Daily Independent (Lagos)
1 December 2008
interview
Nigerians that are freed from Thai prison on bilateral treaty, have cried out for help from government on their sufferings. Yemi Adegbayi, author of nine unpublished books, who spent about 13 years in Thai prison, speaks with our Literary Correspondent, Yemi Adebisi, on her prison experience and how she is soliciting assistance to publish her books. Excerpts:
What are your unpublished books all about?
One of them is The Epitome of Strength, which was about a woman that suddenly had leukemia, and she was a surgeon. She thought about adopting children living with AIDS. Another book, On Your Honour Madam is about typical African writer. I have poetry books. Others include The Litany of Saint Noble, The Bud, Marked for Execution, Death Row and other stories; The Undetectable Communicator, The Closet Door and The Slaughter House. The latter is all about drug involvement in Nigeria.
Why have you not been able to publish any?
For years, I have approached publishers in Nigeria, and all they promised was to give me 10 percent royalty. Some even said seven percent. I began to wonder how I would live on seven percent on a work that I laboured for so many years, before it became a success. My only hope, as a writer, was that these books were going to earn me my living when I came back from imprisonment.
What led to your imprisonment?
I mistakenly went into drug trafficking when I was 29. The rest was a story.
Where were you arrested?
I was arrested at Thailand, Bangkok in 1991. I was in Thai jail through to 2003.
Why did you go into drug trafficking?
I wouldn't say I was young but I was just being stupid. I was naive, depressed, penniless and jobless. I was just thinking that the only way out as I was told then was to be involved in drug trafficking.
They told me if I could do it, I would make it and I just went into it. I just finished my Chattered Institute of Insurance then, and was looking for job.
What was your experience like in foreign prison?
My experience in prison was terrible. It's something I wouldn't wish any other person to go through. I was in prison in Thailand. I couldn't speak the language; I couldn't write the language. You didn't even know when you would be coming out. I was sentenced to life imprisonment. It was a trauma.
Did you ever regret your action?
Of course, I regretted it. Even till now, I am still regretting. Regret is forever.
What would be your advise for those who are still going into drug trafficking?
I will tell them 'don't.' I mean, capital don't. Think and sleep over it.
Supposing you were not caught and you had your millions out of the deal, would you ever sound this way?
I don't even know the expense of having millions of dollars then. I just discovered that I was there. I had wanted to write when I was 13. I have a lot of time. If I had not been in prison, I might have one time or the other in my life ended up as a writer because that's my talent.
Was there a moment while you were there that you were maltreated or dehumanised?
Obviously. Prison is not a hotel. We were maltreated several times. This was mostly because we were foreigners. It took us long years before we could speak or write Thai language. There was a moment I decided I had to go to their school while in their prison. I did this for four years. I was going to learn how to read and write and to speak.
When did you come back to Nigeria?
2003 and I stayed in Minna Prison, between 2003 and 2005, because of the bilateral treaty we signed. It was the treaty that brought us back home because I was personally given a life imprisonment. Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo and General Abdulsalam Abubakar helped us. The Nigerian constitution says we have to spend one sixth of our sentence. Before leaving Thailand, I had 40 years and I had spent eleven years six months in Thai prison. Coming back home, I had about 26 years more to spend in prison. The government gave us amnesty after two years.
As a writer, have you had a thought of putting your story together, in a book form?
That will come very much later in my life.
You have a lot of books on ground. Do you have all the money to do the publishing?
No. I don't. I am looking for sponsors. Though Spectrum Publishers is publishing my book at a term I don't really think I want to accept, there is nothing I can do with this development.
What is this term?
It's this same royalty problem.
If you had gotten your money, would you have preferred vanity publishing?
I don't have any other job except writing. So, how can I leave the rest of my life with such royalty to take care of my family?
Since you were out of prison, what was your source of income?
I've been helped by families, friends, and I take a day at a time. When I'm broke I am broke.
That is why I want corporate bodies to help me out of my predicaments. I have written proposals to many organisations but none has responded to my favour. I have written to almost all banks in Nigeria, notably among which, are Bank PHB, GTB and Diamond Bank. I have been sending these letters from the end of last year till this year. I have gone to corporate bodies, youth and sports organisations, and youth culture ministry, women affairs ministry and governors. I have also sent letters to telecommunications sectors such as MTN, Zain and Globalcom.
What are the responses from these groups?
