After over a decade of serving in the US Navy, Hon Abass Adigun, fondly called by his late father’s nickname, Agboworin, opened up to A Metropolitan Ideas’ Copy, on his childhood, his sojourn to the US, his experience as a US Navy, his journey into politics, his emergence as the Honourable representing Ibadan South-East/ North-East Federal Constituency, his passion, and his plans.
Tell us about your growing up years. Were you born with a silver spoon in your mouth?
My name is Honourable Abass Adigun, and I represent everybody from Ibadan South-East local government and Ibadan North-East local government. The answer to your question is very simple. As you can see, can I say I’m a millionaire or billionaire? Am I Dangote? Am I Bill Gates? I’m just a common person like anybody else. I was born and grew up in this area –Odinjo/Academy area. So, there is nothing like a silver spoon. I’m just an ordinary person like anybody else.
Tell us one of those difficult moments you encountered while growing up that you would not want the children of nowadays to encounter.
To me the way I live my life, I always believe that whatever happens to a human being, me personally, I take it as an act of God. Maybe it was just meant to happen to you. However, you believe again that each individual can rewrite their story. I grew up in my father’s house, and I’m the first child in the family. My father was blessed, not too much, but he could get by day in day out. I was told that he was trying to take this house that we are in to three storeys, and he built this house when he was twenty-nine years old. That is why they call him Agboworin; that’s where the name came from in this Ibadan. He had a Sawmill with about nineteen people working under him right there in Bodija. While growing up, he used to go to Kano. He and his brother also had a Sawmill in Idanre. So, they used to go there with lorries.
The only problem I had with him was that when I was in class three, he said that he did not believe in education again, that I should stop. He said that with the way the country was going, he didn’t have an interest in it anymore. He said that he had a saw-mill and that there were about nineteen people under him that were learning the job, and that as a firstborn I should come and join him. That was where I started having an issue with my father. I do not pray for anybody out there to have that kind of situation because, as a firstborn, you will think that you should dance to the tune of your father.
Nonetheless, I decided that I would go the other way. As a result of this, we were not really in good terms, to the extent that there was a time that he asked me to leave his house because I didn’t want to learn how to sell planks in Bodija. So I used to hang around there with my friends. When I finished secondary school, I didn’t have my papers on time, and he didn’t give me any support. I ended up living with my friends in the hostel in UI, squatting with them so I could prepare myself, and thank God, the following year, I had all my papers. From there, you know, when you don’t have good support for education, you’ll have struggle by yourself all the way up. Then, all that remained for me to do in order to enter UI was to pass the UTME. I always wanted to go to the University as Polytechnic was a ‘no’ for me. My first choices were usually UI, Unilag and OAU. So I tried my best, but I never met the cut-off. I ended up moving to Ilorin. I had an uncle who was working with the Nigerian Breweries. He was transferred from Onitsha to Ilorin as District Sales Manager. They asked me to go and live with him, and I told him I wanted to go to university. The following year, I tried Nsukka, and I didn’t meet the cut-off again. So he told me that he went to the Polytechnic of Ibadan and that I should try because if I finish, it wouldn’t matter where I went to. I tried, and that was the first set. So I was a part of the first set that graduated from there. Then, I entered the polytechnic of Offa in ’92, and after that, I had a chance to go to America.
So, you believe that under no circumstance should a child not be properly educated?
Of course. That is one of the keys to my success today. You can imagine what would have happened if I had danced to the tune of my father back then. My other friends who did just as their father asked them to do are still outside there. I saw two of them outside there now. So, education is very key and important. I would request every parent out there that if you don’t have anything to give your children, education is important, make sure you render that one to them. It is very key.
You are accomplished, but in what area of your life do you still, struggle to be the man that you hoped to be when you were a boy?
