GLORIA OKON, The Story of Nigeria’s Most Mysterious Drug Pusher

by Abiyamo

INTRODUCTION:

Gloria Okon was caught in 1985 with heroin in Nigeria and died in very controversial circumstances.

FULL NAMES (alternate names): Miss Gloria Okon

BIRTH AND EARLY DAYS

She was born in 1950.

HER ARREST

On the 22^nd April, 1985, a petite society lady, Gloria Okon, was about to board a Nigeria Airways aircraft WT840 (Lagos-Kano-London) at the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano State when she was arrested with substances suspected to be heroin and other hard drugs (the National Security Organization, NSO or Nigeria’s secret intelligence agency is often mentioned in her arrest). Tucked in internally were 56.70 grammes of the substances. She was also caught with the sum of N20,000, 60 pounds sterling, $301 and 19,000 Italian lira. The customs officers and drug law enforcement agents were very excited to have nabbed her, not because they had caught her alone but because they would also be stars of the show for a while as all the arrests were being made by their counterparts at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. But their jowls of excitement were pangs of sheer agony for the 35-year-old Okon. Why?

The year was 1985 and anyone caught with drugs would face the death penalty, no stories. That was the provision of the Decree 20 put in place by the junta of General Muhammadu Buhari . She was going to die, and she knew it. Stunned and stupefied at her sudden stare at death, Okon became an unwilling and helpless star before the nation’s news-thirsty media. Newspapers and magazines contained her story and the radios gave the chilly broadcast. For many who read the story or heard the announcement, it was not a big deal they thought, she was going to be executed like others. But then, there would be a twist in Okon’s story that would turn her into the most mysterious drug pusher in Nigeria’s history. What happened next still remains very bizarre even 30 years after.

DEATH

On the 28^th April, six days after her arrest, the most unexpected happened: Gloria Okon died in custody. From an ordinary ‘heroin suspect’, the sudden demise of Okon led to what is now one of the most enduring narcodramas in Nigeria. She did not just die, she died in very questionable and mysterious circumstances. The Buhari regime would not bury the case and an investigation was launched into the matter, with a judicial commission of inquiry given the complicated task of unraveling all the circumstances surrounding the very suspicious death of Okon who gave up the ghost at the Aminu Kano Hospital, Kano.

INVESTIGATIONS

The judicial commission of enquiry working on the Okon case was headed by Justice CNO Ubbaonu of the Kano High Court. It began its sitting in Kano almost three months (precisely 5^th Monday, August) after she died. Other members of the panel were:

• Wing Commander PG Asemota
• Tunde Oloko, a university don
• JI Obianwu, who was the secretary

The case was so serious that the Inspector-General Etim Inyang was mandated to ensure there is a reasonable conclusion to the case and to make sure all the mysteries are solved. The commission was to carry out three main tasks:

• Make proper inquiry as to the arrest and death of Gloria Okon
• Determine whether during the period of her arrest and custody, if any person(s) contributed to her death through acts incidental to the case
• Make suitable recommendations

But that would never happen: on the 27^th of that same August, the military regime of Buhari was toppled by General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and till date, no one knows how it all ended and the demise remains a mystery. However, it must be stated that before she died, Okon reportedly confessed and revealed a ‘big baron’, as a matter of fact, a customs official said of her revelation:

‘If carefully handled, she may lead us to the big brains behind the business.’

But before Okon could even mention the name of her mentor or sponsor, she was stone-dead. According to those who investigated her case and questioned her, the only clue she left was simply the name ‘Bassey’. Ibrahim Coomasie was the commissioner of police for Kano State and he stated that it was almost impossible to track her mentor because Okon did not give the second name of Bassey or even an address, so the investigation met a dead end.

However, it must be pointed out that although Okon was just one of the many female carriers arrested, she was the only drug mule very willing to cooperate and say it all, revealing all information on her sponsors. But before she could utter anything, she was gone. An autopsy conducted stated the cause of death as food poisoning. There was no time Okon showed any sign of ill-health, she was quite healthy when she was arrested as the public inquiry found out but according to Misharck Okitiakpo, a customs officer who kept her in custody, Gloria Okon fell ill just a day after she was arrested. Okitiakpo also explained that on the day she was arrested (22nd), Okon made a request for rice and beans which she was given. But on the 23^rd and 24^th, she was rushed to the hospital after she complained.

But that is where Okitiakpo’s accounts stopped. He did not explain or was unable to explain what happened from the 25^th to the 28^th when Okon finally breathed her last. Okon had been in the custody of the Customs until the 25^th when she was handed to the police. Therefore, it is not precisely clear whether she was poisoned while with the customs or under the police custody where she eventually died. In an interview with The Guardian in May 1985, Coomasie said Okon had changed saying:

‘…the late suspect was not talking when she was brought to the police and did not make any statement to the police, when the police took custody of Okon, she looked weird and neither ate nor talked. ’

But later, she was given some egusi soup by the police (egusi with what? Abi she drink the egusi ni, police no tell us that one). The police also said she took some bananas and tea after the egusi. Amazing food combination: egusi, banana and tea.

