Ambassador Mohammed Lameen Metteden, a lawyer, has spent most of his working life in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he had served in Liberia, Holland, Italy and Tanzania before he became Nigeria’s Ambassador to Mozambique and later to Zimbabwe. A man of not too many words, he has served this country in many capacities in key departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from where he retired in 1999.
We normally start with your early years. I believe this was in Kano, can you take us through that period of your life?
Yes, as a very young man, I moved to Okene under the tutelage of the late Alhaji Abdulmaliki who was our…
But you were born in Kano?
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I was born in Kano.
And how long did you stay in Kano before this move to Okene?
I had started primary school in Kano, near Dantata’s place, so when I went to Okene, I started primary school. My first year in primary school, we were learning the local language, Ebira.
So, you moved very early to Okene from Kano?
Yes.
But why Okene? I mean, for somebody from Kano, how come you moved; you uprooted and moved to Okene?
The late Alhaji Abdulmaliki, who was High Commissioner in London, you know, happened to have hit it off with our old man.
Okay, he was a family friend, a friend of your father’s?
Yes. So, when I went to Okene, in my first year, we were even being taught instructions in the local language, Ebira.
Did you move to Okene alone?
No, my immediate older brother, the late Abba Mustapha, we went together with him. In fact, he died in Okene years later. I think when I was in Keffi or something like that.
As a young person?
Yes.
So, how was life in Okene for you; coming from Kano to that place?
Not too much of a problem, really, because Alhaji Abdulmaliki, although he was a son of the Attah(tradional ruler), lived away from the township where the Attah’s palace was, near the motor park. So you were on top of the hill there. We used to trek half a mile.
Even the public water tap was about halfway down the hill. When the women wanted water, they have to go down the hill to draw water from the public tap.
What was he doing himself then?
I think he became High Commissioner in the UK later.
But at that point, when you moved with him to Okene, what was he doing?
He was sort of, if you like, the NA(native authority) scribe. His father was the Attah, so he was the NA chief scribe there.
His office was very close to the Attah’s palace, as well as the prison yard. And our school was just about half a kilometre away from the palace.
How many years did you spend in Okene?
Well, all my primary school years. I did Middle School, Okene Middle School for one year before I went to Keffi.
So, are you good with the language? Is it something that you retain with you?
Yes, definitely.
Even now?
In fact, our first year, everything—the instructions – were in Ebira and all that but for Alhaji Abdulmaliki, who brought me up, some of his wards – some were relations, yes. Some went with him to Katsina College. They stayed in Katsina, somehow being a prince.
When he was a student himself?
Yes, because in those days all these emirs, they could, because of the relationship with other potentates in the area.
What period did you go to Keffi? Was it senior secondary school?
No, secondary school, six years. In those days we were not doing WAEC in five years, you know; yes, six years in Keffi.
So, how was the experience in Keffi in those days?
Keffi was alright. We had, most of our teachers were Englishmen. We had only two Nigerian teachers, one of whom was Mallam Isa Koto, who went to Katsina College too. He had a very small voice. When he was talking, you would think it was some English woman. Mallam Isa Koto was from Koton-Karfe and he used to take Forms 1 and 2 in English in Keffi.
What period was this?
I went there in 1952.
You also went to King’s College, Lagos, for your HSC, High School certificate?
Yes.
Was that something you chose or that was imposed on you?
I think I chose it. What happened was that somehow the principal of King’s College, usually when another comes, his predecessor becomes advisor on secondary education, so he came to Keffi. And some of the boys, particularly those who had some relations in Lagos and all that, one of them asked.
Why were you not allowed to go to King’s College?
Then the principal asked how many of us were interested in the school? Of course, a few of us raised our hands and he said, okay, we should come and see him. And that’s how I went to King’s College.
That was in 1960, I believe?
Yes, 1959-60.
Lagos was still not yet the capital of Nigeria. How was the atmosphere then for you coming from the North into…
Lagos was the capital.
I mean before independence, it was the colonial capital.
Yes, it was the colonial capital and my old man used to be a broadcaster. So, he was moved to Lagos.
Okay. So he was in Lagos by the time you went there?
Yes.
So it was a bit of a home for you?
Yes, I was….
And I think from King’s College, you went straight to study law in England?
Yes.
What gave you that kind of opportunity; because most people would stay and teach and maybe work first before becoming students?
Now, I think what happened, we applied for a law scholarship, Justice Belgore and I, that’s where I first met him.
