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Why I never wrote my memoirs –Dr Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia

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Why I never wrote my memoirs –Dr Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudi<o:p></o:p></div>
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We need true federation<o:p></o:p><br />
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“HE’LL be with you very soon,” the aide said as he ushered
us into the living room. The four-man team was at his home to formally present
him with the letter investing him with The Sun Lifetime Achieve-ment Award.
Barely three minutes later, General Samuel Ogbemudia (retd) walked in. That
morning, he moved his steps slowly with the aid of crutches. ‘This is as a
result of an accident,’ he said. He was assured by his doctors that he’d be
back on his feet in a matter of few weeks, he said reassuringly.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Not even his condition or age had been able to rob him of
his grace and radiance. He has his quiver loaded with wits. Indeed, for a man
of his status-former military governor of old Midwest Region, civilian governor
of defunct Bendel State as well as former minister, his white-washed house
speaks volume. It is neither one of those eye-popping architectural
masterpieces nor located in the highbrow area of Benin City, the Edo State
capital. He is no doubt a simple and humble personality.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A septuagenarian, Ogbemudia had his early education at the
Benin Baptist School and later, Govern-ment School, Victoria, in the Cam-eroons
before proceeding to the Western Boys High School, Benin City. In 1957, he
joined the Nigeria army and trained at Teshie, Ghana and at Netheravon and
Salisbury Plain in England. He also attended the officer cadet school at
Alder-shot, England in 1960, and was commissioned second lieutenant in 1961. A
former instructor to the Nigerian Military School, Zaria in 1964, he also
attended the United States army special welfare school at Fort Bragg, South
Carolina. He served with the United Nations peacekeeping force in the Congo and
in Tanzania.<o:p></o:p></div>
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  In this last
interview he had with The Sun, Ogbemudia, spoke on life as a soldier and
politician, the civil war and offer advice on how to overcome the challenges
bedevilling the nation, particularly the is-sue of corruption.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What’s the meaning of your name, Ogbemudia?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ogbemudia, in ordinary interpre-tation, means, ‘this family
has come to stay’ or ‘this child has come to live.’ My mother had so many
chil-dren, but she lost quite a number of them and there was instability in the
family. At that time, it was the witches that had the honour of be-ing accused
of being responsible, but we now know that child mor-tality is caused by
carelessness or something. So, when I was born, my grandmother said, ‘this one
has come to stay.’ But, incidentally, it wasn’t my own name. My grand-father
was Ogbemudia. His parents called him that name. So, when I was born, my father
decided to give me his own father’s name. He is Osaigbovo Ogbemudia. His
Chris-tian name was Sunday -S.O. Ogbe-mudia. When I was born, he gave me
Osaigbovo Ogbemudia. So if I were to answer it like (Anyim Pius) Anyim, I would
have said Ogbemudia Ogbemudia Ogbemudia. But I said no, I would answer my
Christian name, Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What influenced your decision to join the army?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I was in my father’s house at Agba-do Street (Benin City)
when a friend of mine said he heard the army would be coming to display. So, we
all went to the King’s Square, where the Mu-seum is now… the PWD (Ministry of
Works) and our football field were also there. The soldiers arrived and matched
from the D.O’s (District Offi-cer) office through the ring around the museum
and along the Mission Road. There was one man in front who juggled his stick
and was playing un-imaginable trick with it. I loved his act and said to
myself, ‘I want to join the army and be like that man.’ That was what led me to
the army. But I got to the army to know that the man was only a Sergeant. I
didn’t know that he was only a Sergeant, I thought he was the commander of all
of them there. At the recruitment centre, the military officer in charge of
recruitment was asking us what we wanted to do in the army. All the boys before
me were saying, ‘I want to be a driver, I want to be a mechanic, I want to be
this, I want to be that.’ One Lance Corporal I’ve never met in my life came to
me and said, if they asked me I should say I wanted to do general duty. I said
what does that mean? But there was no time for him to explain to me. So when
the officer asked me: ‘What do you want to do?’ and I said general duty, he
said to me, are you mad? I said no sir. He asked, what’s your qualification,
and I said school certificate. He said okay, stay there. He left me there I
carried on attending to others. It was like he had forgotten about me totally.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I started blaming myself: ‘Why on earth did I accept that
man’s sugges-tion without knowing what general duty means.’ Whether I had
commit-ted an offence or not, I didn’t know. So I stood there until he finished
with the rest and he called me back and asked again, what did you say you want
to do? I said, general duty. He posted me to number 8 Platoon. Af-ter three months
training, those who wanted to be drivers, mechanics or whatever, were posted to
their vari-ous institutions and I was left behind. Every morning, I was made to
carry a rifle. Many a time I regretted it. Later, an officer arrived, his name
was R.A. Njoku. He looked at me and said, can I take you to my pla-toon? I said
yes sir. So, I went there. After about a month, they reported that the new
recruit he brought was very competent and he needed fur-ther training. One
morning, they told me I should get ready to go to Ghana for training. And in
Ghana, they re-ported the same thing (that he was competent), and that I should
pro-ceed to the UK for further training. When we finished training in the UK,
the Commandant announced that they have a soldier who had done so well, that if
he were an Englishman, he would have asked him to remain here (UK) as a
teacher, but that he would recommend that at his unit, they should post him to
the headquarters in Accra. Up till that time, he didn’t men-tion any name, but
suddenly, he said the name is Samuel…but he couldn’t pronounce Ogbemudia. I
stood up and they all applauded me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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By the time I returned to Nigeria, getting ready to go to
Ghana as an in-structor, they said I should go to Lagos to take Royal West
African Frontier Forces examination. So, I went. There was a young man who sat
beside me who turned out to be Mobolaji John-son. We did the exam, the result
came and I passed. We were kept in the Barracks for seven days, after which we
saw on the notice board names of those who passed. My name was there. So they
sent me to the Military College for six months. Few days to the end of the
training, they called me to the office and told me that I have been selected to
command the passing out parade.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After that, they said I should go to the UK after which they
sent us back to Nigeria. We landed at Kaduna and one of the officers came to
inform me in the aircraft that there were many military officers at the lobby
asking everyone who Samuel Ogbemudia was. I was afraid because I didn’t know
why they were looking for me. Because of fear, I remained in the air-craft. I
finally disembarked when there was no one left in the aircraft. As soon as I
stepped into the lobby, Colonel Cavana walked over to me and said, ‘Samuel
Ogbemudia?’ I said, ‘Yes sir.’ He stretched out his hand and said, ‘We’ve heard
so much about you.’ Twenty one days after my arrival, they announced a
promotion for me. Again 21 days after, I got another promotion as Captain and
they said I should get set to go to the Congo.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What was the reaction of your father and mother when you
told them you were going to join the army?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I lost my father when I was very young. But my mother cried
all night because some people in Benin told her that I was being taken to the
war in Suez Canal. Truly, that was when the British Army invaded the Suez
Canal. The white man had to come home with me to tell her that I wasn’t going
to war, that I was going for training. The day I was to leave Ikeja, my mother
was there. The luck I had was that we were dressed in suit rather than in
mili-tary uniform. Even though she hugged me, she was still crying.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As soon as I landed in London and I was in the school, I
sent her a photo-graph to assure her that I was in school and not in the
warfront. It was after one year that I returned. I came home on leave. By then,
I was in Kaduna. I went to my Commanding Officer and told him that I needed a
car and he said yes, we will give you loan, go and look for the car that you
like. I went to UTC and I saw an Opel Record. We paid 700 Pounds. (That
included the cost of a comprehensive insurance cover.) When I traveled home
(Benin) with my first car, many people were wondering. Some people went to my
mother and told her, ‘look, some boys do steal cars and bring them home, ask
your son where he got his from.’<o:p></o:p></div>
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The first day they saw me in mili-tary uniform was the day
Archbishop Ekpu was made a Priest at Uromi, be-cause I wore my uniform to the
ser-vice and I read the lesson on that day. (Patrick Ebosele Ekpu, Archbishop
Emeritus was ordained on July 7, 1963). They saw me wearing some-thing on the
shoulders, not a sergeant or corporal. So, they began to say, ‘it’s true oh, he
is a soldier.’ Also, my in-law who was a sergeant in the police, told them that
‘this man is an officer, not like us oh.’<o:p></o:p></div>
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As a soldier and civilian, you have fought different
battles. Which one, among them would you say was most challenging?<o:p></o:p></div>
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The one I fought as a soldier, I used weapons; the one I
fought as a civilian, I used mouth. But the one I fought with mouth was much
more challenging because, everyday something new was cropping up, es-pecially
as I was contesting against an incumbent governor, Prof. Am-brose Alli. The
Nigerian Observer which I set up when I was military administrator, gave me
hell. But the day after the result was announced that I won, the editor put a
banner headline: ‘We offer you no apol-ogy, Ogbemudia is the best.’ People said
I should sack him, but I said no. I called him and said, you know I have the
right to sack you? He said yes. I asked him if he was prepared to give me the
same loyalty he gave the other man, and he said yes. So, I said, go and do your
job.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As a soldier, did you kill anybody?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I‘ve never killed anybody. Sol-diers don’t kill people, they
kill enemies. I killed enemies. And my type of profession is not shooting at
somebody, it entails using heavy guns to range. For instance, as we are sitting
here (in his living room), if somebody says to me that he be-lieves the enemies
are using the Ik-poba bridge, can you prevent them from using it, I can do that
by what they call predicted shooting. And once I start, nobody will pass there.
You pass there at your own risk.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Does the fact that somebody died in the course of your
operation haunt you afterwards?<o:p></o:p></div>
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If the death involves my own person, yes, I will cry. I
cried when my orderly was killed. We were go-ing together, with about three
feet between us, when he was hit by a bullet. The instruction was that we
should disarm the Katangi Army in the northern command in Congo. The United
Nations said we should leave where we were at 6 am. Less than 100 meters from
the trenches we just left, there was volume of fire; bombs and all sorts of
things.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Have you read any of the war memoirs written on Nigeria’s
civil war by many war veterans? How do you see them; and why haven’t you
written yours?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have read so many of them. Some are merely exaggerated,
oth-ers written from other people’s views and some are factual. The po-lice
said, what a man sees with his eyes is evidence. The man who saw, who took part
and he stated what he saw and did, that I believe.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If you asked my why I haven’t written mine, I will tell you
there are many things worrying me, and I don’t want to remember them. Not too
bad, but they bring me funny memories. For example, at one stage, here in my compound,
we had more than 500 people from the East who were being protected. I know
their names, I know their addresses, but I don’t want to talk about them
because it hurts.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Was the war really necessary?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yes and no. Yes, because the two sides were adamant to
caution. No, because we could have been better without the war. But it was
neces-sary for each one to prove his point.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I fought on the federal side and I have no reason now to say
I did not. But what I always believe is that what we entered the battle with,
the idea of what we expected to achieve, we left them behind. Why did we fight?