The mystery of Okon’s case was further deepened when no one showed up to claim her, not even one relative showed to identify her as a suspect or even her corpse. According to Babadisa Ciroma, an assistant commissioner of police (ACP) who was in charge of Okon’s interrogation said no one paid her a visit while in custody or even when she was admitted at the hospital. That was not all, 39 days after her death Okon’s corpse remained unclaimed at the Murtala Muhammed Hospital Mortuary where it was deposited. This prompted the police force Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to issue a notice that her remains might be treated as unknown if it not claimed after seven days of warning to the general public. Apparently embarrassed by the mysterious death of Okon in custody and to prevent a repeat, the government compelled state police commands to transfer suspects and exhibits in cases of hard drugs to the Force CID Headquarters in Lagos by ‘the most expedient means’.

The Nigerian nation was supposed to hear from the judicial commission of inquiry by the end of August and shed light on the case but by the end of August, a new leader was in place and he was a military president: IBB. The late lawyer Gani Fawehinmi attempted to resurrect the case but this put him on a path of direct clash with Haliru Akilu and Kunle Togun, two of IBB’s most dreaded security agents. No one was ever charged over the death of Gloria Okon.

THE CONTROVERSIES

• In the absence of a conclusive investigation, so many tales have been spun by many so as to fill in the gaps. According to some, Okon never died, the corpse presented was all a ruse and part of a grand conspiracy. In June 2009, Professor Taiyemiwo Ogunade, in an interview with THE NATION said of the Okon case:

‘Gloria Okon is actually Chinyere, that’s her real name. She married Charles “Jeff” Chandler, the fellow who killed Nzeogwu and was killed a day later. Chinyere, Maryam and Princess Atta were young friends who hung out together. They all married into the military, because the military was a proud and respectable profession then. Charles Chandler, who was Tiv, married Chinyere who I think is from Imo State. IBB married Maryam from Asaba and Mamman Vatsa married the princess. So Chinyere became a widow and resorted to trading between UK and Nigeria. And then she was caught with drugs; Mamman Vatsa was the person who put Chinyere on the next available flight from Kano to London – and then claimed that she was dead by parading a dead woman picked out of the mortuary. Dele Giwa later found out that she was in London having delivered a baby by another man. He sent a French photographer to the place and they saw Maryam Babangida at the event. Kayode Soyinka brought back the photographs. Dele was sitting across the table from Kayode examining the photos taken of “Gloria Okon” (Chinyere, Richard Chandler’s wife) at the naming ceremony in London. Maryam Babangida was there. And then a letter parcel was delivered to him and he said excitedly that it must be from “Mr. President” referring to the discussions he had with IBB days earlier. The bomb exploded and severed his lower abdomen; he died a few hours later.’

• Some others say Dele Giwa knew that Okon was Maryam Babangida (or even IBB)’s drug mule and wanted to blackmail IBB, which is why he was killed. Newswatch has denied any link between their late founder who was killed by a parcel bomb in 1986.

• Tom Mbeke-Ekanem in his book, Beyond the Execution: Understanding the Ethnic and Military Politics in Nigeria insisted the corpse sent to Calabar to Okon’s family was a fake corpse and that the family returned it saying it was not the corpse of their daughter, but that the authorities insisted the corpse was that of Okon. The claim was that the real Okon was freed to go live overseas and replaced with an unclaimed corpse brought in from the mortuary. The crazy controversies around the case prompted the Federal Government to make attempts to unearth everything thus launching the public commission.

• According to others, she was a drug mule for the former Nigerian First Lady Maryam Babangida shuttling between the USA and Britain and she was killed so she would not squeal. As it is now, the truth is hanging somewhere, and the only way I think Nigerians will eventually get to know the truth is when a government comes and re-opens the case and declassifying all the documents relating to the case. Whether that will take 10 or 100 years, no one knows. But before then, the story of Gloria Okon is one eerie chapter that will continue to haunt the world’s largest black nation.

THANKS FOR YOUR TIME.

ABIYAMO.

REFERENCES

1. Ben Edokpayi, Who Killed Gloria Okon, Newswatch, August 12, 1985.
2. Mohammed Buba Marwa Delivered The Letter Bomb That Killed Dele Giwa – Professor Taiyemiwo Ogunade, June 2009. 
3. Trials & Triumphs: The Story of THENEWS by Wale Adebanwi.
4. Beyond the Execution: Understanding the Ethnic and Military Politics in Nigeria by Tom Mbeke-Ekanem.

