Director General, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) Foundation, Ipoola Omisore, is an ex-lawmaker and advertising guru. He told BOLA BADMUS stories of his life journey.
Can you tell us your background?
My name is Ahmed Ipoola Omisore. I was born in Ile-Ife on the 8th of July 1948 to a very large family–one of the largest families in West Africa–the Omisore family dynasty. My father was Alhaji Saliu Olayemi, the Baba Adini of Ile-Ife Muslims and the Baale of Olode town in Ife South. I attended Ansar-ul-deen Primary School in 1955, I was one of the first sets of beneficiaries of Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s free education in the old Western Region and I left in 1960 during the Independence. I was one of the beneficiaries of the free rice, free cup, free national flag, and it was very remarkable that the year was the first time I entered Lagos to attend the first Trade Fair and Exhibition at the Bar Beach, which was organised in 1960 for the Independence ceremony by the British. And it was eye-opening for a man from the hinterland to come to the city.
I attended Oduduwa College, Ile-Ife in 1962 and left in 1967. Among my mates in the college was the late Dele Giwa, who was my junior in the primary school. We met again at the college, and we left at the same time. At the college, I was one of the Literary and Debating society’s men. I was a member of the crew of the school magazine called The Touch and Dele Giwa was the editor. I remember that was the time they first introduced what we called Oral English, the phonics of today and Dele Giwa was the sole candidate for Oral English in those days. All of us cut our teeth right from our school days.
What are the earliest memories of your dad?
I knew that my father earmarked me to be a Muslim Alfa (cleric). He wanted me to attend ‘Ile kewu’ to study Arabic and he said ‘among all my children I want you to serve me.’ But luckily enough, I saw my uncle taking his own children to go and register for free primary school education, so I ran and joined them. And those were the days when your right hand must touch your left ear, or your left hand must touch your right ear, and I was lucky to scale through; I was over six years or so then. In secondary school, I remember we had what we called the American corps that were seconded to Nigeria to come and teach. We had one Mr. Epner, a West Indian tutor, who brought exposure to the hinterland, and most of us who went through that school succeeded because of the exposure; people like Dele Giwa, who became a world-famous journalist, like Biodun Sote, who is a professor at UNILAG, like Mulikatu Bello, like Lawal then, who became Controller of WAEC.
And after secondary school…
Leaving secondary school, I had the background of a son of a produce merchant. My father was a produce merchant. I worked at close range with people involved in produce inspection service, grading cocoa and palm kernel in those days which was the highlight of Nigeria’s economy then. So, I insisted on becoming a produce inspector because, in those days, produce inspector was like a Custom officer who makes more money than working as a clerk. And I was employed by the Western Nigeria Ministry of Agriculture, I think, in 1968. That was after my secondary school.
I trained at Onireke, seconded to the Wharf, where I became a check tester and transferred back to Ile-Ife as a produce inspector. And in those days, it was beautiful. We were earning £198 a year, £16.10 per month. Even while I was transferred back to Lagos, we were still earning that amount. I was brilliant, I passed assimilated advancement test, which was to be taken by three-year-olds in service. I took it in one and a half years, and I passed. Then my salary went to £207 per annum amounting to £17.10 per month, and that was big. But income tax would take away one pound. While Lagos was paying heavy tax then, the other part of the country was paying less. So, taxation, introduced by Awolowo, was building Western Region then. After about three years, I travelled abroad. I first of all went to Hamburg in West Germany.
What was the motivation to travel when doing well at home?
In my family, we believe in education and as at that time, we had more than 90 Omisores in England. So, it became a culture of every Omisore, after secondary school education, to travel abroad; we have a historical background there. The Omisores, as far back as 1940, were having houses and studying there. So, most of the successful Omisores went through UK and I had to follow suit. The visa was difficult then, you normally get visa at the point of entry. So, if you get to Heathrow and they say no, you’re coming back to Lagos. It’s a greater risk than turning you down at the embassy. I had to go through West Germany, Hamburg, by ship, by rail, to London.
