Chief Ebenezer Osoba is a former president of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria. The 80-year-old retired engineer talks about his career and family in this interview with ALEXANDER OKERE
Are your birth records documented?
I don’t have a birth certificate but my parents were in the CMS mission (now Anglican Communion). So, what we had was the baptismal certificate. My mother had the date she gave birth to me and it was indicated on my baptismal certificate. That is authentic. Ever since, we have been using the sworn declaration, which is the standard thing.
I was born in November 1939, in the vicarage of St. Stephen’s Church, Modakeke (Osun State). Unfortunately, my dad passed on four months later. So, my mother and other siblings had to relocate to Ijebu Ode. I spent my childhood there. I attended St. Saviour’s Primary School, Ijebu Ode, between 1944 and 1953. From there, I went to Ijebu Ode Grammar School in 1954. As a child, I was playful but at the same time, focused.
How else would you describe your childhood in Ijebu Ode?
It was very interesting. There was a communal kind of development such that it was not only your immediate siblings that would care for you but also the extended family members within the compound. They praised you when you did well and scolded you when you misbehaved.
You lost your dad when you were an infant, how often did you think about him while growing up?
To be honest with you, there was no space in my heart to feel that I missed my dad because my mother and some other relations played the role (of a father). It was when I grew older to take decisions that I felt the need to consult my dad. My mum was a disciplined woman and she ensured that we had the best of what she could offer and she did everything to please us – she provided us with good food and clothing. But she was very strict; she was a teacher and matron at the only girls’ school we had in Ijebu Ode at that time.
Why did your family move to Ijebu Ode after your father’s death?
My father was a cleric and when he died, they (mission) could not sustain us. The job had been done, so we were sent back to our place of origin. However, the then mission was very supportive. For example, they subsidised our school fees (primary and secondary education) as children of one of them. That was highly commendable and I will never forget it.
What did your mother tell you about the personality of your late father?
She told me a lot of things. She told me my dad was disciplined, honest, accommodating and caring. She told me that he used to take some of his relations to the places he was posted to and put them in school. To the glory of God, most of those that followed him have become very important personalities in the society.
You studied Civil Engineering at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State. Was that your original intention?
Yes, it was. There was a time at Ijebu Ode Grammar School that we were asked to write a composition about our ambition. So, I decided to write about becoming a civil engineer. In all honesty, I didn’t know what was required to be an engineer. But one thing that fascinated me then was how the town was planned and how things were moving properly. So, I wrote in the composition that I would like to provide water, accommodation, roads and a good environment when I grew up. My teacher was impressed and I was highly scored.
So I attended the Delft Hydraulics Institute in the Netherlands. I had a postgraduate diploma there in Environmental Engineering and my specialty was ports, harbour and coastal engineering because I was with the Nigerian Ports Authority. I was also at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru.
You started your professional career at the NPA in the same year you graduated from ABU. How did that happen?
I joined the NPA after graduation because I was already an engineering cadet there while I was studying at ABU. My first year at the university was sponsored by my two elder brothers. But in the second year, I got a scholarship from the NPA and was employed as a cadet. I earned a salary in addition to the stipends I got for the university programme. That was why, after graduation, I just walked straight into the NPA; I had agreed that after graduation, I would work for them for not less than five years.
Interestingly, you spent less than 30 years there before you voluntarily retired. Why did you retire that early?
Well, at that time, I was the Director, Engineering. I was in charge of all engineering disciplines. But after some time, the policy changed and some funny games started. First, I was moved from engineering to administration as the head. I wondered why but I took it. I was there for about six months before another reshuffle was done.
But the workers in that department didn’t want me to go because they had never had it so good and so organised that people who had been due for promotion for many years but denied for doing nothing unsavoury got their promotion because it was equitable. Some of them who were due for retirement went with an enhanced status and I was satisfied.
But in the end, I was taken back to engineering and was the only one sent back to their original base. I returned with scepticism. Subsequently, I found that those at the top wanted to use my position for their benefit and I told them that there must be due process in everything because we had rules. It got to a point that some consultants were appointed for a very big project and I was not involved.
They passed the papers through my office for endorsement but I refused (to sign) because I didn’t know anything about it. That day, I called some of my colleagues on the management team and close relations and told them that I was going to resign as I couldn’t accept what was happening. They pleaded with me, saying if I resigned, those responsible would say they had succeeded in pushing me out. So, I conceded by not resigning but I refused to endorse the papers. I passed them down to the next (person). Within the following six months, I calculated and knew I could voluntarily retire and get my full entitlements. So, at the end of the year in 1987, I put in my letter of voluntary retirement and on January 1, 1988, I retired.
Did your family and friends not think it was premature?
