DTO @ 80

I was born on 28 February 1946 at the Church Missionary Society (CMS) maternity home in Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria. I was born into the family of Mr. Samuel Osamota Aikhuele Oriri and Mrs. Ikhayere Oriri of Ujoelen, Ekpoma. At the time, my father worked under the colonial local government system in Ishan Division, and his commitment to public service instilled in me, from an early age, a deep seriousness about education and duty. My early education took me through several primary schools: Local Authority Primary School, Ewohimi; Government School, Uromi; and St Andrews Primary School, Ekpoma. Those years were not only about lessons in the classroom — they were also years of family change that taught me the true meaning of endurance.

In 1955, I had a classmate and close friend, Mr. Joseph Wole Okunfulure, whose father was the Vicar of St Andrews CMS Church (Anglican) in Ekpoma. Joseph and I dominated the top of the class and became spirited academic rivals at St Andrews Primary School. At examinations, we would trade first and second positions with remarkable consistency — whenever I took first, he took second, and vice versa. In 1956, at age ten and still in Primary Four, I sat for the entrance examination to the newly founded Ishan Grammar School, Uromi. I passed both the examination and the interview and was duly admitted. We resumed on 24 September 1956, and I felt two emotions at once: joy at being admitted, and sadness at the prospect of separation from my dear friend Joseph. During holidays we were still able to meet, but in 1959 Joseph gained admission to Christ School, Ado-Ekiti, and we became practically separated — eventually losing contact until 1994.

 

At Ishan Grammar School, sixty-six students were admitted as "foundation students," and I was the youngest and smallest among them. Many of my classmates were far more experienced — some had been teachers, others were modern school leavers, and still others held primary school certificates — while I was the only one admitted directly from Primary Four, without having completed primary school. Nevertheless, I worked hard: I ranked among the top fifteen students in classes one and two, and from class three onward I was consistently in the top three. In class three, the local government council in Ekpoma granted me a sponsorship — a support that kept my ambitions alive when resources were thin. Unfortunately, documentation lapses at the Ministry of Education, Western Region, Ibadan, caused our school to lose an entire year of eligibility, and as a result, the West African Examinations Council was unable to enroll us for the 1961 School Certificate examination, enrolling us instead in 1962. By then, only twenty-two of the original sixty-six students sat the examination. Five of us passed in Division One. I earned five A's — distinctions — including in the compulsory subjects of English Language and Mathematics.

 

I also passed the January 1963 General Certificate of Education at Ordinary Level in five papers. I was admitted to Government College Ughelli for the Higher School Certificate, gained entry to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka for a preliminary programme, and was admitted to Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone for a diploma course. I could take up none of these opportunities, however, as I lacked the sponsorship to do so. As a result, I settled for a teaching position at St Luke's Anglican Secondary Modern School, Akahia, Uhiele, Ekpoma.

In May 1963, I learned that Mr. M. O. Elebesunu, Controller for Staff and Buildings at the Post and Telegraph (P&T) Department, was on leave in his hometown of Irrua, and that he might be of help in securing an appointment with P&T. I sought him out, and he was impressed with my School Certificate and GCE results. He advised me to present myself at P&T headquarters in Lagos for an interview for a three-year Assistant Technical Officer's course at the Training School, Oshodi.

 

I was admitted and began training on 12 August 1963 — a date that marked a genuine turning point in my life. I was changing direction, moving away from languages, foreign affairs, and international relations toward engineering, even though my earlier dream from secondary school had been a diplomatic career. The training also came with a monthly salary: £14 per month at the start, rising to £27 per month by the third and final year — a prospect that made the opportunity all the more compelling. By June 1966, having passed the internal examinations, I also sat and passed the City and Guilds of London Institute Final Certificate examination. In July 1966, I was posted to the Central Telegraph Office, Marina, Lagos, as an Assistant Technical Officer.

