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Olusegun Osoba: At 85, I Have No Regret In Life

 Former Ogun State Governor, Aremo Olusegun Osoba marked his 85^th year birthday anniversary with a book launch which attracted important dignitaries from all walks of life. As a governor, he remained one of the most charismatic chief executive to ever ruled over the Gateway State. As a journalist, the erstwhile Managing Director of the defunct Daily Times Group imprinted his footprints in the sand of times as one of the most influential journalists in the political history of the country. He shares his life and professional experiences in this exclusive chat with OLAWALE OLALEYE

 

What does it feel like to be 85 years old?

Well, it’s all in the mind. Truly speaking, I keep wondering. I always ask myself, too. Am I really 85?  Because, when I was younger, people above sixty, we called them Baba, Pa, and to be seventy then was seen as an achievement. I thank God that I advanced to 85 years and I feel quite alright with myself. I tell you, I don’t play with my doctors instructions and advice.

 You are not just alive to be 85, you seem very healthy. It may be hard to find a contemporary, as agile, hale and healthy as you. How have you been able to maintain a healthy life and safe living?

I must confess to you. First of all, as a true Nigerian, I attribute everything to the grace of God. But I can tell you, one of the major attributes that one needs is to learn to do everything with moderation. Whatever may be the case, even the food you eat; you must do it with moderation. It is very important. And give yourself a total rest of mind.
You must have contentment. I don’t envy anybody. And I don’t use anybody as a parameter or barometer for my own life. I believe in myself. I live my life the way I want it. And I don’t envy anybody. Secondly, I hate to carry an issue overnight. Because, if I envy somebody and I carry it overnight, I don’t sleep well. So I deal with all issues during the day.
There was a time when I was governor, I had to tell some of my close friends, who were strong and close enough to tell me the truth. People like Oba Otudeko, Peter Àjàyí – they were friends who would tell me bluntly what they felt.
We usually talked almost every night. At a point, I had to plead with them that if they found something wrong that I was not doing well, they should not be telling me in the night, they must tell me in the morning, so that I would have dealt with it during the day to avoid carrying it overnight. So, you must give yourself total peace of mind. As I repeat, contentment; don’t be envious and you live the rest to God

So, what do you do with your time since you no longer work?

With this order of internet platforms and connectivity, there is so much to read. In fact, I get bombarded that I struggle everyday to catch up. For example, as a politician, I have 7000 thousand contacts on my phone. So, coping with “happy Monday”, “happy Sunday”, “happy new month”, “happy these and that”.
Then I belong to so many platforms. Old classmates, clubs. They don’t like me to pull out. Professional websites and platforms, there is so much to read and with modern day technology, events happen so fast.
News happens so fast. I am a curious reporter; I have always wanted to be up to date. But one thing I do is that I rest as much as I can. I listen to my body. It is very important that one should listen to your body talking to you. If my body tells me not to get up, I don’t get up. As a result, I always mute my telephone all night and I don’t open my telephone before 12 noon.
I don’t answer calls before noon. By then, I would have had my early morning sleep, which is the best and when I get up to start the day, it’s like that till midnight or sometimes past midnight. So, again, one must be in charge of one’s activity and importantly, listen to your body and obey your doctor’s instructions.

Given the many curves that life has taken you, did you ever think that you could actually live up to 85?

Well, when I look back, for example, my News Editor at Daily Times, Animashaun, left office and was heading home. I don’t think he was up to 40. Driving home, he died in his car. He must have had a heart attack. And when I look at some of my friends, who died young, I used to wonder whether I too would live beyond the ages of those young ones who died. Well, thank God, now I am 85. I never thought that I would live up to 85. So, one must be doing Thanksgiving everyday.

So, was there any time that you ever gave up on life?

