Chief Modupeoreoluwa Omisore, uncle to the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Iyiola Omisore, clocked 90 years of age on Saturday. The nonagenarian speaks with IMOLEAYO OYEDEYI on growing up experience and challenges, as well as the multifaceted factors that have drawn Nigeria to its current state, among others.
Having clocked 90 recently, how was your growing up experience?
I was born exactly 90 years ago. I was not born in Ile-Ife town, but in small village near Ife called Okuu Omole. But up till now, I don’t know why I wasn’t born in Ife despite being an Ife man. Then I was named by my parent, Pa Joshua Richard Oyebanji Fagbule Omisore. He was a cocoa magnate. My mother, on the other hand, was born and bred by very poor parents, but from family of warriors.
When I was born, my parents gave me names which I didn’t understand. They gave me a Christian name: Theophilus; they gave me an appellation, Amoo and they gave me Modupeoreoluwa. Like I said, I did not understand any of these names when I was born. But then, when I was growing up, I just discovered that I resent all the names for different reasons. Theophilus was a biblical name which just did not appeal to me; I didn’t like Amoo too, because the name was exactly the name of the main character of a book I read at the elementary school. The character was stubborn, naughty and unruly. And it made me to wonder why my parents could give me such a name.
The third name given to me was Dupe and I felt it was a female name, but because I hadn’t attained the age where I could complain openly to my parents about the names, I waited till I became an architect, but unfortunately by that time, my dad had died; he passed on in 1963. So then, I called my mother and asked her why she gave me such horrible names. I told her I don’t like any of the names and she said I can’t query any of the names and if I insisted on doing so, I can query and change Theophilus which was given to me by my dad; she said I can also change Amoo, but I should not touch my third name: Modupe, because when she was expecting me, she had so much problems and that she almost lost her pregnancy, but God through one way or the other preserved the pregnancy which then produced me. She, therefore, warned me never to change the name, and that she gave it to me out of appreciation for God for what He did for her. So, I jettisoned the other two names and accepted only the third name till now.
What I learnt from the circumstances surrounding my birth and names was that God had a plan for me, but what was so important in a pregnancy that He prevented it from going off even when there were blood flows to signify possible miscarriage, but here I am today. Such was the beginning of my life and that was why I have given my life to Jesus Christ since then.
But away from that, I schooled in Ife, in a small school called Ayetoro. It was the first school in town then. And from the school, I went to Oduduwa College and graduated in 1954. And in my set, there was a gentleman called Kunle Duduyemi. There was another lady who is now Mrs Ayoola Nee-Fabunmi. She too was my classmate. One interesting thing is that Bukola Saraki’s mother was three years my junior at the college then. After leaving the college, I came to Ibadan and started working at the Barclays Bank; it was one of the first two banks in Nigeria then and I was sharing the same desk with MKO Abiola then at the bank. In fact, we both left the bank at the same time; he went to further read accountancy, while I went to read architecture.
But why architecture, sir?
Very good question. I didn’t plan to read architecture then, but medicine, because I had two friends who were good doctors and I loved the way they carried their stethoscopes. That was what attracted me to medicine. But on getting to England, my elder brother, Ezekiel Iyiola Omisore, who is now the head of my family, was reading engineering then and I stayed with him when I was in England. And he insisted that I must do architecture. He said he saw the flair for sketching in me. I had to appeal to my dad, but my dad said he agreed with me that I should read medicine, but I should first go and study architecture as my brother willed. So, I accepted and that was how my elder brother took me to his school then in England, Hammerstead College of Arts and Building. He took me to the head of department and the man looked at me and said ‘you Africans can’t see in three dimension’. I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I remembered my brother had told me that I can draw and I too saw that as being a talent from God.
In fact, I didn’t study Fine-Arts in school, but when anyone gave me a pen, I usually drew very well. I could remember that while growing up in those days, when everybody were busy reading their books, I would be busy drawing and my father often complained, not until his friend, a white man, cautioned him to let me do my drawings. And that was how I my world into architecture began. And up till this moment I still draw.
You said your dad passed on in 1963; how was life for you when he departed?
First of all, I was still in England when he died. Then, I was working as a young architect with one Jewish company, Morrison Rose and Partners. Luckily, for me, I came home briefly in 1962 and that was the last time I saw my dad. But he was truly a dad, one in a million. And I can boldly say that if you interview any of my father’s children, about 23 of us, they will tell you that my father was very dear to all. In fact, I can write a book on him as he was a unique man. He had seven wives and my mother was the fifth. My father had 23 children, yet he treated every one of his children specially, as he had personal relationship with each of us. He demonstrated equal love to every one of us. I could remember that when I was in college, I was rascally. And one day, the school inspector brought a dog. The dog barked at me and I used a plank to wallop it. And for this reason, the school principal dismissed me from school.
