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| Ayotunde Hamzat and his lovely wife, Mrs. Fausiyyat Opeyemi Kaka |
exclusive with Hamzat Opeyemi Ayotunde
Kaka first son and scion of the
dynasty of Senator Sefiu Adegbenga Kaka,
a two time commissioner, two time Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
(Ogun East Senatorial zone) and former Deputy Governor of Ogun state, he shared the untold story of how his parents raised
him with Asabeafrika.
Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye in Ogun state and later got his masters’ degree in accounting from the
University Of Hull, United Kingdom. Famously
known as AK among his circle of
friends, Ayotunde is a Chattered
Accountant with many years of experience
with blue chip firms home and abroad. Apart from having a stake in several of
his father’s investments, he is equally into his private business as a
consultant to several local and international firms.
an accounting consultancy firm. Very quite and unassuming, the Kaka boy loves football as a hubby and
he is an Arsenal fan for life. He is
equally a director of Solace farms Ltd.
March 10th, 2017. Enjoy the
excerpts.
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How was growing up under a strict man
like Senator Adegbenga Kaka?
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| The GDA meets Ayotunde Kaka |
looked a bit confused) I taught you said this interview was going to be about
youth leadership. I didn’t know I was going to be talking about my father in
this interview…
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| Ayotunde Kaka spoke about dad to Asabeafrika |
important you share his fatherhood experience with us so that he can inspire
other fathers. We just all agreed that majority of the problems of our youths
are parental in nature. So, the Kaka experience can help us navigate?
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| A loving Dad and his beloved son…. |
start by saying a very big THANK YOU to my parent for the kind of upbringing I
got while I was growing up. It surprises me the way and manner they channeled
their energy to train us. You will understand what I mean when you have a very
strict father and your mother is a teacher, then you will know the kind of training we went through. A very tough one indeed.
always around in the house?
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| The GDA meets Ayotunde Kaka |
bit naughty as a growing kid but I thank God for the kind of training from both
my dad and my mum. I thank God for what it has done to me today. So growing up
was a tough one. Those days, once you do something wrong you were beaten for
your mischief. You can even get beaten for crying. But these days, the case is
different. In a situation where a kid goes to the school and the teacher raises
the cane to beat the kid and the child goes home and report and the next day,
the parent storms the school and probably get the teacher arrested or even beat
up the teacher.
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| Senator Adegbenga Kaka & his Pretty Wife |
These are part of the things that is destroying the fabrics of
good morale among our youths today. While I was in school, if I get beaten by
any teacher, my father pays the teacher for beating me.
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| Ayotunde Kaka to Asabeafrika….’It is pity that today’s parent go to school and beat up teachers for helping them discipline their wards’ |
encourage a teacher to beat you?
Yes, that is the kind of upbringing I got and that is the kind of parents I
have. I thank God for them and I thank God for what their strictness has done
to me and the brand of personality their training has made of me.
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| Ayotunde Kaka to Asabeafrika…’Dad and Mum gave us thorough training while growing up’ |
erudite politician and consumate business man. But as his scion, how would you
describe Senator Adegbenga Kaka?
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| Ayotunde Kaka….’I don’t like talking about my dad in public even though he is a public person’ |
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earlier, Mr. Asabe, I didn’t know I
will be talking about my father. I usually don’t like it when his matter comes
up. I don’t like discussing his private life. Of course he is a public figure
but he is someone I hold in very high esteem. Haven said that, I will say I
can’t always continue to run away from talking about him.