We said we didn’t want Nige-ria to break. Why didn’t we want Ni-geria to break?
By coming together, we formed a more respectable soci-ety and that everybody
there would be treated equally and merit would be at the top of the ladder. If
we look at things since then, I think merit has been relegated. So, it’s no
longer a very suitable thing to tell the man who died that the reason he died
is no longer why he died.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Where did we go wrong?<o:p></o:p></div>
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We went wrong because the peo-ple who fought the war and
were in a position to correct or implement the decisions reached, did not
follow it up.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Does that suggest that war is still going on in our minds
and social interaction?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Well, if you call it war, you won’t be too wrong. There is
something they call cold war. I think, myself, that in the minds of some
people, there is still that cold war. That was why many people called for a
meet-ing of communities so that they can decide whether they want to go or
whether they want to remain. For me, I’ve always wanted Nigeria to remain as
one because we command greater respect than when we part ways.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When I led the Nigerian team to East Africa for sports, many
coun-tries were so few. The populations of some of them as announced were 1.2
million, 3 million, 4, 7, 20 million. Then, Nigeria, 100 and something million,
everybody shouted. The so-called giant of Africa producing teams proportionate
to its size.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What would you then suggest that the present government does
about the recommendations of the national conference held two years ago?<o:p></o:p></div>
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When I traveled home (Benin) with my first car, many people
were wondering. Some people went to my mother and told her, ‘look, some boys do
steal cars and bring them home, ask your son where he got his from.’<o:p></o:p></div>
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I don’t know what is contained in the rec-ommendations, so
it would be wrong to say anything about it. But what I’ve always said is that
we need a true federation; a federation where all the segments can grow at
their own pace. It is not right that the Federal Govern-ment is paying N20 and
so the state govern-ments should also be paying N20. The state which can pay
should pay and the state which cannot should pay whatever they can pay. So we
need a true federation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In America, you can be a lawyer in one state and may not be
able to practice in an-other until you take their exams.<o:p></o:p></div>
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People say that corruption, decadence and other ills came to
this country through the military, have you heard that and how does that come
to you?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ve heard it, but it is wrong, it is not true that it came
from the military. The military, as you know it, is by itself, a community;
it’s by itself the best organised political party; it’s by itself, a standard
that anybody can go with. But what we have always said is that if we form a
government, we should not always stay too long because the dislike for it will
be greater than the government it will replace.<o:p></o:p></div>
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They talk about corruption; that corrup-tion is a bad thing,
but they should name one country on the planet where there is no cor-ruption.
Over-orchestrating our own is not in our interest, that is my own view. There
is a court of law, if you have evidence against any-body, carry him to the
court and punish him. I’ve heard some Chinese leaders shot because of
corruption; I heard that the former prime minister of Israel was just jailed 18
months for corruption, but they didn’t tell you what he did. So we should fight
our own anti-corrup-tion fight quietly, behind closed doors. Many people may
not admit that they are corrupt be-cause it is already a public issue, but they
will do behind closed doors.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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So what should be the remedy?<o:p></o:p></div>
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The remedy, in my personal opinion, is for Nigerians to sit
down and discuss in earnest, not playing to the gallery. There is nothing wrong
with Nigeria if we know how to pur-sue our agitation like a family. There are
some families where you have children that are not doing well. The fathers
don’t go to the streets shouting that the children are bad, unless the thing
gets out of control. You can correct it in-side the house and come out of the
gate and smile. Tell me, in America, is there no corrup-tion? Or is there no
corruption in Britain, in France, in Russia? Corruption is everywhere but they
are not orchestrating it as we are do-ing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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How were you able to achieve all you did as a military
administrator?<o:p></o:p></div>
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First and foremost, you cannot compare the military with
civilian government. The mili-tary was a unitary form of government, the
governors were on posting. For instance, the Midwest had its constitution; the
Western re-gion had its constitution; the Northern region had its constitution,
then there was a federal constitution. Yet, they didn’t argue with the federal;
they tried to keep within the ambience of the constitution. But today, the
governor is elected and he can do without listening to the federal.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For instance, you can prepare a budget in the military, the
federal wants to know what you want to do, and they may tell you, ‘no, that’s
not right, change it.’ But you can’t do that to a civilian governor. The
political parties that are supposed to sit on the neck of the governors to see
to it that they carry out all the promises in their campaign manifestoes are
too weak to do that. So, for any state to perform requires the assistance of
the central government. But the governors promise what will make them popular
rather than what they can do. So you need a strong central political party with
a think-tank that will influence the activities of governments. If they
can-not, then they cannot achieve anything. So like I said, if you have a
strong party, you can do well, but if you don’t have, no gov-ernment can do
well. The party has to be the think-tank of the government. All poli-cies of
the government must be reviewed by the party. In the army, that is what they
do. I’ll give an example with when I built the Sapele bridge. Before the
construction of the bridge, they used to cross the river with pontu. It cost us
1.5 million pounds and we wanted the money back. So, I went to Chief Obafemi
Awolowo who was then the federal commis-sioner for finance. He said, I will pay
you, and within 20 days, the cheque was ready. So, my friends in the West went
to protest; they said, why are you doing like this? We have been writing to you
to give us money, you didn’t. But when Ogbemudia wrote to you, you just gave
him a cheque. Awolowo said yes, the man has a programme, you don’t have a
programme. If you have any bring it. So they said okay, we will go and prepare
our programme. When Awolowo came here (Be-nin), he said to me, until this
morning when I left the office, no programme has come. So you cannot run a
government without a programme.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In a nutshell, I was able to do all I did be-cause I had
good training from Fort Bragg. Then, I was determined to prove my critics
wrong, particularly those who said soldiers are illiterates.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It is said that when you came in as governor of Midwest
region, you already had a blueprint made by Dennis Osadebey. Those who came
before you, like David Ejoor, didn’t run with that vision, but you came and
worked with it. We want to confirm if that’s true?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Let me take the story back. In 1962, the Federal Government
entered into exchange programme with the United States and they decided that
they should start implement-ing the content of the exchange programme. The
first one was to train an officer in coun-ter insurgency and they nominated me
to go to the United States army special wel-fare school at Fort Bragg, South
Carolina in 1962. When I was leaving Nigeria, I had in mind that I was going
for a mili-tary training. But on getting there, I found that they taught
nothing about military; it was all about governing and how to build. In the
examination I first sat for in the school, one of the questions was: ‘A country
called Brybania is passing through a difficult time: drought, flood, all sorts
of disaster. As a presidential adviser on agriculture, medical, health, etc. In
5,000 words, how would you advise him?’ I did my best to pass the exam, not
because I was interested but because if I failed, I won’t get promotion. When I
came back, I complained to the Chief of Staff that the course they sent me had
nothing to do with the military, so they cancelled it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On the day we arrived in Benin after the liberation (2nd
Division), they invited the permanent secretaries to come and brief me as the
temporary administrator; everything that was said about Brybania surfaced. When
the Permanent Secretary of Agriculture started talking, I said stop, and I ran
home to collect my handout, went through the solution and returned with the
papers. When they finished talking, I said, my instruction would be as follows.
So I gave them what I wanted from them. Not only were they surprised, they
thought that every military man was an illiterate. After that, I told the
Secretary to the Gov-ernment I wanted so, so and so, but few days later, he did
something totally differ-ent. I called him and asked why he did that, and he
said he had the impression that that was what I wanted, and that in any case,
that was what they had always done. So, I said, from today, I wiould not give
you verbal instructions. All my instructions would be in writing and that was
exactly what I did, from volume 1 to volume 20.<o:p></o:p></div>
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  One of the funny
ones was the National Sports festival. After going round the state, I wrote a
paper to everybody: National Sports Festival is on so, so date, we have so many
weeks available to us for training. The fol-lowing steps would be taken;
Ministry of Works would go to Afuze with the attached drawings and build indoor
sports halls for training, quarters to accommodate the ath-letes, and so on.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Then coming to the Sports Council it-self, I instructed that
two camps be es-tablished: Afuze and Fugar. I said Fugar would be for
basketball because we had a Reverend Father there who was a front-line
basketball player in the United States who had agreed to train our boys. At the
end of the training, they got to Lagos and nobody was able to compete with
them. So everything I said was on paper. These were additions to the dreams of
Osadebey. Then, Osadebey had proposed a university for the Midwest, but without
specifying the location. He set up a committee headed by Prof. Thomas
Oritsejolomi. So, when I came, I called him and he advised me. That was how
University of Benin came about.<o:p></o:p></div>
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You also set up a bank…<o:p></o:p></div>
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  At that time, we
were banking with ACB. I had a friend who came to me one morn-ing and said the
manager had asked him to come for a loan. I asked him what he want-ed to do
with a loan? He said, ‘well, I don’t know but he asked me to come.’ I said
okay, you go. He came back and said he gave him a loan of 700 pounds but he
took back 500 pounds and gave him two hundred. When I asked how he was going to
repay it, he said they didn’t discuss that. There and then I said we were not
going to put our money in ACB again. I called my commissioner for finance and
instructed him to work out the modality for establishing a bank. He did and we
floated the New Nigeria Bank.<o:p></o:p></div>
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You have always lived in this house?<o:p></o:p></div>
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  Yes! Even as a
governor. When I was appointed governor, I went to the Government House after
Ejoor left. I looked at it and I felt it was too big. I might take my children
there and when they leave there tomorrow, they may feel frustrated and
disappointed that we were coming to a smaller house. So, for their own future,
I decided I would stay with them. The day of the coup and they gave the
governors 24 hours to leave Gov-ernment House, it didn’t affect me. I just took
my brief case and came back home. And during my second tour as a civilian
governor, I stayed here (private house). The only difference was that we had
many policemen and soldiers, about 20 or 30 of them, but inside the house, the
same cooks, the same stewards; I never accepted any government’s own. They
remained in the Government House. When visitors came to my house in the evening,
they got only what they would get at my pri-vate house, not as in Government
House. The only time I slept in the Government House was when the Sultan of
Sokoto came, I stayed there for three or so nights.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What does The Sun lifetime Achievement Award mean to you?<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
  First of all, I
believe the award is a recog-nition of my activities. And to put it in one
word, I have been vindicated.</div>

