
While we were growing up, one of the enduring lessons our father taught us was humility and obedience to law as the essential ingredients, if we were to grow up as complete personality. As a child, my father preferred I studied engineering, but I was rather excited studying architecture because it was more of a creative endeavour than engineering.
Given the kind of family background you belonged, what sort of awe or respect would you say you inspired in your peers and neighbours?
Fear, definitely not! We did not have to use our position to intimidate anybody. But sadly, I see that happening today. If you are truly and sufficiently educated and you are sure of yourself, then, you do not need to intimidate anybody. However, you can inspire by offering the right thought and the right direction. You must enjoy the benefit of being taken into consideration and being consulted. That is what people expect from anybody in any society. Honestly, if you try not to open your mouth too wide when you are sure of your subjects, people will definitely respect and look up to you.
While growing up, I found out that this was not too difficult to do because people just expected that I should know everything under the sun. So, even when I did not know, I would ask questions until we arrived at a solution.
Our father taught us three things that would help us go through life: always say please; always say thank you when someone does something nice to you, even when you paying someone for doing something and finally, do not ever hesitate to say I am sorry to even the most lowly because you can do something wrong to him or her who is the most lowly in your midst.
How rascally was young Obong Victor Attah?
To be honest with you, I really do not know whether to call it rascality, but I was very firm on my principles. So, I do not know if that was rascality. Today, I am a Catholic and a knight of the Catholic Church, but my parents were Qua Iboe and they died Qua Iboe. I can tell you the story quite simply. I was Quo Iboe, grew up in Qua Iboe where I did my baptismal exams and passed successfully, but on the day of baptism, I was told I was too young and too small and would not be able to pay the church dues and stuff like that. Before then, I could not recall ever crying like I did following that disappointment of not being baptized. I was still in elementary school and was quite young then. I returned home that day and looked at my parents in the face and told them ‘if your church baptizes people simply because they could afford the church dues, I am not accompanying you to that church again. So, if you want to call that rascality, so be it. But I will describe that as standing on principle. From that day, I stopped being Qua Iboe. After that I went through different Christian denominational churches until finally, I decided that I wanted to be catholic.
So your leaving Qua Iboe was more of what could be described as a rebellion or protestation?
My Catholicism was not because I was born into it, but to borrow your word, it was more of protestation. That protestation marked a certain milestones in my life. That protestation also went with me when I was a student at the Nigeria College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria, Kaduna State, which is now the Ahmadu Bello University, ABU.
At Zaria, I discovered that architecture was one subject Nigerians were not doing very well in. they could pass in several other subjects, but in architecture. So, I embarked on a protest. I went to our student union leader and said to him that something was wrong. How come that they would admit about 30 of us and that number would suddenly drop to half when getting to our third year and then to about three in our final year? Even then, some of the three ‘surviving’ ones would still not pass very well.
So, what made me to protest very strongly was that most of the young Nigerian architectural students who were purportedly not passing their architectural exams found their way to England and did very well, even better than some of the English students in the same architectural course. Do not forget that at Zaria, we were being taught by British lecturers. So, I put two and two together and came to the conclusion that there must be something fundamentally wrong somewhere. If it was that we could not do very well in architecture, then these Nigerian students who left Nigeria for the UK should also not do well over there. So, I protested.
So, I acquired the distinction or reputation, if you like, of being the first person to engineer a students’ protest in Zaria, which later became ABU in 1960. Following the protest, there was a major inquiry at the end of which it was recommended that the British lecturers in ABU Zaria would never allow me to pass out. I was a private student because my father was paying my fees. That was how I was sent abroad to study.
So I found myself in a British school in the UK and I did very well. It was discovered that my protest had a basis. It was only when we had our independence that for the first time, a Nigerian became Head of the Department of Architecture, in the person of Professor Adeyinka Adeyemi, that we got know what the secret was. It was clearly established that the British were finding it difficult to graduate African professionals, but mostly in architecture and the building industry not only in ABU but everywhere.
The reason for this was simple. The British had just returned from the war and could not all be absorbed in the workplace. So, they were being sent abroad. The implication was that if we qualified too early and too many, there would not be room for the British war returnees. That was why we were failing and failing and failing but would go to the UK and do very well.
Given the nomadic life your father lived, having to be moved from one part of Nigeria to another a result of his profession as an agricultural officer, you must have imbibed many cultures. How much of these varied cultures would you say shaped your worldview?
Well, the word nomadic, as you used it, would be rather too strong. But that being said, I will say that the experience exposed me very early to the country, Nigeria. We had been in the west, east, north and even as far the Cameroun, the Southern part of Cameroun. That is why when I tell people that I know Nigeria very well, I am not just making an empty boast.
