INTERVIEW: Ourselves @ Work: Home Is Where The Hustle Is

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Chibundu Onuzo. Image: Facebook

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: Lagos is a city of travelers, hoping to either find their luck or make it from scratch.

GREGORY WARNER, HOST:

You're listening to ROUGH TRANSLATION from NPR.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: Every few years, I grow discontent with my staid, predictable life in London. I wonder if I should move back to Lagos, where all the action seems to be happening.

WARNER: This is from an essay called "Frontier Town" we encountered in the Travel Quarterly Strangers Guide. The writer, Chibundu Onuzo, thinks longingly of the city of her birth, Lagos in Nigeria. But she's also wary of who she might become if she left London and moved back home. We asked her to read this excerpt.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: (Reading) Lagos is the only place I know where the noun oppressor is used as a compliment. For most people, the change creeps up on you without you even noticing. The more successful you become in Lagos, the more deference you get. The more deference you get, the more likely you are to end up an oppressor unless you deliberately swim against the tide of cultural expectations. Would I become an oppressor if I moved to Lagos? I don't know. My instincts are egalitarian, but life is a lot easier in Lagos when people perceive you have money. The police talk to you with respect. You don't wait for hours in the bank. I notice this about myself when I'm in Lagos. I start caring more about my clothes, my shoes, what Lagosians would call my packaging.

WARNER: Lagos feels like home to her. But would Lagos change her? Would it chip away at the version of herself that she wanted to be? In the essay, Chibundu talks about one person from whom she might seek advice on this question - her older brother, Chinaza Onuzo, 10 years her senior.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: We met properly when I was a young adult, and he was taking his first steps into a career in private equity. By this time, I was in boarding school in England, and he had returned to Lagos to become a full-time hustler - or so it seemed to me.

WARNER: Her brother Chinaza's side hustle, as she calls it, is trying to transform the landscape of Nigerian cinema to make Nigerian films for export. He produced "The Wedding Party," which is one of the highest-grossing Nigerian films, and he's had films on Netflix and Amazon Prime. If anyone had some advice for her about the price of making it in Lagos, he might.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: In Lagos, everything is heightened. But can I live at that feverish pitch for longer than a three-week holiday? What does Chinaza think? I want to know.

WARNER: Chibundu is the author of three novels, the first of which won the Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. She's also a frequent contributor to The Guardian and other outlets where she often writes about Nigeria. But there was much she did not know about her own brother's story - how exactly he'd risen up in Lagos and what he had to confront about himself.

CHINAZA ONUZO: Hey, Chibs. How are you?

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: Chinaza, why's your camera not on?

CHINAZA ONUZO: 'Cause I can see your stack of books, and I was like, it's a very big stack of books.

WARNER: This is ROUGH TRANSLATION. I'm Gregory Warner. If you've ever thought to yourself that you need to be hustling more but worry that hustling might turn you into a hustler or something that you're not, that's exactly how Chibundu felt going into this conversation with her brother. Their conversation was so thoughtful and wide-ranging, we're going to play an extended excerpt of it here mixed in with Chibundu's own writings. And then we're going to check back in with Chibundu about how this conversation changed her. It's ourselves at work on ROUGH TRANSLATION, back after this break.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

WARNER: We are back with ROUGH TRANSLATION. I'm Gregory Warner. Chibundu had lots of questions for her older brother about the person he had become in Lagos. But she started the conversation at the beginning. Who was he when he first left Nigeria at age 15?

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: So you moved to England when you were 15 to go to boarding school...

CHINAZA ONUZO: Yes.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: ...In Winchester. And what was that like?

CHINAZA ONUZO: When I was at Winchester, I was from Nigeria. So basically, I had a completely different experience than pretty much everybody else at school.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: And obviously, we know you - like, your siblings know you as Chinaza. But everybody in the industry and most of your friends now call you Naz. And if I - again, I might be making this up, but I feel like the name Naz came from Winchester College. Is this true?

CHINAZA ONUZO: So basically, there was this thing that they did when we were in Winchester where they used to give the Black kids nicknames of actors. It was weird. Don't ask me why. So they basically said, oh, we should call you, Will. And I'm like, no, I don't look anything like Will Smith. That's so random. And then they were like, oh, but we cannot pronounce your name. Chinaza is too difficult. I'm like, OK, fine. You can call me Naza. I'm like, Naza, that's weird. That's also hard. And I was like, fine, call me Naz. Like, literally - like the rapper? And then, like, yes, but with a Z. So that's literally how it stuck.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: OK. I'm just saying, your friends at your boarding school wanted to call you Will Smith because you are Black. But this is not - I think - and this is also, like, a generational thing. I'm, like, definitely a much younger millennial than you, so I'm shouting microaggression from the rooftops. But - OK.

CHINAZA ONUZO: So, I mean, I suppose it was...

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: But anyways, OK...

CHINAZA ONUZO: That's fair. That's fair. I will now re-examine my life. Oh, woe is me.

(LAUGHTER)

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: OK. Right. First, you've gone to one of the oldest boarding schools in the world. Then you go to Duke. Then you get your master's. Did you - was that another culture shock for you? Or had you sort of become acclimatized to this very privileged, very white sort of species by going to Winchester first?

CHINAZA ONUZO: Wow. Really?

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: Yeah. Really.

CHINAZA ONUZO: Very privileged, very white - really?

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

CHINAZA ONUZO: OK. So - but that's the thing, though. So actually, let me put it differently. So one of the things that Winchester does is that it expects you to conquer the - like, conquer the world. Like, it basically says you are a member - so this is going to sound a certain way - but that you are a member of the elite.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: Go on. Do it.

CHINAZA ONUZO: And so if you do the work, you can achieve anything you put your mind to, right? I then applied for jobs. It's not two or three interviews. It's 10, right? You name it. I interviewed - Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, Citibank, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, et cetera, et cetera. But no - no offers, like, literally.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: My brother moved back to Nigeria after graduating with an economics degree from an American university and a master's from a British university. He knew what he had to offer. And if you failed to hire him, that was your loss, not his. This extreme confidence is typical of Lagosians.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: Sometimes I find my own self-confidence eroded by living in London, where I am an ethnic minority. I need some of that Lagos mentality. A microaggression is somebody else's problem, not mine. I know who I am. I know what I'm capable of. If you don't recognize it, get out of here.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

CHINAZA ONUZO: So that is the - you know, they say it like, you always have a next goal. So the next goal for us over the next five to 10 years is to basically build out a global creator from Nigeria. So that's our goal, right? So like how the Koreans have done, the British have done, the Indians have done, we want to basically build global creators from Nigeria. It doesn't even have to be us. We just want to enable the creation of that.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: So this is also, like, my whole thing that I find fascinating about you because I didn't think, as an outsider, you would have been able to break into the Hollywood film industry or the film industry in the U.K. I can't think of many Black producers in the U.K. that would have a string of films or televisions. Like, you didn't go to film school. You don't know this person. You know - you don't know that person. Like, you just said, oh, I want to make films. So yeah, I guess it's two questions in one. How did you break into the Lagos film industry?

CHINAZA ONUZO: So one of the things about - in film industries in general, like, the more structured it is, the harder it is to break in, right? In general - because the barriers to entry are higher just by the nature of it. In the U.S. and U.K., it's like, oh, those entrepreneurs over there are special. But in Nigeria, everybody's an entrepreneur - you get what I mean? - because we believe that that is the culture. It's just that, like, Nigeria rewards entrepreneurship. But paradoxically, Nigeria also punishes failure a lot. The risk of success are high. The risk of failure are also high. So people are like, I cannot fail, and I must succeed.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: So part of the reason why I wanted to have this conversation with you is, sporadically, every two or three years, I think, what life would be like if I moved back to Nigeria? Was there any incident that made you think, gosh, I wish I hadn't moved back to Nigeria?

CHINAZA ONUZO: No. Well, I mean - OK, I take that back. So when I moved back, the car that was available for me to drive was this old - so my uncle, Uncle Frank, lent me his old Maxima or something that's an old car. So we were coming home on Third Mainland Bridge, and there was a broken-down truck on the side of the road - no hazard lights, no caution, no nothing. He was just parked in the middle of the road. And then I saw it. And then I tried to change lanes. The bus next to me did not let me in. It literally was like, I'm not letting you overtake me.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: You will not overtake me. I'm going to win.

CHINAZA ONUZO: The bus sped up. So literally, there was - I was literally about to crash because the bus driver next to me was refusing to let me in. So literally, I had to speed up and swerve around it - missed it by inches, right? And so that was Nigerian culture in a nutshell. Maybe that was, like, two months after I was back in Nigeria.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: OK. Well, my question for you is, why didn't you slow down (laughter)?

CHINAZA ONUZO: No, because I couldn't slow...

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: You went into the head-to-head...

