Tinubu destroyed the politics of cohesion in the South-West –Kofoworola Akerele-Bucknor
By VINCENT AKANMODE and ADEOLA BALOGUN
Published: Saturday, 18 Apr 2009
Former Lagos State Deputy governor, Mrs. Kofoworola Akerele-Bucknor, throws a fresh insight into the acrimony that existed between him and the then governor, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in this interview with VINCENT AKANMODE and ADEOLA BALOGUN



How would you sum up your life experiences in the last 70 years?

I will say life has been an eventful one, full of ups and downs. I have had my own fair share of good things. I have had my own fair share of tragedies and disappointments. But we thank God. When I sum up all that, I will say, as the song goes, count your blessings. I can count my blessings.

Tragedy is a strong word. Do you want to expatiate on that?

Well, when we talk of tragedy and disappointments, these are things that happen in one‘s personal life. I don‘t know whether it is a tragedy when one loses his parents, but to me, that is a tragedy because both my parents are gone. I lost my home, this house, to fire in November 2007. It burnt to the ground and I lost all my possessions. I came out only with my night dress. That, for instance, is a tragedy. But we thank God, I was able to rebuild my house with all my savings.

How did that happen?

Nobody knows. One morning, we were getting ready for the funeral of my late egbon, Mr Richard Bucknor, it was a Saturday and I had decided that I was going to sleep late. But suddenly, my phone rang at about quarter to six, and I was wondering who could be disturbing me that early. It was my tailor who said that my clothes were ready and whether he could bring them. I said he could bring it around 9 am. About three minutes later, he phoned that he was at my gate. I was somehow annoyed that someone had come to disturb me early on a Saturday morning. So I got downstairs, gave the house maid the gate keys to open the gate for the tailor. I went upstairs to get him money and luckily for me, one of my boys spent the night with me when he was not able to go because of heavy traffic the previous night, and we were downstairs together. Luckily for me again, by the time we all went up, the ceiling had collapsed on his bed. He shouted fire, fire, and we brought out all the fire extinguishers in the house to put the fire out. I saw my cook of over 30 years battling with the fire, and when it appeared that the fire might overwhelm him, I told him to stop and asked everybody to leave. We all ran out, we called the fire brigade but the first team that came from Awolowo road didn‘t even have a vehicle. Luckily, the fire brigade of Eko Hotel came. When they ran out of water, the Ilupeju team came but they didn‘t come with sufficient water. I asked them to take water from the well, but they said they didn‘t have a pump. The house was burning until the late Mr Samsideen Ojikutu, husband of the former deputy governor of Lagos State, they live on the next street, came to the rescue. He was the one that paid for the water trucks because all my money was gone. We lost everything and I only came out with my night dress. It was even Mr Ojikutu that gave my son something to wear. So, that was a tragedy.

You spoke of losing your parents, how long did they live?

Well, luckily for me, they lived till ripe old ages. My father died in 1983 and my mother died in 2003, three months to her 90th birthday. I had them for a long time.

How was growing up with them?

Well, in fact, I was brought up by my grandmother and she was a typical Lagosian. Though she came from an aristocratic family, she was very strict. But she was a very loving woman. I can say she loved me and I loved her dearly. She taught me so many things in life. She taught me how to sew. She taught me how to knit. She taught me how to take care of the home. Even though I came from a privileged background, I had to learn everything like how to wash my clothes, clean the house and cook. Even up till this day, even if I don‘t have a housemaid, people are surprised when they see me do all these things myself.

So, you have an aristocratic background?

Well, I suppose so, but I don‘t think it was ever something that anybody emphasised at all. The only important thing was to face your studies, get yourself good education and work hard, and of course, honesty and integrity.

And you had a good education,

Oh, I did, both in Nigeria and abroad. I went up to secondary school in Nigeria, but I didn‘t complete it here. My parents sent me abroad where I completed my secondary education. I studied Law in Grays Inn, London.

But you never practised law.

No, I didn‘t.

Why?

It was just because of circumstances. When I wanted to join a law firm, my father was arranging for it, then I got an offer to come and work for the Voice of Nigeria, from the BBC. Then I freelanced for the BBC. They just started VON then and they were looking for people. That was how I decided to follow journalism, which I studied after Law.

What was your experience abroad?

By the time we studied abroad, there were very few black people. It was only the elite who went abroad then, so people were not used to seeing black people. In fact, they thought we had tails. I remember one holiday when a girlfriend of ours took us to her village in Switzerland. I remember that one woman looked surprised when I spoke, and she said, ‘Ah, it speaks!‘ instead of ‘she speaks‘ (laughs). She asked whether she could touch my hair and my skin because they had not seen a black person before. There were also levels of discrimination then.

