The Cotonou Times was extremely honored to be granted an interview by an exceptional scholar , who is a former Benin Republic minister as well as a specialist of Benin Nigeria relations.
The Cotonou Times: Good morning Professor, can you please introduce yourself?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: I wish to express my deep gratitude for the interest that you carry in me. As far I am concerned, I have been living quietly. I do not run for honors and that’s the reason I decided to live very humbly. By interviewing me today, you want to place me at the center of Benin national interests and I thank you very much. I am from the “Hills Region” more precisely from the town of Save, but I grew up in a small community in the municipality of Save named Shalogué located two kilometers from the international road and which can be accessed through Kokoro or Ansekwé. Given my origin, I come from a rather poor family mainly involved in farming. I can consider myself a wealthy man today given my rural origins as my village is not on the side of the road and is relatively land-locked. It is from this village that I benefitted from free education, after I passed the national entrance exam in the Benin College. That is how I found myself at the Victor Ballot College in 1957.
The Cotonou Times: This is the Behanzin Secondary School of Porto Novo today isn’t?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: We were the latest promotion using the name “Victor Ballot”. Following the seven years spent at that school, I went to the University of Dakar and then to France where I completed my studies with a PhD in 1970. I took a contest in France at that time and I was recruited as an official at the C.I.C Bank . I took office in this bank and after one month, the Chancellor of the newly formed Dahomey State University arrived in Paris and came to recruit the first teachers of this University. He was a friend of my French Professor to whom he solicited assistance for the recruitment of lecturers in social sciences including geography. That’s how my French Professor told the Chancellor of the Dahomey University that he has just had a Beninese on hand who can do the trick and not to look for French people for “geography”. I was contacted by my French Professor and I told him that it was not out of need that I took the contest, it is because of a lack of local employment in Benin. Fundamentally, I was not interested in banking although I was beloved by my department manager. If there was a position in Benin, I would tender my resignation immediately and that is what I did . I returned home in 1971 to assume my duties at the University.
The Cotonou Times : How long did you work in this bank?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Two months. The Head of my department who liked me so much told me that positions in Africa are uncertain, instead of receiving my resignation; she gave me a Layoff Certificate valid for three years in case it did not work well. When I came back home, the teachers who trained me when I was in Secondary School had established a Trade Union and believed that I was too young (I was only 24) to be teaching at the University because some of the students that I will have to oversee would be older than me. They therefore came together and prevented me from taking my duties at the then University of Dahomey.
The Cotonou Times: To well-born souls, value does not wait the number of ears says the adage which appears to have been ignored by your former teachers?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Many of us who were young and who came back to take our duties, including the late Basile Kossou faced the same difficulties.
The Cotonou Times: Was it only for the Geography?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Basile Kossou who came at the same was a Philosopher and we had similar problems to the extent that I went to see the Chancellor of the University to inform him that I was returning to Paris and he refused stressing that we are those who are making the Dahomey of tomorrow and he would make every effort to ensure that my former teachers lift this ban. So here we were, when the Chancellor informed me that the Director of the Tofa College in Porto Novo needed a high-level teacher who will take care of the 11th and 12th grades for 9 hours per week of geography classes. Chancellor Adjalohoun begged me to accept this position until he would sort out the issue with my former teachers. I agreed and I had a fantastic success. I put in place an exceptional pedagogy .
The Cotonou Times: This Tofa College at that time already had SS2 and SS3 students? How many students per class did you have?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: I had one SS2 group and two SS3 groups. Each group had approximately forty to fifty students. Instead of appearing before my students to deliver a lecture, I divided my classes in Embassies since I was teaching regional geography. Each female student was in charge of a particular region of the world. These regions were called embassy areas. This pedagogy consisted in enabling each student to search for information on these areas in order to present them every week when we had classes. This was extraordinary, the female students were so proud to be appointed “ambassadors” and they were extremely motivated . The results of this approach echoed and the Education Minister at that time (Minister Dossou Yovo) heard about this pedagogy within the framework of a training process in geography.
The Cotonou Times: Was there a library at the Tofa College at that time?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: I was the one providing the information to each student accredited in a geographical area and the publication “Le Monde Diplomatique” was made available to them since I was subscribing to it and to other publications that could bring them useful information relating to the accreditation area to enable them to produce a data sheet on the area.It was wonderful. The Education minister heard about my approach and told the Chancellor that my former teachers have never heard about such a pedagogy and yet it is the best one to ensure that the students “swallow the pile, given the fact that “geography” at the time was considered as a “boring science ” because of the figures. That is why the Minister said that this pedagogy exceeded the intellectual capacity of secondary school students and that it will be more adapted to university students which led to the issuance of the decree returning me to the University against all odds.