Why I never wrote my memoirs –Dr Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia

Why I never wrote my memoirs –Dr Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudi We need true federation “HE’LL be with you very soon,” the aide said as h...

GEN. ADEYINKA ADEBAYO’S LAST INTERVIEW: Echoes of January 15, 1966 coup: WHY THE ARMY STRUCK

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<div class="MsoNormal">
GEN. ADEYINKA ADEBAYO’S LAST INTERVIEW: Echoes of January
15, 1966 coup: WHY THE ARMY STRUCK<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How did you get into the Army at the time some were
traveling to the U.K.  to study Law or
joining the civil service?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, I felt I should join the army because it was a new
institution in the country and that was how I got into it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What was the reaction of your parents then? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They had no reaction. They wanted me to go ahead and do what
I wanted to do.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Did your parents consult the oracle to ask whether the
military career would be successful since consulting Ifa for  guidance was a common thing that time?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My parents were Christians. So, they didn’t show me any Ifa.
They were happy, they were in the church. And I was in the church with them. I
did my best. And they were happy that I did my best.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At some point you were the ADC (aide-de-camp) to the British
Governor General, how did you get appointed to that position?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, the Governor -General then wanted an ADC. And because
I was a young officer then, I was interviewed, and they took me into it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What was it like, going into that position?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I couldn’t say it was like going into anything. It was a
military appointment which I went into. And I did my best. As a Nigerian, the
Governor General accepted me. I did my best with him, and I was happy with what
I did. I was his ADC for about a year or more. And I did my best. I was a
senior soldier then. For instance, Ironsi was Nigeria Army Number Three (NA3),
I was Nigerian Army Number Seven (NA7). And I was number 23 (WA23) in the West
Africa in the then Royal West African Frontier Forces (RWAFF).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Who was number one in the Nigerian Army according to
recruitment or commissioning?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fred Ugbomah was NA1<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You were the seventh commissioned officer in 1953, tell us
about some of your contemporaries. How did you feel being in the class of the
first set of Nigerian army officers? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, we were nine officers from Nigeria, drafted into the
RWAFF. Fred Ugbomah was NA1, Duke Wellington Bassey, who we nicknamed “Old
Bassey” because he was oldest of us after Ugbomah left the Army. His (Bassey)
number was NA2. Aguiyi-Ironsi was NA3, Samuel Ademulegun was NA4, Ralph
Sodeinde was NA5, Babafemi Ogundipe was NA6, I was NA7, Zakari Maimalari was
NA8 and Omar Lawal was NA9. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ugbomah left the Army shortly after he was commissioned as
Lieutenant. Bassey became the first among us thereafter, so we used to call him
Old Bassey because he was the most senior among us who rose higher in the Army.
He died as Brigadier in 1996. We always called him “Nice old man Bassey”
because he brought all of us together when we in the RWAFF. He was from
Calabar.  <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Aguiyi-Ironsi, Ademulegun, Sodeinde and Maimalari became
victims of coup d’etat, while Ogundipe died serving as the Nigerian High
Commissioner (i.e. Ambassador) in Britain. Today, by God’s infinite mercy, I’m
the most senior officer of the Nigerian Armed Forces. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Can you recall some of your colleagues in the secondary
school when you were still much younger, some of your mates?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, I can’t remember now.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What will you say actually led to the coup of January 15,
1966?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was ambition. Just ambition, that’s all. Yes ! It was
because (Major Kaduna)Nzeogwu was ambitious. Very ambitious. He didn’t carry
out the coup because he was an Igbo man. He didn’t do it because he wanted his
own tribe to take over then. No! He did it for his own personal ambition.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But many still have the impression that he did it with
ethnic bias because Hausa, Fulani and Yoruba leaders were eliminated and Igbo
leaders were spared?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was later that all those facts were emerging and people
started analysing that Nnamdi Azikiwe got to know about the coming coup and
escaped. Now let me tell you the whole story. On January 15, 1966 when the
first military coup was being carried out I wasn’t in Nigeria. You need to know
that I was the first Nigerian to become ADC (Aide De Camp) to British Governor
General in 1957. And the first Nigerian General Staff Officer (GSO) Grade 3,
later Grade 2 and at last GSO Grade 1. And in 1964 I became the first Chief of
Staff, Nigeria Army Headquarters under the last British GOC (General Officer
Commanding) Nigeria Army, Sir Welby Everald and the first Nigerian GOC, Major
General Aguiyi-Ironsi. I occupied that position till November 1965 as a full
Colonel. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As the first Nigerian Chief of Staff (Nigerian Army), Lt.
Col. David Ejoor served under me as GSO Grade 1, the then  Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon also served under me as
Adjutant General, and Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu served as Quartermaster-General <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When they were taking over power from Aguiyi-Ironsi what
excuse did they give as reasons for overthrowing his regime? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They didn’t give any reason. They took over because they
wanted to. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Apart from Ironsi and Fajuyi did they kill any other person
or officers? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not to my knowledge. I was senior to Fajuyi. Those who took
over were military caucus. They were classmates. They did it as colleagues.
They only called Gowon to come and be Head of State because he was the most
senior officer from the North at that time. Not that he was part of their coup.
They did it with the belief that they would all be promoted. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What effects would you say the coup had on the Nigerian
military?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It brought the Generals down a bit. A Lt. Colonel like Gowon
who was promoted to the rank  of Lt.
General over those who were already Colonels was a great problem to the army.
It brought in politics into the Nigerian Army and things never remained the
same again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The reason Major Kaduna Nzeogwu gave for staging the first
coup was corruption and political crisis…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
   (Cuts in) Did they
know anything about corruption then? What did he (Nzeogwu) know about
corruption? Of course, that was the excuse he used. Was it corruption within
the northerners or within the other people who were not northerners? It was the
political crisis they used to carry out their own political ambition.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why did Nzeogwu and his fellow coup plotters not take over
power after they had killed Ahmadu Bello, Balewa and Akintola if they were only
power hungry?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was because there was seniority within the military. They
would have to kill so many senior officers, including Aguiyi-Ironsi that time
if they had aimed at overthrowing the civilian government and also eliminate
senior military officers to take over power. He was a Major. And there were a
lot of Lt. Colonels and Brigadier Generals. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many critics of military rule believe that if the military
had not stayed so long, Nigerian democracy would have grown well and become
better. And that the militarisation of Nigerians, which led to emergence of
militant groups would have been avoided. What do you say to this?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They shouldn’t have stayed at all. If they had wanted
democracy to grow, they should have handed over to the civilian government and
supported them militarily. It was because they were ambitious themselves. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Are you not disturbed, sir, that 47 years after the civil
war the Igbo are still clamouring for Biafra and the people of Niger Delta are
still destroying oil pipelines. And we are still witnessing killings by Fulani
herdsmen. Are you not disturbed about these development. How would Nigeria
survive all these?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, one was not thinking about tribes. We were thinking
about Nigeria, the country. So we were worried that there was trouble. And
those of us who were ahead then felt we should do our best to end the war and
peace returned to the country. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although the war ended then but at the moment in some parts
of the country, some people are still feeling marginalised. They don’t have
sense of belonging and are still clamouring for secession, how would Nigeria
get over this?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, we were thinking about Nigeria and not thinking about
tribes. When I joined the Army, I wasn’t thinking as a Yoruba man but as a
Nigerian. And I was doing my best. There were a lot of easterners and
northerners working under me then. We worked together as brothers. We were not
thinking of tribes. We were thinking that Nigeria should come together as one
and up till today I still believe Nigeria should be one. And up till now I’m
still doing my best to make sure that Nigeria remains one.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is an ongoing clamour for restructuring of the
country, that Nigeria should be restructured politically,  what is your stance on this?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, there is nothing wrong in people saying that. It is
left for the people on top to do their best and what is best for the
tribes.  I always think that Nigeria should
be one. And we must continue to be one, How we are going to be one is left for
us, the leaders, to work together and bring those people behind us together to
continue to be one.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is a tough season for Nigerians now with the economic
recession. What are your suggestions to President Muhammadu Buhari to resolve
the socio-economic problems of insecurity and unemployment that we are faced
with at the moment?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Buhari is facing a large people in the country. He is a very
junior officer to me. He was a good officer and I still believe he is a good
officer because he is doing his best. But there are more people in Nigeria now
than before. So he has to work harder. So, it is left to those with him now to
assist him to succeed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not too long ago, a social commentator who shares same name
with you wrote an open letter to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. He was complaining about
the plight of the Yoruba race. People thought that the letter was written by
you? I don’t know if you got to read about what the young man wrote. It was in
social media.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No, I didn’t read it. You know people around now are more in
news and action than those of us who came from the bottom to get to the top.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the things he talked about was that Yoruba race at
the beginning used to be in the forefront. He said the Yoruba are now in
disarray. As the President of the Yoruba Council of Elders what steps has your
group taken to mobilise the Yoruba and ensure they are more united?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, old people like us are doing our best to get the
Yoruba together. It is left for the young ones who have more ambition and
vigour now to do better than us.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How is life at 88? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s alright. I’m happy. And my duty is to assist those
behind me, particularly my children,Å to grow better. And to join other people
to behave well so that the country can be together.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What is your advice to Nigerians, looking at the way you
struggled to keep Nigeria one and they are more divided now.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Cuts in) Because there are more people in Nigeria now than
our own time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What is your message to them now that you are still alive? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My advice for them is to behave properly. First of all, to
know about the country. Learn about the country’s past and present, and think
about the future. And how to bring the country together as one. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You have been insisting that Nigeria should remain one, and
people should learn to be one. But there are people who feel the country has
been unfair to them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
People as individuals must think well about the country. And
the only way you can keep the country together is to first of all keep your
family together. And then keep your people together, keep your tribe together
and keep them along with other people together in harmony, all in ensuring
there is peace</div>
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GEN. ADEYINKA ADEBAYO’S LAST INTERVIEW: Echoes of January 15, 1966 coup: WHY THE ARMY STRUCK

GEN. ADEYINKA ADEBAYO’S LAST INTERVIEW: Echoes of January 15, 1966 coup: WHY THE ARMY STRUCK How did you get into the Army at the time ...

