How do you feel when people refer to you as an ex-convict?:
Laughable, when God gives somebody talents and you exhibit that talent with humility in the belief that you’re doing His work- not your work- no matter all the firing from sidewalks, it won’t affect you.
Why are you still in politics despite the stain on your reputation in the public eye?:
There is no law that forbids me from exercising my voice and my rights, and vox populi, vox dei- the voice of the people is the voice of God. Throughout the 18 months I was in Kirikiri (prison), the whole place turned into a Mecca because the people knew that it was a convoluted conspiracy. Everywhere I went in the South West, people would say, ‘oga come and do this, come and do that.’ Should I fold my hands? I believe in the awesomeness of the Almighty God, He never told us that we would not have problems and failures but when you crumble and don’t stand up, then you have failed. Any man who has achieved greatness in life and says that his way was a freeway all the way, is a liar.
I was reading the latest book of Mandela- ‘Conversations with Myself.’ The opening paragraph states that the prison cell is the best place for you to discover yourself, because there, no distractions. You will see yourself in true perspective, what you have done, what you haven’t done, where you have been fair, where you were not, where you have deceived yourself, you will see yourself in totality, and then the choice is yours. Even if you committed an offence and beg for forgiveness, he’s always there.
And the day I left, that can never be wiped away from my memory. The night before, all the security agencies in Lagos- Director of SSS, Commissioner of Police came and said they wanted me. Mustapha was there and he said ‘oga, don’t follow them, remember this was how they bundled me one night here’, because the whole place was dark.
They came to my room and said I could go home, I said ‘in this night, so that they would say Bode was escaping and I would be shot in the back.’ It was around 9 in the night; I said ‘no’, I would wait till tomorrow morning. And at the cathedral, the provost had to stop the service for some time because people kept coming in. We thought it would be a one hour service but it went on for about four hours.
Who arranged for the church service?:
I asked for it from the prison, I was going straight to the church.
Why was that?:
If you remember those who served prison terms that were political, many of them didn’t come out. I never went for any medical treatment throughout the period; I never went outside that gate. The day they let me out was the first day I set my foot outside the prison gate since I got in. You say I shouldn’t be thankful to God. My wife was shot. They shot at her car while I was in the prison. She didn’t do anything throughout that period. Every blessed day, including Saturday and Sunday, she was there. And my friends, they were there everyday, the bullet went through the door and got stuck because the person was on a motorcycle, so he couldn’t aim well. The car is still there.
For you to survive the place, having been at the level which you came and survived, where else would you go, to go and socialise? What are you socialising? My church was coming to give me communion in the prison. You must have God on your side to survive it, because before you know it, the devil will swing your mind and you would set yourself into depression. As a general, you just work out your programme quickly and adapt.
How did you feel when the pastor said ‘go and sin no more’?:
That young boy that said it, he had leanings with the opposition. He was in Form Four when I was Governor of Ondo State. I was livid but I was in church. This young man would not derail my thanksgiving to God Almighty; the crowd was unprecedented. Sin against who? I went the following morning to challenge the provost; they said ‘no, that’s not what he meant.’ I said ‘you don’t know this boy, he is an apologist to Bola Tinubu and co.’ another bishop came to church and said he was shocked when he watched it. He said that man should go on the altar and ask for forgiveness from God because he does not know who Bode George was. When I came, they invited me into the vestry, and asked ‘why did you decide to come to church?’ I said where else do you think I would go? Go to Okija shrine? I was healthy, even those who saw me thought I didn’t go to prison.’ So when this young man was talking garbage there, you know, you can’t respond there. I went to the provost; this was an anomaly, a misnomer, absolute rubbish, I didn’t come here for this boy, of course, nemesis caught up with him too. They’ve taken him out to a smaller church, that’s where he deserves and the bishop that came said he watched the programme on the TV and was very angry....
Check out Sunday Punch (22nd September) for the full interview.
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