A former Acting Comptroller-General of Customs, Tayo Ogungbemile, tells Adeola Balogun and ‘Nonye Ben-Nwankwo about his days in customs and why his appointment was not confirmed
What have you been doing since you retired?
I retired in March 2004. The Sunday before the day I retired, I went to the church and there was an altar call. I gave thanks and gratitude to God because of His mercy. I retired as the acting comptroller- general of customs. I retired to my village thereafter. My village people didn’t waste time; they appointed me the chairman of the board of directors of the microfinance bank in my town. My wife also appointed me the chairman of the board of directors of her own company.
Didn’t you plan a specific thing you would do in retirement?
I am a serious minded person. I planned for my retirement even many years before I retired. I joined the service in 1972 and in 1977, I felt it was necessary for a customs officer to be a lawyer as well. Fortunately, the then director, Chief Oyebode Oyeleye, was very desirous of allowing real technical custom officers to be part of prosecuting custom cases. Those who had interest to read Law were encouraged to do so. That was my first retirement plan. I thought that if I became a lawyer while in service, I would not beg for food when I eventually retired.
So how busy are you in the court now?
No, no. I have no patience for that. The nature of our judicial system is not encouraging; adjournment today, another one tomorrow, it can be tiring. Then again, I know that cases of the Senior Advocates of Nigeria would be heard first before those of the junior ones. If I had started practising in 2004 when I retired, I would have started at the junior cadre. It is not pride but I don’t have such patience. I am not particularly happy about that area of our judicial system. Going to court is not my cup of tea.
You rose to almost the peak of your career
(Cuts in) I rose to the peak of my career. I even like to make myself happy by saying I rose to the very peak of my career.
But then, wouldn’t you have wished you were eventually confirmed as the Comptroller-General of Customs instead of the few months you were on the seat in acting capacity?
Naturally, I would have wished so. But then, talking sincerely, I didn’t pursue it as an ambition. It was by the divine grace of God and happenstance.
So how did it happen?
Once you attain the level of controller in Customs, you will feel happy, also knowing that you could be anything from there. I was the Area Controller of Murtala Mohammed International Airport. I cannot deny that some people in customs usually lobby to be in one position or the other. Some people were lobbying so that I would be removed as the Area Controller of MM Cargo. In the process, the then Sole Administrator, Brigadier General SOG Ango, sent somebody to MM Cargo without my knowledge. I just heard that some people were seizing prohibited goods. I called Ango and I told him that some people were in my territory and they were seizing goods and they had just denied customs from arresting the owner of the goods. I told him the action was unprofessional. I had to put my pen on paper and write all I knew about the incident. The man read my report and felt I was intelligent. Rather than removing me, he said I should come and assist him as a deputy comptroller general of customs. That was how I got to that position. Somebody wanted me to be in a serious problem but it turned around and promotion came out of it. I must confess that I am very prayerful.
How did you take the news?
Some people heard about it before me. When they told me, I said it wasn’t possible. They told me they were sure about the appointment but I wasn’t particularly happy. It then occurred to me that it was a serious matter. Then I said my prayers. I still remember the content of the prayer till today.
What did you pray for?
I said, ‘God, I did not join the service to go and assist a military administrator because they will leave one day and chances are that those who are part of their team would leave with them. God, I didn’t ask you to promote me but since you have promoted me, I am not ready to leave with the military administrator because we are not in the same profession.’
But were you not retired when the military administrator left?
No. Over the years, everyone that was part of the top management was retired along the head whenever there was change of leadership. Sometimes, it can be very laughable. The result is always predictable. They usually call it Customs Reform which means ‘cut off the head.’ By the time Ango left, every other person was retired except me but they appointed another man as the comptroller-general. I eventually learnt that the new comptroller-general said he would rather not take the position if they would retire somebody who was knowledgeable and intelligent. He insisted that I should stay.
But why do you think you were not confirmed?