When I got home, I told my dad what happened and he scolded me. He then took me to the school and asked the principal to punish me instead of dismissing me. And the principal gave me a large space of grass to cut as punishment, which took me like three months to finish. But what struck me was that for the whole time that I was on that field cutting the grass, my father would come to spend at least 30 minutes with me on the field daily. He would gist me all that had happened at home while I was on the field and he would give me one [bottle of cola] drink and biscuit. He did that every day till I completed the punishment. I knew then that it wasn’t that I was special to my dad, but that is how he held all his children. And that was why we all preferred him to our mothers. In fact, we called him Abiyamo tooto which was meant for women, but we gave it to him, because he loved all his children and showed it equally. So, when he died, I became totally lost as I, just like others, believe he was the only one we had as he would spoon-feed you. I could remember that whenever we were all set at the dining table to eat in those days, he would first serve every one of us before sitting down to eat. My father was truly unusual. And whatever I have today, I can say I inherited them from him.
So what were some of the legacies you learnt from him?
I will give you two of them. My dad was a cocoa magnate as I have said. But he was a very honest man. In those days, he used to buy cocoa for PZ, UAC, and all. One year, there was cocoa saturation, so the companies decided to buy the cocoa more than needed and bond them in Apapa. But one of my father’s friends got this information and decided to make some money out of it. He was buying grade three cocoa and now selling them as grade one with a little bit of inducement to cocoa inspectors. He then told my dad that ‘do you know you can make money out of this?’ and my dad asked him how and then he explained the trick to my dad and my dad looked at him and said, ‘if you do that and think the white man is not seeing you, God is seeing you now. I personally don’t do what will bring God’s anger upon me.’ That was my father’s response. If it had been someone else, he would heed the advice and make a whole lot of money, but he said no he would not do such a thing. That is why I feel sad and angry each time I think about what is happening in Nigeria today, which is total lack of honesty, making money out of other people’s pains and tears. My father will never see anybody lacking something.
Now, the second legacy. In those days, my father had a manager who we call Oga John. He was an authoritative manager, such that until he signed your request, you couldn’t get your money from my father’s company as my dad trusted John very much. In fact, the same way John was strict with us, the same way he was to my father’s workers. But one of my father’s drivers, Ajao, learnt that John had started building his own house unknown to our dad. The man told us the story; he even took us there and we almost fell sick. And with anxiety, we ran back home and told our dad after the evening day prayers. He too didn’t believe it; so we took him to the building site and he was shocked as well. But we had expected that he would sack John the next day, but he never did even as we waited till the first week, month and years afterwards.
To my surprise, he called me one day and took me to the building material market and bought all the things that John would need in his house. He paid for them and asked me to take the materials to John’s site. So as soon as I left the place, I called all my brothers and told them that this is what our dad has just done. We then all concluded that truly John was using juju on our dad. So we met him again in the evening and he made a statement, which then didn’t mean much to us, but now does. My dad asked us, did I spend any of your mother’s money to buy those things? And we murmured. Then he asked again, how long has John been working for me? It’s been long, we responded. He then said what you don’t know is that when you see a man working for you for so long as John has been working for me and yet the man couldn’t point to one thing he achieved while working for you, the shame is not on the man, but you. You all must never forget this. And in line with that practice, I dashed my driver one of my cars when he first left my place before returning again to work with me till now.
But sir, in those days before you travelled to England, how was Nigeria then compared to now?
What we had then was Nigeria. This is not Nigeria. I used to say that if my father should come back to this world at this time and he sees what is going on now in Nigeria, he would die again immediately. That is how rotten Nigeria has been in recent times. My father would, no doubt, die immediately. He would say in Yoruba that Koju ma ri ibi, irin ese loogun re (if you don’t want to witness an evil deed, you must take to your heels). He would just sleep back and refuse to wake up, because things have gone terribly bad. Take for example, while I was growing up, people would lay fruits on the street and would just put coins with the fruits to indicate their prices instead of staying there. And any buyer would just pick what he or she wants to buy, put the money there and go. Can you do that today? Not only will people pack everything, they will also come inside your house and steal the money you have with you. That just shows you how very rotten we have been. And the love of money is what has got us here. In those days, it was the love for good names, such that people value their names and reputation much more than their possessions.
I could remember that in those days in Ife when I was growing up, you cannot afford to be a thief. If you stole somebody else’s property, you would be stigmatised, such that nobody would want to associate with you or any of your relatives. It was that bad. In fact, through such acts, many people died of shame. But nowadays, people steal with impunity. We now celebrate crime, stealing and thieves. It was not possible in those days, because we all valued good names and saw money as nothing. I remember that when Awolowo was ruling this country, he had no money. Even the late Herbert Macaulay had no money at all. But they all delivered good leadership, because they had integrity and the genuine love to serve the people. Take Enahoro, for instance, he gave himself to this country. He served Nigeria 100 per cent and he was never afraid to die for the country. But look at all the politicians we have in the country today, not a single one of them is willing and prepared to die for the goodness of Nigeria. They are just there to make all the money they can make. It is very obvious. Or tell me, how can anybody pay N100 million to collect a form? And I am not just talking about the All Progressives Congress (APC) alone, but all the political parties, because they are all after what they can make out of Nigeria for their personal selfish interest.