The Inspiring Story of BLESSING LIMAN, Nigeria’s First Female Military Pilot

by Abiyamo 2

In June 2010, Shamsudeen Usman, then the Nigerian Minister for National Planning dropped a bombshell during a presentation: Northern Nigeria has the highest level of illiteracy on earth. Although I wouldn’t know how the World Bank came about its figures which the minister quoted, I will be deceiving myself to say that all is well with education in the north.

That explains why it calls for celebration when a young lady from the same northern region becomes the first female combatant pilot not only in Nigeria, but in the entire West African subregion. I present to you the amazing story of Nigeria’s winged eagle, BLESSING LIMAN. 

Intelligent, witty and yeah, beautiful, Blessing Liman is the first female military pilot of the Nigerian Air Force. In other words, while some Banana Island girls will be shakaraing the entire neighborhood with their Infiniti FX 37, Blessing plays with jet fighters and bombers. Can you beat that? Try again. MORE PICTURES AFTER THE CUT
BIRTH, EARLY DAYS & SCHOOLING

At NCAT.

Born on the 13th March, 1984, Blessing Liman hails from Kaduna State (kai! Those KD gals! Lol!) and is an indigene of Zangon Kataf Local Government Area. She later attended the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, Kaduna State. She was of the SP-24A set of pilots and they were referred to as the Knights of the Air. Cool nickname, I’d say!

Her set: Knights of the Air.

Liman is seated fourth from the left.

BECOMING NAF’S FIRST FEMALE COMBATANT PILOT

Blessing Liman makes me proud.

She was commissioned as a Combat Flying Officer alongside 126 others who finished the Direct Short Service Course 2010/2011 Cadets of the 325 Ground Training Group at the Nigerian Air Force Base, Kaduna. Present at the winging ceremony (badge decoration) was the then Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Mohammad Dikko Umar who described her training as a ‘very laudable achievement’. I very much agree with the former CAS.

Liman hugged by the then Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada.

She was quite excited and proud to have made history and said:
“It is very uplifting and I feel very proud of myself though it has been very challenging. Coming from the civil war and the civil mentality, the Air Force has done a great job because it has changed our orientation. I believe that all females have equal opportunity to dignify their rights in whatever adventure they choose they can do.”
‘As a first female pilot I would want to make a mark that would encourage other females to join the military because I believe that all females have equal opportunity to exercise their rights in whatever they choose to do, I believe that all female Nigerians who choose to become pilots can do it since I have done it.

With her colleagues at NCAT.

This is a remarkable achievement, one that should drive our ladies to know and see themselves as been able to achieve the impossible and break the so called glass ceiling in any sphere you find yourself.

Blessing as a trainee pilot, third, standing from the right.

Before her winging on Friday, 27th of April, 2012, she and other pilot officers (she was the only female) went for 12 months intensive flight training in various nations of the world – United States, Greece, Belarus, United Kingdom, Pakistan and Egypt. The Federal Government spent billions of naira on the training as $650,000 was spent on each trainee. The team came up with 14, well-trained fighter jet pilots. She enlisted into the Nigerian Air Force in July 2011 and was commissioned on the 9th of December, 2011. After her commissioning, she was nominated for the 2012 THISDAY Award for Excellence.
HER WORDS

She was quite excited and proud to have made history and said:
“It is very uplifting and I feel very proud of myself though it has been very challenging. Coming from the civil war and the civil mentality, the Air Force has done a great job because it has changed our orientation. I believe that all females have equal opportunity to dignify their rights in whatever adventure they choose they can do.”
“I am going to work, with prayers, dedication and hard work, I know I will succeed.”
‘As a first female pilot I would want to make a mark that would encourage other females to join the military because I believe that all females have equal opportunity to exercise their rights in whatever they choose to do, I believe that all female Nigerians who choose to become pilots can do it since I have done it.’

Blessing keeping it real in Jersey, USA.

WATCH HER SPEAK IN THE VIDEO BELOW:

Blessing takes to the sky.

The Story of ABIMBOLA AMUSU, Nigeria’s Second Female Army General

by Abiyamo 2 ·

Major-General (Dr.) Abimbola Olatilewa Amusu is the second female general (two-star general) in the Nigerian Army. She is the Commandant, 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna. 

PRESIDENT, DEFENCE AND POLICE OFFICERS’ WIVES ASSOCIATION (DAPOWA), MRS MARY BADEH (M), MAKING A PRESENTATION TO A SOLDIER ON ADMISSION, CORPORAL ACHIWA JOHNSON, DURING THE VISIT OF DAPOWA MEMBERS TO THE ACCIDENT WARD OF THE 44 ARMY REFERRAL HOSPITAL IN KADUNA ON THURSDAY (18/9/14). LEFT IS THE MEDICAL DIRECTOR OF THE HOSPITAL, MAJ.-GEN. TILEWA AMUSU. CREDITS: SCANNEWS.

