I feel sad my father has not been honoured, says Dere Awosika, Okotie-Eboh’s daughter

First Republic Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Samuel Okotie-Eboh (1912-1966) was honoured on January 16 by his family, with a celebration marking the 50th anniversary of his passing. The sixth child of late Okotie-Eboh, Dr. Ajoritsedere Awosika, who served as permanent Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Ministry of Science & […]

First Republic Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Samuel Okotie-Eboh (1912-1966) was honoured on January 16 by his family, with a celebration marking the 50th anniversary of his passing. The sixth child of late Okotie-Eboh, Dr. Ajoritsedere Awosika, who served as permanent Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Ministry of Science & Technology and the Federal Ministry of Power respectively, speaks with Daily Trust on the  event and the personality of her late father. 
What is the idea behind this 50th anniversary memorial? 
I have always thought as I recalled aspects of his life, that his place of honour like it is in our national anthem, has not been correctly placed, and the only way to put things correctly is to speak by the truth through the books. Now the book is launched and in addition to putting the book for everyone to see and read and understand who the Almighty created him to be and what he did, we were able to get people of his own time to speak about his person. I mean men like Maitama Sule won’t lie about his character which he talked about; men like Dara Mbazulike and all the people – Chief Philips Asiodu, Alhaji Ahmed Joda, Senator Ben Obi and all those that spoke, including Aig-Imoukhede that talked about the efforts that he made in the financial sector, which led us  to what is now  the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the Nigerian Security and Minting Company (NSMC), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which are institutions that drive finance, including the African Development (ADB). He was the first Chairman of the ADB, after lobbying and bidding for the formation of the bank to be able to develop Africa. 
Are there  lessons which  the country should  learn from his life?
We should be detribalized. Religion is faith and faith is in you to be transcribed into good work. Therefore, we should go that way. His own faith transcribed into his work and his work is now following him. I will advise all of us that we should allow our faith to transcribe into work, so that after we have gone, our work would follow  us. 
Do you think Nigeria will be able to achieve the dream  your father had?
We are on course, I believe. We have had many struggles. Today, you heard Chief Obasanjo say we should learn from what happened in the senseless coup of 1966, and that it should  not happen in Nigeria again. What does that mean? We should have patience. There were no perfect people but Nigerians, we need to learn to have patience with our leaders, so that leaders can learn the ropes  and be able to walk tight on the rope and produce results. Before anything happens, we shout, ‘remove him, take him out’. If somebody comes and  is doing well and he has a few errors here and there, and he is ready to be apologetic and correct it, let’s move on.
How best do you think the country can honour your father, given the contributions  he made to the nation?
I leave that to decision-makers. Now they have a book to read, now they have heard record of the First Republic people, and they have heard the verdict of the people that were gathered here, who today were by no means mean people, and nobody is mean anyway. All Nigerians here today, they knew some things about him and I believe that the nation in its system, a system consists of not just the executive but  the legislature as well, will accord him his rightful place as a hero that has gone before.
How do you feel since he has not been recognized 50 years after?
I don’t feel happy, that is why this happened. Everyman likes his work to be recognized and that is why this came to be.
And you believe after today, justice would be done?
We wait and see. To have a free and fair society is one of the goals of the nation. If you look on our crest, the national crest, it  indicates unity, peace and justice, that is what Chief Okotie-Eboh stood for when he was alive. The crest is still in existence, and I want to believe as a Nigerian that unity, peace and justice will remain.
How did  you get over the pain of losing him at that time and the circumstance of his death?
It was difficult but over the years, we began to use the ideals that he taught us to live, to get results in order to believe more in his character. These are truthfulness, integrity, fear of the Almighty, boldness in doing the right thing, humility and hard work. So this man has really worked for Nigeria. He had ideals which he stood for which we overlook. Let us inculcate those ideals in every way, especially  the younger ones coming, so that they can learn from them for the betterment of tomorrow.