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‘Stay where God
wants you to stay, do what God wants you to do, and say what God wants
you to say.’ These are borrowed lines from one of my wife’s songs in
her second album, titled ‘I am a plus’. The summary of the song is that
you will be ‘a plus to your generation, a plus to your family, and a
plus to your nation.’ Indeed, she ends it with ‘I am a child of God’.
That means a child of obedience, hence she is a plus because she obeyed
and did as God commanded.

Somebody then asked
me how he would know where God wants him to stay if he does not try his
hands in several things, even if he does not have the expertise.

In Abuja, the story
was told of an Igbo man who worked as a bricklayer for fifteen years,
with contentment. He married a wife who did not give him much problem,
and they both managed whatever he was able to bring in. They sent their
children to the schools around their area, living within their means.

But one day in his
place of work, one big man who came to buy blocks was talking to his
boss. He wanted to buy land in Apo area of Abuja and this bricklayer
happened to know somebody who owns a land in that area and wanted to
sell. That was how innocently, he became a middleman to honest
Nigerians, who ended up paying 10% on both sides. The man was given
cash and he almost went mad with joy. He opened a provision shop for
his wife in Wuse market and bought himself a car.

There was a lot of
drama on how he almost ran mad with about N3 million cash under his
bed, on top of his chest, inside the ceiling, inside the drum of water,
until it was dawn when he was advised to open an account immediately.
The moral, however, is in the fact that for 15 years, the man stayed
where God wanted him to stay. He did exactly what God told him to do,
and in spite of the low income and the low status of his job, he did it
happily and with satisfaction.

That is not the
case today with a lot of people who flow with the wind, ‘anywhere belle
face’, as we say in football. If they are selling yam and suddenly
their neighbour selling orange is making 200% returns on oranges, they
immediately change to orange. If their neighbour selling plastic
buckets begins to make profit, they change again and when pure water
begins to ‘move market’, they change too. They forget that the people
selling those items have also made sacrifices and must have incurred
some losses at the beginning. But these people are looking for short
routes. They want to drive flashy cars, live in gigantic mansions, and
‘carry the chromest of babes’.

And for the women, they want already made men, not minding how he is making the money.

Reduce your greed

My friend used to
organise ‘Christmas Jamboree’ in most primary schools in the FCT every
December – Father Christmas, two clowns, and two cartoon characters –
and they move from school to school. It was their idea and they were
the owners; that was how my friend paid his staff and raised money for
the beginning of the next year.

But suddenly,
because he was making profit from it, almost all the school proprietors
closed their gates to him and are now organising these events
themselves. They have hijacked somebody’s idea and added it to their
own. They have a school, they collect school fees. Now, they have
collected the little means of income of this young man. How do you want
him to stay where God wants him to stay?

In fact, that was
exactly what I told him. That is not where God wants you to stay. That
is not what God wants you to do. As a theatre practitioner, the world
is open before you. When you get to where God wants you to stay,
believe me, you would know. First, learn a trade or chose a vocation
that you enjoy and stay there. No matter how poor the profit is, with
consistency and continuity the heavens are bound to smile on you too.

But this ‘grab all
and acquire all syndrome’ is what is leading directors who earn monthly
salaries to be struggling with the genuine contractors. They are like
the school proprietors, not allowing some people to know where God
wants them to stay. If you reduce your level of greed and I reduce
mine, perhaps, it will be a better place for all.

The bottom has fallen out of Phillip Emeagwali’s basket of false
claims. American oil giant, ExxonMobil, has told NEXT exclusively that it has
never dealt with the American-based Nigerian scientist, contrary to Mr.
Emeagwali’s repeated claim that he wrote the equations that the company used to
simulate the flow of oil, water, and gas inside its reservoirs.

Authorities at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a United
States Department of Energy laboratory, where Mr. Emeagwali claimed he sourced
the Connection Machine for his award-winning experiment, also said they had
never related with the Nigerian scientist.

Even the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, the
world’s largest organisation of computer experts, has reacted to the scandal
surrounding Mr Emeagwali by removing the scientist’s profile from its website.
Mr. Emeagwali’s bio on the site contained some contentious claims, including
one that he has a doctorate.

Read the complete
story in this week’s edition of NEXT on Sunday.