CHINAZA ONUZO: So I couldn't slow down.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: (Laughter).

CHINAZA ONUZO: No, no, no, no, no. So I was - because it wouldn't have worked because there were two - there was a car behind him. I wouldn't have been able to - like, in the split-second assessment, slowing down would have been worse.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: OK. It sounds like you'd acclimatized pretty well in those two months. You're like, we - I will speed up with you.

CHINAZA ONUZO: No, no.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: And I will risk my life, but I'm going to win.

CHINAZA ONUZO: No. I mean, I clearly looked at this knowing that option, I think. But, like, the decision was like, yes. So, I mean, there are few times where you almost got robbed, et cetera, like - but stuff like that. I mean, thankfully, I haven't been robbed in traffic. I mean, they've knocked on my window a couple of times, those types of things. I was at a bar when robbers were outside.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: I guess this is the Wild West thing that sort of does make me apprehensive about moving back to somewhere like Lagos. Like, you're just saying casually in conversation, yeah, I was in a bar, and there were robbers outside. And yes, it's not that - yeah, but it's - I'm like, perhaps, I don't know if I'm ready to just accept that that would be just a part of the background.

In the Wild West, at least that of Hollywood's imagining, a man could walk into a saloon for a drink and end up shot dead by an outlaw. In Lagos, a person can drive to work one day and end up robbed in traffic at gunpoint. There's a certain badge of honor to almost dying and then carrying on as if nothing has happened. Lagosians don't just have a stiff upper lip. Their upper lips are made of concrete. But at what cost?

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: I feel, actually, we've had a couple of conversations where you've basically called me a slacker.

CHINAZA ONUZO: So...

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: You have.

CHINAZA ONUZO: So I wouldn't use the word slacker because I am not Ferris Bueller's dad. So what I have said is that you should go for the things that you want. That is what I've said because you always choose - when the thing that you want feels like there's conflict, you shy away from the conflict. And so my general point is that you shouldn't run away from conflict if it's part of the thing that you want. Let's go there and figure it out one way or another.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: So basically, I need to step on the accelerator when the van is next to me instead of pressing the brakes, basically. I need to get more of that - no, I'm going to accelerate past you. OK, yeah.

CHINAZA ONUZO: No. So I wouldn't say that. See, that's the thing. There are different types of entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur is somebody who feels so passionate about a problem that they think they are the only one who can solve it. It is actually divorced from whether they are aggressive, whether they are whatever. What you have is belief.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: And that's it. I don't know. I mean, there are many things I believe, you know? I believe that, OK, like, the U.K. government is - their policy towards young people is faulty. There are many - there are things they should be doing to make sure that young people in this country have more opportunities. I believe it, but am I going to believe it enough to actually go and stand for government in this country? I don't know. Would I be more likely to enter politics in Nigeria? I think I would.

CHINAZA ONUZO: No, but let me ask you a question. This is a simple question based on what you just said.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: Mmm hmm.

CHINAZA ONUZO: If you went to - what's your council? - your local government. So if you went there, and you walked up to them and said, I want to do X, Y, Z - here's a proposal - and I want to do an after-school thing for this, that and the other, would they say no?

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: No, they wouldn't say no, actually. No, they wouldn't say no. They wouldn't say no. You're right, actually. Mmm hmm.

CHINAZA ONUZO: And then, after you started that thing, as a celebrity author, you say, oh, can you give me X amount of pounds? Have them pilot it in X. Can we take it citywide? Can we take it countywide? Can we take it nationwide? If you really believe that that was what you should do, you have - you can do it. You just don't believe it enough.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: But you see, you've already brought your Lagos mentality to my throw-away idea. See, that's my point. Like, I'm already tired. Like, I just wanted to do something small. You're like, let's take it council-wide. Let's take it England-wide. Let's take it nationwide. Let's go for world domination. I'm like, oh, my - I need a nap. I need a nap (laughter).

WARNER: ROUGH TRANSLATION also needs a break - just a short one. We'll be right back.

(SOUNDBITE OF BLUE DOT SESSIONS' "SYLVESTOR")

WARNER: We're back with ROUGH TRANSLATION. I'm Gregory Warner. When Chibundu told her brother that she'd be more likely to enter politics if she lived in Nigeria, that's a trend that she's seen before.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: There's a long history of writers getting involved in politics in Nigeria - not because they want to, but just because they feel compelled to.

(SOUNDBITE OF BLUE DOT SESSIONS' "GREYLEAF WILLOW")

WARNER: She points out the Nigerian writer, Wole Soyinka, was imprisoned during the Nigerian Civil War. Chinua Achebe campaigned internationally for Biafran independence.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: And it happens often, actually. Soyinka and Achebe are just two very prominent examples, but there are others. Because of the prominence your writing gives you, you can't stand on the sidelines when push comes to shove. Whereas, in this context, I don't think people expect you to write a - you know, even if you do write about politics in London, for example, I don't think anyone then expects you to then go on and become a politician, etc., etc.

(SOUNDBITE OF BLUE DOT SESSIONS' "GREYLEAF WILLOW")

WARNER: In the Stranger's Guide essay that introduced us to Chibundu, she worried that Lagos would chip away at her moral stance, turn her slowly into an oppressor, flashing the outward signs of success in exchange for access. But this was the flip side of that fear - that she'd feel obligated in Lagos to become a reformer - something that she doesn't feel quite ready for, in Nigeria or in England. Just a few hours before this call with her brother, she'd actually gone to her local youth center in London and volunteered to organize a mentorship program for the summer.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: I literally - after I had the meeting, and I go home, I was like, what have I gotten myself into? What have I taken on? Have I taken on too much? I'm doing so much this year. And then I left, and I was like, have I just overpromised (laughter)?

WARNER: So you felt self-doubt as soon as you put action to your belief?

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: Hundred percent.

WARNER: And then immediately, you're thinking, oh, my God, I...

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: (Laughter).

WARNER: And so what was that doubt around? Was it...

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: I didn't like feeling overwhelmed, and I didn't like feeling that I had taken on too much.

WARNER: Which is why she worried about moving to Nigeria, where it seemed that all her friends and family were taking on as much as possible.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: It's funny. People talk about how, like, oh, you don't have to turn every hobby into a job - that that's capitalism - that makes you feel like everything you enjoy doing, you have to monetize it. And people talk about that in the Western world. But, like, in Lagos, this is to the - like, times 10. So, you know, you enjoy eating ice cream, so now you're going to have a blog about eating ice cream and sell advertising about it. It's like, I just wanted to have vanilla ice cream. But - you know, but now it's turned into, like, a side hustle. And, like, Lagos is, like, the city of side hustles. Everyone is doing something on the weekends, doing something.

WARNER: And Chibundu wondered, did she have the energy to live in a place where everyone's finding their hustle - everyone's pressing their advantage?

CHINAZA ONUZO: So there's a Nigerian phrase called shine your eye. So what is effectively means is that everybody's out there to take advantage of you - right? - so you have to live your life accordingly. But that was - one of the earliest decisions that I made was to not do that.

WARNER: Chinaza tells her this story about when he first moved to Nigeria, in his early 20s. And he hired a motorbike driver - an okada driver - to take him a fairly long distance. The ride took almost an hour. But before they set out, they settled on a price - a hundred naira - which, back then, was worth about $1.

CHINAZA ONUZO: And so once he drops me, he's like (non-English language spoken) - so that was boss - it's very, very far. Please add something for me - just 50 naira. And I said, no, we agreed 100 naira. We agreed 100 naira. And I walked away. That 50 naira would have made no difference to me, but the idea in my head was that I had told you this was the price, and I had overshot what was reasonable based on that price. But since we had agreed, it was more important for me to be like, you cannot convince me. And I walked away. And I was like, but Naz, that 50 naira would have made all the difference in his life. But for you, you just didn't give him that extra 50 naira to win an argument. So - and I always remember that because that is the consequence of always winning. You end up in these weird zero-sum games that don't have to be. So that's - I always use that example to remind myself about, there have to be - that this need to win at all costs is - there's limits.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: I think that's interesting, like, how there's value in - that sometimes you might lose because someone might take advantage of you. But what you lose by being hard all the time is even greater.

CHINAZA ONUZO: So the question is always, what do you believe in? What do you believe to be true that no one else does, right? That is the thing, right? And that is what makes an entrepreneur. And that is not a Lagos thing. So the question that I always tell me is, like, what do you believe in?

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: I think it's been actually really good to hear what you're saying about belief. I think I do have more self-doubt than you. Or maybe you do have self-doubts and you don't present it as much. I think I do eventually sort of psych myself into going after what I want, but I think I do with a lot more handwringing and, like, oh, is this the right decision, or should I do it? Or should I not - I don't know.