So are you saying that it is failure of leadership that has brought us to this state?
I would have loved to say yes, but no, because even the followership too is guilty.
In what sense?
Thank you. One of my younger friends, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, gave a sermon last week. He said something that actually scolded me. He said there are three categories of Nigerians today: those who are totally ignorant of what is going on because they choose to be; those who are knowledgeable about what is going on, but choose to do nothing, and those who are knowledgeable about and even involved in what is going on, but deliberately decided to rob us blind. You and I belong to one of the categories, so none of us is innocent. Why are we so afraid to die? Why are the people in government trying to kill some of us, because we are telling the truth? What is wrong in standing by the truth? The leaders of today can’t boldly say that they have the interest of the country at heart genuinely and can die for it. Not one of them can say that in all honesty. Yet, they never mind paying up to N100 million to lead us. The truth is if we have had good leadership, the country won’t have been in this current mess. But I can assure you that though it may not happen during my time, we shall get there. Nigeria will be better again. No matter how many years it will take, truth will surely prevail one day and I am very sure God will also give us a leader that will lead us in the right path when His time comes.
But sir, as Nigerians will be going to the polls to elect a new set of leaders next year; what will be your advice and honest assessment of our electoral process?
I am sorry to say, but we have derailed greatly. Yet, it will take nothing to bring us back on course, only if we can re-examine ourselves, not just the government now, but the masses. Why can’t you and I say no? What is so difficult in loudly saying no misrule and oppression? Why must we take bribes? Why must we pay policemen on the road? Personally, I don’t give any bribe. I don’t even give money to beggars. Not that I am not kind and want to see people suffer, no. But I believe God has not made anybody to be wretched. That’s not His plan. That’s why He has given everybody two hands to work, eyes to see and brain to think. If you now jettison all these and start begging, you are on your own.
Meanwhile, there is no way you can convince me that all of the people leading this country today are worthy of leading. None of them is. Don’t get me wrong. I am an APC person, as in our father’s house that is the party we belong to. But that is just by nomenclature. If I have to choose, I will choose APC any day. But today, I cannot find any difference between the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), because none of them has ever spoken of what it will do genuinely for this country. What we hear and do today is Emi l’okan. I will die making sure I get there. And I will remove whoever rises to stop me on the way, forgetting that there is God somewhere looking at all of us. But one thing that is certain is that no matter how long it will take, one day each and every one of us, both those cheating and the cheated, will become past tense and only God will remain. I have talked about Awolowo, Macaulay and the like, but where are they today? What we talk about today is the golden legacies they laid. That’s why when people talk about free education and good governance, they mention Awolowo. Ikeja, when it was part of the Western region, was one of Awolowo’s legacies. How can anybody forget the name of such a man? But can you point to one legacy that has been laid by any of the present day politicians? Personally, I would have loved to sing praises of the politicians today, but I can’t see anything to praise them for.
I will have to be honest concerning 2023, I don’t think we should be looking at any of the people we are talking about now. I am not saying that they are not qualified. Besides, do we even have an option other than to look among the people we have been presented with? I am not saying the people are the best or not good. But the question is what are you doing to be honest for the country and what am I doing to be honest for this country? The fact is if we all are to vote honestly and follow our conscience, nobody will go out to vote on the Election Day, because we will first look and say for the next eight years, what am I going to benefit from this? I am not talking about bags of rice. But is my life going to be better off than it is now? Which kind of seed will my vote be sowing for my children? I am not talking about what the people to be elected will do for me, but what I can do for the future of my children in my voting?
The truth is we have been looking at the wrong parameters before pledging our votes. That is why I said that the masses too are guilty and have contributed to the current shameful state of Nigeria by selling their votes. The ruling class have known our weaknesses; they have seen that we love money and that is why they keep exploiting us. In Nigeria, we keep worshipping money. But, personally, I see money as a mere messenger. And that is why I detest spraying it, because I see such acts as a mockery of values, which is the bane of our problems in this country.
But what do you think leaders like Awolowo have that our present leaders don’t have?
It is the love for the country and the people. Simple. Enahoro opposed the colonial people and he was almost arrested. You see, what Sunday Igboho is doing today isn’t new, as Enahoro did it before and he had to go into hiding when they started searching for him. The like of Enahoro never did what they did then so that they could make their wives and children governors and honourables. No. Or did you know of any Enahoro’s and Awolowo’s children who were in government? What of Akintola? And that is why I am really baffled today, asking why we are doing what we are doing. If only we always remember that no matter all we attain in this life, we will end in the grave, merely six feet, there won’t be this excessive greed and desire for material things and power.
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