Osita Chidoka at 50

In this interview with Stanley Nkwazema, former aviation minister and FRSC corps marshall talks about his legacy, beginnings, aspirations and other socio-political trajectories.

As part of the activities leading to your birthday, you visited Kenneth Dike Hall at UNN, your alma mater. What did you see? Were you happy?

Tragic. That is the only word that can describe it. This was the hostel I left 26 years ago. I mean Kenneth Dike Hall on the Enugu campus. When we were there, we had fallen to four people in a room, but it was designed for two people. The toilet facilities were built in such a way that two people in a row in a room. So, there are about 20 rooms. You have a toilet attached to you. They were not self-contained, but those toilets were built for two people with four per room. There is a wardrobe for two people. By the time we were there, it has moved for four people. When I now went back there, there are now eight people. There is no running water. The hostel has not been refurbished in the past 25 years.

Serving Chief Ojo Maduekwe’s SA, corps marshal and then aviation minister all under 50 years, do you feel fulfilled?

I have great regards for Chief Ojo Maduekwe. He was somebody that I loved intensely. He gave me wings. He mentored me very well. I was a very ebullient young man, full of ideas and in a hurry to get things done. He took me under his wings and made it possible for me to fly. Some other people would have stifled that spirit in me. He allowed it to fly. One thing interesting about Chief Ojo Maduekwe was that when I became minister, he was an ambassador to Canada, and when I came visiting Canada, he said he would come and receive me. I said, ‘oga, it is not possible, but he said no, you are now the minister, if any other Minister comes, I will take you to your meetings, I will go with you. That was how great Ojo was as a human being. Of course, he has been accused of all kinds of things. My becoming corps marshall, I give total credit to President Obasanjo. It was his decision; he made the decision. I know those who spoke to Jonathan about me for the ministerial appointment. I was in South Africa when he called me and said I should come. He made me Minister of Aviation. On both occasions, Ojo thanked them profusely for that honour because he felt we were emotionally attached. He gave me a lot of guidance. He is one person I surely miss on this 50th birthday. It would have been nice to have Ojo around on occasion like this because he was so happy for my successes. He was very excited. I just believe that I have chosen a life of public service.

You once contested the Anambra governorship. What crashed that dream?

Elections are to be won and lost. Fighting an incumbent wasn’t easy. We didn’t have enough funding and momentum to remove an incumbent.

Many have this feeling that you are a difficult person to work with because you want things to be done and done very well.

That would be sad because doing things well is the best way. It saves everybody stress. That’s why I have the confidence going around, talking with the people to exercise, running with the people and feeling that I took every decision base on the rules. I may have made mistakes, but it was purely a mistake of the heart and not of the head. I may have been biased, taken decisions that did not augur well, but fundamentally, my attitude to life is that you just have to be meticulous. You just have to have knowledge and vision to know where you are going. You have to be able to engage in sustaining that vision. I feel very happy when people describe such and use those words. But I am not a very difficult person. I am actually