After a seemingly endless wait for her father, Charles Okah’s release, black and beautiful Tarila recently braved the odds to bring her fiancée, Domeno Morrone all the way from Canada to seek her father’s blessing in Kuje prison, as they prepare to tie the nuptial knot. In what may be described as a mixed grill of emotions, Tarila and her fiancée review the happy reunion with her father, who is on trial for terrorism and his harrowing prison experience with Managing Editor Northern Operation, Yusuf Alli.
How was the meeting with your father?
I saw him today. I feel so happy. It’s been five long years. Honestly, I can’t believe how we made it this far. I remember when it all started, it’s like yesterday. It remains one of the hardest times of my life. I can’t believe we are still facing the ordeal. It was very difficult to go through because as a family, we have always relied on him; he has been the head of the home and source of strength for all of us. So not having him at home has been very difficult, especially for my younger ones. We are hoping and praying that this will be over soon.
How was your re-union?
Oh… my goodness (laugh). It was overwhelming, especially for my sister. She is younger, she just turned 18. When we saw him, we just started crying because we saw our father in a totally different light. That is not the man, let me rephrase, that is not the circumstance or the situation anyone wants to see his or her father. That was the first time my fiancé was meeting him as well. That is not the way you want to take your future husband to meet your father. That is not how you want to get your father’s blessing for your marriage. I am seeing him in a completely different light. Deep down inside, I know the man that he is. I know these are trumped up charges. That gives me peace.
Are you for real?
Obviously, a lot of people have judged him, condemned him even without knowing anything but he is my father and we know him. We know the kind of man that he is. He is jovial. He is a very lovely man. He puts people above him. We are talking about a man who made emergency rescue in the country like it is his mission. A man who will stop people in the middle of the street and tell them you don’t need to have your child in the front seat, move him to the back. A man who was supplying dialysis machine, putting health and concerns of Nigerians above all; a man who took it on himself to save lives in Nigeria, covering a lot of accidents. You now come and accuse such a man of being responsible for a terrorist attack. When we got to the prison and they told us to write his offence as terrorism, I couldn’t.
Why?
No. Someone else had to write it because it’s not true. But of course we had to fill out that part to see him.
Has he changed in any way?
As my dad will always say, the rough is only mentored. If you think victory, you will achieve victory. I think his positive state of mind has actually been his source of strength through this period and it is very interesting because we who are in our freedom actually draw strength from him. When we are sad and depressed, my dad will say don’t be sad, it’s going to be over soon. I am not going to be here forever. So we actually draw strength from him. That is the irony.
It was reported at a time that he attempted suicide. Were you not scared?
Yes. I was in Canada (then) when a friend sent me a message about it. So I Google it and read the story. That was very hard for me as a child to read. I was in panic. These things can get to you too. When you have such charges levelled against you; you are waiting for justice and for things to move but there is no progress. So I think in that moment, when he thought about how much he had lost, his business, family everything, it became so overwhelming for him. So I think in that speedy seconds, he just couldn’t take it anymore but I am happy that he did not fall asleep because we need him. I know that he is going to be out soon.
You seem quite convinced your father is not a terrorist, how then did he get involved in this?
The thing is that Nigerian politics is very dirty. So I feel it is just more than meets the eye. I really don’t know what happened. I am also waiting like the rest of the world to hear his story. Anyone who knows me knows I condemn evil. If I know that he did it, I don’t care if he is my father. Anyone who does something that outrageous has to be brought to justice. He doesn’t matter what your relationship is with the person. What is good is good and what is bad is bad. Whatever issues government had with my uncle (Henry Okah), my dad is not a terrorist. And I don’t know if they roped him in like a sort of bargaining chip but the truth is, when people want something, they will go any length to get it.
Are you suspecting some kind of conspiracy?
It has to be. Why they picked him up, I don’t know. I feel like I don’t know the full story. They picked him up from our old house; we don’t have a house anymore. Obviously we lost everything. I am with my fiancé visiting Nigeria but we are always staying in a hotel.
Was his house confiscated?
No, but we had to sell it and the cars including everything. They froze his account. They impounded his legitimate goods. He just got a contract from the British High Commission at the time because he is a distributor for a company and he had his goods coming. It was impounded for about five years. They searched it but there was nothing incriminating in it but they never released it. So they took all that and froze his account. The first two years were actually the toughest. All of a sudden, the person we all relied on was no longer there. So we had to find a way around it.
How did you feel when you heard that some of his colleague died in prison?
I was very sad because it could have been him. This is somebody’s father, son, husband and somebody’s friend and the saddest part of it is that he did not have the chance to defend himself.
