Whoever Is Calling Me A Thief Are Raining Curses On Themselves & Their Families– Bode George

Chief Bode George, former Deputy National
Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party – South
and convicted chairman of Nigeria Port Authority,
in a recent interview tells why he will keep on
fighting until he shakes off the ex-convict tag.
Are you a thief?
I can refer you to the judgment because it’s already in
the public view. At least, the judge was honest
enough to say ‘no kobo was missing’ . It was the
greatest convoluted conspiracy that I have ever seen
in my life. But you know, as a Christian, if you have
belief in God and your faith is very strong, you
don’t get shaken .
First of all, if we split contract, it would be for whose
benefit? I’m not a contractor; the company did not
belong to anybody on the board, so in whose
interest? Two, nobody brought a contractor, whether
they executed the job, whether they were paid the
money, we just finished and the rest was left to the
management. Whether they even awarded the
contract, I didn’t know. I’ve been keeping quiet but
the public must know this and those that have
been writing ex-convict think they are abusing me,
but they are raining curses on themselves and
their families and it will happen. In the name
Jesus, all who are convolutedly involved, it will
happen to them.
People think that Bode George stole money; whoever
is putting it down is raining curses on himself,
anytime he writes that. Let him go and find out
exactly what happened.
The debt portfolio of Lagos is unimaginable. God will
not forgive these people. While Lagos is getting broke,
Bola Tinubu is getting richer. I went to his village in
Iragbiji where he hailed from, he said he went to
Children’s Home School and Government College
Ibadan, I asked my junior friends who went to GCI,
Ibadan, none of them knew him. What’s his real
name? Is his name Bola? What is his family name?
The chief of staff to (Rauf) Aregbesola is his blood
brother. He also has an older brother who retired
from the Federal Ministry of Foreign affairs.
When his real mother died, he didn’t go to Osun. I
went to the Oba of Iragbiji, I said we were going to
ship him back home. That was at the peak of the
campaign. They told me the primary school he
attended, no secondary school, no-nothing. Suddenly
he came back and said he had a CPA, that’s the
equivalent of ACCA. He didn’t even have an APC, he’s
a jiver.
Is your state pardon justifiable?
I haven’t been given any pardon, we served the term
and we’re still in court. I’m still an ex-convict, but we
will fight it. My family has decided we will fight it.
Justice Salami was involved when we thought we
would get justice. We went to the Court of Appeal in
Lagos, they presented the case. During the course of
discussion, Keyamo was saying we should have raised
the issue of fiat before and they gave a ruling during
that trial that you can raise the fiat issue even at the
Supreme court. But when it got to the final judgment,
they reversed themselves.
How do you feel when people refer to you as an
ex-convict?
Laughable, when God gives somebody talents and you
exhibit that talent with humility in the belief that
you’re doing His work- not your work- no matter all
the firing from sidewalks, it won’t affect you.
Why are you still in politics despite the stain on
your reputation in the public eye?
There is no law that forbids me from exercising my
voice and my rights, and vox populi, vox dei- the
voice of the people is the voice of God. Throughout
the 18 months I was in Kirikiri (prison) , the whole
place turned into a Mecca because the people knew
that it was a convoluted conspiracy. Everywhere I
went in the South West, people would say, ‘oga come
and do this, come and do that.’ Should I fold my
hands? I believe in the awesomeness of the
Almighty God, He never told us that we would not
have problems and failures but when you crumble
and don’t stand up, then you have failed. Any man
who has achieved greatness in life and says that
his way was a freeway all the way, is a liar.
I was reading the latest book of Mandela-
‘Conversations with Myself.’ The opening paragraph
states that the prison cell is the best place for you to
discover yourself, because there, no distractions. You
will see yourself in true perspective, what you have
done, what you haven’t done, where you have been
fair, where you were not, where you have deceived
yourself, you will see yourself in totality, and then the
choice is yours. Even if you committed an offence and
beg for forgiveness, he’s always there.
And the day I left, that can never be wiped away
from my memory. The night before, all the security
agencies in Lagos- Director of SSS, Commissioner of
Police came and said they wanted me. Mustapha was
there and he said ‘oga, don’t follow them,
remember this was how they bundled me one
night here’, because the whole place was dark.
They came to my room and said I could go home , I
said ‘in this night, so that they would say Bode was
escaping and I would be shot in the back.’ It was
around 9 in the night; I said ‘no’, I would wait till
tomorrow morning. And at the cathedral, the
provost had to stop the service for some time
because people kept coming in. We thought it would
be a one hour service but it went on for about four
hours.
Who arranged for the church service?
I asked for it from the prison, I was going straight to
the church.
Why was that?
If you remember those who served prison terms that
were political, many of them didn’t come out. I never
went for any medical treatment throughout the
period; I never went outside that gate.
The day they let me out was the first day I set my foot
outside the prison gate since I got in. You say I
shouldn’t be thankful to God. My wife was shot. They
shot at her car while I was in the prison. She didn’t
do anything throughout that period. Every blessed
day, including Saturday and Sunday, she was there.