CHINAZA ONUZO: People always look down on belief or conviction because in this hour, it is like conviction is a fool's errand. Can you really be sure? Can you really know? You cannot know. But what do you believe? And what are you willing to do to make your belief happen? Because you see, the truth of your belief is, how much are you willing to do for it to be tested?

WARNER: Chibundu, I want to ask you about this last part of your conversation with your brother about belief, because when I listen back I think a second or third time, I started hearing you guys discussing belief in a bigger way, something, like, about belief that wasn't just about success or making it.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: I think we're talking about how do you do something you say you believe in? So he's not talking about making money or writing books or whatever. It's just if you have something you say or think you want to do, how does this thing move from an idea into action? I think that's what we're talking about.

WARNER: Chibundu came into this conversation with her brother doubting that she had the energy to hack it in a place as entrepreneurial as Lagos. But talking to her brother, she remembered how she feels whenever she goes back home.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: I sort of feel more confident. And it's funny, actually. I went to the airport, and the guy who was checking our passports when I landed in Lagos, he wasn't wearing a uniform. And I told him off, and I was like, why aren't you wearing a uniform? You should be wearing a uniform. And I didn't think I would dare do that at immigration in London. But then I just have a sort of confidence. It's like, I'm home. You know, nobody can tell me anything. This is my country. And that was my energy in Lagos, this big, Chibundu energy. So I just moved through the world very confidently. And I am trying to import some of that energy here as well, actually.

WARNER: Here to London, she means. That's her plan now. She's still not quite ready to move to Lagos, but she's going to try to import that confidence and that energy to make a small difference in her adopted country. Chibundu told our producer, Justine Yan, that despite her doubts, she is going ahead this summer with the mentorship program at the youth center.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: Like, the amount of effort you put into it shows how much belief you have. And yeah - and he's right. That's not a Lagos thing. That's not a U.K. thing. That's just like - it has to be inside. It's about what's inside you. And yeah, we're going to do it this summer. It's going to be good. And I think actually, again - my brother has infected me.

JUSTINE YAN, BYLINE: So this is your side hustle.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: (Laughter) I think side hustle is - side hustle is strong. But this is (laughter) this is my side project, my side - passion project.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

WARNER: On our next episode of @Work, how do you drive an 18-wheel truck while at the same time homeschooling your kid?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: You know, we've had dry-erase markers where she's just writing down the side of the window a math problem that she's struggling with. And so we're walking through it together.

WARNER: Women truckers tell their stories of freedom and loneliness in the long haul. That's next week on ROUGH TRANSLATION.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COMING HOME")

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: (Singing) So when are you coming home? I know I missed it, but I'm healing, and I'm learning all the time. When are you coming, coming home? If you walk away...

WARNER: This episode was produced by Justine Yan, Pablo Arguelles and our lead producer Adelina Lancianese, edited by Bruce Auster, who is our senior supervising producer. The ROUGH TRANSLATION team also includes Luis Trelles, Tessa Paoli, Nic M. Neves and Bhaskar Choudhary. Editorial insight from Sana Krasikov.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COMING HOME")

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: (Singing) It's what I deserve.

WARNER: Chibundu Onuzo is not only a writer. She's also a singer. In fact, this is one of her tracks called "Coming Home."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COMING HOME")

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: (Singing) Maybe I said I'm sorry. I treated you like a fool.

WARNER: Big thanks to the magazine Strangers Guide, where we Chibundu’s essay. If you don't know Strangers Guide, we're big fans of it here at ROUGH TRANSLATION. They devote each issue to a single place, and then they commission local writers and journalists to talk about that place. It's very thoughtful, beautiful photos. Check it out.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COMING HOME")

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: (Singing) I'm learning all the time.

WARNER: John Ellis composed our theme music. Additional music by FirstCom Music and Blue Dot Sessions, mastering by Josh Newell, fact-checking by Ayda Pourasad, legal guidance from Micah Ratner and Eduardo Miceli. NPR's standards editor is Tony Cavin. Emily Bogle is our visuals editor. Our supervising producer is Liana Simstrom. Our senior vice president for programming is Anya Grundman. I'm Gregory Warner, back next week with more @Work from ROUGH TRANSLATION.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COMING HOME")

CHIBUNDU ONUZO: (Singing) When are you coming, coming home?

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INTERVIEW: Chikwendu Aiming To Become UN Woman-In-Fine Arts Ambassador

VANGUARD INTERVIEW

Oge Chikwendu

Over the weekend,in the very busy city of Lagos, at the Terra kulture Art Gallery and Events Place, Victoria Island, our crew met up with one of the most unique and upcoming Nigerian Female Fine Artist of the 21st Century; Oge Chikwendu.

OgeChikwendu is an artist who closes generational divides by merging contemporary arts and age-old artefacts on innovative surfaces. She’s currently vying to become the first female ambassador of Fine Arts in next edition of the United Nation’s Women – in – Fine Arts competition.

The competition titled “Choosing the Next Professional Female Fine Artist in Nigeria” is slated to hold between the 13th and 15th of July 2022, at the Eko Hotels and Suites Lagos.

Oge Chikwendu hails from Alor in Idemmili South LGA of Anambra State. In this interview, she speaks about her works and career. She gives a peek into her journey so far and tells the plans she has as she becomes the first UN Women’s female ambassador for Fine Arts in Nigeria.

She bemoans the challenges faced by women in Fine Arts, comparing it to some of her personal experiences during preparation for the competition. She enjoins African women, African artists and the black race to be proud and showcase ‘their rich heritage in Arts to the world. She also decries the lack of sponsorship and international opportunities as limiting factors against local female artists.

Expatiating on the importance of sponsorship, she narrated how lucky she was to have a sponsor and used the opportunity to appreciate the endorsement of African Business gurus, Chief and Mrs. Chris Ekwenibe, the brains behind Onitsha South Urban Mass Transit, who took her up as a beneficiary after she presented a piece of Chief Ekwenibe’s mother at her funeral, last October, in Neni, Anambra State.

Excerpts from the interview:

Introduction

“My name is Oge Chikwendu, I’m a Fine Artist from both the University of Nigeria Nsukka and the Yaba College of Technology Lagos. I’m amongst the 8 contestants competing to become the first female ambassador of fine arts in this maiden edition of the United Nations Women-in-fine arts show.

The show has as theme: Depicting the current unity situation amongst cultures in Nigeria specifically using paintings and sculptures, so I have painted seven works and made three larger-than-life sized metal sculptures along these lines.

What she’ll do when she becomes a UN woman-in-fine arts ambassador

I hope to shed more light on the African woman’s struggle through arts. I also hope to organise more competitions for women artists to showcase their works and I’ll lend my voice to speak against discrimination and violence against women.

Major challenges of being a female artist in Nigeria

Well, first, a lot of people don’t take you seriously so you need to work extra hard to prove yourself. Also funds and opportunities are more scarce and less available to women so, you need to strive harder.

Art as business venture in Nigeria

Everything about our country is arts. Our culture, our diversity, our religion and our language. There are a lot of exploring and tapping to do from our way of life as Nigerians. TheTiv woman dresses differently from the Igbo woman, yet they are both colourful and beautiful.There are many untold stories about our ways of life, so much that we can depict them using colours, forms and artefacts. That’s a business venture.

Advice for younger artists

Keep exploring, keep being innovative and create more stories of your history and heritage, using your immediate raw materials. Think globally, act locally. Someone is always watching.

Final words

I appreciate God for life, my parents for educating me, and my sponsor, Chief Chris Ekwenibe for supporting me on this journey. I hope to make you all proud. I have so much love for all of you.

INTERVIEW: Osinachi Nwachukwu: Untold Story About Cause Of Death Of Popular Female Gospel Singer

Osinachi Nwachukwu

Osinachi’s Eldest sister has confirmed official cause of death! SHE DIED OF BLOOD CLOTHING FROM HER HUSBAND STUMPING ON HER CHEST AS HE BEAT HER!

The sister of the late gospel music artiste who died last week of alleged Cancer of the throat, Sister Osinachi Nwachukwu, today, revealed to Vanguard Metro that, her sister died as a result of a cluster of blood in the chest from the kicking she got from her husband, Mr Peter Nwachukwu.

Speaking with one of the family members, Ms Favour Made, who is the elder sister of the late Osinachi, she exposed all the inhumane treatments her sister got from her husband, before her untimely death.

She spoke with Juliet Umeh

Q: We heard it was cancer that killed Osinachi.

She did not die of cancer. The husband, Mr Peter Nwachukwu hit her with his leg on the chest. All this while, he has been beating her but my sister hides all that she was passing through from us.

Before now, we have told her to come out of the marriage, we told her that they are not divorcing and that it’s just a separation. But she felt that God is against divorce.

We told her that separation is not a sin but just for her to stay alive and take care of her children. She will always tell us to relax and that the man will change.

So when the man kicked her in the chest, she fell down and he took her to the hospital but he did not even tell us.