NKIRU TOMATO: From Mobil engineer to vegetable farmer

<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc_Gi1kpgsXWarHV26kFm3Qfa26KN8UUEDm0u64qZnY1iEDcmXlzfvgl6yDEfeRJI7ZdOi6VhuNrw72L7PyHGrVO84YQaARFrdFka5wKfQCggIKM6cKvhNoGTvzfhAnEL5OwikJfiRq_4/s1600/nkiru-tomatoes-293x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc_Gi1kpgsXWarHV26kFm3Qfa26KN8UUEDm0u64qZnY1iEDcmXlzfvgl6yDEfeRJI7ZdOi6VhuNrw72L7PyHGrVO84YQaARFrdFka5wKfQCggIKM6cKvhNoGTvzfhAnEL5OwikJfiRq_4/s200/nkiru-tomatoes-293x300.jpg" width="195" /></a>NKIRU TOMATO: From Mobil engineer to vegetable farmer</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
With an estimated 170 million people currently, and
projected by the United Nations in 2015 to be about 400million in 2050, Nigeria
no doubt is in a good place for the most populous countries award (if there’s
anything like that)!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, food security has not caught up with the growing
population of the most populous country in Africa. Thus the country still
relies heavily on importation of food commodities, grains and vegetables alike.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While insiders say there is more hype than action from
government, many have decided to ask what ‘they can do for their country rather
than what the country can do for them’. One of such is small scale farmer Nkiru
Okparaeke, fondly called ‘Nkiru Tomato’. Coming from a highly successful career
as an Instrumentation Engineer, she decided to dive into the ‘murky waters of
agriculture in Nigeria’ producing peppers and tomatoes. Rolling up her sleeves
and throwing away the heels, she decided to start a vegetable farm using
greenhouse technology which is relatively novel to the Nigerian Agricultural
landscape with her long-time friend and equally successful professional, Eme
Tony Uzoebo.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sunday Sun recently caught up with ‘Nkiru Tomato’ at their
Enviro-Gro Farms tucked away in Epe in Lagos State, where she shared the joys,
pains and hopes of doing what she does.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is demand, no doubt… <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For instance someone is asking for 1.5 tonnes of tomatoes.
If I sign on, I’ll have to supply him his tomato whether I produce or not. So
we’re trying to do some dry runs with some tomato species to see if they can
thrive here. We’re hoping to set up a tomato processing plant, but the
challenge we’re having is getting species that will do well here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’ve done like eight species of tomatoes but we just keep
having challenges with them. Pepper thrives better than tomatoes here because
it is humid here unlike in Jos.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Like I always say, ‘Tomato is a woman, Pepper is a man’. We
handle tomato like we’re handling babies. The peppers we have are
indeterminate, you can keep harvesting them for six months. So when we pluck,
it grows back. But with the tomato, immediately we harvest, the plant starts
dying by the next day.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tomato is the ‘Queen of Vegetables’. We brought in some
species from Kenya, they were massive but here they came out like baby
tomatoes. The environment there is cool. They grow roses there, roses only grow
in cool environments. Kenya is part of the Flower council, 30 percent of
flowers in Europe come from there.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The humidity here doesn’t help. And when it rains, it also
brings it’s issues of bacteria and fungus. My Agronomist from Kenya has been
growing pepper and tomatoes in Kenya for about 25 years, when he saw how those
species fared, he was bewildered.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
 Everyday is a new
challenge here…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It keeps us going and alive. When we have the successes, it
keeps us excited, we celebrate. When people ask about my successes, I tell them
if a staff doesn’t quit in a week, it’s a success, if you plant a hundred and
ninety survives, you get excited. Success in agriculture has to be defined
differently from elsewhere. If you define it by the monetary returns you would
quit fast. Some seeds are so small, you need a magnifying glass to look at
them, yet they produce something really big, that’s exciting. It’s the next
thing to playing to God.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Green House farming, a novel farming practice in Nigeria<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are other green farms, I know of one in Jos, but I
learnt the place shut down. Farm fresh has green houses as well but they are
not operating now because the Dutch manager left. And that’s why I keep saying
Joshua (my expatriate agronomist) is ‘my single point of failure’.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have our control room, the machine that mixes the
chemical is here, it mixes and sends to the plants.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We use generator to power this place. We will use solar
panels over time. We couldn’t do that as we started off because of the cost, we
just wanted to get going. Having a generator is cheaper for us now. In the long
term we will.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have the nursery, where the seeds are the weakest, they
are infants. So if we don’t manage them well, we’ll lose them. When the nursery
is full, we’re having about 11,000 seeds. And when the greenhouse is full, we
can have about 16,000/18,000 plants. So we always have plants in the nursery,
because the plants keep dying and we keep replacing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The plants stay in the nursery for four weeks, then we
transplant them to where they’ll stay till harvest.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have two types of seeds, determinate and indeterminate.
Determinate means that when they start fruiting, after one or two harvests,
they won’t produce anymore. So, we take them off. Indeterminate means they can
continue to grow and grow fruits after the initial fruiting, for another six
months or a year. As you pluck, new seeds come out.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For the traditional, local species, when they are harvested,
they are taken off. It takes a special skill to maintain them longer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If we didn’t have the specialised skill, we would be using
the determinate ones. Because harvesting is like you created a wound when you
opened up the plant. So, what we normally do is to spray after harvesting. If
we don’t, we’ve opened that place for diseases to come in.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We tie the peppers, so when they start fruiting, the weight
won’t make the plants tilt and bend to the ground. They keep growing up, so we
use the ropes to steady them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Using non-soil medium…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We use slow release fertiliser, irrigation comes from the
pipes but they could become blocked at times, so the fertiliser compensates for
any mishaps. The plants are not planted in soil. I use a non-soil medium called
‘coco peats’, gotten from the husk of the coconut. It is on these that the
plants grow. They are here till they fruit. They are not going anywhere again,
it’s from nursery to here. From planting to harvesting, takes about 75 days. By
75 days, they are green. If you want them to turn to the colour they are, then
you give another 15 days. So by 90 days, they are ready for the kitchen. They
all start off as green, so if I want to sell as green, then I can by the 75th
day.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Often some get diseased, so, we replace such with plants
from the nursery. After harvesting, we sterilise the coco peats. We harvest
twice a week, Monday and Thursday.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have the Habanero, which is indigenous to Africa, they
can be planted on soil. They don’t have issues like these other ones. However,
those that plant in soil in green houses, burn the soil first to kill all the
micro-organisms. But we can’t be going through all that stress now, so we’d
rather use coco peats.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Coco peats is an inert material, meaning it’s free, has
nothing in it, the soil on the other hand has microbes in it. Coco peats are
used in Europe and the U.S., they also use rock and Perlites, they don’t grow
on soil.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have fans cooling up the place. In April, we get
temperatures as high as 70 degree centigrade, it can be so hot. The only thing
that helps at such times are the cooling fans.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When going in you wash hands and disinfect your feet, in
order to minimise contamination just like when you’re going into a poultry
farm.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Using Coco peats<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We got our first sets of coco peats from India but we’re
getting them here now and we’re setting up to manufacture them here. At the
moment, we’re manufacturing for our own use. Presently we don’t have the
machinery, so we’re able to fabricate small amounts.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From Exxon Mobil to the Farm<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
People often ask me how or why I got into farming coming
from a very sophisticated and professional background. My answer to that
question my sister is, if I knew what I know now, I would have left this
farming for others.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I used to work for Exxon Mobil, I left for Business School
in Canada and my partner Eme Tony-Uzoebo 
left for Harvard. I was an Instrumentation Engineer in Mobil, so I
worked on projects, in Singapore, France, US, I moved around a lot. My first
degree was in Engineering from the University of Port Harcourt. My partner also
studied Accounting from the same school, we grew up together in Enugu, we’ve
been friends for a while. So we were thinking of what we could do. Then she had
the priviledge of internship at IFC, International Finance Corporation, the
private arm of the World Bank. She stumbled on the data for vegetable
production, the demand and actual production. And a lot of shops were now
having issues importing vegetable because of our exchange rate.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Shop Rite did a lot of that. We had looked at poultry, fish
farming, so we settled for vegetable farming, because at the time a lot of
shops were coming up, and they needed the products. Then the dollar moved
against the shops when we started, they couldn’t import. So we started
producing and because of the quality of our products, we can’t even meet up
with demand.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’re like a little research farm<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We keep trying different seeds. We’ve found some that do
well here, and some don’t. We’re like a little research farm, we keep looking
