Words By – Jemi Ekunkunbor

Chief Fred Okiemute Majemite, respected politician, renowned philanthropist and the Okiemite R’Ovie of Ughelli Kingdom, turns 60 today.
The astute lawyer who is currently pursuing a PhD in law, had his Bachelor of Laws degree from the then Bendel State University, Ekpoma, and a Master’s from the University of Lagos before establishing a thriving law practice located in the heart of Lagos.
A prolific administrator and two-time Commissioner in Delta State, the life story of this politician would not be complete without the enviable role played by his dotting mother. A real mummy’s boy, he says those virtues driven into him by his mother, has shaped the man he is today as a philanthropist, lending to the poor and needy.
In this interview, the Knight of Saint John International opens up to Allure on life @ 60.

Congratulations on your diamond jubilee, how does it feel being 60?
It’s good to be sixty. I don’t feel differently. I just know that I’m on the 6th floor now. I still don’t know the difference yet if you ask me because I’m still the same, but I know the figures have changed.

What are you most grateful for?
I’m grateful that I’m alive and in good health, that is number one. Health is wealth I’m grateful to God, my Creator that I feel this way.

What major lesson has life taught you?
So many things but the most important lesson I’ve learnt is knowing that everything in life is transient, nothing is permanent. So, whatever we do in life, we should know that times change and you change with times.

You were blessed with a mother who doted on you as a child. How did that shape the man you became?
Everything about my life was all about my mother and the way she brought me up. She was one woman who cared so much for me maybe because she had me when nobody thought she would have kids any longer. So, when she had me, I was her life and when I grew up, she also became my life.
My mother loved children and anybody who had contact with her became my mother’s child and that has shaped my life. I don’t discriminate. I see everybody as one family. I owe that to my mother, to do your beat while you can. That is why till today, my childhood friends, those who are still alive are still there as my friends.

What fond memories can you recall of your growing-up years in Ughelli?
Growing up in Ughelli was something else, you can go to any home and eat; there was no fear of being poisoned or of being kidnapped. After school, you went to the playground with your mates to play football and to run around. And when you are done, you need not go to your house. You can go to your friend’s parent’s house to eat.
It’s all different now. You hardly see children go to their neighbour’s house for fear of being harmed. In those days, unlike now, if you didn’t have TV, we gathered in the home where there was TV to watch. Now, everybody has a television at home. Society and everything has changed.

People of your generation pride themselves in the values with which they were brought up. Can you share some of those values with us?
In those days growing up, you were taught how to behave. Crime was frowned at. You don’t tell lies. If you were caught telling lies, it will look as if you have done something terrible and you’d pay for it.
Now, the Internet age has come, and even though it has advanced us, the moral side of it is unpalatable. Young people throw morals to the wind. You’d notice that when something happens, instead of going to help your neighbour in distress, people bring out their cameras and begin to record.
We need to go back to our schools and visit the curriculum. In those days, we had religious knowledge where we study the Bible and the Muslims the Koran. I don’t know if it is still being done again. Things are even worse now. Crime is rising every day, people are out of school, no job. A hungry man is an angry man.

Life has changed quite, where did we miss it?
It’s very clear. In those days when people see certain things as wrong, especially pastors, they speak out. Today, most pastors don’t practice what they preach. They are so materialistic, some own one or two private jets while their members who want to go to heaven, with their meager earning, go to church to give what they have while the pastors live a life of affluence. It has reached a stage where those growing up now don’t want to follow them. Pastors celebrate criminals, how will things not change? In those days, preaching was about salvation but today, it is about materialistic things. So, the change we want must begin with us.
Life has no meaning to people anymore. We don’t have human feelings again. Maybe the world is coming to an end.

We have entered Women’s Month, if you were to speak to them, what would you be telling them to do or not to do?
Women are the bedrock of every home. A woman measured as wife, mother, sister. The woman is the engine room of the family. I agree that these days, women have been agitating to be more prominent in the affairs of the society. Their primary responsibility is to ensure that the family grows and they are in charge. A man is just the head of the family, but it’s the woman who controls the whole affairs, so, if a woman is not up and doing, it would affect the family. If you train a woman, you have trained a whole community. The women should know their place in the home and society. The few of them, who have had the opportunity to hold certain positions, some have done very well.
Then again, I believe that women are in the best place to handle certain responsibilities because they know how it feels. If there’s a problem in the family, it’s the woman who feels it because she has to cater for the family and, if they bring that to bear in the larger society, you would see that they would do very well. So, I believe that they should be given the chance to prove themselves. They should not be discriminated against. I believe that they should be able to compete for any position just like the men do. They should all come out. Nothing should hold them back. They should be encouraged, unlike before that they were not even allowed to go to school. Every home that wants to grow must ensure that their women go to school, if they don’t, it’s going to affect the family and society.
I encourage them to participate in any activity that will grow any family or any society. I believe that women’s education should be our priority. We need to ensure that they are educated and also compete whether at work or in politics.

In what ways are you inspiring inclusiveness with the women around you?
As a man, I have always believed that women have a role to play. Those women that I have had the privilege to work with, I always encourage them to compete for any opening. I am an advocate for gender equality.
Woman must be encouraged, asides education, give them the room to compete and celebrate them when they succeed. That way, you are encouraging other women to come out. The belief that a woman’s place is in the home does not hold anymore. There are women who have done so well in other aspects of life. Some have even become Presidents, Prime Ministers and they are doing very well. So, why should ours be left at home? They should be encouraged, educated, allowed to compete for positions and be celebrated so, they wouldn’t feel inferior or looked down upon.

You do a lot of charity, what inspired it?
The world we live in now, demands that we be our brother’s keeper. Government cannot do it all. So, some of us who God has blessed should reach out to help in whatever way we can. Once in a while, intervene; go back to your village or town and help. We are in a very trying situation now. If you are happy and other people around you are not happy, it’s a big problem. The mark of a man is to see other people happy. So, do whatever you can do, support your local church and people around you so that society can be better for all of us.

You plan to set up a Foundation, who will constitute the focus of this foundation?
The foundation would focus on educating the girl child and giving them scholarships. Even though we do periodic interventions for those who cannot afford quality healthcare, but our main focus would be on education; giving girl students scholarships. Education is the spring board for anyone to excel and grow.

If you were to do life again, would you follow the same route?
If I were to come back to life again, I would follow the same route. Life has not been a bed of roses but I’ve enjoyed my life. Life has been kind to me. I know some of my mates who are farmers and fishermen. My mother made things easy for me not to go through stress. That’s why I like to support people in the way that I can so that, they enjoy life the way some of us have enjoyed it.

What would you do differently?
If I’m to live again, I won’t do anything differently. I probably will do more instead, especially now that I’m sixty years old. All I can do now is to get closer to God, be more prayerful, and see what legacy I can live now as I am already on the second phase of life. At this phase, it is about what you can do to better society. Those days of struggling for acquisition has passed. Now, it’s time to ensure you leave a good name and devote your time to making society better than you met it. At this phase of life, you are now a role model and everyone is looking at you; you cannot afford to fail. So, I’m happy I have a beautiful wife and children.

As you age, what do you have upper most on your thoughts?
At this stage now, it is for me to get closer to God. It is time for service; service to community, country and State. I have had a lot of experiences while growing up. So, the age I am now is to serve.

As a Knight of St. John International, give us a short sermon @60.
As a Knight of Saint John International, we know that our place is to serve people. So, I encourage everyone to live a life of service, where you should enjoy giving than receiving. As for me, I have made up my mind to continue giving and serving people. All I can ask of God now is grace to do so continuously.