- The following interview was conducted with the departed mother of Nigeria’s former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Oluseyi Olusegun Babatunde Petinrin, Mama Rachael Adenike Petinrin, to mark the occasion of her 80th Birthday on Saturday, September 17, 2011. She passed on at 3.45 pm on Friday, April 24, 2020.The interview was published in The Hope edition of Thursday, September 22, 2011. It is so interesting to read.
Madam Rachael Adenike Petinrin, whose son is Nigeria’s current (now former and retired) Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin, celebrated her 80th birthday last Saturday in Akure. In this interview with Kayode Adegbehingbe and Kemi Sunmola, she takes the reader through her journey through life, how she coped with difficulties and gives an insight into how the number one military man in the country started his career. Excerpts:
You celebrated your 80th birthday recently, how do you feel?
I am very happy. Before, I didn’t want to celebrate the birthday. Right from time, I don’t want anything that would be elaborate or draw attention to me. I only want to live a quiet life with my God. But He knows the best.
When I clocked 60 years of age, my children disturbed me that my birthday should be celebrated, I said no. Again when I clocked 70 years, they said “10 years have passed, mummy, what about now?” I told them to leave me alone, because I was afraid of what the spiritual repercussion would be.
But this one, I think God wanted it to happen. I went to ease myself one night and I opened the Bible and read Psalm 116 where God said He is the one who preserves the simple. “They were brought low and I lifted them up.”
Then I heard a voice saying that my birthday that is near, won’t I do it this year? It said I should not be afraid, that being alive or dead is not in anyone’s power. Then I said no problem and I started singing Aigbagbo bila, temi l’Oluwa (Unbelief, go away, the Lord is mine.) Then the voice told me to celebrate my birthday this year.
I used to mark my birthday yearly cooking for the children around the house with some older ones, together with some of my relations. We pray and sing hymns. I do that yearly, even though just in my parlor. Even the thanksgiving in the church is done secretly; where it would be announced that someone is celebrating birthday, let us pray for that person.
But when I heard that voice at night that I should think deeply because of everything that God has done for me and I should thank Him greatly. That voice was pestering me that night as I sat down on my bed saying I must celebrate the birthday because of the multitude of good things that God has done for me. The voice emphasised that I must give thanks more than I used to.
That night, I prayed and when I checked the time, it was a few minutes after 3am, then, I slept. In the morning (I used to pray 5am every morning). That morning, I called my children that disturbed me for both my 60th and 70th birthday, telling them one by one about the birthday, that I would do it this year, go to the church and all of them must come from wherever they are. They all started laughing, hoping there is nothing wrong with mummy for her to do her birthday this year. They were very happy that what they wanted to do all this while will now be done.
All of them said have I told buoda (Oluseyi – he is my only son). Then, I said yes, that he was just laughing when I told him, saying “mummy, mummy.” That was how they all rallied around.
All that happened at the birthday made me to stand in awe of God. He glorified Himself, because I didn’t know it would be this elaborate. I only thought that all my children would come to the church for thanksgiving and everybody should go back.
Tell us about where you were born and your growing up years.
I was born to the family of Arigbabowo, the house of a king. My father was Jacob Omilana in Ipetu-Ijesa, Julianah Omiyejo was my mother from the house of the second in command to the King, Olisa Ipetu.
My father did not have a lot of male children. We, the females were more in number. And you know that in the olden days, a man’s wealth is shown in the number of wives he had. Because females were more among my father’s children, all of us participated in farming, each of us girls had a cutlass and a hoe and we helped our father in farming.
There was a farm that we used to go to every weekend. It was very far from the house. It was where we used to get cuttings for the making of mats which our town is renowned for. After going to school from Monday to Friday, on Friday we would proceed to the farm. On Saturday we would leave the farm, carrying on our heads the plant cuttings for making the mats. We would then go to the church on Sunday. I used to carry two hundred of the plant cuttings. That happened till our father died. I was in Standard Two then.
Thereafter, everything changed; each of my father’s wives had to go back to her family with the children. I was the only child of my mother and we went to her father’s house from where I continued schooling.
I continued going to the mat farm with my mother because my father had partitioned the farm, with each wife having a portion. When things became more difficult, I went with my mother to a farm at B’Olorunduro, called timber farm. My mother would carry two planks of wood while I carried one.