In King’s College? Was he in King’s College also?
No, not King’s College. He was from Ilesa Grammar School. I don’t think he went to King’s College. Ilesa Grammar School, and also did HSC at the time.
Did you apply together for the law scholarship?
Yes, that’s where I met him actually at the interview.
Was it the northern one or the federal one?
Northern scholarship, although my old man was on the board of the federal scholarship. And he himself, being a broadcaster, so radio took him to Lagos.
This was Radio Nigeria, right?
Well, yes.
So, what happened? When you applied for this scholarship to go to England, was it a straightforward thing; you just got it…?
I knew we went with Belgore but I remember one other boy also from Okene, who used to go to Lagos very often. He knew about King’s College at that time.
So, talk to us about life in England for a young man then. This was 1960?
Yes. For me, it was very easy, really, because Abdulmaliki, who brought me up in Okene, was High Commissioner at that time.
He was then in London?
Yes, and because he also had a son, Moshood, who was about my age. He knew how we were(in London). The first time I went to greet him, he asked that I come to the house. He took me into his house.
So, you stayed in the house of the High Commissioner?
Yes.
In 1960?
I did because his son was also there. He was in King’s College in London. There was also another son who looked much more like him, Muazu. He was a year or two behind me.
Did you need Latin in those days to study law? And how did you do that?
Now, Latin, somehow, we had a teacher who was a Latin master. So he coached me privately.
This was in King’s College?
Yes. He coached me privately.
So, it was not part of the curricula for you to learn formally in the school?
No. People used to go, without Latin, to other Inns of court. But the Inn of court I went to, they used to insist on Latin.
So, was that a problem for you, this strange language?
No, because I did Latin. Our Latin master in King’s College coached me privately.
So, it was good enough for you to follow?
Yes, I managed a pass.
You studied law. Normally, for many people who studied law, especially in the 1960s, the opportunities were endless. You can be a lawyer, a civil servant. Why did you choose the Foreign Service?
Well, let’s say Abdulmaliki brought me up.
You were influenced by the High Commissioner?
Yes and at one time, even my old man himself was a Nigerian Pilgrims Officer based in Omdurman in the Sudan.
So, those were the reasons you felt comfortable there?
Yes, that’s true.
How were the early years in the service? I believe after the training, you were posted, first to Liberia?
Yes. Well, Liberia, I didn’t stay long because our student officer for Northern Region, Ambassador Durlong, when he became ambassador, requested that I should be moved to Holland, where he was going to serve. So, I went.
So, after Liberia, you served in Holland?
Yes, and (then) Rome.
A lot of people, who follow these things, remember your tenure in the OAU Liberation Committee?
Yes.
I think you seem to have stayed a very long time there?
Eight years.
So, what was the OAU Liberation Committee doing at that time?
We were mainly assisting those liberation movements recognised by the OAU: liberation movements of Southern Africa. A few of them were recognised by the OAU, like MPLA, ZANU, ZAPU.
MPLA is from Angola, ZANU from Zimbabwe. What of the ANC, the other ones in South Africa?
Yes, ANC. That was the mother of our liberation movements in a way.
So, what were you doing for them? What help were you giving them?
I was Assistant Executive Secretary, Administration and Finance. So we used to go to the frontlines with them to see how they were doing. They would kit us with their uniform, give us AK-47 rifles. I would go with them to the frontline where they were fighting.
So, Nigeria at that point, was able to give money. Because that’s one thing we became known for: supporting, and funding these movements.
Yes.
Were we able to still give money when we really didn’t have much then?
We did: we did give money. Although those members of the OAU who were members of the Liberation Committee, because, you know, certain countries were chosen, they became members of the Liberation Committee as well, particularly all those countries in Southern Africa and all that.
The frontline?
Yes, the frontline states, like Tanzania, Zambia and all that.
So, we became frontline because of our size, right and maybe also our capacity to fund?
That is true, our funding, yes.
But did we really contribute huge funds. It’s like we were the one country that helped them to liberate themselves. How true is that picture that…?
Well, I think they exaggerated it. Every member of the Liberation Committee had his own assessed contribution to pay. Of course, they will take into consideration the country’s means, and all that. So what people contributed to the Liberation Committee was different, depending on the country’s size and all that.
How was it for you personally? I mean, here you were in this quite dangerous job, so to say, confronting these determined colonialists?
