Pyrates confraternity does not exist in schools — NAS President

When you emerged president of NAS in August 2014, your goals included raising humanity to the highest level of fulfilment and attaining a just, progressive and egalitarian society. To what extent have you been able to realise these goals?

In the last 18 months under the current leadership, the organisation has been able to achieve its set goals. We have had several interventions in virtually all the geopolitical zones in Nigeria. We have had interventions that deal with socio-political issues; we have had interventions on health and in education. In our various local chapters, we replicate these programmes in all the local chapters.

The aspirations and dreams of the administrators of the association do not end at that. As things evolve, we change our strategies. We try to accommodate for example, Lassa fever. This bothers a lot on advocacy. The Lassa fever problem has to do with personal hygiene, environmental situation. Inasmuch as we want to wade in, we think the best approach is advocacy. We should let the people know the primary causes of these health issues. As the problems unfold, we come up with strategies to tackle them. Even, we have continued our “votes count” exercise which we had shortly before the 2015 general exercise. We are monitoring politicians who promised to do one thing or the other. On our website, those issues are captured. Overtime, we take stock of what the elected public office holders promised to do and tell Nigerians what had been achieved. It therefore becomes the duty of the people to make these elected office holders accountable. And this would inform people’s choices in the next election.

 

Your creed includes fighting social ills and conformist degradation. What ideals does your organisation’s creed promote?

The creed is referred to as the four compass points. The core of the four compass points is humanistic ideals which you referred to in your question. What we get is fulfilment of our actions and interventions for humanistic ideals. The founding fathers formed this organisation in 1952/53 session at the University College, Ibadan, to fight for the “powerless”; people who could not fight for themselves in the then society. These humanistic ideals make us different from being just an organisation that focuses on philanthropy. Humanitarianism is different from philanthropy. That is the departure that Pyrates Confraternity has from some other organisations. We want to act and act in the best interest of the others. Also our second level of our seven order creed is “All before self”. Attaining a just and egalitarian society is the ideal. We are the conscience of the society making effort to attain these ideals.

 

The Rotary Club also carries out similar programmes. Does the confraternity work, in some way, in sync with the Rotary Club?

I read in the media about interventions that the Rotary Club carries out. Whoever is making a sacrifice to make a difference for community is great. Many are still surprised that we intervene in communities. We have been doing this for many years yet people have certain misconceptions about our activities. Our cardinal point is to keep doing what we do. We have done interventions that some say such project is meant for government but we cannot continue to wait for government; rather we should take considerable action. If Rotary and many organisations or individuals that make a difference for the weak in the society, such persons should be praised. All these efforts are towards attaining a just society. We have communication professionals among us, but we just keep at doing what we do rather than engage in massive publicity.

 

What do I have to do to become a member of your association?

The primary qualification to become a member is your NYSC discharge or exemption certificate. Every year, the intake process comes up. We stream the advertisements on our website. You log on to our website (www.nas-int.org) and go through a registration process, where you are to fill in certain information that will be requested. We communicate to you afterwards to tell you to go to certain place to do certain things. It will interest you to know that we run online examinations for new and aspiring members. It is done globally on a particular day, and at the same time. People would learn a lot aside from just knowing about the confraternity when they log on to our website. We have 56 chapters across the globe. People should go online to clear any misconceptions about the organisation. We do outreaches in schools to let people know what we stand for and any group that purports itself to be pyrates should be arrested. We do not have pyrates on campuses.

 

But we have some groups in schools who claim to be pyrates.

We do not have pyrates in schools. When we have our medical missions among other projects, people are convinced to know what the pyrates confraternity truly stands for, not what they think. Sometimes, the problem we have is that, some Nigerians have a fixed mindset about the organisation. They assume the association is a cult because they do not take time to find out. We are not hiding the fact that we are pyrates. A pyrate is someone who having identified the ills militating against the attainment of a just society, shows resolve to combat them and joins hands with like minds to do same. What are we publicising about this? That a pyrate has done what he has interest in doing? There is no crime called cultism and the society’s approach worsens the situation in our tertiary institutions. For example, a man rapes a girl, we call it cultism; that is rape. It is a criminal offence contained in the penal code. Some people refer to such rape case as cultism. That is why such person cannot be charged to court. We usually would have a situation where such person is arrested, the parents secure bail and the person is released. There is nothing in our penal code about cultism but the society has a lazy approach to this. So, if students are caught for rape, armed robbery, battery, you face the law. There is no law for cultism.

