Funke Olaode
18 November 2007
interview
Lagos — She lost her medical doctor, father to the cold hands of death when she was just 13. this marked a turning point for her and her mother. She had to face the challenge of growing up without the succour and material support of her loving father. Her mother, then a teacher was undaunted by any challenges which life threw at her direction. Instead of wailing over what she didn't have control over, she abandoned her teaching profession, relocated to England where she enrolled for a degree in law and graduated.
This experience, Mrs. Ify Akerele said, toughened her desire to excel in life. After her A. levels in England, Ify relocated to Nigeria and proceeded to attend the University of Ife, Obafemi Awolowo University, to study law. She later abandoned law and moved to the University of Lagos where she studied Sociology, graduating in 1979. She later got her masters in International Relations. Ever since, she has worked with corporate establishments until 2002 when she was appointed the first female Director-General of the Nigerian Chambers of Shipping. She spoke to FUNKE OLAODE
To say she is pretty at 52, could very well be an understatement. She holds no preferences for western taste like most present wannabes. Mrs. Ify Ifeyinwa Anazonwu Akerele is one of the few people who won't easily be carried away by western fashion. At every opportunity, she likes mixing African fabrics with English wears and everything will still look trendy.
She is in love with traditional African clothes, "I love African clothes and if you gave me the chance, I will go and sit in Ivory Coast for two weeks and make all my clothes. I can pick adire (local fabrics) and make a suit out them because it is cooler. I don't like buying corporate clothes from Europe because they are always too hot. The younger generation can wear it and be comfortable. The older I get the less I want on my body. I find that those African prints are comfortable". With a dignified self carriage, she comes across as an African queen.
Her day usually starts early, "I wake up around 5.30AM, say a prayer by saying good morning Daddy after which I put on my jogging outfit and go for one hour walk. I come in and try to do a sit-up. I take a shower and listen to a 15 minutes maritime programme on radio called ship/ports. I also listen to Channel news. I dress up and come to the office where I get the work started. I have a meeting with my staff every morning. I am almost like a micro manager but I am slowly letting it go because I have credible managers who seem to understand the rhythm of things".
But that Tuesday afternoon, this beautiful mother of two wasn't in her African attire which has become her trademark. She was dressed in ash-coloured suit with black camisole. As she sat down in one of the sofas in her office, her chocolate skin glowed. You could hardly believe that she is 52. What has been her secret? "Thanks for that compliment. I don't have any beauty routine. The secret of my youthful look is not far -fetched. I am a contented person. I take care of myself and I try my best to eat the right food. Though sometimes one breaks the rule. I do an hour of walking every morning. I also take a lot of water".
For the Onitsha, Anambra State born Akerele, she couldn't have wished for a better parentage. She lost her father to the cold hands of death at a very tender age. "My late father was a medical doctor while my mother was a teacher by profession. That put me in an educated and what you can call a comfortable setting. I lost my father when I was 13 years old. But my mother was a very strong woman. Though widowed quite early, she went back to school and read law. We all went back to England and she did her 'A' levels and studied law. I guess when I looked at her or anytime I wanted to slip up or became a naughty teenager; my mother's determined efforts toughened my strength. She was a very strong influence on me. My father, whom I remember very well, being his first born and his favourite was a disciplined fun loving person".
"My father's death made me grew up very fast. And at the age of 15/16, I was my mother's best friend, confidant, daughter and husband. This was very challenging for me. I don't think I really had the kind of youth that most people did. I didn't have carefree days because I had to think of my mother and my other four siblings. You know, thinking how we were going to survive. It wasn't easy, but at the same time my mother was a strong person and my father also left us adequately provided for. So, it wasn't that bad. But the situation made me grow up very fast".
With a determined and supportive mother, they all withered the storm. After a brief stint at Queen School, Enugu, and of course, the Civil war that engulfed the nation for three years, she relocated to England with her siblings where she continued her education. After her 'A' levels, she came back to Nigeria and gained admission to study Law at the University of If now Obafemi University, Ile-Ife in Osun State. Having grown up in England, staying in Ife became difficult. She would later abandon her law degree and transfer to University of Lagos where she eventually studied Sociology graduating in 1989. She later did her masters in International Relations.