Some don't even respond at all. Some will say it's not in their budgets. For instance, till now MTN has not even written a letter whether they will or they will not sponsor. I recently sent a proposal to Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola. I have not received any response too.
Do you have hope that Governor Fashola will not disappoint like others?
I believe so, because when I was hoping to launch book with General Abdulsalam, he actually wanted to be the chairman but it didn't work out.
You are doing all these so that you don't go back into drugs trafficking?
I wasn't so much into drug world. So, I don't know much about it. But I am doing all these so that people can learn from my own mistakes and know that despite imprisonment or down fall, I can still rise again. I am trying to reach out to the youth. Don't Do This. My book details crime. It's not only Nigerians that are into crime. Other nations are coming to revive their youths against crime. I don't know why Nigeria will not be part of these nations. It doesn't just end up in crime. How about life after imprisonment? How about life for your children, family, children and even yourself so that other people can emulate you? There are some people that are still in prison. It is just like there is no hope after imprisonment. My coming out is to tell people that there is still hope. Pray to God to reveal your talents to you and use it. It hasn't been easy. I have travelled all over Nigeria. Some of those people with whom we came back to Nigeria from Thailand are back into problems because nobody helped them. We spent so many years in that place for goodness sake. It's nobody's fault; it's ours. But I think we can come back and live like other people.
What are your views about the rigidity of Nigerian publishers?
The publishers told me that if they had called me and demanded for my story, it would have been another story entirely or if I had published a schoolbook. Don't forget that it was out of novels that writing for schools came out. Chinua Achebe and others didn't actually think of writing for schools, they were just putting out what was in their minds before school curricular came up.
What's your experience about how foreigners treat Nigerians in prison?
We couldn't speak their language. We are not of the same culture and background. Well, we shouldn't expect much from them. They have different culture entirely. We are more free minded. The ThaÔs are okay as individuals, but when you talk about imprisonment, how are prisoners even being treated in Nigeria? I won't downsize any prison. Rules and laws have to abide.
You once stated that you want to set up an NGO, what is it all about?
My NGO is about going in to help prisoners in the prisons on relief. They need help. Had it been I was not helped in Thai jail, I would still be in the prison just like other African nations' citizens. The Guineans, South Africans, Kenyans, Russians. You wouldn't think that people like Russia would forget their people in foreign prisons. Some are even there up to 20 years now without the hope of coming out. This is what my NGO is all about. I spent eleven years with my sisters from Guinea and South Africa. It is not something that is quite easy to forget. At a time in the prison, we'll be like siblings. Obviously when you spend five years with somebody under the same condition and environment, you will definitely want to see her as your sister. If you are sick in the middle of the night, she is the person you'll call. If your pocket is dry, you relate together. You don't have soap to bath; you go to her.
In essence, is life imprisonment especially up there really differerent from normal life right here in Nigeria?
Well, there is no much difference. It's like you stay together for years inside a hole. What will you call the person? Of course, you 'll call the person your family member. In this case I have a particular person in mind. We stayed in the same room together. We talked and prayed together. The only difference was that she is from Guinea and I am a Nigerian. It is during this discussion of your release that this issue of nationals comes up. You begin to wonder aloud. 'When will I go home? How can I go home?'
Were there chances for man-woman relationship in your prison?
I don't have any comment on that, because we stayed in different yards.
When you regained your freedom, what was your reaction?
Freedom was not given to us just like that. We were about 500 Nigerians in Thai prison.
I remember one of my friends, an American and an activist in the prison. When she was leaving the prison, I had started writing. I told her that when she was released she should fight for us since Nigeria had no treaty with Thailand. When she left four years later I didn't hear anything from her, I was very down. That was what prompted me to the writing of this poem, Show Me the Way Home. We really fought for the treaty. We were smuggling letters out to the government. We cried to United Nations, Vaticans and our government. Before we came back, some of us, our parents were dead, our children were dead, and we were left with nothing. In fact, there was nothing to start with. Would you say because they had sinned once, they should die with their sin? We thought that when we came back, government was going to help us even if it was something to do or learn. We learnt certain crafts in Minna Prison but there is no follow up. Where is the money to start up anything? I can't imagine how much I've spent on my writing from friends and families. I don't buy clothes because I can't even afford it. Government should please help those of us, who came back from Thai prison. We are still suffering. It has not been easy with families and us.
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