Correspondent MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE writes on the life and times of the colourful Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, who was murdered in Lagos by the mutineers.
It is exactly 47 years ago today, that the Khaki boys swooped on the nation’s fledgling democracy and sacked the Balewa Administration. The incident marked the end of the parliamentary system of government, which the British framed for the country before the colonial masters left Nigeria’s shores
It was a trying moment. Key politicians were killed in the putsch. The unity of the country was threatened to its very foundation. All political structures were abruptly consigned to history as the citizens and members of international community watched the macabre dance.
By the time the martial music simmered down, one of those cut short was the Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, a flamboyant dresser whose style earned him the nickname , Omimi-Ejoh, Ejoh bilele, translated as ‘the man with long feature and flowing wrappers’.
Born July 18, 1912 to Prince Okotie Eboh in Warri Division, he attended Sapele Baptist School. In 1930, he took up an appointment as an Assessment Clerk in Sapele Township Office. After a brief stint with teaching, he joined the Bata Shoe Company Limited, where he rose to the post of Chief Clerk.
He took business courses as a private worker. With a Diploma in Business Administration and Organisation, he resolved to go into business on his own.
He established schools and ventured into other businesses, including rubber and timber. His business conglomerate included the Okotie Eboh Grammar School and Omimi Plastic and Shoe Factories. He was a wealthy businessman.
Going into politics in 1948 proved the icing. He played his politics with the same enterprising spirit.He won a seat in the Warri Divisional Council, following a hectic election. As a grassroots politician, he was a councillor in the Warri Provincial Council. Later, he served as a member of the Sapele Township Advisory Board, Warri Provincial Ports Authority Committee and Warri Divisional Committee.
Okotie-Eboh was never defeated in any election, either in Warri or Sapele.
A chieftain of the National Council of Nigerian Citizens, he became the Chief Whip of the Western House of Assembly dominated by the Action Group (AG) in 1959. His parliamentary contributions shaped major decisions.
Okotie-Eboh was appointed Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, having excelled in the art of governance. In the alliance between the NCNC and the Northern People Congress (NPC), he became the Finance Minister, the office he held until the 1966 coup.
His reform programme in the Finance Ministry gave a new lease to the Nigerian Customs. He delegated responsibilities to the unit, instead of asking the ports to collect duties. He established the Preventive Services Unit to confront, combat and prevent smuggling, and protect local industries.
The introduction of the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system of taxation during his tenure was a novel idea. It jerked up the revenue base of the government.
Okotie-Eboh insisted that Nigeria should issue her own currency and have her own Central Bank instead of epending on the then West African Currency Board, which was responsible for issuing currencies for the colonies. This was how the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) was established in 1958. Chief Okotie-Eboh, could therefore, be rightly described as the founding father of the CBN.
He always displayed the noble characteristics of a statesman and patriot. When the country was still grappling with post-independence challenges, and the government wanted to build the Eko Bridge, he personally sought the assistance of Britain and America for grants to execute the project, but they refused.
As a diplomat, his passionate appeal received favourable consideration from the German government which paid Julius Berger for the project.
His benevolence was enjoyed by his party, the NCNC. He sourced for grants for the party when it was broke. His colleague, Chief Richard Akinjide recalled: “In the NCNC days, Okotie-Eboh was richer than the party and everybody. He had made his money before coming into politics and whenever the party was broke, it was to him we went to collect some money for party activities. Nigerians should be grateful for having somebody like him; he was generous to a fault and did not discriminate against tribe or tongue”.
The NPC/NCNC alliance worked very because of the cordial relations between Balewa and Okotie-Eboh. The Prime Minister believed that he was a loyal minister.
A well-travelled man, Okotie-Eboh was a personal friend of the late United States President John Kennedy in the sixties. His visit to the Papacy, where he met Pope John XX111 twice, became his greatest religious voyage. He also visited the Israeli statesman, Mr. David Ben Gurion.
The former minister was not happy because of the lingering crisis in the Western Region. He believed that it would engulf the country.
He warned that the crisis was spreading to Lagos and its repercussions were being felt throughout Nigeria. He said across the four regions, innocent people were being killed during electioneering.
Okoti-Eboh, added: “We are worried and we believe that, you the Prime Minister, who has the overall responsibility for law and order, are more worried. Although the maintenance of law and order in the Western Nigeria is the primarily responsibility of the Western Regional Government, the activities of the Nigeria Police, particularly those drafted to the West from other parts of the Federation, have brought the federal government more closely into the picture”.
Okotie-Eboh stated further: “Something must be done immediately to bring peace to the Western Nigeria. If immediate action is not taken, good government in any part of Nigeria will be endangered. Fanatics, hooligans, armed robbers and irresponsible elements will be given the opportunity to consolidate their positions and remain a perpetual danger to all governments and political leaders. Everybody’s life will be in danger.”
At the time of his death, Okotie-Eboh, was survived by a wife and 14 children.They now keep his memory as a loving father and a patriot who paid the supreme price for his country and died as a “victim of circumstance”.