What influenced her decision to study sociology? Her response was quick.
"My father was a medical doctor and my mother a teacher but I chose sociology because I am a busy body. And I like minding people's business people's businesses. This sometime gets me into a lot of trouble. But at the end of the day, I feel satisfied that I have done my part. I don't like people being unhappy. So, I always go out of my way to help people. May be that is why I took sociology because it gave me a good platform to understand human nature. I later did some courses on Welfare administration".
She began her career under the tutelage of renowned professor of International Relations, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi. "After my youth service in 1980, I began a career with the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) in Lagos. Professor Bolaji Akinyemi was my boss then. I worked for five years. I got married in 1985, took a break from work for about three years. When I took a break, I was actually working with my husband. We were running a desktop publishing outfit. When my break was over I went into corporate administration. I was one of the pioneer executive secretaries of Nigerian Institute of Directors (NID). In 1999, I got a job in Abuja at the presidency. I became a special assistant to the presidential liaison officer. His role was to liaise between the senate and the presidency. My function was to compile what happened in the Senate every day into comprehensive detail and send it to the presidency. After that regime, I moved to the Nigerian Institute of Management where we tried very hard to get it started. I am happy that we succeeded. I came back and got my current appointment as Director General, Nigerian Chamber of Shipping".
Armed with corporate establishment, when she was appointed, her wealth of experience has helped her to turn the institution around.
"Nigerian Chamber of Shipping is a public/private sector partnership. It has a very strong relationship with government but mainly private sector driven. You know the need to localize the shipping industry, and a need for a knowledge based body. Every country has a Chamber of Shipping. This is Nigerian equivalent of Chambers of shipping all over the world".
"The Chamber of Shipping is actually an advocacy platform and it is also a platform that is used by the maritime sector to promote maritime activities, to link up with maritime bodies as a credit platform. My job entails bringing that credibility into focus. The chamber has been very quiet initially. And in the last administration, there was a lot of emphasize on promotion of indigenization. There is a law called Cabotage Law, which helps Nigerians to get jobs in the sector. Former President Obasanjo signed the Cabotage Act into Law. After that, the chamber was put together by a team of interested people. They said that the law has been made, but it has got to be interpreted by the ordinary man on the streets, it has got to be monitored and all that. We are almost like pressure group but not an antagonistic one. We are an information body. You can come in here and we link you up with any shipping company you want to know. And because of our credibility as an institution, these shipping companies feel comfortable with them. Our boards of governors are credible people in the industry. Being a new body our credibility is accepted in the society. Nigerian Maritime Authority now NIMASA Ministry of Transport and Nigerian Ports Authority have been supportive. They recognise that we can assist them to ensure that what they are regulating is accepted by the general public and is also implemented correctly".
Without any prior knowledge in maritime or shipping industry, how has it been running the organization? "When I first came, I came with my administrative knowledge and my ability to pick up very fast. I worked very closely under the auspices of the then president of the chamber, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba. He exposed me a lot. And of course, a lot of other people helped me understand the shipping industry, the maritime sector and all necessary information about shipping industry. I did a diploma course on "a touch of maritime law" in England. This made me to understand the basics of International law. I also did Maritime Arbitration. That showed me an angle which I saw in the cause of working here. We also run a lot of courses on shipping, maritime and so on. It has beens five years since I came on board and I can say that I am now a maritime expert in most areas".
Hers is a position that puts her in the limelight, particularly on the maritime related issues. How has she been coping with gender discrimination considering the Nigerian terrain? "I find it amazing when people talk about gender discrimination. May be because of my Ibo background. The general impression is that women are seen and not heard. And that doesn't mean women are fools but they just have to understand that man is a man and you are a woman. When I found myself in this position I carried everybody along. I didn't play 'know it all'. I made sure that my male counterparts are given their due respect even if you are a driver. I also assert my own independence. So, I find the men in this industry acceptable. They never felt threatened by me. Infact, they are very helpful. They call me 'mama' because of my approach. When there is rift, I try to settle it amicably with both sides. I have achieved bringing peace between different factions in the industry. Cabotage Law, which is a law favouring Nigerians, that is likely to empower a lot of people, potential Shipping millionaires, cabotage millionaires has been fully understood by at least by 70 if not 80 percent of the Maritime industry. And people have come to understand that whatever they do through the Chamber of shipping is credible". What is her vision for the organization? "I see the Chamber of Shipping as one of the most important institutions in the maritime/shipping sector. I also see it as a place where you can come and leave with something that would assist you if you are looking for a career in that sector. I want the chamber to affiliate with other big maritime/transport institutions. And I see it becoming a major player in the next five years because multi-modern transportation is fast becoming a reality", she boldly assured.