Was your father a member of MEND?
Absolutely no. Not to my knowledge.
Why did you decide to bring your fiancée to prison to see your father?
I have a very supportive man, I am very lucky in that sense. I remember the first time I told him about it. This is the first time he has been to Nigeria and Africa for that matter.
Where is he from?
He is a Canadian. I remembered when I had to tell him for the first time that my father is in prison, I was shaking. I was like how do I explain to him what is going on because obviously, he comes from a country where things work differently. Where do I even start from? As soon as I told him, he was like I don’t love you any less, I don’t love you differently. I already accepted your family. He had spoken to my dad before then. He is just connected to my dad. They’re already getting along. It is great to have someone so supportive. And of course one of my concerns is when you meet my father; I don’t want you to meet him in Kuje Prison. I don’t want you to meet him in prison. So I was always hoping and praying before we came. In fact, I was trying to delay our coming to Nigeria hoping that all these would be over by the time we came.
When is he taking you to the altar?
We are hopeful that it will be next year. I keep saying I have never imagined anyone else except my father walking me down the aisle. So I believe that God is going to give his way.
The justice system is a little bit slow. What’s your take on that?
It is very unfortunate because you are keeping peoples live on hold. You are playing with lives of innocent people. It’s somebody’s life when you just do as you wish. It puts a lot of strain on their family and it’s just totally unfair. If someone committed a crime, speed up the system, bring him to book and let him serve his sentence. If they don’t commit the crime, let him move on. You can’t just put someone behind bars. It doesn’t make any sense when you just leave them there. I have heard cases of people who have been imprisoned for 20 years and have never faced any trial. That is unfair. It is only in country like Nigeria that you can get away with something like that.
Were you granted access to your father’s cell or room?
There were bars separating us and him at first. After that, there was interaction. He came out to an area, I gave him a hug, and that was it. The process of seeing him in the first place takes a lot of time. We waited for almost three hours just trying to see him and we were allowed to see him for a maximum of 10 minutes. It was like 10 beautiful minutes. We just made it and took advantage of it.
What were his parting words?
He said don’t worry; I’m going to be out soon, because I was crying; my sister was crying too; and that was hard for him to see. He (my fiancée) was crying too.
Did your dad cry?
No, my dad is really strong. He was emotional and sad but he had to be really strong for us. We can’t all be crying. He said don’t worry, it will soon be over.
Should you meet former President Goodluck Jonathan, what will you tell him for having put your dad through all this?
I don’t know. I have never thought of meeting him. If I do, I will just ask him why? There has to be a reason. Whether he was selfish, evil or wicked I will just ask him why. I will also let him know what he put me and my family through. Everything happens for a reason, we have a new government now. I have faith in his government now. I have faith in the justice system.
What is your appeal to President Buhari?
If he could give some sorts of pardon, anything he can do to bring my dad back to us. This is a man that has literarily given a lot for this country and I know the current President, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and what he stands for. He is the change that a lot of people voted for because we had faith in him, we know that he has the interest of this country at heart. To be honest, a lot of politicians these days just take what they can, make investments in other countries and leave their country in ruins. But my father is not like that, he cares for this country; so if there is anything the government can do to intervene and bring him back home, I know it would be in the best interest of his country.
Was your father a Niger Delta militant?
No…(laughs).
What is his means of livelihood?
My dad is a businessman in the literary sense of the word and if they even looked at his account, it’s not hard to trace his sources of fund. Like I said, one of his containers of import that was impounded had to do with a contract given to him by the British High Commission. So they froze his account. They can go back and trace where his money comes from. They will see his contracts. My dad has done contracts for National Hospital and Consulates. So, it’s all there. So, if there is any fishy source of funds, they can easily track it. The thing is my dad doesn’t really like competition in his business. He is always thinking about fresh ideas. When he started this floating docks business, he was one of the first if not the first to bring that idea. But as soon as my dad starts, he was getting more and more competitions, and then he started thinking of something else. Before then, he did invest in dialysis machine, emergency rescue, and reflective signs put on the road. So, his account is there.
Have you met your uncle (Henry Okah) in South Africa?
No, I have not. Unfortunately, the last time I went to South Africa, he wasn’t there. We had plans we were going to have a family re-union. Everyone was supposed to meet up in South Africa but that did not work out yet. So we are very hopeful it will.
What of your mother? Has she visited your father in prison?
She is fine. My parents are divorced. She doesn’t come often. She comes once in a while. They have been divorced for a very long time. My dad remarried and his wife like I mentioned moved to the states because it was just really hard. She has three children. It was really hard for them to cope here.
