Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Each time that the matter was presented to the Council of Ministers ,the donors were opposed claiming that there was no justification for this as it would disorganize the cotton industry which contributes several billions of FCFA per year . This was the position of the World Bank. It is in this house here, where I am being interviewed that a survey was conducted at that time on the cost of cotton production in rural areas at the request of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)a Washington based US Institution which specializes in food security. That organization had chosen at the time to compare the production costs of some African countries such as Benin and Tanzania. We were those who calculated the cost of production in rural areas and revealed that all the farmers who did not own a plantation of at least five hectares were producing cotton at a loss on the basis of our production cost calculation. We justified that the losses resulted from the use of foreign labor who were being treated and maintained. These costs were calculated thanks to the filed surveys that were carried out and our report concluded that the all the Benin peasants who were producing cotton at the time with a farm of less than five hectares were producing at a loss. Justin Gnidehoun a top dog of the Benin Revolution and a Minister was actually the person who brought the report to Kerekou and told him that this survey completely changed the game on what we knew on the cotton industry. When Kerekou took a look at the report , he conveyed it to Sacca Kina and told him that these were the arguments that had to be given to the donors to increase the price of cotton. This is how the price of cotton was raised . Kerekou said “It is Ìgè again who save us in this country and that he needed someone with my profile”close to him”. This was on the basis on these arguments that I was appointed minister by Kerekou. I entered the Government without being a member of any political party.
The Cotonou Times: Is this what justified your “freedom of expression” in the Government?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: I never met Kerekou before I entered the government, but Kerebou spoke about me as if we were sleeping in the same bedroom.
The Cotonou Times: You were in the Government between 1998 and 2001, isn’t?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: What explains the fact that Kerekou was bonding with me is not only due to these facts.Pierre Osho and Albert Tevoedjre who were the “intellectuals” within the cabinet had a vision which did not meet the expectations in terms of development. When I came I told my colleagues and President Kerekou that our methodology must be changed in order to manage state affairs., that the current one was “old-fashioned” and that the approach consisting in relying in big matters had to be simplified. I put forward many proposals to improve the functioning of the government . Kerekou was very sensitive to that .
The Cotonou Times: Please indicate the initiatives that were taken as well as your achievements while you were a member of the Kekerou Administration?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: When I entered the government, my fist action was to change the way the council of ministers was managed. I told Kerekou that its duration was extremely long for often useless debates and that it should be shorter and focused on the main issues.
The Cotonou Times: What was the duration of the Council of Ministers back then?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: When we were starting at 10:00am, we did not know at what time we would end. Sometimes we were finishing at midnight. We were wasting time on details. I told Kerekou to change the organization .Second, the council used to develop on the basis of political debates and not on the basis of scientific debates. I underlined that it could not continue like this, and that reflection must necessarily precede action . Most proposals which were introduced were not argued . I believed that it was essential that the main matters be backed by “rigorous evidence” and not by biases. Most of the matters at that time were based on biases. Kerekou was hugely impressed and he once said that it was thanks to me that he had another vision of “Beninese intellectuals”, whom he had previously described as “crazy”. This was very important and it brought me closer to him because Kerekou had a great ability to listen and was keen on learning. He told people that he learnt a lot with me. Let me give an example, he tried to get me out of the government due to the pressure of my colleagues and I tendered my resignation. They oppressed me so much because of the Onigbolo cement plant.I drafted my resignation letter at the end of the year 2000 which I brought to Kerekou . My colleagues organized my resignation because of this matter. When I wanted to tender the document to Kekerou , he was reluctant, I never saw him as hesitant. When I was about to leave his office, I handed over the letter to him and explained to him the reason why I wanted to resign. I told him that I resigned for the following reasons: First, his decision to make me leave the cabinet was due to pressure , it is not his will . I told him that If he was playing into the hands of those who pressurizing him, he could not preserve our security, therefore I was feel unsafe working with him given his tendency to bow to pressure instead of consulting his real advisers. If government policy had be determined by “pressure”, I could not be part of that. The second reason I gave him was that Onigbolo and Save did not only belong to the Beninese State. Therefore we could not take a stand on this matter without consulting the Nigerians , whereas what he was asking me to do was due the pressure of some cabinet members who did not want to consult the Nigerians.
The Cotonou Times: Would you be kind to explain the context and the reason for the pressure exercised on Kerekou ?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Kerekou wanted to take me off the Onigbolo matter to manage it directly from the Presidency of the Republic.
