Ex-Ogun Commissioner for Information, Kayode Samuel, celebrates Anyaoku @90

L-R: Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Professor (Mrs) Aderonke Samuel and former Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Ogun State, Mr. Kayode Samuel.

Chief Emeka Anyaoku GCVO, CFR, CON turned 90 a few days ago. It is in utmost gratitude that I write these few lines in tribute to a truly great Nigerian. 

My first encounter with Chief Anyaoku came in a rather fortuitous way. It was in 2007 and I was on a British Airways flight back to Lagos from London. It turned out that I was seated beside a really old granny who was nonetheless quite chatty. She was on the window seat while I was on the aisle seat. She began by asking if I’d wish to switch seats as she was likely to be disturbing me a lot with her movement to the convenience. I told her the frequency of her movement was not a problem for me. So, we settled in. Just before the flight took off, she had a call and I heard her speaking in Yoruba. Thereafter, our conversation shifted to the Yoruba language. I soon got to know so much about her – through no prodding at all and due to no fault of mine. She was just in a plainly conversational mood . She told of how much she missed home having been away for quite some time for medical reasons. She spoke excitedly of how she could not wait to see her house in Iju once again. Her mention of Iju got my attention as it is very near Agege where I grew up. So, I thought I’d keep up the conversation by telling her that my father once had an older friend who used to work at the Iju Water Works in the 1960s and ’70s. As soon as I mentioned his name, she asked, “Nje eyi to fe oyinbo ko niyen?” True, Engr. Bello was married to a white woman and three of his children – Paul, Corrine and Mark – were in high school with me. She then filled my knowledge gap by letting me know that a fourth child, Kareem, went to King’s College. I knew from that point that I was seated beside an encyclopaedia! 

Shortly after the meals were cleared, the curtain separating us from the first class compartment opened and from there emerged this dignified looking man who looked vaguely familiar. As he got closer to our row, I saw that the man was Chief Anyaoku. He stopped beside us me and spoke to the old woman, “Mama, I hope you are fine”. The old woman said that she was and asked him to help her thank “this young man who had been keeping my company”. I was somewhat embarrassed by her gesture of appreciation. A few words of gratitude uttered and inquiries made as to who I was, Chief Anyaoku returned to his seat. I asked the old woman who Chief Anyaoku was to her and she responded rather airily, “Oko Bunmi niyen”. Not knowing who Bunmi was, I asked to know who she was. And that was how I got to know that I had all along been seated with the mother-in-law of the great Chief Emeka Anyaoku. Up to that point, I never even knew he was married to a Yoruba lady. Just before the flight was to land, a young man whom I assumed was a protocol officer walked up to me with a call card from Chief Anyaoku with a note at the back asking that I keep in touch. I cannot recall that I kept to that instruction! 

However, a few long months after that first encounter, another opportunity to meet Chief Anyaoku presented itself. This time, I had a reason to want to meet with him. A valedictory session was to be held at the University of Ibadan for some old academics and Chief Anyaoku was listed as a speaker at the event. It turned out that around the same time, my book, Political Transition in Nigeria: Commentaries on Slected Themes (Malthouse, 2007) had just come off the press. I wanted Chief Anyaoku to have a copy of the book given his role in some of the events narrated in the book. I also hoped that he would possibly agree to play a role at its public presentation. So, off I went to Ibadan that day. I was able to approach him as the gathering wound down for refreshments. As I introduced myself and tried to remind him of our earlier meeting having been remiss about keeping in touch, he asked if I was not “the fellow from Ogun State on the plane with Mama”. There was no need for further introductions at that point. I simply stated my mission, gave him two copies of the book and notified him that an invitation to the launch would follow soon. The “soon” was to turn out to be an overly optimistic timeline as I was not able to have the public launch until after I’d left the service of the Ogun State Government. Anyway, after our meeting in Trenchard Hall that day, I made sure to stay in more frequent touch with Chief Anyaoku. 

As the day of the presentation neared, Chief Anyaoku called one day to say that he had read my book and that he found a big gap in my essays. When I went to visit him thereafter to inform him of the final plans for the book presentation (my preferred original venue, NIIA had suddenly cancelled the reservation), he then told me what the gap was. He said that I did not give adequate attention to the role of the Commonwealth (which he headed at the critical period covered by the book) in the resolution of Nigeria’s political transition crisis of 1993-99. I saw his point. He then added that since I was now out of job (I had resigned my appointment in the Ogun State Government then) would I be willing to apply for a Visiting Fellowship at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies located in the University of London to fill my knowledge gap while I decided what I wanted to do with myself going forward. I jumped at the opportunity. He and the former Minister of Mines, Professor Leslye Obiora wrote my recommendations for that position. I still keep a copy of Chief Anyaoku’s two-line letter of recommendation for the Fellowship. Reads more like a directive than a recommendation to me! Anyway, that Fellowship subsists to this day. 

Shortly after the book presentation at which he was Special Guest, I was to, again fortuitously, meet Chief Anyaoku. It turned out that the Convocation ceremonies of the University of Lagos at which my wife, Aderonke received her Ph.D was also the event at which Chief Anyaoku was conferred with the honorary award of a D.Litt. This picture captures that happy moment. I had an opportunity to return just a tiny bit of the huge gratitude that I owe Chief Anyaoku when he opened his house in the Hilltop area of Abeokuta. I visited with a basket of fruits for which his wife was most appreciative. I have remained in touch ever since.

As Chief Anyaoku turns 90, my prayer is that God should continue to uphold him and to, through his exemplary life, prove to all that dignity and decency are not alien to our country. Happy birthday, Sir.