Good night, Ambassador JTF Iyalla (1928 – 2019) By Bell IHUA
This article was first published in Business Day Newspaper of March 29, 2019.
Nigeria, nay Africa and the global
diplomatic community, has lost a titan in the person of Ambassador Joe Tonye
Fubara Iyalla OFR, fondly called JTF or Joe Iyalla. He passed on in the early
hours of January 30, 2019, at the ripe age of 90 years. A diplomat of diplomats,
envoy of envoys and ambassador extraordinaire, Joe Iyalla stood tall in the
diplomatic community and his influence towered through Nigeria’s Foreign
Service and Business circles. My late father, Mr. Emmanuel E. Ihua was an
Associate of Amb Iyalla, and served under him for 22 years as Group General
Manager to his group companies, in his post-service life. I grew up knowing
Ambassador as my father’s boss. It is therefore my distinct honour and privilege
to pay tribute to this illustrious African diplomat, and to honour the
friendship and mentoring that my late father enjoyed, learning at his feet.
From very humble beginnings, this
Bakana-born diplomat, of Kalabari heritage in Rivers state Nigeria, bestrode
the world like a colossus and etched his name in gold across the global
diplomatic pedestal. This wasn’t to come as a surprise given the sheer genuis,
exceptional intelligence and academic prowess displayed by young Joe through
his early education, to the amazement of his family members and teachers. My
father once recounted a story Ambassador shared with him. Young Joe must have
been about 8 years old at the time, and was on a boat ride from Bakana to Abonema
with a relative of his. He sat quietly reading a novel on the Boat, and
flipping through the pages. To the surprise of his relative, he read the novel
from cover to cover in record time. But beyond that, and to the utter astonishment
of everyone on the boat, the young Joe began reciting word for word, all he had
read from the novel, from beginning to the end. Yes, he was exceptionally
intelligent from a tender age!!
From his days at Okrika Grammar
School, to Yaba College and then Nigeria’s premier University, University
College Ibadan, as pioneer set, his innate brilliance beamed strong, as he
always came top of his league; even amongst mates like the late Cicero of Esa-Oke,
Chief Bola Ige. Armed with a BA in Classics, and specialization in Latin, Amb
Iyalla began his career as an Administrative Officer in the Office of Chief
Secretary for Nigeria, before joining Nigeria’s Foreign Service and rising
through the ranks. Being a golden fish that couldn’t hide, in 1964 he was moved
to the Organization of African Unity (OAU) as Assistant Secretary General, and
by 1966 he was appointed Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of
Nigeria to the United Nations. In 1968 he was moved to Washington as Nigeria’s
Ambassador to the United States of America, where he played a key role in
garnering global support for Nigeria’s civil war. He was later redeployed back
home and appointed Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs in
1972, where he remained until his premature exit from the service in 1975, occasioned
by the palace coup which ousted General Yakubu Gowon and brought in Brigadier Murtala
Muhammed.
Amb Iyalla was one of Nigeria’s exalted
Super Permanent Secretaries of the 1970s, who were confronted with the enviable
task of fashioning out a policy framework for the war time and post-war
Nigeria, along with his ilks- Allison Ayida, Jerome Udoji, Ahmed Joda, Leslie Harriman,
Philip Asiodu, and Ibrahim Damcida amongst others. Until his death, Ambassador
Iyalla was considered one of the doyens of Nigeria’s Foreign Service and the
crème de la crème of the ex-diplomatic corps, in the league of Simeon Adebo,
Olujimi Jolaosho, Isa Wali, Olumide Omololu, Sule Kolo and Aminu Sanusi (father
of the current Emir of Kano, HRH Mohammed Sanusi II). In the past few weeks, I
have read several published tributes written in honour of Amb Joe Iyalla and
his life as a first class Diplomat; but there’s been very little on his
post-service life. Therefore, I have decided to focus my tribute on his life
after service; particularly, life as an astute business man and entrepreneur.
After his life at the Foreign
Service, Amb Iyalla spent considerable time in business; first as an investor
in shares and stocks, and secondly, as a business man. Amb Iyalla was a guru in
trading shares and stocks, and remained a major player in Nigeria Stock
Exchange (NSE) until his death. He held significant shares in most, if not all,
of the major blue chip companies trading on the NSE. Besides, he was a major
shareholder and Permanent Director of Nigerian Bottling Company Plc. I also
recall that he was a good friend of Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, founder of Ragolis
Table Water; and at a time, Ambassador wouldn’t drink any other bottled water
besides Ragolis!! Interestingly, Amb Iyalla personally taught my father how to
trade in shares and stocks, and that was something that gave him joy,
especially when healthy bonuses and dividends were been declared by quoted companies.
He would go like “E.E. have you heard that Texaco has just declared 20 Kobo per
share dividend?” The implication of such declaration for Ambassador could only
be imagined, given the quantum of shares he owned in such companies.