MEDICAL DIRECTOR, 44 ARMY REFERRAL HOSPITAL, MAJ.-GEN. TILEWA AMUSU (R), INTRODUCING HER STAFF TO THE PRESIDENT, DEFENCE AND POLICE OFFICERS’ WIVES ASSOCIATION (DAPOWA), MRS MARY BADEH, DURING THE VISIT OF DAPOWA MEMBERS TO THE HOSPITAL IN KADUNA ON THURSDAY (18/9/14). CREDITS: SCANNEWS.

She was promoted from the rank of a brigadier-general to a major-general in December 2013 alongside 26 others: Brigadiers-General J. N. Nimyel, L. K. J. Ogunewe, S. N. Muazu, L. W. Wiwa, A. B. Abubakar, A. O. Edokpayi, T. C. Ude, A. A. Salihu, O. E. Ekanem, S. Yusuf, A. O. Okoh, E. J. Atewe, P. A. T. Akem, C. O. Okoro, Y. M. Abubakar, M. A. Alkali, S. J. Davies, F. O. Alli, A. Mohammed, A. Oyebade, I. I. Abbah, N. O. Amerie, J. G. S. Hamakim, R. N. Nkado, S. A. Adebayo, and A. C. Olukolade. They were all of the Regular Combatant and Direct Regular Commission.

The Inspiring Story of ADERONKE KALE, Nigeria’s First Female Army General

by Abiyamo

INTRODUCTION
When the words ‘Nigerian Army’ are mentioned, the first image that flashes across the minds of many is a mass of gun-totting, stern-faced, camouflage-wearing, MALE soldiers. LOL! Let’s face it, many of us do not really think of women when talking about or thinking of the NA. Well, there are women in all the arms of the gallant Nigerian Armed Forces and today, we are taking a look at the first Nigerian woman to ever become a Major-General (two-star general) in the Army and in any of the three wings of the Nigerian Armed Forces (including the Navy and Air Force). Her record remains unbroken till date in the Nigerian Army but has been equalled by Rear Admiral Itunu Hotonu of the Nigerian Navy .
 Enter, MAJOR-GENERAL (Dr.) Mrs. ADERONKE KALE.

EDUCATION & MEDICAL CAREER
Major-General Ronke Kale (rtd) trained as medical practitioner before she decided to enlist in the Nigerian Army as an officer. It is quite interesting to know that she did so when even fewer women were donning the uniform of the military (it was not even until November 2011 that the first female hostel in the Nigeria Defence Academy, NDA, Kaduna was commissioned, for how many female students? 20). And as for the curious medical professionals, Major-General Kale’s area of specialty is psychiatry. She was inspired to join psychiatry by the late medical giant, Professor Thomas Adeoye Lambo. Africa’s first professor of psychiatry. 
JOINING THE ARMY & AS A MAJOR-GENERAL
As a colonel and medical commandant (Commanding Officer) in the Nigerian Army, she attended the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, (NIPSS SEC12), Kuru, Plateau State in the year 1990 (she was of the same set with retired Lt. Gen. Victor Samuel Leonard Malu who was to later become the Chief of Army Staff). Upon graduation from Kuru (she received her graduation certificate in 1990 as a colonel from General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, who was the military president), she returned to the Military Hospital, Benin, Edo State and resumed duties as the Commanding Officer. While in the army, she was a close associate of IBB’s chief of intelligence, Colonel Halilu Akilu.
From there, she was later moved to Lagos State where she served as the Deputy Commandant of the Nigerian Army Medical Corps , Ojo where she was later promoted to the rank of a Brigadier General, thus becoming the first woman in Nigeria to become a one-star general (but please note that the first woman to be commissioned an officer in the Nigerian Army is Risquat Finni, who later retired as a Lieutenant Colonel).
This amiable physician was the first female military officer to reach the rank of a major-general (mind you, that’s solid two-star general and it was not until July 2015 that the British Army appointed its first female brigadier-general, see HERE) when she became the Commandant of the Nigerian Army Medical Corps and School (NAMCS) and later bowed out without any blemish in her medical or military career. The Nigerian Army Medical Corps has been described as one of the components of combat service support. Its main function is to provide adequate medical care for the entire Nigerian Army, and in addition to being the second of the four principal services, it is also the only one that is mainly administrative. As the Commandant of the Corps, he/she reports to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) concerning the efficiency and quality of the medical, dental, pharmaceutical and nursing services received by personnel of the Nigerian Army. The NAMC has the following units:
-Field Ambulance (Fd Amb)
-Regimental Aid Post (RAP)
-Company Aid Post (CAP)
-Main Dressing Station (MDS)
-Advanced Dressing Station (ADS)
-Field Hospital (Fd Hosp)
(Credits: Armed Forces Command And Staff College, Jaji)
So as you can see, her role was far from being a minor one.
It was in the year 1994 that she broke the record not only in Nigeria but in West Africa with her appointment as the first ever female Major General in the Nigerian Army. Her job was to see to the psychological problems of the personnel of the Nigerian Army in addition to other duties related to administration and management. The military all across the globe, is one institution that is beset with a lot of psychological trauma and if not properly managed, can have devastating consequences. An appropriate example is the United States military which has one of the most shocking rates of suicide and sexual assault in the world.
RETIREMENT
Retirement came in 1996 under the Abacha regime. She retired honourably and till date, Major-General Kale (rtd) remains a mentor to many Nigerian women, especially those in the military. Some analysts have described her retirement as an ethnic purge by Abacha under the circumstances of an alleged coup reportedly masterminded by Lt. General Oladipo Diya of the Yoruba ethnic group as she was retired alongside a batch that included many others from her geopolitical zone (we cannot make any progress as a nation if all these annoying ethnic wars are not sorted out). What is clear is that she had issues with the Abacha regime (or Abacha had issues with her) with arguments over whether she acted or refused to act on orders. 
THE GENERAL TODAY
On the 13th of February, 2012, she was honoured at the 17th THISDAY Annual Awards for Excellence (Lifetime Achievement Awards), see picture below. The only other female two-star generals today in the Nigerian Armed Forces are Rear Admiral Itunu Hotonu of the Nigerian Navy and Major-General TA Amusu of the Nigerian Army.

