| credits:The Punch
Dr.
Joe Okei-Odumakin was recently honoured as an International Woman of
Courage in the United States. She speaks on this and other personal
issues in this interview w
How long have you been an activist?
It started as early as 1985, although I
had been involved in the fight for the rights of the Ijaw from my
primary school days. But one thing that held me back was the fact that I
wanted to be a nun. That was my priority then, but when my father
threatened to disown me, I later reviewed my stand. He was in the United
Kingdom and decided to print my obituary. I was 14 years old then and
went to Kwara State Polytechnic. He took me to the Director of Public
Studies, Dr. Arthur, where he said I had to clock in and out of school
every day. I really felt bad about the arrangement that I decided to
move to the hostel, even then, I was still signing in and out the
director’s office, in and out of school. At a point, I assured my dad
that I wasn’t going to be a nun anymore and he let me be.
Shortly after,
I gained admission into the University of Ilorin and after my first
year, one of my lecturers came in and mentioned my matriculation number
and I went to see him. People were wondering why he wanted to see me,
but I was confident that it had nothing to do with an offence. It turned
out that I scored high marks in his course and he asked me why I wanted
to be a nun. I tried to explain my passion to become a nun. But I was
stammering, he then said, “You have to get back and study more. Have you
heard of Martin Luther King, and other revolutionalists? You can be
one.”
This happened around January 1985 and by March, the position of
Secretary, Women in Nigeria, was open and I filled it. I displaced two
other contestants. As a result of taking this position, I wrote my Will,
because I like to give everything I have to whatever I do.
Your Will, how old were you then?
I was 19 years old. After reading a lot
of biographies on Karl Max, Martin Luther King and how they were killed,
I was certain that death could take me at anytime. I wasn’t just
verbalising the commitment, I was ready to lose my life to the struggle.
The things I could call mine were my books and mattress and I wanted to
be sure that even if I paid the supreme price, my books were well taken
care of because they are very important to me. I had lots of
revolutionary books. I simply called one of my activist members – a
lawyer – and asked him to prepare the Will. I wanted all my books to go
to the University of Ilorin, because it would be a lot of blessing to
students. I asked him to will my mattress to a motherless babies’ home.
How then does it feel that you are still alive?
What I can say is that I have the
feeling that the struggle continues. I don’t feel that sense of
fulfillment yet. We are still in a country where justice, fairness and
equity are still a far cry. Although I have been through detention about
17 times and suffered gunshot wounds, suffered chronic ulcer and been
in a state that I had passed out only to be restored to life again, it
is not time to relax or celebrate.
Yes, we have recorded some success in
having civil rule in exchange for military dictatorship, but we need
stronger institutions, the INEC, EFCC otherwise Nigeria is like a
volcano that may erupt at anytime and many will be engulfed. This is
because we still have a government that swore to defend the rights of
the people, secure lives and property, but under the same
administration, our best and brightest people are dying. Women are still
largely victims of violence, there is corruption in leadership; not
only have our officials become corrupt, corruption has actually become
our officials. This has ruined a lot of lives; that is why the hospitals
cannot cater to the needs of pregnant women and their babies. The level
of maternal mortality is still very high – about 144 women die daily as
a result of pregnancy complications. Domestic violence is on the rise
because the men are frustrated for lack of employment and so they vent
their anger on their wives.
So how can one celebrate in the midst of
this? How can a 52 and half year old man be still on diaper – it is
almost a crime now for people to send their children to public schools.
Look at the rally in Ojota in January 2012 and how the Federal
Government sent soldiers to occupy the venue in a democracy, our
patriots were treated to teargas. That is the government that people
voted for; that is why all we have been doing is going round in circles,
movements but no progress. This is more like a banana republic.
With a husband and children, are you still prepared to die for the struggle?
Honestly, I still feel the same way and
in line with this, I have upgraded my will. My life begins to end the
day I keep quiet for the things I should speak up against. We cannot
continue this way. Only a few days ago, President Goodluck Jonathan said
that the price of fuel might be increased, while we have been
subsidising corruption. And we dare say that anytime the price of fuel
is increased without the empowerment of the relevant sectors, not even
soldiers will stop us. Let him litter everywhere with soldiers, we will
be prepared to lead a non-violent protest against him. It happened in
India, Tunisia and Egypt, they were wired up for a change, Nigerians
will brace for the show. Can you imagine presidential pardon to Diepreye
Alamieyeseigha? It is sad.
How do you feel about the death of progressives?
I feel a sense of loss that a few days
ago, we lost Prof Chinua Achebe. Some years back, we lost a guiding
light, Chief Gani Fawehinmi; also Beko Ransome-Kuti and so on. Filling
the vacuum is very difficult. The few existing ones have a lot to
contend with in seeing the Nigeria of our dream. Can you imagine Prof.
Wole Soyinka still marched with us on the streets some days ago? But one
consolation is that these people continue to live in the consciousness
of the Nigerian people forever. The only way to immortalise them is to
uphold the virtues for which they lived and died.
