Nobody can manage me – Zebrudaya

Weekend Magazine: How would you define or describe Chief Zebrudaya Okoroigwe Nwogbo, alias 4.30?Chief Chika Okpala: Zebrudaya is a man of character and this is standing firm on the truth. His character is molding the youths for a better Nigeria. His character is such that everybody admires and looks forward to seeing him, meeting him, […]

Weekend Magazine: How would you define or describe Chief Zebrudaya Okoroigwe Nwogbo, alias 4.30?
Chief Chika Okpala: Zebrudaya is a man of character and this is standing firm on the truth. His character is molding the youths for a better Nigeria. His character is such that everybody admires and looks forward to seeing him, meeting him, shaking hands with him and interacting with him all the time.And he has never disappointed anybody who came across him. So he has an open mind, and indeed, his character is open-minded. He always wants the best for our people. That’s the best way I can describe Chief Zebrudaya, alias 4.30. He wants the best in every home. He wants the best in every nation. He wants the best in every profession and he also wants the best in the enjoyment of life.
WM: If the youths look up to you as a role model, how have you been able to live up to their expectations?
Okpala: Yes, it has not been easy to remain a role model because at certain times, temptations come here and there but when you remember who you are in the society, you get a shock and recoil into your shell and be who you are. So, I will tell you it has not been easy to keep it up right.
WM: When you said ‘temptations’ do come at times, what do youmean exactly?
Okpala: Well, temptations in the sense of critics, social criticism; in the sense of saying the truth, in the expectation of calling a spade a spade and in the expectation of saying that this is wrong or this is right. Chief Zebrudaya has always stood for putting the right peg in the right hole, not in the wrong hole. This is the expectation Chief Zebrudaya has been identified with throughout his life, and up till now, he is still standing for the best. He is still standing for the right thing to be done at the right time. So he is a social critic, and being a social critic, he is not with prejudice.
WM: You are an ambassador for …..?
Okpala: (Cuts in) I’m an ambassador to “Malaria no more in Nigeria.” And we are working hard to make sure that as many homes as possible must have mosquito-treated nets, and also advocacy on what to do to prevent mosquito bite, which is the main carrier of the malaria parasite.
I’ m also an ambassador of lepers in Nigeria. Our main job is to make sure that we curb this discrimination, this stigma that people have on lepers, that is those affected by leprosy. Today again, I am opportune to be an ambassador of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). I am one of the ambassadors of NOUN because there are so many of us. I think it is because of my contributions to society and my community and my life style that earned me all these ambassadorial posts.
WM: So what is the impact of your advocacy on the society? Are people changing their old attitudes to issues?
Okpala: The society is not saying no; the society is like saying the obvious but who will hit the nail on the head? That is the main point. Who will be the first to do this or that? Leprosy, we all know, is a pathetic case. The lepers did not inflict the illness on themselves. They did not get it by sex; they did not get it by carelessness. Leprosy comes by air, and anybody could breathe in the disease. If a case is reported on time, such a case is treated and the person becomes okay.But our people still see the person as suffering from the disease, which is a form of stigma, and they would not want to go near the person. The worst is that their children are also discriminated against. At schools, once the child of a leper is sighted in the classroom, everybody runs away from the classroom, thinking that the boy or girl is also a leper. Now the lepers stay in the bush; they can’t stay in homes like me and you. They build huts for them in the bush and only God knows the kind of music they will be hearing from mosquitoes over there; nobody talks of them.
WM: Do you think the government is doing enough in this area?
Okpala: They are trying their best but they are not doing enough. But lepers are so many in Nigeria. If you go to the north, you see many of them; if you go to the west, you see many of them, if you come to the east, you see them scattered here and there. And would you begin to build houses for each of them?
WM: So what would you advocate?
Okpala: First of all is to engage people who will cure them. If they are cured, now the second step is re-integration of the person in the society, in the community; let the people know that once they are cured, they are cured. It’s unfortunate that some of them, their hands, legs or fingers may have been chopped off, but they have been cured and it can’t come back any more.So if we have jobs, we should give to them. We should not run away when they come into our meetings. At times, they can’t go to meetings; they can’t go to market and they cannot form a market of their own. My main concern is their children. How can they go to school? How can they be integrated in the society so that these children can get education?
WM: As an ambassador of NOUN, what does it entail?
Okpala: My job is to encourage people of my calibre, and ordinary Nigerians, those who listen to me, those who enjoy me, my fans all over the country, to come and avail themselves of education. Age is no barrier to education. Even at the age of 80, once you can read and understand, wake up and read. It is just to say government has brought university to your doorstep, and you don’t even need to pass JAMB before you can enroll. It is the same certificate you will get.
WM: Why did you choose to study Business Administration at NOUN?
Okpala: Yes, I have done Master’s in Communication; that is in Mass Communication, and I have been practicing my job. And nobody has been able to manage me. I opted for Business Administration so I can manage myself and others.
WM: People think that Chika Okpala is a polygamist…?
Okpala: (cuts in) Chika Okpala has only a wife; he is not a polygamist. Chief Chika Okpala has two children, a boy and a girl.
WM: Where is your ‘wife’ Ovuleria?
Okpala: Oveeee, my darling. Ovuleria is still in the country. She is in Uyo, in AkwaIbom State. She is staying with her last born, Uloma. She is married to an Uyo man, she finds solace in staying with the daughter.
WM: Do you have some glorious moments?
Okpala: Well, yes, of course there are so many but one that is very striking was the giving away of my daughter – I’m talking now as Chika Okpala – giving away my daughter in marriage. We just did the wine-carrying ceremony and it gave me joy to see that I’m alive to give out my daughter out in marriage. People came, and it was a day I will always remember. They made it a day for me. That was in April, 2014. So it was a thing of joy.
WM: Are there also moments you remember and become sober?
Okpala: Yes, yes, yes! It was when I had the road accident that nearly took my life. You can see the scar of the wound on my face. My driver was taking me to attend a show in Owerri from Nnobi – I come from Nnobi in Anambra State; Chika Okpala comes from Nnobi. I had come back from a show the previous night; I didn’t return until around 2.00am and I had a nap.  The show in Owerri was by 12.00 noon the following day, sSo by 9.00am in the morning I said he should take me; that I will sleep at the back of the car so that by the time we will get to Owerri, I will be okay, enough to handle the microphone… And along the line, all I heard was a very big noise gbang and I was asleep but by the time I opened my eyes I was in the hospital! So that was a very sad moment for me; I did not keep the appointment. And the man who engaged me thought that I was dodging him, that I might have another show somewhere else; but he didn’t know that I was in the hospital.So it took him days to be able to find out that this man he was talking about was almost dead; he saw my car that was battered because the accident was a head-on collision. The other vehicle coming from the opposite direction was trying to overtake a trailer and just surged in when my driver was almost half-way the trailer. There was nothing he could do.
WM: So what happened to your driver?
Okpala: My driver was okay. Nothing happened to him. He was quite okay and nobody died. Even the driver of the other vehicle, nothing happened to him except that he had some bruises here and there. But our cars were squashed. That’s a very sad moment for me. Another sad moment was when I lost my mother and when I lost my elder brother. In fact, the loss of my father and mother, well, it is expected because at least they were up to 80 years but my elder brother’s death shocked me. I couldn’t comprehend it because he just slumped and died when they were having a meeting. So it was a moment of grieve for me. And moreover, what he had left behind is a problem for me – he had two wives who never want to see each other. And now he is gone, how do I put the two wives together? I have been praying to God to give me the wisdom to settle the two women.