Abiodun Aremu is a leader of the Labour and Civil Society
Coalition who says wearing Awo’s cap does not make you a progressive. Below is
excerpt of an interview he had with a NEXT reporter:

You led several protests against
the military rule. Has democracy met your expectations of good governance?

One
of the major mistakes made by the pro-democracy activists during the transition
from military to civil rule was that there was no consensus on the term of the
transition. Our campaign under the Campaign for Democracy and later the United
Action for Democracy was essentially to terminate military rule.

But
you cannot transit from military to civilian rule without talking about the
party system. There was no agreement within us whether or not to also include
the electoral agenda in our campaign. There was a section of the pro-democracy
activists made up of political parties like the National Conscience Party,
Democratic Alternative, Peoples Redemption Party, Movement for Democracy and
Justice, the Nigerian Advance Party.

Secondly,
the transition agenda was exclusive. There was no constitution guiding the
midwifery of the transition. So, none of those political parties I mentioned
above were registered. Many of us could not join a party we desired but were
left with the option of joining the PDP, ANPP, or AD. So, our democracy started
on a wrong footage and how can we expect dividend of democracy?

But
what we should have done then was to have insisted on a democratic
constitution. The present Constitution was promulgated only after 1999
elections. And considering that the military government then was unstable, we
should have furthered our agitations, even if it means an extension of the
military government but then, many people were in a haste to see the military
go that they threw caution to the wind.

Without
a democratic constitution, there is no democracy and governance will always be
impaired. So now, we are back at the table crying for a democratic constitution,
which is the root cause of all the insurgents we are having now. One of the
problems we have had to grapple with today is unconstitutional reforms, yet we
have a Constitution that needs to be totally overhauled, not amended. So, for
me, the transition is a failure.

Even
the western countries negotiated the transition for their economic interests.
Structural Adjustment Programme, National Economic Development Strategy I and
II, 7-point agenda, Vision 2020, are programmes tailored around the neo-liberal
paradigms of the IMF and World Bank.

Apart
from the failures, have we made any progress?

In
the Second Republic, you cannot swear-in anybody as the winner of an election
until all litigations and disputes have been settled. Classical example
happened in Ondo State where Omoboriowo was declared the winner of the
governorship election by the then Federal Electoral Council and there was a
dispute. On October 1st, 1983, 18 state governors were sworn-in with the
exception of Ondo. Adekunle Ajasin was not sworn-in until the Supreme Court
pronounced its judgement in his favour. But what do we see now? People occupy
political offices for three years before being pronounced illegal occupants. Do
you consider that a forward or backward movement?

Again,
what many point to as freedom of speech was not won because we now have
democracy. Between 2003 and 2005, there were about eight strikes and mass
protests against fuel price hike. The police dealt with us seriously. At a
time, the president of the NLC then, Adams Oshiomole, was dragged on the tarmac
of Abuja Airport. We had a democratic government, yet our right of assembly was
not respected. We have not made progress; we have only stuffed few peoples
pocket with our budgets.

Today,
an unconstitutional office, like that of the First Lady, controls billions of
naira, but workers are finding it difficult to earn N18,000 as minimum wage.
Dividend of democracy is not constructing a 1km road; it is about meeting the
aspiration of the people.

So,
how do we begin the change process?

The
pro-democracy forces must rise up once again. But this time, the campaign
should be on our electioneering process. We must ensure that process is based
on germane issues of economy, security, and others. We must ask for who
controls the economy. That was how it was done in the first and second
republics. Campaigns were based on issues affecting the people and the nation.
Little wonder that the people who dominated our political offices today are
people who opposed the struggle for democracy, especially in the National
Assembly.

Can
anybody’s manifesto contain privatisation of national patrimonies like NEPA and
still expect people to vote for him? Countries’ progresses are based on how
well they perform on the Human Development Index scale. Nigeria has continually
had woeful performance, yet we won’t ask our politicians what they can do to
solve that problem. Now, it is clear we cannot meet the Millennium Development
Goals and we are not querying our leaders.

Does
your assessment exonerate the progressives?

I
found it difficult to understand those who call themselves progressives. In
Nigerian historical context, being a progressive means you subscribe to the
philosophy of running a welfarist state, that is, to govern in the interest of
the masses. Such governments should not run a private-sector driven economy.
Look at what is happening with the Lekki-Epe expressway now. Fashola says he is
providing low-cost housing, but go to any of those houses, no low-income earner
can afford them but they could under Jakande.