for varieties that can give us higher yields.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Initially, we were more interested in just tomatoes. When we
went round and did our market survey, we saw how the cartels in the markets
dealt with farmers, we knew we couldn’t take our products to Mile 12(Lagos).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We spend about three month growing our products and if we go
to the market, we can’t sell directly but through the middlemen who fix the
price.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So having found out the high barrier to entry and the high
demand as well, we just opted to do not just tomatoes but also pepper. We
consume a lot of tomatoes and peppers in the country. SPAR alone moves about 10
tonnes of tomatoes a week. Imagine if we go into processing? Now we’re trying
out some varieties to find out the ones we can use for processing, because
that’s the next phase for us, after fresh produce.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We could produce a tonne in a week…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our capacity here if green house is full, we could be doing
about a tonne a week, but it’s never really full (a tonne is 1,000kilos),
because we have to stagger production. If we plant everything the same time,
that means we’ll supply the same time and for the next three months we won’t be
able to supply anybody anything. So, if you’d noticed, our plants are in
different stages, that’s one way to ensure the shops get products from us every
week. It’s better for their planning.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When we did our market survey, it was one of the things the
shops complained about, that farmers supply today and for the next three months
they don’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From April to August tomatoes become very scarce and
expensive. That’s because that is the rainy season and tomatoes don’t like the
rain. So it’s challenging growing it during this period and most of the
tomatoes grown in Nigeria is open field.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The only way we can arrest that situation is for us to start
growing tomatoes during the rainy season in closures like these (greenhouses)
to make up. And you know most of the tomatoes are brought in from the north to
the south.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Apart from that, what is the level of education of these
farmers, they probably don’t know about further scheduling. What they know is
to plant everything at once, instead of scheduling their planting. So it
happens that when all the farmers’ plant at the same time, there’s a glut and
price falls and they lose money. If government can come in with little
education, it can help. Talk to them, divide their land, plant different things
at the same time, so that there’ll be constant supply and there won’t be a glut
such that they are forced to bring down their prices.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Always been exposed to farming…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was on the board of Igwe farms, supporting them not
actually farming. However, I’ve always been exposed to farming. My mum farmed,
she still does, she has her farm at 70plus, and my father complains.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But I tell people, what I do now is not my mother’s type of
farming. In those days after school, she’ll whisk us off to the village to
farm. We’ll plant cassava, some will harvest. I can make garri, can do all the
process, peeling, sieving, frying, all the works! I can make Palm oil, there’
basically no part of farming I didn’t grow up doing, but of course I didn’t
enjoy it because it was backbreaking.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I grew up in Enugu and it’s a big farming state. My father
was a top civil servant and we lived in the government reserved area in those
sturdy, fancy (at the time) Ikoyi type of houses that the colonialists built.
Then, when I went to people’s houses, I found flowers there but my mother had
turned every little space around our own house into farm. Instead of flowers,
we had yams, we had farm and then I used to feel very embarrassed. As far, as my
mother was concerned, any free land space should be for farming. If you talked
about flowers, so far one could put hedge, that was fine by her. Any regular
space like lawn became a farm, or a yam mart.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Putting a figure to our project…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Getting this project off, I may not readily be able to put a
figure to it, in terms of the basics, logistics, I could say about a hundred
million went into that. Everything we use, we imported.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The way we can surmount this challenge of high cost now is
if companies can start fabricating all these inputs here. All the green houses
you see in Nigeria are practically imported. However, we’re trying our hands on
‘Reverse Engineering’ with a company, to produce some of these inputs here.
Reverse Engineering is copying the technology behind a product and replicating
here, building the product from scratch.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In five, ten years…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So in five, ten years, we should be talking about 50-100
hectares of land for our tomato farm and processing plant. So, we can have
eight hectares of the green house, then the 50-100 open field for tomatoes that
we’ll be processing. Presently, we’re working with just about half a hectare.
We also hope to set up a ranch, and ultimately the whole agricultural
production chain.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You should be sure this is what you really want…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For entrepreneurs looking into a venture like this, you have
to make sure this is really what you want to do, don’t get carried away with
the slogan that, ‘Agriculture is the next big thing’. Be sure this is really
what you want to do. Visit farms and find out what’s happening there, talk to
owners.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Also, you don’t necessarily have to farm, there’s a lot of
links in the value chain, find out which one you can plug into, not everyone
has to do backward integration. You can decide you want to be an uptaker,
buying from those who are producing, helping them to sell. You can decide to
run a logistics company, so everyone knows that on a particular day, you bring
your vehicle to pick up produce to the people who need it and you get paid.
Now, everyone is doing everything under one roof. You’re the farmer (supplier),
you’re doing the logistics, doing everything. In developed countries, there are
people just dedicated to farming logistics. So the farmer farms, someone picks
it up and takes it to sell, so he can concentrate on his farming, which is just
one link of the value chain.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, make sure this is really what you want to do. Run your
numbers well, and talk to those who are in the business.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our pains, our joys, our hopes…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The pains are plenty. One of the joys is that you grow
something, enter a shop, and find your produce. We’re doing import
substitution, those things that were previously imported are now coming from
farms like ours. In our little way, we’re saving the Nigerian economy. The
people working here have the benefit of employment. They could be unemployed.
These are the joys we have.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On our pains, the dollar is hitting all of us. The
fertilizers we use are imported, the seeds are imported. The fertilizer
that  I previously bought for N13,000 now
cost me about  N32,000. How much am I
going to sell my peppers? The shops are not increasing prices because they are
trying to sell off with low prices, they don’t want to keep stock for too long.
We sell in kilos to them but I can’t tell you how much I sell to them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our hopes…  ‘Mr.
Joshua, what’s our hopes (asking the farm’s expatriate agronomist)?’ Our hope
is that the seed companies will take Nigeria seriously and start producing
seeds for our environment.There are multibillion dollar companies that all they
do is produce seeds, they do the research and develop seeds.  Companies like Monsanto, Wensman, Syngenta
etc. So our hope is that they’ll begin to see West Africa, Nigeria as a viable
market that they can develop seeds for, setting up multiplication farms for us,
which means they have taken into cognisance our peculiar diseases and produced
seeds that are protected or immuned to these diseases, so that we can be using
less chemicals and the survival rates of the plants becoming higher.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Government must put its money where it’s mouth is…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If government can really put its money where its mouth is,
it’ll really go a long way. You read in the papers, government is supporting
agriculture but ask how many farmers have actually accessed facilities from
Bank of Agric? It’s just in the papers that they are encouraging farmers, but
when the real sector people like me apply, it’s difficult. The Bank of Industry
MD was here and I told him if it’s difficult for a woman like me who is
educated and connected to access loan, then how will the village woman fare?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What really goes on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The experience is that the risk for the loan lies with the
bank, so your commercial bank applies on your behalf, so if you default, your
bank pays. So the bank treats it like a commercial loan giving you conditions.
They ask you for a collateral, and how much collateral does a farmer have? The
only collateral he has is his land, and most times the land is not registered
because the cost of registering the land will rather be spent on inputs into
the farm. A good farmer will not put money on something that will not yield him
money. Having C of O does not yield me instant money, buying seed and
fertilizer would. And many of these farmers are small holders, village land passed
from father to son.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
In trying to claim they are helping, they have put it in
such a way that people can’t access the loans. It’s people like Dangote that
can readily access the money. So the government should not just be talking, if
they really want to make a change in agriculture. They should liberalise the
process, remove conditions for farmers to access loans. They should stop
telling the commercial banks to carry the risks. For instance, a bank was
asking me if I have property in Banana Island. If I did I wouldn’t be going to
the bank in the first place. So far, we’ve not gotten any loan. My partner and
I have tried to in the last one year, courting various banks by opening
accounts in them, nothing so far. We’ve liquidated all we have to keep this
place running in the last two years that we started.</div>