The Cotonou Times: As the Head of State in a Presidential regimen wasn’t he entitled to do so?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Yes he was. But if I was stripped of my responsibility , what was the point of remaining in the Government?
The Cotonou Times: Indeed, so you faced up to your responsibilities?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Yes and I told him that there was nothing he could do with reference to Onigbolo and Save.
The Cotonou Times: What were Kerekou’s actual intentions regarding Onigbolo, did he want to privatize it?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: He did not want to privatize it, my colleagues in the Government were interested by the purchase of the Onigbolo Cement Plant. There were four ministers that I will not name .
The Cotonou Times: Wasn’t there a privatization plan?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Yes
The Cotonou Times: What was the position of the Nigerian side given the fact that it was a joint venture ?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: The four ministers did not make their interest official. All of this was unofficial of course.
The Cotonou Times: So you are basically saying that four members of the then Benin Government were interested in purchasing the Onigbolo cement plant in spite of the fact that Nigeria was a co-owner of the factory?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Yes, that was my opposition to them, they did not want to take into consideration the interests of the Nigerian side.
The Cotonou Times: It is known to all that the Onigbolo Cement Plant and the Save Sugar Factory were the products of the Benin-Nigeria cooperation , are you suggesting that the Nigeria Government had forgotten about these two entities?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: When I entered the government, thanks to my efforts the Nigerian side revisited the matter they had abandoned.
The Cotonou Times: Nigeria had abandoned the matter?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Yes because the Benin side was not reporting to Nigeria on the management of the factory. When I came there was a big opacity. That is what the Nigerians told me.
The Cotonou Times: That was the reason for Nigeria’s disengagement ?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Yes
The Cotonou Times: You tried to remind the Nigerian side that there was an existing matter in Benin where they had interests?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Yes, I actually went to meet them reminding them that these industrial sites belonged to us in common that nothing could be done without their involvement. Especially when it was Nigeria who assisted us to obtain the financing.The cost of Onigbolo at the time was seventy billion Fcfa. The cost of the sugar factory in Save was one hundred and twenty billion Fcfa. How much was the Benin Republic budget at that time? Barely thirty billion Fcfa. With such a budget was it possible to have such enterprises? That is the reason why the debt portfolio of these two enterprises to this day are on the Nigerian side. The Nigerians listened to me and they revisited the matter.
The Cotonou Times: The fact that they revisited the matters was therefore an obstacle to the privatization plan which was debated in the Benin cabinet?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè : Since the Nigerians agreed to revisit the matter and that we had a conference committee which was meeting regularly, we could not make a decision without consulting them. The four Beninese ministers who were interested in acquiring the Onigbolo plant were unaware of the fact that the Onigbolo complex could not be sold or assigned without Nigeria’s approval. But they had not thought about this. They were exercising pressure on Kerekou because they knew that I was mastering the inner workings and that I would never accept such an idea.
The Cotonou Times: What was the outcome of this crisis?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: I told Kerekou that without Nigeria’s approval nothing could be done and I asked him if they had Nigeria’s opinion? This was the first reason for my resignation. Lafarge had been on the site for three months and they had already invested huge amounts of money in a short time.
The Cotonou Times: Who authorized Lafarge to deploy on the site?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: I made the decision within the framework of a general consultation. Beninese applicants uch as de Chacus also participated to this call for tender.
The Cotonou Times: Was the Nigerian side also in agreement with the choice of Lafarge ?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: It was within the framework of our conference committee that the choice fell on Lafarge. The representative of the four Beninese ministers had chosen de Chacus who was initially designated . I am the one who challenged this decision for the following reasons: the defective nature of the plant . He was the supplier that the factory had chosen for a long time to supply the factory’s essential spare parts. Him and the factory officials at the time were involved in mismanagement . Spare parts were sold to the Company at high prices which was a kind of misappropriation put in place by de Chacus and the factory’s former principals. This was very serious and the same de Chacus wanted to acquire the plant. Thanks to the pressure of the four ministers he was given the key. When I became minister, I challenged his license because it was granted without Nigeria’s approval. When they wanted to introduce the file at the Council of Ministers on behalf of the Benin Nigeria Committee, there was no Nigerian names and signatures . When I entered the government, I am the one who was supposed to introduce this matter at the council of ministers and I stopped it because it was plain dishonesty and I stressed that a state like Benin to preserve its reputation shall not engage in dishonesty. Not a single Nigerian attended the meeting and signed the file that was introduced at the council of ministers to designate de Chacus as the transferee. Kerekou then said that I was a “newcomer and that I was not familiar with the “system”, and that I was authorized you to do what I wanted.