My very good friend Dr. Stephen Edet Oahiminakhimien had received a scholarship through the Federal Ministry of Education to study petroleum engineering in Romania — and his example was my motivation. It kept me willing to study even in countries where I would need to learn a new language first.

I bought “Teach Yourself” books in German, “Russian,” and Spanish, and I learnt a Russian sentence from the book: “Eta maya bolshaya komnata,” meaning “This is my big room.”In 1968 I was among those selected by the Bureau for External Aid of the Federal Ministry of Education to attend an interview conducted by Russian officials for a scholarship to study in the Soviet Union. They were impressed by the Russian sentence I spoke — a small gesture that conveyed my genuine enthusiasm to study in the Soviet Union.

 

I succeeded, and on 24 August 1968 I departed with others for Moscow. From there I was among those posted to Leningrad (now St Petersburg), where I studied at the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute of Communication Engineering specializing in emerging trends in the global communication technology with a master’s degree.In 1973, Nigeria's military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, paid a state visit to the Soviet Union — in appreciation of the assistance rendered by the Soviet government to Nigeria during the civil war, including military hardware and technical aid. One of the cities visited was Leningrad (now St Petersburg). It was exciting to see Gowon taking a long walk along the famous and historic Nevsky Prospect, five kilometres of ever-busy avenue, during the "belaya noch" — the white nights of summer, with almost 24 hours of daylight.

 

In that entourage was Prof. Adedeji, Minister for Economic Planning and Youths Development. At a meeting with Nigerian students, the Head of State and the minister interacted with us about prospects in Nigeria and answered a number of questions. We were told that at the initial stage of the National Youth Service, participation was voluntary for graduates of foreign universities and institutions. We also appealed to the Nigerian government to supplement the monthly stipend the Soviet Government was paying us — a small ask, but one that reflected how much we had invested in our studies and how seriously we took our eventual return home.After six years in Leningrad, I had become an engineer in both training and spirit. The diplomat I once imagined becoming had given way to the engineer I had actually become — and in time, I came to see that difference as God's redirection rather than a detour.

Returning from Leningrad after six years required its own adjustment. Nigeria had changed; so had I. Being deployed as a pupil engineer felt humbling after graduate studies abroad, but I understood it as the necessary first rung. I came back still on study leave without pay and was assigned to different engineering sections at P&T — learning the systems from the inside out.

 

I rose steadily through the ranks, from Engineer 2 to Engineer 1, and then to Senior Engineer in 1980. Those were also the years in which my personal life took its most important shape. In 1976, I married my wife Agnes in Benin City, and we began building a family together. Agnes was a registered nurse and midwife, employed by the State Hospital Management Board — a woman of her own professional standing. Our first child was born in 1977, and all our children were born in Benin City, which became the family's anchor.

 

My P&T and NITEL years from 1976 to 1988 were mostly spent in Benin City, and I was deeply conscious of my family's growth, upbringing, and welfare during that time. In 1981, I was among 22 engineering staff nominated for a six-month course on Domestic Satellite Communication in Melbourne, Florida, USA. On completing the course, we returned to Nigeria and I was deployed to the domestic satellite earth station in Benin City for operations and maintenance — which, fortunately, kept me close to home during those early years of raising children.

 

By mid-1982, I was posted to the Project Execution branch at Zone 3 headquarters in Benin City as a Principal Engineer. I served on a team that travelled for testing and factory inspection at Siemens AG in Munich, Germany — one of the projects Siemens was handling in the zone. In 1983, I was promoted to Assistant Chief Engineer and covered the duties of Project Manager and Contracting Officer for six months when the incumbents were promoted and transferred to headquarters in Lagos. In 1984, I was posted to Enugu as Zonal Chief Engineer for Domestic Satellite Earth Stations, covering Enugu, Owerri, Port Harcourt, and Calabar. In 1985, NITEL was established and I was appointed the first Territorial Manager for Bendel Territory, comprising the present Edo and Delta states.