She was a very courageous person and fair in complexion, but I resemble my paternal grandmother. After walking a distance and ceased to hear my footsteps, she would stop wherever she was, put down her load and come to help me carry mine. She continued doing all these and was able to send me to school.
I hold my mother in high esteem because after my father died, men were coming to seek her hand in marriage, because she was still young and good looking; but she gave a condition that she would only marry the man that would help train me in school. But in those days, people did not believe that educating the female-child was important; since, they say, they all end up in the kitchen, Idi aaro l’obirin ngbe. So the education of the female child was neglected, while the whole attention was on the male child. That was how my mother and I continued to struggle till I passed out from Standard Six.
Then I went to Modern School, Grade III School, Grade II School and I got married. My husband, Kayode Petirin, was working at the post office. It was easier to get work then than now. I used my Standard Six certificate to start working and I was paid 15 shillings per month.
When my husband was courting me, there were numerous others, even my class teacher had interest in me, because God gave me beauty. The courtship then was unlike now. I usually hid myself then when someone came a-courting, refusing all of them, even my husband at first.
But my mother wanted me to marry an indigene of our town, being her only child, that I should not marry a stranger. We should behave well because of our children. My mother said my husband-to-be’s father was a gentleman and a good person, he was an elder in the church. My mother said that it would definitely be like father, like son. So she wanted me to marry him.
After marriage and I was pregnant with my first child, Oluseyi, we were so poor that we could not afford to obtain the necessary herbs traditionally given to make the foetus to do well; but my husband and I did not have the money. At the hospital, we were told to buy 7/6 (a drug for new-borns) for the child, but we could not afford it also. That was why we named him Oluwaloseyifunmi Olusegun. He was born on the exact same time of the day, January 19; so he was also named Babatunde.
He was a very brilliant child. He was born in Ikirun. As he was growing up in Ikirun, to our poverty, I fried akara (bean cakes) along the street. Seyi would peel the beans at night and grind them, and then, would wear his school uniform and go to school. When he came back, he would go and hawk some of the akara that I had tried.
That was what we did till he finished his primary school. He passed so well that he went on national scholarship to a school in Sokoto State. When he finished, his father said that he must work at the same post office where he was working. It was a tug of war between him and his father, but he never received a salary.
I don’t know how he got to know about the Military. But he just disappeared from home. Then, his father said: “Where is your son?” It was as if the son and I were in collusion, whereas I didn’t know anything about his whereabouts. We heard that he had gone to Kaduna, to the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA).This was where nobody then wanted their children to go, especially the Air Force, since no one wanted the children to die, moving in the air.
When we heard he was there, my husband concluded that I knew about it when I did not. It resulted into another bad blood between him and his father. Then, I cried so much.
Eventually, he came home to tell us about the passing out parade at the NDA, that we should come. The father arranged that I should go. It was a great occasion (Gowon was the Head of state). We didn’t know anything then. As a mother, I was the only one who went to the occasion from Jos where we were living, because the father was not well disposed to the whole thing.
But the father was witnessing the whole thing on the television in Jos, how everything was going on. During the time for collecting prices, he got the first position in most of the categories with everybody hailing him. He was collecting prices after prices so much so that before sitting down after collecting one, he would be called to collect another. It was almost a pandemonium, with so much noise as the crowd was exited. I was shaking where I was. After the occasion, he came to greet us and I hugged him, eulogising and praying for him. I was so happy that day.
Soon after, he was sent abroad by the government, He came and told us. He said he came to collect cover cloth and the portmanteau that he would use to carry his cloths. I went and opened my wooden box and took my most precious wrapper – aran, and gave it to him. Then we went to the market to buy a metallic portmanteau, with red markings that we had in those days. I bought it and gave it to him and he took it with him. That was how God started His work in his life, till now.
The amazing thing about him is that whatever station that he is sent to, he makes sure that he takes me there to spend one or two weeks. He would want me to know the place. When he was sent to Makurdi, he brought me to the place, to Kaduna also and everywhere else.
In short, he doesn’t take me for granted as his mother. He loves his mother very much. In my maternal family, we were very poor. Whenever he comes, he makes us happy and lifts the family up. He brought us out of poverty. Now we have someone who builds houses, buys cars. He does well for the family.
I didn’t know when he was building the house I am staying in today. He came one day and said: “Let’s go to Akure.” After retiring in 1987 as a teacher, I started selling alcohol. I retired as HM2. Maybe because he did not like my condition then, that was why he built this house. He came as I was in the shop where I was selling.