Abubakar
Rimi’s government was the first to declare May 1 as workers day. And this is a
challenge to those of us pro-democracy activists to ignore the fact that we are
friends with the so called progressives today and engage them to prove their
progressiveness.

Progressiveness
is not just about wearing Awolowo’s cap and glasses. The difference between
those who called themselves progressives and the PDP is like six and half a
dozen. First, many of them are not even holding primaries in their parties. So,
why won’t there be rigging if there is no internal democracy?

Why
did you say the real heroes of June 12 never went on exile?

A
lot of people who were not really in the struggle went on exile. David Mark was
also on exile then. Adedibu was imprisoned at that time also. We were both in
Ikoyi prison, though he was a snitch. So, going on exile is now their
certificate as June 12 heroes.

There
are very few people who had to go on exile for fear of their lives. Then, the
CD’s ID Card was all you need to get visa in most embassies. Now, they claim to
be heroes, but how many remember those who refused to go on exile but stayed
behind, some losing their lives in the process. Though no role is dismissible
as unimportant, but the real activists of June 12 remained here.

I’m
not sure anybody has ever celebrated Rauf Aregbesola as a June 12 hero, yet he
is a strong one. There are many unsung heroes of June 12 and the governments
now profiting from that struggle should be operating a welfarist economy to
ensure peoples’ struggles were not in vain, to let people know that struggle
pays.

Former Nigerian ambassador to the United States Jubril Aminu speaks on
the controversial electoral bill, Sanusi’s tangle with the legislature
and consensus candidacy. Excerpt:

Assessment of the legislature

When you are going
to judge an institution, you cannot do so from the point of view of a
short term. If you allow me, I will say there is an improvement. This
National Assembly could have become the centre of serious ethnic and
geographical strife in this country, particularly politicians helped
and engineered the media. It is possible for the place to become very
sharply divided, to the extent that it ceases to be an agent for
national unity. But they are doing well.

From 1999 to 2003,
I will say we had only one challenge; which was the impeachment of the
President. But from 2003 to 2007, we had the challenge of the third
term. The president wanted a third term, but the national Assembly
stopped it. I like Obasanjo, so I did not like it at that time. But
when you look at the decision, it was in the interest of the country.
Then we had the unfortunate sickness and untimely death of President
Umaru Yar’Adua and the ascension of Goodluck Jonathan. That was also a
very challenging time for the country. Again, it was the National
Assembly, which people always abuse, that rose to the challenge to
provide the solution, thereby saving the country from another crisis.
So, we have a National Assembly that people abuse any way they like,
but when it turns out that we have real critical issues, people turn
round to them. So far, we have solved most of these issues. I am not
saying we have solved everything. But we have solved most of them.

Concerns over the remuneration of lawmakers

Who are the
Nigerians that are worried? It is you media people who are worried. I
can take you to my village in Song, you will see that they are not
worried. So, people should stop this nonsense of talking about
allowances and how much the members are getting. This is moreso because
when you investigate, it is not true.

People are not able
to look at the big picture. They only look at the small thing,
sensationalize it and use it to abuse very credible and highly
responsible Nigerians just because they are lawmakers. Four million
naira a month is nonsense. You see, since I said it in the Senate, I
will repeat myself here. There is a war against the legislature by
interested people; principally, governors. And they have corralled a
lot of troops from media people, political commentators and others to
fight us. In doing this, they use all sorts of names on us. Where do we
have this kind of money? Do we print money? Is the treasury in the
National Assembly? How could the National Assembly have so much access
to money? Every kobo we spend in the National Assembly comes from the
Executive. They talk as if we have got some kind of machine guns and we
go round taking government money. How do we do it? Can anyone tell us?

Conflict with executive officers

The ministers have
a lot more access to money than we have. The governors too. This is
just a war against members of the national assembly which is very well
known to all Nigerians. Recently, it was intensified in the form of
electoral bill where we felt that in amending the Constitution, we
cannot amend the law for one person or against one person. We do not
even make a law for one moment. We argue and argue before we make a
law. It is not fair for the Executive to have freedom to bring into
congress people who are their own loyalists. Can an Ambassador ever
vote against the President? We had a case of one governor in 2003, two
days before the convention, he appointed 65 Special Advisers and
Special Assistants and put them all as delegates to the convention
simply because he wanted to control the votes. And we said this time
around, we cannot have such. Yet, whatever case we make, you refuse to
print it in the papers. The composition of the National Executive
Committee of the parties, we were forced to find a way of
counter-balancing the excessive powers of the governors. All the
parties fund themselves from the government they control.

