The president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Peter Esele, is a member of the Eckanker '- students of the Light and Sound(of God). You probably didn't know that this graduate of Mass Communications who heads one of the most powerful labour unions in the country, is an ardent Chelsea fan and a voracious consumer of pounded yam' Poke him well enough and he'll tell some interesting stories about his life journey so far. He spoke with YEMI OGUNSOLA.Perhaps there is nothing fantastic about Peter Esele '- at first glance. Just an ordinary-looking fellow in his earliest forties. This Isan man loves pounded yam, just like many out there; cherishes moinmoin and ogi, just like you and I; is a Chelsea fanatic, which is 'bull-shit' to Barca fans; plays table tennis and football at weekends but lives in mortal fear of being wounded ('I don't want to use crutches'). Too shy to launch direct attacks on gazelles, this Lion (Zodiac sign: Leo) would rather stalk and stalk mustering courage '- or strategy'- for the big pounce. (But he hardly ever misses' Ask Mrs. Esele). More about that later.But then, a certain spirituality permeates the whole of this ordinary-looking fellow which owes its origin to neither Christianity nor Islam. For one, he 'pays attention to the fine things of life that many people don't pay attention to...' Dreams for instance:'As early as age six, my dad would always wake me up to ask me about my dreams'Dreams are 50 % of our lives.'Esele lives in permanent awe of the Law of karma: 'Whatever you sow, you shall reap'. And He'll tell you 'the most real things in life are not seen with physical eyes''He's an Eckist' a student of the Light and Sound of God happily married to a Christian. Poke him a little about that Eckist/Christian alliance and he'll tell you:'As am talking to you today, today, today, if am asked to pick a wife, I'll still pick her. She has the temperament and the comportment to absorb and manage what I do ''The major cause of religious conflicts, he says, is that 'there in so much religious content ...but spiritual content is low, we are all bound by love.' One of the major things that attracted him to Eckanker is the teaching about Karma which holds man responsible for his own actions. And that belief colours the whole of Esele's life.Esele steers clear of alcohol. Not for any religious reason, he'll quickly add, but because of simple horse sense: Alcohol does not combine well with his brand of activism, which, apart from being necessarily fiery atimes, demands a high degree of clear-headedness.'Then, I had some experience while young'which were not pleasant''A panoramic view of Esele's Life journey so far suggests the influence of an ever-watchful Guardian Angel. This angel constantly prompts his human ward at critical junctures.Or why is it that he is the only surviving child of his mummy' Though the Grim Reaper struck right and left, he steered clear of Esele. Esele himself will confess to you very solemnly, hesitantly: 'I also lost my younger sister'carried her to the mortuary with my own hands. I had a very challenging time growing up''Great things in his life have a habit of starting in minor ways.This one for instance:'Madam, it's unfair to talk to the Tanker Driver that way. He's struggling, doing an honest job, he feeds his family with it. He deserves some respect''Esele, then barely 17, had materialized from behind the water truck. His slightly soaked overall showed he must be the Water Boy.He stood there looking madam straight in the eye.Madam was flustered' and she found herself mumbling an apology. The boy's instant smile dispeled all hard feelings and within minutes, the water delivery was done and the truck roared away. For minutes, madam stood looking after the truck'Why did she apologise to that mere boy' Was it the flawless English' Or the manner he delivered the reprimand'-he sounded much like her father''There's something about that Water Boy'' madam mumbled to herself.Peter Esele, fresh out of school, was earning his living the hard way (he calls it hustling) with a water delivery firm in Benin City. He was on the usual rounds with the water truck to which he was assigned that morning when the driver came under unfair attack from the madam customer.The boy's intervention was a flash of things to come. And it marked the beginning of a working relationship between the boy and the ever-grateful truck driver'- a relationship which yielded both financial and career dividends.About three years later, that water boy was in different overalls: Those of an 'Oil Boy', as technician in an oil company. It came about through a complex interplay of circumstances which perhaps only Esele's Guardian Angel can explain: A foreign oil company decided to establish a branch in the country, one of those promptings which made the Water Boy seek employment in the oil firm (located within the water firm premises); a scot who saw something in the water boy and took a chance on him ('disappoint me and you are toast,' he warned teenage Esele)'Despite a scant background in the sciences, Esele got recruited and was sent offshore.From oil firm to oil firm, Esele appreciated in both experience and earnings '-as a technician.Then one day, it happened again. A boss of Esele's was sacked in unfair circumstances. Esele protested'' I had to walk up to the management to ask why. Their explanation did not satisfy me. So, I said we needed to have terms of agreement' 'There is this Warri proverb: 'Rain wey fall for fowl house today, next time, e go fall for goat house'.'Unknown to him, that bold step was to be another turning point in his life.Peter spearheaded demands for unionism in the company. It fell on hostile ears. Sack threats flew all around his head. He was barred from the lucrative off-shore duty. A particular boss prophesied: 'You will be fired.' But the threat bounced off the Rock.' It will be pork and potatoes for a while, but I will scale through, Esele fired back.' He added a rider, 'If you had not left your previous employment, how would you have been boss here'' That did nothing to endear Esele to the Scotsman. 