When I was growing up, I always told people I wanted to be a businessman, and I read business in school anyway. Of course, no one is perfect. I’m still struggling in the aspect of making people understand me because I’m not the kind of person that hangs out in clubs or jokes with people anyhow. If I don’t really know you very well, we might not communicate well. Communication, of course, is still one of the areas I want to improve on. You can trace this one to my educational background as well. You can see my area; we’ve been neglected. The schools over here are not like the ones we have in the South-West or North-West or Ibadan North. So, they believe that the people of the South-East, North-East are indigenes of Ibadan, such that we don’t go to school. If I did not hijack myself from my father, I would have ended up having like five or six wives. So, communication is still a part of it. Secondly, people believe that as a person who has been to the United States of America, we wouldn’t be able to relate. As you can see, outside there, the people that left already are about more than fifty, and there are still people there. And, I will still be going everywhere now to meet my people. I’m just like that, I’m a very simple and kind person.
So far, in what area do you think you have found fulfillment, not even in politics but as an individual?
One of the reasons I joined politics is that I was not satisfied with what I saw back home. I retired from the US navy, which is very difficult for a black man in America, not to mention someone from Africa. After I retired, I decided to come back home. Every single year, we have thirty days’ leave in the US. I always come to Nigeria; I always come to my father’s land; I come to this area. I always wonder that if this South-East produced a former governor, and we had honorable, members of the house of assembly, and a local government chairman, then why were things still the same way they were for the past twenty, thirty, forty years, having no difference? That was what brought me into it. I’m just saying that we have all those people in this local government and the local government including our area was still the same as it had been. The community still looked the same with no difference, and we had produced a governor in this local government, honorable and council chairmen. What have they been doing? So, that was what brought me in too, so that I could contribute by doing the little I can do. I started with the development of the community, and I have done much. For example, in Odinjo area, today they can be proud that I have fixed their power supply. We installed both the poles and the transformer, we graded the road in Ward twelve and some other places.
In terms of giving back to society or the community, you think you have done well?
No. I don’t think I’ve done well, because I still want to do more. We need more. That is why I believe that if we can have other people on board to do the kind of things I’m doing, I believe that this new government will perform better than others. I mean other people like a chairman of the council, members of the house of assembly, and other Nigerians.
How do you bond with your immediate family considering your busy schedule?
As you can see, I’m the first in the family, and in Yoruba land, whether you make it or not, you are still the leader of your family. I lost my father May 31st this year, and everything has come to me. Of course, they love me and I love them. I’ve been trying my best. Their educational demands fall on me always, and I try my best.
Tell us about your sojourn abroad. How did it start?
It’s always good to do good in life. I had a group of people I grew up with, and I had been good to them. One day, one of them just called me and told me about the American lottery, that I should try it. I asked him to tell me about it and he did. Their office was in Bodija back then in ’93. The person that told me did it for his wife too. Back then, you had to do it twice. So, I did it, they called me, they sent me the reply and we did it again, but I was the only one picked while my friend’s wife wasn’t. It just happened. After I finished the poly’ in ’94, then in ’95 I left for the US. When I got there, it was a totally different ball game as I only had an OND. America is though as only a few will make it in a strange land. Due to the kind of person I am, I like to give my best. So, I went to City college because I wanted to have a degree, and they said they would give me a scholarship, but with the condition that if I sustain any injury, they would not have me covered anymore. So, after that, I started working as a security man. I was living in Brooklyn in New York. After that, I was told by a person, that if I was able to join the military, they will pay for my schooling. I then went to Queens, and the first man that saw me was a Navy officer. He took me to the office and gave me a practice form. I took the exam, and right there he said I passed. Then, I had to go for the major exam. They scheduled me and I went to the army base in Brooklyn to do the exam, and I did well in mathematics. When the result came out, I missed nothing in mathematics even though I had had challenges with my education while growing up. So, they offered me the Job in Electrical Electronics. After that, I was sent to Chicago to have basic training. Then, I was sent to Texas to school, and after that, I was sent to my first command which was Naval Mobile ‘Construction’ Battalion number 4 in California. That was how I started in the US Navy.
What were the challenges along the line? A Nigerian now in the US Navy, how challenging was it for you?