ITUNU HOTONU - FIRST WOMAN TO ATTAIN THE RANK OF REAR ADMIRAL IN THE NIGERIA NAVY

Written by  Viyon Awhanse|

‬Admiral ITUNU HOTONU/

Her dream was to join the services of the Nigerian Army. But when she applied, she was told bluntly that the Army had no place for women in its engineering corps. She was heartbroken. Saddened by the unexpected turn of events, she spent the following days brooding until someone told her that the Navy would accept her, regardless of her gender.
She did, and today Rear Admiral Itunu Hotonu has been setting the pace in the force, and has gone ahead to become the first woman to attain the exalted rank of a Rear Admiral in the history of the Nigerian Navy.



The 52-year-old Admiral from Badagry, Lagos State, can be said to be first in everything she has done. Hotonu is the first child in a family of four girls, and has always taken the first position in class right from her primary school days till this day.
She was among the first set of architects to be enlisted into the Nigerian Navy and it is on record that Hotonu was the first female military officer to serve as a Directing Staff (that is an instructor) at the famous Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Jaji. She was also the first female military officer to attend the then National War College, now National Defence College, where she emerged the best overall graduating student and won the Commander-in-Chief's prize as well as the Commandant's prize for the best research.
Born on January 18, 1959 Hotunu studied Architecture from the University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka, and enlisted in the Nigerian Navy in 1985. She has served at various naval formations and in different capacities across the country. She was director of projects, Naval Headquarters Commander, Lagos Logistics Depot, Command Logistics Officer, Headquarters Eastern Naval Command, Calabar. In 2008 when she was appointed Managing Director of the Nigerian Navy Post Service Housing Scheme(NNPSHS), a position she held until her promotion to the rank of a Rear Admiral in December, 2010.
Admiral Hotunu, who has been the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Navy Holdings Limited since 2010 is a highly decorated senior officer who has the military prestigious awards of FSS, MSS, DSS attached to her name. She etched her name in history when she was promoted the first female Rear Admiral in the Nigerian Navy. In just 12 months after she was appointed the MD of the NNPSHS in Karshi, Nassarawa State, this Amazon built and completed 460 houses. As at today, Admiral Hotonu has built over 1,000 houses in the estate.
Popularly called mama by her staff, Admiral Itunu told the story of how she wanted to join the army after her university education when she made up her mind to join the military but was turned back by the army authorities on the grounds that they didn't take women in engineering corps. Call her the stone rejected by the builders that suddenly became the chief corner stone, and you won't be wrong. Having been rejected by the army, she was accepted by the navy and no doubt become a pillar in that branch of the Armed Forces. She made the Navy proud with her achievements at the post service housing scheme where apart from building those houses, she also built and completed the NOWA Educational Centre comprising a creche, nursery school, primary school and a junior secondary boarding school, which is already in session. As if that was not enough, she went further to increase the water reserve capacity of the estate from 60,000litres in 2009 to 600,000litres.
Recently, she was invited to the 54th anniversary celebration of the Liberian Armed Forces by the government and people of Liberia and to also help in mentoring female officers in that country's armed forces. In this interview, Admiral Itunu who is a staunch believer in hardwork, attributed the strength she display to the upbringing she had from her father whom she credits with what she is today.
At a very tender age of eight, she said her father started drumming it into her ears as his first child that he was going to hand over his family to her when he was gone. And so at age 13, Hotonu said she had already assumed her responsibility of taking care of her younger ones and the management of their home. She took care of things like fixing of sockets, tiles and even drove her father around town while he sat at the owner's corner.
THE BEGINNING
I am Rear Admiral Itunu Hotonu. I am the Group Managing Director of Navy Holdings which comprises all navy commercial ventures namely the Post Service Housing Scheme, the Micro Credit Finance Scheme, the hotels and suites and the marine services to name a few.
I have always been a very adventurous person and I was just very curious and one thing led to the other and I found myself in the navy. There was really nothing in particular that lured me into joining the Navy. I actually wanted to join the Army but they wouldn't have me. They said they didn't take women in engineering but the Navy said, look they would take me anywhere, it wouldn't matter.
Before I joined the navy, I worked in an architect office for two years after I graduated from the university because you need to work for at least two years as an architect after graduation before you take your professional exams. So I spent those two years working for my professional practice certification.
IT WAS TOUGH TRAINING IN THE NAVY
Training was tough and the best way I can describe it to you is to multiply what they put you through during National Youth Service Corps by 20 times and then you get an idea of what the training was like. I enjoyed it but wao, it was tough. But the good thing was that at the end of it all you come out fitter than you have ever been in your life.
You come out more disciplined and you come out with a commitment to keep fit.
So in all, life was very interesting while I was undergoing my training as a naval officer. First of all, you know I had done NYSC so I had the creamy taste of military training. But the real Navy basic training was much more than that, and the thing is that at the end of it all you know it taught me a lot of discipline and it gave me strength that I didn't know I had, physical strength; so it was very good. Even though the training was not easy, the truth is that after surviving the first few days when you are aching all over, you actually get used to it. I mean the human body is very resilient and at the same time interesting and you can actually train yourself to get used to it.
If somebody offends in a squadron they will punish the whole squadron, I couldn't understand it. I was like if somebody offends and the person owns up why should you punish all of us? But one of the instructors told me that look, if you are in a hostile situation may be in a war situation you have to look out for everybody and that the mistake of one person can cause everybody's life because your survival depends on you as a group.
So if just one person steps out of line it could actually endanger the life of everybody else. So you have to have a collective responsibility for each other's safety and you have to make sure that nobody goes out of line. So that was the one that I couldn't understand for a very long time but after a while, I got to understand it. But so far I thank God because one of the greatest things that could happen to anybody is actually being at the pinnacle of your career and you know it is something one has to always give glory to Almighty God for. It's wonderful.


