Air Vice Marshal Anthony Okpere, retd, is a man with an aura of simplicity, the former Minister of Aviation and Managing Director of defunct Nigeria Airways, who clocked 80 recently, spoke on the significance of being 80 and life in general.

He said, “I am blessed to see that whatever problems there are, from nowhere, help comes from God. We all have different callings in life. Some are clergymen, some are teachers, but for me, if I see any person in distress, I do whatever I can do even if I don’t have the means to help. For instance, the words from my mouth are sufficient to ease the burden of that person. I have seen it happen many times. I am blessed in the sense that I also have a prophetic tongue. This is the work of God, not me. If I tell you this is what will happen, it will.

“It is not by my power and I have never professed that I am a pastor or bishop. When it comes to religion, I am not a fanatic, but I am blessed in the sense that I have a heart to reach out to people. For me, it is the biggest blessing God has given me. Looking back at my life, I was born on September 28, 1943. I didn’t know my father until 1947 because he went to the Second World War in Burma. I was born into the house of my maternal uncle who everyone knew as my dad because, at the time I was born, he didn’t have any children. And I was seen as the first child in the house.

“I left Uromi in 1963. Three-quarters of the time I spent, I was with my uncle. I spent an insignificant part of my life with my dad. Again, because I am the first son, I wasn’t allowed to grow up in the home. I was sent out to learn and brought up by somebody.

Speaking on Awolowo, he said “In 1959, I was in class three in secondary school when Awolowo campaigned with a helicopter. On a hot afternoon, we saw something come on, did a series of maneuvers and we saw the palm tree shaking. All of us trooped out and our principal said ‘‘children that is called a helicopter.’’

He also said more than 20 of them could land on our football field. In my young mind, I said ‘’that is a human being up there, and if 20 could land; one day, I will also do this sort of thing by flying a helicopter and landing at Uromi,’’ which I did in 1981.The day I did that thing at Uromi, I was fulfilled. I said it was what I thought of in 1959.

“I got the opportunity to be a helicopter pilot but I didn’t have the opportunity to take an aircraft to Uromi and land until God made it in such a way that Professor Ambrose Alli, who was the governor of Bendel State was to do something for the Air Force, open up but wasn’t there. I flew to Ekpoma and said ‘’boys, thank you very much officers, give me half an hour.’’ It was after I said give me half an hour that I turned around and said this is an opportunity for me and I flew to Uromi to fulfill my dream.

“I had to report because I wasn’t authorised to go to Uromi, I was only authorized to go to Ekpoma. Nothing happened, but assuming there was a report that an air force plane flew to Uromi and landed and I didn’t report myself that would have meant more trouble for me. Fortunately, then Chief of Air Staff, AVM Abdul Bello, and I were good friends. Right from the first day I joined the Air Force, we bonded as friends.

“I had to report myself because I was in charge of operations and if somebody else did it, what moral justification would I have to punish that person if I didn’t report myself? That is why I did that.

On his being part of the Babangida administration, he said, “It was an interesting thing because whenever I was asked if I was part and parcel of the administration, I beat my chest to say yes. No administration is flawless. From the beginning, whether it was from Zik or Tafawa Balewa. Today, we have over 40 ministers. Under Babangida, how many ministers did we have in this country? We were about 18 or 22. We were doing the jobs that over 40 people are doing now.

“Babangida is one human being who is detribalized. He doesn’t care where you are from. There was a time when four of us from Edo State were ministers. Babangida cared who did the job and not where you came from. Give it to the man. He did a lot in terms of restructuring.

“Don’t forget that it was during that period that we had deputy governors serving with military governors. I was part and parcel of the group that selected deputy governors on August 28, 1990. We weren’t Edo then, we were Bendel Stated. I recall that when it came to picking someone as a Deputy Governor of Bendel State, names came up. Babangida came up with a name, and I said ‘’no, that fellow has just finished something, let us not pick him.’’

Babangida said ‘’Tony, you and Augustus should tell me who should be the Deputy Governor of Bendel State.’’ I was given the prerogative to pick the Deputy Governor. I looked at it and some names came to my mind but I cancelled them. I said we should pick somebody from the Delta area. A name came to me and I said I remembered that fellow very well, but he is a greedy person. I didn’t want him. I had to pick John Edozie, who was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Sports.

|Edozie didn’t even know that I was instrumental in his appointment. I didn’t have to tell him. I didn’t go to Edo State or Bendel Government House to look for any favour, I don’t need it because I am okay with what I have. When it came to Gongola State, I raised my hands and they said but I am not from Gongola. I said yes, but my Permanent Secretary is a good administrator. People from that side were arguing, including some senior officers. We quarreled over this.

“I told Babangida that this fellow needed to be compensated. When the other people were arguing, Babangida said Tony has worked with this man, let’s pick him. That was Babangida for you. He believed in competence. Everybody had his opinion during cabinet meetings. There was even a day Abacha met me after a meeting we had and asked why I was always supporting whatever Aikhomu said. I said it wasn’t so that I always spoke before Aikhomu because we spoke in alphabetical order. It couldn’t have been possible for him to speak before me. Gen Ike Nwachukwu was even aware of it and said I shouldn’t take the matter lightly. I went to Dodan Barracks to report the matter to Babangida but I saw Aikhomou who said I should just ignore the matter,” he added. (Story adapted from Vanguard)

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