It was very tough. Africans believe that America is easy, but no…not even for the black American, talk less of Africans. Like I always do, I always give my best. The only challenge I had in Chicago was that being an African man from Nigeria, you might have never been in a swimming pool, not even in an ocean, but one of the requirements in Chicago was that you had to jump an Olympic size which is 30 feet up, and 20 feet deep, making it 50 feet that you had to jump. I told them I could not do it because I had never been in any water that size ever in my life. The man then said that if I did not jump, I would have to go back to Brooklyn. However, when I was in Brooklyn, I was sleeping on a couch in my Uncle’s place, because it was a two-bedroom flat. When we come home from America and we dress up, don’t think too highly of us, because when you get there, you will realize that people in Nigeria are even better than some of the people in America. At that point, I said I was not going back, because there were even about three or four people that could rescue you when you fall, and on the paper I signed, I had signed a document that if I died in the training, they would give my parents 400,000 dollars. So, I had put my mother, father, and siblings on the list. I was still in the basic training, and I was only qualified for 400,000 dollars insurance. So I thought that even if I jump and I die, there would certainly be something for my family back home, unlike the situation in Nigeria. So, I went there and I jumped off the platform.
Is it to test your belief in teamwork?
It was a requirement for a new member enlisted in the US Navy which had to do with water, although the job they gave me was that of combat. After that, I never had to be on a ship or on the water because they chose me as a combat. It’s a small unit that works with the US Marine. So, because of that amount, I was happy. So as a man, being the kind of person that I am, I decided that if that will be the end for me, then that’s it. Since I had something for my parents back at home, I jumped. The moment I jumped, I didn’t know that I had already come out to the surface, so one of them slapped me and asked me to open my eyes. As I opened my eyes, they surrounded me and took me out. After five attempts, I passed. Then in the Navy, I had a lot of challenges too. There was discrimination. White people pulled me down, and white people pulled me up. That was what I could say. One example, I was a squad leader for a project in Japan. I was stationed in Okinawa in Japan. My job combined wiring, handling the electrical electronics system in the building, and combat as well, which meant going to the training and preparing for war. However, during that time we were deployed to Okinawa, there was another unit deployed to Yokosuka in Japan. I did the project, and mine was even larger than that of the other person. Then when we came back to California where we were stationed, they gave the person an award and they didn’t give me. Meanwhile, my job was much more than his. So, there’s so much racism in the US Navy. You have to understand that in the US Navy history most of the white people that join the Navy come out as the president of the US. Dark people join the army while white people join the navy. Now, I know it’s different. So I encountered many of it. Also, I was supposed to use twenty years in the US Navy before I could be entitled to retirement. I worked for one commander before in Los Angeles, California, and at the end of the day when I sustained an injury in the military, I had to go to the panel so that they can give me an early retirement. Luckily for me, as a result of doing good, the commander I worked with when I was doing a Navy recruiting, who knew that I did well and gave me so many awards was the same one that chaired my panel in DC. He was the one who signed all my awards and records back then. He then saw everything, and immediately approved my request, saying that I was one of the hard-working African men. Granting me my retirement, they initially put me on a temporary one and after three years they made it permanent.
Do you mind talking a little about your injury?
(Laughs)…It’s personal. One thing you should know is that I’m a distinguished veteran.
How did you get into politics in Nigeria?
In the military when I was serving in the US, we usually deploy to every country in the world. America has a place almost everywhere and we also train people over there. During this time, I discovered that although in every country we go to, including Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Spain, Pakistan, and other places, America spends so much money on them, still those countries always retain who they are and they try to develop themselves. I saw that Nigeria was supposed to be like that too. Also, whenever I came home, I didn’t see any difference. So I got attracted to politics and I was curious about who our leaders were and why they weren’t doing anything. Those things drew me into politics.
We know that initially, your ticket was given to someone else the last time you tried before now. People believe that one needs to be well connected, was anybody instrumental to your political journey so far? Then, we look at you like someone from America coming to join Nigerian Politics. Tell us a little bit about all these.