In Germany, I went to study journalism and I discovered that German language is very difficult. So, I chose to go to England. I arrived in England July 1971and I attempted to study insurance. A month to the time I got there, they just changed their entry qualification to OND. So, I said no. I went straight to go and study advertising which was mocked by those around me, but while I was in the college, I remember I was listening to commercials. In those days, on the radio, we used to hear advert calling our attention to one particular popular product people should buy if they wanted to cook, so I like the poetic method and all that.
What really fired your imagination?
I said, “who are those doing this radio adverts?” They said it was advertising people and that was what motivated me to say, “I wanted to study it.” I like things that are literary and imaginative.
So, I joined London Polytechnic, Moorgate for a three-year course. I was quite serious and I had an uncle that told me, “You have to face your studies.” So, I followed them to the library on Saturdays and on Sundays and within six months, I finished the one-year course. So, I now checked the condition of entry for that course, nothing says that you must pass part one before you go to part two.
I said, “I can try part two now.” I looked at it and I went to correspondence school, Rapid Results College, ICS. I took correspondence; I did that at home. The reason why I took that correspondence was actually because of the English teachers. I couldn’t hear them well and I always say, “pardon, pardon” and the whole class will burst out laughing. They knew I am an African and most of them normally made sure that I don’t hear them. So, I now devised a method of reading ahead of the class.
Second year, I went to attend one of the classes. When I finished that subject and I was to go out, they asked “won’t you wait for the next subject?” I said, “I had passed it.” And my classmates then were already in the industry and were top advertising men in their companies. So they said, “What do you mean?” I said, I passed it and I brought out the results sheet. They said this man had done an illegal thing. I read the conditions and nothing says otherwise. The lecturer then replied that “it is true; nothing says he cannot do it.” They went to the institute to find out, the institute said nothing stops me from doing so and that is why if you go to my school in the UK today, my name is still engraved on an 11-storey building as winner of Best African Student Award.
How did your work life begin?
There was a magazine called West African Magazine in the UK, whose representatives would come down and call us for interview but I came back to Nigeria and got a job. Kunle Olasope was the Director of Commercial Services at WNTV/WNBS. So, he called me and gave me a job as Commercial Officer. At that time, Vincent Maduka was General Manager, Yemi Farombi was the Manager, Admin. I was the Commercial Manager there, for N3,264, which was Level 7 of those days. I had a car, everything, life was smooth. My accommodation, a 3-bedroom flat was at Alhaji Olorunkemi at Adeoyo with monthly rent of N80, a large flat.
While there, I had a very bitter experience. An incident happened with PZ Industries product. They had a commercial for Joy soap and it was that era of ‘Joy girl.’ They said they wanted to change that commercial. Normally, we should have previewed it but we didn’t preview it, I just slotted it. So, one night, the Director of Commercial just called me and said, “Omisore you have caused trouble”. I asked, “What trouble?” He said, you placed something that they asked us to report at the Governor’s Office tomorrow. I said “what concerned governor with this?” When we got there, they asked us to sit down and be looking at the sun. I met my director and others there.
Was it under the military?
Yes, under the military regime, Jemibewon was the governor then. What have we done? They said we showed obscene things. As an advertising traffic officer, I had sent a new TV commercial film from the commercial department to the studio for airing. It was a Joy soap advert showing a slim lady, in bra and pants at the beachside, walking seductively. It was the first slot and first night and the Military Governor’s Office at Agodi, very close to our WNTV/WNBS Studio found the film dirty and offensive. The soldiers came to pick us up at the commercial department. We were disciplined in the sun and released at 5 pm for daring to show indecent film. All efforts to explain that it was an advert and not our making fell on deaf ears. For me, having just returned from the United Kingdom in December 1975, I found it embarrassing, and I said, “I have to leave this job.” I resigned and moved to Lagos to join EKKODELTA NIGERIA LTD. Years later, I met the then Military Governor, Brigadier Jemibewon, at Eko Hotel Expo exhibition novelty football match, and I reminded him, we both laughed over the matter.
When did you decide to be on your own?
I discovered that some of my mates were establishing their own agencies. One of my colleagues at Grant Advertising, Babu Akinbobola, formed MediaLink. I then decided to establish my own company. So, I started a company called Art Space Limited with two friends, Olokode and Makinde, but the partnership collapsed after about six years. I formed another one again called Outdoor Advertising Communications. It lasted about nine years. When we broke up, I kept Outdoor Communications; my partner took away Art Posters. I was one of the founders of Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN). I was their publicity secretary, education committee chairman, I was vice president for four years and I was president for four years.
