I had watched Obiageli Ezekwesili on TV many times and all I could deduce from watching her was that she was an iron lady. When I arrived at the location where this interview took place, Oby sat in the backseat of her Honda saloon car, looking strong and in control. I watched her from the bar as she attended to many people that had come in from all around the state to listen to what she had to s
Finally, on my
one-on-one encounter, Oby looked and sounded pleasant and inviting. Her
aura was peaceful and serene. Despite speaking for many hours, she
didn’t over-indulge in her glass of water that decorated the table. She
was more interested in satisfying the thirst of the people that came to
meet with her. This turned out to be an interview filled with laughter,
emotions and intelligence.
In this piece, the presidential
candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria and former vice
president of the World Bank’s Africa division spoke with KORE OGIDAN
about her childhood, parents, goals and other issues
What are the life lessons that have prepared you for the top position you are running for?
I
believe that my training; the kind of competences I have acquired over
the years; the experiences and the problems I have been able to solve in
the course of my career in all sectors have prepared me in a way. I
also don’t find anything daunting and I believe that is also a bonus. No
matter how complex problems are, I am always able to figure out how to
assemble the appropriate solutions to address them. I have a strong
sense of can-do and when I look at Nigeria, what I see is a country that
has been failed by its leadership repeatedly, with very dire
consequences for the citizens that I love dearly. I love being Nigerian
and I love seeing Nigerians wherever I go. When I am abroad, even if I
wasn’t smiling the entire day, my mood would be lifted when I see a
Nigerian around me. Just knowing that I am dissatisfied with what
leadership has produced for Nigeria and Nigerians puts me in a place
where I am totally committed to leading a citizens’ movement that takes
over our politics and redefines it as pure democracy – governance for
the people, by the people and of the people. It’s no longer about
governance by politicians, of politicians and for politicians.
When
you meet people overseas, does it sadden you that they’ve had to
relocate to find greener pastures outside their motherland?
We
should always bear in mind that people have choices which they are free
to exercise. If a person doesn’t like one place, they are free to go
somewhere else; it is a free world. But when you are losing your best
minds because the environment isn’t conducive enough for them to become
the best that they would love to be, then there is a reason to worry. It
is a policy problem and a political leadership failure at that. It is
also an economic problem which must be fixed.
A bank MD once told
me that he lost more than 25 of his staff in one month. These were well
paid staff who just decided to leave the country one day, saying that
it was in the best interest of their children. When I was in government,
some graduates of Ivy League schools reached out to me and asked to
work with me. So, they returned home to work for me. How is it that
about a decade later, it’s the reverse that we’re seeing? Instead of
building on progress, we regressed. Look at the price we are paying for
that now? We must inspire hope again and not just vacuous hope but one
where people see evidence that there is a sensible leadership that is
hands-on and is addressing the serious issues of development and solving
them. Government must also be able to tackle the problems in a way that
is ethically inspiring because leadership has to be exemplary. When
leadership is exemplary, people won’t be forced to do things. They’d
just see that the leader reflects values that are admirable and they’ll
be happy to follow. The opportunity that my being a candidate in this
election offers this country is to see a leader that will lead by
example. You don’t have to worry whether my public piety is the same as
my private piety because my values are consistent. Even when I was in
government, I was the one who could challenge the authorities on certain
issues. When no one spoke up, it was I who would speak. Interestingly, I
had no interest in politics back then so much that as a minister, who
was to be the leader of the party in my state, I opted to have nothing
to do with that when I was in government. But over the years, watching
how politics undermines everything we do as technocrats, I’ve come to
the very realistic conclusion that if we don’t fix our politics, we are
never going to fix our country. There must be a massive inflow of people
who have been trained and are experts, so that some of them will be
politicians and some will be the technocrats that will help the
politicians to get development to happen at a faster pace.
Running against two powerhouses who are men, do you feel choked being the only woman in their midst?
Not
at all! They should be the ones feeling choked because I am occupying
my space. It is time for a new direction. Nigerians have a strong
appetite for a new nation that works and turns away from mediocrity.
This strong appetite means they are going to be looking for the person
who is most capable of giving them that. When Nigerians look at the
candidates, the person who stands out with competence and character to
achieve this based on consistent track record is me; so, the other two
cannot choke me. There is nothing they have that chokes me and the
Nigerian citizens are ready to retire them
When I was 10, I asked
my dad why I could see so much poverty around me but on the television,
other countries looked nice, compared to my own country. He then told
me that those countries had good governance and were being led better
and we didn’t have good governance. So, at an early age, I asked why we
didn’t have good governance and I made up my mind to provide good
governance when I grew up. My dad doted on me so much as a kid and I was
a well-loved daughter. So, when I told him that, he proudly threw me up
in the air and I shrieked with laughter. I was excited that my father
agreed with my dreams to provide good governance when I grew up. I went
on from that with my dad always being my teacher and I got excited about
issues of public policies. My father enabled me have a strong voice and
he validated me so much that nobody can ever invalidate me. I always
say to my male siblings and friends that the father figure is very
important in the life of a girl child. When a father validates his
daughter, no one can invalidate her. She comes out very determined and
strong, knowing that the most important man in her life till she gets
married, her father, believes in her. Fathers should not dismiss their
responsibilities to their daughters. It makes all the difference. My dad
believed very strongly in me that I could do anything I set my heart
to. He usually boasted about me to his colleagues and it made me so
conscious about not failing him. He taught me to stand firmly on my
views but be willing to negotiate them when someone offers a stronger
opinion or brings out facts that contradict my views. However, I must
never negotiate my values.
