The Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mike Omeri, has traversed the length and breadth of Nigeria, preaching patriotism and good citizenship. In this interview with OKORIE UGURU, he talks about his passion for NOA, his growing up and the challenges that come with making a living in Nigeria.
What were your early years like as a child and student?
I was born in Mubi in the present day Adamawa State in 1964. I went to school in that part of the country. We were nine children in the family but four are dead. I have also worked here and there, beginning as a class teacher. I taught in the primary school and at College Mary Immaculate, Zawan, Plateau State. I actually came in there as a national student from Maiduguri.
I am actually from Plateau State, but because I had spent all my life in the north eastern states, when I got admission to school, I was sent to Plateau State, not as a citizen of the state, but as somebody from Borno State. When they were doing the postings, I was first sent to Kindiri but Kindiri was too cold and I could not cope with the weather. First, it was culture shock, but I could cope with the experience. But the weather was so cold. One of my uncles did not want me to go back to Maiduguri. He wanted me to come closer to him. That was how I went to Zawan, a few kilometres from Jos. So, that is how it has been.
I began to develop interest in my community. In fact, when I went to the village for the first and second time, I discovered there were so many advantages that I never had in terms of knowing the terrain, the rivers, hills and all of those. So, I made it a point of duty to establish my contact with the community and the natural heritage, which other children got to know at young age. You would always see me in the morning taking a walk to explore the hills, rivers and so on in my village. I did that consistently for almost a month.
People say I couldn’t do it because of the risk, but I did it. Nigeria was so peaceful at night. I just had a bottle of soft drink and water. These are the things that informed my philosophy in life. So, I was able to reconnect with my community despite the fact that I was not born there and I didn’t grow up there. Today, I play a prominent role there and even have the traditional title of the Obowo of Kiana.
Lately, one would notice that various states are trying to hold their different festivals. What are you doing to see that these are done under one umbrella?
My colleague, Mrs. Keshi, would be in a better position to answer that question because her agency is responsible for organising and coordinating such festivals. There has always been an annual festival which I know is hosted from state to state. She would be in a better position to answer that question.
What do you think are the prospects of tourism in Nigeria?
Well, like you rightly observed, I am attending the FTAN programme for the first time this year. The prospect of tourism is very green in the sense that there is a renewed government interest. The practitioners have kept faith over the years. The fact that you see this number coming together to discuss the way forward shows that there is still private commitment. So, with the position of government and what it is currently doing to ensure that the atmosphere and the environment is conducive and attractive, Nigeria would be a natural tourism destination in West Africa.
Tourism is a platform for orientation as well as culture. We use their platform to promote the positive sides and valuable aspects of our culture. That is why the tourism industry must also have positive attitude in driving it. Without values, no matter the infrastructure provided, it will not attract or sustain patronage. So, the NOA will work with them.
You have been at the forefront of the campaign that Nigerians should see the country as our common patrimony. Is it something you feel passionate about or just as a part of your responsibilities as the director general of NOA?
I am lucky that I am doing my passion, even in public service. Loving Nigeria is an undisputed fact. As you see me, I do not have any investment outside Nigeria. I don’t even want to have a second building outside where I live, not to talk of abroad. I cannot do that. I still believe that this is the destination and that when we tap our resources and the energy and intelligence that are available within our country, we can be the best.
How did you develop this passion?
I got that from childhood, watching the attitude of our parents. My father was a policeman. He served outside his immediate environment and was always moving from one part of the country to the other. He kept telling us that we must love our country. He said we must be generous and respect our elders and even peers. I remember that each time he had to travel out, because Nigerian policemen then were majorly the people that went out to enforce peace in Congo and other parts of Africa, he would come back displaying a lot of medals. He would not talk about himself but about how they projected Nigeria, doing this and that, and how they were inspired by the colours of Nigeria.
These continued to influence our lives as we grew up, including the need to look for alternatives in every situation. We also learnt that in every challenge, there are opportunities and that we should go looking for the opportunities instead of staying back complaining, criticising or abusing others. So, for me, NOA is just my passion. Like I said, I am lucky to be in public service and living out my passion.
Some believe patriotism in Nigeria is a hard sell because of the multi-ethnic nature of the country. Do you agree?
I have heard this kind of comment even from the elites and I say they are the problem. Anybody who says that, I say he or she is the problem. It shouldn’t be difficult if all of us believe that we have a country that needs all of us. It shouldn’t be difficult if we cultivate the habit of doing the things we should do. It shouldn’t be difficult because we don’t have any other country but Nigeria, and that it needs us and we must stand for it all the time in whatever we do, wherever and however.
So, I hear it. Like I also mentioned earlier, there were certain things I did without knowing that I would play the role I’m playing today. For instance, I was selling suya (roast beef) when I already had two degrees, and I didn’t feel that I should depend on anybody. I believed that there was a place for me to make it in Nigeria. So, I can look for opportunities in all of this country. It has paid off today. I am happy it did.
Why did you go into suya business?
It is interesting. It was between 1992 and 1993 that I made up my mind to do it. I was working with an NGO (non-governmental organisation) known as Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria and there were issues that collided with my conscience, so I couldn’t sustain it. I just gave up the job and said I could do any work so long as men do other works to survive. Legitimately, I can do any work. So, what is available? I said okay, let me go and sell suya. What the heck! I had seen people sell suya and they survived.
How did you go about doing that?
I had colleagues in the media who understood what I wanted to do. I established a place called Geshi in Jos. I recruited one or two other people to work with me. We just went to the market with N5,000 to purchase all the things that we needed. There were other friends of mine who also invested in the business, so we were together one way or the other. Every day, I went there to hang out, sell my suya and come back. It sustained me for the period that I had no employment. It will interest you to know that it was from there that the former military administrator of Plateau State, Col. Mohammadu Manah, who later became Senator Mohammadu Manah, appointed me his press secretary. The newspapers were awash with the story and cartoons, saying ‘Administrator appoints mai suya as press secretary’. Because I was selling suya, quite a lot of people didn’t know that I went to school.
But I didn’t feel anything about it. I didn’t have a reason to do that as per my background. My father was a police officer. Nine of us had gone to school and were doing very well in their places of work. But I needed to find my own way in life.
So it was not that you were desperate; you just wanted to work?
I wanted to work. I shouldn’t be idle because my family, my friends could have everything that I needed but they were not mine. And what happens to my own talent? What happens to my conviction which I must express somewhere? I cannot be denied that by any other human being. So, I should look inward to see what I can do to survive.
How much were you making in a day as a suya seller?
When I wanted to start the suya business, like I told you, we invested N5,000. I found that I was making N2,500 and sometimes N5,000 in a day, which was more than my salary in a month at that time. Because of the way we introduced it, the media helped me, because I came from that constituency. They made the opening ceremony so glamorous as if we were bringing a different specie of suya from heaven. People were anxious to see the place.
What we did was packaging. You would come to choose what you wanted. It was ala carte and we prepared it for you. We introduced another concept: while you waited for your suya, you could patronise other services. It was well packaged and it gave us an advantage.
What has happened to the place?
It is still there. Some younger people have taken over. There are committed Nigerians, some have passed on, but others are there. Then also, younger people have to be trained on tourism as a subject.
