Supreme Court verdict controversy
HOW I WAS EVENTUALLY SWORN IN AS GOV —IDRIS WADA
Saturday March 03, 2012
Wada
The new man in the leadership saddle of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada, is someone with rich professional background. He flew the turbulent skies for 35 unblemished years and retired to live a quiet and happy life. But according to his story, the way he stumbled on piloting and diverted his attention from his original focus of becoming a medical doctor is the same way he veered off the confines of quiet retirement to become governor.
Wada had a great career in flying and at a point floated and operated a private airline. Because he felt his peace mattered more than stretching himself to sustain the business in the face of impossibilities, he let off the company when regulators insisted on a giant capital base for airlines.
Wada, in his office in Lokoja last week, told a team of The Sun led by ERIC OSAGIE, Executive Director, Special Services; which also had IKENNA EMEWU, Deputy Editor (The Nation’s Capital), EMMANUEL ADEYEMI, Kogi State Correspondent and MUDASHIRU ATANDA, senior photographer, the story of his life and how he came to be a governor. He also spared no words in describing his feelings as governor and also what he plans to do with the position after all the hitches that attended his ascension to the seat.
Your Excellency, how has it been transiting from your background as pilot to politician and ultimately a governor? Is the experience what you anticipated?
Not exactly! To be honest, I expected it to be more challenging, with so many things to do at a very short time. Expectations are very high, and everybody wants you to fulfill your campaign promises in one week. You know every young man and woman needs a job immediately, and they don’t want to know if it will take time for you to set up a platform or framework of setting up a machinery to generate job opportunities for all of them.
How did you feel on your first day in office? Was it like a dream come true suddenly, and you becoming a governor? Did you believe it was real when you sat on that seat?
Yes, I am a realist. Once I find myself in any situation, I adjust very quickly, and that was what I did. It’s indeed, a strange feeling that makes you ask yourself, ‘is it true?’ All these works, many hours of campaigning, many hours of strategising, many hours of discussing issues, now it’s real; it’s a complete strange feeling with much excitements loaded with all kinds of expectations. But you just get to gather yourself and move on immediately.
Controversy started immediately you were sworn in with the state having two persons as governors. So, what actually happened and has that been resolved?
The Supreme Court judgment came all of a sudden. No one knew whether the tenure of the governor would end that day; so we all came for expectations. I came with two expectations, if the tenure ended, I was ready with my deputy to be sworn in; if not, we would continue with what we were doing – that is working towards a transition programme. So, when the judgment said the tenure of Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, the former governor, ended that day, we came to the Government House around 10am hoping to be sworn in to take over the reins of government and that’s all we expected.
And the Speaker of the House of Assembly came too?
Yes, the House members came in also. We had thought they were there to support us, but we did not have any idea that there will be further development on who takes the office. So, the best thing to do was to go to higher authority in Abuja to resolve the lacuna, and by the grace of God, it was resolved in our favour.
People actually know you as Captain Idris Wada, the pilot, but can you tell us a bit of your background?
Well, my background is straightforward. I am a normal Nigerian from a humble beginning. I come from Dekina town, did my primary school in Native Authority Primary School, Dekina; my secondary education in Government Secondary School, Dekina, and I went to the Federal Government College, Sokoto for my higher school certificate course and then to School of Aviation, Zaria. Originally, I did the HSC course to prepare to read Medicine because my father wanted me to be a medical doctor. So, I was studying Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry to prepare me for the medical college. But during my last term in my HSC I was on holiday in Zaria at a nephew’s place when I saw a small plane flying in the air, and as an inquisitive student, I asked who were the ones flying. I thought it was the children of the rich or white people who would only fly. I did not know ordinary people, like me, could fly. So, when I got to the flying ground, they said anybody could fly once such has credit in Physics, Maths and English.
I watched one particular young man take off in a small aeroplane, flew round four times, taxied back and parked. I saw him entered and I saw him coming out four times. I was so thrilled and I asked who the boy was and they said his name was so so and so from Zaria.
So, I concluded that since somebody from Zaria is flying an aeroplane, it means I too can fly it. I went straight to make an enquiry, collected the form and then I told one of my teachers, who supported me. Even the principal encouraged me to go for the interview, and eventually I was selected. I had to write to my father that I needed his blessings on this newfound course. He wrote back within five days and said: ‘look, you have travelled more than me. I live in the village, I have not gone out like you, so if this is what your mind wants to do go ahead and do it.’ So, I promised him that I would still get a university degree during his life time, and by the grace of God I went back later to the university to have my first and second degrees in Business Administration.
And you liked the aviation school?
Fantastic, right from the beginning to the end, it was very challenging. The course is so intensive and military-like. There are lots of focus and discipline and pressure on you throughout your course because if you fail three consecutive exams, you are sent away, and the pass mark is 70 per cent; 69 is not good enough.
So, what makes a pilot different from the rest of us?
Our pass mark is 70, but for you guys, it is 50; if you score 69 in aviation school, you have failed.
What is the discipline mode of a pilot?
First, you are time conscious; we believe time is money. A Boeing 727 plane, for example burns, 1, 000 gallons fuel an hour; so if you waste time, you waste a lot of money. We are also trained to know that those who go by air spend more money than those who go by road. Therefore, there is urgency in what you do. So, you organise yourself to depart on time and land on time and pilot the plane safely.