NKIRU TOMATO: From Mobil engineer to vegetable farmer

NKIRU TOMATO: From Mobil engineer to vegetable farmer With an estimated 170 million people currently, and projected by the United Nation...

OH DEAR! SEE WHAT NICKI MINAJ WORE TO PARIS FASHION WEEK. JEEZ!

Nicki Minaj is in Paris for the fashion week and for her appearance for one of the events, she let loose one boob in a top by Mugler. She sh...

TSA destroyed Nigeria’s economy –Cleric

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<span id="goog_794023406"></span><span id="goog_794023407"></span><span class="entry-date" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #f22a0c; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></h4>
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TSA destroyed Nigeria’s economy –Cleric</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6NiD0Y0QhKYamn7k_tm60i_awlhWCaLfMM0Sq0F22uh3gPFt_nkUbewvqgBG3MuEFQicUhGp_yEOJfeOWAyhzU3v41A-f2c1AoX2rw6LGLx5qSYmfb4-XEZqUmgpXyyXR9wCJU7oQ2Jc/s1600/buhari-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-size: xx-small;"><i><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6NiD0Y0QhKYamn7k_tm60i_awlhWCaLfMM0Sq0F22uh3gPFt_nkUbewvqgBG3MuEFQicUhGp_yEOJfeOWAyhzU3v41A-f2c1AoX2rw6LGLx5qSYmfb4-XEZqUmgpXyyXR9wCJU7oQ2Jc/s1600/buhari-2.jpg" /></i></span></a><div class="p3" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span class="s2" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;">A Christian</b></span><span class="s1" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> cleric, Prophet Sunday Iyunade, has said that the introduction and mismanagement of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) by President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, was an economic blunder which has destroyed the nation’s economy.</span></div>
<div class="p4" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<span class="s1" style="box-sizing: border-box;">According him, TSA which necessitated the closure of all government accounts in various banks and led to billions of naira being mopped from circulation, caused economic crisis in Nigeria. Iyunade, who is the president of Pentecostal </span><br />
<span class="s1" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Sanctuary Bible Ministries, spoke on Saturday at a press conference organised to herald the commemoration of the church’s 21st anniversary and the 15th annual convention, held at its headquarters in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun state.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="box-sizing: border-box;">The commemorative event with the theme: ‘Occupy Till I Come’, is scheduled to commence on Sunday, March 19 with Convention Rally and end on Sunday, March 26 with thanksgiving and ordination service.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Speaking further, he maintained that government buried the economy when over $20b in various government accounts was put into a single account and converted it into naira, without any concrete investment plans. Iyunade, who lamented the high cost of living in the country, decried the government’s decision to borrow N4.7trillion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) within three months in 2016 insisting the present government deliberately plunged Nigeria into economic woes by what he termed “erroneous economic policy.”</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="box-sizing: border-box;">“This government committed economic blunder by introducing TSA because that started the destruction of our economy. The government, with the step, mopped up about $20b from accounts of the FG in various banks and converted the money into our own local currency.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Since then, the economy has been in parlous state.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="box-sizing: border-box;">“All efforts to revive the ailing economy by the government have been futile because that singular policy was faulty as cash flow had been adversely decimated and the economy is gravely affected”. He stated.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="box-sizing: border-box;">He, however, urged the present government to stop blaming the past administration for its economic inefficiency noting “if the incumbent had proper and suitable economic plans, Nigeria would not have found itself in an awkward economic situation”.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="box-sizing: border-box;">The cleric, equally called on President Buhari-led government to make its anti-corruption fight an all inclusive one and be sincere with its policies and dealings, in order for the country to get out of the economic quagmire as soon as possible.</span></div>
</div>

TSA destroyed Nigeria’s economy –Cleric

TSA destroyed Nigeria’s economy –Cleric A Christian cleric, Prophet Sunday Iyunade, has said that the introduction and mismanagemen...