They refuse to
collect money from their members, which is what happens in advanced
democracies. Since the money is from the government, those who have the
money control the party and obviously have more power. So because the
financial control is so loose, people who are in charge of money can
take the money out and use it for their purpose.

That was why we
said since the party apparatchik are under the control of the
governors, it is only the legislature that is a little bit independent.
The party Chairman sits in front of the Governor and they compile the
names of the delegates and bring it. Even now, in a lot of states, they
have already nominated the names of the delegates to the party
primaries.

That was why we did
what we did. People are now finding ways to fight us. I hear that some
people have budgeted about N200m to fight our electoral law. Let them
go ahead. Normally, we should get the support of the media and the
people, but we do not.

Criticism of legislative oversight

If I have any
criticism about visitation, it is that the amount of time we are able
to spend on one visitation is too small. I always tell them, for
instance, how do you spend one hour on a visitation to a University.
What will you be able to see? The National Assembly knows that these
contracts are not being executed.

We come from
villages, where these roads are said to be built. For about three years
now, we were told that contract for the Song to Maiduguri road was
awarded; but up till now nothing has been done. They tell you they have
no money. Sometimes they will say they have no executive capacity.
There was one time when it looked like controlling capital expenditure
was like controlling the economy or managing the economy.

Sanusi’s stance on the expenditure of the National Assembly

Sanusi (the
Governor of the Central Bank) is a very principled person and he is
very logical. Do you know the implication of apologizing, you are tying
yourself. He felt he was using information given to him supposedly by a
competent government source in the ministry of finance.

You cannot crucify
him for using information from a competent source of government. The
only thing wrong with his comment is to go and discuss it at an
international event, outside the country. But then in this country, we
have not developed the ethics that, whether you are in opposition or
government, you must not talk badly about your country to outsiders.
Our people always do that. So you cannot single out Sanusi on that one.

Northern consensus candidate

There is a danger
in over blowing the importance of the exercise and there is also a
danger in under rating it. You should not over rate it because this is
just, in my view, a private arrangement more or less made by four or
five individuals.

This did not
involve any party; it did not involve any cultural or religious
organization. We should, therefore, look at it as a private
arrangement. They have their right to do so. So far they have been able
to keep their agreement and have respected it. That is why it should
not be underrated. The electoral importance of what they have done is
directly proportionate to each person’s reach. If you have somebody who
enjoys and continues to enjoy a large following, others will join.

Political plan for 2011

I do not consider
myself a career legislator. When I went to the United States of America
as an ambassador, I was already 60 years of age and by the time I came
back in 2003, I was already 64. I told them then that I do not also
consider myself a career diplomat. I will not do anything that I do not
enjoy.

So I am still
consulting my Oracles. The Fulani Oracles are very slow in responding.
I still have a couple of weeks to make up my mind. From the point of
view of enjoying the pressure of doing the job, I think I like it.

Former President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf claims a 100% free and
fair election is not possible in some third world or developing
countries with massive diversities in ethnicity and religion. Exceprt of the interview he recently had with NEXT’s Ayo Okulaja:

As Nigeria
prepares for a general election amidst a background of corruption and
fears of threats to democracy, what lessons can Nigeria learn from your
country, Pakistan?

Nigeria is a
country with a strong economy, with a GDP of about $170 billion. For a
country to stand on its own, it needs a good economy. The next step is
that of leadership; once a good leader is thrown up, and he gets the
right people to work with him, then the nation can progress.

Corruption is a
widespread problem which needs to be arrested at the top governmental
level and this will prevent it tripling down. So, I have faith in
Nigeria that it will pull through.The perception of fair election is
different from the West from what obtains in developing countries like
Nigeria or Pakistan.

Nothing like 100%
fair elections can be possible where we have societies with tribal,
religious, sectarian, and ethnic diversities. So, in these
environments, a degree of compromise on fair election does take place.
There are individuals who will want to take laws into their hands…so
one should not be worried that it is not free and fair, though it ought
to be free and fair.