Were you angry with the woman?

No, I was simply amused because I saw it as ignorance on her part.

You spoke of discrimination…

Of course, there was. But luckily, my grandmother bought a house in London and I spent my holidays there. Then, there were actually notices that said ‘‘no black, no dog or Irish‘‘ at that time.

How were you able to cope with that?

Well, it really didn‘t affect me because in the boarding school I went to, everybody was treated equally. In fact, I rose to become Head Boarder in the school. There was no discrimination; it was based purely on merit and your performance.

You took up journalism immediately after your studies?

Well, I was freelancing with the BBC, I was doing some programmes on African Service. There I was headhunted to come and work for VON. In those days, once you were qualified, a job was waiting for you. Even companies were scouting for qualified persons to employ.

Would you have preferred to study journalism rather than law?

No, I would still study Law, though I never practised it. I always say I would do that later on, but I still have not done so.

You also ventured into advertising,

Well, let me put it this way: I was in VON, and as you all know, pay in the public service is not much. So I had a better offer from an advertising firm and I became a client service manager. And then the indigenisation policy of the Federal Government came and I started my own advertising business.

How was university life then?

Oh, full of fun. We had a good set of Nigerian students abroad and we all moved together, people like Professor Akinyanju, Professor Akinsanya, Professor (Mrs) Grange. It was good fun.

Was there where you met your husband?

No, I met my husband when I came back to Nigeria.

How?

Well, I was invited to a cocktail party by a minister from the north then, the late Bwala Buka Shettima, and there was where I met my husband. I was not particularly interested because I was just introduced to him. But the next day, I just saw him in my office at NBC and he invited me to dinner.

With your aristocratic background, how did you get into the activism of the NADECO days?

I come from a very principled family and also a political family. My father was the late Dr John Oni Akerele in whose house in London the Egbe Omo Oduduwa was founded. In fact, he was the president while the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the secretary. They founded the egbe together before it was brought to Nigeria and then it became the Action Group. So I had that political background. In fact, my father encouraged me to go into politics.

But since you resigned your position as the deputy governor, you have been silent politically.

No, I don‘t think I have been silent. I have been speaking, but the PDP, my party, is a different party entirely, unlike the AD where anyone was allowed to speak for the party apart from the official spokesperson.

Did you have to defect to the PDP?

Well, we were hounded, those of us who formed the AD, we were hounded out of the party. I am sure you must have read all sorts of things in the newspapers, all sorts of false accusations. We had to go when one person decided he was going to take over the party and anybody who did not join in that enterprise became his enemy.

How did you cope with the acrimony between you and the then Governor Tinubu?

Well, I think I am a strong and principled person. I don‘t allow anything to shake me.

Maybe that was why you had problems with the governor then…

No, because I don‘t allow anything shake me?

But the kind of personality clash between the two of you…

No, it wasn‘t a personality clash at all. It was a question of somebody planning to take over the party because he had further political ambition and anybody who did not join him in that enterprise was regarded as his enemy and had to be hounded out of the party. For instance, the chairman of the party at that time, the late Alhaji Ganiyu Dawodu, had to be removed because he did not support him. And I must say that the late man was a very good chairman of the party.

Some people attributed your problem with Tinubu to the fact that you were imposed on him by the Afenifere, that you were not his choice.

Well, I think Afenifere formed the party. Tinubu was not an Afenifere. He was abroad following the NADECO days. The platform belonged to Afenifere, we only gave him the platform because he came to join us. Therefore, could Afenifere have the governor, who was not part of them, to choose anybody he liked? That you were given the platform does not mean that we had to hand over the party to you. Afenifere had to have a stake in the party as well, and that was why I was chosen to be his running mate so that Afenifere could have a stake in his government.

It was also said that you were not submissive to the governor as his deputy…

I don‘t know what you mean by being submissive. Should I go and kneel down to greet him in the morning? I was submissive, because there was nothing he asked me to do that I didn‘t do. From day one, Tinubu had decided that because I did not support him in his idea of taking over AD, supporting Atiku for the presidency, that I had to go. That was the crux of the matter; it had nothing to do with submission. Ask him whether there was anything he asked me to do that I didn‘t do. He just didn‘t want me in government because he felt I did not support him in his enterprise.

But some people said it was an ego problem…

No, it was purely political. It might be ego on his part because I think he had an ego problem.

What would it have cost you to support him?

It would have cost me my principles, because I am a very principled person. I can not abandon those who put me in a place, let‘s face it. Tinubu talked about winning the primaries, he didn‘t win any primaries. The decision was taken that his name should be sent forward because some of Funso Williams’ results came in very late. That was what happened.