Anger over Nigerians taking S’ Africans’ women, jobs behind xenophobic attacks, says Dabiri-Erewa

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Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on foreign relations and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, says South African politicians fuel xenophobic attacks by telling citizens that foreigners, including Nigerians, are taking their women and jobs.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Dabiri-Erewa admitted that there were foreigners who commit crime in South Africa, and they can be dealt with, but not by discriminating against Nigerians or any other race or country on or off the continent.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Speaking on a popular TV series, the Osasu Show, Dabiri-Erewa said the xenophobic attacks in South Africa was driven by hate speech and misinformation.</div>
<div class="code-block code-block-4" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 8px 0px;">
re are people who commit crime in South Africa, such people are in any country. If South Africa is fighting crime; let it fight crime, not fight brothers and sisters, who are legitimately working in South Africa,” she said.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“Don’t forget that these attacks happened in the past. This is the seventh attack. The last one was in 2015… the king of Zulu made some remarks that were inciting, that led to the last attack.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“This particular one, let’s look at the circumstances. Fine, there are economic issues everywhere in the world. Politicians are campaigning and telling their people, ‘you know what, drive these criminals away, they are taking your jobs, and they are taking your women too’.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“They don’t say that openly, but there is this thing about it; even the women are not looking at us.”</div>
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She said “it is a wrong message and there has to be education, awareness, that it is not these immigrants that are taking your jobs. Look at the jobs they are doing; vulcanisers, mechanics, barbers, these are middle income jobs”.</div>
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Dabiri-Erewa advised South Africa companies operating in Nigeria to do more to educate South Africans on the need to stop xenophobia.</div>
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“Nigeria must help South Africa to be more decisive, for instance, the only time the minister called this meeting in South Africa was after the MTN reprisal attacks here,” she said.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“Lately, multinationals here; Shoprite, MTN, DStv, also make conscious attempt to try and educate their  citizens. Imagine MTN sending text messages to everyone in South Africa, saying Xenophobia is bad, don’t do this and that.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
“They should embark on some corporate social responsibility. Those multinationals should get up and do something. DStv should be doing various jingles on why xenophobia is bad, they should take over the awareness campaign.</div>
</div>

Anger over Nigerians taking S’ Africans’ women, jobs behind xenophobic attacks, says Dabiri-Erewa

Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on foreign relations and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, says South African polit...

Good governance key to Nigeria’s socio-economic development, says Obasanjo

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Former president Olusegun Obasanjo said, on Saturday, in Lagos, that good governance was  imperative for the socio-economic growth of the country.</h4>
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Obasanjo said this at the Pro. Gabriel Fakeye Memorial Lecture entitled, “The Challenge of Good Governance, National Stability and Development” at Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church, Ayo Ni O.</div>
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He said for good governance to be felt in Nigeria, there was need for national cohesion, vision and cooperation among  the components of the system with a common focus on people-oriented development.</div>
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“We see leaders as managers that make decisions, organise people and achieve organisational goals; yes, leaders must do all those, but leaders must be visionary and must communicate strategies to achieve the vision.</div>
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“The ability to take risks and adapt to change, develop a vision, influence people, provide direction, innovate and solve problems is the hallmark of leadership.</div>
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“Appointment at the leadership level should be based on competence, knowledge and experience; any other consideration will be based on sub-optimal,’’ Obasanjo said.</div>
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Harping on national stability, he said since the nation was an extension of families the intrinsic family values that had evolved from generations to generations should be given attention.</div>
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He said: “A stable system is that that can weather storms, psychologically, spiritually, financially, environmentally; for some storms we need spiritual intervention and that is where the church have a major role to play.</div>
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“A nation consists of the communities and family constitutes communities, therefore, the stability of the nation depends on how stable or robust the families are and consequently the communities.</div>
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“The nerve centre of national stability is the family. Individuals, communities and nations can only develop if they are innovative.</div>
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“innovation could be incremental breakthrough or disruptive in nature, our leaders must embrace disruptive innovations.</div>
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“The Bible teaches us to love our neighbours as ourselves. If we love our neighbour as ourselves, we will love our nation and be patriotic.’’</div>
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Obasanjo said the church had the responsibility to restore family values and that they should make the church a training ground for future leaders.</div>
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“The church as we have seen in some nations throw up national leadership and we must, therefore, encourage our churches to dedicate time to the training of youths in the choir, bible study and evangelism.</div>
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“A nation that is cohesive and built on core positive family value inclusive of reward/punishment system that is open and just shall progress.</div>
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“We need prayers that the Lord will direct us to see more of the positive than the negative reasons for national unity.</div>
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“The church must be a training ground for leadership and the Bible is the best handbook for such training,’’ he stressed.</div>
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General Leader, Cherubim and Seraphim, Apostle Funsho Korode, in his address, urged Christians to imbibe  the leadership qualities of the late Fakeye.</div>
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“Although as a religious leader, he impacted greatly on the political terrain through his non-discriminatory preaching on the pulpit and on the airwaves.</div>
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“If we truly love him and his legacies, then we must all fight tooth and nail and within available resources to see that this nation, Nigeria, is restored to greatness, prosperity and righteousness,’’ he said.</div>
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The Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank, Mr Remi Omotosho, one of the guest speakers at the occasion, urged Christians to build on the legacies of Fakeye. (NAN)</div>
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Good governance key to Nigeria’s socio-economic development, says Obasanjo

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo said, on Saturday, in Lagos, that good governance was imperative for the socio-economic growth of the...

OBAMA'S SPOKESMAN SAYS TRUMP'S CLAIM IS 'SIMPLY FALSE'

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A few hours ago, President Donald Trump made a stunning
claim alleging that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped Trump Tower ahead
of the 2016 election.<o:p></o:p><br />
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A spokesperson for former President Barack Obama has now
responded to Trumps accusation calling he unverified claim "simply
false.". Obama's spokesman, Kevin Lewis said in a statement;<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i> "A cardinal rule
of the Obama administration was that no White House official ever interfered
with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice. As part of
that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House official ever
ordered surveillance on any US citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply
false."</i></div>
<b><o:p></o:p></b>

OBAMA'S SPOKESMAN SAYS TRUMP'S CLAIM IS 'SIMPLY FALSE'

A few hours ago, President Donald Trump made a stunning claim alleging that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped Trump Tower ahea...

Recession: Be prudent in funds management, Buhari tells varsities

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6WyF7qXff49NyjvQVbcQj1eZT9HXhkl10Pa__tIDY-u7Osgv65SKDmML-pJdN2vAqH5GW-pwHsreHPL6tL0bjkauZ4kO3OiCathyu5kSGm696pnGavR6Apgare0pRSIBSG2vpm2iS0A4/s1600/pmb3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6WyF7qXff49NyjvQVbcQj1eZT9HXhkl10Pa__tIDY-u7Osgv65SKDmML-pJdN2vAqH5GW-pwHsreHPL6tL0bjkauZ4kO3OiCathyu5kSGm696pnGavR6Apgare0pRSIBSG2vpm2iS0A4/s1600/pmb3.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Recession: Be prudent in funds management, Buhari tells
varsities</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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President Muhammadu Buhari has charged federal universities
to be prudent in the management of funds allocated to them in view of current
economic challenges.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>President Buhari gave the advice on Saturday at the 30th
Convocation of the University of Calabar. Represented by the Minister of State for Education, Prof.
Anthony Onwuka, the president said that his administration placed premium on
the funding of education as a way to improve teaching and learning.</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>According to him, in view of the present economic
challenges, it is important for public universities to adopt prudent measures
in spending the funds allocated to universities by the Federal Government. “As
we all know, Nigeria is facing some economic challenges presently; I wish to
advise federal universities to make judicious use of the funds allocated to
them from the federal government for the development of their campuses.</div>
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“The University of Calabar has fared very well in terms of
infrastructural development and I must commend the university management for
this,’’ he said. The president congratulated the graduands on the award of
degrees to them and urged that they should be good ambassadors of the
institution and Nigeria.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Zana
Akpagu, said that the institution graduated a total of 13,347 students in
various fields of studies at the ceremony.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Akpagu explained that 1,437 students were awarded
post-graduate certificates while 11,910 got first degrees in different classes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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He said that 22 students graduated with First Class degrees,
adding that the University recorded a milestone in establishing the Faculty of
Engineering which never existed since its establishment in 1978.<o:p></o:p></div>
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He assured that the university would continue to leave up to
its expectations in delivering quality academic services to students.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On his part, the Pro-Chancellor of the University, Dr
Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, thanked the Federal Government for improving
infrastructure in the school through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund
(TETFUND). Iwunayanwu said that the support had helped in the physical
development of the university.</div>
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Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, who was a guest at
the occasion, donated the sum of N30 million as an educational support fund to
the university’s Medical Centre, still under construction. Tambuwal commended
the school management for infrastructural development and urged the graduands
not to depend solely on white-collar jobs “but rather, be determined to be
entrepreneurs”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Highlight of the occasion was the award of doctoral degrees
“Honoris Causa” to Brig.-Gen. Anthony Ukpo (retd), Alhaji Ummarun Kwabo and Mr
Daniel Chukwudozie for their contributions to the socio-economic development of
the country. (NAN)</div>