You appear so detached from your family…
We have a typical home like most people
do. I always strive to strike a balance between my itinerary and the
family. I believe that marriage is not a competition but a platform to
complement your spouse. Yes, I travel to all parts of the world; even
during the days when I suffered constant harassment, I used to pack my
bag in case I do not return home as scheduled. But there is this
training that I got from my mum and that has stayed with me. We were
trained to use one bedspread per night. By the next morning, it must be
washed. So I love to stay in a very clean environment. I wash the
clothes, clean the house and I love to prepare my food by myself. For
many years, what I have been doing is that I prepare like five different
types of soups and stock them in the freezer. Those days, I used to go
do the shopping by myself, but today, I ask people to do it for me
because people will not let me concentrate when I appear in the market.
I
end up spending longer time and I will be there counselling and doing
enlightenment. When I won’t be around at all, I get a caterer to come
and do the dishes for me and stock them in the freezer. But when I am
around, I love to get down the list of things I want and prepare them
myself. I love fish, so I always have different types of it in the
fridge. I hardly eat out, besides I have a personal weakness of not
eating well. As I am speaking to you, I have not eaten today, its past
8pm already. Growing up, my mum had to hit me hard to get me to eat a
little. Sometime ago, someone came to the house and saw that I had a
plaster around one of my fingers and when I told her that it was a knife
wound from trying to prepare Edikaikong soup, she shouted when she
learnt that I have time for the kitchen. The same thing happens when I
attend the Parent Teachers’ Association meetings in my kids’ school; the
place eventually becomes a centre for discussing the state of the
nation. I try as much as possible to go over their homework, but not
often. Their lesson teacher does more in that area. But I must say that
the best moments that I cherish with my family is when we are discussing
the state of the nation. Comrade (her husband) and I do that a lot. For
instance, during the American election, we were always with CNN.
We had
different candidates to support but mine won. We even do so through
phone calls, especially whenever there are developments and we just feel
like sharing our views with one another about the issues. Those are our
best moments.
Where did you meet your husband?
I met him during one of my detentions. I
was arrested and detained for unlawful assembly during the Abacha
regime. Actually, I was pasting anti-Abacha posters when I fell into the
hands of policemen. I was supposed to place mine at Dodan Barracks in
Lagos, but somehow, I returned to Ilorin. I went to the police
headquarters in the night; there was no light at all. Two people kept
watch for me while I did the pasting. We arrived there on a motorbike, I
was putting on a black dress with a brush and a bucket full of starch
made from cassava. While I was pasting the anti-Abacha posters, I heard
someone moving in my direction. He wanted to urinate by the wall.
Unfortunately, he came so close to me that he did the mess all over my
face and body, while I tried not to say a word. But because he was
drunk, he staggered and his feet touched mine. He screamed thinking that
it was a snake and called for a torch. That was it. He saw me resting
on the wall, and I couldn’t run away because it was very close. He saw
the posters reading, “Abacha Go.” He beat me silly. Meanwhile, the other
officer said, “Oga why are you wasting your energy on her? Kill her
now.” That was the point at which my people who had been standing close
by, shouted, “Don’t kill her o” and the policemen shot into the air
several times. I was beaten to a point that I did not know where I was.
They also poured the bucket full of starch on me from my head to my toe.
I only realised that when I recovered myself later. I was in that state
for three days. I was later taken to Lagos. But just before then, my
father came to sign an undertaking that I would be of good behaviour but
I asked him to go home and look after his other children. I told him
that I was ready to die. As soon as he left, I was handcuffed and taken
by road to detention in Lagos. At that time, I was also chairperson,
Committee for Defence of Human Rights among others. I was at the back of
a station wagon and at a point, I felt so pressed and told them that I
needed to ease myself. At first they declined, and asked me to defecate
in the vehicle. But one of them said, “Oga, all of us no go fit stay
here if this girl shit here o,” so they reluctantly allowed me. I did so
in the bush while they guarded me. When we eventually got to Lagos, I
met Chief Gani Fawehinmi and he screamed because I had greatly
emaciated. Then he said to a young man beside him, “Yinka don’t you know
her, this is Joe from Ilorin.” He said he thought the Joe was a man.
They were released from detention before me, but after I was released we
met again. My happiest moments are when we are going out for rallies
and many of the activist platforms usually had meetings together and
come out with a communiqué on the state of the nation. There were very
few women those days in the circle. He was of JACON then. During one of
such meetings, we were meant to discuss the state of the nation and
Yinka said, “Before I talk about the nation, I want to talk about the
state of my heart.” The house gave him a hearing and he said, “Please
help me ask her why she doesn’t want to marry me.” I started explaining
to them that I didn’t want distraction, but I didn’t sound convincing
and so the house ruled in favour of Yinka.
That was how it happened, one
thing led to another. We eventually got married in November 1987. The
PUNCH’s headline that day was “What Abacha has joined together.” There
have not been distractions as I had always feared. As soon as we were
done with the marriage ceremonies, we were off together to attend to our
programmes in Lagos. I remember that on the day I was to have my first
child, we were billed for a conference at Pa Abraham Adesanya’s place,
but I was feeling funny. My mum was around. When we got to the hospital,
the doctor said it was labour signs, at an advanced stage. So comrade
left me to go to the press conference. We got to the hospital around
7.30pm and by 8.15pm the baby had been born. Minutes after that, I
sneaked out of the hospital to go and be part of the press conference,
made my contribution and returned to the hospital thereafter. So I have
had no distractions.
You appear so masculine. Are you romantic?
I am not romantic. My husband and I have a way of working things out. He understands me.
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