The Cotonou Times: How many years did you spend at Tofa College?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: One year. That is how I came back to the University to establish the Department of Geography . We were three to create the Faculty of Arts from which the Department of Geography forms part. The success that I obtained at Tofa College as a geography teacher continued at the University . When I gave a lecture on West Africa and I presented 150 bibliographies to the students who accused me of being a sounding immodest as they were wondering if the professor who was giving 150 titles had actually read half of them? When I heard these rumors, I came back the next day to introduce the 150 publications to the students without any documents on hand. The students were saying that this man was “crazy”. This is when I gained my reputation at the university. What is even more important is that from 1980 until the end of my career, I have never given any lecture with documents by hand.
The Cotonou Times: When did you retire?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: I retired in 2006. I was giving masters classes to the students who thought that I was not a “normal lecturer”, that “spirits” were dictating what I was saying.
The Cotonou Times: Weren’t you preparing your classes?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Absolutely , but while I was giving the lecture I was not reading my papers. That is how my reputation was established until my retirement. I actually retired because I was called to a ministerial office in 1998 and while I was a Minister I was still teaching. It is President Kerekou who called me once and told me to stop teaching.
The Cotonou Times: You were appointed Minister of Industry and Small and Medium Sized Entreprises from 1998 to 2001. How did one become Minister in Benin at the time?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: One became minister thanks to the political parties which supported the candidacy of the President of the Republic to the highest office .As far I am concerned, I was not a political party activist, but I had done many things for this country. That is the reason why I was appointed minister by President Kerekou .I want to point out some examples: In 1975 Benin wanted to create its own currency .I am one of those who discouraged the revolutionary government to continue the project. I organized a conference from a survey that was carried out on all the countries of the sub region with reference the parallel exchange market and the results of this survey revealed that Benin was the country collecting more currencies . The money supply was approximately 4 Billion FCFA at the time and Benin had a capacity of foreign currency collection up to 35 Billion FCFA thanks to the functioning of the Danktokpa market ,which was at the time extremely dynamic like the Ifangny Market. Those coming to these different markets were coming with foreign exchange and Benin was the country who was collecting more foreign currencies. On that basis the economic growth at that time was 10 and 11% and that is why the revolutionaries thought that they could have their own currency.
The Cotonou Times: At that time you believed that it was the fixed parity with the French Franc which led the national currency of neighboring countries to circulate in Benin?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Not only that, it was the dynamism of the Benin markets. All the currencies: Nigerian Naira, Ghanaian Cedi, Gambian Dalasi were circulating in Danktokpa. But the strongest monetary circulation was from the FCFA area. This exceptional circulation of money was perceived by the Benin revolutionaries as large enough for Benin to have its own currency. I am the one who told them based on my survey(they did not have this figure)They had the growth figure, but they did not have the growth factors . I am the one who told them that the economic situation which was prevailing at that time was volatile given the fact that it was based on market speculations and that from market speculations ,one cannot create a currency. A currency can only be created from production and the project should be abandoned given the fact that if the currency is established the market speculations will stop because this new currency would not have a market value locally, regionally and internationally. They believed me and the second day, the Popular Republic of China came to my rescue stressing that their currency project was “crazy”.
The Cotonou Times: So the Popular Republic of China at that time who was their partner discouraged them?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Yes. That is how the project was stopped. The fact that I convinced the Political Bureau of the PRPB (The People’s Revolutionary Party of Benin) not to create a new currency, Kerekou wrote it in my favor. The second example is what happened in late 1987 when the Nigerian Army invaded the Benin territory, to “officially” combat smuggling . Military outposts were installed from Parakou to Malanville . There were five outposts of 1500 soldiers each between Parakou and Malanvile. At that time there were only two border posts between Parakou and Malanville and the border area was vague. Taking advantage of this, the Nigerian army deployed on our own territory from Parakou to Malanville.