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| Ayotunde Kaka on Dad ‘In one word, My Dad is a blessing to humanity’ |
I would love to say
that Mr. Adegbenga Kaka in one word
is a blessing to humanity. If you know what I mean, you will tolerate my
opinion about my father. This is somebody that has been a two time commissioner
in Ogun State, a former Deputy
Governor and a Senator. He believes so much in humanity, he believes so much in
the youth. If you go across his constituency in Ogun East, you will come across so many schools, so many projects
being built by him. I am not supposed to mention this but personally, I discovered
and found out that even 14 to 15 months after he left office as a Senator
representing Ogun East Senatorial Zone he was still completing outstanding
projects and commissioning schools. This is something that really, really
touches my heart and makes me happy. If the privileged class of our society can
have so much passion like my father has for the youth, maybe our environment
would be a better place for the youth and the next generation. So, in a word, I
will describe him as a blessing to humanity.
principles he used in shaping your character and building you to this level of
independence. What are his philosophies that worked for you?
learnt a lot of things from him. I learnt honesty. I learnt hard work. What you
don’t work for, you don’t get. So, by and large, considering the situation in
our environment today, I think honesty is the most valuable virtue I got from
him. I mean, it is very hard these days to come across honest people even in the
business and work environment, everywhere. You find out that almost everybody
is dishonest. So, honesty is the most valuable virtue I got from my dad. And as
you know, honesty is a very scarce commodity in today’s living. It is very, very scarce.
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| Ayotunde Kaka to Asabeafrika…’While growing up, Dad never withheld the rod’ |
gentle dad on you since mum was already a teacher?
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| Dad & Mum, Senator Kaka & Alhaja Kaka |
say he is a tough man. There is an adage that says ‘spare the rod and spoil the
child’. He never spared the road. That is just one thing I can say about
him. He never spared the rod and today, with benefit of hindsight, I will say I
am grateful for it.
to me as someone that is very, very humble. Even in her days as the wife of the
Deputy Governor of Ogun State, she kept her profile low. How would you describe
her?
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| Ayotunde with elder sister, Mrs. Ayobola Kaka-Lawal (L) and wife, Mrs. Fausiyyat Opeyemi Kaka |
a teacher by profession. Like you rightly noticed, she is a bit on the reserved
side. She is a bit soft like all mothers are, generally. She played a very,
very important role in my life. I will call her a pillar of support. She is
always there; whatever you wish for, she is always willing to let you have,
even at her own detriment. So, she has really been a very, very great mother. I
thank God for her life.
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| Ayotunde Kaka and the GDA in a tete-a-tete during the encounter |
saw that is no more in vogue now. You just talked about honesty. What other
things are missing in today’s life?
beginning to make me feel like a very old man now. Those days that you are mentioning
now is not so far off. I am still a youth (Laughter)
much more respected?
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| Ayotunde Kaka to Asabeafrika….’I started seeing the flashes of democracy in 1999′ |
days when I was a child, it was during the military era. So we could not see
the situation of the country politically. But right now, the beauty of
evolution is that one can now see clearly what it means to be in a free
democratic atmosphere. However, one can say the situation is getting worse or
more disheartening. The more one dispensation takes over from the other, the
more you find it difficult to get honest people or find honesty. I mean what
can you say to it, when the governor of a state promises to give certain
political dividends only to get there and fail to deliver. I think that saddens
people of my age. That is the saddest part of our political evolution. We have
a democracy that can hardly deliver verbatim.
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| Ayotunde Kaka to Asabeafrika….’Electorates should investigate who they are to give their votes to’ |
But I want to appeal to the
electorates as well to look clearly before choosing. Here we are, we are not
talking about just you and your family alone but a collective destiny. We are
talking about the future of your own children and every other thing associated
with it from quality and affordable education, quality and affordable health
care, good and durable roads. Not roads that will break after six months. Great
welfare package that will guarantee a good living condition for the populace.
These days, our people are ready to cast their votes for anybody that can offer
them N1000, N500 or at worst N2000. I
mean that is quite ridiculous.