Never! I am an optimist. I give myself rest of mind. I don’t think I have cause to regret my life at any stage. I can tell you I’ve lived it well at every stage of my life. In my younger days, myself, Gen Babangida, Gen Ike Nwachukwu, Air Marshal Abas, Air Marshal Bello, we used to paint Lagos red in our younger days.
I have no regrets. I thank God at every stage. I live it up and enjoy myself. In fact, Kabiyesi, the Awujale of Ijebu-land is always telling me that if I slaughter a ram everyday in thanksgiving to God for what He has done in my life, it is not too much. Kabiyesi is 90. He used to tell me that, watching me, at every stage of my life, I had the best of everything. That I should always be thanking God every day, which is true.

85 years on earth could actually make you an encyclopaedia on life’s many issues. But what is that one lesson that life has taught you such that you’d love to share for people to learn from?

If you read my book, my autobiography, you will find that I said, ‘Battle Lines: Adventures in Journalism and Politics’. One thing that I will say is that one should never give up, no matter the circumstances. Be battle ready. And if you’ve read ‘Battle Line’, you find too many challenges that I went through. And I thank God I had the courage never to give up. Never! Never to accept defeat.

Life is made up of good and evil. There can’t be one without the other. With the benefit of hindsight, is there anything in life you would have loved to do differently or in the best case scenario, undo, looking back?

Each time I look back, I can’t find anything I would say I regret. No, If I have to go through it again, I don’t think I would do anything differently. No regrets at all. In everything I did, I have no regrets. None.

Olusegun Osoba is a household name.  Interestingly you made this name as a journalist and not as a politician that many reckon today. How does that make you feel?

I always feel good within myself, because when you look at many who have been governors in the country, whether military or civilian,

many who are still alive have been forgotten. I tell my children that one thing I would do over and over again is to be a reporter. Being a reporter is a university by itself. You get to know so many people. You get to learn a lot. You get to develop contacts. For example, my daughter gave me a grandson in March. She is to come back home this week to be around for my 85th birthday and she had to go and get an emergency travel certificate for the little boy. And she came back so elated and happy, that, getting to the High Commission in London, the name Osoba was so respected that she was given virtually a VIP treatment and she came back and said, “Daddy, I wonder how you do it.”
I said well, that is part of the grace of God that I gained as a journalist and not as a governor. I have forgotten that I was a governor. In fact, when PDP rigged the election in 2003, I just decided to return home. I didn’t go to court. In spite of the fact that Gen Buhari proved in court that the election in Ogun State was grossly rigged.
And the election was cancelled by Justice Tobi, who was the chairman of the presidential election tribunal. I didn’t want to force myself on Ogun State. I wanted to serve, and if they said “no more”, why not? I returned home and gave myself peace of mind. The goodwill that I enjoy at all levels, is more than enough for me. It gives me great joy.

Again, you didn’t just make a name as a journalist, you also made very expensive contacts at the highest level of leadership in the country. How were you able to balance it, without conflicting your professional obligations?

Well, you will see, like I tell you, there has been no head of government that I was and still not close to. Right from Tafawa Balewa to Gen Yakubu Gowon. Ironsi was the only one I wasn’t close to, but his was short. His time was short. Murtala Mohammed to our Obasanjo, Obasanjo to Shagari, Shagari to Gẹn Buhari, Buhari to Babangida.
Abacha I knew even as GOC in Ibadan before he became Head of State. Although he was after me to kill me because he felt that being close to him I should have gone all out for him. Then from Abacha to General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Abubakar back to Obasanjo. Obasanjo went back to Yar’adua, whose brother was very close to me as Chief of staff to Obasanjo then. We developed a very close relationship.
Then to Jonathan, who I knew when he was deputy to Alayemesigha, and from Jonathan back to Buhari and now to our first progressive president, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. There has been no president in this country that I don’t know. So, balancing the situation, I can tell you, the training that we had from Baba Jose was very influential to my attitude. I never compromised my professional standard with all the connections that I had. If I had wanted to make money, anything I asked or be an agent to some businesses, I would have made millions.  But never! I will give you an example. General Mobolaji Johnson was my House Captain at Methodist Boys High School and he became governor. And he was the one that allocated most of Victoria Island. As close as I was to him, one of my classmates was his commissioner, Rasheed Gbadamosi, and my boss, Odunewu, was also commissioner in his cabinet. I never asked for land in Victoria Island.