I wasn’t deaf. I could still hear people’s comments. At that time, the CEO of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation was (Engineer Funso) Kupolokun, a Yoruba man; the Inspector General of Police was (Tafa) Balogun, also a Yoruba man; the chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service was Joseph Naiyeju, a Yoruba person again. The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria was Joseph Sanusi, a Yoruba person. The auditor-general was also a Yoruba person. You could imagine the pressure on the president. But I remember one Wednesday that I was going to church, the escort car following me behind was filled with armed officers. On my way back from church, I just wondered aloud, asking myself what kind of job I was doing that armed men would follow me around, even to church. I called my daughter, Tade. I told her about my experience and how about seven officers followed me to the church with guns. I told Tade that if the government didn’t confirm my appointment within 72 hours, I would resign. I was even crying when I was telling her. That Friday, on my way to Lagos, one informant called me to tell me to listen to the 9pm news. He said the president had appointed another person as the comptroller-general. My wife was with me at that time. I suggested that we should go back to Abuja but my wife suggested that it was better we heard the news in the comfort of our home. We listened to the news and there was nothing like that in the beginning . We waited and waited. I didn’t have the patience to continue listening to the news. I got up to leave. Just as I left, my wife called me back and that was when the newscaster read the news that the then President Obasanjo had appointed a new comptroller-general of customs. Immediately I heard that, I rushed to my prayer room with my wife and we were rolling on the floor.
Did you at any time feel that you weren’t confirmed probably because you were not in Obasanjo’s good books?
I was in his good books and I know why I say so. There are some misconceptions people have about him which I found out were not true, at least from my experience. People say Obasanjo doesn’t take other people’s opinion but that is not true. He once gave an instruction and it was passed through the Chief of Staff. I knew the decision wasn’t right and I had to write what I wanted. I went with my own view and I gave it to him. He read mine and asked me if I was coming to a meeting before the cabinet meeting. At the meeting, he told the minister that the instruction should be reverted to the way I wanted it. If there is a cogent, concrete and convincing reason for him to change his mind, he will do so. I can give you another instance. There was a time the then minister of finace, Alhaji Ciroma, said I should come and defend a technical issue. I was there and they listened to my argument. At that cabinet meeting, it was only one person that saw any sense in what I was saying. Obasanjo just told them, ‘You cannot win against customs, they killed my chickens.’ He just approved what I wanted. I learnt that day that whoever is leading Nigeria must have a sound mind. If Obasanjo weren’t sound, he would have listened to the majority.
Going down memory lane, why did you choose to become a Customs officer?
Customs was the last thing on my mind as a student union activist. I had wanted a situation where I would be influencing opinions and decisions. I didn’t do any interview. Our set was the luckiest. The Federal Public Service Commission started during our set of 1972. I had wanted to be a journalist. One day, my brother who is also my mentor told me that we should go to Federal Public Service Commission to see one of his friends that worked there. As we entered the elevator, we saw one man and he addressed my brother and said, ‘Ah! Supreme Superior!’ That didn’t mean anything to me that time. It was later that I knew that was my mentor’s appellation. He was the secretary of the Students Union at University of Lagos during his time. So the guy asked my mentor what he was doing at the office and my brother told him he wanted to see his friend. He told us that the guy was on leave. My brother told him the reason we wanted to see him. He was the one that informed my brother that they wanted to recruit into Customs Service. He directed me to another department to pick up a form. Getting there, somebody just shouted, ‘Number 2! What are you doing here?’ ‘Number 2’ was my own appellation when I was the vice president of the students union at the University of Ibadan. And so I picked the form. Customs was just a department then and they needed 20 customs Grade 2. I was number 20. That was how I got into customs. Initially, by the time we resumed, we saw people who had spent more than 10 years on one rank without any promotion. We heard about those who left. The department didn’t encourage graduates then. But I said I would have my promotions as at when due. And that was what happened.
