My father scuttled my ambition to become a soldier

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Prominent lawyer and human rights activist, Olisa Agbakoba
(SAN), speaks with TOFARATI IGE about his career
and other issues

What are some of
your most memorable childhood experiences?

That would be when I was in Jos. We had a very idyllic,
cosmopolitan and absolutely restful and stress-free country. Jos
used to be known as the town on the plateau but sadly, it is now in
turmoil. I remember with great fondness how I used to play football
and ride horses. I remember how the different ethnic groups used to
associate with one another without strife. Compared to today’s
major challenges, the plateau has been turned into a killing field
and there is no peace between the Fulani and other ethnic groups in
the area.

Considering how different things are now, when do
you think the change began to occur?

The coup of January 15, 1966, was the first signal that there
was something changing for the worse. Unfortunately, the coup gave
the impression that it was Igbo-generated. Although I am Igbo, I
know that wasn’t the case. The initial perception of the coup in
the North was that of excitement. However, when they began to see
the way the killings of politicians played out, the mood changed.
Between January and May 1966, the whole country fell apart. We had
to leave Jos at that point. That period marked the beginning of the
ethnic challenges we face in Nigeria today.

What can you recall of your civil war
experience?

It was painful. I was very young then. At that time, Biafra was
shrinking and it needed to boost its army so there was a massive
call for soldiers to join. However, nobody wanted to come out; so,
they had to conscript people. I was 13-year-old at the time and I
was conscripted. The political and social structure of Biafra had
fallen apart at that point; we were direct victims of a failed
process. We were quickly trained and sent to fight.

What was the most ghastly experience you had as a
child soldier?

While in training, there was a guy we nicknamed Immortal because
he seemed almost invincible. During training, he always withstood
everything thrown at him. However, on the first night we went to
the battlefront, the man we least expected to die was the first
person to go down. He was felled by a rocket-propelled grenade and
he had a massive hole in his chest. That was the most graphic
experience of the war for me. After he fell, we were disillusioned
and disheartened and to make matters worse, it was raining heavily.
The rain was even worse than the Nigerian soldiers that were
advancing. We simply disengaged and stood down at that point. The
following day, we pulled back to base and regrouped.

How did you feel about the recent agitation for
Biafra by IPOB?

I have always known that the Nigerian people are different from
Nigerian politicians. From 1960, politicians have always
manipulated people. All the coups were never with the consent of
Nigerians; it was all about raw power. In all the governments we
have had, there has never been a popular one. They have always
managed to come to power by divisive use of ethnicity, religion and
other things. Once they get to power, they forget the people. The
only government that has stood for the people was that of Obafemi
Awolowo. The Sardauna of Sokoto and Michael Opara of Eastern
Nigeria also made impact.

What are your thoughts on
restructuring?

It is the only way to go. Nigeria was thriving back then because
it was a balanced federation. I am actually not comfortable with
the word ‘restructuring’ because it puts fear in the minds of
people who may think it means breaking up the country. The bottom
line is that we need to balance the federation and distribute power
in a responsible way. We need to decide among ourselves (which we
have never done since 1914). All the constitutions we have had have
been imposed. They have never allowed the people to have a real
say. For me, it is simple. Give power to the region where they have
the most competence; then allow the Federal Government to do the
things that are common to all Nigerians. Things like CBN, foreign
policy, defence institutions, should be handled by the FG while
things like education, health, refuse collection, agriculture,
housing, among others should be handled by the states. The Federal
Government has no land, so why does it have ministries of housing
and agriculture? The governors have been reduced to ‘boy-boy’ who
go to the centre every month to collect cheques, pay salaries and
go to sleep. That’s why 90 per cent of the country is
unproductive.

What schools did you attend?

I attended lots of schools. For my elementary education, I
attended Government Primary School, Jos. For my post-elementary
education, I went to an international American school called
Hillcrest School, Jos. Me and my brother, Gozie, and an Indian boy,
Peter Adams, were the first non-whites to ever attend the school in
1961. I then went on to Zixton Public School, Ozubulu, Anambra
State; and Christ the King College in Onitsha, before the war broke
out. After the war, I went to the College of Immaculate Conception
in Enugu. For my HSC, I went to Government College, Ughelli, Delta
State. I then attended the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, to study
Law. Upon completion of Law School, I travelled to the UK for my
Master at the London School of Economics and Political Science,
which is a very vibrant law school. The school radicalised my law
thinking and made me see law as a social tool. If I hadn’t gone
there, maybe I wouldn’t have come into the civil rights movement.
We were taught that law is a major tool for social change.