I WOULD NOT BE HERE IF I WERE A 'WOMAN'S WOMAN'
I had a dream to get to the top of my career and nothing was going to let me go off that dream. Sometimes it looked like a distant dream, sometime it would even fade to a dot in the horizon, sometime I would want to give up but the good thing was that I had a lot of supportive people who believed in me, people who, when the going got really rough, said to me, no, you cannot give up. And believe me there were times when it got really rough and those were the times when that dream was like a dot but somehow with God on my side and a lot of wonderful friends here am I.
The major challenge, I must be very honest with you, is the fact that you know you meet a lot of men who wonder what you are doing in their territory and you have to spend everyday of your life proving that you should be here. For me there is nothing in this constitution that says I am not a full fledged citizen of this country. I don't see it anywhere, but you see, there are still people who still have issues with that, and such people vent their frustration on you. But you have to be resilient enough and claim your place because nobody is going to give it to you.
That is the major challenge but you see as time went on it started to be the least of my problems because at the same time I met a lot of men that I will say are real men and those are the ones who are not threatened by your gender. Rather, they see you as helping to improve the lot of the Navy and they supported me and cheered me up every step of the way.
So my major challenges were with people who would, even to your face, let you know that as far as they are concerned, you are an intruder. But I made them realize that if I am an intruder, they too are intruders. And it is very simple because the constitution of this country does not assign lesser rights to me as a woman. So if a man is sitting on my seat, I will shove him off, no apologies and that was how I survived. Sometimes people say that you lose some of your feminity by doing those things, it is true. You cannot afford to be a woman's woman as such because if you are a woman's woman, that is what the stereotype says a woman is and if you are one of those…well I don't know.
At times you lose the essence of what makes you feminine, but when you look at what you gain, you know, you gain a good career, you gain respect, you act as a mentor for younger women coming along, the sacrifices you make, they don't look so large. But the fact that I am here today is an attestation to the fact that I have a chief who believes in merit. He doesn't care what you are made of as long as you can do the job. So people like that have encouraged me, kept me on and made it a lot easier and honestly those are the men that I really respect very much.
INTIMIDATED? NO WAY!
Nooo, intimidated ke? If you allow yourself to be intimidated then…but I must correct myself, there are a lot of wonderful men who encourage you, who tell you to go for it and those are men that I really respect because they are men who are sure of themselves. But there are others who unfortunately feel threatened and if a person is threatened by you because you are doing your legitimate duty, I don't think you should be intimidated.
GROWING UP WAS FUN
My growing up was really fun because I was a tomboy, big time. I climbed trees and did all the things the boys did and I even did more. But I must tell you that growing up for me was lovely. I had wonderful parents, they taught us to believe in ourselves. They taught me that the star, not the sky is your limit and they taught me that if you have a dream you should hold on to it and never let it go. So I had wonderful parents and you know growing in the University of Ibadan in the sixties and seventies was wonderful.
People say I am a tomboy and like I usually would say, I think a lot of it has to do with the way my father brought me up. I had a wonderful father who is still accused to this day by my mother of turning me into a tomboy because you see I am the oldest of four daughters and my father made it very clear to me that he didn't care whether I was male or female; the important thing was that I am his oldest and I should be ready to fill his shoes when he is gone. So he brought me up to be his heir. He said when am gone, am going to hand this family to you so I grew up learning to change tiles, change electrical sockets in the house, I would drive my father out and he would seat in the owner's corner in the car so I think my upbringing more or less prepared me for this work.
WHY I READ ARCHITECTURE
As a child, my life ambition was to be an architect and I chose to become an architect because I was always good at fine art and I also was very good at mathematics and in those days if you were good at fine arts, then you are an artist and if you are good at mathematics then you are a science student. But I believe it was my father who first mentioned architecture to me because I said I wanted a profession where I could combine fine arts and mathematics. It was my father, brilliant man himself, who said what I believe you are talking about is architecture.
And I said hmm, architecture? So at the age of 13 he sent me off to an architect’s office to go and work and see what they do and I fell in love with it and from that moment on, I wanted to be an architect. It was my father who also told me to hold on to my dream because he said that if you are sure you want to be an architect then go for it, hold on to it and that is what you will be.