You will not believe that it was when Mudashiru became governor. Mudashiru grew up in Isalẹ Eko, and married one of the sisters of my classmate, Babayemi. It was he who was shocked to learn that I didn’t have a single sand in Lagos as Managing Director of Daily Times. He was the one who, by force, allocated a plot to me in Lekki.

It was the first government land that I have had all throughout my career until I became the MD of Daily Times. I never had a plot of land in Lagos. It was shocking to Mudashiru. And he paid off for me. Because, all these people I mentioned have respect for me and those of them who are still alive still have tremendous respect for me.
I still enjoy that goodwill. I did not compromise my professional ethics and standards. It paid off for me. Anything I wanted, up till today, I got it done. Up till today, I have never had any government business or contract that would create any scandal for me. So, I am lucky. The benefit of it came in different forms, for me.
I can tell you that even as Governor, I was never a candidate of EFCC or ICPC. Overall, that goodwill will come through other sources for you to get on in life.

 Is it not surprising that at 85, you still enjoy referring to yourself as a reporter. What really is it with you and journalism?  

I used to tell people that we, the reporters, are the infantry belt. We are the foot-soldiers of journalism. Anybody can be a columnist. Anybody! You don’t have to get any special training to be a columnist. In fact, in my younger days, Tai Solarin was one of the best columnists in Daily Times. Yet he was not a journalist. He was an educationist.
Anybody can be a writer. You can express your opinion as a columnist, that doesn’t make you a journalist. In my days, there were desk people, sub-editors, who would plan the pages and edit our stories. Yes, I agree. But they were in the background. We were the ones who went out and took risks. We were the real soldiers on the battle front. And that’s why I take pride in being a reporter.
Professor Akin Faleye propounded a theory that, even in heaven, there would be reporters because God himself will communicate to us who are in heaven. If there is going to be communication, there must be reporters to disseminate the information. So, why would I not be proud? In my life, I am a reporter, and when I get to heaven, I will still be a reporter. So, there is life after here for me in heaven.

Everyone’s prayer for you is to live many more years in good health, but at 85, are there things you still look forward to before the universe calls time on you?

Nothing! I just do thanksgiving to God.  I always say, I don’t pray to have an aircraft. I don’t want to buy aircraft. I don’t want to buy Rolce Royce. The vehicles that I have for now will still last me for the next five years. The only thing I do everyday is, the Bible teaches us to count our days. If I am going to live until 90, I have about 2500 days from now to ninety.
And I always asked myself, what will I be doing for the near 3000 days. Because if I live until ninety, nobody can say that I didn’t live well enough. So, I always want to get the best of everything in the daytime. Rest well. I don’t eat much, but the little I want to eat I want to eat quality food. If there is anything I enjoy most, it’s music. So I give myself the best and relax.
I have worked all my life and want to spend the rest of my life living a relaxed and enjoyable life. Sam Amuka used to tell me that when he is 90 years, he would like to go and he would be 90 next year on June 13. And I have told him that we won’t let him go at 90. The mother died at 108. So I told him that when it’s 106 or 107, we would force God to take him away then.
Like him, I thank God. I live to count my days, count my weeks. So, if I live to be 90, I still have about 300 weeks left. Why shouldn’t I give glory to God everyday and enjoy every day of my life to the best of my ability.

Lastly, what is family to you? And where has family always been in all that life has thrown at you, even at 85?

Well, I thank God that I have a good family. I have only one pity, that all through my life as a journalist, I devoted all day, all night to the profession. It is in old age now that I try to give as much as I can to my grandchildren what my children didn’t have. As a successful journalist, you have to be hard-working all day. You don’t go to bed until the paper goes to bed. And that is not before midnight. So, my grandchildren are the ones I am giving it all to. I look forward to my grandchildren and enjoy their company.