I did not speak any of the languages of the areas we lived. But the experience, however, made me to appreciate the richness of our vast cultures. It also made me to understand why certain people do certain things in a certain kind of way. I can almost certainly anticipate what their behaviour and reaction will to be.
So what values would you say the different cultures you have had romance with inculcated in you?
They inculcated tremendous values in me, because the different cultures made me a lot more tolerant of other people’s attitude and idiosyncrasies and their way of life. It taught me to be more accommodating of others, just as it has helped me to be a lot more understanding of the various people. It has also been helping me whenever I want to argue for or against certain things. For instance, if there is an issue and which I need to make an input, I should be able to say to whomever, that from the part of the country you come from, your culture does not support your position on this or that issue. And owing to my interaction with different cultures, I can afford to look at anyone in the face and say to him or her without any fear of contradiction that your action would not be permissible in your culture if you were to do that back home.
As a Christian and a catholic for that matter, how often would you turn the other cheek if wacked on the other one?
(Prolonged laughter) The scriptural requirement of turning the other cheek has been very severely abused. When God said we should turn the other cheek, He did not say we should be timid. He did not say we should be cowardly. He gave us the spirit of strength and of good understanding. If you are confronted with evil, will you close your eyes to it and turn the other cheek simply because the Bible says we should turn the other cheek? If you do not confront it, I do not think you are going to have any kind of success at all.
Christ came and confronted the evil that he saw in the world, which led to His crucifixion and resurrection. If he had not confronted what he saw, we would not have had redemption. Let me tell you this and in all honesty, much as I do not like to be confrontational: I do not run away from taking a stance. I can take a stance and as a matter of fact, a very firm one.
But was there a time that you had had to turn the other cheek?
Very many times I have done so. We have a saying in place which goes thus ‘ekpe tuk, edu guduen’, which translate as ‘do not think the lion as cowardly just because it panics at being frightened’. Do not mistake the lion’s first reaction for cowardice as it might growl and pounce on you after realising that you are just a prey.
Nigeria has continued to have more than its fair share of collapsed buildings. As an architect, what would you adduce as factors responsible for this?
It is a phenomenon of the non-patronage of professionals in the building sector of the economy. Nigerians like to cut corners and they will always cut corners. If you go to an architect, he is going to charge you his professional fees because that is what he lives on. But if you have to deny him his professional fees, then you must seek the services of a quack. Or better still, you may decide to do it your own way, after all, who cannot build a house? That is what I often hear people say, I know how to build a house. But does that make them professional in the field of building and civil engineering? We have tried in this profession to tell the government that this is all wrong. There should be a dividing line building professionals and suppliers.
Today, the man who sells sand sees himself as a contractor, another who supplies water at building sites is also a building contractor. So, they are all building contractors and engineers without professional expertise or skills. It is an all comers’ affairs and the government appears to be helpless. Even those who give design approvals do not insist on the design being handled by professionals.
Occasionally, there is professional negligence on the part of the professional because he does not supervise adequately. And often, it is because the man for whom he designs says he does not want to pay you fees for supervising because he can supervise himself.
In building, there is a cement/sand ratio for sandcrete blocks, but today, a tipper of sand is mixed with a bag of cement to produce 5000 blocks. The implication is that the building was already designed to collapse. When you build without enough reinforcement, buildings are bound to collapse.
I can say it with all the conviction and authority that less than two per cent of our built environment is today under the design and supervision of professionals. The rampant incident of collapsed buildings must be looked at from two or more perspectives: we are building so much more now and so, the phenomenon seems to be larger than ever before; secondly, there is media spread so much more widely done now than it was in the past. Then, the media has a role to play by assisting us to tell this government and subsequent governments that the last lawyer to have ever set his foot in any Nigerian law court was Sir Dingle Foot (QC). It was a serious issue raised by the late Chief Obafemi Awolow (May his soul rest in peace), who said then that the man had no business entering the Nigerian court to practice.
The lawyers have succeeded and the doctors have also succeeded in stamping out infiltration by non-professionals and non-Nigerians. Unless you are licensed to practice law in Nigeria, you cannot set foot in the country to practice law in our courts. For the doctors, unless you are licensed to practice medicine as a foreigner, you are not allowed to prescribe even APC. You cannot prescribe APC unless you are licensed by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA). It is a serious matter, but when you come to the building industry, people who are not even qualified to practice in their own country are bringing designs and drawings which we are accepting.
There is no regard and respect for professionals in the Nigerian building industry and there is no enforcement of our building code.
What would you consider as the high point of your architectural career?
Have I gotten there yet? In truth, I am looking for things to do now that will be my signature project and I will retire home to the Lord. I am 74 and going on 75. Soon, I should stop practicing. As creative an endeavour as architecture is, your success depends to a very large extent on the client. If your client is very understanding and is able to indulge you and you are able to produce a good design, it becomes a reference point in a long time to come. I am still looking for that client.