Amb Iyalla had a special fondness for
the Danish, and I believe it was due to his longstanding friendship with Danish
Ambassador-at-large and Entrepreneur, Ambassador Erik Emborg, founder of the
Emborg Group, headquartered in Copenhagen Denmark. Iyalla and Emborg were very
close business partners and their relationship birthed several business interests
and investments in Nigeria. In the late 60s Amb Iyalla supported the Emborg Group
to establish Fan Milk, one of Nigeria’s leading ice cream and yoghurt manufacturing
companies. It was therefore not surprising when sometime in the 80s there was a
spurious claim that Fan Milk was owned by Francis Arthur Nzeribe, alleging that
F.A.N. were Nzeribe’s initials; it was Amb. Iyalla, who dug up archival records
to the clear the air and quell the mischief makers. Again, Iyalla and Emborg
founded DanAfrik (short for Danish Africa), an agro-business company, which
started out by importing unprocessed dairy products from Denmark, and supplying
to local manufacturers of processed dairy products such as evaporated milk,
yoghurt, and ice cream. Similarly, with Iyalla’s influence, Emborg won the
contract to build Otta Farms in Ogun state, under President Obasanjo’s Green
Revolution of the 70s. The initial idea was to start with Otta, as a prototype
Farm, which would then be replicated across the six geo-political zones. Sadly,
the project was short-lived.
Amb Iyalla also partnered with Emborg
to establish Scanwater Nigeria Limited in the late 70s. In fact, in the 80s,
Scanwater was to Nigeria’s Water Engineering sector, what Julius Berger is
today to Road Construction. The company managed several high profile water projects
across the country, such as the Surulere, Agege, Ikorodu, Shomolu and Shasha
Water Works in Lagos state, as well as the Abonema, Degema, Bonny and Okrika
Water Works in Rivers state, to list a few. Till today, Scanwater is still managed
by Ambassador’s son, Dr. Apiribo Iyalla. In addition, Iyalla and Emborg also
established Cerekem Nigeria Limited in the 80s. I recall they got the contract
to build the production plant for Jos International Breweries, makers of Rock
Lager beer, and provided technical support to Consolidated Breweries Agbara,
makers of Hi-Malt and Maltex.
Also in the 80s, Amb Iyalla raised
One Million Pounds from partners in the United Kingdom to establish Merchant
Bank of Africa (MBA), where he served as Chairman. MBA was one of the licensed
indigenous Merchant banks established to support trade and investment in the
sub-region. I recall that Mr. Jim Ovia, Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank
Plc, was one of the pioneer staff headhunted at the time, to join MBA. Sadly,
poor economic policies under the military regimes negatively impacted the
fortunes of the Bank and it was delisted in the 90s. I recall Ambassador was
detained for a short period at the state CID Office Panti, under Sani Abacha’s failed
bank tribunal. However, he was soon released and given a clean bill of health
after investigations proved he was completely innocent and had nothing to
answer. Ambassador soon bounced back and continued managing his other business interests to the admiration of
colleagues from business community and academia. He was bestowed honorary
doctorate degrees by the University of Ibadan, his alma mater, and University
of Port-Harcourt. By the mid-90s, the economy was weak, and things had slowed
down a bit. His private office was managed by a small team led by my father- E.
E. Ihua, alongside Mr. Solomon Dokubo, Mr. Nathaniel and Mr. Jimoh, who served
as his driver for donkey’s years.
Ambassador was a lover of Jazz and
Classical music; and was a keen supporter of the Muson Centre Lagos. He was quite
cosmopolitan, and belonged to a few of the elite Lagos Clubs, like Motor Boat
Club, Island Club and Metropolitan Club. I recall my father often accompanied him
for a bottle or two, to calm their nerves after work. Ambassador never forgot
his roots. He was a real Kalabari man, spoke the language fluently, and often visited
Bakana. He was really close to Chief Keagan Igbanibo Braide, who had the honour
of naming me at birth, and was later installed Amayanabo of Bakana. Under
Iyalla, my father sharpened his Kalabari skills, as they switched in and out of
Kalabari for frequent tête-à-têtes.
One of Ambassador’s happiest days was
the day his son, Apiribo, graduated with a PhD from Oxford in the 90s. It was talk-of-the-town
in my home for months. It made my father resolute, that I got my PhD from the United
Kingdom as well. So when it was time for me to leave Nigeria for further
studies abroad, my father remembered Iyalla’s immortal words: “education is the
greatest legacy you can give to your children, E.E. do your best to give your
children the best”. From the shares he had accumulated under Ambassador’s tutelage,
he brought out his Union Bank share certificates and paid a visit to Mr Beede
Ogujiuba, his Stock Broker, to help dispose the shares. As God would have it, the
money was enough to make my initial tuition deposit and purchase my flight ticket.
My father was in high spirit, convinced that if Apiribo could do it, I too
could. So fast forward to 2011, on that faithful day, when I rang home to
inform Dad that I had just passed my viva; he screamed out with so much
excitement. You could only imagine his joy and fulfilment. Perhaps, only to be compared
with how Ambassador felt the day his son passed his viva.
Amb Iyalla was kind, large hearted
and generous, sometimes to a fault; and his office on the 9th Floor,
Western House on Broad Street Lagos, was a Mecca of sorts to many of his Kalabari
kinsmen, JBs and people from all walks of life seeking one form of assistance or
the other. He was urbane, debonair and witty, with a telegraphic memory that had
the ability of processing information at an amazing speed. He had a knack for
remembering names and faces, and was at
home in Cape Town, as he was in Cairo, which endeared people to him like a
magnet.
Ambassador JTF Iyalla was laid to
rest in March 6, 2019, and he was survived by his children and lovely wife Mrs.
Mabel Iyalla. There’s absolutely no doubt he was one of the brightest minds and
greatest Nigerian that ever lived. As you join the host of heaven, please say
me well to E.E., your loyal associate and my beloved father. Men like Joe
Iyalla can never die. Their spirits live forever. Adieu Ambassador!!
Dr. Bell Ihua holds a PhD in
Management from University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom. He is an
Opinion Polling & Social Research Expert, and writes from Abuja.
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