How has your experience been since you settled here in Ibadan, generally referred to as one of the cultural centers of the South-West?
My first time in the South-West was in 1975. I came on holiday as a secondary school student to my uncle’s place in Lagos, and from 1975 till my graduation I always visited Lagos. At one time, I think that was in 1979, when the Lagos-Ibadan expressway was first opened, I drove through with my uncle. I’ve lived in various parts of Lagos but since I came to Ibadan in 1986, I found a very ambient environment, good environment to sojourn and survive, the most peaceful, the most wonderful. I can’t live in Lagos again. I go to Lagos, do business and come back to Ibadan. Since 1986, it’s been exciting staying here in Ibadan and I can’t tell you I won’t leave Ibadan unless I’m retiring from work.
How would you describe the Igbo community here in Ibadan and South-West in general?
Ibadan has afforded the Ibo man here a very peaceful environment to thrive and I say that to the glory of God. Since 1986, I have never seen an inter-tribal clash between the Igbos and the Yorubas unlike what you have found in some other parts of Nigeria. And this is because of their nature. They have the ability to accommodate various ethnic nationalities. Since I have been in Ibadan, I’ve seen many Olubadans and they have had very peaceful co-existence and relationship with the Igbos. I’ve passed through many governors. I came here during the military era and I saw through so many military governors and we have always had a peaceful environment to thrive in our little businesses. And so Ibadan has been a peaceful place not just to the Igbos but to everybody that comes to this place. The Igbos keyed into that and so it’s been a wonderful thing.
How do you feel when you hear people make statements that tend to divide us based on tribal sentiments?
It’s been a very painful experience. My wife lived in Maiduguri for 18 years. In 1993, I went to Maiduguri to pack her property down to the South and we got married in 1994. In my earlier days in Ibadan, my work took me to every part of the Northern states. I could drive anybody from Ilela in the farthest of Sokoto to Baga in Maiduguri in Borno State. I’ve worked in those environments because of the nature of my job. I was working with a consulting firm that had a lot of relationship with the World Bank and so I was moving around the World Bank projects throughout the Northern states of Nigeria and also down South. So I’m a true Nigerian. I can tell you that the beating of drums of tribal sentiments is not new. Sorry to say it; I saw it coming. Before, in the North, I could park my car on the road when I got tired in the night and collapse the seat and sleep till morning and nobody would touch you but you can’t try that now. The Hausas were very welcoming. You can knock on a door in the middle of the night and they would open it without aggression. Where we got it wrong I do not know but Nigeria was a very peaceful place to thrive.
Considering your position, what are you doing in your capacity or intend to do to foster a harmonious relationship between the diverse ethnic nationalities here in the South-West?
Before being unanimously elected as the president of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Oyo State, I had toured virtually all the towns within Oyo State, speaking to Igbo people, getting their feelings about their existence and relationship with people around. I found that it’s been very cordial and peaceful. I think in all the towns in Oyo State where the Igbos thrive and do their business there has been a wonderful relationship between us and the Yorubas and I’m going to make sure that this relationship continues. When I started my civil engineering experience here in Oyo State, I was sent to Okeho to supervise a work. I spent about a year within Okeho. I got to know everybody, relating with the community. I have gone round to see that the Igbos were living in harmony. Anybody saying anything contrary is not speaking about the relationship between the Igbos and the host communities here in Oyo State and that is what I want to promote. I virtually live in Ogbomoso. I am part and parcel of the place and there is nobody of substance that I have not met within Ogbomoso community. I have found peace and good relationship. We like our relationship so far with the people of Oyo State and I’m going to extend it beyond what it is today.
How do you intend to foster the relationship between the Igbo community in Oyo and in other parts of the South-West? And what are your plans to bring in development to the Igbo community?
There is an existing relationship between the Ohaneze Ndigbo in all the states and we call it the South-West executive council of Ohaneze Ndigbo and we have been able to come together in the South West. Most recently, we were in Akure to celebrate Igbo cultural day. All the South West executive members were there including the national executives. The president-general of Ohaneze and the vice president worldwide were there and other eminent members of Ohaneze worldwide. It was a perfect setting. Anybody who was there would have seen the harmony that exists between the host community of Ondo State and the Igbos. We are extending the same here in Oyo State.
Could you speak about the process that brought you up as the president of Ohaneze in Oyo State?
You start with your relationship with your immediate community. My community here, Item Development Association, we have a formidable union here in Oyo State. And from there you move to the state. We have Abia state development association where I served as the vice president for four years before considering myself for the position of the president of Ohaneze Ndigbo. I have tested the ground from the community level through the state level to what we might call a national level at the state where I aspired to be the president of the Ohaneze Ndigbo in Oyo State. But the process that brought me in had the backing of the Ohaneze worldwide with headquarters in Enugu and that is very important. It was the leadership of Ohaneze worldwide that started the process when they collapsed all other contending associations and unions and established a caretaker committee that was able to harmonize the existence of Ndigbo as a body up until 2018 when they came in May. They said their next coming would be to conduct elections to bring out a new leadership that is nurtured by them. You had to pick up a form with a sum of money. Each position had different amount from the others. We all got our forms and filled them. We were screened. There were minimum qualifications for various offices; so you had to bring in original certificates and credentials to show. They did all that. I have the video. Even though I came out unopposed at the end of the day they still insisted that I be voted for and at the end of the day we were issued certificates of return.
The Igbos take their cultures seriously. Your host community also has its culture. How do you intend to bring a perfect interplay between these various cultures?
The Yorubas have a saying that no matter how big your eye balls are, you cannot see the land more than the owner of the land. What that presupposes is that whatever culture we want to exhibit, whatever we want to do must be done in such a way that we still respect the culture of our host community. I take exception to having a kingdom inside a kingdom. It is an aberration. It is an insult to the constituted authorities of the land. I will not be party to that. I will want to respect the culture and the traditions of the host communities. Whatever we want to do, we must seek audience with the Olubadan of Ibadan land. If we are doing it in Ogbomoso, we must seek audience with the Soun of Ogbomoso. Whatever we do in terms of tradition, we must be under the existing authority of the owners of the land.
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