Intro:
A Certified National Accountant and a Fellow, Certified National Accountants of Nigeria, Alfred Mboto, holds a Ph'D in Accounting and he is the immediate past Chairman of Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Cross River State Branch and has reached the zenith of his career. He is currently, the Permanent Secretary, Special Services office; which co-ordinates security matters in Cross River State.
Graceful, grateful and God-conscious, no matter how brief any discussion with him is, he never fails to acknowledge God as the source of all that he is and attributes all his successes in life to the grace of God.
An unsung philanthropist, AmbP. Alfred Mboto has over the years, been a vehicle which has driven development to individuals, organizations, groups and churches. But he prefers to remain silent on this aspect of his life.
In this interview with GAM at his office, Alfred Mboto talks about his humble beginning and his journey to the top which was not without challenges. However, he was able to make it with God as the architect and planner of his life.
GAM: Can we meet you?
MBOTO: I am Dr. Alfred Mboto. I am a permanent secretary in the Special Services Office in Governor’s office, Calabar. For the sake of clarification, Special services office co-ordinates security in the entire Cross River State.
GAM: Do you also hold the designation of a Special Adviser to the Governor on security matters?
MBOTO: Before now, this office was headed by the State Security Adviser but with the new architecture, we have three state Security Advisers, one per senatorial district in the state, who are coordinated by me. The administrative headship of this office rests with the Permanent Secretary.
GAM: Can you tell us about your background?
MBOTO: I come from a humble family. My parents; father and mother, married each other as orphans. They were both peasant farmers determined to succeed in their farming. They stayed together because of love and raised their children with strict discipline.They were not church goers but they were Christians at heart. I cannot forget the charity they showed to those who lacked food in the community. The mad persons who strayed to our compound were not left out in their care. They were successful yam farmers. In fact, they were yam title owners. Then, success was measured by the number of yam barns you could boast of, the number of economic trees that can be attributed to you, the number of canoes you had in the river and so on. In other words, they were successful at the time.
My parents believed that they could raise children who would surpass their mark of achievements and they lived to that and saw us through schools. I am the fourth of the six children(all boys) from my mother. My elder brothers and siblings and I owe our respective achievements in life to them. May their souls rest in peace, Amen.
GAM: You are an accountant by profession? What informed your choice of accounting as a career?
MBOTO: Truly speaking, as a youth back then, my career choice was not accounting. I had hoped to become a lawyer. I think wherever life takes you to; you should dance to the tune or in accordance with what God wants you to do. I never believed in my life that I would end up as an accountant. If I were not a Lawyer, I would have probably, become an architect. Now, here I am, as God made it, I turned out to become an accountant. God is the determining factor in our lives. You may be hoping to become one thing in life but God turns you to another.
I know that I wrote JAMB and scored 267. The cut-off point for that year was 270. Twice, I tried but in vain. Now, I know that God wanted me to become an accountant. I started out in Education. In Education, my interest was in Economics/Accounting, before proceeding to Accounting as a course. Today, by the grace of God, I am a certified accountant and a Fellow, indeed.
GAM: Do you consider yourself a fulfilled person?
MBOTO: I feel fulfilled because it is what God wanted me to become in life. God determines who and what we become in life. All one needs to do is to add efforts towards actualising God’s plan. Perhaps, if I had gone out of God’s plan for me, I may not have reached the level I have found myself. Today, I am a Certified National accountant and a permanent secretary, which is the peak of the civil service. God has been very kind to me. My message to every person is this: Allow the will of God to be done in your life. If anyone had told me then, that I would become an accountant; perhaps, I would have doubted it. It is therefore, important to advise people to always go after the will of God and not after what they desire.
GAM: Can we have a peep into your religious life?
MBOTO: I was born into a family of traditional religion. We had a primary school in my village, St Paul's School, Ovonum, which was owned by the Catholic Mission where white priests came to celebrate mass. Then, I often admired the mass servers who served at mass. I really admired the manner the white priests interacted and played with them. My two elder brothers were already baptized and practising Catholics to my attraction. At that time, I used to imitate the mass servers. Eventually, I became a chorister, baptised, a mass server, confirmed catholic and later got married to my wife from a non Catholic family.
I love Catholicism. As we speak, we are staunched Catholics in my family. We can boast of three knights; two are Knights of St. Mulumba and one is a Knight of St.John's International.
GAM: You mentioned your wife while trying to talk about your religious life. How did you meet her? Can you tell us about the family you have both raised?