And my friends, they were there everyday, the bullet
went through the door and got stuck because the
person was on a motorcycle, so he couldn’t aim well.
The car is still there.
For you to survive the place, having been at the level
which you came and survived, where else would you
go, to go and socialise? What are you socialising? My
church was coming to give me communion in the
prison. You must have God on your side to survive it,
because before you know it, the devil will swing your
mind and you would set yourself into depression. As
a general, you just work out your programme quickly
and adapt.
How did you feel when the pastor said ‘go and sin
no more’?
That young boy that said it, he had leanings with the
opposition. He was in Form Four when I was
Governor of Ondo State. I was livid but I was in
church. This young man would not derail my
thanksgiving to God Almighty; the crowd was
unprecedented. Sin against who? I went the following
morning to challenge the provost; they said ‘no, that’s
not what he meant.’ I said ‘you don’t know this boy,
he is an apologist to Bola Tinubu and co.’
Another bishop came to church and said he was
shocked when he watched it. He said that man should
go on the altar and ask for forgiveness from God
because he does not know who Bode George was.
When I came, they invited me into the vestry, and
asked ‘why did you decide to come to church?’ I said
where else do you think I would go? Go to Okija
shrine? I was healthy, even those who saw me
thought I didn’t go to prison.
’ So when this young man was talking garbage there,
you know, you can’t respond there. I went to the
provost; this was an anomaly, a misnomer, absolute
rubbish, I didn’t come here for this boy, of course,
nemesis caught up with him too. They’ve taken him
out to a smaller church, that’s where he deserves and
the bishop that came said he watched the programme
on the TV and was very angry.
You said you were not guilty, so how did you take
the comment by former President Olusegun
Obasanjo, when he described the fanfare as a
celebration of criminality?
That’s true, Baba (Obasanjo) said that we were
celebrating criminality and I was shocked . I was
really very shocked. How could I have organised rally
from prison to the church, to gain what? I was the
director-general of the national campaign that
brought late President Yar’Adua and Jonathan on
board, would I now say that I wanted to test my
popularity? The popularity started from the very
day we were convicted. From the first day, people
were trooping in there. So on that final day, people
came to rejoice, to say thank God, you’re alive, you
haven’t lost your memory, you haven’t had a stroke.
How did you explain your troubles to your family
while it lasted?
My fear first of all was my mum and my sister did
a marvellous job. Thank God my father is late; I
don’t know how he would have taken it. But my
mother is pretty old, about 90 years.
I was always travelling so they told her that I had
travelled, until the day before I was released, when
they told her that I was coming back. Until she got to
church and saw me; that was when my sister now
told her. And you see, it’s not new in the family, she
came from the Herbert Macaulay stock, and Papa
Macaulay went to jail several times fighting for
Nigeria. So she knew that once you’re in politics,
these were the fallouts and so she understood.
Then, she heard on the radio one day and the people
were now quoting Baba (Obasanjo) to say we were
celebrating criminality. And you know, when they
translate that in Yoruba, it could be weightier. She
called me and asked, is it true he said you’re a
criminal? But I said no, Mummy, it’s not true. I
asked her, am I a criminal? I heard that one
journalist asked Baba about the fallout between me
and him, they said Baba just lost his anger on him.
Whatever it is, I am here and I am home. And I pray
that God will give me more good health and I’m going
to put all my thoughts in my memoirs. This is for one
major reason, that the up and coming Nigerians
would read them and learn from the experience of
the old people. I’m going to be 70 in another one
and a half years. My mission now, having had this
experience, having seen our people, is to mould them
together, to forget about personal ambition. Let our
nation be united for the cause of our people.
All this pettiness, in-fighting are absolutely
unnecessary. If there had been n o struggle or fight
between Baba Awolowo and (Ladoke) Akintola,
the South West would have gone far ahead today
economically. That fight tore us to the ground. The
petty fighting is gradually raging now in the South
West PDP. The general one is not a problem.
Are you friends with Obasanjo now?
How can you say I and somebody older than me are
friends? Baba will always be my Baba. Of course, I
was angry and I’d tell you. I worked with him like a
soldier should work with his boss; your loyalty should
be more than 100 in minimum. I never asked for
anything, never. That is the soldier in me, let it come
from your boss, Baba is still alive, you can ask him.
Just do your work.
And on the day when the zoning thing had been
concluded and that it was going to the South East, we
thought the zoning for the chairmanship of the party
would come to the South West. When Baba said Bode
was not going, that the chairmanship of the party was
going to the South East, so be it, I said ‘as your lord
pleases sir.’ I still went ahead and fought for Baba,
defended him when people were going against him.
When we were having the Board of Trustees
Chairmanship thing, I was still the deputy national
chairman, I stood my ground there that day, I said
‘no’, so what was it? But rumours, but I didn’t believe
any rumours.