There is this perception that almost everybody in customs is corrupt…
Each time I hear about this corruption stuff in customs, it pisses me off. When you want to talk about corruption, you don’t isolate one profession from the other, you should talk holistically. You might laugh at this but I want to tell you that a Custom officer is one of the most patriotic Nigerians that you can ever have. If you want to experiment it, sack all the Custom officers and ask the military to take over. You will not see a customs officer auctioning goods to a fellow custom officer. You will not see him auctioning goods to his cronies. He would want to do it according to the rules.
Does that make them not to be corrupt?
That is not what I am saying. What I am saying is that you shouldn’t isolate it. It is an individual thing. An individual can choose to be corrupt at any time. When you are talking comparatively, you should just leave customs alone. I am not saying that it is an excuse to be corrupt because other people are corrupt. But there should be a revolution of our attitude in general. There should be a reorientation of values. Without attempting to make a controversial statement, I can say that oil theft is authority stealing. Poor people don’t know about it, they think about smuggling just a jerry can. But then, is it in financial institutions that we don’t have corruption? People should leave customs alone and think of how we should re-train our minds.
But so many people would have offered you bribe during your time in customs…
There was a time one person came to my office and I needed to take a decision. There was no way I could have taken that decision without the knowledge of the then comptroller-general. Of course, there was no way I could have contacted the comptroller-general in Abuja from Lagos. I was an area controller then. I told the person I would write a letter, which would have taken five days before I could get a response. These were goods that needed to be cleared in less than 48 hours. The man said I should call the comptroller general and I told him there was no telephone. The man asked us if we didn’t have a phone. I told him we didn’t. He then said that we should consider it that we had one. Within 24 hours, he got us a phone. It was during the time of ‘090’ phone lines. The price of mobile phones then was very expensive. To outsiders, it would look like corruption. But I wrote a letter to the comptroller general and told him that so, so and so person gave me a phone and that I would send it to him. He said I should retain it. Even with the authority he gave me, anytime I wanted to make a call, I would be dodging. There was a time I was at the Investigation Department; one man came to my office. I wouldn’t know who gave him my name. The guy said he was tired of staying in Germany. He had imported about 400 second hand German cars. He had problem clearing them. He had gone to so many places but he couldn’t clear the container and it was just accumulating demurrage. He came to me and I told him he didn’t have any problem. First, what he imported weren’t illegal, so there was no reason he should have difficulty clearing them. I told him what to do and his goods were cleared. He brought a custom built Mercedes Benz car and gave it to me as a gift. I was even afraid to use the car. So what I am saying is that you may not be corrupt but you may have the minimum comfort that would make people think that you are what you are not. I am not particularly happy when people associate corruption with customs officers.
Going down memory lane, during your time in the university, why where you an activist?
I have always wanted to be in a position where I can influence things even when I was in primary and secondary schools. I was the Labour Prefect and I made a mark. I was an indigent student at UI but that didn’t stop me from joining the students union. I have been lucky all my life.
How did you pay your fees then?
My mentor helped me to pay during my first year. In my second year, I benefitted from General Adebayo’s 100 per cent bursary. When the university authorities in Nigeria threatened that students who couldn’t afford to pay their fees wouldn’t be allowed to write their exams, I felt it was an opportunity to act as an activist. Remember I was the Vice President of SUG then. I, the president and the public relation officer decided to go to Lagos to see Chief Awolowo who was the Federal Commissioner of Finance. We didn’t even book an appointment to see him; we were so sure that he would see us since we were members of SUG. Of course, when we got to Lagos, we weren’t allowed to see him but we created a scene. Luckily, he came out and he took us into his office. We introduced ourselves and we told him our mission. In our presence, he phoned the then federal commissioner of education and told him, ‘I have before me, three students from the University of Ibadan claiming that they would not be allowed to write their exams because of school fees, please let them take their exams.’ We didn’t know the discussion from the other end but he told the person that they would ‘discuss’ later. He told us to go even when we wanted to doubt his sincerity. He assured us that his word was his bond and that we should go back that the whole thing would be sorted.
