My encounters with bandits, robbers —Falobi

Chief Dideolu Falobi, Bobajiro of Ijeshaland, Fellow of the Nigeria Society of Engineers and Managing Director, Kresta Laurel Limited. He spoke with SEGUN KASALI about his life experiences.

 

You appear to be a emotional person.

Yes, I am, but so many people don’t know. Basically, success against odds and adversity makes me also emotional.  I recall the last time I cried profusely was when my father died.

The reason was that he was the best dad anyone could ever had. Anybody who met my father would miss him. In all modesty, he was a fantastic man. He was a man I loved so much naturally. So, it was natural to feel his final departure. He was a disciplinarian but very liberal. Most of my friends loved my dad because he would exchange ideas with you without giving consideration to your age. Basically, he did not spare the rod where he needed to use it. At the same time, he was a man you could open up to and converse with. I knew my boundaries and I knew what I could do that would earn some punishment. Sometimes, I did it because that was the child in me and I got deserved punishment.

 

What about your mum?

You could get three slaps from my mum before being beaten by my dad because I interacted more with my mum. We used to call it ‘Igbati’ ‘Ifoti’. And she would tell you that if you do that again, you will get your fingers burnt. So, those words are enough to put you in place. My mum is a fantastic woman that is still very much alive. She sacrificed a lot for us and she is a fantastic woman. I am still as blunt as my father, open like a book, straightforward, and no cutting of corners. They were both hardworking, with belief in God, and courage to face challenges.

 

What are the memories of your childhood?

One of the things I would never ever forget was when my father had an exchange with my cousin who is slightly older than I. He had had a quarrel with his elder sister while spending their holiday with us and when my father came in, my mum reported the case to him. As my father went for his cane, my cousin said he should not kill him, trying to put up a case against being beaten. To my surprise, my father sat down with him for the next one hour looking at the legal and moral approaches. But, what struck me was that after the exchange, my father asked my cousin ‘Do you now accept that you are guilty?’ He said ‘Yes, dad’. Despite that, he still went for his cane and punished him. This taught me fairness and the need to let people know where you stand, when you interact with them. I mean it is such a wide gap between my father and my cousin. But, at the end of the day, he listened to him, allowed him to present his case, provided superior argument against him and still meted out punishment.

 

How helpful were Christian values from home?

They helped. There were a lot of children brought up in christian homes who still went astray. So, the christian values helped and the schools I went too, contributed effectively. Like I always tell my colleagues that who you are, is a reflection of the gene you inherited from your parents, the things you learnt on your own, and the things you are taught by your environment or teachers. So, at the end of the day, every stakeholder in my life came together to play a role in who I am today.

I am extremely grateful to God. What you see outside that is called the facade is what people want you to see. Everybody has where his shoe pinches. Yes, not that everything is perfect and not that everything is where I would have loved it to be. But, I am grateful for the opportunity I have had in life. And I see every failure as an opportunity to learn new things.

 

You should have a nickname and how strong was your fashion sense?

Do I really have a nick name? I can’t remember. I have one in my primary school but don’t do that to me (laughs). Don’t let us go there. In secondary school, I was too busy playing football.

I had a father who was liberal. So, I had my time to play and everything was in a way, compartmentalised. What was reigning at that time was football or table tennis. Those were the two things we knew how to do.

Well, in our secondary school days, I was not a fashionable person because I was not attending parties, unlike my colleagues. I usually kept whatever clothes given to me by my parents as neat as I could. I was brought up in a home whereby going to parties in the night was not something to go by. My dream was to become an electrical engineer and I am grateful to God that I eventually became one.

 

What inspired the dream?

It was as a result of my curiousity as a young man. I started fixing cables in the house and connecting wires. So, by the time I was in secondary school, I could assemble a full circuit and could wire switches. I recall that a book- Digital Digest, which my father used to buy regularly, also influenced me. I had passion for reading.

In the University, I was far from being a triangular student even though I was still not going to parties. I limited the parties I could go to. Till now, I am not really a party person except I am the one organizing it.

 

How do you then socialise?

So many ways. I have my clubs. I have meeting points with my friends. I organize a lot of parties. I am not the kind of person who wants to sit down for people to serve me at parties. No. I like to play a role. So, when my friends have functions, I tend to take over the drink section or any other section even at my level. I just have passion for organizing things. So, I would rather not sit down to be served anything. I think it is only at my wedding that I sat on a seat so far. But, of course, gradually your children, your family and your wife especially, impact on you.

 

You became Bobajiro of Ijesha land about four years back.

Honestly, in all sense of modesty, I think I took the glory that belonged to everybody. I believe in crowd-funding and what that means is that when I initiate an idea, I get a lot of people to key into it, even though I might be the driver. So, I was finally being compensated for one or two things I did to basically pool resources together for the development of the community.

My philosophy of life is, do good to others and good will follow you. Whichever way you can help others, regardless of how small, do it and move on, as you will find favour with men and God.

 

What is your fashion taste?

Basically, I dress as simple as I can. I like my corporate dressing. My colours are white and green, I love white because it gives calmness. I love green also, because of its calmness and serenity.

 

What gives you so much joy perhaps not plenty of money?

I just want to see people making progress.

 

How did you meet your principal, Otunba Gbenga Daniel?

Otunba was introduced to me by one of his colleagues who we unfortunately lost three months ago. He was my first Chief Engineer. There was an opportunity in H.F. Schroeder, where Otunba Gbenga Daniel was the Deputy Managing Director before starting Kresta Laurel. So, they were recruiting in H.F. I participated and that was how we met, about 32 years ago.

 

How would you describe him?

We both have a fantastic relationship. He is a nice person. He is the most hardworking person I ever met. He does not get tired. He works round the clock. His passion is second to none. He does not tolerate blackmail. He is immensely courageous. And he can be unusually focused on his objective in the midst of distraction. So, in the engineering industry, we call him ‘Mr. Fix It’.

The reason being that there is no problem you bring to him that he does not have a solution to. If you bring a problem to him, he will definitely find a solution to it. In those days when we run into seemingly impossible problem, we would take it to him to look at, and he would keep checking until he gets the solution.

 

Have you experienced hazardous moments?

I have had close shave with armed robbers twice. I was shot at twice. On October 1, 1986, I was at a particular mall when armed robbers came in. At a point, I was face-to-face with them but I escaped. And I think December 4, 2005, I was coming from a function between Akure-Ilesha road and I ran into the so-called bandits of nowadays. Of course, they tried to stop the car with bullets. But, we thank God. So, those are the two experiences that I have had.

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