…gives tips on prosperous living
Dr. Oluwasegun Alade Musa a transport planner, security consultant, logistician and 2019 ANDP governorship candidate in Lagos state, has bemoaned the dearth of synergy between the handlers of transport and security in the state and Nigeria, speaking with National Daily at his Lagos office he also mirrored the secrets of prosperous living without negative repercussions and other sundry issues:
Background
I am a man of many parts, I have been in business for 45 years February this year marks my 35 years in business.
I was once a leader a twelve t the air and sea port for years, I was the chairman fo the freightfowarders for years, Chairman Apapa Port for three years, Chairman for Nigeria in Ecowas for three years in charge of all the borders. I also run a multinational group of companies. Also I am happily married with children, I have a foundation for the less privileged. My philosophy in life is-real happiness is helping others.
What are the thick elements of Dr. Musa that kept going against all odds till date?
My dad of blessed memory normally tells his children that nobility of character is more sublime than title and wealth that has been the driving force, that in whatever you do you must be noble in character, uphold your integrity it is the key to every door or passage through which you pass. Again I love transparency, truthfulness, humanity service and humility because it is the driving force that makes you relate well with people.
People oftentimes easily relate with someone with a humble character, they associate and wants to support you. So it is about you doing what you have to do and be prayerful about it.
You seemed to have seen it all through the transport, logistics and security frames was that what you set out for while growing up or you have other cravings?
I had wanted to be an aeronautics engineer, in the 80’s I sat for SAT and TOFL and gain admission into Miami University, Alabama University and Caltech University to study aeronautics engineering but as fate would have it, I couldn’t travel to study the specialization, interestingly when I finished in the technical school around 1990 to be precise I study refrigeration and air conditioning engineering from NOIK in Gbagada, I left and moved to Federal Technical College Yaba where I had my wide technical.
Something keeps pushing me that you have interest in transport related stuff so I now attended Ogun State University now Olabisi Onabanjo University where I studied Shipping and Petroleum Management.
After that I proceeded to Federal University of Technology Owerei FUTO where I did my PGD in Maritime Technology, and because shipping is an international related field I proceeded to LASU Lagos State University where I did another PGD in International Relations and Strategic Studies, I also did my Masters in International Relations and Strategic Studies as a matter of fact I was one of the pioneer students of MIRSS in LASU.
I then proceeded to study Maritime Masters in Transport Planning in LASU and because International Relations has to do with security and safety I proceeded to UNILAG, where I did advance Diploma in Infrastructural Protection and Security after then I specialized in forensic investigation and I am also a uniform man, I am the current Deputy Commandant for Vigilante Group of Nigeria VGN, I was once their AC surveillance for the entire Lagos state and also a security consultant.
Transport and security placing Lagos and Nigeria as a context where are we, are we good?
My assessment as always been we are not yet there and it is going to demand a very big commitment and seriousness from the handlers and people that superintend over the sectors in the state.
I once contested for governorship in Lagos in 2019 I was governorship candidate in ANDP, and as at then I already formulated security policy for Lagos State .
I was the initiator of instant range on crime which would have actually positioned Lagos State in such a way that if any crime happens here within seconds, minutes you will see security enveloping the confinement within a short time, because security is like the air we breathe, everybody must be a security personnel.
I was in UK around 2007 and somebody saw me as a new entrant within the environment.
Before you know it police has arrived, I have to do an introduction of who I am. That is what security is all about, everybody must take hold of security and you must also train people for intelligence gathering, you don’t need to be in uniform before you can gather intelligence.
We have the crowd in Lagos the kind of security challenges we have is not peculiar, to what they have in other areas where you don’t have the crowd and they have a lot of forest.
They are more prone to security issues than here because before you can see houses you have to travel far distance before you see another community.
Such clime are vulnerable, it is easy to attack but within a confinement like this it is not easy, such kidnapping and stuffs you see over there cannot strive here in Lagos because of densely populated area and you have a lot of confined places within Lagos.
Even before arm robbery can take place within Lagos, they have to meet the armed robbers within the community that will do the strategy with them, tell the entry, exit and escape routes it is not going to be a case of just walkng in and they walked out they must have done a lot of strategy work before that can happen.
Inter marrying transport and security will you affirm how well we have fared?
In that wise you liken it to what is obtainable in other climes like china for instance, I have interest in China because I also have an office in China what they do there is that every commercial vehicle has a camera.
Immediately you arrived at the airport you are captured and everywhere you go they trace your step no matter the number of the people that enters you are monitored everywhere you go.
If anything happens they bring your footages everywhere you stepped per hours per day, in China that is security.
A public transport driver is already conscious about the security.
It should be a synergy, a kind of policy formulation that everybody must key into, every transport operator must be able to have an hidden camera in the commercial vehicle, to show whatever happens and report when people are talking you should be able to comprehend what they are saying, so that you can transmit to the next security officer or offices and say look I carried some passengers from the airport these are what they are saying.
It is like a seed that germinates within the confinement. So, if you are able to nib it at the bud before it germinates, there will be lesser crime.
So, everybody must key into security consciousness and strategy in such a way that you will be able to share intelligence with the right quarters.
I use to tell people that we misplace intelligence sharing processes or strategies, because if I have intelligence about people that peddled drugs and I share it with the police that is misplacement of priority .
Police cannot handle drug some of them are even compromised and sell the information to the right quarters .
If you have intelligence about fire hazards you don’t share it with the police you share it with the fire service.
You must know how to share intelligence and who and who you share intelligence with.
If shared with the wrong person you say we discussed with the police they didn’t do anything because it is not their area of competence.
So, these are the strategies we must put in place to assist government to curb crime.
If the transport system is organized in such a way that they are also conscious of safety and security then you can now say you have effective transport system with safety and security.