It was her friend who lives in Ebonyi state that called her twin sister because Osinachi has a twin sister, to ask, ‘did your Sister tell you that Peter hit her on the chest? the sister then told her no.

It was the hitting on the chest that killed her.

My brother had to ask the doctor what killed her and the doctor said that there were clusters of blood on her chest.

Unfortunately, they did not tell the doctor that she was kicked in the chest because the doctor could have known what to do if he had an idea of what happened.

Each time we talked to her, she will be pleading for peace and if we move to act, she will tell us no, that we should calm down.

Q: Where was your sister residing and how many children did she have? Also, where is her husband now?

My late sister Osinachi was living in Abuja with her husband and four children, three boys and one girl.

My younger brother who has gone to see the children said Nwachukwu is not arrested, he is in his house in Abuja. When my brother got there, the children were so happy to see him and they told him that they want to come and see their grandmother who is my mother.

Q: Where are her children presently?

The children are with their father. My brother has gone to Abuja to see the children. But I told him not to go alone because the man is a beast that he should go with somebody.

Q:So what is the husband saying now?

The husband is just boasting. Before now, he told the twin sister that he is going to separate her and her sister who was his wife. He doesn’t allow us to come near Osinachi. Since Osinachi got married to him, she has never visited our village, Isuochi in Abia state.

She only visited our village when our father died in 2017.

Even the day they were coming for my father’s burial, as he was speeding, Osinachi told him to please take it easy the was he was driving, the next thing he did was to slap her. It was my little sister, the second to our last born who was with her in the car that told me this. When my little sister wanted to act, Osinachi started begging again and told her to calm down. If I were in that vehicle, I would just have given him his own slap without saying a word.

Osinachi has a very soft heart. Even her twin sister is more courageous than herself.

Now on her sickbed in the hospital, when the twin sister visited, Nwachukwu didn’t allow her to stay with Osinachi. Then Osinachi started begging the husband to allow her sister to stay because she was passing from heart pain, but the man refused.

There, Nwachukwu ordered her out of the hospital. Osinachi then begged the sister to leave hence her husband refused.

Q: What position are you in the family and how many are you?

I am the first daughter of the family and we are six girls and one boy which made us seven.

The boy is the fourth born and he is 30 years old.

Q: Where is Peter from and what does he do?

He is from Nnewi in Anambra State. He doesn’t have any known job to me.

In fact, he ordered my sister to release to him the password of her YouTube music channel and when my sister said no, he spat on her and also told her that the money in his account was finished.

Q: I learnt he is your sister’s manager?

Yes, he acts like one. If my sister is booked for a program, the money charged for the program is paid into his account. He is the one that will negotiate the price.

All monies were paid into his account and my sister will be left with little or nothing. This was somebody that God had lifted up.

He feels that we have nobody because our first son is late, he died before my father died in 2017. So he believes that the only brother I have cannot do anything.

He feels we have nobody to speak for us.

He told us that if Osinachi did not come back alive, she will come back dead.

Q:How did you get the information about your sister’s death?

When my sister died, he didn’t tell us.

It was other people that told us about her death. It was one of her friends she contacted to cook jollof rice that called Osinachi’s twin sister to ask if she had heard anything. She said that the time she got to that hospital, she didn’t see Osinachi on her bed. The man did not tell us.

Then, when we put a call across to him, he didn’t pick it up until around 8 pm when he started calling my brother. Meanwhile, we were told that she died in the afternoon but we got the news from other people around 5 pm.

So around 8 pm, Nwachukwu then called my brother that he has never been allowed to come near them. He casually told him that his wife is dead, that he should come.

My brother then asked him, Is it now that he wants him to come to his house.

Nwachukwu also called my mother and said that his wife is late.

My mother now asked him that, so he has fulfilled his promise of killing her? He then switched off his phone.

Q:What’s your mother saying right now?

She only wants to see her grandchildren since her daughter is already gone.

The children have been longing to come but Nwachukwu had never allowed them.

The children do not know their mother’s village except when my father died.

Even when my sister visits Enugu where we live for the program, her flight is always booked back to Abuja on the same day. He doesn’t allow her to come to our house in Enugu.

My mother did not do Omugwo, that is to take care of any of those four children when they were born.

In fact, when Osinachi had her second child, she called me to tell me that this man wants to kill her. I went there to bring her home. After some time, Nwachukwu came with some people to plead and he was forgiven.

So, after that incident, I don’t know what he did to my sister that whatever he does to her, my sister will not talk. Even if she wants to talk, she will tell outsiders.

Q:How did Osinachi meet Nwachukwu?

It was where they went for a program. Nwachukwu saw how my sister was ministering, he then fell in love with her

Vanguard News Nigeria

INTERVIEW: Abaribe: I’m Determined To Be The Change In Abia

THIS DAY INTERVIEW

Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe believes that Abia State, must strive to be the industrial heartland of the nation and he thinks of himself as a governor who can drive this. Segun James reports

Why do you want to become the next governor of the state?

My reason is simple: Abia State deserves the best possible material to lead it and I think I am the best person at this time to lead the state. This is the 21st century; this is also a transition year and this is also a year where so many things are happening both in Nigeria and all over the world. And what Abia needs now is a man that has integrity. Abia needs a man that has credibility, a man that has the capacity to do the job and Abia needs somebody, who at all times the people can go to sleep and say they know that Abia is in very good hands.

I am putting myself forward for Abia people to be the governor for all, not the governor of the North, South, East or West, but the governor for every Abia person. And I think that with the pedigree I have and with what I have done for the people of Abia and indeed, the people of Nigeria, all the oppressed people in this country know that I put them first in everything, that I will do a great job for them.

This will be your fourth or fifth attempt, do you think people will give you their votes this time?

I think that what is important is the adage: if you try and it doesn’t work, then you try again. It doesn’t matter how many times I have made attempts, I think that this is the right time and Abia people know and I have their support and their encouragement. I have had consultations with all persons in Abia, all manner of people; I have had with the leadership, I have had with the led, market women, with the youths, I have had with the political leaders, I have had with academia, I have had with all. At every point I have met with them, Abians asked for one thing: leadership that puts them first and I intend to do that.

As the Senate’s minority leader. What’s your take on the Electoral Act?

It is a good piece of legislation. It was meant to cure some of the problems that were in the previous acts all this while. The basic thing that we have in the Electoral Act today is the fact that it will make rigging almost impossible. There are two things that were done in that Electoral Act. First is the direct transmission of results in each polling unit. Even if you have problems in a polling unit, the cumulative of all the polling booths will give you a near accurate figure. Also, there is a provision in the Act that if you, by any means, force a Returning Officer to announce a result that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) does not have, that set of results will not be processed.

The other thing about the Electoral Act, which is good, is the very famous one, which everyone saw when the Senate rejected President Muhammadu Buhari’s amendment, which is section 84(12). What that section does is that it codified what was already supposed to be the norm of our society. Usually, if you want to run for election, the norm used to be that you would resign. You won’t sit in office and at the same time utilize your office to run and manipulate state resources in running for election.

There is an aspect of that legislation, which people talk about, which I do not think is in the law. I have heard it said that, if you have not resigned by now, you might not be eligible to contest; that you ought to have resigned. No law is made to be retroactive, so Section 84(12) doesn’t say that you ought to have resigned by now. What is actually in the law is that if you are going to be a delegate for the purpose of primary or you are going to be an aspirant or a contestant for the purpose of primary, leading to an election that you will have to resign. The stipulation as to time is what is in the Civil Service Rules because you are a public officer and you are subjected to the same Civil Service Rules, which is 30 days before any contest.

So, it is actually 30 days before primary or 30 days before congress if you are going to be a delegate. It is not for three months. When the parties set their dates, I believe the 30 days will now kick-start from the date the parties put for their elections. That is what is in 84(12).

The President, in his wisdom, has said that it conflicted with the 1999 Constitution, where that particular part of the constitution wasn’t mentioned. So, we didn’t know exactly what he meant. As far as we know, we think that if you are in office and you still want to be in that office and also run or contest for an election, what you are doing is that you are short-changing the country because your office will suffer. And of course, when you are running for office, what it means is that you are going to neglect your official duties, and you swore an oath to fulfil your duty towards the public and towards Nigeria, so you cannot balance the two at the same time. It is not going to be in the interest of the country. The interest of the country should come first.

So when we got that communication from the President, we said some people must have mis-advised him to write that letter. For example, I run the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and I now want to be President and then I want to contest for primary while I am still running the NNPC, something is going to suffer. And what is going to suffer actually is my job for the people of Nigeria in the NNPC. We should not allow that. We just didn’t think that these are things that we ought to codify, but we have found out that because it wasn’t codified people were taking advantage of it and staying in their offices and utilizing the office to run elections and of course, to the detriment of their duties. That was why we declined to put an assent to it.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, is trying to get a foothold in the South-east. What do you think are the chances of the PDP for the presidency and to retain power in Abia?