Yes, in fact, one of the things we used to do, we used to go to the frontlines with the liberation movements, kitted, with AK-47 and all that. And of course, you know, obey their instructions, particularly whenever the colonialists were coming or were raiding.
Were you at risk? Dar es Salaam was then fairly far away from the war theatre?
Yes.
How was Tanzania then, Dar es Salaam? This was the period when Mwalimu was experimenting with his African socialism. What do you make of it? Was it a success?
I think Mwalimu was a great person really. He was very humane, very kind, very helpful to the countries who were trying to liberate( themselves)in Southern Africa. He was very good indeed, Mwalimu was alright.
Yes, but do you think he made mistakes in his economic policies because Tanzania, for a long time, lagged behind in development, say, compared to Kenya, next door?
Ah, well, yes. Kenya was, if you like, in Eastern and Southern Africa, Kenya was probably the best-known place for businessmen to go to….
Tourism?
Tourism, yes. They were near Serengeti and all that.
But how was Dar es Salaam? How was Tanzania? Were those policies of Mwalimu really good for his people? You lived there. Was it a happy place?
Yes, I think it was. He was a very good leader. He was very good, like our Executive Secretary…
Of the Liberation Committee?
Hashim Mbita, yes. He appointed him, you know.
Let me take you back to Nigeria’s role. There’s still this, maybe, controversy; Nigeria has helped a lot, and funded these liberation movements in Angola, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa itself, and Namibia. Yet many Nigerians have the feeling that they really didn’t pay us back in a nice way. Nigerians are sometimes maltreated in those countries. Even now, visas for Nigerians can be difficult in these same countries that we helped to become free. What do you make of this argument?
I wouldn’t say so, really, because they have high regard for Nigeria and Nigerians except, of course, those bad Nigerians who go to do bad things, drugs and all that. They do appreciate what Nigeria did, and how Nigeria helped in their liberation movements.
But did they show it? I mean in what ways do they show that appreciation? Or is it only diplomatic exchanges?
Well one way you know is the ordinary people, the way they relate to those of us (Nigerian officials) who had something to do with the liberation committee. Yes, they do show appreciation.
I think your first posting as an ambassador, was to Mozambique.
Yes.
Under Samora Machel, then?
Yes.
Can you let us into how that period was? I mean, this was a revolutionary period for Mozambique. There was a civil war going on, I believe, between him and his opponents. So, how was it for you as ambassador?
Well, it was all right, in the sense that Samora Machel was a very pushful and active head of state. He used to have some very good deputies who were in the liberation struggle with him, like Marcelino De Santos. Marcelino De Santos was one of his closest; number two.
Some people you knew from the liberation committee?
From the liberation committee, yes. Because as, the liberation committee, we expect the recognised liberation movements to send delegates to the liberation committee.
And I, of course used to pay them their allowances, and all that. And if they needed anything that the liberation committee can do or can ask resourceful members of the OAU to do, they tell us and we will approach the members of the OAU concerned to assist them in that regard.
So, how did you find Mozambique with all those connections you had? How was it in 1980, 81?
Yeah, Mozambique was alright. They had their own problems in the sense that they still had a bit of rebels who, even after their independence, were being supported by some other countries to harass them. Otherwise, it was okay. It was generally peaceful. They didn’t have too much of a problem really.
What about economic problems? I remember reports about them actually depending on South Africa for even food items.
Well, South Africa, I think then, yes, of course they were countries that have gone through the liberation struggle and all that and well, I mean, there are countries like, Botswana that were assisting them.
Botswana used to assist them a lot with things like meat and all that because they didn’t have otherwise. They were alright really, they were coping.
What was Nigeria doing for them? What was the content of our relationship for our ambassador to advance?
I was particularly close to Samora Machel’s number two, Marcelino De Santos. He was a half-caste, we used to discuss and whatever he thought we could do to assist them I would take it up, either with Nigeria or the OAU generally to help them.
You were able to help them through that economic difficulty?
Yes.
What do you think, in the end, happened to Samora Machel? Was he killed or was it really an accident when his plane crashed?
Well, one would naturally think it was an accident, really. It was an accident.
So, the speculation that it was the South Africans who sabotaged the plane is probably…
It could be maybe, we don’t know.
Later, you became ambassador in Zimbabwe, where actually you stayed very long and from there ended your career in the ministry?
Yes.
Tell us about Zimbabwe of those days. This is in the early 90s, when it was actually probably the most successful country in Africa?