Efforts must be
made by the Nigerian government to make sure it is fair to a very large
extent. But the truth is it will not be as fair as it is in the UK or
Europe.

Isn’t this a pessimistic view and why will this not be possible in countries with brilliant minds…….

This has nothing to
do with brilliance……there is massive illiteracy, backwardness, and
poverty amongst a wide range of people at the grassroot level who can
be manipulated due to the enabling environment for those who want to be
manipulative.

So, there can’t be
free and fair elections in such environment. That is the realist stand
and not pessimistic. Idealistic values will only work in the
Scandinavian countries.

In your
lecture, you said the military should be constituted into helping
democracry work, as seen in Pakistan. Do you think other developing
countries should copy this?

It depends on the
condition in the country. I was only talking of Pakistan, where the
military is most structured organisation and the people keep running to
the army for deliverance ‘whenever’ the country is suffering.

Throughout its
sixty years, the democratically elected governments have barely
performed. Therefore, there should be checks and balance on the prime
minister/president and the parliament. Because without these checks, it
(democracy) cannot function well.

In Pakistan, that
check can only be provided by the military and the army, and that check
must be constitutional. It is not as if I want the army to be
super/over-structured on the Senate.

Today, the army has
no role in the constitution, but people still run to them and demand
from them to interfere and when they interfere, it becomes
unconstitutional. So, why not make it constitutional, if that is what
the people want and what the environment dictates. Because, as we have
seen in Pakistan, if the military comes they perform very well and when
the civilians are back, they take the country back to square one.

So, utmost military
is not the answer; we must create institutions that will make democracy
function without letting the army get involved in the legislative and
parliamentary roles. It is only the army that can make some things work
in our world. For example, the army can be used to ensure free
elections, because if they man election polls, no one will dare go
there to snatch the booths.

That is the reality
in Pakistan. I don’t know the reality in Nigeria, but the military must
be constituted into a body so that they can exercise checks through
their force.

How is Pakistan handling the issue of minority?

Empowerment; don’t
let any member of the society be segregated. All people must be
empowered, vertically and horizontally, including all tribes. All
ethnic groups, all sects must be politically empowered. And this can be
done by reserved seats, like what we did in some regions where some
non-Muslims win elections.

So, there is no
fixed formula. You need to see into your own environment and evaluate
what is the best to empower people. The key is to empower people; don’t
let them feel disempowered, because the danger is not giving power, it
is denying power. Don’t deny power to any member of the society.

In your lecture, you stated that dictorship is a state of the mind. Will you say your regime was democratically minded?

Absolutely, I was
democratically minded as the leader of Pakistan. I maintained the
leadership of monitoring system that came around by the military and
this ensured civility nationally.

The essence of democracy is empowerment of people, the minority groups, and that is what I did throughout my reign.

Do you have fears over India and Pakistan conflicts, which took a new turn following the attack on Mumbai hotels?

After the terror
attack by Pakistani militia on India hotel, despite ongoing peace talks
initiated during my regime, the statements from the India government to
the Pakistanis was very bullying. I have a lot respect for Mr. Singh
(India’s Prime Minister), but such statements must not be directed to
the Pakistani people. We must collectively fight terrorism and
extremism in both countries, particularly amongst the Muslim youth in
India, who are now developing nexus with Taliban in Afghanistan and
Pakistan.

We ourselves are
victims of these attacks, and the Pakistani government is not
responsible for this. Stamping out the Taliban is guerrilla warfare, as
they have no border to invade and claim victory. Therefore, we must not
lose and cannot lose. We need to work out a winning strategy.

What is your view about the planned withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan?

The completion of
the job in Afghanistan is putting a legitimate government before
quitting. Therefore, the exit date of July 2011 is misplaced.

Are you saying the government of Hamid Kazai is illegitmate?

A government which
has weak representation of the 50% Pashtun majority’s does not have
legitimacy among the people of Afghanistan. How can you run a country
with a minority of 8%?

You have
been named as a prosecuting witness in the ongoing investigation of
Benazir Bhutto’s assasination. How will you react to this?

