VICTORIA EDEME speaks to an 82-year-old retired accountant, James Aina, on his career journey, family, and life after retirement
Can you recollect your early years?
My name is Elder James Olanrewaju Aina. I was born on 17th of January, 1942 in Koro, a little town in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State where I hail from. I am the last of five children and the only one surviving at the moment. As a child, I was playful and rascally. But I related very well with my mates despite being rascally. I was a footballer and was very liked. At that time, the real football we have now was not in vogue so we played tennis ball. I was very good at it and anytime we had a holiday, I would gather the kids together and we would play. I attended my primary school in Ilorin and my secondary education at Government College, Keffi (now Nasarawa State University). Keffi was in Plateau State at that time. I remember when I was in Form 3, I travelled to Athens, Greece for the World Scout Jamboree in 1960, the same year Nigeria gained Independence.
Did you further your education after secondary school?
After secondary school in 1962, I had my Higher School Certificate program at Sudan United Mission, Gindiri, near Barkin Ladi in present-day Plateau State. It was an A/level program. I spent two years in my HSC program and studied Chemistry, Botany, and Zoology. While waiting for my HSC result in 1964, I worked briefly at the Government Secondary School, Ilorin. After getting my results, I worked as a temporary teacher at the Advanced Teachers College in Kano State for nine months. I later got employed at the Central Bank of Nigeria as a supervisor in 1967 in Kano.
How much was your first salary and how did you spend it?
My first salary at GSS was seven pounds. I was a bachelor and money was valuable at that time. I remember then when my cousin became sick and my father said I should give him money to take care of him. I gave him money and I still had a lot to save. I remember that I saved about five pounds.
How did you move from studying sciences to working in a bank?
The Chemistry, Botany and Zoology I studied in the HSC program was to qualify me for university entry to study Agriculture. Along the line, I became less interested in the course and wanted to join the Army, but my mother refused. That was why I had to change my course to Banking and Finance. Working at CBN piqued my interest in banking and finance. I did a professional banking and finance course while working there. I applied and took an AIB (Associate Institute of Bankers) examination. It was a two-part course and it took me three years to round off the program. So I was learning and working at the same time. It was a correspondence course. We had a teacher in CBN who arranged for lessons for interested workers within the bank.
Were you working at CBN during the Civil War?
The Civil War started in 1967 and ended in January 1970. I joined the CBN in October 1967 in Kano. The Civil War didn’t have any impact on my career. The Civil War was mainly fought in the East and I was in the North before being moved to the West. I remember when the war was ongoing when I was in Kano, so many Igbo people were killed in the street where I lived. That was when the Hausas were killing the Igbos in the North. I was then transferred to Lagos in January 1970. I left CBN in 1977 after working there for 10 years. In those days, the CBN pay wasn’t much as it was being equated to a ministry. So I got a better job at Western Metal Products Company (WEMPCO) Group in Ikeja, where I worked as an accountant. I worked there from 1978 to 1999.
Could you share your 21-year work experience at WEMPCO?
The experience was good. While at WEMPCO, I was responsible for all the importations. That was the time forex was very scarce and difficult to come by, so I travelled around the country to source for the ‘almighty’ dollar, as we called it in those days. I enjoyed working there because I loved travelling by air. In my office, the air tickets I used piled up greatly because I travelled at least thrice a week, though I didn’t travel outside the country.
After leaving WEMPCO in 1999, where did you work?
When I left WEMPCO, I retired. The government standard for retirement was 35 years in service or 60 years of age, whichever comes first. Though WEMPCO is not a government organisation, there’s something they called condonation of service. I spent one year in GSS Ilorin and one year again at Advanced Teachers College, making two years. I spent 10 years in CBN and 21 years in WEMPCO, totaling 33 years of work. I just thought that I’ve had enough. So it was a voluntary retirement.
What has life after retirement been for you?
After retirement, I was doing my business. As an accountant, I occasionally audited some accounts for various companies and establishments for about two years but I’m currently not working at the moment.
What year did you get married and how did you meet your wife?
I got married in 1970 in my village. I met my wife when I was teaching temporarily at Ilorin in 1966. She was also working at a store in Ilorin then. We met and our friendship started. We eventually got married in 1970 and I brought her to Lagos to stay with me. We have five boys.
How was your experience raising five boys?
It was difficult because boys are tough. In my case, we have five boys and there used to be quarelling and misunderstanding amongst them, and I had to intervene. It’s not been easy. My wife was a seamstress and she had already sewn female clothes, thinking that her first child would be a girl. However, it turned out to be a boy. The second one turned out to be a boy too. So the dresses she had sewn for girls were later worn by her first son. I and my wife agreed to have two children; a boy and a girl. So after we had two boys, she wasn’t happy because she wanted a girl. We welcomed the third son and when we got to five sons, she became uninterested and said she had had enough. It’s much easier to raise girls than to raise boys. Girls, by their nature, are not as troublesome as boys, so they can be easily managed.
