CNN International interview with Nigeria's President Obasanjo and USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido Nwangwu on Democracy and Security Issues

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110 Minutes with HAKEEM OLAJUWON
Prologue to Exclusive interview with USAfrica's founder Chido Nwangwu

Special to USAfrica The Newspaper, Houston, USAfricaonline.com and Classmagazine.tv

I set out in the closing weeks of March, 1997, to meet Hakeem Olajuwon, at an appointed 6:30 a.m., unconditional, no questions preview interview, with a simple, singular purpose: ask citizen Hakeem Olajuwon any number of non-basketball questions. None of the usual basketball stats and stuff you can read elsewhere , or even better at nba.com. No; not this time.

Second, the interview is very important. Why? Hakeem, Rockets center #34 is, in my opinion, the most famous continental African to have played in any sport here in the entire American continent.

Third task: capture and represent to our readers a serious, factual word picture of Olajuwon beyond pieces of the man that are largely mired in speculative spittle tattle or merely frozen in hazy legends brewed alongside cups of cappuccino and shots of whisky on rocks in some downtown Houston sports bar.

Fourth objective: I sought to get factual matter and informed, first-person insight beyond the uncouth, baseless and foolish extrapolations of our local, untutored Pull Hakeem Down (PHD) charlatans who, rather than seek the great player's vital views, instinctively run amok with their own condensation of bitterness, bile and bunkum and incendiary ignorance hashed together under the pretension of opinion. USAfrica will not settle for recycling or plagiarizing the story on Hakeem done a few weeks earlier by the Houston Chronicle and Atlanta Journal & Constitution on the Hakeem and Dikembe misunderstanding. Copycats did plagiarize the Chronicle. And, giddily so. We did not; we won't.

Fifth goal: critically assess Hakeem's understanding of his role(s) and value for this community. Is Hakeem first a Nigerian, an African or first a Muslim? His world view is more Islamic; really, it's certainly Islamic. In the main, if I had to identify the three most important things for our friend and brother Hakeem, it will certainly come in this order.

First, Islam.

Second, Islam.

Third, Islam.

Should Hakeem determine who and where he pitches friendships and interests? Yes. But I reminded him this community expects better. Hakeem has to do better in terms of visibility and serious support for causes of fundamental interest to Africans and Nigerians.

Granted that success, as we've all witnessed in today's heady, adrenaline-driven world of sports, brings with it contradictory vibes and demands. Selfish and genuine respect. Fanatical supporters and gold diggers. Adoring little kids and manipulating adult/agents who follow money like bees unto honey, Hakeem must seek a better balance between his private wishes and his public responsibility as a role model, a superstar, our community's very own MVP.

Define it along the lines of African, Nigerian African-American, American or (preferably for Hakeem, along Islamic values and identities. Many of our people see a part of themselves in him; hundreds of thousands look up to him to be more than what he has been.

As an individual, he's a very warm, cheerful company. We enjoyed retelling stories and memories of home. May be the fact we have a few mutual friends, primarily Kase and Kamoru Lawal of CAMAC Holdings, and Ismail Adesina helped enlarge our latitude of fraternal ease. Although he commended strongly our little efforts at USAfrica.

Mrs. Glory Okoro and Alhaja Mogaji, Nigerians who own shops where Olajuwon drops in once in a while to get products or food from back home told me they do not think he's snobbish.

From issues sweeping why he holds dual citizenship (Nigerian and American) to his strong comments about Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. He spoke with the directness of a compatriot when our discussion moved to where the African American community is today, to where the community should be.

We did, of course, discuss what I told him could be described as "his minimal presence within African community, especially among his fellow Nigerians." Here's a sample of his response: "What is the Nigerian community. Is it organized around Igbos, Yorubas, Hausa, Fulanis, Muslim, Christian.... or what?

What are the values and interests? What's the agenda. Where's the agenda that defines a community. A community that seeks to do what? And on what basis is it organized? Why is it that our organizations do not last? Tribalism. Some people just look for what they will gain rather than offering genuine service. ..." That is merely a tip of proverbial iceberg a la Hakeem.

My final observation is that Hakeem's deliberate choosing of whose company to keep is not out of a sudden, self-preening snobbery. No. It seems largely a cautionary awareness, a relocation of self from some persons, smooth operators who claim to work for the common good of our community but work for a private enterprise that I'll rather simply identify as S-E-L-F Limited.