 

In 1989, I was transferred to the South West Zonal Headquarters in Ibadan as Deputy General Manager, Operations and Maintenance, with oversight responsibility for all NITEL networks across Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, and Bendel states. One of my core leadership principle was competency and meritocracy. For example, during my tenure there, I identified a young, hardworking engineer who excelled at troubleshooting and intervention. I recommended him for a double promotion, which my General Manager, Engineer Fola Alamudu, endorsed and implemented. It made other engineers sit up and contributed to the overall performance of the South West zone at the time.

 

On the home front, as transfers became more common and inevitable, I made a deliberate decision to keep my family rooted in Benin City. This was not simply practical — it was a choice made with purpose: to protect the stability of Agnes's career, to prevent disruption to the children's schooling, and to give them a consistent home. I was the one who went on transfer; my family remained. I visited on some weekends, public holidays, and during annual leave. During the school holidays, the children came to spend time with me, and I made sure to show them the cities, the zoos, and other places worth seeing. For example, when they came to visit me in Ibadan, they were especially fond of the Trans World Amusement Park — a small memory, but one that stays with me.

 

In 1991, I moved to the position of Deputy General Manager, Planning and Utilization. In 1992, I was promoted to General Manager and posted to the South East Zone in Enugu, overseeing NITEL operations across Enugu, Anambra, Abia, Imo, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River territories. During the same timeline, the children started transitioning from primary to secondary and they attended some of the finest secondary schools, particularly those run by the Catholic Church.

 

In 1994, I was transferred to corporate headquarters in Lagos, to the Administration, Transport, Estate and Security (ATES) division. That same year, Joseph Wole Okunfulure and I were reunited — after 34 years. It happened during a joint inspection of land belonging to the defunct NET (Nigerian External Telecommunications) by the honourable ministers of Works and Housing and Communications. Alhaji Jakande, Minister of Works, had brought Joseph along as Director of Lands; Alhaji Rimi had brought me along as General Manager, Estate. We met at the site. Joseph looked at me curiously, drew closer, and whispered: "Are you Daniel Oriri?" I replied with his name, and we embraced. The two ministers were astonished. When we explained, they understood, and a friendship lost for 34 years was restored.

 

In 1996, all the general managers in NITEL were retired during the military administration of General Abacha. This was at 50 years old and had after 33 years of service. We were paid gratuity and followed by monthly pensions. We had built, through all those years of transfer and distance, a family of five children — three sons and two daughters. By divine arrangement, a daughter came first and a daughter came last. We now have eleven grandchildren. Agnes and I look back with gratitude to God for the grace to give our children the opportunities for a good education — which, I have always believed, is the finest legacy a parent can leave. I have always advised them to be devoted to their own families, and to honour the parents who did so much for them, even in difficult circumstances.

 

To keep myself purposefully engaged, a childhood friend from the same village of Ujoelen — chairman and CEO of several companies — graciously appealed to me to provide consulting services on engineering matters to his organisations. This opportunity gave me the chance to visit Romania on numerous occasions, where his technical partners were based, and kept me mentally and physically active for many rewarding years. I remain deeply grateful — to God, and to him — for that generous gesture. In summary, life should be balanced

 

Balance: To enjoy lasting health in old age, empty the bucket of physical, mental, and emotional stress.

Action: Faith must be paired with action; God helps those who also help themselves.

Lagacy: When parents say, “As you treat me, so shall your children treat you,” they speak a double-edged truth—one that can bless or curse.

Almighty: God’s commandments form the ultimate constitution; all human laws are secondary and void wherever they oppose His word.

Nation: Blessed with abundant people and resources, Nigeria has long held the promise of greatness; the question remains—when will potential become reality?

Conscience: A man is not ruined by outside forces, but by the thoughts and intentions born within his own heart.

Excellence: Success is defined by quality, not distance or speed.