Did you know that you would go this far at the beginning?
"I am going to go further because I am a very religious person who is close to God. I don't make a move without consulting Him. And if I had tried to do things by my mighty, it wouldn't be where it is today. But when I handover everything to Him, God is always there. And of course when the Chamber is rising, I am bound to rise with it. I know that I am going to go higher because I know that apart from my life, God wants to do something in the maritime sector in Nigeria".
Her name can't be brushed aside in today's corporate world. But Akerele is one woman who admits her mistakes. Though married in 1985 and the marriage packed up in 1999. When asked about motherhood and career? Her face litted up and she pick her words like a mother advising her children." Balancing my home and career wasn't easy at the initial stage. Interestingly, my children are grown up and they are in university abroad. As I said, it wasn't easy when I was much younger and I didn't balance it well. You know I was trying to be who I tought I am. You know there is a stage every woman gets to and you want to discover who you are. If you are married it can cause friction. It did cause friction in my own case. With what I know now I would advise women to let the man do what they want. If he wants to stand on his head let him do, as long as he is not affecting you. And if you want to tell him that "darling what you are doing is not good" don't say it as if he is stupid. Find the right time to explain to him. In other words, don't ever make a man feel that you know more than he does. Or you are more powerful than man because at the end of the day, God created both of you and made man, the head and the wife is the neck".
Mrs. Akerele had been married for 22 years before she got separated eight years ago.
"I got married in 1985 to Mr. Richard Akerele a Lagosian. We got friendly when we met and somehow God destined us to be married. We had a lovely marriage. Unfortunately, things fell apart and we got separated in 1999. Though we are separated, I still have a very good rapport with the father of my two beautiful children. We still have a good relationship because of our children. Any hope of coming back together? I doubt it very much because both of us have grown out of each other. It doesn't mean that we don't love our children".
Despite the crack in her marriage, she still has two wonderful occasions she cherishes. "The first was when I had my two wonderful children a boy and a girl. And in my career was two years ago when the baton of leadership was being handed over from the outgoing president to the incoming president. I was so full of joy that the baton which started off with the maritime lawyer, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba was being taken over by the ship owner, Mr. Femi Otedola. It was a wonderful moment for me that we had come this far and we are going to go further. The founding president, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba being a maritime lawyer, has a lot of intellectual imput. But the Chamber has gone to a stage where it has to be practicalised and Mr. Femi Otedola came in at the right time. He has done a lot for the chamber. Though things are not moving at the rate he anticipated. He thought everybody would jump at it and come on board. But personally, he has done a lot and he is still doing a lot for the Chamber".
Every woman loves possessions and Akerele is not an exception. What is her most expensive possession? With excitement she replied "I still have a set of gray pearl my ex-husband bought me from England. I also have some jewelry. Somehow, I got rid of all of them when I became born again. You know when you first go into something you become fanatical. And that, I could say, added to the collapse of my marriage".
Life in the last 52 years has been good to her. Does she have any regret in life? "My only regret is that if I had known the Lord the way I know Him now, my marriage wouldn't have crumbled. I still feel I am the one to blame because I wasn't attentive to what God was saying to me. And I was actually carried away by self pride, which is why I ask young girls of today not to allow anger or self pride to overwhelm them. The second regret is that I didn't finish my law studies at Ife. A lot of my mates in Ife then are doing well in the legal profession and likewise my mates in Sociology class at Unilag. But life hasn't been too bad because I haven't done badly. And I wish my parents were alive. Life has been good, but it gets better and even best when you know God and who God is because He will put all your life predicaments behind you".
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