So, does that apply in Nigerian aviation?
No doubt, aviation in Nigeria has so many challenges. If I am to discuss them, we may not leave today, so let’s skip that. Anyway, my story so far is how I got into aviation. After I graduated I stayed in Zaria for five years, as a flight instructor, after going to Scotland and Miami, USA to learn how to be an instructor with British and American licences. I came back to Nigeria to teach for another five years before I went back to fly a bigger plane.
In Zaria, I felt I was limited to flying small planes. So, in order to become a professional, one needs to fly the jetliners. I was with the Nigeria Airways, where I flew 727, F28 and other bigger planes for years. Around 1984, when the airways was showing a sign of instability, we left and joined another company, especially when we found that management was not listening to ideas. I joined a private company in Kano, belonging to the Dantata group, known as United Air Service. And by 1986, I formed the EAS Airline. It was the first indigenous cargo airline in Nigeria that flew 707 between Europe and Nigeria and we were in executive charter services, regular passenger services, and then somewhere along the line, the issue of capitalisation came.
In 2006, they gave us three months to capitalise from a share capital of N250 million to a minimum of N500million. One billion naira was the capital base for regional airlines and N2billion, for international lines. And I felt, well I don’t want to go and borrow such huge money at this age and that is what we transformed into Nicon Airways. And in 2004, I got admission to read Business Administration and I got MBA at the same university, University of Abuja. However, while I was looking for a quiet time for retirement to impact on people’s lives in my own little way, I did not know it was the plan of the Almighty God that I will end up in public service again.
Was flying lucrative for you. Are pilots well paid?
Yes, we are well paid. Right from day one, our salary is way above the general level. And it’s simple; our job tenure is six months, every commercial pilot; at the level I was, I must do a medical check-up every six months. You must go for thorough medical check-up to demonstrate you are physically okay and has the ability and acumen to operate the aeroplane, in terms of emergency, and that’s what they call simulator training. So, every six months you must undergo this test and go abroad for the simulator training. Pilots are well paid because they believe in six months the job could be over, if one fails the period test.
With these frequent medical checks, how come we have been reading reports of medical records that clearly suggest something else against you?
Well, I have no idea; that’s all politics.
You mean there is no iota of truth in what they said about your health?
I had challenges, but not the way they presented it. The fact that I had my career for 35 years without any blemish in my record and medical check-up for six months intervals shows you the state of my health. Every human being can have a challenge.
Flying requires strict discipline; rules are kept, but how do you align with politics where there are no rules?
Yes, every endeavour has its complexity. I came from a disciplined and structured background, but I believe if your foundation is the truth, you do not have to worry about anything. You just remain focused and keep on moving. You know the truth is like a smoke, at the end of the day, it must come out.
Any challenge in office yet?
Yes, I get an average of 1,000 text messages a day from all manner of people seeking one favour or the other, while some pray for my success.
How did they get your numbers?
During campaigns, I gave people my numbers. They are like public property.
So, you have not changed them?
No, I believe in keeping in touch with the people I serve and I will not change the numbers. I may have additional ones, but I will not change those initial numbers.
How healthy is the treasury you inherited from your predecessor?
It was ok…
How ok was it ? Can you be specific on the amount?
The figure is official and not meant for the public. But believe me, it was good enough.
What will be your focus in office?
We are focusing on education, agriculture, mineral development and tourism. We want to boast, at end of the day, that during our tenure those who go to school hold a quality certificate that they can defend anywhere in the world.
Sometimes ago you inaugurated a think tank committee. What is it all about?
Yes, we organised a team of very bright sons and daughters of Kogi State to give us a blueprint and guide us on how to go on our transformation agenda.
How do you intend to rev up your internally generated revenue?
Our plan is to engineer an active domestic economy through establishment of cottage hospital, focus on agriculture and aligning on a value-driven agricultural programme, in fact, we are partnering Federal Ministry of Agriculture in area of extension work and food production. We would also ensure we close the leakages in our revenue generation because our current IGR of N200million per month must rise higher.
Some people were not happy about your transition committee, so much that a particular legislator was said to have harassed them at the sitting?
Well, this is politics; we cannot satisfy every interest. I could have set up a 22-man committee, but because I promise a government of inclusiveness I expanded it to over 100 people. We know there are anti-party people among us, but we still carry them along. I am not aware of the particular legislator jumping into the committee’s meeting. I am yet to be briefed on that. But if it happened, we have a capable chairman who can handle that.
Where will you want Kogi to be in the next four years when you would have left office?
I would want Kogi to be referenced among the first active developing states in Nigeria.
How do you relax?
All my life I have always loved sports. Now I am limited to tennis and golf. I play tennis two or three times a week. We don’t have golf course here, but I play golf sometimes in Abuja. I play tennis for about an hour every other morning and by 8.30 in the morning I am already in the office.
What’s an average day for you like?
I wake up in the morning by 5.00 – 5.30 and pray, do some devotion of a deeper prayer for about an hour. I ask God for peace, unity and progress. Then I resume in the office by 8.30am, check my schedule for the day, and attend meetings and all that.