'Possibly, my good Karma prevented my being sacked,' Esele observes in retrospect, but added, 'but to be fair to the Scotsman, when he went through my file and found nothing incriminating, he didn't carry out his threat.' However, of the 25 that began the agitation for unionism, only five remained by the time the battle was won '- and a Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) chapter emerged in the firm.'With the advent of PENGASSAN, the life we thought was good now became better,' Esele smiles.That was in 1999.By 2005, Esele was PENGASSAN Deputy President. By 2006, he was President. Then came 2007 and the contest for the Trade Union Congress executive.The election was just about two weeks away when friends and well-wishers finally prevailed on Esele to run for the presidency. He was just 35. There were already two contenders'- the incumbent and another experienced challenger.No one gave the young latecomer much chance. Even a week to the elections, Pre-poll reports remained unfavourable. ' But my guys were there for me...' Esele recalls with a smile.And so came the D-Day with only two contestants remaining, one having withdrawn.But the prospects still looked dismal. But some guardian angels were neither sleeping nor slumbering 'At the very nick of the nick of time, there came a tide-turner: an electoral decision to grant the contenders just five minutes to address the electorate.' But when it came my turn to address the gathering, the lights went off. I looked beyond the hall and saw lights far off' (sabotage'). I began to count'to stabilize my spirit' then the light came back on. My speech was straight to the points: More power to women, correction of wrong impression about TUC as having been formed to counter NLC (Nigeria Labour Congress) and TUC going on the internet, having a website, then capacity-building, training'' The speech of the Mass Communication graduate lasted four minutes thirty-five seconds. ' And as I stopped, I heard a woman hail 'this is digital President' that was it ''Victory, when it came, was narrow: Two votes. But it was so sweet.The Eckanker labour leader speaks with something bordering on awe of the laws of Karma and of life in general. He wonders at the enormous folly of those who, finding themselves in positions of power ride life roughshod: 'If only Nigerian leaders realise the bad karma they accumulate when they misrule''His most trying experience so far, he says, was the January 2012 protests over hike in fuel price. He chooses his words carefully as he struggles to convey how delicate and much like tight-rope walking the struggle was, especially as it concerned such inflammable matters as petrol and high-level corruption: 'one day you were a hero, the next, you were a villain'sensitive decisions had to be taken, a false step could bring unexpected chain reactions'every action has a karmic pattern. As a leader, you must know not only the beginning of a struggle, but a fair idea of the middle and the end, you constantly weigh options, strike a balance between pressing home demands and the overall fate of the whole nation'''Above all, you must be yourself and be true to your conscience,' he ended with a sigh.Countries, he says, are not built on persons but on institutions. And he's happy that the national Assembly, as an institution, is now probing those indicted in the oil subbsidy scam.Esele harbours so much optimism about Nigeria's future even as he submits that 'the level of consciousness of a people determines the quality of leaders they get' when the level of consciousness of Nigerians gets to the level when they know that no matter how different your beliefs are from the other person's, you don't judge him by his belief or tribe, but by the level of his performance, what he brings to the table, then we are getting there. The masses are being manipulated to believe that there is division between North and South' because there are people benefitting from people thinking that way''Oh, I almost forgot about Esele, the stalker. He grows starry-eyed as he recounts : 'I don't take 'no' for an answer' I kept stalking her. Took time to know her track'I knew everything about her, where she stayed, worked, etc. etc before I pounced''Poor Libran girl. When that fateful afternoon, a new passenger joined the taxi cab she was taking home, she remarked, quite innocently, that he looked familiar. The fellow only gave a non-committal smile... How could the poor girl have guessed that she had been under romantic surveillance for months.Today, She has learnt'- the family way'- that familiarity sometimes breeds, not contempt, but two boys and two girls
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