As a child, I had the fortune of
having a great father who was also my best teacher. I did well in my
classes in Mathematics and English in particular because he taught me
ahead of the class. In fact, my school teachers became friends with my
father because they saw how well I did in their classes.
Because
of the strong father figure I had, I was able to flap my wings and have
my voice. My father harped a lot on knowledge; so, I grew with an
avidity to learn.
What kind of relationship did you have with your mother?
I
had an exceptional relationship with her. She was the disciplinarian in
my life. She always told my father that he was spoiling me. She was
always trying to balance things out. She is an amazing woman and I’ve
never seen a more sacrificial woman. That’s the aspect of my life I
modelled after her – sacrifice. She lived her life entirely for us. My
dad was able to do the things that he did and stand his ground as a
public servant because he had a wife that complemented him. She was a
businesswoman who would give her entire self to earning income so that
we could get the quality of education that we needed. I love my mum so
much and sometimes, when I think of her, I cry because of the kind of
sacrifice she has made. By the time she was widowed at a relatively
young age of 44, she just adapted her life to being there for us. She
occupied the space my father left and ensured that his death did not
ruin anything that was on the path of our destiny. In fact, the bond my
children have with her is deep because when I’m not there, she is there.
We were from a very modest home. My mum used to go to Tejuosho Market,
Yaba, Lagos, to buy grade one okrika (second-hand clothes) and she would
launder the clothes. By the time the laundry was done and I wore the
clothes, I would look so good that my mates, who went on summer
vacations, often asked me where I got them from. We were taught that
material things shouldn’t be our focus.
How did your father’s passing affect you?
I
was a young woman and had just got married when he died. It was 30
years ago (in 2018) but there’s no time I’m asked this kind of question
that his death doesn’t seem as if it happened yesterday. I didn’t think
my dad could die; how could he? How could the one, who made me aspire,
die? I wondered how he could be willing to leave me. My mum actually
cried for me when he died. She was worried about how she would cope with
me dealing with the loss. It was quite tough and I wanted to abandon
the things I had discussed with my dad that I would do because I thought
that it wouldn’t be the same doing it without him. But it’s amazing how
God arranges things in life. A few days after his funeral, we came back
to Lagos and my husband could see that I was very devastated and
withdrawn. I was shaken so badly because everything I thought I knew had
suddenly faded away. So, he said to me one day that since my dad was
gone, he would like to fill the empty space. That really changed our
relationship because he’s been more than a husband to me. He felt I
didn’t realise how much he and my father had prepared his transition.
When my dad was ill, I think he figured that he may not come out from
the sickness. So, on his way to LUTH, he decided to detour to our home
where he stayed for one week. I didn’t realise that he and my husband
were spending much time together every day after my husband got back
from work. There’s no word to describe my husband. He’s awesome.
As a woman who has been locked up for voicing her opinions, aren’t you ever afraid of worse things happening to you?
I
don’t feel that way. Those are feelings that entrap society. Those who
oppress would love to coerce everybody so that they can carry on with
their oppression. Where then does it end? We must be people of courage
who are prepared to stand for what we believe in.
What was the experience you had living abroad?
I
had been going abroad before but I lived outside Nigeria in
circumstances where we had political instability in our country. As a
co-founder of Transparency International, I had been a very strong voice
against the level of corruption that was going on under the military.
There was nothing significant about living in another country that made
me love it more than living in Nigeria. I always say that we have to
build our country, which is part of what reflects the utter passion with
which I did the things I did in government.
What does it feel like being married to a pastor?
It
reinforces my very strong spiritual values but my husband is my husband
who happens to be a pastor. It’s not like I married a pastor; I married
a great man, who is my significant other and completes me in many ways.
If not accounting, what other career path would you have chosen?
I
really wanted to be a lawyer and my mum said, “My daughter is not going
to be a lawyer”. It’s interesting how influential mothers are. She
managed to cajole my dad to dissuade me from studying law. I wanted to
study international law because I had an idea of how nations interact
and how law underpins it. Law naturally would have been my focus of
study. I am a chartered accountant but I moved out of that as I focused
more on economic policies. The training and mentorship I got from my
boss, Prof Jeffrey Sachs, repositioned my skills and emphases. What I
focused much on in the field of public policy is how things intersect in
order to create the basis for economic growth.
What kind of woman are you domestically?
Cooking
is a therapy for me; I love it. Sadly, I don’t always get the
opportunity to do so anymore. It used to be so much fun doing that back
in the day when we were all growing, with my husband and the kids. My
husband cooks and so do my sons. It’s basically the kind of skill needed
for functional living as an individual. If I cook stew for you, you
won’t taste another person’s stew again. Actually, I cook a variety of
dishes. Domestic chores go beyond cooking; it’s really about how you
keep the home. I hate filth and I love really clean and tidy
environments.
Source:- Punchng
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