Why I nearly reported Abacha to Babangida – AVM OKPERE

Except you knew him in his heydays, you may argue at your detriment that Air Vice Marshal Anthony Okpere, retd, was a man of political power and influence. Aside from residing in highbrow Victoria Island, Lagos, nothing around him suggests authority and affluence. The aura of simplicity surrounding the Uromi-born retired military chief leaves you wondering what has changed between past public office holders and the current set of Nigerian leaders. Answers to that are in this interview with the former Minister of Aviation and Managing Director of defunct Nigeria Airways, who clocked 80 recently.

What would you say is the significance of being 80?

I feel fulfilled. I am blessed to have children, family and friends around me that value whatever I have done to impact them in life.

I am blessed to see that whatever problems there are, from nowhere, help comes from God. We all have different callings in life. Some are clergymen, some are teachers, but for me, if I see any person in distress, I do whatever I can do even if I don’t have the means to help.

For instance, the words from my mouth are sufficient to ease the burden of that person. I have seen it happen many times. I am blessed in the sense that I also have a prophetic tongue. This is the work of God, not me. If I tell you this is what will happen, it will.

It is not by my power and I have never professed that I am a pastor or bishop. When it comes to religion, I am not a fanatic, but I am blessed in the sense that I have a heart to reach out to people. For me, it is the biggest blessing God has given me.

The significance is that God kept me up to that age. The Bible says 70 but now, I am 80. By the grace of God, I will be 81, 82 and 83. Until I finish my mission on earth, I am not going anywhere because I believe every human being has a mission.

Looking back at my life, I was born on September 28, 1943. I didn’t know my father until 1947 because he went to the Second World War in Burma. I was born into the house of my maternal uncle who everyone knew as my dad because, at the time I was born, he didn’t have any children. And I was seen as the first child in the house.

I left Uromi in 1963. Three-quarters of the time I spent, I was with my uncle. I spent an insignificant part of my life with my dad. Again, because I am the first son, I wasn’t allowed to grow up in the home. I was sent out to learn and brought up by somebody.

CBN job

As I said, I left home in 1963, we were fortunate or unfortunate to have spent six years and a quarter in secondary school. We started our secondary school on September 26, 1956.

After five years, we were expected to do a school certificate but Western Region refused. Even before then, after four years, some of us got our O’Level papers and some left. I left too.

My father said ‘’oh, your O’Level is equivalent to a school certificate; you can as well come out.’’

But an elderly man prevailed on my father to ensure I got a Cambridge Certificate.

I came to Lagos and my late uncle, who is my father’s younger brother, took me to Mr Francis Ijewere of the Central Bank. He was so excited to see a young man under 21 with A levels and he said I must work in the Central Bank.’

They did it in such a way that I was to be given a job. They calculated my salary and allowances, which came to about 55 pounds. I told my uncle I wouldn’t take the job. My uncle asked why, I told him the money was too much. In my young mind, something said ‘’if you started with this huge amount of money, would you not lose focus on what you should be in the future?’’

Awolowo

In 1959, I was in class three in secondary school when Awolowo campaigned with a helicopter. On a hot afternoon, we saw something come on, did a series of maneuvers and we saw the palm tree shaking. All of us trooped out and our principal said ‘‘children that is called a helicopter.’’

He also said more than 20 of them could land on our football field. In my young mind, I said ‘’that is a human being up there, and if 20 could land; one day, I will also do this sort of thing by flying a helicopter and landing at Uromi,’’ which I did in 1981.

The day I did that thing at Uromi, I was fulfilled. I said it was what I thought of in 1959.

I got the opportunity to be a helicopter pilot but I didn’t have the opportunity to take an aircraft to Uromi and land until God made it in such a way that Professor Ambrose Alli, who was the governor of Bendel State was to do something for the Air Force, open up but wasn’t there. I flew to Ekpoma and said ‘’boys, thank you very much officers, give me half an hour.’’ It was after I said give me half an hour that I turned around and said this is an opportunity for me and I flew to Uromi to fulfill my dream.

I am struck by your sincerity. Your superior officers weren’t aware you flew to Uromi, but you still told them. Why did you do report yourself?

I had to report because I wasn’t authorised to go to Uromi, I was only authorized to go to Ekpoma. Nothing happened, but assuming there was a report that an air force plane flew to Uromi and landed and I didn’t report myself that would have meant more trouble for me. Fortunately, then Chief of Air Staff, AVM Abdul Bello, and I were good friends. Right from the first day I joined the Air Force, we bonded as friends.

I had to report myself because I was in charge of operations and if somebody else did it, what moral justification would I have to punish that person if I didn’t report myself? That is why I did that.

Flying

After rejecting the CBN job, they took me to the Federal Office of Statistics where I was employed as Assistant Executive Officer. I asked what it meant and they said the salary was 37 pounds 10. Again, I frowned. My uncle said okay. It was so easy to get a job then.

Every time we got there, my mind would tell me ‘’no, this isn’t where you should be.’’ Every time I went to a place, my mind went back to 1959 asking me ‘’what about flying?’’ You said you would fly. This place will not lead you to it.’ I managed to stay in the Federal Office of Statistics until June.

In fact, I didn’t resign, I just left in June. News filtered in that the Nigerian government had signed a technical agreement with West Germany to raise an air force. I asked if it meant that they would recruit people to fly and I was told yes.

I said that is where I wanted to go. I sat for the entrance examination and passed. I went for the interview and we were taken. When the result came out late in the afternoon around 2:00 P. M, I left the office and went to Tafawa Balawa Square. The Ministry of Defence was there. They said we should go for a medical test and that all those going for the test would soon go to Germany for training.