HAKEEM OLAJUWON: Beyond BasketBall....
"I'll go back to Nigeria; it's a duty...." Hakeem

Houston Rockets' Nigerian-born international basketball superstar Hakeem Olajuwon goes head-to-head in a frank, EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with USAfrica's Founder Chido Nwangwu on issues ranging from his relationships with Nigerians, African community, African-Americans, Louis Farrakhan, Dikembe Mutombo, his lifestyle as a Muslim, what his plans after basketball will be, and other issues of public interest. It's Hakeem's first major interview anywhere that seeks the man's mind and views outside and beyond the NBA courts.

Olajuwon on Nigerians and the community:

"Here everyone can say we are all Nigerians or we are all Africans, but in the community, there is discrimination of color, of race, of tribe. Do I love you because of what I can get from you? The love should be unconditional...."

Hakeem on Marriage:

"Whether it's your wife or your brother or sister, you have a certain responsibility to help each other and accept each other's fault and to be able to say " I'm sorry" when you make a mistake.... Ego between a husband and wife should not be, because the two people should be working together. For example, you'll see a husband and a wife, both together, willing to forgive, to accept, to say " It's my fault." The first one that goes toward peace will get the blessing from God. That is maturity."

USAfrica: First, may I congratulate you on your marriage. I hope your wife is doing very well. Hakeem, there are a few issues that I'll like to discuss with you; issues of community interest. How has marriage affected your life?

Hakeem: Well marriage is something that can be wonderful or something disastrous. People look at marriage in a negative way. Especially as a moslem, there are ways that you go about getting married which was taught by the prophet. Marriage is something natural. It makes your life more stable and share a future together particularly where two people are willing to do their best for each other, for the love of God.

USAfrica: What, in your opinion, makes a good marriage? What should people in the African community do to make marriages work better?

Hakeem: Well, I look at everything in an Islamic point of view. A moslem has to look at everything from an Islamic point of view. Marriage is something sacred. It's not from fun. Marriage is a commitment to God. You have fear of God in your heart. That is the basis of how you treat any human being. In today's situation, the husband or the wife makes trouble with each other. You must give in. This is first: to know yourself, to be comfortable with yourself. Some people get married for the wrong reason so from the beginning its wrong. It's very difficult to be with another person when you are not comfortable with yourself.

Comfortable with yourself is to be a good human being. To love yourself and other people. If you struggle with yourself and you try to be someone you are not, you then have to pretend. People will not accept you unless you are somebody. If you know that you are doing your best to develop to be a good human being, a good husband, to try to establish a home, your wife, and your children. These are the goals, the basic necessities in life as a man to establish a home and to support your family at home. This is a responsibility for all men, this is how you build a community.

USAfrica: Do you see some of those values inside the African and African American community because those that are very critical of you say that you are not involved in the community. Those that seem charitable say that Hakeem is protecting himself from people that may complicate things out of his good nature. What do you see as the values inside the community you came from, the Nigerian community.

Hakeem: Well, I know who I am. I have responsibility to God. God has put me in this position. In this position, I have responsibility that I must fulfill. There is only one God, in different faiths in different religions, but the basic principles that he is saying is to give to your fellow man (or woman). These are basic in all religions. So let's take that as common ground. When you say community, the community cannot unite together. If you are a good muslim, you should be a good citizen everywhere. You must be obedient to God's law. If you don't have anything good to say about somebody, don't say anything. Act like a community or be the community that reacts to the part of the solutions to problems, not part of the problem. I am so impressed by people in our community who are in the mix of things, like what you're doing with USAfrica. Linking people, and businesses; you know informing. Things like that. You see, we all have to be responsible That is why it's easy for both of us to get along. Black Americans are still on the issue of being oppressed, but it's now time to move forward. For Nigerians that came here, the original intention was to get our degree and go back home.

USAfrica: So are you saying that people still see you from the days when you were much younger, when you were able to hangout and party with them. Do you think they forget you are a parent now; you have more responsibilities?

Hakeem: What was the question again?

USAfrica:The question is this: are you avoinding relating with your fellow Nigerians, are you removing yourself from your friends from years gone by?

Hakeem: No, No; what is the character of those Nigerians who say I do not mix or do this and do that.

USAfrica:Some people are saying that Hakeem is not reasonably, functionally involved or relating with his community.

Hakeem: Well how can relate; how are they organized? Organized on the basis of what? Can any of these tribes be sincere, together? On the basis of putting aside their differences?

USAfrica: So you are suggesting that the Nigerian community is not well organized?