I don’t think the APC has had a foothold in the South-east. What the APC has done, just like they have done elsewhere, is to poach the leadership that is already there from the PDP and when they poach them, they give them a lot of bogus promises, which they never kept. So, at all times, the PDP will always win the South-east; we have no problem about that. It is obvious that the APC has nothing to offer the South-east and we repeat not just the South-east; the APC has nothing to offer the country. What will they offer you? Is it fuel that is at N600 per litre? You can’t fly, diesel is at almost N800 per litre. And of course the worst, which is that we are in the middle of rising oil prices at the international market, yet we are still crying that Nigeria is not benefitting from the development. This has never happened. At least, everybody can say that when there is rising oil prices, we can no longer borrow; we can pay our debts; we can reduce the deficit but none of that is happening, we are not saving and we are doing nothing. We should ask ourselves one question and that question is this: what manner of economic management does the APC do that has led us to this type of Nigeria where nothing, literally nothing, is working and the country is grinding to a halt? When we asked this question, we were told that the real problem is that we are paying subsidies. Two things we can take from here; this same APC said that there was nothing like subsidy. This same President Buhari said subsidy was a scam, yet subsidy has risen under this government three times or four times more than subsidy under President Goodluck Jonathan’s PDP government that they persecuted so much.

We should ask ourselves another question: how did the consumption of Prime Motor Spirit, PMS, rise under APC from the 28 million to 30 million litres a day under (Dr Ibe) Kachukwu as minister to about 100 million litres a day under the present leadership of the APC? Something is definitely wrong. How can, within three to four years, you tell us that the consumption of petroleum products in Nigeria has quadrupled; how could that be? So, what we see is something that is inexplicable. The United States has an energy department that has the consumption rate of all fuel you use all over the world. If you check their figures, the whole of West Africa doesn’t take up to 35 million of litres a day, the whole of West Africa and you tell me that Nigeria takes over 100 million litres a day and we are paying subsidies on this phantom figures. So, there are things we cannot explain. We all know that the APC has nothing to offer an average man in the South-east, who finds it very difficult to do business, who finds it very difficult to move about, even if he is an importer he has to come to Lagos and the cost of moving his goods to Abia is costlier than what he used to bring it from Europe to Lagos. So, how would anybody survive in this kind of condition? And now after everything they told us that if they remove the PDP from power, they will now give us electricity. I think that was what Mr (Babatunde) Fashola said then.

Now, they are telling us that electricity has fallen because it is the dry season and that the water level has fallen. The same thing they complained about under the PDP. So, you can see that these people came to power on the basis of an issue of propaganda, misinformation, lies and everything, they can no longer sustain it. Therefore, there is nothing for Nigerians to look forward to other than to bring the PDP back so that we can restore the country the same way we restored it from 1999 to 2015.

What is your take on the Igbo quest for the presidency? Will your party, PDP consider the region for its presidential ticket?

Yes, we are clamouring for a president from our zone because we think that every other part of Nigeria has had a shot at the presidency. But beyond that, we think that we have credible, competent and very qualified persons within the PDP from the South-east who can lead Nigeria and take it out of the problem that it has today. And we are also encouraging them that they should come out and contest; they should talk to people from every part of Nigeria because to take the cliché, power is not served a la carte. I am sure that we have many credible people from the South-East that can bring Nigeria back from the brink and the PDP looks good to win the presidency in 2023.

INTERVIEW: What I Find Most Attractive In A Man — Genevieve Nnaji

Genevieve Nnaji attends the 13th Annual Essence Black Women In Hollywood Awards Luncheon at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on February 06, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. Image: David Livingston

AZHU ARINZE’S CONVERSATIONS WITH SHOWBIZ STARS

How does it feel to have risen this far within so short a time?

I’m trying to handle it as much as I can. It feels fulfilling. I feel I’m having the best of my time. I feel the Lord is with me. I feel I have been able to make an impact on people and I have a lot of fans and I’m enjoying my life. It feels good.

To what or whom do you owe all that?

God’s gift, talent, determination, pride …

What do you mean by pride? They say it goes before a fall. And now you are saying it is responsible for your success?

You have to have pride to be able to stand the crowd, you have to have pride to be able to stand the intimidation and arrogance of people. Especially people who feel you have to pay dues to get to where you are going. You have to have the pride and stamina to tell them boldly you know what you are doing; they didn’t bring you to the industry, you will leave when you want to and you leave because you want to.

Where do you want to or hope to be in the next 10 years?

In the next 10 years, I know I will be married with kids. But I think it all depends on what God has fashioned out for me. I know I will still be in the entertainment industry or the fashion world or whatever.

What do you like most about stardom?

The fact that it opens doors for you is what I like most about it. You walk into a place and every other person is queuing up for one thing or the other, they just start to recognize you. Oh! come in, come in… it’s actually a door opener for us or for me. It has brought respect, especially when you do what you are doing well. What I hate most about it is the price that we get to pay for stardom- negative publicity, the untrue scandals; actually, the only thing I hate about is the bad press.

What will you say is the worst story ever written about you in the press?

So many bad things. But the one I hated most was the one of Fred Amata and I, which I don’t know where they got it from. It hurt me so much. It was not just fair.

How do you feel anytime you read negative things about your person in the media?

Certainly, I don’t feel good…

What if the stories are true, but maybe you were not expecting them to be published?

It’s rarely been the truth . Maybe a bit of it, but that’s not how it happened. The press never tells the story the way it is. It’s usually a bit from here and a bit from there. For a very long time, they have not written anything true about me…

How did you come into the movie industry?

I have been acting since I was eight in Ripples. that was how I got into acting. For movies, I think that should be 1998 in Most Wanted. I met Torino (Emeka Ojukwu) in a bus and to my greatest surprise, he recognized me, from Ripples, when I was about eight, nine. He asked why I left the industry. He later invited me to this audition- Most Wanted. I got a role, a ‘waka-pass’ and that was it.

But the story we heard was that Kunle Coker brought you in and that both of you even dated?

Yes, Kunle Coker was actually my boyfriend. But he did not bring me into the industry.

What do you find most attractive in a man?

The fact that a man will take me for who I am, not for what he hears or what he believes. I like people who take me for the me they see. That’s the most important thing. And have regard for me. And trust too.

What do you think is the biggest mistake that men make with women?

Everyone makes mistakes. But to me, I will not tolerate any man who

hits women. To me, that’s evil.

Do you believe in love at first sight?

I believe in infatuation at first sight. Love is a very strong feeling. It does not just come. People think infatuation is being in love. They are two different things. You don’t know anything yet until you get to meet the person and you begin to fall in love. Not just physically, but externally with the person.

Can you recollect the first time you fell in love?

Yes!

Tell us about it.

I think we met at a show. This was when I was in secondary school and we shared a lot of things in common- singing. It was a case of two compatible people who were so much in love with each other and…

So, what eventually happened?

Like I said, relationships must come and go. You can’t help everything that happens. Some things just happen for no reason .

What’s your definition of love?

Love has to be understanding, caring. Love, to me, is being with somebody for 24 hours without being bored. Love is catching your breath every time you see whoever you are in love with· Love is friendship, love is understanding and love is trust.

Do you believe in being faithful in a relationship?

Yeah! I’m very faithful.

Can you date a fan?

I’ve never dated a fan. And I don’t know if I can. But people come around to toast as per fans. But it’s a matter of nicely telling them off. There are different reasons why fans like or love artistes. So, it actually depends on why my fan loves me. It depends. Although, I don’t think it is advisable to date a fan. The reason being that people are in love with what they see on the screen, not the real you.

What’s your greatest wish?

That God continues to bless me. Especially with the right man and a good family.

What’s your favourite colour?

Blue.

What are your hobbies?

Singing, dancing…

Let’s have your bio-data. People don’t seem to know much about you?

I’m from Aboh-Mbaise in Imo State. I went to Kemistar Nursery and Primary School, Surulere; Methodist Girls High School, followed by one in Ikeja. I kept on moving. But ended up at Girls Secondary School, Akwakuma in Owerri, Imo State.

Why have you not furthered your education?

Life is not the same for everybody. Some people are so lucky, they come out of secondary school and they go straight to university because they have the back-up of people and it’s so easy. It looks simple…mine was different. But I’m determined. Definitely, I’m gonna go back to school. I wanted to make money, I love my money, I cherish my own money. So, I will go back when I’ve made enough. But even while I’m there, I won’t stop working.

Tell us about your parents, what do they do?

My parents are there. My mum is a teacher and my dad is retired.

What was your dad into before his retirement?

He was a bank manager with African Continental Bank (ACB) …I’m the fourth of eight children, the third girl. We are four girls, four boys. I come from a very strong Christian family. And I think that has been able to have an effect on my life, especially since I came into the industry. You see, even when people go out to say all sorts, my mother knows the kind of daughter she has. She knows the limit that I can go.