Were you influenced by your lawyer father to study
Law?

My experience in the army was a very enthralling one because I
loved the discipline there. My dream was to become a soldier and I
fought hard to get into the Nigerian Defence Academy. However, my
father managed to use guile to keep me away from there. He didn’t
allow me to know the time for the exams into the NDA. Along the
line, he suggested that I should sit for exams into the UNN and
when I was offered admission, I gradually forgot about my desire to
become an officer.

What sparked the interest for civil rights activism
in you?

There was no halleluyah moment; it just came. However, there
were several small moments which I can, with the benefit of
hindsight, say led to it. When I was imprisoned by (the late
Biafran leader, Chief Odimegwu) Ojukwu, I felt bad by how the
prisoners suffered. When I started my law career, I also had a lot
of cases from inmates of different prisons in the country. My study
at the LSE can also be said to have triggered the interest in me in
some ways. In my early days as a lawyer, I wasn’t satisfied with
getting private fee-paying clients; I found more satisfaction doing
public-interest cases. I also found that you can actually combine
your private clientele with the need to pay back the society. Forty
years down the line, I am happy that I have a reputation as one of
Nigeria’s premier public interest lawyers.

Where do you draw the line between your fee-paying
clients and your public interest cases?

In cases like this, it is ideal for one to create institutions
and you wouldn’t have problems. For my fee-paying clients, I have a
very strong brand, Olisa Agbakoba Legal, and I don’t interfere with
what they do. There is a managing solicitor, who runs the practice.
I just bring my expertise and experience to bear on the practice.
For my public interest outlook, the first institution I created was
the Civil Liberties Organisation where I was the president for
eight years. I never did anything personal and there was no clash
of interest. If I had a case in the fee-paying side that might
conflict with my public interest angle, I would simply exclude it.
By extension, this is what Nigeria needs. We need strong
institutions and not strong men. The institutions would then drive
the process.

How did you start your practice?

I started small. At a time, I was unfortunate to be caught up in
then British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher’s hateful policy on
immigrants. I was previously paying £900 in my first year as a PhD
student before she increased the fee to £4,000, and I couldn’t
afford that amount. I then applied to the university to convert my
internal Phd to an external one. When I returned to Nigeria, I got
into the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, where I
continued with my PhD. However, I got bored with research and I
decided to return to law practice.

My wife was the legal adviser of Michellin at that time and she
helped me to get my first job.

Can you recall the first case you
handled?

There was a particular client who had retired from the civil
service and he decided to invest in fish business. He didn’t have
knowledge of the business and he didn’t seek advice. He imported a
ship load of fish heads but the container developed a small leak
and water got into it. When it got to Nigeria, all the fishes were
rotten. He came to me for advice and I told him that unfortunately,
he wouldn’t have a case against the insurance company because he
didn’t insure comprehensively against the leakage of the container.
He eventually lost the case and he died not too long after because
he couldn’t recover from the loss.

On the public interest side, one of my early cases was also in
the maritime industry. It had to do with the exercise of powers of
detention by (Tunde) Idiagbon (who was the Chief of Staff during
President Muhammadu Buhari’s military regime, 1984-85) of my client
in respect of something that had nothing to do with national
security. Even though we lost the case, it became the locus
classicus for a long time relating to Decree No. 2 cases concerning
how judges exercised power to review the power of the Chief of Army
Staff to detain people.

When was the breakthrough moment in your
career?

There are a lot of moments like that but the highlight of my
career was when I became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

What led to the creation of the Civil Liberties
Organisation?

It was by accident. My mind was already motivated towards public
interest issues and I had been chatting with people such as Pat
Utomi about the state of the country. Also, a brilliant youth corps
member, Clement Nwankwo, joined in my practice and he had done a
lot of work on prison reform issues. Then, there was
one-time The Guardian judiciary correspondent,
Abdul Oroh, who knew a lot of prisoners. He told me about a
prisoner, Joseph Odogwu, who had been unlawfully detained for about
nine years in Kirikiri. We look at his case and we saw that there
was no reason for his detention. We brought all the legal processes
to bear and we freed him. The result caused such frenzy because his
case was typical of thousands of prisoners in Kirikiri. Suddenly,
we had a rush of people who appealed to us to take up the cases of
their relatives who were in similar positions like Odogwu. We then
decided to form CLO to deal with prison cases. It was much later
that CLO expanded to political and democracy issues. There are many
lawyers who are billionaires but I’m not one, yet I feel privileged
to have been involved in lots of civil cases over the years. I feel
more fulfilled.

