Former Nigeria’s Ambassador to Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway), Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources. Ambassador Godknows Boladei Igali author and scholar, shares the story of how he came about his unique name with SEGUN KASALI.
How was Oporoma town of yesteryears?
Oporoma is the headquarters of what is now called the Southern Ijaw local government, which is one of the biggest oil-producing local governments in Nigeria and I was born right about the time oil was just discovered in Nigeria. So, that was my mother’s town where I was born. In the early days, the town used to be cosmopolitan because there were lots of white people. They used to come, sit and play with us. And I even got a pet name from them.
Which was?
Bular. If you go to my village, they won’t call me Godknows, but they would say Bular. There was a white man who was working for Shell and he was very fond of me when I was a little boy. So, he comes to play with me all the time and he was called Mr. Bular. He was an engineer. So, that was how I got that pet name. It was the villagers who gave me the name because he would come straight to carry and play with me whenever he comes. I have very vague images of that. The man was a jolly good fellow. There were some other people born at the same time that had some of these Dutch names. But, in my case, my grandfather called me Godknows and I tell people it is the circumstance of my birth.
Tell us about it.
We were two boys- one of them was a stillbirth while the other was a normal child. After waiting and waiting to resuscitate the stillborn, the child could not be resuscitated. So, they gave up hope and they said this baby that is not ready to come to life yet, came to us to be born. So, we should go and bury him. So, as they were about to bury the baby, my grandmother’s sister was coming from the farm at that time. She was also a traditional birth attendant. So, she saw the young man from the family that was about to bury this baby. But the old woman took this baby back to the village and tried to resuscitate the baby until he started coughing and the baby came back to life. So, the woman now said that ‘this is my grandfather and only God knows why this baby did not die’ because it was normal for women to have three or four or five and lose them. And the second thing is that my brother and I were the second set of twins in the town that were allowed to live because at that time twins were not allowed to live.
What changed?
One set had been allowed to stay. The woman was very defiant. And when the twins got to a certain age, they could not take and destroy them. Also, a missionary came about at the same time and the church started to become strong. So, they survived it. My coming to live as a stillborn was a relief.
How?
This is because one came dead and the other was alive. So, the one alive would be allowed to live as the other did not come to stay. So, this woman called Needle, made me to have life. And because of precedents, my grandfather and grandmother stood their ground that they would not allow this to happen to their grandchildren. It was a big fight of course.
How did the fight go?
I don’t know because I was a baby. My grandfather had a lot of reputation and so, it was a fight he put up. And missionaries had started to fight specifically this issue of killing twins. Shortly after that, we survived.
The name “Godknows” must have been paving the way for you.
You meet a lot of challenges in life. And fortunately, my mother is old now and she is still alive. So, sometimes when we go through the tough stages of life, she always reminds me ‘don’t worry there must be a reason because in the first instance you are not even supposed to be here but God sustained and kept you this far’. And I have seen this play out in my public and political life.
Can you recall instances?
Mind you! I was a career person. I joined the foreign service at the age of 22 and I was in it, for more than 30 years. And I served all over the world. And you know, you go through a lot of challenges such as professional issues and even progression in your career. And like every other person, you go through those things. But, I never got worried. Shortly after I was born, I was still a baby when my father, who was a prominent headmaster, decided to go back to school in the United Kingdom and he read Accountancy. And when he went to study, he did not leave us with his father or his mother but gave my brother and me to the church on the other side of the present-day Bayelsa. He just wanted us to be raised by the church. So, we were in the church. Unfortunately, he was held up in the war. He was to go back to the UK after his studies and then he had to remain. From the coup, it turned out to be a war of Eastern Nigeria and the present Bayelsa was under occupation. So, he could not return. We ended up staying much longer in the church. That Christian faith stuck in my life because the thing I was doing at about two or three years was for me to wake up in the morning at 5 o’clock. It is not now that everywhere is built up. In those days, the church used to be separated from the community. You pass through the bush to get there. So, we would ring the bell for morning prayers and every evening we do the same thing. That was what I did for about eight to 10 years of my life until after the war when he came back. And our grand uncle, who was our foster father, released us to our parents.
You wanted to tell us about the challenges.
Oh yes! For instance, when you are riding up in service, it is a lot of competition- elite rivalry amongst colleagues. If you are fortunate to be favored, other ones will not be happy. If you don’t do too well, your superiors will not be happy with you. So, these are career challenges and sometimes, promotion does not come. There was a time we had a ban on promotion when Structural Adjustment was introduced by the Babangida government in 1986. None of our set was promoted for about six years, but it eventually came. So, whenever those challenges come of performance, or progression in career, faith takes us through with hard work.
I got to the very peak. You know the peak is not easy because you are expected to be excellent at the peak, and I had one of the most difficult postings anybody could have.
At the peak of my career, I was posted to Cameroon before, during, and after the ICJ judgment. I was there for seven years instead of the normal three years. As far as I am concerned, the country was satisfied with my performance over there. So, the situation is more like what is happening between Ukraine and Russia now. Cameroon felt that Nigeria invaded them that we wanted to take Bakassi from them. We said we did not invade you. My duty was to ensure I protect millions of Nigerians there. When these people moved into Cameroon, the English-speaking part of Cameroon was part of Nigeria. So, they were moving like from Oyo, going to settle in Kwara. They were moving within the same country until the Plebiscite of 1961 took them out. So, my critical job was to protect these Nigerians. Mind you, we had the military on the two sides. I was in charge as the Consular-General of Nigeria then. It was tough because Cameroon would arrest about 300 to 400 fishermen and I would have to be there. I would create a scene and shout at everybody. Of course, I enjoyed diplomatic immunity. That does not mean my car cannot have an accident. I was the first Consular-General entering the water to protect fishermen. Some of my Cameroonian friends would tell me to be careful that I was taking too much risk. So, God saw me through that kind of terrible event. So, when the judgment came out, there were breakthroughs.