He said I should follow him to Akure. I said it was getting late; “what do we want to go and do In Akure?” He said it’s just to stroll there. I said no problem. Then I went to dress up. When we got here, I asked him that who own the house. He said it is mummy mummy’s house ( my house). I asked when he built it. He said I should not worry.
But I said I won’t come oh, because I was involved in many activities in the church, singing and attending all the church programmes, which were important to me. He then told his younger ones that mummy said she would not leave Ipetu, that she wants to die there. The siblings now said they would have nothing to do with me; that it is what their brother says that they sign to. That’s how I came here. And he has been taking care of me.
How can you compare the life of youths today with your time?
Today’s youths do not respect the elderly. Then, on our streets, when we were youths, we feared the elderly. When there was an older person going in front of us and one of us wanted to insult him, all of us would say: “Do you want him to curse you?” and all of us would run away. That is no longer the case today. The clothes we used to wear then would cover our body; we would not want to expose our body.
Before our husbands started to court us, there would be a go-between like our elder sister or brother. That person would tell us the suitor’s interest. When eventually the two parties agreed, usually the male would come during the evening to visit the female. If we as ladies saw the man coming, we would run (laughs). It is the elderly woman in the house that would give him a seat. They would then come and tell you to go and sit with him even as you were reluctant to do so; but eventually, we would sit together.
In those days, investigation was done to find out about the families of the two parties. The first gift that my husband-to-be would give me was a handkerchief. I was seeing him off then, when he dipped his hand into his pocket and brought it out saying I should have it, but I ran away. And he started to run after me saying he was going to drop it on the ground. When he went back, it was an older woman in our house whom I told about the incident that now went to retrieve the handkerchief. I prefer that life to what we have now.
What I would tell them is to give their lives to Christ. I advise the youths of nowadays to be respectful to elders and take care of their parents, even if they collect pittance as salary. Whatever amount you can give them, no matter how small, ensure that you take care of your parents. The problem usually comes from the men, who say because they are now married, they need to take care of their wives and children first. But it was someone who brought you up, suffered so as to take care of you. You did not drop from heaven. I would advise you to take care of your parents. Make them number one in your life, just as Bishop Ipinmoye said at my birthday. Please take care of your parents, your children would take care of you too.
What would you say to those who graced the occasion of your birthday?
I pray for them that they would grow old; they would not die an untimely death. They would not see evil; that all their efforts on their children would not be in vain. I prayed for them and they are happy, that their children would prosper, that their children would be protected by God. The kings and governors that came to the birthday liked the prayers.
You made us to understand that you suffered over your children
Yes.
How would you advise parents, especially mothers,because some don’t gove their children education,citing poverty as the reason?
The Bishop was saying on Saturday that we should have endurance. I experienced difficult times in my husband’s house because he was promiscuous.
When I first wanted to divorce my husband, I only had a son then. My mother said this son I had, I did not know what he would become tomorrow. I asked her if she wanted me to die. She said I would not die. I was her only child. She said I should not leave the son by separating from the father. She said that rather than leave him, she would pick pieces of wood from people’s farms, sell them and give me the money, rather than for me to separate from my husband. That was why I stayed then.
My mother had told me that I should befriend older people,because they had better counsel to give. That if I went to my contemporaries, they would only say that they could not take nonsense, leading them to act unwisely.
When we were in Jos, the trouble was much for me on the family front. One Mrs. Adedokun from Ogbomoso was my friend. We were doing a course together in Jos at that time. She saw my eyes that I was not looking fine. (She used to call me iya oyinbo). When we left the lecture room and we were outside, she asked me: “Mama oyinbo what’s the matter?” I answered and said: “Nothing.” Immediately I said that, tears started rolling down my cheeks and I could not talk.
She then said I should see her in the evening. When I went to meet her, I explained all that my husband had done. I had even packed my bags to come back home. This was after my parents had died. She said that whatever that I said I was suffering, if I dared go back to my home town without finishing my course, I would regret it; and would say it would have been better for me to suffer and finish that course. She said I should go immediately to unpack the load I had packed and return them to where they were. And I listened to her, since my mother had told me that I should always listen to the words of the elderly.
Now, let’s say I did not yield to her advice, the blessing that I am seeing now would have eluded me and I might even have died.
