Today, Engineer Victor Adetunji Haffner will celebrate his 95th birthday thankfully in good health with the abundant blessings of the Almighty. He deserves it having devoted so many years to engineering the destiny of our beloved nation to no avail. Perhaps there was a design fault ab initio or the fault lines as well as structural cracks emerged post-construction. He is undisputedly the doyen of our telecommunication engineers.
Anyway, the profile of the great gentleman as relayed on BBC; CNN; SKY News and a recent interview in “The Punch” newspaper has gone viral on internet. One of his admirers even resorted to the Scottish declaration:
“There is still a lot of spunk left in the old sporran”!!
I can attest to Pa Haffner’s generosity of spirit, kindness, compassion and sense of history as well as infections good humour.
When I visited him a while back he was a very much alert and gracious host. He offered me champagne but proceeded to wind me up:
“Your grandfather Dr JK Randle was my doctor. Actually, he circumcised me!! He was very wealthy and owned a large chunk of Lagos. You should have been a doctor like him. Who needs auditors anyway?”
He is a veritable fountain of knowledge about Lagos and indeed Nigeria and the authentic reference point in the building or dismantling of our beloved nation.
Ironically, Dr Biodun Ogungbo declared firmly on CNN’s (“Inside Africa”):
“PLEASE SACK ALL DOCTORS NOW”
“When death knocks at the door, the doctor is looked upon as god. When he accepts the challenge, he is looked upon as an angel. When he cures the patient, he is looked upon as a common person. When he asks for his fee, he becomes a devil.”
Matters took a dramatic turn when Professor Pat Utomi of Lagos Business School lamented on Vatican Radio/TV:
“LAWYERS ARE THE BIGGEST THREAT TO THE RULE OF LAW”
“Lawyers in Nigeria have abandoned the common people and are hobnobbing with the political class. This is a serious threat to the rule of law.
Nigeria has never needed civil society more than it does today. But where are the professionals or the Nigerian Bar Association for that matter? I have said that as often as lawyers invite me to speak to them, I shall continue to point out that one of the biggest threats to the rule of law in Nigeria is the embourgeoisement of lawyers. Lawyers are more interested in making money than in seeking justice and redress where and when the rule of law is violated. Justice seems to be a distant second place to money in the motivation of today’s lawyers in Nigeria.”
Perhaps that was what prompted our highly respect Chief Olaniwun Ajayi SAN who will celebrate his 90th birthday (and sixty-two years at the Nigerian Bar) next year to insist on the right of reply on CNN:
“The existing political parties in Nigeria are mere vehicles for people to amass illicit wealth. The parties lack the strength of character and discipline of the defunct Action Group (AG) founded by the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
I know of no political party in this country in the sense in which you would take the Action Group. What you have here are people who want to be governors so that they can make money.
Many of the ministers in the Federal Government are thieves. We have self-serving people in the Senate and the House of Representatives. We call ourselves a democracy, but all the pillars upon which democracy stands in Nigeria are not functioning.
Most of the bodies that ought to serve as strong institutions to promote and entrench democracy in the country are weak and not committed to the cause. Nigeria has nothing to show for its professed claim as a big country.
We lack a strong National Assembly. We lack a good police force. We don’t have a sufficient judiciary. We lack an executive that is committed to the welfare of the people. So, where is democracy in Nigeria? But, we say we are a big country.
We say we are the biggest in Africa. But China is a bigger country and it has something to show for its size. What do we have to show for our size? Nothing! Is it Boko Haram? As a sovereign country, we cannot overpower Boko Haram.
I feel much fulfilled. I am deeply indebted to God because there have been people who were 100 years old before they died; such people are not many. Also people who turn 90 before returning home are not many. To be 89 and looking at 90 in front of you is a great blessing. What is more? I can read without glasses. I only use glasses because of distance otherwise I don’t need glasses. All my 32 teeth are intact. None has decayed.
All the parts of my body are okay except my heart, my kidney, my liver and my lungs that are getting very old. But I still have my senses complete. Between the time I turned 80 and now, I have written and published five books and I am preparing another one. When writing my biography, I wanted to be able to recollect things of the past. It wasn’t easy but for me it was no problem at all. I have documents that I have been putting together since I was 25. I am a record keeper. I have many things for which I should thank God.
The best of it all is that God graciously gave me a very good woman as my wife. It’s a pity that she has gone. But we were together for nearly 60 years without any hurt words passing from one to the other. She was a complete wife in love, care, affection, duty and responsibility. She knew my idiosyncrasies and paid regard to them. She was an example of a good wife and a good mother. The crowning glory is that we were given four children: two boys, two girls who are equally very good children. They are all professionals: two lawyers, two doctors and they are doing very well in life. I don’t know by what merit God has done so well with me. So I’m looking forward to when I will be 90. I wished it were already here. I’ll ask God if he has another assignment for me and the wherewithal to do it.
There is a contract between me and God. When I’m going to pass on, I’m going to pass on within this house. And it is going to be on my bed in my bedroom.”
Bashorun J.K. Randle