Nobody is doing
that except for some politicians trying to implicate me. My government
did everything possible to protect her. I personally told her that
intelligence had revealed that she was a target and we told her not to
go to the place where she was assassinated. She stuck her neck out and
it’s just unfortunate that she was assassinated. I don’t want to reply
to it because it is just ridiculous.

How are you
preparing to return to Pakistan for the next general elections in 2013,
as you remain in London on a self-imposed exile?

I feel I must work
for the country and not myself. I am preparing very well for my return
because there is the problem of security, as I fought strongly against
terrorism and extremism and stood against anyone who talked against the
integrity of Pakistan.

I may be having
some enemies which are there, so the security concerns. And there is
also some certain politicisation of legal issues, which is not there at
the moment, but the possibility of their politicisation is out there.
Therefore, I need to create an environment of support in Pakistan
before I reach Pakistan, and the more political clout I have, the less
will be the danger against me.

The man you
deposed to become the Pakistani leader is now an opposition leader
against the ruling government. Will you work with him to achieve your
ambition?

The PLMQ supported
me a great deal and the maximum electable people are in this party,
which are neither with PLMN or Peoples party. They are just in the
centre, and yet they don’t accept the leaders of the PLMQ. There is a
political void in PLMQ which I am now trying to come and gather all
those who are neither with PLMN or People’s party, as most of them are
in contact with me. Many want to join me when I reach there, so I know
the environment and will work with it.

The other is the
PLMN, which is Nawal Sharif; my door will be open to anyone, but right
now, they are on a course of vendetta and as they say, you don’t clap
with one hand. It’s not merely possible that if I want to be with him.
I don’t want to be with him, but if he wants to be with me, that will
be alright, as far as I am concerned. But more than that, what is
important is the people of Pakistan and their electable local leaders,
who will be answerable to me.

I am on a dual
track of getting the people and the electable onto my side, so that
once I nominate someone for the people, he will be voted in. That will
change the political culture and it is the only way to get good people
into power.

I am creating a
move to involve the real Pakistani people and their tribal leaders and
chiefs, coupled with Pakistanis in the Diaspora.

What are your regrets of ruling Pakistan for nine years?

My graph was very
high in January 2007, but it plummeted by December 2007 because of the
lawyers issue and the result was very negative for me as well as the
country. What I have learnt is that if doing the right thing might have
negative implications for the country, then that thing shouldn’t be
done. That is where pragmatism should have come in. I regret doing that
because the country is suffering now.

Other than that, I
am very proud in succeeding in the economy front. My only regret is
that we did not achieve such high success in some other critical
sectors, but we will achieve it next time.

What is your take on the recent Nigeria-Iran brawl over weapon shipments?

I am very sad that
Iran is exporting arms to any other country. It is very saddening, but
I cannot say for sure that Iran is involved.

The world has to conduct necessary investigations and any country involved must be penalised.

Mr. Musharraf was
recently in Lagos, where he delivered the 12th Anyiam Osigwe Anyiam
Memorial lecture on ‘Democracy as Holism: That the dove may be set free
in our land’ (Political stability, security, peace, and social economic
development as integrals for democracy.)

For Angelina Okeke (not her real name), life for someone living with HIV/AIDS is simply difficult.

After her husband
suffered a series of diseases – tuberculosis, syphilis, hepatitis, and
more, with rashes all over his body – Mrs Okeke literally dragged him
to the hospital where he was tested and confirmed HIV positive.

She too was tested
and confirmed positive. The next day she brought her two children, a
five-year old daughter, and a son who was going to be two in about
three weeks. Fortunately for her, the children tested negative. That
was April 2003.

“When my husband
was getting seriously sick, from one sickness to another, it’s this one
today, it’s that one tomorrow. He had rashes on his body. In fact at
some point, some parts of his body like the kidney, the liver, were not
working well again and the rumour was already going round that my
husband was suffering from AIDS. He was saying it was different things.
I went around explaining to his relatives, saying ‘Look at what is
happening’. They told him to go and do HIV test, he refused. When he
was very sick, we carried him to the hospital, that’s when they
discovered that he was HIV positive.” Mrs. Okeke said.

“The doctor said
that his own has gotten to the advanced stage of AIDS. He advised that
we should carry him (her husband) to the village and feed him with
vegetables. That’s what he used to deceive me, because he knows my
husband was dying.”

