Abeeb Aileru, former sole administrator of Oriade Local Council Development Area and member of
Governing Council of Lagos State Polytechnic, is the proprietor of Abybus Group of Schools, Lagos.
He shared his life story with TUNDE ADELEKE.
In Agege, the name Aileru seems popular; what accounts for this?
Pa Aileru, who happened to be my dad, was one of the pioneers of traditional rulership and politics in Agege. He was very forthright. He detested cheating and injustice and a lot of people here in Agege can attest to that, even after he had gone. In the community here, every now and then, people would call me and say ‘We really miss Baba. If he were to be alive, this wouldn’t have happened.’ Papa would ensure everyone got whatever was due to him or her as and when due. To sum it up, he stood by the truth and everyone in the Agege community acknowledges that. If he was on your side, you can rest assured you’ll get what you deserve. He was such a forthright man.
But he was also the Ekerin of Agege.
Yeah, you are leading me to another area. The Ekerin of Agege is a chieftaincy title – Ekerin Afobaje of Agege. He was one of the kingmakers of the town. During his lifetime, he took part in the installation of five kings to my knowledge. He was about 101 years old when he passed on. You can imagine, most of his peers were long gone before his departure. Apart from the Ekerin Afobaje title, he held many other titles in Idimu, Gbagura in Abeokuta, Ikeja and others.
What was your experience growing up?
I was born across the new Pen Cinema bridge in an area called Atobaje-Agege; politically, it is called Ward E, Agege. My dad was a disciplinarian. You know when you’re growing up under a tough man, you tend to equate your dad with the devil. He was too much of a disciplinarian. I didn’t know why he was that tough. We had a very large extended family. My dad had under his care, his direct offspring as well as those of his relations. So, we had a very large household while growing up. Growing up was tough in a sense, not in terms of care because my dad was well-to-do. Not just being perceived as such, he was actually well off. For you to accommodate extended family members, you must have money to take care of them. To fend alone for about 15 or 18 of us, having different rooms, was no joke.
My dad was a licensed electrical engineer. In those days, I was always hearing about Agboyi, Ketu, Idimu, Egbeda, Ipaja. All of them were developing areas at that time. He always got the electrical project contract of the developing communities at the time. There was a story of a feat he achieved at northern Isheri, towards the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway – how he, out of his ingenuity, got electricity across the river by putting electric pillars inside metal gallons and filling the gallons with concrete and then erecting them inside the river so that they could stand. That was what he did to pass electric wire across the water and that was what they used for quite a while before modernisation. That must have been in the 50s. Even within Agege, there were good stories about him. Somebody in the neighbourhood confirmed that to me when I came back from abroad and I wanted to put up my structure here.
My father was also well-versed in tradition, Islam and Christianity. Though an Alhaji, he could read the Psalms and other verses of the Bible. That was how blessed he was.
In my youth days, he would not tolerate any moral slackness or indiscipline; you would face his wrath if you misbehaved. I didn’t enjoy it at all, but I later understood it was part of the discipline he was instilling in us and that kept me in check later in life from being wayward.
Can you tell us about your educational background?
I started schooling at the age of six at Ahmad Memorial Primary School, Atobaje. The school was about 500 metres from our family house. It was an advantage because we could easily rush home during break time to eat. Quite interestingly, most of my siblings and other relations living with us attended that same school and we all enjoyed it.
After graduating from that school, I proceeded to Awori Anglican Comprehensive High School in modern-day Ipaja. Ipaja was part of Agege at that time. I was in a boarding school for the first, second and third years. But somehow, in the fourth year, I became sickly. Those first three years made the route between Agege and Ipaja more interesting. Agege to Ipaja in those days was like going from Lagos to Ibadan with the ‘Bolekaja’ bus. In the fourth year, I decided to change to a day student. By that time, the distance seemed to have become shorter because the bushy and lonely distance between Ipaja and Agege was being built up into estates and that opened up the area. At that time, if you spend your transport fare, you’ll have to trek home or you’ll have to fight the bus driver. We got into fracas frequently with the bus drivers and conductors. We were all grown-up boys.
Did you go straight to a higher institution?
After my final year in the school, I needed to retake one or two papers. So, I went back to rewrite my papers to get good grades for admission to a higher institution. And because my brother was in the United States, my mind was not here in Nigeria anymore; my mind was in the country to continue my education. I think I had a deficiency in science and mathematics then. Someone told my mum about Ijebu Ife, a new school coming up – Ijebu Ife Community Grammar School, near Ijebu Imushin. Unfortunately, the principal looked me straight in the eyes and told me I was already late and I was, therefore, not qualified and would have to start from a lower class. I would then have to spend two years there. I felt bad about it. We had to return because I wasn’t ready to lose two years. My mum pleaded with me.
Eventually, we agreed and we started that and to the glory of God, the two years were quite interesting. I met new friends there and still remain close to some of them till date. I made good papers there, no regrets; I was happy. I applied to the University of Ife at that time, but my mind was not in Nigeria. So, I started processing my travel papers. I eventually opted to go to the United States to further my education. When I got there, I went to junior college. It was like polytechnic first, before university
Why?
