Growing up inside CRIN, Ibadan, we wanted to become agric scientists ― Ojo

Akintayo Ojo is the founder of Resource Management Company; chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) United Kingdom District Society, and chairman of ICAN Diasporan Districts. He shares his life experiences in this interview with SEGUN KASALI. Could you please tell us more about the name ‘Ojo’? I would say Ojo is a common name in Yorubaland. But my Ojo comes from Ile Oluji in Ondo State. I think we are in the South Senatorial District. My father, Chief Dr. Akinwale Ojo, of blessed memory, was a scientist. He worked at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN). Upon retiring, he went back to Ondo State and worked in the Ondo State Investment Holding Company as the Executive Secretary of the Cocoa Association. So, when you are talking about cocoa in Nigeria, my dad was a household name. When he was alive, he was a household name in Nigeria and across the globe. What was life like growing up from that kind of family? I grew up when Nigeria was beautiful. After my dad completed his PhD at the University of Reading, we had to live at CRIN in Ibadan. Living in that place was like living in the UK, London to be precise. That was how the environment was. So, we grew up in a very beautiful environment. We all wanted to be scientists, to study agriculture, because it was rewarding. I mean, they worked hard. And I would say the salary then was good because of the value of the naira. I had an idea of what research officers were earning at that time. How much was it then? I think it would be about N13,000 per annum. Professors earned N15,000. So, that was fantastic money. You could buy a car from that. Because of the environment we grew up in, when you walk into the offices, the laboratories and everything, you just wanted to be a scientist. I think I tried JAMB twice, but I couldn’t really make science. So, from there I went to Economics. What were those pranks you played as a young lad? Oh, wow. Number one, my mom was somebody that loved books. She wanted you to study. She was a teacher. And I remember there was this book that had the lower standard, middle standard, and upper standard. So, when you were in Primary Three, lower standard; Primary Four, middle standard; Primary Five, upper standard. Then you would get to Primary Six. She would give me a series of work apart from the schoolwork I was supposed to do. The minute she left home, I would leave the whole thing and go to the field to play with my friends. By the time my mom would be back and say, “Have you finished your work?” I would tell her, “I’m stuck.” She would then ask me, “Why are you stuck?” I would tell her I didn’t understand. So, by the time she would go through the whole thing, she would discover that I just left the work, and that it wasn’t that I didn’t know it but that I just left it. At Primary Three, I was already on the upper standard. So, one thing is, I think because of the way she took it, I was bright, but I hated studying. When I eventually got to secondary school, at some point, I would leave home and go to school, but I wouldn’t stay in class. When they were constructing the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, I was in Prospect High School at that time. My friends and I would go and rent a bicycle and would ride it, and the construction workers would be waving their red flags. You would see those big, heavy-duty graders, and you were almost running into their side. So, my dad had to remove me from that school, thinking probably the school was not serious, but it was actually me that wasn’t really serious. That was why they took me out of the school. So, who was the disciplinarian between them? I would say my mum. My mum was the disciplinarian because she was at home most of the time. Because of the nature of my dad’s work, he was always travelling across the country. That’s how I got into the boarding house. And what was life like in the boarding house? The boarding house was regimented. It was like you were in a military zone. There was a time to wake up, a time to take a shower, a time to go jogging, go for breakfast, go to class, come back and go to prayer. Then you had the seniors. You wouldn’t want to be where they were. So, you were always out of the boarding house. You just had to be in class to study. I would say it was tough. You had some tough seniors that you felt were bad. You can imagine where a senior would give you their uniform to wash, and you had to wash and dry that uniform within one hour. So, you had to put the uniform inside a dry towel, squeeze it to take out the water, and then start ironing. And you must do that between maybe 6:30 a.m. and 8 a.m., when you are to be at the assembly. So, you wash the uniform, dry it, and hang it for the senior to wear. You could miss your breakfast in the process of doing that. Were any of your things ever stolen while in school? Well, I wouldn’t call it “stolen” because they would always find a way of resurfacing at the end of the term. So, your bucket could disappear and reappear either at the end of the term or session. Apart from the white uniform, we had the house wears we used in the boarding house. They could disappear. At the end of the term, somebody would have worn it, but you’d find it again. So, those were the things that we experienced when we were in the boarding house. How brilliant were you then? I would say I was brilliant, but I didn’t really apply such brilliance for maximum output. And what does that mean? I mean when you have the capacity, but you’re operating below such capacity. I would pass my exams in a class of maybe 45; I would be like 11th position, but I was never first, never second. Not that I didn’t have the capacity, but I spent less time studying. I loved being free. When I was younger, I had been kept at home, studying all the time, with no free time to play and that was it. So, when I got into the boarding house, I just felt I was free. What was your career ambition like then? Like I said, my ambition was to be a scientist just like my dad, working in research institutes, and that’s what I wanted. In Form 5, I did Chemistry, Biology, Maths, Economics, everything. I was pressing on. I wanted to become an agriculturist and from there become a scientist, working in any of the research institutes in Nigeria, because the research institutes were places you would want to be, because of what you were seeing and the way they worked and travelled. So, one really wanted to be there. That was my career ambition at that time. Why didn’t you eventually study science? When I sat for the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) exam, I discovered I was not really strong in Mathematics. So, I took out Economics and substituted it with another subject and eventually passed JAMB. The University of Ife said because I did not do Mathematics, they wouldn’t take me. So, I eventually settled for Ondo State University since they would take my subjects. The thing was that I didn’t finish with Economics. As I said, these things are not hard if one could just stay in class and pay attention. So, after the first year, I just thought that if I continued that way, I would not graduate. So, I decided to change to Philosophy. When I changed to Philosophy, I discovered that there was Logic. But at that point, I was stuck; there was nowhere to go again. It was either I drop out or face it. So, I said to myself that I needed to face this thing, and I discovered that I passed the Logic I considered difficult. That was how I settled for Philosophy, Ethics, and others. Was it at the university you met your wife? I would say that our union was ordained by God. My dad and her father studied at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. So, they were like brothers. Funnily, they both returned to Cocoa Research together. I have a picture of my mom holding her when she was born in the hospital. We grew up together. I was a bit older. We had no relationship; we were just like brother and sister. We left CRIN in 1985 and went back to Ondo State. My mom passed on in 1995. By that time, I had gone back to Ibadan. One way or the other, I found myself in Accounting. I think I was coming from one of my accounting classes. I was in one of the Ibadan public transports and, lo and behold, this lady came and sat beside me. I was like, “How are you? What are you doing here?” She also replied, “What are you doing here too?” Interestingly, we were heading in the same direction. I alighted first, paid her fare, and we had some discussions before leaving. And from there, one day, she paid me a visit, and I was also at their place.