How did your political journey start?
While in Lagos, I resided at Isolo. From there, I moved to Mushin and later to my own house at Alakuko, and I discovered that these politicians would come, promise heaven and earth, and we’ll vote for them. In fact, I spent money on them, but when they got there, they would not remember what they promised. So, I said, “You can’t be supporting these people, let’s challenge them”. But, sincerely, I was born into politics. We spent our childhood in politics because our father, Johnson Omisakin Omisore was one of the founders of Egbe Omo Oduduwa. The embodiment of AG was Egbe Omo Oduduwa. So, in our family, we don’t know more than Awolowo. My father would say, look at Awolowo in the sky. Then we see his cap, and then we see his glasses. That shows how fanatical our people were. So, that’s why you never find Omisore in other party other than the progressives. That’s why I thank God that my nephew, Iyiola Omisore, is back to the family party. And that’s why I wrote in 2012 or 2010 that I had a dream that one day, Iyiola will come back to our family party and it happened.
I was determined to get to the top of my profession; otherwise, I would have been in politics long before then. So, in 2006, I showed interest, I called it Omisco. In 2007, I won as a member of the House of Assembly representing Ifako-Ijaye Constituency 2 in Ojokoro. I was in the Assembly from 2007 to 2015. I was the Chairman of the Committee on Information, Security and Strategy and I was in charge of the Lagos Television, and Radio Lagos. So, in my constituency, I brought my people nearer, through giving regular stewardship account, empowerment programmes, I did a lot of things. I provided the police with walkie-talkies, stationeries and generators. My first four years were fantastic. But the irony of it is that I got to the House of Assembly at the age of 60 when one should be retiring back to his home. I was the oldest in government, both at executive and legislative levels. Fashola was 44, I was 60 and he called me Baba Keneri.
Politics must be full of unforgettable memories…
One that I cannot forget in my life was when Tinubu was fighting Fashola and at the House of Assembly, we took it upon ourselves to fight the war for our boss, Tinubu, with or without his directive. As the mouthpiece of the House, I was the one to talk. One day I granted an interview to the press and the journalist published it raw with the headline ‘Why Fashola must go.’ I was driving home and had just got to Under Bridge at Ikeja. I saw people trying to stone me, calling me ‘ole’, ‘olosi.’ I asked my driver what happened. He said they were just throwing something. We got to Pen Cinema, similar thing was happening. When I got to Abule, I saw PM News with the headline: ‘Why Fashola must go ―Omisore.’ I parked to get the newspaper. People were shouting and abusing me. I couldn’t go to work the following day. I knew I was in trouble because people thought it was me talking, but I learned the experience that people don’t know it’s the institution that spoke through me.
Another raw deal I had was during my attempt at re-election, I thought what I had done would speak for me but I discovered that there are factors that would make me return.
And I remember one other experience. Tinubu came to Amuwo Odofin and these boys they call state boys came to where members of the Assembly were begging for money. I gave them what I had. One of the lawmakers thundered, “What is wrong with you people, it is every time you beg for money. I’m not going to give you,” and they replied angrily: ‘hold on to your money.’ And when Tinubu came and was greeting everybody one by one, the boys shouted at him: ‘Oga e ma ki o, akagum ni o, o nfiya je awa boys, ko toju anybody.’ Do you know that when he wanted to return to the House for another term, that singular thing counted against him and that particular candidate was not returned. When we went to go and beg Tinubu on his behalf, he said, “were you not the one that was not taking care of the boys.” So, it means that things that count against office holders are many and they should be very careful.
What was your experience as ‘an elder’ in the assembly?
Number one, I’m a man with a large family. The day before going to the House Assembly, I had my 15th child and I know that I must have common sense, save for the rainy day, and plan for my children. I have had about nine or 10 graduates before I even got to the House. I knew where I was going, I cannot compare myself with freshers who want to just start buying land and becoming somebody. By that time, I had met more than six or seven governors at close range as president of Outdoor Advertising Association, including Bola Tinubu, Gbenga Daniel, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Nnamani, Kwakwanso. I was largely very exposed man. But what I didn’t learn, or didn’t know, is the political and government arrangement where 40 people will lock themselves inside the room and determine the fate of others.