Why did you create the United Action for
Democracy?

That was because we found out that there were many organisations
such as the CLO, CDHR, among others that had the goal to achieve
democracy for Nigeria. I felt that if we united our activities, it
would be more effective. The UAD was basically formed to bring
together and channel the various strengths that we had. It worked
because the UAD was able to shake the former Head of State, Gen.
Sani Abacha, with the five million-man march that we had in 1998.
Abacha had told the world that no one was challenging him and he
had become the adopted presidential candidate of the political
parties in the country. People like the then US President Bill
Clinton bought that argument because he felt that nobody was truly
against Abacha. The five million-man march was the stone that
cracked the myth in Abacha’s mirror.

What was your experience during the five million-man
march?

I was beaten. Abacha had told the then military administrator of
Lagos State, Buba Marwa, to quell any protest. When Marwa came back
to Nigeria, he told journalists that he had drawn a line in the
sand and he was waiting for the activists who would dare to cross
it. I immediately responded that I would cross the line. So, on
that day, we engaged, but barely two minutes into the march, I was
hit by a policeman very close to the eye. I was just lucky because
I could easily have been blind after that incident. I was then
taken to the Western Avenue Police Station. From there, I was moved
to Panti, to Awolowo Road, then to Kingsway police stations in
Lagos. I was later moved to Enugu and I was in detention till
Abacha died. However, I don’t care about the personal suffering I
underwent. I am just happy that it led to democracy. Abacha could
not control things after that incident.

How did you feel when Abacha died?

I was happy when I heard the news, because I would have been
dead if he didn’t die at that time. It was obvious that he wanted
me dead.

Didn’t your wife and other family members express
reservations about your civil rights activities which sometimes led
to your arrest?

They never did. My wife was solidly behind me. Of course, my
family was concerned but they knew it was something I had decided
to do, so they all supported me. They never tried to dissuade
me.

You were part of the defence team for the late Ken
Saro-Wiwa. What can you recall of that
experience?

It was a very trying and exhausting time. We had to go from
Lagos to Port Harcourt every day. However, Ken was a very solid
guy. He knew he was going to be executed but he was resolute to the
end. That was the same thing that happened when I met Gideon Orkar.
He knew that despite the charade of the court martial, he was going
to be executed.

One lesson I learnt during that experience is that you must be
resolute and strong in all things. Gani Fawehinmi was the leader of
our team and his strength also helped us immensely because he was
fearless and ruthless. We had a clash with an army unit in the
court and the commander threatened Gani to repeat what he said in
court outside. Gani repeated the same thing outside the court and
the military commander dared him to come to their camp. Gani and
the rest of the team then went to the military’s camp. Gani’s
supreme confidence overwhelmed the army and that incident remains
indelible in my memory.

What can you say about Ken Saro-Wiwa that people
don’t know about him?

He was a jovial and simple guy. He also liked his drink and he
was cerebral. He was a master dramatist and I am sure that if he
were alive, he would have made Nigeria proud on the international
scene.

You once contested the presidency. What are your
takeaways from that experience?

I just did it to show that there is no big deal in being a
presidential candidate. That was the same thing Gani did with his
National Conscience Party. We simplified and demystified the
processes and that was what I wanted to achieve.

However, the insight I got from the experience is that because
majority of the electorate are illiterate, poor and easy to
manipulate, you don’t always count on your national popularity.
Gani was crushed when he didn’t win the election and he told me so.
He had a simplistic view of the Nigerian electorate. Having had
about 50 years of fighting in the public’s interest, he thought
that was enough for people to vote for him; but that’s not how it
works. However, let’s see what would happen in 2019 and how the
social media would diminish the role of money in Nigerian
elections.

In response to a letter you wrote to him, former
President Olusegun Obasanjo asked you to offer yourself for
leadership. Would you be taking up his challenge?

I have already done that. Personally, I don’t have to run for
president. That is why the National Intervention Movement was
formed, and since then, a lot of manoeuvres have been going on.
Buhari has declared but we don’t know how far the APC is intact.
Someone like Omoyele Sowore has also declared. That would have been
ridiculous four years ago but he declared and people are taking him
seriously; no one is laughing. Our engagement has led a lot of
people to start thinking about changing this government. Voting is
ongoing already; the results would only be declared next year. If
we are to go to the polls today, Buhari (APC) and the PDP would
lose.

How would you describe your relationship with
Obasanjo?

It is a good one. In all my meetings with him, I always told him
that I thought he could do better. Obasanjo is someone who has
energy and brilliance but I don’t think he took full advantage of
the opportunities that God gave him. He is a very strong man at 82.
He is the most brilliant president we have had since 1999 but he
did not deploy all his brilliance.