Was it sorted?
Oh yes. By 4pm that same day, it was announced on the radio that no university authority should send any student home because of failure to pay school fees. But there was another issue that would have put me in serious trouble. A university bulletin came out and said that all parties in school for that session were cancelled because of outbreak of cholera. How could they just cancel parties? We couldn’t take it. In my hall, the SUG President, me (the vice), the assistant secretary and the house secretary all stayed in there. So we formed a quorum. We said we weren’t going to take that. We prepared a draft and I can still recall what we wrote. We said, ‘We, 1970/71 SUG executive, will neither cancel nor postpone our hall party.’ We sent copies to school authorities including the Registrar. Eventually, we were told Prof Lambo wanted to see us in his house. We went there and he looked at me. Because I was the one that signed the letter, he picked it up and said, ‘Two of my children are in your class and you wrote this trash.’ I quickly thought of how we would handle the matter. He told us that it was the hall masters and wardens that took the decision not to hold the party. I told him that we would hold the party but that we wouldn’t invite any outsider. He said we should sign a guarantee and we did. He mentioned one of the lecturers who was part of the decision to ban parties in school. As stupid as we were, when we left his office, we marched down to the lecturer’s office to castigate him. That was the first party that we held at Zik Hall and it led to the death of one of us, Kunle Adepeju. If we had listened to the university authorities and not do any party, it wouldn’t have led to a crisis.
Didn’t you feel guilty that the party led to his death?
We were all in pains that it happened. When the police arrested the president and the vice of SUG, what do you think the students would do? And this was just shortly after the Biafra war. The students confronted the police and one of their missiles hit one of us. We gave him a befitting burial.
Were you a born again Christian when you were in the university?
Born again? I never entered the church all through my days in the University of Ibadan. I did more of that when I was with my father before I entered the university. My father was a staunch Christian. No way, I didn’t go to church.
Which means you really enjoyed life?
I did but I used to pray a lot and I received answers. That was enough for me.
Women would have got so much attracted to you especially when you were rising in position as a customs officer…
Of course, it happened. But then, right from when I was in secondary school, I have always had admirers. I was a goal keeper, I was popular. I was also in dramatic society. Girls were always around us. There was a time we went to Zaria. We had wanted the youth service programme to include military training. We didn’t know how the government realised that our anxiety to want military training had ulterior motive. Government then ensured that they didn’t include military training and even made sure that NYSC didn’t start from our set.
How were you as a child?
I was very restless. I had a mother who loved me so much. She used to tell me tales at night. I used to do wrestling with my peer group. My mother was a workaholic. I used to assist her to hawk her merchandise. I would trek for nine kilometers to hawk. I got frequent lashes of cane from my father and teachers for stubbornness.
As a young boy, was it not your dream to be a teacher?
My mentor and his elder brother were teachers. But in my own case, I was determined and almost desperate to ensure that I did not get into teaching career. How could I be dreaming of attending teachers training college? But my father didn’t believe in any other career apart from teaching, so I played along with him. When I finished Primary Six, he didn’t allow me to take any entrance exam. Instead, he sent me to secondary modern school. And it was then a fait accompli that you would teach if you attended modern school. I was very sad, I didn’t like it at all. When I was in Modern Three, I didn’t take the exam but instead, I took the exam for secondary school.
In less than a year, you will be 70, but you don’t look it.
It is just the grace of God. Then again, I indulge in spiritual and physical exercise. It was my wife that led me to become a born again Christian. I used to be a member of Chris Okotie’s church before I decided to go back to my orthodox church. I wouldn’t want my father to be angry with me. I also go to the club especially after I retired. I hardly drink. I would have loved to join my friends to drink but I lack the capacity. I have only been tipsy once in my life. And it was very embarrassing.
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