He is a former Chairman of Asawo of the Buoye Omuso Brown Major House (BOBH) of Finima in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) and Chartered Institute of Human Resources Management (CIHRM), among other professional bodies, as well as parades a consolidated and celebrated resume of professionalism. Tamunotonye Martins-Brown is equally versed in the traditional and socio-economic issues affecting his people.

In this interview with the Publisher of Kristina Reports, Godswill Jumbo, the soft-spoken HR professional, who is always deploying refreshing erudition in his analysis of issues and very pungent in making his points took time off his busy schedule to do some agenda setting for the newly elected leadership of the Ogbobiri Asawo of BOBH of Finima, among other issues. Enjoy the scintillating read!

You just had your Ogbobiri Asawo elections, how did it go? 

First, I want to take this opportunity to thank the Amadabo of Finima and his Council of Wari-Alapu for their wisdom in allowing us to execute the electoral process in a very fair and transparent manner without any interference.

Yes, we just concluded the election of our Ogbobiri Asawo age group. as you may have heard the election was very peaceful and successful. It was something some persons thought would have been impossible considering the vibrant nature of the youths and their approach to issues. We are happy that the young men had confidence in the characters of the individuals that managed the electoral process which of course, I was a member and they all saw how transparent the election went and they were all satisfied with the process and accepted the outcome.

What positive values do you think the outcome of the election will bring to the Brown House and Finima in general?

Perhaps, I need to mention that these youths, the Ogbobiri Asawo including the Ogbobiri Ere (18 – 39 years) make up about 25 to 30% of the population in Finima community. In spite of the prospects that these youths hold, in some cases or some other communities, young people are largely marginalized from governance, leaving them helpless to counter their continued exclusion and some of these are factors that lead them to all sorts of social vices like criminalities, cultism, drug substance abuse, prostitution etc. But in our own case, we see value in engaging them in the Buoye Omuso Brown Major House Administrative structures. For them to be part of the leadership at their levels to complement the efforts of the House leadership especially the Asawo in their day to day activities in the community.

They also maintain and check their peer group. Now, when you talk of the values that the outcome of the election will bring to the Brown House and Finima in general. I think the outcome are enormous as it will improve their Social Competencies: by this I mean, Youth build social skills and learn how to interact in new settings, develop empathy for other perspectives, and build teamwork and a sense of responsibility among the youths knowing that they are valued and also part of the system. Secondly, Self-confidence: they recognize that they have knowledge and insight of happenings in the Buoye Omuso Brown Major House and Finima community in general, which leads to a sense of personal efficacy. For us as leaders, this is strategic and we will continue to provide guidance when necessary to these group.

If you were to advise, what should be the quick wins the new executive should focus on achieving? 

They should focus on upskilling, integration, teamwork and love amongst the Ogbobiri Asawo (youths) of Brown Major House, Finima Community and by extension our brothers in Bonny LGA. For them to think of what they can bring to the table, do for the Brown House, Finima and the LGA at large. You know leadership comes with its expectations. These newly elected executive are expected to positively influence their peers and make input into certain decision-making especially where it concerns their age group in the community.

I know the leader, Olila Prince Brown, too well and his capacity, his deputy, Ibifubara Hart, and the secretary, Samuel Brown-Adasa, amongst others and have confidence that they will not disappoint those that had elected them into office. Some of these young men had gone through the university with their first degrees in different fields, they have the energy as young men and prospects ahead of them and will not fail us, their families and the community in general. Remember that these were the same young men that worked with me during my leadership that Finima was recognised and won awards as the Most Hospitable Community in Africa by My Media and also the Most Security-Friendly Community in Niger Delta by the then IGP of Police.

There has been the confusion over which is which…Ogbobiri Asawo and Asawo? 

Well, if you understand Ibani very well, Ibani is our only traditional language, there should be no confusion. Ogbobiri means middle age, hence Ogbobiri Asawo simply means middle aged men. Whereas, Asawo is the adult menfolk and both Ogbobiri Asawo and Asawo means “men” in general. The difference is the age bracket, 18 to 39 years and 40 years and above. For me, there should be no confusion or ambiguity as to the two; “Ogbobiri Asawo and Asawo”.

You parade multiple certifications in diverse fields, what do you advise young people as the part of building value in themselves?

First, my certifications are all related to my chosen career i.e. Human Resources, Administration and Management Consultancy and this is very essential to ensure that you have the required skills because apart from having personal skills, you also need to have the technical skills to enable you manage certain roles and responsibilities in an organisation, especially, at certain level of leadership roles in the industry you may find yourself. As a chartered member of professional bodies, it will provide you periodic training and retraining in seminars, workshop etc. Where you will also meet other professional colleagues with experiences and share knowledge including networking to acquire more knowledge.

You know that in some occasions, after you do self-audit and self-SWOT analysis, you may find yourself confused as to who your true self is or what probably you will focus on as the desire future self-contract to enable you to attain championship. This is where they will need an intervention like we always do when necessary to help. For the executives, they need to have self-intelligence, leadership intelligence including group intelligence to succeed.

For our young people, they also need to identify their career path early. Perhaps, parents and guardians need to help provide the needed mentoring at early age whether the child wants to study Arts, Science or Technical or Engineering. Like, you know, we have even gone past the traditional arts and science courses.

Nowadays, children are more interested in learning Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Though these are two related courses but entirely different fields. I remember, during my youth service days, we used to help those in junior secondary classes to provide them with career guidance at different stages. For sure, this would help them plan and execute any decisions they make in their career and follow that path all through to their dreams.

For instance, I also remembered during my time in the university, I read Business Management at first degree and when I started working, I was first employed as an HSE officer. I later realised that since I didn’t have science or engineering background, I may not be that successful in HSE related job opportunities. So, I had to immediately do foundation courses in Human Resources Management and found it very interesting. Today, I am a proud Human Resources Management practitioner with the highest professional bodies in Nigeria and can compete favourable with anyone, anywhere I found myself. And this is my wish and advise to our youths in building value to themselves and the community in general.