Some people would study and stop there after two or three years. In my own case, I studied for my associate degree in Arts and proceeded to the University of Texas for a Bachelor of Business Administration. In between that, you can work, and have businesses; the system allows that. Towards the tail end, I married an American and had a daughter, who is almost 40 years old now. So, after many years of trials, difficulties and successes or what have you, in the US, I started thinking about relocating, I tried to set up accommodation here, thinking about what’s going to happen when I return to Nigeria. Tough as it was then, I made up my mind I was going to have structures here and build businesses here in Nigeria. I was traversing between Nigeria and the United States. I had a cyber cafe at Akowonjo Junction at Shasha which was quite successful. It was not yet popular then. I brought in the equipment from the United States, some from Israel and I established a cyber zone. The banks were after me, trying to have the bandwidth to have the internet and all that. I was going back and forth, but eventually, came back fully.
When I came back, I went into the hotel business, put up a structure and the hotel was ready. But after about four or five years, I discovered it was not what I wanted because my standard was being compromised by my staff, among other issues; distortions here and there, untrustworthy employees and other things. So, I changed the structure to that of a school. That is where we are now.
How did you meet your wife?
In America during my school days, I met a friend, we developed a relationship, fell in love and had a child. By that time, I had started visiting Nigeria. But you know our mothers, having conversations like ‘Yes, you have a child, fine; won’t you have another one?’ The culture in America, if they say they want one or two kids, that is it, you can’t force anything.
So, I met someone here and love developed between us. The good thing is that both the one in the United States and the one here in Nigeria know each other and they are getting on fine. Ordinarily, people would want to hide one from the other, but the reverse is the case for me. My children over there and here are quite aware of their existence and they are happy.
What would you consider the most memorable event in your life?
Memorable could be for good or bad. Well, let me say that memorable in an adverse way would be the death of my mother while I was far away in the United States. I came home and spent some time in 2003. She was sick all right, but I thought she was going to be better. After about five months, I was optimistic. She got better and I was upbeat that she was going to make it. She requested for a car and I said it was no problem, that I would be back in two months and I left in October, hoping to be back by December. To my surprise, my sister called me one morning to break the sad news that my mother had passed on.
You must have been shocked.
I shouted! My wife and daughter came running; I fell and banged my head on the wall. Thank God I was not alone in the house. That’s my lowest point. I felt so lonely, even though I was not alone. I started feeling sick instantly to the point that I was crying every now and then. I lost my best friend and confidant. That I was no longer going to see her anymore was painful! Coming to Nigeria at that time was basically to see my mum. Of course, I had my dad, but coming here was all about my mum. And that I was not going to pay my last respect was devastating enough. The distance was much and my mum was a Muslim whose burial could not be delayed for any reason. So, for me to commute from Dallas to Lagos, Nigeria, seemed like an eternity. There was no way on earth they could delay anything for me because I had other siblings here in Nigeria. So, I had to give the go-ahead. The positive memorable event is having children who give me joy.
Can you recall any prank you played in your youth?
Well, I have many, but I won’t go into many of them because they are so wacky. Sometimes, you ask yourself at the end of the day ‘what have I done?’ Sometimes, it may land you in trouble that you’ll have to go and call your parents. The one that I felt so bad about in the boarding school happened in my first year. There was a friend of mine who attended the same primary school with me and we were in the same secondary school. We were allotted the same bunk bed in school and the argument over who would stay down or on top began. I eventually got the lower bunk and he took the upper one.
One night after lights out, he climbed and was saying something I didn’t agree with. I just stretched my leg from the bottom and pushed him off so hard. The guy flew up, knocked the ceiling and while returning, cracked his teeth on the edge of the iron bed. I immediately started crying. Here was a guy I loved and we came from the same area. Now, he was injured out of my stupidity. Out of his good heart, he wanted to cover up. I begged and begged that it wasn’t intentional. But his mouth had swollen up. The housemaster got to know and I got what I deserved. I can’t even remember now how many strokes of the cane I received. The school wanted to suspend me, but the guy and other people intervened and said that it was a mistake. He got treated and we became closer until I travelled. Recently, I learnt he had passed on. Though not intentional, I felt so bad about the incident. From that time onward, I became very careful with people.
What is your favourite food?
Fried plantain and long-grain rice. I can eat rice, either with plantain and spinach or with fish or chicken.
What are your hobbies?
In school, I played volleyball and did the high jump. I was almost pushed into boxing, but I resisted. Anything that tends to be violent, I’m not for it. I love music, even before I left the country. In those days, picking my pay cheque, it was almost guaranteed I would go to Broad Street, Off Abibu Oki, where they sell American music, to buy records. Of course, I had a brother and a cousin in America who usually sent me albums. I started Disc Jockeying and took it up as a hobby. I still have my iPod and wireless here with me. I nap with music. My dad told me if I want to live long, always take a nap in the afternoon. If you go to his house between 12:30 and 2:00 p.m., he won’t attend to anyone; sleep or not, he would just lay on his bed without talking to anybody. I try to emulate that, but I find it difficult because of my involvement in politics and business. But anytime I have the chance, I play music and lay.
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