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Tee Mac In this interview with GODFREY GEORGE, a former President of Performing Musician Association of Nigeria, Dr Tee Mac Omatshola Isele, speaks on the state of the nation, among other things How did you feel when you lost your dog, Balewa, considering that you had him for over 12 years? I was somehow prepared that at over 12 years Balewa had reached the age limit for an Alsatian dog (maximum of 13 years) but I always dreaded the idea that Balewa would die and leave us forever. I gave him first-class food, vitamins, selenium and Hemp Oil for his arthritis to make sure he got all the minerals and vitamins for his organs.

But from Monday, July 12, 2021, he stopped eating. Even milk and water could not be retained by his stomach. He was on drip on Wednesday (July 14) and Thursday (July 15). During the administration of an injection of antibiotic with some valium he closed his eyes and entered the other dimension. I was shocked and speechless because the moment I feared had come – Balewa’s death.

What are some fond moments you had with ‘Balewa’? Every day, I had fond moments with Balewa. Waking up I would see him lying beside my bed and waving his tail to greet me. He would sit beside me in my bedroom while I worked at the computer; he would sit beside me when I was doing my two to three hours’ flute workout. He would sit quietly in my recording studio in the backyard and watch and listen to the recording sessions. He would give me a loud hero’s welcome when I returned from either a short shopping trip, or a long trip abroad.

Balewa was incredibly intelligent and obedient. He was the right dog for the movie industry. He enjoyed going with my son, Joseph, to the Adenuga studios for the filming sessions of Papa Ajasco. He would come proudly home because he earned N20,000 and I would get him some fried chicken to show him that he did well. Balewa had a great dog life. In some parts of Nigerian people kill and consume dog. How does this make you feel?

I think only a few misguided illiterate Nigerians eat dog meat. Anybody who eats dog meat and kills them for his pleasure will reincarnate as a dog in Calabar, Cross River, or Ondo State to be eaten, too. There is Karma. You do not eat your best friends. I belong to Society Against Animal Cruelty and we have closed down many local restaurants where they serve dog-meat soup. We give them a few hours’ notice and close down those dirty ‘restaurants’.

The Petroleum Industry Bill has divided Nigerians along two lines. Some have lauded the National Assembly; others are displeased with some provisions of the bill. Do you think three per cent derivation for the host community is enough? Of course, not. This is bad and will cause a lot of problems in the oil- producing areas. Nobody will accept this. We have not even seen the beginning of the problems coming up. Fourteen years ago, I registered with my Norwegian partner, Hemla, a company with the Ogoni leadership called “Hemla-Ogoni Energy Resources Ltd”. We gave the Ogonis four seats on the board and 20 per cent shareholding. This is how you should treat the owners of the land. If President Buhari signs the bill with three per cent, problems will start. Take my word for it.

What will this portend for the Nigerian economy, which is largely dependent on oil? We, in the Niger Delta, are looking forward to when the Hausa/Fulani lords pack out and return the oil blocks to real owners of the land. We need the money to develop the Niger Delta and not financing the lifestyle of some political beneficiaries. I was involved in the peace treaty negotiations. I got my MFR for that 10 years ago. When the youths were called to the million march of Abacha to Abuja and they saw the level of development, which was funded from money from the Niger Delta oil, they decided to start the war in the Niger Delta, which lasted nearly 10 years and made Nigeria to lose billions of US dollars, which could have been used for developmental projects. They do not mind starting again. But Nigeria, being broke now, cannot afford the Boko Haram problem up North, the Fulani herdsmen palaver all over Nigeria and another war in the Niger Delta.

Do you think Nigeria should look elsewhere for revenue as the Niger Delta oil, according to some commentators, is ‘drying up’? The oil is not drying up. The investors are drying up because they have lost confidence in this administration. It has become difficult to raise money internationally for Nigeria’s oil development plans. But we have to look for additional income. I have been in the solid minerals business since 1985.

As the chairman and majority shareholder of Allied Minerals and Cass-Cotan Mining and Processing Ltd, I could write a book about the problems being faced by the people in this industry. There are no access roads; Emirs and chiefs deduct money on every tonne of solid minerals mined and transported, despite getting their share from the government. We have long queues at the wharfs and demurrages eating the profit; Boko Haram and herdsmen are attacking and killing workers on the fields, making it impossible for expatriates to visit the mining fields for fear of being kidnapped. Nigeria is blessed with the best, high quality copper, tin, zinc and lead in the world. The solid mineral sector alone could pay all the foreign exchange bills for Nigeria.

What would you make of the recent debate of the NASS concerning the electronic transmission of election results?

It is a tragedy that we have a rubber- stamp National Assembly. They know what they are doing. Don’t we have ATM’s and the Internet all over Nigeria? In some northern states MTN works better, in some it’s Airtel. Where there is a will, there will be a solution.

Nigerians are currently grappling with really harsh economic conditions, with the rise in the price of goods and services. Where did we get it wrong? We got it wrong when we voted the All Progressives Congress in. Majority of Nigerians fell for the propaganda that there will be a change. There were no development plans, not experts in the right field. You cannot rule a country without the professionals running the affairs. It’s irrelevant from which tribe or state the expert comes from, he has to perform or is fired. When I need the best pianist or bass guitarist I don’t care if he is Yoruba or Igbo or Hausa. I hire the best to do the job and pay him well.

What do you make of the growing insecurity in the country? It is sad and unnecessary. When I returned in 1970 to Nigeria as a young man having finished my education in Switzerland, I met a country which had just got out of the civil war. There was security; there was food; people had jobs; musicians could travel without the fear of kidnappers all over the country. I used to go to my nightclub, Batakoto, every evening and return home early in the morning without police harassment, without being robbed or kidnapped. Nigeria was exciting, Nigeria was good. Now you can’t go out anymore. Even my sister, Justice Doris Okuwobi, the chairman of the SARS committee, was recently robbed in her car in traffic. You have to thank God every evening that you survived the day. Some say, to solve this problem, it would be better for Nigeria to break up. Do you share their view?

I am first for restructuring. We must get rid of that useless constitution which is the source of all the problems. The constitution needs total abolition. Real leaders and constitutional lawyers should go to the drawing board and start totally afresh. No tribal, no religious sentiments. Let us have a constitution that is fair to all.

Then Nigeria should enter into a federation of states where the Federal Government only oversees. There should be state police, state courts and only federal courts for constitutional matters. The president should be a figurehead without powers. Without restructuring Nigeria, this country will collapse.

What is your take on zoning and the idea of the President coming from the South in 2023? I don’t believe in zoning. I believe the best man should take the job. I believe that the Igbo should be given a chance and they have a good and honest man in Peter Obi. I always wonder why the right people are not being given a chance. Instead, they find an uneducated man from the family of those political Mafioso and he will steal the place dry and bring more of his co- travellers.

Are you worried about the rate at which youths are fleeing the country to look for ‘greener pastures’ abroad? I came back to Nigeria after 18 years in Switzerland because I knew my destiny was here, where I was born. It’s not easy to be a Nigerian. If the youths want to go abroad to see and to study, that’s their right, but they must return home and develop their motherland. It may not be easy, but staying abroad they will always be foreigners.