The Cotonou Times: This is a large swathe of territory? How long this military incursion lasted?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: This is when I was conducting a survey on the parallel exchange markets on the one hand between Niger and Nigeria and on the other hand between Benin and Nigeria that I met these Nigerian soldiers on the ground. I took advantage of this opportunity to call the Minister of Interior’s attention(Minister Zodeougan) with reference to this situation in May 1988. I asked him if they were sleeping in relation to Nigeria’s invasion of our territory. He told me that this matter has gone on for six months. Many diplomatic notes which remained unanswered had been conveyed to the Nigerian authorities. Our Ambassador in Lagos had made every effort but to no avail. The then Benin Government did not know what to do. I asked the Minister of Interior if he could authorize me to get involved. He responded that it was a state matter and that if we could really assist to do what he could. And in ten days I came back to him to inform him what I could do to resolve the problem. We suggested that a Conference be convened between Nigeria and Benin. Each country would provide with a delegation of 40 individuals. This conference will be held in Badagry. For this conference to be held, neither Benin nor Nigeria would have to spend money as we had already obtained twenty five thousand United States Dollars from the Ford Foundation to organize this initiative. When my Nigerian partner when to meet the Nigerian Minister of Internal Affairs to bring the same information that was provided to his Benin counterpart, he said that they were very interested in the project but that forty people was insufficient and that they needed a one hundred and fifty people delegation. When the Benin Minister of Interior presented the project to the Government, it was decided that forty people was not enough as they needed a delegation of 90 individuals whereas our budget could not include such numbers . My Nigerian counterpart , Professor Anthony Àṣíwájú went to meet the Nigerian Minister of Internal Affairs ( John Shagaya ) to tell him that if they wanted such a big delegation, they should put their shoulders to the wheel . The Minister then asked Professor Àṣíwájú how much would be needed . My counterpart then called me to come to Lagos. At that time, travelling to Lagos by car was much easier than today and the road was good. I took my car in the morning and at 11:00am I was at the Àṣíwájú’s office to discuss the new budget , informing him that the Beninese also stressed that they wanted a delegation of ninety people. When we made the calculations , it was determined that we needed between seventy to eighty thousand United States Dollars to bring people together in Badagry for one week. When this new budget was presented to the Nigerian Minister of Internal Affairs we already had twenty five thousand dollars from the Ford Foundation . John Shagaya, the Nigerian Minister of Internal Affairs immediately gave us a cheque of fifty thousand Dollars . They trusted us, and at that time Nigeria was rich .
The Cotonou Times: This was under the Government of General Ibrahim Babangida?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Yes . Babangida and Kerekou never met each other . So the Conference was convened in Badagry. The Speaker of the Benin Revolutionary National Assembly at that time was heading the Benin delegation and Nigeria was represented by Augutus Aikomou the “Vice President” of Nigeria . It is at the opening of this conference that the five military outposts were closed and the Nigerian troops withdrew without any negotiation . When President Kerekou learnt that the Nigerian soldiers left, he shook his head and said that it is a man who helped me to remove from my throat the thorn who had been disturbing me for five months.
The Cotonou Times: Was Nigeria’s conduct towards Benin a “provocation” due to the fact that it was a revolutionary country at that time and General Babangida(who is still alive) was considered at that time to be “close” to the western world?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Of course. We have had these same provocations recently with Buhari and the closure of the land borders. Each time Nigeria is unhappy with Benin, they act in this fashion.
The Cotonou Times: Did the Nigerian soldiers who occupy Benin territory for over five months commit abuses?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: No. It was purely an act of intimidation. So at the opening of this conference in May 1988, all these issues were resolved without any negotiation.
The Cotonou Times: So these were the two of your major interventions ?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: There are others . There is the reopening of the United States Embassy in Benin. I was a visiting Professor in US at the University of Ann Arbor in Michigan in 1981 d during that same period , the American community in Benin celebrated ThanksGiving and they overflowed on the Military Guezo Camp and the Benin Army shot at them. Three American nations got injured on the leg.
The Cotonou Times: How did they overflow?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: They drank , they were celebrating and the Benin army considered that it was a provocation and they shot at them. The Americans expected an “excuse” from Benin which never came.
The Cotonou Times: The Benin authorities at that time considered that the country’s “territorial sovereignty” had been violated and therefore they did not have to apologize?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: That is why the Americans closed their embassy. I am the one who negotiated in 1982 the reopening of the US Embassy using my relations. Kerekou recorded all of this to my advantage. But I think that the main raison why he appointed me was during the Transitional Government following the National Sovereign Conference in 1990, Adamou N’Diaye was appointed minister of Agriculture. Following him, Sacca Kina held that position , the two hail from the same region and Sacca Kina for “political reasons” wanted to increase the cost of cotton from 185Fcfa to 200Fcfa.
To be continued…
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