Ibrahim Ogohi, Femi Ajayi: Where are they now?

They served the country at various times, but are no longer in the public scene despite the bubbling political activities across the nation. ELEOJO IDACHABA seeks where they could be presently and what they are doing.

Ibrahim Ogohi

Available records show that Admiral Ibrahim Ogohi was the first naval officer who attained the rank of a full admiral to be appointed as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Before then, that position was occupied solely by the army until former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in 1999, appointed him in that capacity. This Kogi state-born ex-naval officer enlisted into the Nigeria Navy at the Military School Kaduna in 1962 and passed through all military trainings, attended courses both at home and abroad until he rose to the peak of his profession.

Ogohi, according to reports, was being prepared for involuntary retirement from the navy during the military era, but providence kept him as one of the most senior military officers who never tasted political office all through the years the military held sway in the country. That was what paid off for him. This is because Obasanjo, on coming to power in 1999, retired all military officers who had tasted any political appointment. His reason was that he wanted to work with only officers who would be apolitical hence the choice of Ogohi. It was, therefore, a litmus test for him as CDS on how to coordinate the military to show loyalty to the new democratic era in the country. He did and throughout his stewardship, the military officers and men learnt the rudiment of the military working under a democratic government for the first time after 1983 in total loyalty. Ogohi left office in June 2003 for retirement having completed his mandatory 35 years in service.

Since he pulled out, not much has been heard about him anymore; not even any kind of alliance with a political party as is the case with some of his colleagues. Information about him is sketchy as he is rarely been seen in any public event since 2003.

Femi Ajayi

Olufemi Ajayi was the executive secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) until 2015. Appointed in 2014 by former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, he replaced Oluwola Oluleye, its erstwhile executive secretary. Ajayi, before the appointment, was the director-general of National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). This Ekiti state-born technocrat who headed the nation’s institution charged with the mandate of training local manpower for the oil and gas industry once allayed fears that the scholarship scheme the agency embarks upon on behalf of the government to train Nigerian youths and researchers was cancelled for inexplicable reasons in 2015.

While explaining the true position of things, he said, “The PTDF has not cancelled the scheme. The point I have made is that as much as possible, we want to increase capacity-building locally here and because of that even our training partners, we have told them that going forward people that we would be favourably disposed to, are those partners who are ready to encourage our domestication drive. We are asking them to come and set up shops in our country here to do what they are doing for us over there here.”

According to him, cancelling the scheme is not likely to ever happen because of the importance of encouraging interaction.

“In fact, we are not likely to be able to cancel it outright because don’t forget, there is a need for intellectual interaction and diffusion even within the country. If you bring scholars who were trained in the US, Germany and the ones that were trained in the UK, the mix is the best you can have and the better for you because we are combining the expertise from so many places.”

Yerima Ngama

Yerima Ngama was the minister of state for finance under former President Goodluck Jonathan between 2012 and 2014. Ngama, who is from Yobe state, was educated at the University of Maiduguri and Glasgow, respectively. As the minister of state for finance, he was in charge of the monthly allocation meeting in which funds were shared among the three tiers of the government.

However, following his interest in the governorship seat of his state just before the 2015 elections, former President Jonathan relieved him of his appointment in a cabinet reshuffle that also affected former aviation minister, Stella Odua, and minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe.

At first, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he later defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in late 2014, in what he said was the need to help reposition his state with the APC which appeared to be gunning for the centre then. A captain of industry, he was a board member of several financial institutions like First Bank of Nigeria (FBN), Mortgage and FBN micro-finance banks. Since he left the cabinet, Ngama has not realised his initial desire of running for the Yobe Government House even though he has been a member of the now ruling APC.

It is not clear what he is doing presently.