Breakthroughs?
Yeah, it was a big relief when I came back to Nigeria because I had performed. That was why President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was the President at the time, sent me to the Villa as his Special Assistant on Special duties and I worked with him.
What are the things people don’t know about Obasanjo that you know?
President Obasanjo does not get tired. There were so many initiatives. Initiatives on cassava, initiatives on cash crops, initiatives on sugarcane, and all these things. Meetings were held every single day in the Villa. It is the president that would moderate all these meetings, not SGF or whatever. President Obasanjo, including President Jonathan, usually has morning devotion at 6:30 am. After morning devotion, baba used to go and play squash and then breakfast. By 8:00 or 8:30 am, he is in the office already. And then, the thing starts like that until evening that he goes to rest and then comes back for the night round, which continues till like 1 or 2 AM every day. It is like that for most of the presidents of Nigeria.
What about President Goodluck Jonathan?
Yeah. In fact, in his case, meetings would go on till very late. I think these are the things we have to correct. I know in some countries the president is required to shut down after about 10 pm. So, it is not bread and butter sitting there as President of Nigeria. There is no rest. It is usually meetings upon meetings.
You also worked in the Yar’Adua administration
Yar’Adua was elected by the PDP. They came in and then Jonathan with whom we have come a long way in life. When what happened to Alamieyeseigha unfortunately happened, Jonathan became governor and I was in the Villa. So, he asked baba Obasanjo to release me to go back to Bayelsa as Secretary to the State Government. I was never part of the state civil service. Some people thought I was a federal officer. I have served the federal government all my life and I have had the toughest assignment.
Toughest assignment?
Yes. My toughest assignment was bringing refugees back to Nigeria. 240,000 Fulani refuges with 2 million cows ran to Cameroon due to the crisis in the Mambilla/Plateau in Benue State in 2001/2002 and they said they would never come back to Nigeria. The UN tried and failed. Everyone tried and failed. Then, the president told me, ‘I want them back at all costs.’
I started to mix with the refugees in their camp. I got my tent. I travelled to the bush they were and I slept for two to three days. They were very nice people. That is why I don’t understand some of the things happening in Nigeria. The Fulanis would prepare fresh milk early in the morning and they would bring it to me. I discovered that they usually keep guards in front of my tent every night to protect me. As a result, I built confidence in them and I began to speak with their leaders. I started telling them why they should go back. They now said okay if you are the one telling us we would go back because we know you like us. So, the UN insisted on the guarantee and we brought the Governors of Nasarawa and Taraba states to sign an undertaking that nothing would happen to them. They used military vehicles to take them back. We took about six weeks to bring back everyone. So, what I am trying to say in a nutshell is that I am a federal person. But, when this Alamieyeseigha thing happened, Jonathan asked Obasanjo for me to be seconded to him. So, I went to Bayelsa as SSG on secondment, which I did for two years and when Jonathan became Vice-President, I came back to my service.
You and President Jonathan have come a long way?
Yes, we were at the University of Port Harcourt together. We were the first set. I was in the Humanities while he was in the Biological Sciences. We are from the same place and we were friends at the university.
What do you know about him while in school?
Gentleman. Jonathan has always been like this, very gentle. He is not a loud person. He was not an activist. He was a very brilliant scholar and he passed exams well. I think he was the best graduating student in his class. He is not an ambitious noisemaker.
Any memorable experience with him while in university
No, like I said he was not an activist. He would attend meetings of Rivers State students because we were then part of Rivers State. We were not in the same department. We knew ourselves but we were not the closest of friends. He had few people with him and I had my people too. But, we knew ourselves. As we grew up in life, we all kept in touch with each other.
You had full hair then, Sir?
We all had that full hair then. There is a picture in which I saw myself, a group and Jonathan, that somebody brought out from 1978. We saw it while he was in government. It was a big pair of trousers and Afro hair (laughs). It was one of his roommates in the university that brought it. The guy came in a year after us. So, Jonathan took pictures with him the day they did their matriculation and even President Jonathan did not have that picture. So, the man now brought it and gave me. He said he would like to see the President. So, I went to give him and said Mr. President!, see you oh. He said who brought it? I said the man was your roommate. He said yes.
What was the idea behind the hairstyle then?
Well, it was coming from America. It was called the Afro hairstyle. Everything comes from America.
That must have been ladies’ catch then?
Well, it depends on those who are the ladies’ guys. Some people were extremely shy. I started life as an extremely shy young man I told you. I had the church component of me.
You must have had nicknames while in school, Sir.
Yes, everyone had nicknames
Including Jonathan?
Well, I have not asked him his nickname. Maybe I would ask him. But, someone once reminded him. Everyone had a nickname. Do I remember mine? I don’t even remember mine.
How did you meet Madam?
Well, in the course of life, you meet people. Our parents had known themselves and they were all elite. My wife’s father was a great man. He was one of the first set of people that went to school in Nigeria, working as a very senior civil servant. So, we had met in the course of life. Her brother was my friend. So, we were visiting and so on. Later in life, relationships built up themselves.
How easy was asking her out, being a shy person?
Yes, I was shy. But, I was just not as aggressive as other young men. So, I would not call myself one of those adventurous young men. Sometimes, God works in such a way that things take a natural process.
Looking at your trajectory, how grateful are you to God?
I don’t think anyone has been blessed more than me in life. I have gone through travails in life even after Jonathan left office. But God saw everything.
and then