The Cotonou Times: It was when you took over the file, that you started to feel the animosity and hostility of some of your colleagues?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: They were after me, until the day I drafted my resignation letter. I then told the President that the reasons which justified my resignation were as follows: First, the pressure exercised by some cabinet members(the street) on the President of the Republic. A Head of State who plays into the hand of the “street” is not capable to protect “state interests” because the “street” does not know anything . Seven ministers came to see the President to ask for my “head”. I was informed. This is the action of these seven ministers which I call “the street”. I informed the President that I could not play into the hands of the “street”. Second, the plant did not only belong to us and that if we wanted to take a decision relating to the management of the factory , it had to be done within the framework of a Conference Committee. Had the decision been taken under such a framework to ask for my resignation? Third, Lafarge was already installed at the Onigbolo site and had invested multiple billions and if we rejected him he would go to Court to demand its rights . Did we have the money defend ourselves against Lafarge?Did we have competent men? I was not interested in getting into this. Fourth Mister President, if I chose Lafarge against the others, it was not because I had acquaintances with him or the the French, it is the world’s largest producer of cement. We had made a decision during the 1990 Sovereign National Conference whereby we had left the “party-state” and we were opting for a full multi-party system with a liberal economic policy choice . Please note that not a single multinational Company would base itself on such a statement to act, it would be based on the evidence of our good faith that multinationals would invest here and not on political statements and the proof of our good faith is to welcome Lafarge here who would tell their colleagues that these people have changed and that was possible to do good business in peace and tranquility.
The Cotonou Times: Can you please indicate if this Cement plant had actually been able to function for some time under the auspices of the Benin Nigeria cooperation?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: It did as well as the one in Save but with a lot of opacity. It is important to stress that this opacity came from both the Benine side and the Nigerian side.The Beninese were taking the cement from Onigbolo in an obscure manner.
The Cotonou Times: What happened when you resigned?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: When I gave the above three reasons and stressed that it was Lafarge who would enable other multinationals to come to the country which explained why I did everything to enable Lafarge to take Onigbolo to promote Benin in order to incite other multinationals to invest in the country. When I gave these reasons Kerekou tore up my letter of resignation in front of me and said that “what you are saying here, who is going to say that it is false”. He acknowledged that the plant belonged to both Benin and Nigeria and nothing could be done without Nigeria’s approval. He also underlined that nobody had imagined what I was saying in relation to Lafarge and that it was today he understood the reason why I chose Lafarge and that I had his support. And yet, it was a reasoning of very high scientific value that no Beninese executive was having at the time with respect to Lafarge. He instructed me to present a communication at the Council of Ministers mentioning these four points. I produced the communication and it was introduced at the Council of Ministers and there was a ten-minute silence. Only Minister Pierre Osho took the floor and said “Mister President, when you appointed Ìgè, you consulted me and I said that he was not a politician , he was a very good scientist, he just demonstrated that he was a good scientist . The four arguments that he developed , who could say that it was untrue and he reminded that the choice of Moov Africa(Formerly Telecel) lasted three months because of the pressure exercised by the same “street”, so nobody could claim that what Ìgè was saying as untrue. We spend hours at the Council of Ministers because of the pressure exercised by the same group of ministers. Who can say that it is false? He continued by stressing that who could affirm the Onigbolo matter is a lie? And that he really appreciated my argument relating to the choice of Onigbolo as a reference that demonstrated that we had change. The other ministers kept quiet including those described as “the street” and it was at that time that Kerekou spoke and told the Secretary General of the Government to mention that Onigbolo was attributed to Lafarge once for all. That is how I had peace to continue my actions.
The Cotonou Times: We take advantage of this opportunity to talk about the Sugar Factory in Save. Were you a member of the Government when it was handed over to the Chinese?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: No, I had already left the Government
The Cotonou Times: Was the opacity you talked about with reference to Onigbolo, the same at the Sugar Factory in Save?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: All these companies were badly managed. The bad management was coming from both parties . The financial director of the Sugar factory was a Nigerian and he was also involved in mismanagement. These two companies were cash cow . The vigilance of the Benin government was not sufficient , they were taking advantage of this bilateral nature of the Company to perpetrate financial malpractice. In order to be brought to justice, an authority had to make a decision and this authority could not decide without the approval of the other authority.