Hakeem: No.

USAfrica: What are you saying, Hakeem?

Hakeem: Because of human nature, there are tribalism, racism, discrimination and other things, it affects the Nigerian community. What type of way is that? The only thing that help is the love of God. Islam. That's why when you go to Mecca, you see three million people that come from all over the world. They didn't know each other before coming together and their hearts are together. You see white, black, Pakistanis, and Nigerians all together.

USAfrica: Are you satisfied with your relationship with the U.S. Are you satisfied with your natural community of origin, the Nigerian community? Hakeem, again, I ask you, why do people think that you are not adequately engaged in the community?

Hakeem: Well this is me. It's natural. I respect you because you are a man. You have purpose in life and with your media networks. Chido, you're positively affecting Africans and Americans across the U.S. That's fine. That's what we need; that's what we're talking about. We've to be better organized. You respect people, regardless.

USAfrica: Would you say that Dikembe Mutombo is on target, when he suggested a few months ago that you have abandoned your African heritage? What really happened between you and Mutombo?

Hakeem: Okay, as he came into the league, I shook his hand, and we had some brief interactions. I made some observations about him. He tried to fit in. He tried to fit into this society. I have asked Mutombo about the comments, he tried to convince me that this wasn't true. He pretended that he didn't know what I was talking about. I called the Atlanta press, and told them to find the man who did the interview with Mutombo (an African who plays for the Atlanta Hawks).

I asked if they were sure of their report. They said yes. I called Mutombo. He saw me and saw the man. I confronted him again, with the issue he denied it. I was also accused by some that the Nigeria Olympic soccer team came to Atlanta while we were there for the U.S NBA... that I didn't want to see the game and support our homeboys. These people were playing miles away. And I had an NBA game a few hours apart. From here to there, they had maximum security. So how can I go an hour and a half away, come back, and go to my game.

USAfrica: Let's look at Hakeem beyond basketball. What does Hakeem Olajuwon seek to do beyond basketball. How are you effectively going to channel your blessing in other areas.

Hakeem: It's very simple, as you know my cause is Islam. You study to love and to educate and to solve the problem about Islam and the rest of the world. Islam is the solution to all the problems in Nigeria, and here. Imagine you see people, coming from different countries, black, white can come together and bring their differences in a beautiful way to enrich the culture of the civilization. How can you beat that. Your vision is to remind people of their duty to God.

USAfrica: Are you going back to Nigeria sometime in the future?

Hakeem: Yes. Nigeria is my home. It's my duty to go back to Nigeria. I'll go back to Nigeria. That's a duty. I mean to improve the community? I know that Islam is the solution to all problems. It covers the political, the social, it covers everything. It's a way of life. Moslems are to be an example to the world.

USAfrica: Let me ask you about Michael Jordan,what type of relationship do you have with him?

Hakeem: We have mutual respect. Apart from his basketball skill, he is someone that is focused and determined. He has the characteristics of a warrior, to accomplish a goal. You have to admire him.

USAfrica: What about Charles Barkley?

Hakeem: Barkley, you know, I really don't understand as much because he is different from how the media projects him. He's a nice guy. So we have mutual respect.

USAfrica: What about Houston Rockets' coach Rudy Tomjonovich?

Hakeem: Well, he is an excellent coach.

USAfrica: How do you stay physically fit, looking the same way for these number of years?

Hakeem: Well, you live the same lifestyles. I give people their rights. You command respect because you give them their rights.

USAfrica: Are you going to run for public office?

Hakeem: No. My office is for God.

USAfrica: The U.S. foreign policy has for a number of years dealt with Islamic influences and clashed with Islamic governments in the Middle East and other parts of the world. Why has it been so? Some Islamic governments have been charged with having terrorristic activities....

Hakeem: Well, are they all the same; all terroristic? No For example, Nigerians have been dealt with as if they are all dupes and people who are looking for someone to cheat, but as both of us very well know, the majority of Nigerians are productive, hard working, law abiding, some are good role models like yourself. Well what can you say about it. We have been abused unfortunately.

USAfrica: Finally Hakeem, what roles do you think a newspaper like USAfrica can play in an immigrant community like the United States?

Hakeem: Well this is a rich market. There is a big audience for it. I think you have a good foundation. So when they get something in the paper they know its close to the action. The goal is to get in the middle of things. Give accurate and useful information. I've heard about your work and things. Just keep it and always report the truth and the facts. I like your newspaper, USAfrica.