Kindly share with us your experience in the last week Tuesday birthday celebration and how it went down?
Generally I use my birthday to mark humanity, visit to the less privileged home hospitals, assist people and that is what I have been doing for over twenty years. It is a day for you to have a kind of reflection of what God has done, and how to appreciate God and appreciate people around you because I used to tell people if God has bestowed you with abundance they are not meant for you alone but for you to distribute to people around you.
That is the essence of the abundance God gives to you it is not meant for you alone because you will account for it. Whether you like it or not. Whether you are religious or not, whatever is bestowed on you, you will account for it.
So, you must be a good manager of this abundance that you get. Out of what you have aside what you do outside your business, you must also dedicate your birthday for such distribution of the abundance that God has given you.
We used to say real happiness is helping others, when people are happy because of you in your innermost heart you will also be happy. Somebody shed tears and approach you and when the person is going you wiped away the tears and the person left you happy, in your heart seeing that person being happy makes you happy and that is the essence of life.
That is what life really mean, there is nothing more than that when you talked about living life in a fulfilled way. That is the only way you can fulfill living.
The lessons of humility resonates all around you, what informs this comportment in spite of the fact that you are a man of means?
There is what I called 2 H and I . I am sure most of us remember when we are in the elementary school, there is what we call 2H pencil but nobody has ever told us why the pencil is called 2H. But while growing up I had to do alot of research on the naming 2H and now realized the meaning of 2H and it is to guide our steps to prosperity and fulfilment in life.
The first H stands for humility, when you grow being humble you will prosper more than someone who is not humble if you observe the arrogant ones when they make fortune they easily fall, but fortune last longer with the humble ones.
I am not saying they will not face challenges, life is all about challenges but it last more than someone that is arrogant.
So, when humble you make good friends they might not necessarily be intimate but people will like and appreciate you because you are humble.
People will assist you and relate with you. They will support you because of the humility. So, humility is one of the virtues that determines how far you go in life.
As a matter of fact there are some special angels that walks with people that are humble in life. So, regardless of your status, you must remain humble and one thing I used to tell people the higher you go in life the more humble you become and that is the only time people will begin to appreciate you more.
The second H stands for humanity you must be humane, you must treat people with respect, you must treat people like human being, never look down on anybody regardless of their status because you cannot see anybody’s tomorrow you can only see their today.
Who tells you that the person you are higher than today will not be higher than you tomorrow?
Treat people well, accord them respect never look down on anybody let people have a good memory about you . Let people see you as a good role model, be your brothers keeper. Be a good mentor to people let people learn good things about you or from you, you must be humane even in civilised countries they’ve even gone beyond treating human beings right to even treat their pets like human being.
That is another stage in life, treat people well the way you will love to be treated. The ‘I’ I added to it that makes it 2H and I means integrity. Regardless of the situation never compromise your integrity for anything in life.
No matter how bad the situation is never and ever compromise your integrity for anything because it is the key that would be requested of you every time you want to pass through any door.
It is a master key that can open any door anywhere and interestingly it does not serve you alone it also serves your children. There are some areas you will get to and when your name is mentioned they will say oh let him or her in, but if you don’t have the key and pass it to your children, when they get to the door and they asked what is your name, they say please tell him I am not around.
Be always conscious that whatever we do today, we are banking it for our children. Regardless of the situation we are passing through, we must never compromise our integrity for anything because they will query our integrity everywhere we step.
Gone are those day’s when we are to deliver a keynote address and our name is mentioned along side the citation but nobody listens to citation again, once your name is mentioned everybody picks their phones and they start googling who is this person?
If anything incriminating, inditing or questionable is found about you or your background they won’t even listen to what you want to say, they form their opinions about you immediately, before you even start talking. So, on no occasion must we compromise our integrity in whatever we are passing through, tough times don’t last it is only tough people who do.
When you endure what you are passing through today, you see yourself tomorrow at the top and because you have not compromised your integrity, nobody will question you when you get to the top.
We might feel nobody is watching us but tomorrow when they play our video we will marvel and say we thought nobody was watching what we are doing and that is what life is all about. That is what prosper you it makes you what you are, so we must be conscious of this fact at all times.
Fortune will come at the right time and part of what makes fortune comes faster I will share with you.
Number one, for one to be prosperous in life the same way some people say they do ritual is the way you will also do ritual but not the dirty way they do it, your own is if you have parents take very good care of them, let them be proud of you let them be happy. Whatever you can do to support them do it, never allow them to shed tears or feel bad no matter how small always support them it is a ritual that brings prosperity. If you don’t have parents again adopt someone as your parent it could even be your in laws treat them like your own parents, make them feel happy, definitely you’ve done money ritual. You can also look for you spiritual heads be it Pastor or Imams take good care of them make them proud of you it is another ritual, if you can’t do that, look for your teachers in the past and take good care of them make him happy and proud of you that is another form of rituals, or go and look for the aged, widows , orphans take good care of them. Also you can take care of the needy . If you have such an avenue why do the dirty rituals with negative repercussions? If you can uphold the 2 H and I and as well take care of the needy, that is money rituals these are secrets of a lot of people that are prosperous in life. Some of them did not even do it, maybe their parents did it on their behalf but definitely good fortune will come and that is what life is all about. It helps to live a simple life and to be a free minded and conscious person. When you have the spirit of getting annoyed over everything, keeping malice and grudges it brings sickness and toxicity into the blood and body system, when you are the kind of person who forgives easily you will be healthy and happy.
Handover your enemies to God, it could be a divine arrangement that takes you to your desired prosperity. Be someone igniting the fire of hope in people around you, spread joy not tears. This goodness will come back to you in a thousand folds because you are banking it.