WHY I DON'T MAKE MY HAIR
As a matter of fact I don't have anything against making my hair. It's just that I had very long hair and I will just cut it when I want to and grow it back when I want to. Then one of the times when I cut it, my husband to be then said ha, I like this hair and he never let me grow it back and I got use to it and apparently it's different and people tell me they like it so I kept it that way and it has automatically become my trademark.
Well I exercise, I go to the gym, I watch what I eat because when you get to my age, you can't just afford to do a lot of things, otherwise you just spread all over the place.
BEING THE FIRST FEMALE ADMIRAL
Well, I am happy about my promotion to the rank of a rear admiral in the Nigerian Navy and the fact that it is during my life time that females are now been recruited into the Nigerian Defence Academy to train as Regular Combatant Officers. And it is very good for women, young girls coming after me came out of my promotion to the rank of a Rear Admiral, I can only say I thank God. I feel humbled. I never for once in my life thought my name would be linked to the first set of female regular combatant cadets. I am just so thankful, I'm just so overwhelmed and I'm so humbled.
TRAINING OF FEMALE COMBATANTS IN NDA
Yes I knew that lots of criticism would come up when the federal government announced its decision to commence the training of female combatant officers at the NDA. But I would like to echo an interview that I once listened to and it was about some veterans of World War Two who were asked what happened when they brought women.
Of course in those days women were nurses in the military and when they asked them what happened when they brought women and how they felt, they said that if anything, it sharpened them up. They said because they knew that there were women present, they were more alert. They were more mindful of their language, they looked after themselves better, they dressed better, they were more disciplined. So I like to think that having women go into the NDA will probably even encourage the men to do better.
After all, who wants to sit in a class and have women beat them? So I think that the men would even work harder because the truth of the matter is that those girls would go there not aiming to fail, but aiming to beat the men. So I think standards will really rise. I also believe that those girls would make a success of their training because I believe that by their presence the men would be forced to be more disciplined than they have been. Having the competition of girls in class, the boys would want to do better. So I actually think it is a good thing. I think it would improve the standards in NDA.
ADVICE TO YOUNG FEMALE OFFICERS
I want to advise the young girls who want to join the military that it is not easy at all, mostly because we are still in a largely male-dominated society. The only thing that I will say is that to succeed as a woman, you have to be ready to work hard. When I say work hard, I mean work hard, that is number one. Two, you must not be the kind of person that gets frightened easily. You know you will have a lot of put downs, you will have a lot of snide remarks, but you must be ready to stand up each time you fall down and keep going. And very importantly, you must keep your self-respect because it is a place where if people cannot get you one way, they will try to get you another. So you have to be a very strong person, strong character, very resilient, very bold and ready to work hard.
The military profession is not an easy place for women to be at all. First, you have to be physically strong. Second, you must not be the kind of person that will start making excuses like everyday I am ill, I want to go to the hospital and you go and lie down. No, it doesn't work that way. You cannot do that. Any woman who knows that she is not physically strong should just forget about joining the military, that is the truth. It's just the same way as some men who may not be physically strong. But if anybody thinks tha4 they are going to go to today'r armed forces and bust be anyhgw people, welL they should think about it tgice. But a person who is intellectually and physically sound, feel free because the challenges will be more. The physical demands and physical fitness demands from you will be plenty; so anybody who know she/she cannot rise to that challenge should not just bother.
And so I will want to advise that before they get there, if they know they are people who have not been exercising a lot, going to the gym, running cross country, I will suggest that they start doing so immediately because you have to be in peak physical condition. In fact they will put them through the kind of rigorous exercise that they cannot imagine in their lives. So by way of preparation, because there is nobody who takes an exam without preparing, so apart from reading up, they should try and go on long jogs. I am not talking of the lazy type of jogging. I mean real physically groaning, exhausting thing.
Go to the gym, work out, do strength training so that at least you will be in good physical condition. They must have faith in themselves and they must have self-discipline. They must have strength of character. They must never allow themselves to be intimidated by anybody because believe me people will try but it depends on how they handle it. They must never, ever compromise themselves. That is the advice I have for them.

