Chief Murtala Adebayo Akande is a lawyer by profession. At a time, he went into the private sector. Today, the Agbaakin Olubadan of Ibadanland is the Chairman, Splash 105.5 FM, a privately-owned radio station based in Ibadan, Oyo State. He speaks with WOLE EFUNNUGA AND WALE ADELE about his sojourn in life and the state of the nation. Excerpts:

You studied law. At a time, you moved into the private sector. Now, you are in the media.Was this movement lined up like that or a mere coincidence
Like most other people, I will say categorically that I did not stumble into law. Right from the beginning, when I gained admission into Ibadan Grammar School, I made up my mind that I was going to become a lawyer. And again, I was influenced by my father who, luckily, was a member of the then Action Group (AG). As you know, my father won the by election in 1954. He first contested in 1952. It was electoral college in those days. He came seventh. Chief  Obafemi Awolowo then said by virtue of his position in 1952, he was in the seventh position and six members were taken, that he should be allowed to contest, and he won the by-election in 1954 with Macaulay making eight members representing Ibadan. You will be amazed with the calibre of people in the House then. Again,  my next door cousin, Chief Adewunmi (a cousin from my mother side) came back as a lawyer in 1953 and we all looked up to him. Whenever he came back from  the office, we used to admire his wig and gown. Then I said one day, I will become a lawyer. Right from the beginning, I made up my mind that I will become a lawyer.

I left Ibadan Grammar School in 1959 and courtesy of my parents, I moved to England. When I got there, I went to Cambridge University  and told them that I had done my Advanced Levels at my centre in Ibadan Grammar school, Nigeria and  instead of posting my result to Nigeria, they just forwarded my result  to the University in London. That was the beginning of my career. I went to the North Western Polytechnic to register for my Advanced Levels. I went to the Inner Temple where I was enrolled. I am a member of the Inner Temple. Since I was enrolled at the Inner temple, I was entitled to attend the School of Legal Education in London. By 1962 September, I passed all my bar exams and became a Barrister of the Inner Temple. That is why I said I never stumbled into law. In a way, I have been in the private sector all my life. When I came back in 1963, we were virtually the foundation members of the Law School.    .Most of us who passed our Bar  final exams were coerced to come home.Uwais, former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Chief Bola Ajibola, Olajide who became the Chief Judge of Oyo State before he died, they were all my set.  When I became a lawyer, there were not up to fifty Ibadan lawyers all together. My registration number on the bar list for the whole federation was one thousand and something. We had the best brains and we were all in Ibadan. We had the best judiciary.

Would you say you witnessed law at its best then?
Exactly. Then,  It was law at its best then being practised by men and women with credible character
Now, there are lawyers, even in high places, with questionable character. That is unfortunate.

What do you think brought about the character sommersault in the legal profession?
You have to talk about the society itself. The society today lacks integrity. I will say it is the influence of the society. I was lucky to be in the group I mentioned earlier. I was also lucky to be in the chambers of Chief Adisa Akinloye then because when I came back, I joined him and I had to follow him to court and I received the best standard of legal practice. Then, if you wanted to derail, the seniors would pull you back. Your mode of dressing, your mode of behaviour must be superb. The best traditions of the Bar were upheld. You can never be involved in any shaddy deal. Like I  said, it was the function of the larger society. Every segment is virtually corrupt.

At what stage did the country get to the level of every segment getting corrupted particularly the Bar and the Bench?
It is unfortunate. In those days, we used to see Judges as mini gods. Then, hardly would a policeman stop a lawyer on the street how much more for a police man to arrest a lawyer without the permission of the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice. But these days, the story is different. I have seen some Judges being charged to court. Those were the good old days.

How was your experience like during your first day in court?
The practice of law in those days was such that when you come, you go with your senior to the court. But again, one good thing that the Law School did was to make students more practical. We were thought court procedures, how to behave and how to file  motions. The Law School introduced a Moot Court session where you are auquainted with court procedures and practices. As a matter of fact, you will be looking forward for the day you will appear in court. The confidence will be there naturally. Lawyers in our days were very matured. I was one of the youngest in our days.

In those days, when you are going to the court, you have to look at your brief properly because the Judges there will definitely want to hear you speak. He may just say : you, new wig, let me hear you speak.

Lets talk about Oyo State politics. In the state, it has been difficult to see a governor rule for two terms. Is this a concidence or an unwritten tradition?
I will say may be the awarenes and participation in politics is becoming greater. Infact, in the days of Chief Adegoke Adelabu, Ibadan had the greatest awareness in politics. If Adelabu had done anything to Ibadan politics, it was the awareness which he brought even as a member of the opposition which he remained all through his life. To battle the government in power, he had to go to the nooks and crannies of the state, campaigning.And to do that, he had to be a rabble rouser. Chief Obafemi Awolowo then wanted to maitain a  high standard in politics. In his cabinet, there were people who were enlightened, people of integrity, people who were well educated. Adelabu went round saying do not mind Awolowo, he is an Ijebu man, you can become a councillor yourself whether you are a motor mechanic or anybody. And they were very happy. That is why in Ibadan, a carpenter will say I want to become a councillor.Adelabu said he wanted to prove a point that one does not need to be a lawyer before he becomes a councillor and he appointed a lot of illiterates to go to the council as councillors. That was the awareness Adelabu created in Ibadan. and that is why political awareness in Ibadan is far far greater than what obtains anywhere else in the region.