The National Association of Seadogs has branches world over. It is only in Nigeria that there is the issue of cultism associated with the organisation. We have a pseudo-religious thinking that removes us from the issues. If there is criminality, let us deal with it frontally. Let us not create these togas that remove from the issues. It is only the branches in Nigeria that carry out medical missions because the government is failing.

 

The NAS insignia is a skull and crossed bones. How does this represent the intent of the organisation?

It means caution, that is, people should be cautious as they approach a dangerous bend. People use swords to represent the confraternity. It is as simple as that.

 

It is not as simple as that. What caution do you refer to?

The insignia metaphorically means danger but we are confronted with societal ills. Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi once said that corruption fights back when we fight it. People have lost their lives in fighting societal ills because the powers that perpetuate or reinforce these ills are strong. The skull and crossed bones apart from telling us that we are all ash and bones also means that we should be concerned with what we do to help the needy.

In confronting societal ills, one confronts forces that could lead to one being harmed. So, one has to be cautious in doing that. If a dangerous organisation is trying to mask its purpose, we probably would use a dove. In the Christian bible, Lucifer is referred to as angel of light. We are not about luring people in or giving them misconceptions. From the first day of the organisation, the founders choose the motive of the organisation. We wear the skull and crossed bones and still remain relevant to the society. It is not about the toga. The skull and crossed bones mean more than danger. The skull also represents intellect; the head as the seat of the intellect. The logo of the confraternity coloured in red, black and yellow is a skull positioned between the two cross bones. To the ordinary undiscerning observer, it portrays danger thus the perception of members as men of danger. The logo was a deliberate choice of the original seven. Its real essence is to remind all members and all on those on whom the organisation might impact of what we all would be reduced to in the final analysis. The lesson is while in body, flesh and spirit, do whatever you can for the sake of humanity. In the end, skulls and bones will not be differentiated. It is what we do and who we become that we will be remembered for till eternity, long after the bones and skulls are reduced to dust and ashes. Discipline is our watchword. Togas are like facades. It is not about what people think we are but what who we actually are. People should come join us and see the reality of the organisation. People should scratch beyond the surface, perceptions. They should dig deep beyond the beautiful or dangerous surfaces to get to the core question which is, what are you doing for the society?

 

Do your members believe in the teachings of Christianity and Islam?

We have members who attend all kinds of churches, whether Catholic or Redeemed. Some of our members are pastors and imams. We also have traditionalists, atheists, Muslims. Our Muslims observe their five prayers daily. NAS is a non-religious organisation. Religion is divisive. The core mission of this organisation is national integration. We have different beliefs but we are one when we want to make a difference for humanity. How do you love God who you do not see if you do not love man that you see? What matters is what we do for humanity while we live on earth. Moreover, we, as members of NAS, bear names that do not reflect our religious or ethnic groups.

 

How does the Buhari administration help in the NAS’s drive to attain a just and egalitarian society?

The Buhari’s anti-corruption stance fits in perfectly into the mindset and operations of the National Association of Seadogs. One of the greatest champions of anti-corruption in Nigeria is Professor Wole Soyinka, who is a pyrate. What we expect from Buhari is to ensure that the broken infrastructure is rebuilt. We expect education is remodelled and strengthened; we expect that social services for the common good are restored. We expect that Nigeria will be a better place for everyone. We hope that Buhari will deliver a just and egalitarian society to Nigerians. However, Nigerians should not leave all the task of rebuilding the country to Buhari alone. Every Nigerian should in their own personal communities be committed to making Nigeria a better place.

Credit: Tribune