How many are you on your line?
We are three. My dad has six kids. So it was hard for them to cope. The US trip presented better opportunity for them. It was just a logical thing to do.
In one word, how will you describe your father?
I’m thinking of multiple words.
Did you study in Canada or in the States?
I studied in Canada. I went to the university there and did my Masters there as well. I have my permanent residency there, so I’m getting my citizenship with or without marriage shortly.
Were you not scared of coming to Nigeria to meet your father-in-law for the first time in prison?
I wasn’t scared. I knew the story and we have known for almost a year. I had an expectation of what I will be coming to see. I don’t know what the environment will be like but that wasn’t a concern to me. I was just more anxious and excited to meet him. We are here for a friend’s wedding but we knew that we are going to see him and I knew that it was in the plan. Whether we saw him in prison or not, I was anxious to see him, receive his blessings and meet my father-in-law to be.
Did you blend with her father at first sight?
Yes. We have spoken several times over the phone. So I had the opportunity to speak with him and get to know him a little bit more and he used and still runs a similar business my uncle does. So, we were able to connect. I did ask him for his blessing over the phone initially. That was in June, this year. I knew him before; so without or with the situation, at that point we are going to be family. I knew we will connect very well.
You are associating with someone who has been labelled a terrorist; doesn’t that count for anything in your country?
I don’t see anything about it because I know her a lot. It wasn’t a concern. I did not ask her what your parent situation is. Where is your father? Where is your mother? Has your brother ever been in any trouble? She is a person I love and a person I was going to commit my life to, and I am lucky we are going to share it together and go through the experiences together.
What is the secret of your love?
I don’t know how to put that in words. We actually met online. For a lot of people in our generation and age, that is becoming more popular. It’s a lot easier to meet somebody that way. I was working at a time with a small group of people. There was nobody to meet, aside from her, I was busy with work and family so I did not have time to go out to look for somebody. So online was a good option. We have the same connection. Before we even met, we had spoken on the phone and she was just about to leave for her work trip for about two weeks. So we spoke on the phone for about two hours on the first night before she went. While she was away, we managed to set time aside to know the different times we could message each other and connect. I was very anxious.
So who proposed first?
(Laughs)….Well I contacted her first. I found her online and I made sure she remembers that but I think we both knew especially after we met each other for the first time. We both knew.
Were you not scared of love scam on the internet?
Like I said, we spent time speaking on the phone first and messaging for a couple of weeks. I am familiar with the area that we met so I wasn’t worried. So when I saw her, it all started.
What message did you give her father today?
I thanked him. That was the first thing. I thanked him for giving me his blessings to marry his daughter and I wished him well in good health, to stay strong because I am looking forward to seeing him attend our wedding, August 6 next year.
What has been your impression since coming to Nigeria?
We landed in the evening so it was dark. I didn’t get to really see what was going on. But there are a couple of things that I noticed that are very different. They are things you will never see in Canada. The first is the military and security around the airport and gentlemen walking around with assault rifles and semi-automatic rifles. That is not something that is even allowed in Canada on the roads. There is almost no law as to how you can drive on the roads. There might be two lanes but it could be four cars wide. You can have a person hanging off the bus or hanging from back of the bus, they don’t have to be strapped into their cars. I don’t know the rule about seat belts but it doesn’t seem like many people bothered with them. The road conditions are much poorer than I have seen anywhere else. I am from Canada and we have some pretty hard winters. The difference between the hot and the cold winters, the road cracks a bit, there are pot holes but our tax always go towards maintenance of public roads. But here, I’m not sure how the tax system works. Road maintenance is important.
How about power supply?
That is different too. You either have total blackout or light that flickers. The hotels are running on generators. We had to be moved to a different room in our hotel because they had to turn one of the generators off. There was no air-conditioning, no light; so that’s a different experience. I was expecting it to an extent because I have been warned but it’s a different thing entirely to experience it.
For the sake of Tarila, is the sacrifice worth it?
Absolutely (laugh). I never second guessed coming here. I have known about this trip for over a year and I have been excited ever since. I enjoy seeing another country. I have been to Chile, Peru. In both places, we stayed in places where there was no heat because they were very cold. It was during their winter. It’s different when you hear it is this hot and there is no air. That could be challenging and some other time, it’s warm. So coming to somewhere that’s even hotter, it’s a challenge.
Have you tried any Nigerian food?
Oh yea. I ate Jollof rice and Suya
How long are you going to stay?
We are here for two weeks.