She must have been devastated when you took in, in your teens?

Well, well …I think so.

What was your childhood like?

My childhood was fun. It was fun. You don’t get to get all that these days.

What’s the greatest complement that has ever come your way?

My complexion.

.......VANGUARD

‘She Waged A War’: A Daughter’s Intimate Look At Nigeria’s Most-Decorated Figure

Chidiogo Akunyili-Parr

BY ASHKLEY OKWUOSA

TVO.org speaks with author Chidiogo Akunyili-Parr about her mother, Dora Akunyili, and how she battled discrimination and death threats to take on corruption

In 1988, Dora Akunyili’s sister died after being given fake insulin to treat her diabetes. It was not an isolated incident: estimates suggest that up to 80 per cent of the drugs in circulation in Nigeria at the time were counterfeit.

Akunyili, who’d earned her PhD in ethnopharmacology in 1985, would make the fight against fake medicine her life’s work.

In 2001, she became the director-general of Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, where she worked to reduce the circulation of counterfeit drugs in the country. Not long into her tenure, the BBC reported that her team had confiscated £140,000 worth of fake drugs.

Akunyili also relied heavily on public-education campaigns. While her efforts were successful, she received death threats; in 2003, she survived an assassination attempt after a bullet shattered the windscreen of her car and pierced her headscarf.

Eleven years later, Akunyili died of cancer. She is said to be the most honoured Nigerian ever, having received more than 1,000 awards.

Earlier this year, Akunyili’s daughter, Chidiogo Akunyili-Parr — a Toronto-based author and speaker — published a book about her mother’s life titled I Am Because We Are: An African Mother’s Fight for the Soul of a Nation. TVO.org speaks with Akunyili-Parr about her mother’s legacy, hope in politics, and the importance of interdependence and community.

TVO.org: For those who might not know your mother, can you describe her briefly and tell us what she represented?

Chidiogo Akunyili-Parr: She was at some point named “Man of the Year” — that’s the kind of person my mom was. She was called an Amazon by many people, so this is to say that she was a strong woman. She was very publicly recognized for the work she did while at the helm of the Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, where she served as the director general. And that work was very important because it is a sector that is the vein of a country.

All of us, every single day, put food and medicine into our bodies. Imagine if the food and medicine were counterfeit and doing the opposite of what they were supposed to do. It’s not nourishing you; it’s killing you. And this is not an overstatement. This was going on, and many people were dying, including my own mother’s sister, who died as a result of fake insulin.

She took the work to heart, and she waged a war. She called it a war against fake drugs. She didn’t do this alone; she brought the people of Nigeria along with her, sensitized them on what the actual problem was and empowered them to be a part of this journey. She came to the attention of millions, not just by virtue of her words but also by her actions and the 80 per cent reduction in fake drugs that happened in Nigeria.

She as a hard-working woman who was looking out for the well-being of the people. The people were very central to her. She really saw the power of shared humanity and guarded it, because that's what it means to be human and to be each other's brothers and sisters.

TVO.org: I recently watched a news clip from Nigeria’s National Television Authority that featured a tribute to her after her death. In the video, Nigerians here in Canada — in Ottawa — were mourning her death. One man said, “She gave us hope.” What was it about her life that affected people, even those watching from here?

Akunyili-Parr: Growing up in Nigeria, it was very common for us to sit around the dinner table and bemoan the state of affairs, politics, leadership. It was this hopelessness, and all we could do was just complain. Nigerians have had very few individuals that represented a new possibility for the country, so when she came along, it was exciting, because that’s what Nigerians have been desiring. She embodied that Nigeria that was in our hearts as a dream.

And how did she do this? She worked hard, refused bribes, and she had several assassinations attempts on her life as a result of saying no to compromising herself on this war against fake drugs. When you can see someone who embodies something that is otherwise sort of a dream, maybe dismissed as unrealistic — someone who doesn’t take bribes, someone who is not corrupt, someone who cares about the people… We had very much bought into that story that we’ve always known, but in truth is not who we are. She was a different story and has inspired so many others; we didn’t have to be that single story of what it means to be Nigerian.

TVO.org: There’s so much to be said about being a woman in politics and the sense that it is an old boys’ club. Can you share a little bit about what your mother experienced and how she overcame it?

Akunyili-Parr: A friend of mine just finished reading the book, and she said that it shows the struggles of women that shattered the glass ceiling, because my mother shattered expectations. But there are scars along that route; there's a cost to that. From the get-go, she stepped into this job with something to prove, because there were concerns that she couldn't handle it, because she was a woman. There was a cost to her family. She had six children; she was away all the time. But luckily, we were older when she got the job. At some point, there was a threat to her children. My little brother's life was threatened as a way of getting to her, and he had to be removed from the country.

But my mother's superpower was whatever you threw at her, she used almost as a weapon. So: “You think I can't do it because I'm a woman? I’ll show you.” Or “you think I'm going to be corruptible because of XYZ? I’ll do the opposite.”

“Try to kill me because I'm doing good work, and I’ll get even stronger.”

TVO.org: In this book, you write in her voice and tell her story. I wonder what you wanted us to take from her story and what you think she would have wanted readers to take from the story of her life?

Akunyili-Parr: I was very clear that this was not the unattainable story of a hero or a story for us to look at how amazing she was and be impressed by that. At the core, I wanted to tell a human story, a story that would help us realize that she was you and I — she was just a girl. She was just an Igbo girl who believed in herself and what she had to offer and whose values were shaped by growing up in a village, raised by her grandmother who was this incredible matriarch and had deep values that she bestowed upon her — values of hard work, of honesty, of community, and all these things that became part of who she was. She was just a person who felt pain like we all do, was heartbroken, questioned herself, had insecurities.

But there were some key elements that I anchor in the book: her faith and her own inner belief that there was a purpose to her life. In many ways, she's sharing who she is so that we can find who we are. She is telling you her story so that you can understand that your story is powerful. In the beginning of each chapter, I start with an African proverb, and one of the ones that people have really loved is “if you think you’re too small to make a difference, you’ve never spent a night with a mosquito.” And I think in many ways, that captures her life. She always believed that she could make a difference anywhere she was put. She started with a group in a local village, where she built a clinic. and then someone saw that and put her in a local government and so on. So, I would say that it's knowing yourself, stepping into the truth of who you are, and knowing that your story is being written and that you are the author of that.

TVO.org: Another major theme in the book is Ubuntu, which you describe as the importance of community over the individual. In these times, with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing that our own individual actions have shared consequences.

Akunyili-Parr: Ubuntu stems from different Bantu languages. It is an African humanist philosophy; one of the translations is “a person is a person to other people.” Another is “I am because you are. You are because we are.” Something that a friend who did a PhD in Ubuntu always makes sure to remind people of is that it’s not always about the human part of it; it’s also about recognizing the bigger world we are part of. Everything is interconnected, and everything is part of this very beautiful delicate balance.

My mother had this saying at the end of the last speech she made before she passed a few months later. She ended with “a society grows great when old men plant trees under whose shade they know they shall never sit.” And I believe that is the essence of Ubuntu — that interconnectedness is so delicate and so powerful. My mother’s life not just Ubuntu because she decided to show up, but in how she showed up. She was consciously showing up to safeguard lives, knowing that every life matters. She saw fake drugs as a huge problem because human potential is incredible, and when lives are lost senselessly, so is the potential they had to have contributed deeply to community.

This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.

Ontario Hubs are made possible by the Barry and Laurie Green Family Charitable Trust & Goldie Feldman.

Excellence, Job Quality Behind Our Success In Industrial Cleaning — CEO Som-Tee Group

9 NEWS INTERVIEW

BY NWANKWO PASCHAL

Somtochukwu Ezeaniomenyi. Image via 9 News

Somtochukwu Ezeaniomenyi is the Chief Executive officer, CEO, Som-Tee Group, a multilateral cleaning company in Anambra state. He is a young and dynamic Nigerian entrepreneur currently making waves in industrial cleaning business. Born to Igbo parents of Neni extraction in Anambra state, Somto, in this interview with LAWRENCE NWIMO x-rayed his experiences in the female dominated cleaning business and what triggered his passion to be an entrepreneur. He also spoke on the draw-backs hindering business and what government must do to help young entrepreneurs in the state and country. Excerpts:

Can we meet you?

My name is Somtochukwu Ezeaniomenyi. I’m a native of Umuabani Village, Neni in Anaocha Local Government Area Anambra State I am the Managing Director of Som-Tee Cleaning Services Ltd.

How was your Childhood days and family experience?

My growing up was fun. Though I was not born with a silver spoon, it was not too tough because I am the sixth child out of seven and the second boy out of three so I had siblings that are older, though there were ups and down, you know. I didn’t grow up in a first class family and because that, it was a tough fight, trying to make it through the primary, secondary and then tertiary institutions.