Recession: Be prudent in funds management, Buhari tells varsities

Recession: Be prudent in funds management, Buhari tells varsities President Muhammadu Buhari has charged federal universities to be pru...

Edo rainstorm: Lawmakers assure victims of FG, state’s intervention

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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Edo rainstorm: Lawmakers assure victims of FG, state’s intervention</b></span></h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Lawmakers (APC-Edo), representing Etsako Federal Constituency and Etsako East Constituency in Edo State House of Assembly have assured victims of rainstorm in Okpella, Edo, of the Federal and state governments’ intervention.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The lawmakers, Mr. Johnson Oghuma and Mr. Kingsley Ugabi, gave the assurance during their visit to the affected victims and assessment of damage done by the rainstorm at Okpella, Etsako East Local Government Area, Edo, on Saturday.<br />The downpour of March 6 led to the death of a four-year-old girl, Miss Maria Idzi, with many others injured. No fewer than 100 residential buildings, electrical installations and farmlands were also destroyed by the rainstorm.<br />Mr. Oghuma (APC-Edo), representing Etsako Federal Constituency, said the house had mandated National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to send relief materials to the victims of the devastating rainstorm to alleviate their sufferings.<br />“I came to see things for myself and to sympathise with you all and also to report to the House Committee on NEMA on the extent of the damage.<br />“We need to take the statistics of every house and property that have been affected which spread across villages and communities in Okpella area. “So, that when there is a succour and a helping hands from the Federal Government, those affected by the disaster would be assisted,’’ Oghuma said.<br />He sympathised with the family of Idzi over the death of their four-year-old daughter, Idzi, and prayed the Almighty God grant them the fortitude to bear the loss. “This is something nobody plan for and I can see that the damage is much, and it is my prayer that we will not experience it again,’’ he said. Earlier, Hon. Ugabi, said that the Edo State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), has been mobilised to provide relief materials to affected victims. “This is a tragedy, people are suffering, I think the Federal and the state governments need to do something,’’ he said. (NAN)</span><br />
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Edo rainstorm: Lawmakers assure victims of FG, state’s intervention

Edo rainstorm: Lawmakers assure victims of FG, state’s intervention The Lawmakers (APC-Edo), representing Etsako Federal Constituency an...

As Trump takes over from Obama

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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif;">Billionaire rea</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif;">l estate mogul and President-elect, Donald John Trump will be inaugurated today as the 45th United States President. He takes over from his predecessor, Barack Hussein Obama, the first Black President in American History. Without any previous political or military experience, Trump made history as the first political outsider and entrepreneur to occupy the White House in recent times.</span></div>
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The Republican known for his brash and unusual rhetoric will become the most powerful person in the world as he presides over the world’s most powerful nation on earth. Trump ran an unorthodox and sometimes controversial campaign in the race to the White House. He ran one of the most contentious campaigns in the US political history. He was frank and blunt in his assessment of Obama administration. His outsider status may have also worked in his favour.</div>
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The establishment and members of his party did not give him a chance of winning his party’s nomination, yet he won against others considered more qualified for the job. In spite of getting his party’s nod to vie for the prime job, he was considered unfit, temperamental and uniquely unqualified to be the commander in chief.</div>
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He was adjudged to be unable to handle the nuclear codes. In his divisive and hate campaigns, he said things that many believed were not politically correct, yet he won the November 8, 2016 presidential poll through the Electoral College votes while his opponent won the popular votes. Despite negative polls predictions, allegations of abuse of women, discrimination against minority people and media reports against Trump, he went ahead to win the presidential poll.</div>
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Perhaps, his slogan of “Make America Great Again” did the magic. His lampooning of the Obama administration at every point in his campaign gave him an edge over Clinton in his historic journey to the White House. Besides, the American system was apparently not ready to experiment with a female president and may not be willing to produce a political dynasty of the Clintons.</div>
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He won against a more favoured and preferred Democratic Party’s candidate and former first lady, Hillary Clinton. During the campaign, Trump said, among other things, that he will build a wall along the Mexican border and make Mexico to pay for it, deport illegal immigrants, repeal Obamacare and stop some Muslims from entering the United States.</div>
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Only time will tell if Trump is going to fulfill most of his bizarre campaign promises that endeared him to white supremacist voters and other adherents. Despite all odds, the co-author of The Art of the Deal, and host of The Apprentice, a reality show, became the most famous man ever to be elected the president of the United States. As Trump assumes office today, America and the world will never be the same again. Trump’s takeover of the Oval Office will witness far-reaching changes that will affect not only America but the entire world.</div>
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For sure, America will miss Obama’s brilliance, oratory, pop culture, humour, pragmatism, inclusive politics and his elevation of the Oval Office. Despite suffering racism even in the White House, Obama did not lose his humanity and his Americaness. He did not lose touch with his African roots. As the most powerful man on earth, he visited the continent twice and told African leaders some home truths. He canvassed for the development of strong democratic institutions in Africa and not strong men.</div>
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Although born by a Kenyan father and White Kansan mother in the decidedly US state of Hawaii, Obama’s electoral victory in 2008 brought to fulfillment Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream.”</div>
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As far back as 1963, Dr. King, with much spiritual and political foresight, saw the Promised Land and warned that he would not get there with them. The blacks waited till January 20, 2009 when Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States for the fulfillment of King’s prophecy. His ascension of office witnessed tears of joy from blacks and other races as well.</div>
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Obama’s presidency might not have given all blacks the equality espoused in the American Dream; it has given them a pedestal. Obama had in his November 4, 2008 victory speech in Chicago reminded Americans that: “This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people; Yes, we can.”</div>
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Eight years down the line, American dream is still a work in progress. Obama’s presidency has given them hope and a voice. Black lives mattered to his presidency, even though his was a period that witnessed rise in racial animosity.</div>
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In Obama, they have a reference point to stand and combat racism and other divisiveness in God’s own country. The first black family to occupy the Oval Office has given them hope that they can achieve whatever they want to achieve. Despite some structured handicaps by the Congress, Obama did his best in office and may arguably be considered one of the best presidents the US has produced.</div>
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He lived up to his world classics, Dreams from My Father (1995) and The Audacity of Hope (2006). No doubt, Obama is a good role model.  Obama leaves office amid great applause with approval rating of 60 percent. Bill Clinton left office at 66 percent and Ronald Reagan left with approval rating of 64 percent.</div>
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As Trump assumes office today, let him not be so swift to dismantle Obama’s legacies. He should tame his repulsive rhetoric and be humble enough to learn and profit from the experiences of those who have traveled that path before him. Donald Trump’s campaign and victory sharply divided Americans along political, racial and religious lines; the President should heal the wounds his hate campaigns created. He should fulfill those campaign promises that will truly make America great again.</div>
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He should create many jobs, rebuild the economy and broken down infrastructure and defeat the ISIS. Trump should also curb rising racism and hatred in the United States. He should be the President of all Americans, whites, black and brown.</div>
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As Trump takes over from Obama

Billionaire rea l estate mogul and President-elect, Donald John Trump will be inaugurated today as the 45th United States President. He...