I checked and I didn’t have any money to go to Yaba for a medical check. I and the late Air Vice Marshal from Doko, who was then in the school of science, trekked to Yaba. He also had no money.

We got to the Military Hospital in Yaba around five in the evening. They were waiting for us because the list was sent to them. Our colleagues had all gone. They were there and had done their own. My friend and I got there late, but we did our medicals and passed.

However, there was a problem. They said it should be 50 percent North and 50 percent South and that the northerners were not enough, so we couldn’t go to Germany immediately because they had to complete the northern slots. So they went back to the North and picked up some of the people from their classrooms to make up the number.

They now mixed everybody up and divided us into two. That first batch went to Germany on August 27 or 28, and we were told to go to Kaduna and start military training. That is how we started the Air Force base in Kaduna as the pioneer set.

While we were in the military training, our salary was eight pounds. We were paid a lot of allowances as cadets. Excitedly I took the money I was paid home and put it on the table and said ‘’dad, there is money.’’

He asked where I got the money. He asked if I stole. I had to do a lot of explanations. Fortunately, he was in the army so he understood. That was when he took the money and prayed for me.

Helicopters

That was how we went to Germany, 31 of us left here on June 29, 1964. Out of 31, I think eight of us qualified as pilots. When I came back in June 1967, my friend, AVM Bello, who became Chief of Air Staff, was now in charge of training and operations at the Air Force headquarters. They saw the need for helicopters for the prosecution of the war. I was involved in search, rescue and medical evacuation.

From here to Benin will take you two hours to fly. When the thing was flying, thirty minutes away, the noise would become very loud. That was when I damaged part of my left ear. I went to Bristol Helicopters in England for training and finished in March 1968. Within four weeks that I came back, I got married. I told my parents that if I didn’t marry then, they should forget about marriage. I didn’t get to fly a helicopter to my hometown until 1981. That aspect of it was fulfilled. Things fell into place and it is always the way I figured it out.

You participated in the Nigerian Civil War. Did you at any point nurse fear of death?

No. At no time did I ever nurse the idea that I was going to die today or tomorrow? My philosophy has always been that if death comes, let it come. If it doesn’t come, I live my life. I have a very free mind and free attitude to a lot of things and that is what has also kept me going is that in any position I find myself. I thank God and ask that he direct my steps for the day. My prayers don’t go beyond that. The first thing I see every morning is an imaginary blackboard with chalk and a big question mark. The question is: ‘Why are you seated on this seat today? Why did God keep you alive to be on that seat? There are millions of your colleagues, but you were singled out to be on that seat, why are you seated there?’ If anybody walks through my door with even the simplest of problems, the first thing that comes to my mind is ‘’this is why God has put me here today? What can I do to help that fellow?’ It has played out in a very unusual way many times. Let me give you a particular incident.

You have occupied top sensitive positions in the country. Your simplicity is in contrast with what is obtainable now, particularly among today’s leaders. What can you say about it?

People who have no self-esteem go there and try to behave like a master. They look at people eating garri as paupers but if you are content, you are a happy man.

If I have, I eat. If I don’t have one, I won’t be bothered. You may be a beggar today, and tomorrow you could be a very rich man by providence.

You were part and parcel of the Babangida administration, about which many have diverse opinions, especially when discussing the leadership question…

It was an interesting thing because whenever I was asked if I was part and parcel of the administration, I beat my chest to say yes. No administration is flawless. From the beginning, whether it was from Zik or Tafawa Balewa. Today, we have over 40 ministers. Under Babangida, how many ministers did we have in this country? We were about 18 or 22. We were doing the jobs that over 40 people are doing now.

Babangida is one human being who is detribalized. He doesn’t care where you are from. There was a time when four of us from Edo State were ministers. Babangida cared who did the job and not where you came from. Give it to the man. He did a lot in terms of restructuring.

Don’t forget that it was during that period that we had deputy governors serving with military governors. I was part and parcel of the group that selected deputy governors on August 28, 1990. We weren’t Edo then, we were Bendel Stated. I recall that when it came to picking someone as a Deputy Governor of Bendel State, names came up. Babangida came up with a name, and I said ‘’no, that fellow has just finished something, let us not pick him.’’

Babangida said ‘’Tony, you and Augustus should tell me who should be the Deputy Governor of Bendel State.’’ I was given the prerogative to pick the Deputy Governor. I looked at it and some names came to my mind but I cancelled them. I said we should pick somebody from the Delta area. A name came to me and I said I remembered that fellow very well, but he is a greedy person. I didn’t want him. I had to pick John Edozie, who was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Sports.

Edozie didn’t even know that I was instrumental in his appointment. I didn’t have to tell him. I didn’t go to Edo State or Bendel Government House to look for any favour, I don’t need it because I am okay with what I have. When it came to Gongola State, I raised my hands and they said but I am not from Gongola. I said yes, but my Permanent Secretary is a good administrator. People from that side were arguing, including some senior officers. We quarreled over this.

I told Babangida that this fellow needed to be compensated. When the other people were arguing, Babangida said Tony has worked with this man, let’s pick him. That was Babangida for you. He believed in competence. Everybody had his opinion during cabinet meetings. There was even a day Abacha met me after a meeting we had and asked why I was always supporting whatever Aikhomu said. I said it wasn’t so that I always spoke before Aikhomu because we spoke in alphabetical order. It couldn’t have been possible for him to speak before me. Gen Ike Nwachukwu was even aware of it and said I shouldn’t take the matter lightly. I went to Dodan Barracks to report the matter to Babangida but I saw Aikhomou who said I should just ignore the matter.