The Cotonou Times: As an individual from the Save region , can you please indicate if the town has benefitted from the presence of the Sugar Company?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: A factory that employs three thousand people, two third of whom live in Save and pay rents, buy food and go to school . Which other benefits can one expect? That is the reason why Save became the number one town in the “Hills Region” today. Apart from Cotonou and Parakou, the town who hosts more foreigners in Benin is Save, more than Porto Novo thanks to the Sugar Company and the proximity to Nigeria. This factory had a formidable impact on the town of Save and its region.
The Cotonou Times: Was most of the sugar output at the time sold to Nigeria?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: With reference to sugar, they had an agreement with European Union countries who were buying it to make food products, especially Portugal. This is what enabled the factory to operate for some years before the arrival of the chinese. As far as I am concerned, I worked with “Mon Loisirs”, a Mauritius Company. It is with them that the site was resurrected given the fact that when I entered the government the factory was no longer operational as there wasn’t a single cutting, everything was burnt. My predecessor had brought this Mauritius Company the month he left the Government. I inherited this matter without changing anything. With Mon Loisirs we brought the cuttings from Ivory Coast by air, which enabled us to replant five thousands hectares of sugarcane. Everything was replanted. To manage this factory a sum of 8 billion Fcfa was required which could not be raised by the Mauritius Company in the region which explained their failure. Everybody refused to lend them money due the pressure exercised by the Brazilian sugar importers whose cost was less than 100Fcfa per kg whereas the sugar produced in Save was less than 150Fcfa per kg. This is what clobbered the factory and these importers made every effort to prevent Benin banks to lend 8 Billion Fcfa to Mon Loisirs under the pretext that “nobody knew them”. I had two friends who are Bank Chairmen here, I invited them to my office to negotiate who told me that the Board would not follow them and that it was not a question of friendship, it was a matter of business .
The Cotonou Times: You left the government in 2001 at the end of the first tenure of Kerekou, who was reelected, but you were not reappointed isn’t?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Due to political pressure from people from my region . They were funded by my adversaries . And I have a flaw, I do not belong to any religious congregation in Benin and this was my strongest weakness. You cannot be a politician nowadays without being in collusion.
The Cotonou Times: But you managed to be a member of the Benin Government for three years, it is quite a lot in this country, don’t you think so?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: As far as I am concerned, I refused to be in collusion given my faith.I cannot trade my faith.
The Cotonou Times: This is what explained the fact that you were not re-appointed in the second Kerekou administration?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: It took Kerekou two months to form his cabinet following his reelection in 2001, because he was refusing to meet all those approaching him to speak about me. This is when people from my own region started to get involved in the matter, when they came to see Kerekou chewing charms that he started to realize that if I remained in the cabinet, I would be killed. He believed that I was too important for Benin.That is why I was not reappointed. One week after, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development offered me position .
The Cotonou Times: You were an adviser at the Sahel Club of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, please indicate the role played by this club and this organization in the development strategy of African countries?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: This club was created within the framework of “food security” granted to Sahelian countries as a consequence of the 1970 drought and acts as an intermediary between the donors and African governments . With reference to the OECD, its purpose is to harmonize macroeconomic policies of rich countries and adopt a similar methodological approach for the calculation of economic aggregates. This is their main role. Given the difficulties of poorer countries, they also have a department for non-member states which aims at having a better knowledge of third world countries. It’s the Head of that Department who recruited me to assist him to have a better understanding the functioning of third world countries thanks to my research
The Cotonou Times: Do they have a strategy in terms of development aid?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: No, they do surveillance and they advise countries so that they know where to set foot.. They do not provide with development aid, they carry research to help member states to better manage their policies in regards to other states.
The Cotonou Times: You are today the Scientific Director of LARES(Laboratory For Regional Analysis and Social Expertise)please indicate the goal of this Institution and give us some of its achievements?
Professor John Ògùnṣọ́lá Ìgè: Africa has had many great intellectuals, but when they die their entire legacy die including the great Cheick Anta Diop. His laboratory does not work anymore. All my senior brothers regardless of their specialty have not thought about the collectivity or about the country. When I became a lecturer, it has always been my main concern, not to live alone as my seniors who were alone. They are greats, but their legal disappear with their death because they were unable to establish a “succession structure”. When I obtained the scientific maturity I decided to put in place a “succession structure” and I took advantage of the fact that the Government stopped recruiting Benin intellectuals due to the Structural Adjustment Program. In 1981 I had a group of ten very brilliant students that the Government could not recruit as “civil servants”. I did not know what to do until I received funding for a research project with a French colleague funded by the Sahel Club and aimed at carrying out research on Food Security in Africa. It is this project that enabled me to recruit six of these ten students.
To be continued………………………….
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