What progress has NIM made since its
formation?

It has come very far. You ask this question because political
movements are not physical structures. If for instance, NIM has 50
offices across Nigeria, you would think to yourself that it is a
very strong force. NIM is about changing the minds of the people
and we are making a lot of progress with that. We have created
structures across Nigeria and we are presently in 600 local
government areas. We have launched different programmes which may
not be apparent but they enrich people. We are at a point when we
want the political movement to endorse a political party. I think
what would be new in 2019 is the emergence of original political
parties and right now, we have two – AD in the South-West and APGA
in the South-East. The most important thing is to hold on to our
base of angry, unemployed youths between the ages of 18 and 40,
which are about 30 million people. In the last election, these
people did not vote. If we are able to push the voting population
to 30 million, we are going to deliver the next president because
people are angry. Our last building block is to identify a
candidate. A lot of things can still happen before the election. As
a matter of fact, if I was Buhari’s strategist, I wouldn’t have
advised him to declare his ambition at the time he did; I think it
was too early. Having declared, he has given the opposition time to
get prepared.

Why do you think Buhari is not the right man for the
job?

His policies, programmes and communication are wrong. In the APC
manifesto, they promised to deal with restructuring but they didn’t
do that until recently which is believed to be just a political
move. Insecurity has also not been adequately dealt with. I think
President Buhari’s image as a man of integrity is phantom. I don’t
think he is corrupt but the cabal he surrounds himself with is
corrupt. The selective nature of the anti-corruption crusade is
unbelievable. I am not sure he has a grip on his government and
that is the same thing that happened to (former President Goodluck)
Jonathan. Jonathan is my friend and when I met him several times, I
told him these things. I actually voted for him in 2015 because I
was aware of Buhari’s poor human rights record.

What type of president do you think Nigeria needs at
this time?

We need a man in suit; not agbada. We need a smart guy, not
someone that is overweight. He must also communicate well and
inspire pride in people. He should also be someone with ideas.

Aren’t you embarrassed by the several corruption
allegations that have been levelled against Jonathan’s
government?

I am not embarrassed; I am shocked. My perception of Jonathan is
that he is a simple and good man. I think he was misled but I’m not
sure whether I’m right. I think he was also too simplistic and
detached. I wish he had been more engaging. Wherever he is, I am
sure he would be regretting why he didn’t listen to people like
us.

How did you meet your wife?

I met her in 1974 at the university. I had a very good friend
called Maxi Okwu and we were in the class of ’73 together. I also
had another friend called Ngozi and Maxi liked her so much. So, I
told her that she ‘must’ date my friend even though she had a
boyfriend at the time. They began dating and they liked each other.
After some time, Ngozi told me that she was also going to get me a
girlfriend and she match-made me with her friend, Lilian, who
eventually became my wife. At that point, I hadn’t had a girlfriend
before because I was non-challant towards girls. It took me about
two months to even agree to see her, and the rest, they say, is
history.

What qualities did you find attractive in
her?

She had a strong personality which I liked. She was also lean
and attractive and she was always clear about what she wanted. We
have been married for 44 years now.

How did you propose to her?

She knows that I am a very shy and withdrawn person. So, while I
was in London, she made sure that she settled all the marriage
issues, knowing that if she allowed me, I might never do it. It was
even her mum that got me my wedding ring. I am not a romantic
person as such and my wife understood that.

How have you been able to create balance between
work and family?

I don’t work after 7pm. I don’t work on Saturday too and I
switch off my phones. You would mostly find me at home on weekend
and holidays. I like to spend time with my six grandchildren. You
would have to pay me a lot of money for me to work on weekend.

Did you influence your children to take up careers
in law?

No, I didn’t. Only my first daughter is a lawyer and it was
purely her decision. My second daughter has three degrees but she
is now an executive chef. My last daughter is a medical doctor but
she now practises as a photographer. My children have taught me
that you must be very careful in selecting their career paths; you
must be sure of what they want. It pleases me that they are all
happy in their various fields.

What are your hobbies?

I used to have a lot but now, not much. In my early age, I used
to play football, squash and tennis. I also used to go out a lot.
In my later years, I have switched to more conceptual things like
reading history books and autobiographies, among other things.

How do you like to dress?

I always like to appear smart. For my work, you would usually
find me in blue and white shirts and sober suits. For casuals, I
change. I am a pop guy. I have all the colours such as yellow,
green and olive among others.

Culeed from Punch