Well, in a way, Mugabe himself was a very educated and enlightened man. So he was always very outgoing and he related very well with other members of the OAU. He didn’t have any problem, particularly with those countries around him like Tanzania, Zambia, and all that. They had a very good relationship with him.
What accounted for the success? Because Zimbabwe, in those days, in the 90s, was an economic power house.
Yes.
Growing food, exporting food?
Yes.
Is that what made that possible, before we go to the later period, when things actually deteriorated? Is it the white farming activities, you know, which was very strong?
That is true. Of course, the white farmers, they didn’t do the donkey work. They had the blacks who were doing it for them. So, you know, those blacks who were working for the whites also learnt and they became commercial farmers themselves.
But people say those black elite that have acquired farms, sometimes even forcibly, didn’t really run them well. Was the problem beginning to show at that period you were there?
Yes, that was really a problem because some of them initially, some of them, naturally, wanted to appreciate the leaders of liberation movements and gave them, some land.
So, some of the whites naturally left, and because the government took over those farms and gave them to blacks who couldn’t really run them the way the white farmers were running them…
Rewarded them?
Rewarded them with some of the land and, unfortunately, they couldn’t cope, they couldn’t do what the white farmers were doing.
Why does Zimbabwe, until now, seem to be in serious problem well after Mugabe has left?
Well, the problem is partly rooted in the way the liberators themselves handled the abandoned farmlands. They initially gave the abandoned farmlands to those who were in the struggle with them. And, of course…
Their friends?
They couldn’t run the farms.
You retired from Zimbabwe as ambassador. Did you find it strange, after working for that long period, to suddenly be retired, not really active?
Well, I would say I was one of those who kept calling our permanent secretary then that it is about time I retired. So he told me to just stay there until I was recalled. So, I stayed there, but I kept calling and he would say, you just stay there until you are recalled.
So, you stayed a little beyond your retirement?
Well, not too long after.
So, what have you been doing since you retired?
Well, nothing really, except that we still have our association of retirees, not only public service officers, civil servants; we have that association, which meets from time to time—once in a while, not too often but we do meet.
Retired ambassadors and senior civil servants?
Yes.
Do you make input to government, or is it just a social club to kind of fraternize with each other?
Yeah, we do try to reach some of us who have close friends in the government and all that. We do tell them sometimes to raise some issues with those currently in power.
How is life for a retired ambassador? Is it comfortable in retirement? I mean, you know having been in foreign lands, living in big mansions? How is the transition back home?
Well, luckily it was alright, because, when I retired, I came back to Abuja, to my own house, and all that. I still have a lady tenant who is here.
So, you have a few properties …?
Exactly, I have and then we have a flat in Kano, a block of six flats, next door to my house where I stayed.
But is a retired life quiet, too quiet for somebody who has been all over the place?
Well, I wouldn’t say so.
Otherwise, how is your daily life now as a retiree? What do you do during the day,on a typical day?
Nothing as such. Well, the meetings I say we do have.
What of your personal cycle of friends, those you went to school with, are there people you are still in touch with on a regular basis?
Yeah, well, there’s Ambassador Lawal who, you know, we were in school together in Okene and all that, he lives here, in Abuja.
Do you engage in any physical activity? Given the situation of the country, are you able to move around?
Well, I used to play tennis but I haven’t played for a long time now.
What of walking, and is there something you are able to do?
Sometimes on Sundays, I may walk down to buy the papers at Hilton and all that.
How is family life for you? I know you married fairly late.
Yeah, fairly late. It’s okay, the children are there, it’s just three children and only Abdullah is around with us, well, he travels very often.
All the others are working away from you? How many?
Away, I have only three children. Muniru, Abdullah and Malika. Malika, she’s somewhere far away, outside the country.
She’s in the US?
Yes in the US but Abdullah, we do see very often, although he himself travels a lot.
What do you make of what Nigeria has become now, compared to the period when you went to school. Are you surprised where we are now, compared to that period?
Well, in the sense that in those days, if there’s anything you think Nigeria needs to do, you will approach a friend who is close to somebody in government and you raise the issue with the hope that he will take up with his friends in government, things like that.
But do you feel kind of ignored; that you still have a contribution to make, but you are not consulted, as you should be?
No, well, I mean that’s the purpose of our meetings either as retired ambassadors or as retired senior civil servants.
But are you, on a final note, unhappy with the state the country is in now? Do you feel let down given all the work you have done over so many years to contribute your own quota?
Now, what should I say?