IN reflecting on my journey and the pursuit of power, I acknowledge the prevalent Nigerian phrase, “Don’t you know who I am?” This phrase often signifies a hunger for power, a desire to assert oneself. In the prologue of my book, “Hunger for Power,” I delve into the notion that understanding power is central to my quest, recognizing that many who use such phrases lack self-awareness.
For over half a century, I’ve engaged in a profound exploration of self, grappling with questions of human existence and purpose. Why was I created as a human? What am I meant to do, to take, and to give back? It’s a journey that began 86 years ago, departing my mother’s womb for life on planet Earth—the only known abode of life in the vast universe. This relentless pursuit has driven me through diverse experiences.
At 27, I embarked on a solitary journey, driving from London across Europe, navigating the Mediterranean Sea, and traversing the Sahara Desert to Nigeria. Subsequently, I felt compelled to seek accreditation from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. I endeavoured to establish a private museum in Lagos four decades ago, driven by a passion to preserve history and culture.
My dedication to honoring great African figures led me to establish a monument in tribute to Nelson Mandela, inspired by the UN declaration that the world would be a better place if more exemplified Mandela’s values. Yet, amidst these accomplishments, I remain on a quest to understand myself fully. Collaborating with family, friends, cowriters, and readers of my weekly column, I seek insights into my identity and purpose.
Today’s column shares perspectives from those intimately acquainted with my journey, contributing to my ongoing search for self-discovery.
Dr. Newton C. Jibunoh is my Uncle. By DNA, he is actually my Cousin, once removed. He is my mother’s cousin, but because my mother had no maternal brother, my mother saw him as a younger brother and so I earned the right to call him my Uncle. He always introduced me to his guests and friends first as his colleague and his former Deputy Managing Director when he was the Chairman/CEO of Costain (West Africa) Plc. The ease with which he would say it belies the simplicity with which he achieved that transformation of my person.
The first time I met my Uncle was in 1967 when he drove home to our hometown in his 1500cc Volkswagen saloon car of the famous Sahara crossing. I was eleven years old then but the historical drive across the Sahara had been top news in my secondary school, so I was aware of it. At home my Grandma who was never an extrovert, was ecstatic that the nephew whom she considered a son was home after his studies in England. I got introduced to him, he ruffled my hair, and that was it. I had a big story to tell in school.
Twelve years later, I met him for the second time when I went to him in search of a job at the end of my national service. In place of a job, he sent me off on his scholarship to get a master’s degree. At the end of my course, he helped to secure a job for me in an engineering firm. Six years later he invited me to join him in Costain (West Africa) Plc, as a Senior Engineer.
With time, and being a member of the team of management in three companies where he held directorship positions I found him to be a firm apostle of the indigenization policies of the Federal Government in the last three decades of the 20th Century. In CWA, the management employed qualified Nigerian professionals and specialist subcontractors in the execution of our contracts, ensuring that the quality of the completed projects and delivery times were not compromised. To make sure they were well rounded, engineers and managers were routinely sent to Costain in the UK for specific trainings and developments.
Initially, most clients were skeptical but after inspecting competed projects which we willingly gave them tours of, they went along with us by awarding us the contracts we sought. Such was his belief in the capabilities of our home-grown professionals that many a times he defended the use of local personnel in our projects even over the threats of losing the contracts. Other times Employers would demand that he provide his personal guarantees for our performance, often in addition to company guarantees already in place, and he willingly would comply using his personal properties or holdings as collaterals. This was only known to the top management. I marveled at these, seeing how committed he was, and seeing how workers would sometimes deliberately want to drag out a project completion schedule over inconsequential demands that could be solved through negotiations.
Uncle Newton’s love for the Arts and the Nigerian culture was boundless. Every artist was his friend whose works he must collect. When he ran out of rooms in his house to display them, he built a Museum at the site of a house he had to pull down. That house was fetching him extra income as a rented building. I asked him if he was going to be charging fees at the museum. He replied, “maybe, or maybe not.” He clearly was not seeing it as, and did not intend to have it become, a commercial business. His motive was to teach us all how to preserve our arts and promote our artists. Today artists hold exhibitions at the museum and some others hold training sessions there as well. The fees they pay are not at all commensurate with a commercial venue.
At the age of 67, my Uncle decided to make a second trip alone across the Sahara. With the belief that I might talk him out of it, seeing that his wife was at tenterhooks over this solo expedition, I asked him to reconsider. His response to me came in two-folds.
Firstly, he told me he needed to convince himself that he actually drove across the Sahara alone in 1967. Secondly, he decided to coopt me into the planning to calm my nerves.
The expedition was a success, and 5 years later he was ready for a third one, this time with five other volunteers. Though I was by this time accustomed to his idiosyncrasies and his quest for a sustainable environment through his NGO, FADE, I could not follow him on this third trip. I stayed behind as the head of the Mission Control, tracking their every movement. Such were the details of his planning that would give anyone the confidence to join him. Kelechi Amadi Obi, an artist that had exhibited at the Museum in the past joined the team ten days to departure. At the meeting we held to evaluate his
request and his preparedness, he declared that the plan he had seen on the ground had removed every ounce of doubt in his mind and was prepared to ride in the booth of the second SUV if we had no space for him. We added a third SUV to accommodate him.
Before living for the second solo expedition across the Sahara, he established a Non-Governmental Organization called FADE, Fight against Desert Encroachment. This has been the vehicle in his crusade for environmental sustainability. Over the years, and deriving from the successes of the NGO, state governments in Nigeria and some African governments have partnered with him on many environmental projects. He is an Environmental Ambassador for the Lagos State Government. He established the Tree
planting competition among secondary schools in Kano State. He established the Makoda Forest programme in Kano State to prove to the people that arable lands can be recovered from the desert. He started the Desert Warrior Reality Show in collaboration with Lagos State and the National Government of the Republic of Niger.He has partnered with MTN Ltd on tree planting Campaigns. From a little casually planned drive across the Sahara, Dr. Newton Jibunoh created a movement that became a pioneer in privately driven advocacy platform for climate change issues of our time in Nigeria. At various times he had been guest of the United States Government, the Peoples Republic of China, Israel, and the Desert Research Institute in Bonn, Germany to propagate his experiences and acquire new techniques in his crusade for a sustainable environment.