What is your relationship with him now?

Well, I don‘t have any relationship with him because I hardly see him. Occasionally I may see him at functions.

Do you greet when you meet?

If he greets me, I will greet him; I am older than him. But if he doesn‘t greet me, I stay where I am, after all, I don‘t think we are companions. He may have been a governor but we are not companions.

Is it true that Tinubu was compensated with the governorship seat because of his financial assistance to NADECO?

I don‘t know what he did for NADECO, because certainly he didn‘t give us any fund as far as I am aware. We contributed our own money. We were using our own money to fund NADECO; no money was coming from anybody. He may have helped a few individuals, but certainly, I am not aware that he funded NADECO because every week, we contributed money to run the affairs of the organisation.

You eventually left the AD. How do you feel to have abandoned a baby you helped to nurture?

Well, we are the people that nurtured AD, but when the baby is dead, what do you do? You bury him.

Is your ambition to become governor still alive?

I don‘t know. But I think maybe at my age, some people may feel I am too old, though I know Chief Ajasin was governor at 77 or so, Adefarati too at 71.

What do you think of the current administration in Lagos State?

Well, as far as I am concerned, the present administration in Lagos State is a continuation of the one that we had in the last eight years and which I considered as wasted eight years, because we could have done so much more. But all the money, all the energy was spent on politicking instead of governance. And I would like to say that if I had any disagreement with Tinubu, that is one of the disagreements. I told him that we should leave the party things for party people while we focus on governance. I think what is happening in the state is an extension of what had happened before it. And at any rate, apart from planting flowers and beautifying Lagos, there is much more to do. For the hospital, well there is some level of improvement, but what is the point having hospitals where people go to see doctors but don‘t have money to purchase the prescribed drugs. The schools are still in their dilapidated state. There is still no water, and these are the basic things. I will say Fashola has tried in the area of transportation, but I can’t say he has done much for the masses. For example, there are no houses for the masses apart from providing the BRT buses.

What has been your preoccupation since you left government?

I have been trying to run my businesses and, of course, I have been able to rebuild my house in the last one year.

How is family life?

Family life is fine. My children are grown up and doing fine. Of course, I am trying to enjoy my old age now.

Where are your children?

They are in Nigeria, I have just two.

You have always shielded your husband even while you were in public service, why?

Well, my husband is in Kano. He is a Kano man. I think I was one of the first to pioneer mixed marriages, because by the time I got married to him, it was unthinkable that a Yoruba girl would get married to a northerner.

Why are you living apart?

We are divorced, but we are good friends. In fact, I will be going to Kano after my birthday.

Why did you divorce if you were such good friends?

That is a long story which will be in my memoirs.

What has hapened to your ambition to rule Lagos State?

Well, my quest to rule Lagos State was truncated by lack of money. I don’t have the kind of money it entails. I believe that if God says it will still happen, it will happen.

Are there times you wished you were deputy governor to another person other than Tinubu?

In fact, when the late Papa Adesanya called me and said they would like me to become Tinubu‘s running mate, I told him that I would have been glad to be deputy to somebody like Wahab Dosunmu. But to Tinubu, I said I had my reservations. But Papa said they would talk to him and he would listen to them.

How did you know the kind of person he is before you served as his deputy?

Well, we were in the Senate together and one was able to study people closely.

So, do you regret that you served under him then?

Yes, I do and no, I don‘t. It is part of my experience and I don‘t regret any experience I have in life. Yes, I regret it because I became part of the eight wasted years.

As the only female member of the Senate in your time, what was your experience?

Well, I felt happy. At first, I think the male senators first looked at me with a sort of curiosity. But I think when they realised that I was prepared to come to their midnight meetings and everything they were doing, it dawned on them to respect me. I must say that I was very friendly with many of them even till this day.

After the demise of Pa Adesanya, some people now regard Tinubu as the emerging leader of South West politics. Do you see it that way?

As far as I am concerned, he is championing his own politics. I don’t think he is the one championing the politics of the South-West; Afenifere is doing that. If you ask me, Tinubu destroyed the politics of cohesion in the South-West.

Since you told us about your tragic moments, what would you say was your happiest moment?

My happiest moment was the day I had my first child.
http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200904180424814

I have never thought tinubu to mean any good for the people but this bucknor of a being brought failure to herself.
The VPs and deputy governors in nigeria sometimes assume they have the same right with their bosses.

nuzo, Thank you.

She and a group of people tried to backstab and steal the job from Tinubu. And he played a fast one on her, that why she jumped to PDP.

I am not saying Tinubu is a saint, but she is no different.