I was the first graduate in my father’s village —Mautin, Deputy Executive Secretary, UBEC

Razaq Olajuwon Mautin is the Deputy Executive Secretary of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC). He went down memory lane in this interview by SEGUN KASALI, narrating how his first day as a youth corps member came with a lot of emotions.

HOW interesting was growing up in Badagry?

It was very interesting. I did my primary and secondary education there. I later went to Olabisi Onabanjo University. Badagry was an ancestral town, considering historical places where slave trade took place, first storey building in Nigeria and so many others. It is a border town to Nigeria and Benin Republic. It is a cosmopolitan town in terms of people around that place.  Mautin in my name means there is God.  My own mum is from the Egun part of Badagry, while my dad is from the Awori part of town.

Who was the disciplinarian between them?  Your mum or dad?

My mum. She is tough. She is still alive. Now she is 85. She believes that it wasn’t easy to have children and when you have them you must mould them. She deprives you of food if you are not doing what you are supposed to do. The approach she adopted in those formative years can be described as carrot and stick. I would have turned out to be a good footballer if not for her.

What happened then?

I was the captain of the football teams in the primary and secondary schools I attended. Then, it was education that was the primary thing, not football, unlike now when parents take their children to football academies now.

So, what kind of punishment did she give to you  whenever you misbehaved?

I was not turning out well in my academics in my primary school years, but she said no. Most importantly then, I was a ‘Youth Corper Boy’,  due to the fact that my house was a few houses away to the Corpers’ Lodge. I was the one doing house chores for the corpers. It helped me in the sense that it infused into me the believe that I can turnout better in life. As a young lad, the NYSC uniform was inspiring. That was why I wept profusely the day I wore the uniform after graduating from the university, because I happened to be the first graduate in my father’s village called Iragun.

What was the experience like being the first graduate in that village?

The village was blessed with expanse of land for farming. So, most guys believed there was nothing you needed university education for. In fact, they struggled to go to secondary school and after secondary school, they would not proceed for further education. I wanted to be like them. But because I was raised by a mother who believed so much in education, she would have none of that. She said no you must stick to education. Interestingly, the fact that I have mixed with youth corpers also motivated me.

How brilliant were you in school?

In primary school, I was average. But, towards finishing my primary school, I now believed I could do better. So, my turnaround was when I was in primary five. I nearly repeated a class, but there was a teacher called Mr. Phillips, who gathered those of us not doing well and told us we had the potential to excel, even far above those doing well. So, he made sure we did extra classes. So, I finished and was able to get promoted to primary six. Since that time till I finished secondary school, my position in class had been between first and third. But I had another challenge again which was the fact that I could not make my WAEC because all of us did Sciences.

How?

Yes, we all did Sciences but not all of us had strength in that line. We were asked what we wanted to do at SS1 but we were saying Aeronautical Engineering, Medicine and other science-related courses. But, do you have the basic knowledge in Mathematics, Physics, Further Mathematics and all that that can make you pass at the WAEC level?  So, when we all did WAEC at the school, Iworo Ajido Model College, the only person that passed did Arts, and everyone of us failed.

So, what did you do?

My mother said I must repeat at that same school, and I was the Health Prefect in the school. So, I switched to Social Sciences, with the help of another very important teacher, Mr. Omole. Thereafter, the school invited me to speak to the JSS 3 Set not to follow the bandwagon in choosing departments, but should rather focus on their core competencies. And that was the turning point for me. From there, I passed my WAEC.

Did you have any nickname while in school?

I was called a ‘Fashion Boy’ because of the way I dressed, and I was also a face in Literary and Debating Society, where I represented my school at different levels in competitions.

You must have been a lady’s man, due to your fashion taste, then?

Oh yes. They usually came around to check on me. Remember I used to go for Debate and consequently I met a lot of them.

You eventually studied Business Administration in Ogun State University. Any striking event?

It was a community issue between indigenes and students. It happens in a lot of schools that are not campus-based. A lot of students lost their lives due to that incident. The community clash lasted for about two or four days.

How was life after school?

Oh great, I got a job with Lagos Civil Service Commission after saying no to it many times. When I finished university, I was bent on not going to government circle because my father happened to be a retired civil servant. So, I was like ‘oh no these people are not rich enough’.  So, I wanted to work in Shell BP and the like, not until President Bola Tinubu announced the recruitment of 5,000 graduates at that time. So, friends were calling me to put in my application letter, but I was all about private company because I wanted to make money early enough. But, when I could not get into the private sector and was asked to get into the public service, and realising I could leave anytime, I got in and was employed as an Admin Officer 1.  In 2002/2003, when GSM was launched, I was hell bent on getting into the sector. Anytime I entered Alausa and signed, I would leave for Ikoyi to look for anyone that could assist me. The closest I got to, and that was another turning point that I cannot forget in my life, was being a staff of MTN. I had passed the first and second interviews and was to resume in August, 2005. But they changed their Managing Director to a South African. When he came, he stopped all employment into MTN. So, at the Lagos State Civil Service, I started from the Ministry of Youths and Sports and was later posted to Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA). I was one of the people who pioneered Highway Sanitation. We were supported by the government. In fact, some of the sweepers were sent to Jerusalem and Mecca. And we had the support of banks too.

How did you meet your wife?

We met at the Civil Service. She came into the service before me. She was in the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning. Prior to that time, I had already said to myself if I didn’t move to private sector, I wouldn’t get married. But, she changed everything and that is why it is good to have a good woman. So, we got married in 2002.

Why did you go for her?

Just that she was very intelligent. She was the one handling the budget. She was a budget officer for the Governor’s Office, Chief of Staff’s office, Ministry of Education, Works. I love very intelligent and smart people.

As the Deputy Executive Secretary, what are your plans for the commission? 

To ensure that that very sector all of us have put our eyes on is revitalized. Today, our children do not go to public schools again. So, what was the disconnect? What stops us from going back to our roots? Part of my own policy here is to ensure that we all go back to our alma mater, which is our primary school, and see what we can do to it. We are looking at how we can even create a portal at the Ministry of Education regarding these primary schools we all have, one point in time, been to.

What would you love to be remembered for?

A legacy of impact. In the sense that at every sector I pass through, I make impact. Once my name is mentioned, it should be about impact.

How do you relax?

As a family man, I go back home to play with my children and watch football.

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