Journey home

Few days later, the
family travelled to their hometown in Anambra State. “In the bus from
Lagos here to the East, he was begging me not to tell his family
members and was begging God to help him. I said to him, ‘Is it now you
know God? Did you know God when you were sleeping around with other
women?” she said.

At the village,
everybody concluded that her husband’s problem was spiritual. They went
to different witch doctors in search of solutions but all to no avail.

“The family members
started asking me to tell them what is wrong with him, I refused to say
it. I told them that they should ask him; at least he was still
talking. But each time they asked him he told them not to disturb him;
that he was in pains,” Mrs Okeke said.

“The family later
got a herbalist from the neighbouring village, who prepared a
concoction for my husband to drink, claiming that it will cure him.”
Barely two weeks after they got to the village, her husband died. That
was on April 28, 2003

Widowhood

After the death of
her husband, the question was whether she would return to Lagos or
remain in the village. Even before her husband died, she had confided
in her mother and sister that he had AIDS and she was also positive.
When a woman who is a native of their hometown, heard, she advised Mrs
Okeke to return to Lagos to seek help at hospital where she can have
access to anti-retroviral drugs.

However, her
trouble started when she mentioned it to her in-laws that her husband
died of AIDS and she was HIV positive and needed to return to Lagos for
help.

“My mother in-law
said it’s a lie, that they have killed her son. She said that I cannot
go back to Lagos with my kids that I should stay in the village, go to
church; then take medicine from that concoction man. My husband’s elder
sister came and collected the key to our house in Lagos, saying that
she was going to arrange for our property in Lagos so that they can
sell them and use the money to mourn my husband (funeral ceremony),”
she said.

Mrs. Okeke said
when her elder sister heard, she was angry. She confronted her in-law
and took the key back and insisted that she must return to Lagos. Few
days later, she and her kids followed a man who was returning to Lagos
from their village.

“As we were going,
the man invited me to start attending The Lord’s Chosen church. He said
that their pastor has been healing people with AIDS. He dropped us in
front of our house. I started attending the church. But after attending
about three times, I stopped because the place was far, from Ajegunle
to Ijesha, and we have to leave very early before 7am, the children
will not eat, they will be crying and when the service is over, getting
a bus back is a problem because there are always too many people
waiting for bus,” she said.

Mrs. Okeke
struggled to make ends meet in Lagos, doing all forms of odd jobs at
restaurants, to. She was also depending on the goodwill of friends and
family. The woman who had advised her to comeback to Lagos had
travelled overseas when Mrs Okeke got to Lagos. On her return two
months later, she gave her money to offset her rent arrears and pay her
rent for another one year, with extra N30,000 to start a business.

“The woman told me
to be attending meetings, that the money she gave me was a contribution
from members of the association of women from our hometown that are
living in Lagos,” she said.

Stigmatisation and discrimination

According to Mrs.
Okeke she has suffered stigmatisation in different ways, but the most
touching was when her landlord sent her packing after learning of her
HIV status from a newspaper.

“I talked to the
reporter, but I didn’t know they were going to publish the story with
my name and my picture. That was how my landlord saw it and started
asking me to leave the house. I was still arguing with him until one
day he came and said, you AIDS patient you don’t want to leave my
house. The thing touched me so much; so I left,” she said.

In her new compound, a nurse encouraged Mrs Okeke to join a support group organised by AIDS Alliance, an NGO.

“When I went there
I saw people living with HIV. I discovered that they had accepted the
fact that they have HIV. I counselled myself that AIDS is just like any
other disease, it depends on how you take it. I started making friends
from there and I was happy. Once I comeback from one meeting I will
tick the date for the next on my calendar. Then my body started coming
back again because that fear has left me. I didn’t use anti-retroviral
drugs until March 2005 when I fell ill and it was because of the stress
I was going through doing all manner of business for money,” she said.

“AIDS is no longer a killer disease. It is the fear and the stigma that kills people.” Mrs Okeke added.

Future plans

With fear and
stigma now out of the way, Mrs. Okeke desires to secure a job that is
better than her HIV counselling job at Navy Hospital Ojo, Lagos, where
she is paid N20,000 per month. This she wants to do in order to be able
to raise her children, who are now in primary five and junior secondary
two, to the highest level of education. She has no plans of remarrying
but might consider a widower who is HIV positive.