What was your childhood dream?

My childhood dream was to become an engineer but later switched my desire to becoming a lawyer.

Now, you are neither an engineer nor a lawyer, what happened to the both?

Well. Like I said, when I was growing up, actually, my first dream was to become an engineer because I loved constructing and repairing things. But that dream was shattered in my secondary school because I was bad in physics – so, I switched from Science to an Art class and my interest shifted from being and engineer to a lawyer because I felt I was very good in arguments. I never saw me becoming a professional cleaner or establishing a company for business, laughs.

What drove you into Professional Cleaning?

I started cleaning job immediately after my secondary education. Within the one year I stayed at home waiting for admission; I had a friend of my sister that was into industrial cleaning then. My sister linked me up to him and I was working for him as a laborer; that was in 2014 and I was being paid one thousand naira (N1,000) per day because I did more of the menial jobs. The nature of the job was tough for me at that time. Again, it needed strong hands but I devoted my time with him to learning the craft. I worked for him for ten days before he suddenly stopped calling me for works after he noticed that I was gradually learning the craft indirectly. As a result, each time I called my colleagues to know how far, they would say they went for work. Then when I ask my Oga, he would say ‘work no dey.’

What happened later?

On December 2014, A friend of mine whose uncle just finished building a house, convinced me to go and meet his uncle for the job. I had wanted to link the man to my boss because I was scared to take up the job myself. After much Persuasion, I later took up the courage to do the job myself with the little Knowledge I gathered while working with my former boss and the rest was history. That was the first contract I got in the cleaning industry and it happened to be the turning point of my life because from that day onwards, God made a way for me. As a matter of fact we have done over 600 cleaning Jobs and have worked for varieties of companies and individuals over the years.

Have you encountered any challenge along the line?

There were many challenges. One of our major challenges was Finance. There was no machine which made the work so hard for me and my Team. We were doing most of the jobs manually. it was so hard purchasing working equipments because I always rely on a job to purchase the materials needed. However, I don’t have a vehicle so I made use of the commercials; it was so hard to transport our working equipments to some locations. Due to some bad road networks in the state, some of our client’s locations are difficult to access. Again, most people in Anambra especially Onitsha where I started perceived cleaning as an ordinary work that can be done by anybody, this has resulted to many rejections from contractors and house owners, but so far we are trying to change the narrative. Also, after I gained admission to study at Federal College Of Education (Technical), Umunze in 2015, I was in constant battle, trying to combine work with Education. You know, my Education usually take all of January to September so, I usually face the heat period of ember months as cover-up for lost times.

Did you envisage continuing the work after school?

No. I wasn’t serious with the job in any way because I didn’t see myself continuing with it after school. It was more of part time or casual work.

Were there other things you did to survive in school within the January to September months?

Yes. I could remember I sold face caps and shirts around 2016/17. That aside, I was into interior decorations. I decorate people’s house; paintings and the rest. I was also doing some menial labours like job man, site work and even served masons. In 2018, I learnt how to do Sharwama and also ventured into doing that too. I did Hypeman job in clubs too. I was doing anything legal called work and I did all these to survive.

Why did you decide to go into cleaning having been exposed to these numerous jobs?

Well, when I finished my NCE program in 2018, I asked myself: what next? Because I realized I needed something to sustain myself. The works I do then had all been part time and among them all, it was cleaning that gives me the profit to believe in. I found out it is something I do with passion. Cleaning work doesn’t come always but when it comes, I take it with love. So, after graduation, I continued with it and was only keen to develop it. At a point, I started surfing the web on industrial cleaning and noticed that it is one of the biggest industries in the world. I noticed it was not too conversant in Anambra state then, I decided to carve a niche for myself in the area.

At what point did you decide to have a Som-Tee as a brand?

In 2020 during the lockdown season, the vision was to build a standard company and not just a one man company in cleaning industry. That’s why I’m building it as a company; a brand in the industry that would be running even in my absence. I did not want the legacies I had set over the years to just die off. So, I had to set it up to a standard with vision of where we are going to.

Cleaning is a female dominated field. How does it feel competing with women?

It has not been an easy task. In fact, you can count the number of men in this industry. Sometimes, you find out that site owners have sisters and female friends that do the cleanings for them. However, what has kept me going is excellence. Because it is usually my clients that recommend me to other clients and it is due to our job quality. Over the years, I have found refuge in recommendations. Most of the big jobs we have done so far were gotten from recommendations and referrals and it is due to the excellence in my work.

Are there times you felt like leaving the industry considering its competitiveness?

Of course! There were times I wanted to give up on the industry. It is very competitive and demanding. People outside might not really know these but it is we that are into it that know the level of competition here. You can see people that just started cleaning business yesterday and today, they have all the machines available and you’re still struggling. So sometimes, especially at the initial stage, when the needed finance was not there to acquire certain machines, I felt like dropping back.

Why do you refer your company as a conglomerate?

Som-Tee Group is a conglomerate because we are designed to deal in Everything Cleaning. Som-Tee specializes in all kinds of cleaning Ranging From:

Domestic/Residential Cleaning which includes Regular Cleaning, Deep Cleaning, Janitorial Cleaning, Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning, Polishing of Tiles and Bricks.

Industrial/Commercial Cleaning which includes Post-Construction/Renovation Cleaning, Facility Management/Maintenance, Retainership Services, Training/Mentorship and General Consulting/Contracting.

Environmental Cleaning which includes Waste Management and Disposal, Estate/Street Cleaning,

Drainage and Sewage cleaning, etc

We also have plans of Venturing into Production of Cleaning Substance and also Sales of Cleaning Equipments and Materials. Laundry Hubs, Car Wash are also in the pipeline.

So Som-Tee Group is a Specialized Conglomerate of Everything Cleaning, We are building a company that would be a sort out company when it comes to Cleaning.

What stands your brand out from others?

We offer credibility and excellence. Like I told you before, what has kept us so far over the years is excellence. Our staff works with passion because they see the passion in me. I didn’t start cleaning because of the money I was making but the passion I have for it. So, excellence is the watchword and any house we are called to clean, we clean it like our life depends on it.

You established the company even before you graduated from the university, what was the secret behind the feat?

It was Grace from God. I wouldn’t have been here as a fresh graduate and an owner of such a brand without His Grace. It was not an easy journey physically but it was His Grace that kept me going. I finished my NCE in 2018, and by 2019, God made this company even grew bigger. In the process of my Degree Education, being able to combine it was a very rough and risky journey but His Grace was there to see me through.

Would you consider going into other sectors if given the opportunity?

Well. Like I said earlier, Som-Tee Group is a conglomerate. We are working towards branching into so many things. We are working towards production of different cleaning materials, sales of cleaning equipments; importation of different kinds of machines for cleaning, procurement services and lots more. Our vision is to build a standout company that can handle anything cleaningIf any opportunity comes aside these; I can grab it as well.

So far, could you name your biggest achievement(s)?

My biggest achievement, so far, is being able to run this company for the past seven years.Som- Tee at seven, many things happened. Building this business up to this level and handling over five hundred jobs alongside going through school and acquiring Two Certificates in Education. That has been the biggest achievement of my life so far.

How many jobs have you been able to create through your conglomerate?

My company has been able to create no fewer than 50 jobs for youths in Anambra state. Both Fulltime and part time.

Where do you see your brand in the next five years?

We should be among the top class cleaning conglomerates in Nigeria because we would be all round in the cleaning industry including environmental, commercial, residential and domestic cleaning. We would also be all round in supplies of cleaning machines and products. So, in the next five years, expect Som-Tee Group to operate beyond the shores of Nigeria by the grace of God.

How well do you think Anambra government has done in creating business opportunities and what is interesting about Anambra man?

Anambra state has done well in all ramifications, such as natural resources, oil and gas, urbanization and structural planning, culture and tourism, religion, education, entertainment, business and politics. Anambra state has improved drastically in all of these sectors over the years. Anambra State has list of notable men and women both old and young in all sectors both in within and outside Nigeria. The people of Anambra are known for being Industrious, hard working and Smart. Despite some challenges they face when it comes to governmental structures and policies, People of Anambra are known for their resilience. They have shown great courage in striving to survive no matter the Economic Situation in the Country. Being Onye Anambra is something one should be very proud of. The people of Anambra are known for their resourcefulness and they are associated with Success and progress Regardless of the conditions surrounding their environment. I am proud of being Onye Anambra.

What triggered your passion to be an entrepreneur and how viable is doing business in Anambra?