MBOTO: When I felt it was time for me to marry, I went to the village. There I found my wife at our regular farm yard in the village when she was returning from farm. I did not marry because I was having so much but I married because I wanted to be responsible and I love her. As at the time I married my wife, I can remember that we did not have anything but we could boast of a cassava farm. We even got married before we finished school. Our marriage has been blessed with a girl and two boys with the girl now married.
Marriage should be based on love. Every other blessing will come, base on the love you have for each other. It is unfortunate that these days, a lot of young people see marriage from the perspective of materialism. When you ask a young man why he is not married yet, he will tell you that he is yet to secure a white-collar job. For the young woman, she will tell you that she does not see a future with the young man before him because he has nothing doing. Both of you can work things out.
Besides, love is the foundation of marriage. Love each other. Respect each other. Do not go into marriage because of material things. Do not go into marriage because you want to obtain favour from a partner. Rather go into marriage because you sincerely love each other.
GAM: Did you know that you will become this great?
MBOTO: I did not know. I did not know that
God will bring me this far in life. I owe everything I am and will become, to
God.
GAM: What has been your most memorable moment?
MBOTO: For the joyous, the day I was baptised and ushered into the Catholic Christian life. That day the Priest said to me: ‘’I baptise you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit." On the other hand, for the sad one, the day my elder brother, late Dr Ferdinand Abeng Mboto (KSJI) died. I still remember it as if it were yesterday.
GAM: Do you have any regret in life?
MBOTO: No, I don’t think so except that I think I have not done much yet for the society.
GAM: What advice do you have for the youths especially, the Nigerian youths at this time where the future seems uncertain?
MBOTO: I recall vividly that my parents were very concerned about us and would always advise that we respect dignity of labour. Same counsel, I will offer to our youths. Choose industry over enjoyment. Greatness will only come from the common things you have done well. If you check the Guinness Book of Record, there is no where you will be told or shown the person who enjoyed life the most in the world.
Let me also advise our youths to respect the elders. Obey the norms and constituted authorities. Be humble. Be hardworking, truthful, fear God and respect the sanctity of human life.
The youths in Nigeria have so much to do. Let them shun all the vices that have turned our country into this level of insecurity. Engage yourself in productive ventures. Do not be idle. Do not wait for the white collar jobs. I remember that as a young person and student, I was going from one house to another to teach children extra-mural classes and I was earning so much from that before I had a job. Youths, change your current abnormal mentality. The dependency mentality must be changed. That mentality of desiring to earn money that you did not work for must be changed. Believe in hard work and reward of labour. Stop living above your income and stop indulging in negative innovations threatening peace and harmony.
Most importantly, be close to God. If you are close to God, you will achieve so much and our country will become great again.
GAM: What do you hope to do after retirement?
MBOTO:
If God permits, I should go and lecture in the university. I want to
share my knowledge and experience over the years, with the young ones. I want
to help guide them aright.
GAM: Where do you see your country, Nigeria in the next ten years?
MBOTO: The landmass called Nigeria will still be Nigeria. For me, the future of this country is not bleak but bright. Let more efforts be invested in education and research, mentoring the youths for entrepreneurship mindset development, building local infrastructure with greater concentration of local content to reduce unemployment in the nation and the nation to uphold justice in all circumstances. Let the youths also build themselves for productive living shunning all forms of criminality.
GAM: Your job is a very critical one. Do you encounter or fear threat of harassment or intimidation to your life or person?
MBOTO: I am not and I have never been afraid of anyone. For me, it is God who has the final say to every one’s life and situation and only His will must always be done. Nevertheless, I try my best to carry all my staff and everyone around me along. I also try to give my best to my job. My motto is: Life is meaningless without others.
Also, accountability is a key factor in our job. If you see white, you call it white. Besides, security is dialogue. The best way to resolve any matter is first of all dialogue and restoring security. They are very relevant. My advocacy is peace. I was appointed United Nations Ambassador for peace and I have been on peace mission locally and internationally. The dialogue strategy has worked very well. As we speak, so many leaders of the cult groups in our state have renounced cultism and have embraced peace.
GAM: What are some of those security tips you can offer at the moment?
MBOTO: Every person should think of safety and fear God. Stop living flamboyantly. Control your movements. Do not discuss financial transactions publicly. Be mindful of who is following you. Live your life in such a manner that will not make people see you as a target. Life should be lived in a modest way. Be contented and cut your coat according to your size.
GAM: What will you like to be remembered for?
MBOTO: History should hold that this man was a benefactor of life.
GAM: Thank you for granting us this interview.
MBOTO: You are welcome and peace be with you.
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