USAfrica: I've enjoyed sharing views with you on issues that go way beyond basketball.

Hakeem: Chido, I enjoyed it, too. What you're doing is very important for the community and your profession. Letting people know the facts; not hearsay. You, know, getting to the source. That's always important. People who do not know me should not make hasty, uninformed comments; although it doesn't really bother me. That was the problem I had with the Mutombo issue. Just keep it up. Tell the community the facts from all sides; USAfrica will continue to grow.

USAfrica: I wish you well in your endeavors, Hakeem.

Hakeem: Thank you.

(No part of this interview is allowed to be excerpted for commercial interests/duplicated/copied without the WRITTEN permission of the Founder of USAfricaonline.com. Copyright © June 1997).

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CLASS is the leading social events and style magazine for Africans in north America. APPRECIATION A young father writes his One year old son: "If only my heart had a voice...." TRIBUTE A KING FOR ALL TIMES: Why Martin Luther King's legacy and vision are relevant into 21st century. Why Chinua Achebe, the Eagle on the Iroko, is Africa's writer of the century. By Chido Nwangwu Since 1958, Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" set a standard of artistic excellence, and more. By Douglas Killam DEMOCRACY DEBATE CNN International debate on Nigeria's democracy livecast on CNN. It involved Nigeria's Information Minister Prof. Jerry Gana, Prof. Salih Booker and USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido Nwangwu. Transcripts are available on the CNN International site. USAfrica The Newspaper voted the "Best Community Newspaper" in the 4th largest city in the U.S., Houston. It is in the Best of Houston 2001 special as chosen by the editors and readers of the Houston Press, reflecting their poll and annual rankings. Tragedy of Ige's murder is its déjà vu for the Yoruba southwest and rest of Nigeria. By Ken Okorie What has Africa to do with September 11 terror? By Chido Nwangwu Should Africa debates begin and end at The New York Times and The Washington Post? No NEWS INSIGHT CNN, Obasanjo and Nigeria's struggles with democracy. Why Obasanjo's government should respect CNN and Freedom of the press in Nigeria. Jonas Savimbi, UNITA are "terrorists" in Africans' eyes despite Washington's "freedom fighter" toga for him. By SHANA WILLS Lifestyle Sex, Women and (Hu)Woman Rights. By Chika Unigwe Africa suffers the scourge of the virus. This life and pain of Kgomotso Mahlangu, a five-month-old AIDS patient (above) in a hospital in the Kalafong township near Pretoria, South Africa, on October 26, 1999, brings a certain, frightening reality to the sweeping and devastating destruction of human beings who form the core of any definition of a country's future, its national security, actual and potential economic development and internal markets. 22 million Africans HIV-infected, ill with AIDS while African leaders ignore disaster-in-waiting What has Africa to do with September 11 terror? By Chido Nwangwu Africans reported dead in terrorist attack at WTC September 11 terror and the ghost of things to come.... Will religious conflicts be the time-bomb for Nigeria's latest transition to civilian rule? Bola Ige's murder another danger signal for Nigeria's nascent democracy. In a special report a few hours after the history-making nomination, USAfricaonline.com Founder and Publisher Chido Nwangwu places Powell within the trajectory of history and into his unfolding clout and relevance in an essay titled 'Why Colin Powell brings gravitas, credibility and star power to Bush presidency.' AFRICA AND THE U.S. ELECTIONS Beyond U.S. electoral shenanigans, rewards and dynamics of a democratic republic hold lessons for African politics. CONTINENTAL AGENDA Bush's position on Africa is "ill-advised." The position stated by Republican presidential aspirant and Governor of Texas, George Bush where he said that "Africa will not be an area of priority" in his presidency has been questioned by USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido Nwangwu. He added that Bush's "pre-election position was neither validated by the economic exchanges nor geo-strategic interests of our two continents." These views were stated during an interview CNN's anchor Bernard Shaw and senior analyst Jeff Greenfield had with Mr. Nwangwu on Saturday November 18, 2000 during a special edition of 'Inside Politics 2000.' Nwangwu, adviser to the Mayor of Houston (the 4th largest city in the U.S., and immigrant home to thousands of Africans) argued further that "the issues of the heritage interests of 35 million African-Americans in Africa, the volume and value of oil business between between the U.S and Nigeria and the horrendous AIDS crisis in Africa do not lend any basis for Governor Bush's ill-advised position which removes Africa from fair consideration" were he to be elected president. By Al Johnson