To many youths in Nigeria, becoming an entrepreneur might seem like a scary and high risk taking journey, but to me, this unpredictable adventure seems like the perfect path that my life should take. There are many reasons that triggered my passion to be an entrepreneur. I have always admired great and Successful entrepreneurs. Seeing successful people inspire me a lot to become successful. This gives me the hope and makes me believe that becoming an entrepreneur will allow me to network with people who have already built great businesses. I believe that I have enough potential to find the next profitable idea and change the lives of millions of people.

Being an entrepreneur gives me the freedom to explore my creativity. There is a saying that goes thus “Different Strokes for Different Folks”. People have different callings in Life. Being a 9-5er doesn’t feed my burning passion for creativity and innovation. I feel like I am simply doing what the society expects of me instead of making a difference in the world. It is through starting my own business that I get to freely express my creative ideas and fulfill my dreams. I became an entrepreneur because I see it as a mandatory journey to take. A strong fire in my heart makes me believe that I have a strong purpose in the world that surpasses the reality of being an employee. As an entrepreneur, I am driven with the need to succeed and control my own destiny. Owning a business gives me no limitations on the profit and opportunities that I can gain.

I look out to manage projects with high stakes because I have enough confidence to execute them. I love the act of betting on an idea and watching it develops, it makes me smile. I have always wanted to use my company to impact people’s lives and also improve the economy with new job opportunities. I am passionate about helping people more than the pursuit of material things, I derive priceless joy when I offer my service to people and see the happiness and joy it creates in them. That is even more than any reward I can get from a Job.

How viable is doing business in Anambra?

Anambra State is one of the fastest growing states in the country. Like many other states in the country, Anambra state is faced with its own unique challenges. However, due to its fast growing economy, doing business in Anambra is rewarding and Profitable. Doing business in Anambra is very promising and I believe that with persistence, perseverance and Consistency which entrepreneurship requires, I will definitely succeed in an economic driven state like Anambra.

Being someone that started from the scratch, would you say government is fair to the youths?

Well. I would say government has been fair to some extent but there are still rooms for improvement. Government still needs to empower the youths because if they are empowered, they would do more. We have lots of youths doing many things. We have youths with visions. If they are empowered with loans and grants, in the next few years, there would be powerful indigenous companies in Anambra state. Again, when youths are empowered, it would reduce the burden of employment on the government.

Aside loans and grants, do you think there are other things youths need to be successful entrepreneurs?

Yes. Youths need to plan. A youth will succeed when he plans himself very well. You must have a mapped out business plan consisting target audience and areas. When you plan yourself very well, work towards it. Have team members on the edge working and doing their specific duties from their own angles. Though there might be setbacks along the way but if you do your risk management very well, you would be able to cope. But you must plan first.

You are a man of diverse skills, you hold TRCN, NCE and B.Ed certificates, and do you see yourself becoming a teacher someday?

Well. I don’t know what God has in stock for me but I always hope for the best. I wouldn’t say I will not accept it if the opportunity to lecture or teach comes but it would all depends on the condition attached to it. I acquired the certificate quite alright and so if I am meant to practice it, it’s on God.

Would you consider using the skills you acquired as a teacher in training youths on industrial cleaning?

Sorry I didn’t mention it earlier. Part of the conglomerate is Som-Tee Training Academy, where all our newly recruited staff is given sound training. Soon we would be organizing seminars to teach people who are ready to learn the craft so as to establish their own company in the future.

Are you single?

Yea! I’m still single.

How do you cope with female admirers?

It is a big challenge anyway but God remains God. I have been in series of relationship in the past but now I’m working on myself and my future. I want to develop myself before thinking anything about relationship again.

Do you have role model(s)?

Yea! My number one role model is Dr. Stanley Uzochukwu, the CEO of Stanel Group. He is my Boss, Father, Mentor and my overall Chairman. Ever since I met him, my vision has widened. I also have the likes of Arc. Chukky Ezenwa, CEO GSS Group, Tony Elumelu, CEO Heir Holdings, Dr Cosmas Maduka, CEO Coscharis Group, and lots more. They are the people I look up to and wish to become like someday.

What is your advice to the youths who may want to toe your path?

In as much as they go to formal schools, every youth should learn a skill no matter how small it is. Having a skill is more or less a second plan. There are skills in writing, producing and even in the tech world. There are many skills that can be acquired in the tech world. It is good to learn and practice a skill. We should also have a vision of growing the skill to make something out of it and above all, always pray to God.

Anambra: How We Got Soludo To Run For Gov - Kate Azuike

SUN NEWS INTERVIEW

Mrs. Kate Ifeoma Azuike, a former manager with the Niger Insurance Plc, is the women leader of Ndi-Igbo Amaka, a socio-cultural organisation, President/Founder Ada-Ife, and leader of the women wing of Soludo Support Group, Lagos State chapter. In this interview with VERA WISDOM-BASSEY, she spoke about how she and others convinced Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo, former Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria to run for the governorship election and how they mobilised Anambra people to vote for him.

What is Ndi-Igbo Amaka association?

It is the umbrella body that oversees the supervision of all the markets in Lagos. We have about 58 markets; all the heads of markets leaders in Lagos belong to this group. It foresees all issues in the markets in the state. As a result of this, for a long time now, there has not been any closure of markets in the state.

Is the association meant only for the Igbo or is its membership open to everyone?

It includes Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, as long as you are trading in the markets. Our activities cover you, not that you partake in the meetings. It covers everyone in the markets, and we collaborate with the government in running the affairs of the markets. We also have our executives in the government. They inform us on what the government wants and does not want from our markets. So, we are the forerunners of the government.

What do you hope to see in the 58 markets you made mention of?

You know sometimes, last year, the military men went to Ladipo market and killed one person. But immediately that thing happened, we went there to calm the situation. We discussed and came to a conclusion. Even the army men involved saw what they did as wrong. After the incident, with the way we handled it, such an incident can never happen again. At times, we set out a programme whereby leaders would visit markets to create awareness for the traders on how to live peacefully with others and do their businesses. We teach them how to avoid trouble and keep the law so that nobody will harass them, at any time.

How do you handle disturbance from touts and area boys?

When you visit Trade Fair to purchase goods, nobody will disturb you today because everyone has their boundaries. They have laws guiding them. So, the executives make sure that they obey. But where the association cannot handle them, they turn to us in Ndi-Igbo Amaka Association, which happens to be a bigger umbrella.

I understand that you are also the leader of the women wing of Soludo Support Group?

Yes. It was from being the woman leader of these other associations that I became the women leader for Soludo Support Group (SSG) in Lagos State. We started the group in Lagos before we moved to the East. Those in Anambra followed us and mobilised others during the election. But we in Lagos worked hard to make sure we informed and mobilised people about the governor-elect. We talked to people about the suitability of his candidacy. We said if he becomes the governor things will become better for the state. He will do what he did at the Central Bank by turning the banking system around. We started two years before he declared an interest as a governorship candidate. We as a group went to him and asked him to vie for the governorship election. We told him how his election would affect the state including children unborn because we know what he can do if he eventually wins. We also compelled people to go down to the state and cast their votes, and many of them did.

At what time did you convince him to run?

He said he wanted to think over it when we told him. He had run in 2015 but did not win. But this time around he wanted to take his time and think about it. But later he called us to say that he was ready. He wondered if APGA (All Progressives Grand Alliance) would allow him to run. We visited the APGA chairman and they accepted him to run for the party. We were so happy when APGA declared him their candidate. Then all of us in Lagos went down to the East and started grassroots campaigns, going from village to village.

We noticed that the election in Anambra was generally peaceful. Why was it so?

It shows that Anambrarians love Soludo; it will happen again in the presidential election. If God gives us the right person that the people want, you will see that the election will be very easy.

On March 17, Soludo will be sworn in as Anambra State governor. What is the way forward for him?

As soon as he won the election, he quickly went to work. He inaugurated an 80-man committee and put in place: Call for expansion of interests, the Anambra Talent Data Bank. Soludo wants his administration to be open, and not based on man-know-man. That is if you know what you can do for Anambra State, send it into the box, and tell us what you can voluntarily do for the state. When they go through it, so many people have been filling out the form, and if you can prove what you said you can do, that person will be called. I know that after he leaves office, many people will emulate him on how he developed their state. Things will be done on merit and not man-know-man

What do you see Anambra State becoming under his leadership?

We want the state to become the second Dubai; we want that wherever an Anambrarian is, he will be agitating to go home. What our people built in Lagos and Abuja, we want it replicated in the state. But this time around, things will be well-structured and it will work with plans, not just anyhow. The data box is open to everybody from Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Delta and other states in Nigeria, so that what you learn you carry back to your state. This brings development. And people who see what he has done will say:” ah, I never knew that this thing can be done.”

What’s your advice for women who aspire to be in a leadership position like you are?

First of all, they should know their God, have a cordial relationship at home with their husbands and be open to them, so that they can advise them when they are going wrong. They should believe in themselves, and leave out fear of the unknown and move forward and aim high. And, by God’s grace, they will get to their goals.