The problem with most of our clients in the building industry is that they are too impatient. Why is it that projects take long years to complete and often abandoned by contractors, yet architects are rushed to produce designs? Professionally, it is difficult to shift a line on a design than to have a structure demolished.
The closest that I came to agreeing that I have designed a good structure that could be a reference point is the NDIC head office building here in Abuja. And funnily enough, it is the only one among several buildings in Abuja that I can point to as my design.
What interest me about that building is that a British architect who practices here in Nigeria, and whom I met at a social function said to me that he would tell me what would interest me. I asked him what would be? He said some of his foreign colleagues from the UK came on a visit and he was taking them round Abuja, and as they were going, they saw the NDIC building and asked him to stop, according to him, they said the building looked like it was designed by an architect. They drew closer and took a look at the building. That, to me, is something to be proud of. It turned out that way because my client allowed me enough time to experiment with designs.
Do you have a habit and if yes, what would that be?
Yes, I have a habit and the habit is hard work. It is a habit that people have complained about. The fact is that I enjoy what I do. But that is not to say that I do not recreate. I go on vacations every year. I do that with my family so that when we come back, we have things to talk about together. But once I return to Nigeria, nothing else takes the place of work.
What has been your saddest moment in life?
My saddest moment was to have lost my wife to the cold hands of death. That was the best companion that I had who made life very meaningful to me.
Despite that there were many beautiful Nigerian women, why did you have to settle for a woman from the Barbados?
You should have asked me where we met. Anyway, I will give a simple answer. I met my wife while in the university in Leeds, England. Again, let me borrow your word, after my protestation at ABU, I was sent to continue my university education in England. I was so young then that my father tried to persuade me to return after my graduation to marry a Nigerian lady, but my younger brother had to personally write to my father asking him to leave me alone to marry whoever that my heart agreed with. He told my father that it was a matter of market availability. He said if I had reached marriageable age and the only available market to me then was what surrounded me in the UK. So be it. That is the kind of family I come from. So it was a matter of market availability.
If I was in Nigeria at the time I wanted to marry, it would have been a Nigeria because I would not have left Nigeria in search of a wife in Barbados. But I have no regret at all that I found the kind of wife I did. She was a wonderful woman.
How disappointed was your father with your decision?
He was not disappointed. Rather he was so pleased that I married someone he came to regard as a daughter. He was extremely happy with the choice I made.
If you had a second chance, where would she come from?
(Cuts in) Are you suggesting that I marry again? But if that were to happen, this is the available market now. There will certainly be no need of going back to Barbados to marry another wife.
So, has His Excellency started receiving applications from suitable applicants from the available market?
(Cuts in with prolonged laughter) Do you advertise for this? No, nobody places an advert for a wife. It was just a few months ago that I buried my wife. So let us leave that for the time being.
What was that invaluable piece of advice that your father gave you and which you have taken along with you up to date?
He told my siblings and me to always remember three things: to say ‘please, thank you and sorry’. He added another: remember that hard work has never killed anybody. But if you do not work hard, you might die of starvation.
What is your biggest motivation in life?
I am motivated by the desire to succeed. If I accomplish a task and it turns out successful, I feel like doing more. Success is my biggest motivation.
If you were to go back 45 years, what is that thing that you would have loved to do differently?
Please, I will beg of you not to go back that far. Just take me back to 2007 and I would have insisted that Nigeria should elect the kind of president she should have. I just regret the fact that Nigeria has never been allowed to elect freely the kind of president she ought to have. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying that the leadership we have at the moment is bad or anything of sorts. That is not what I am saying. But the fact remains that we have never been allowed to choose our president freely. It is only then that we can make progress as a country. That is all I am really insisting on. I listen to former President Olusegun Obasanjo saying the last time that Nigeria lacks good leadership material. That is not true and he knows it. Why I said he knows it is because it was in his time that we said Awolowo was the best president we never had. Why did we not have him? Yet he was the best material. It was because he was not allowed to be president. It was also in his time that we came up with this theory of twelve two third. Over the years, we have been manipulating and manipulating to ensure that the best man does not get the job. Nigeria has abundant leadership potential and possibilities. So, his statement was not correct.
How was the experience the first time you kissed a woman?
(pauses) Wait a minute, wait a minute. Please don’t laugh. If you are asking about kissing someone passionately, it was something I did while I was in the UK. It was a feeling I can never forget. I kissed and kissed and kissed that after three days later, I complained to my roommate that I wanted to go and see a doctor because my tongue was aching. I told him I did not know what was wrong with my tongue. I had kissed for so long that my tongue started aching. That was how wonderful it was. It was the person who eventually became my wife. The experience was absolutely fantastic.