A lot of people felt it was premature. At that time, I was 49; I could have worked till I was 60. But because of my principles, I decided to retire because I cherished the ethics of the profession and couldn’t compromise as I knew what I was being told at that time wasn’t correct. I left the NPA because I could not compromise my integrity and engineering ethics.
How did you meet your wife?
That’s interesting. It was during a get-together. I had a cousin who was a friend of my wife’s cousin. So there was a Christmas party, and my cousin and I were there. My wife came with her cousin and her friend. We got talking, became friends and the rest is history; that was in 1966. We got married on March 25, 1967. We have six children and I thank God for everything.
What was your most challenging moment?
I think the most challenging moment was when I lost my wife in 2011. It was quite challenging but I thank God.
What do you miss the most about her?
I miss her love and care; she was very caring. She was also very kind.
Did you think about remarrying?
Yes. But it didn’t work out and we can’t blame anybody because you can’t compare the relationship I had for over 45 years with something that just came up. Some people have done it (remarried) and it worked for them. I tried it but it didn’t work for me.
What would you describe as your best moment?
I think the best moment I have had came when I saw my children getting married and having their own families. But I also feel fulfilled in my profession. I’m happy about the recognition of my contributions to the engineering profession.
Weren’t you worried about how you would cope in old age?
Naturally, loneliness is something to be worried about. So, if there is a means of interacting with one’s peers or younger ones, it should be encouraged. But fortunately for some of us, unconsciously, we worked towards that. We have age groups and societies and we continue to relate with people.
How do you feel at 80?
I believe in God and feel fulfilled in the sense that everything that I dreamt of, I have been able to touch substantially.
What would you say helped you to remain strong and healthy?
My upbringing contributed to it. As a youth, I was very energetic; I played football – from the time I was in primary school till when I was in the university. I think that really helped me. Again, I think doing things in moderation keeps you healthy. A reverend canon inducted us into a temperance society and the core value of that society was that everything should be done in moderation.
Does that mean you don’t take alcohol and smoke?
I don’t smoke. The last time I smoked was in 1971; I was a young man. I just stopped. I drink, but moderately.
What are your other hobbies?
I used to jog and play table tennis. I walk to keep fit. I like dancing but I can’t do that like I used to.
What’s your favourite food?
Eba and Egusi or Ewedu soup. I also like rice.
You have held several leadership positions, including serving as the president of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria. What does leadership mean to you?
Leadership, to me, is living a lifestyle that will motivate people in your group, in the sense that they will feel they are moving in the right direction, not a leader that is not predictable. A leader must be somebody who, both in words and actions, can be trusted to be consistent. A leader should also be a visionary and have honesty of purpose.
As the president of COREN in 2003, you decried the deployment of engineering graduates to areas of primary assignments not related to their fields by the National Youth Service Corps. Since the practice has not stopped, what impact do you think it has on Nigeria’s development?
We have always been saying that until we get things done properly, this country will never be developed. How do you develop the country when you train young professionals and deploy them to do things that are not really worth their calling? In their youth, they need to acquire skills. After my university education, I was posted to a project site and put under the supervision of quality engineers who groomed me and gave me the right skills.
Of what benefit is teaching mathematics in a school to a young engineer? But I was happy when I read that the NYSC had been directed to post all corps members to places where they actually fit in. It is late but never too late. I toured the whole country, talking about its repercussions; most of the young graduate engineers forget about engineering and go into other jobs and, of course, we are the losers. That is why, today, we cannot say we have Nigerian engineers in charge of projects and development.
How would you assess a recent statement credited to the Ministers of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), that Nigerian roads were not as bad as often portrayed?
I think that was a careless statement by the minister. I don’t know the directors advising him that the roads are not as bad as often portrayed. First, how do you define something as not bad when you have a highway that you cannot ply for two kilometres without running into ditches and potholes that are more or less craters? Many people have lost very important components of their cars to potholes, let alone areas that you cannot move on.
I think the minister has to take back the statement; when Nigerians say such things are bad, they are really bad. There are many factors responsible for bad roads. The types of roads we build are not compatible with the vehicular loads we put on them. So, you find that after a road is built, within two, three years, it’s bad because the design did not take into account the type of load to be placed on them.
What do you regret not doing as a young man?
I think I regret not having the means to influence decision makers in this country. Nigerians should be in charge of their construction industry.
What has the absence of that cost us?
It has cost us enormous losses in terms of human development and cost benefit advantages. We are lagging behind in these areas because most of the contracts are given to expatriates who are interested in what benefits their people. We are not saying foreigners shouldn’t come but it should not be to the detriment of the development of our local contents. These are things to regret because after many years, we still find that we are not free.
This Interview was first published in