Akinyemi Recounts Stewardship as Minister

Emma Okonji and Nosa Alekhuogie

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, yesterday, said he had always enjoyed being an intellectual trouble maker, when he was less than 80 years, saying that he would continue to trigger such scenarios, now that he is an octogenarian.

Akinyemi said this while giving an account of his stewardship as minister for two years before his tenure was cut short in 1987, by the former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida.

Akinyemi who turned 80 on Tuesday, spoke as a guest on ‘The Morning Show’ on Arise News Channels, the broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers.

He said his removal from office as minister was sudden and premature, even though it came with a six-month notice.

He also explained that such premature removal was his saddest moment while in public office, because he had more to offer Nigerians at the time he was removed from office.

“I wish I had stayed longer as the Minister of Foreign Affairs during my tenure, because I believe there was so much I could have achieved if I had stayed longer, but I understood perfectly why I needed to be removed at that time.

“I think at that time, the former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida felt that our policies were becoming controversial and a threat to the national coercion of the military, and he had to give me six months’ notice to vacate the office and he congratulated me on the eve of the sixth month before I finally left,” Akinyemi said.

According to him, “Babangida had once said they he understood exactly what Akinyemi was trying to do in the ministry of foreign affairs, but not too many of his colleagues understood what his motivation and the complexity of the policy.

“Babangida understood the fact that Nigeria was battling below its capability and that the capability to push Nigeria into the ranks of the world powers like India was inherent among Nigerians, and that such capability was being threatened by internal squabbles occasioned by internal divisions among Nigerians.

“As a minister at that time, I was bent at creating a concept of medium powers that will drive Nigeria’s global image, but most people at the top echelon of the military, misunderstood my intention, even though Babangida understood me at that time.”

He said most of the books written at that time aptly captured the division in the military, since most of the top military officers did not even believe in the strength of the ECOMOG Soldiers, which he said Babangida strongly believed in at that time, a situation he said, compelled Babangida to set up parallel funding mechanism to drive some of the existing military operations.

Akinyemi said he sensed that some portions of the military strongly felt that some of his policies and decisions were problematic to the military, hence his premature removal as Minister of Foreign Affairs during his time in 1987.

“Apart from some military personnel that were not comfortable with my policies and decision, the American government was equally not comfortable with me because I was more passionate about Nigeria than America interest in Nigeria.

“UK governed also loved ministers who have passion for British interest in Nigerian politics, and that was my undoing because I was more passionate about Nigeria that the interest of foreign governments in the Nigerian politics, but I have no regret over it. The reason is that I am intellectually troublesome. I am a trouble maker, I create intellectual troubles and I had always enjoyed being an intellectual trouble maker,” Akinyemi further said.

Taking about the happy moment of his life as a public officer, Akinyemi said he got a call on the morning of the day when late Murtala Mohammed was overthrown and was informed that he was going to be the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which he said, was later changed and he was given the options to work either as an Ambassador to the United Nations, or as the Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA).

“I chose to work at NIIA because I used to be a turbulent lecturer and I wanted to prove that I could actually walk the talk at NIIA,” Akinyemi added.