One thing I will say about that is that, I am very lucky and that it is the will of God. When I left the US, a lot of my friends asked me why? They said that I could have been working with the CIA or FBI with my qualifications. I answered and told them that I returned because I have human feelings. I am not trying to be a billionaire; I’m okay. I’m interested in people. So, when I decided to come home for politics, I was staying with my uncle in VI, and I used that avenue to come every time. Then, when I decided to join politics, I first looked out for the party that was in power at that time for this constituency. I wanted to join the house of assembly for the constituency 2 I belong to, from Ward 7 to Ward 12. At that time, it was an APC man, Honourable Ali. That was 2011 to 2015. I was then contemplating on joining the APC or Accord. If I wanted to go to the Accord, my uncle knew the former governor, Baba Ladoja, but if I wanted to join the APC, I didn’t know anyone there, but I could look for the chairman of the party and meet him. I now did my own homework and saw that APC won only 3 wards in constituency 2, Accord won 3 wards. So it’s kind of equal. However, I saw that if I went to the APC, there are chances that they return the ticket… I then decided to go to Accord. One of my Cousin called Lanre Lawal wanted to be a chairman too in the Accord party a long time ago. So, I was able to talk to him, and we came here to meet some other people. We met the leader back then who was Baba Ayanshina. I went to talk to him, and I spoke to my uncle too. Later on, he came and talked to Baba Ladoja. Baba Ladoja said I should ‘go outside there and work with your people. Do what they ask you to do’. So, I started meeting people and telling them what I had in mind for them and what I wanted to do. At the end of the day in 2015, I didn’t get a ticket. Someone else got the ticket, but we worked together, and from 2015 to 2019, Accord took over both constituencies: constituency 1 and constituency 2. In the whole South-East local government, we had Accord.
Is this the Nigeria of your dreams?
No! For someone like me that has traveled almost everywhere in the world, no! it’s still backward. It’s very difficult for you to go out there and say the right thing when people don’t want to listen to you. They say, “You this American guy, this is not America. Your way of doing things is different from the way we do our things.” This is totally wrong. Can we make it different? Of course, we can make it different. Can we make it progress better than the way it is now? Yes, it is very possible. The only thing I want to say now is to the youth outside there. I have a message for them in the sense that they should not see themselves as someone who has to depend on certain people who will claim that they couldn’t have been anything without their help. To make this country perfect, instead of talking, let’s just come together. The youths of today, let us come together and take this format; let’s see what we can do to move us forward. Let’s join politics together and make a difference. Someone like me took a bold decision like that. It’s not common for someone to just leave one place, sacrificing the career that you already built and come home. When I promise, I fulfill my promise, and I am still with my people today. This interview was going to be done somewhere else but I insisted that we must come to my local area where I grew up. So, how will I have a Nigeria that will be in good comparison with other countries in the western world? How will I have a Nigeria where everyone will have three square meals in their houses? How will I have a Nigeria that the pensioners will be able to get their pensions on time? How will I have a Nigeria where our education system would be one of the best in the world? How will I have a Nigeria that the youth will get married in due time without worrying about the lack of money or how to cater for their families? Our people in Nigeria are resilient. When I went to the school in
Who are your role models in different aspects of life?
I have met people and crossed paths with many people in my life. As of this moment, I can say my leader in my party. I’m praying to God to continue to give me the wisdom to be able to do like Governor Seyi Makinde. The thing I like about this man is that he is very humble and simple. I want to be like that. I want to be able to help people and I hope that they appreciate it. This will always make my day. In politics, it’s my governor. Before he became a politician, he was already made and he had been doing so much. I want to be like him. I want to follow his footsteps. I’ve been doing that too on a small scale, and I believe I would continue like that. The attitude of humility is the most important thing in life. For my family, I take my father because he does not like cheating, and I don’t like it either. I like to treat everybody equally, be kind and nice. It’s as simple as that. About 4, 5, and even up to 10 people refer to me as their role model because I recruited them into the Navy. They are Nigerians, and officers now. In the military, I would say Commander Gay. He was my commander at the time when I was serving as a recruiter in Los Angeles. He was the chairman of the panel that attended to me when I went to DC for medical reasons. He took care of me and looked after me. I also have so much respect for him. I thank him so much because I am where I am today as a result of my foundation in the US. The money I spent on all my political pursuit was the money I saved up and acquired in the US because I have no godfather. As you know, politics in Nigeria would require this.