Aside from your career, what other engagements are you involved in?
I’m engaged in church activities. I am an elder in the church. I’m very active in assisting the pastor, whether he’s around or not. I currently attend ECWA (Evangelical Church Winning All), Idimu parish. In 2010, I performed the Holy Pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Apart from being an elder in the church, I am also a lay reader and music director. I have always attended ECWA churches all my life, from Kano to Lagos. I got married and had all my five sons in the church. In 2010, I travelled to Jerusalem on pilgrimage.
How was your experience during your pilgrimage to Jerusalem?
The experience was an interesting and educating one. All the things we learnt in the Bible were seen practically in Jerusalem. We visited so many sites and landmarks in Jerusalem and other towns. Anybody who has travelled to Jerusalem is entitled to the Jerusalem Pilgrim (JP) title. 1960 was the year Nigeria gained independence and all the pilgrims who went in 2010, which marked 50 years of independence were entitled to another title known as Jubilee Pilgrim. So my title is JP2 because I am both entitled as a Jerusalem Pilgrim and Jubilee Pilgrim.
Have you always wanted to visit Jerusalem or you just took an opportunity that arose at the time?
Going to Jerusalem is anybody’s wish if the resources are there; though some people are being sponsored by the government while others are self-sponsored. It has always been my wish. My first son wanted to sponsor me and my wife to Jerusalem in 2009. Unfortunately, that was the year my wife died. She couldn’t enjoy that trip. So I went the following year, in 2010.
Could you tell us more about your experience as a Community Development Association chairman in Idimu, Lagos?
When we came to Idimu in 1997, we met the Landlord’s association. Years later, Governor Babatunde Fashola said governance should be brought closer to the people and Community Development Associations were formed throughout Lagos. I became the pioneer chairman of Princess Abiola CDA in Idimu in 2006. During that time, the power supply we had was just like a candle. There was only one transformer serving the whole area and it was very old. Under my leadership, we worked hard to get a new 500kva transformer and it was brought and installed. That was in 2010. Till now, the transformer is still serving the community after 14 years. That was one of my biggest achievements. I held the position for six years.
How different was life in Nigeria in the 1950s and 1960s compared to what it is now?
The difference is much and there is no basis for comparison at all. In our time, you could travel anytime. If you were in Lagos at 2am, you would think it was still daytime. In areas like Ebute Metta, you would see people outdoors at 2am. There was nothing like armed robbery or banditry. If you keep anything outside, you’d meet it the next morning. Everywhere was safe. I bought my first car in 1974 – a brand-new Datsun 180b – for N3,600 at Ijora. There wasn’t anything like ‘tokunbo’ (second-hand) at that time. The company representatives were going around begging people to buy cars. Now, that same car should be about N20 million. Those days, things were cheap and you got items without any hassle. One could cook a pot of soup for five shillings. Even a plot of land was less than N3,000. How things were in those days cannot be compared to how it is now. Bad governance led to such changes. The money was there but our leaders didn’t spend it well.
Looking back at your career and life, do you have regrets you would like to fix if you had the opportunity?
God has been kind and faithful to me. I only regret that my wife did not live long to reap the fruits of her labour. She died in 2009 at 64 years. Since her demise, my daughters-in-law have been very good to me. They have been giving all the necessary assistance and support.
At 82, what habits have you had from childhood that you find difficult to stop?
As a child and in my youthful days, I’ve always loved traveling. I like taking long walks and at 80, I still drove to my village; a distance of about 600kms. I still take a stroll from my house to Ikotun, which is about 3kms. I can’t stop doing that because I count it as an exercise. I trek, I sweat, and I shower. I do this regularly. When I was still using my car, I wasn’t taking it to the church. I trek to the church and back. This is one of the things I found difficult to stop. I like trekking.
Would you say you are satisfied with how your career went?
I will say I’m satisfied but if my mother had allowed me to join the military, I would have been fully satisfied. But who knows, maybe if I had joined the military, I’d have died long before now. However, I wasn’t happy as I didn’t join the military, because that was my life-long ambition.
What sparked your interest in the military then?
My ancestor was a warrior so I think that blood still runs in me. In those days, it was not easy to see soldiers in the town as they were always in the barracks. Anytime they came out into the town, I was always captivated. I loved the uniform and still wished I was in the army. I was even expecting one of my children to be in the military but none did.
What would you say was the highest point of your career?
It was when I said goodbye to white-collar jobs. Looking back after so many years of service, I knew it was time for me to go and rest. Not many people are that lucky. Some even died before their retirement, while some retired prematurely maybe because of sickness. I thank God that mine did not go that way.
What gives you the most sense of fulfillment?
I’m fulfilled because all my children are grown and they are doing well in their respective fields.