SOURCE - CITYMOOD BADAGRY, THE NIGERIAN VOICE

180 DAYS to SPAIN

INTRODUCTION

Some people are born to stay at home,others are born to travel. This story is about a trip. It is a story for people who travelled and enjoyed it, and for people who wanted to travel but never made it. It is a story of a young man, who after much hardship and disappointment, both in the university system and the labour market decided to leave Nigeria for Spain.

           Joe decided he would walk to Spain en route the Sahara Desert where he found himself sitting in the Sahara Desert by an empty road in 140 degrees Fahrenheit bake-oven heat, with approximately 1,600 miles between him and his destination. This journey, filled with discouragement, disappointment and even death, took him 180 days. It was a dare devil attempt .He lost several friends on the way and almost lost his own life.

           Unfortunately, he got to the point where he sighted and felt Spain but never entered Spain. For 180 days, the plan to enter Spain became a mere figment of his imagination.

My heartfelt desire is that you not only understand this story about traveling but also feel at least in part, like a member of the team. Whichever way you look at it; as a story about traveling; as a search for truth; or as a biography ,one thing is clear : It is entirely true. Joe did it.    

 HOW IT ALL STARTED

     Have you ever wondered why some people are more successful than others? Why is it that some people enjoy better health, happier relationship, greater success in their careers and achieved financial independence and great wealth -and others do not?

      What is it that enables some people accomplish remarkable things and enjoy wonderful lives while so many others feel frustrated and disappointed?

      These questions were important to me when i started out in life .Right from my early days, i had dreams of being rich and doing great things in life. I had always wanted to be like other respected and recognised people in my neighbourhood.

      “Joe”, as close friends and people fondly called me, was not the person to be satisfied by what i had then. I was a believer of everything is possible as every sixteen year old kid would believe, maybe because i was exposed to motivational book and literatures early in life. I spent hours reading and searching for solutions to the overwhelming poverty all around me.

      I am from a large polygamous family, and the first son with six siblings from my mother. My father was a local farmer who could not support his family from the crops of his farm because the harvest was usually poor due to lack of money to purchase fertilisers and other farming implements . As it is the custom where i came from in the southern part of Nigeria where large polygamous families like my own find it hard to survive, everybody was on his/her own except for the mercies of the mothers. How far could my mother help to take care of my six siblings and i?  She however tried to make her children happy by providing what she could afford. She was hard working, she cultivated cassava and groundnuts for sale to make sure her children ate and were well taken care of. In all, she was a strong disciplinarian, a woman of prayer and a believer of destiny.   

        After years of searching and reading i came to understand that[1] [2]  “the key to success is for you to set one great challenging goal and be prepared to pay the price, overcome any obstacle and persist through any difficulty, until you finally achieve it”. There and then i made up my mind to get myself educated, by making the move to gain admission into one of the Nigeria universities .

          Such  plans in other countries especially developed nations should have been plain sailing, “but not here in Nigeria”, and certainly not the university i attended .Everything that could go wrong went wrong .At a point i thougth i was jinxed, yes; it looked like i was under a spell ! After all, it was not me alone. My fellow campus mates had the same problems too.

        What are the problems?

        They came in all shapes and sizes with different names too. Students unrest with the resultant riots were a regular occurrence. Often it ended in school closure; don’t even mention cult activities as good looking young men were becoming monsters overnight, such that violence became the order of the day! Each problem resulted in the locking of the school gates and everybody was usually asked to go home.

         We would spend endless weeks and months at home making our lives miserable and after several months they would recall the students, but before we could settle down we would again be confronted with the same situation. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) or Non Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASUU) go on strike frequently. The reason you find a program designed for four years lasting six or seven years and you can imagine what it was for medical students.

          Meanwhile, my relations-half brothers and sisters who had abandoned their education and travelled abroad were as we call it,        “making it”. They would come back from abroad “loaded” parading flashy cars and building the latest houses.

Copyright @180 days to Spain.                                                                    Jeffery Igbinigie.

..To be continued.