Yes, we disagreed on certain things but it was not a
fundamental thing. I knew Baba because Stella (his
late wife) and I grew up together in Lagos , we were
age group.
My first wife, Feyi, at that time, we were very friendly
with Baba. It was a reporter that came and said that
Baba said this. We were planning to have a thank-you
visit with 20 local government chairmen from Oni of
Ife’s palace, greeting people and ending up in Baba’s
house. When I heard it, I said, no, it’s not true. The
reporter said he was waiting for my reaction. He
brought a press statement. It hit me like a bullet. I
turned my chair around, but I said you know, I don’t
believe that Baba said it and if he said it, I’ve left him
to God and his conscience. That was all I said. It
wasn’t a fundamental thing, it was like, from my
experience and age, I was abandoned. That’s how I
felt, because I did not commit any crime.
So how is your relationship with Obasanjo now?
No problem. Like I said, in the interest of this nation,
in the larger interest of the Yoruba people and in the
interest of our party, I have swallowed my anger and
my pride. Who am I? Yes you can be annoyed but no
matter the annoyance, it must not last more than 24
hours. So I thought what was I angry for? Here I am;
they pulled me up in spite of the efforts of those who
wanted to sink me.
The more gold spends time in the heat, the better the
experience. All I know is, I will not steal government
money because no matter how long, nemesis will
catch up. If it doesn’t catch up now, it will catch up
with your children. God will revisit it. I’m not a poor
man and I’m not a rich man. I’m not a contractor and
I don’t have the patience to go and sit in front of
someone’s office waiting for contract. Amassing
wealth, building mansions, go round Ikoyi here, all
those tall buildings, nobody is inside. If they had set
up businesses to employ or give scholarships to
people to encourage them, those generations will
continue to bless them.
How do you hope to rebuild your reputation?
I don’t believe I lost anything. The convoluted
conspirators played their role but they didn’t hit me
one second. From my background and my family
background, it didn’t make a damn difference to me, I
must tell you that. If you fall, get up and go and God
said you will have obstacles. These jokers cannot
pull me down.
I told you, when I came out, what they wanted to do
was bury me alive. But the people said ‘no.’ They say
ex-convict, fine, they say that. Anywhere you will
invite men to come and talk, I will say my own and
that they can’t take away from me. Even that is an
added value because as a person who has gone to
prison and come back, out there, you are on a higher
pedestal. I see life better. The one who has seen the
top of the mountain and been to the bottom of the
valley is wiser. People seek you for support because
they see you as a leader.
Would you compare Obasanjo’s government with
that of President Jonathan?
Well, I didn’t serve in government, I was in the party
and I can talk on both. At the time Baba came, the
international community was getting tired of military
administration, so Baba was a midwife to see this
country is back on democratic tenets. We should be
able to do this and achieve that and he was able to
do that. They wrote for the forgiveness of our debt,
that’s why we had enough money to do so many
things. Nobody, no individual can finish every job. No
nation finishes the job.
The roads were bad, education, health, everywhere
was bad, etc, where were we? Obasanjo came up and
said look, we have to get back. By the end of 2002 to
2003 for the second term, this same crisis started.
Because Baba said he would face the management of
the polity and the international communities to bring
it up because of his international connection and that
Atiku should face the politicians, then 22 governors
came up and looked Baba in the eye and said, baba
you’re not marketable. I’m not joking, I was there. I
looked at them and thought, what,this is an insult.
That was the beginning of the crisis. That was worse
than this. Time that should have been spent to make
the system work was spent on the struggle.
He tried his best, particularly in telecommunications.
He did all he could. Of course, eight years was more
than enough by law, he should go and he left. We
tried to stabilise the PDP. Then, Umaru Yar’Adua
came, very intelligent and committed. I worked closely
with him but because he wasn’t feeling too good,
some hawks went into him and took charge and
almost derailed all the things he wanted to do.
President Goodluck Jonathan came, a selfless man.
His humility is beyond my comprehension and people
are taking that for granted. His government has done
so much. For the first time, the Federal Government
bond is being listed on the New York Stock Exchange
and we say we are not moving. I’m not saying we are
there but it’s a positive beginning.
What do you think about the PDP crisis?
For the umpteenth time, big man, big problem in the
local parlance.
PDP is the only party from the swampy forest of
the south to the savannah region in the north. I’ve
campaigned snaking through this country and there is
no hamlet you don’t find PDP. When it was
established, conservatives, liberals came together as
individuals and not as tribes. It was Chief Bola Ige
who wrote our constitution and also designed our
flag. He sat and worked with Ekwueme, Ciroma and
others at the time, progressives working together that
established PDP.
I see Nigeria in our meetings, we will have this kind of
crisis, they are not fundamental crises, because it is
when they become fundamental that they are
irretrievable. Politics is the management of the
resources of a nation for the betterment of the
people. Politricks is the management of the resources
for the individual pockets. It’s normal and natural
to be ambitious but the corporate interest of
Nigeria is more important than anyone.
Source: Punch Nigeria