And that status quo subsists till today?
It subsisted till Alhaji Adedibu's time. During Adedibu's time, they were trying to copy Adelabu's style until recently that we have appeals coming to the younger ones to come out and participate in politics.

Does that mean that if anybody comes with good programmes and displays a lot of competence, he can still not be re-elected?
Unfortunately, people who had been governors had not been able to do that so we can not definitely tell. But the awareness in Ibadan has made a lot of people to follow government activities keenly.They make a lot of people to believe that it is only in politics that you can become a millionaire overnight; you can make a fortune. Why should we allow you to sit down there for eight years? it is in the whole system. We all can see what Governor Babatunde Fashola has done. It was the people who were craving that Fashola should go for a second term.

So, you have not gotten that kind of person in Oyo State?
We have not. If we have, automatically people would vote. I might be wrong but that is my own opinion.

Why was the late Adelabu synonymous with the word Penkelemes?
He was saying peculiar mess. It was the illiterates who turned it to penkelemes. It was when they could not understand his pronunciation that they termed the words 'peculiar mess' to penkele mess.

Before we leave Oyo politics, if you were to advise Mr governor, what areas would you advise him to focus more on in order to develop the state?
We did gubernatorial debate. Splash FM organised it. He attended. He gave his manifesto. Thank God we have a governor who is capable and has managerial ability. But what we have been saying and campaigning for is that any government coming up should be transparent and accountable. Any government that wants to make itself unaccountable to the people may not succeed. He has his own manifesto and priority. Let us hold him to that. He has won the election. He has his manifesto. It is now left for you, me and the others to be more vigilant.

There had been chain of bombings in the country. The recent one was the bombing of the Police headquarters. As an elderstatesman, what is your take?
It is becoming very worrisome. There must be something that is fundamentally wrong with the structure of Nigeria as a whole. They say they are muslims, they want to be governed by their own way. Why don't you let them do it?  Though I do not support the approach they are adopting. We have 36 states in Nigeria. If we are practising federalism, let us practise federalism to the core. We cannot be claiming to be the Federal Republic of Nigeria and be in a unitary system. Both cannot work. Everybody can do his own thing, his own way and we move together in peace. If those in Sokoto and Maiduguri say no drinking of whiskey, why should I go and drink whiskey there? If it is only groundnut that grows in Sokoto, why do I want to go and plant cocoa there? That is why I said that basically, what is wrong with Nigeria is its structure. People who are bombing must be agitated about certain issues and I urge the appropriate government to look into it.

The sixth National Assembly eventually passed the Freedom of Information Bill but not without editing it. As a media chief, what is your take on that edited version?
Concerning the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill,  half a bread is better than nothing. The whole years that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was there, he did not sign the abridged one. But now, we have somebody who signed it. I believe we can now mount pressure to have some changes in it if we need amendments.

We want to look at your life at 72 vis-a-vis how you cope managing the administration of Splash FM?
I got my first cable satellite television in 1992. By 1994/95, I applied for a broadcasting licence which I was not given. It was  General Ibrahim Babangida who started the deregulation of the communication industry. The only thing I always credit  Babangida for was his good ideas. He didn't back most of his innovations with  law. He first created the banking sector reform, especially the mortgage banks. But instead of the proper law being in place, people abused it. That was the problem. At Splash FM, virtually everything is computerised.  With the introduction of computers, we now have good management. If you don't use the computers, the management will not be good enough. We all know the effect. Go to broadcast  houses. It is either the agency is owing  millions or more. They know that government media houses do not have records. They cannot produce six months records. The agencies will be hiding under one technical fault or the other and they won't pay you your money despite the fact that they have collected the money from the advertisers. Thank God I am running the affairs of splash with the latest modern technology. That was my own idea and my own vision. We have been able to achieve our objective.

You were riding bicycle to Ibadan Grammar School in those days. Was that as a result of a problem or just a show off?
The road to Ibadan Grammar school in those days was like a jungle. Again, the school was one of those christian schools. It was famous. Most students were riding bicycles to school. And as a young man whose parents could afford a bicycle, my mother bought me a brand new one. The name was RUDGE Bicycle. It was bought for  Ten pounds, ten shillings.  I started to ride it to school. Then, there were no danfo buses and there were no motor bikes (okada) If you don't have a bike then you trek to school. The distance was too long that the school authority allowed us to bring our bikes into the school premises. To attend Ibadan Grammar school then was a priviledge. We knew one another in the class. Thirty in a class and the total population in the school was not up to four hundred. And then we had bording house. So majority of the day students will come to school in bicycles.