The Omoigui's

Its not really my practice to do the hero worship thing and I shan't, however you have to give respect where its due. Also I'm always loathe to mention my mates names for obvious reasons, however I shall say once again give credit where its due.

The mate in question is Eghosa Omoigui (top right photo, he was a lot better looking when we were at Uni), however this isn't about him but about his parents- Daniel and mum Grace Omoigui. Why? Simple, picture this, a young UK trained Surveyor returns to Nigeria in the late 50's (I believe), gets a job in the colonial civil service gets married to a young woman - a School Teacher, from a fairly distinguished local family from Benin city in Mid-Western Nigeria, Daniel's hometown.

From my knowledge, the young family's life was grounded in very simple values- a. Hard work; b. Character; c. Honesty and; d. Strict discipline. Discipline all said, I never saw a more genuinely egalitarian family in terms of the opportunity for expression of an opinion (a sensible opinion of course) and they could have a laugh, believe me, many boozy evenings spent with Eghosa at Uni and several more afterwards as young Barristers- this time with his younger brother Nosa, give me the vista to comment.

Daniel Omoigui was pretty old school, a studious, serious-minded, focused Catholic professional gentleman. Completely devoted to his family, he impressed on his kids the simple character of choosing a path, making an effort and being consistent till attainment, simply put take the long hard road and reap the rewards.

To give you an inkling as to the character of this gentleman, for many years there'd been a running border dispute between Nigeria and the neighbouring Cameroon, which even went to the International Court of Justice. Daniel Omoigui was asked his opinion as former Surveyor-General. His response was simple - The territory did not belong to Nigeria but to Cameroon. Now this was plainly an unpopular opinion to say the least, but anyone who sought his opinion on the subject and who expected anything other than the truth, simply didn't know Daniel Omoigui. The fact is that he was asked a question and answered it truthfully and unequivocally, what more did anyone expect? http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/homes_property/article04

Grace on the other hand was a doting yet stern mum, who after a long career as a teacher and in her late fifties err...went back to school, studied Law and qualified as Barrister- nuff said.

Eghosa and I were classmates at Uni (and subsequently Partners in a Law Firm) and on one occasion, I remember him preparing a statement of monthly expenditure for a term at University- as he had to and upon submitting it to his dad, the statement was promptly rejected because it hadn't been signed. Eghosa had a good laugh and a dig at his old man (as indeed he always did), but Dad wasn't laughing and stood his ground, needless to say the dude had to sign it, those were the rules and you just didn't change them and once a budget was submitted, that was it, no amendments, no supplementary budget or cry for help, you simply had to manage. Another example being Ifueko, the only girl in the family who inspite of a career as Country Partner at Arthur Andersen and running a hugely successful Globally recognised Management Consultancy still drove a 30 year old Peugeot, being a present from her parents on Graduation (it had been mum's old car). Believe me that is humility.

Daniel Omoigui retired from the Nigerian civil service at the height of his profession- Surveyor-General, without (as I always put it) amassing the corrupt millions of his peers and set up a private consultancy now retired as an honest, principled and fulfilled old fellow.

Lets ask the question, what was the result of all their effort as parents: Lets take a look at the kids:

Nowa- A Professor of Cardiology at the University of South Carolina and respected Military Historian;

Sota- A Medical Doctor (Anaesthesiology) and author of an authoritative work on American Biomedical Law;

Ifueko- The only girl in the family. A Chartered Accountant, former Partner- Arthur Andersen and currently Head of the humongous and challenging Nigerian Inland Revenue Service, recognised by Time magazine as one of the world's most outstanding young leader's. Cited Internationally for her ethical reform of the Nigerian Tax establishment- believe me no easy feat.

Eghosa- A Barrister and Senior Attorney Intel Capital, California. One of America's biggest Venture Capital Houses (yes its the same Intel).

Nosa- Now this is a story. A former Programme Manager and Researcher at Microsoft, and winner of several Research awards, now CEO of Nervana Inc, who designed and patented an Innovative search capability for Biomedicine. His story was the stuff of tabloid, talk about swimming against the tide and winning. I've included a link to his story, if you've ever been discouraged please read this, if it ain't character don't know what is. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002260740_search03.html I wouldn't accept that it rubbishes my previous post, but will say that it supports my belief that if its incongruent it won't work, whilst if there is a basis for endeavour then fight for it.

Basically I just wanted to pay a tribute to old fashioned values and hardwork, which is what this family is all about. Its not simply on account of the kids being Doctors and Lawyers or whatever, I have no doubt that if Eghosa chose to be a Pig farmer or a Footballer, of course there would have been some resistance probably because his parents would have felt his gifts lay elsewhere, however if that was his insistence his parents would have merely demanded that he put his back and heart into it. The fact is that Eghosa and his siblings aren't just a bunch of driven professional types, I know them to be totally adjusted ordinary people dedicated to their lives, families and jobs without the overwhelming burden of ego. Strange, but believe me this once, its true.

I'm proud to have known Daniel and Grace Omoigui and by the way, they're Nigerians, so they're not all Drug pushers and Fraudsters right?

On a less serious note, I did tell you they had a sense of fun, take a closer look at Nosa's photograph (centre above), a fridge full of Beer sums it up, now didn't I tell you he was well adjusted?