My close shave with death after burying intimate friend

My close shave with death after burying
intimate friend – Imansuangbon
By Sam Eyoboka
Barrister Kenneth Imansuangbon (aka Rice Man) is
the proprietor and Chairman of Abuja-based Pace
Setters Group of Schools, lawyer, businessman and
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship
aspirant in Edo State. He spoke in Benin-City
shortly after a thanksgiving service at the Rev. Dr.
Felix Omobude-pastored New Covenant Gospel
Church to thank God for saving his life in a motor
accident last November 13. Excerpts:
Congratulations for surviving an accident late last
year. Did you have any premonition?
Yes. I knew somehow that there were evil persons
who were not happy with what I was doing for the
masses. I felt somehow that they were not happy
with the good I am doing, like sharing rice, giving
scholarships, sponsoring essay competitions,
football competitions in Edo and across the country,
reaching out to widows and orphans and so on. I
knew that some people don’t like such good things.
But there are also some people that love it.
Each time I do
such things, it is
because of my
faith in God. The
background I
came from is
very poor. I lost
my father in
1983. From that
point in time,
mama (his
mother) toiled
day and night to
provide for our
needs. Mama
trained me in black clothes (mourning attires). I am
the first of six children. My mother, Elizabeth
Imansuangbon, is a wonderful woman; very resilient
and courageous.
When my father died, she didn’t abandon us to
marry another man. She was very beautiful. She
stood by me. I actually benefited from the sympathy
of the public. So, that is why you see me giving. I
can give my knickers, shoes and even pants and go
naked without batting an eyelid. It is in my DNA to
have sympathy for the poor. People think it is
because of politics that I feed people, but if they
know where I am coming from, they would know
that nothing can be farther from the truth. My
guiding principle is that politics should have face of
humanity.
When I give, I give selflessly; even when I give in
pain. There are certain giving you do, even when
you don’t have. But you’re constrained to give
because you could see the weakness and begging
of the people with their eyes and body language. So,
you’re left with no option than to bend over
backward to give. At times, I feel pain. It is not easy
to give. At times, I feel, this money that I am giving,
why don’t I keep it for my children? Or why don’t I
use it buy big cars, expensive wristwatches and
build a big house? This house I live in (in Benin) is a
rented apartment.
What are the lessons you have learnt from that
accident?
That life is vanity. It’s like a vapour. November 14, I
would have died were it not for the mercies of God. I
must say that as a result of the accident, two things
have happened. I have taken two decisions. As a
result of this accident, I would hold on to God the
more, serve Him more than ever, serve the
community and the people. I will serve Edo people,
serve Nigeria, serve the world.
Let me also add that the accident has brought unity
to the state. It has synergised both PDP and APC.
We should take politics beyond hatred. Politics is
not hate. If you hate because you’re a politician,
then, you’re not a human being. Politics is love; and
that was demonstrated by Edo people the day I
arrived from the overseas treatment. Over 20,000
people were at the airport to welcome me.
Everywhere was jampacked. For four hours, they
waited-old, young, men, women, children. From the
airport, they trekked with me down to my house (at
GRA). It is only love that can make anybody do that
kind of a thing. Those who I never knew prayed for
me. Muslims prayed for me. Imams prayed for me.
Christians prayed for me. Everybody prayed for me.
What was the thought that came to your mind when
you lost your dad?
His death was a huge shock. I felt that it was the
end of the world for me, that I was finished. I
thought there was no hope left. Immediately the
doctor pronounced him dead, I felt hopeless. But
after his burial, I knew that I had to hold on to my
creator. God gave me hope. God inspired me. He
fired me up. And the Edo people and Nigerians as a
whole fired me up. His death was also a tonic for
success.
You rose from rag to riches, grass to grace. What
was the turning point?
From Ewohinmi, my mother would come to Benin
when I was in ICE, wearing black clothes. I am
sorry to say this, part of our culture is unfriendly
and unkind to woman. If a woman loses her
spouse, for three years, she is made to wear black
clothes. She would come to Benin in her black
clothes to give me foodstuff and other necessities. I
knew that the only way was to succeed. I would tell
her, ‘Mama, don’t worry. If it pleases the God
almighty, the end would justify the means’. Today, I
am grateful to God and to my mother. Also, I have a
very great wife, Kate. She is like a bulwark. She is
my brain. God gave me a good partner.
Whatever I am today, she is very instrumental to it.
And she is a God-fearing woman.
What attracted you to your wife?
Quite honestly, I don’t deserve the wife I got. Yes, I
wanted a God-fearing woman, a woman that would
love the poor. My wife said to me that when she
was young, she used to dream that she was helping
the poor on the street, sharing rice, noodles and all
what not. And today, that’s what we’re doing.
In Edo State, they call you the Rice Man because of
you philanthropy. You’re are also a lawyer and
politician. What drives you?
What is dear to me is that I am Kenneth
Imansuangbon. I am an ordinary man. I am like any
ordinary Nigerian on the street. But what drives me
on is that one day, we would realize a country of
our dream, where everyone would have job, peace,
security, good water system, good educational
system; a country where we would not emphasise
tribe, but that which strengthens us.
Where there would be justice, fairness and equity.
That is my hope for the country. That is actually
what drives me on. Each time people ask: ‘Ken, why
are you in politics?’ I am in politics because I want
a better nation. I want a better life for my fellow
Nigerians. What I have seen on the streets of New
York, what I have seen at the Heathrow Airport,
what I have seen in Dubai, what is happening in
South Africa can happen in Nigeria, if we have the
men with good heart in government, if we have
people in government that would see themselves as
servants of the people rather than as the Lords of
the Manor.
Every chance we have in government is given by
God. God would ask questions. Life is very frail and
temporal. On November 13, 2013, I was coming
from Akure where I went for the burial of my very
good friend, Deji Falae. Deji had died. Back home, I
was almost gone. But the finger of God stopped
death and Satan, and gave me life. God said, ‘No,
touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm.’
That was what saved me. And because of that
safety, Edo people are together now. The safety God
granted me has bonded the two dominant political
parties (APC and PDP) in the state. The governor
and I are friends now. We’re brothers. Everybody is
one now. The accident that almost claimed my life
has unified Edo people. What makes Edo strong is
not PDP. What makes Edo strong is not APC.
What makes Edo strong is not the rich oil or
vegetation in the state. What makes Edo strong is
the spirit of forgiveness, the spirit of unity, the spirit
that I can criticize the Comrade Governor, and the
next day, he can come to my thanksgiving. That’s
love. What strengthens us is that the Comrade
Governor knows that I can be the next governor.
That he can hand over the key of Government
House to me. And he said during my thanksgiving
that God and the people would determine who would
be the governor (of Edo State) after him in 2016. To
quote him, ‘It might be Kenneth, it might be
Imansuangbon.’ He’s checking out, I am checking
in.
Rumour has it that you weep each time you travel
abroad. Why?
It is no rumour. The first time I got to the US, I was
crying. I wept. The American Customs office asked
why I was crying. I told him I was crying because I
didn’t know why my country, Nigeria, was not like
this (US). Where did we miss it as a people? That
was actually what triggered my interest in politics.
That is the reason I said no matter the hazards in
politics, some of us are ready to live and die for
what we believe in to make a change in our
country. This change is coming. This change will
come.