It is what is killing our society today. How are
you going to survive on such mundane gift for four years or eight years?. It is
really disheartening to see someone offer you N2000 and you vote for the person without knowing the antecedent of
that person. I mean without getting a blue print that can guarantee a good
future for your children. He offers you N2000
and you give your destiny to him just like that. These are parts of the
challenges we face this season. It is so bad we found ourselves at this
junction. In those days, well, it was the military era but I fear we never
heard this level of corruption at the time. Maybe because there was nothing
like freedom of speech or freedom of information. In 1999, I think that was the first political
dispensation that I witnessed. Even at the time, things were not as bad as
this. People could guarantee their votes, they could vote and record their
votes not a situation where politician coerce electorates with junk money and
junk gifts to buy their votes. So, these days, it is only God that can help us
out of this political situation.
your dad?
politics can be tailored after the politics of the western world, maybe I will
love to play a role and use my wealth of knowledge to make changes and make the
society a better place to live. But the political scene as it is right now, is
not encouraging. You talk about politics of money, politics of godfatherism,
that is not too encouraging. It is only God that can shape the destiny of a
man. I don’t know what God has in stock for me as I speak to you today. But for
now, I am concentrating on my business and my family.
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| Ayotunde Kaka to Asabeafrika….’Dad is my biggest role model’ |
any?
any reasonable young man that question, I think your first role model will be
your parent. From your childhood, you already have one. Your parent are your
first role model until you begin to see other people’s lives depending on what
you want to become in the future. Youths of today must first see their parent
as their role model before anyone else. Then, probably if you want to play football, you must start seeing the likes of Messi and Ronaldo
as model or mentor. But your first role model would be your parent. My father
is my role model, I really admire him. I admire his courage, his honesty and
his service to humanity and the entire society.
hate about your father?
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| His legendary Dad, Senator Adegbenga Sefiu Kaka |
human being without his or her own short comings. He as a person has his own
short comings. But by and large, it is hard for me to find anything I really
don’t like about him. My father is my role model and mentor.
book?
quite a lot of books and it is pretty hard for me to point to one as my
favorite read. As we are seated here, if I see a magazine or newspaper or book,
I pick it up and read. If not to gain a new education, then it will be for
entertainment. So, reading books is part of me but I don’t think my inspiration
came from books. My inspiration comes from God and from within me.
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| Ayotunde Kaka to Asabeafrika…’I am an early riser’ |
very early and say my prayers and step out for work. I leave the house very
early in the morning. My schedules are not too direct. I go to my office if I
have to make an appointment with a client. And some days, I visit the farm if I
have to. So, I wouldn’t say my day is straight forward, I wont say it is a
triangle.
holiday sport?
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| Ayotunde Kaka to Asabeafrika….’Nigeria is the best place for tourism if only Government can be serious’ |
been to a couple of countries in Africa,
in Europe and even in America. But home remains home. There
are lots of holiday spots across the country, in Badagry and in Calabar.
We should not always encourage ourselves to go abroad for our holidays. These
are part of things government should do to boost our economy. Our tourism
sector is not in good shape. We want to beg government to make our various
tourist attraction centers across Nigeria more attractive for people to go
there and holiday rather than flying out all the time especially in a season
when dollar is very much expensive. We must encourage people to look inward.
They should look inward for their holiday.
would you describe your wife?
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| Hamzat & Fausiyyat on their wedding day |
Fausiyyat Kaka, she is a wonderful lady. She has been very supportive,
very patient, very calm and very loving. I thank God for making our path cross.
I pray we continue to enjoy good relationship in love and in good health.
which one is the best for you?
isolate both. I think both goes together. If you are intelligent and you are not
diligent, your intelligence comes to nothing. And if you are so diligent with no intelligence you might just see that finally you are migrating to the wrong
direction. So, I think none of the two can be isolated. The two is good for
success.
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| Kaka to Asabeafrika…’Fashion means comfort to me’ |
you a native person or a casual or English freak?
fashion for me is not an important item, aspect or way of life. I believe in
what is comfortable. You know the kind of youths we have today, particularly
the ladies, you see them wearing hilly shoes when they are actually not
comfortable in those shoes. You see men wearing thick dresses under the sun.
Really, I think there is a thin line between what is called fashion and….
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| R-L: Kaka, GDA & Dr. Baudy |
really say comfort. I don’t want to say stupidity. But I think you should wear what makes you comfortable. Fashion
should be about comfort.