Poverty alleviation is a major concern now?
If you don’t make them poor in the first place, why are you empowering them? If the wealth is spread equally, there is no need for such. I remember I went to America, and my brother-in-law was contesting as a republican and I told him that I was going home to do empowerment and he asked which empowerment? I said I wanted to buy the people fridges, cookers, hair dryers, and he said: ‘what for? Don’t waste your money; you are taking your salary.’ In America, they said, since I take my own money, and I pay tax, they take their money and they pay tax, why should I be the one to give them?
I had an experience. I bought motorcycles for N25,000 each, three of them that were given the motorcycles sold them at the gate for N8,000 each. So, what becomes of the poverty you want to alleviate? If you identify that there is poverty, why don’t you stop the poverty that you are alleviating? An average and kind honourable member will do it twice a year. Can that take away poverty? No. So, I think the national assembly, state assemblies, even the local councilors, should look at wealth redistribution in a way that the wealth will get to the people.
How did you meet your wife, sir?
I have only one wife. I have a troubled marital life, and at times, I don’t like talking about it, but there’s nothing to hide. I was a fast guy as a young man, at the age of 36, I had nine children. My wife died at 35 and I was 36, and being a man who cannot sleep alone, I had to remarry. That marriage didn’t last, I had three children with the woman. So, it’s a case of not wanting to stay alone as a young man. So, I have a woman that I’m married to also.
But there is nothing to regret concerning my love life. I have 15 beautiful children, one is late now. I have 13 graduate children, one is about to enter University of Canada.
You must have a life lesson to share…
Yes. I want to give lessons to people. When I was in the House of Assembly, we lived a larger-than-life and the corruption in Nigeria is caused by banks. When your name is announced as a winner of an election, even before you are sworn in, the banks will find you and bring printed checkbook in your name and an account for you. Before you resume, they are ready to give loans of up to N10million, N20million, and N30million to you. Once you sign the line, take it to the accounts department, your money goes to the bank, they start deducting. Woe betides you if you don’t plan with the money. Like it happened to me during my first term, I took N10 million, I went to buy First Bank shares at N33 per share. Today that share is probably N7 per unit. I paid through my nose for the loan. Before you finish one loan, they bring another. It was loan, loan, and loan throughout.
So, you have to rely on extra income to live, particularly if you mis-invest. But one bitter lesson I learnt was that as soon as I left the assembly, the respect from banks stopped. I was running my school, the Juniors Olivet School in Ogun State then and I went to my account officer with confidence that I needed just N250,000 for an urgent repair in the school. To my surprise, the lady kept moving from table to table only to come back after three hours to tell me that she was sorry that the loan request was turned down. Before that time I don’t even go to the bank, I just call her. Even if I was at a party on Saturday, I would just call and she would bring money. That was how important I was then. Now that I’m running a business, employing 48 people, bank won’t give me N1 million loan. But when I was a politician, they were giving me N40 million, N30 million and some were wasted. And that’s why you see honourable members running after parastatals and harassing them because the banks were giving loans that will make your allowance and salary, amount to nothing.
And that is why most politicians end up poor when they leave office. When I was in the assembly, I was earning under N150,000 monthly because I mortgaged my income to the bank. So, by the time I was leaving, I paid till February. The only salary I got in full for eight years was April’s, close to the end of my tenure. Even that April, the House of Assembly sold our cars to us, and they deducted more money. So by May, I was hungry.
Let’s look at the Omisore family…
Omisore himself, the progenitor of our family, died in 1941 and he left 99 sons and 58 daughters, of which my father was one. So we are one of the largest families in Africa and at the last count, we are over 150,000 all over the world. When I was in England, we were about 85 in 1971. And today, going to England, you almost have an Omisore settlement there. For every 10 Ife you see, there must be one Omisore there. If you go to Britain, at the embassy, they know our name. Go to New York, Omisore is a name. The progenitor of the family is Ajani Anibijuwon Omisore We have our qualities, we are very charming, we are very playful, we like women, we like social life, you can never find Omisore in any dull place, and politics is our hobby.
