25th June, 2013
By Femi Ogunkolati
I shed several tears when I saw how British and global press descended on my friend of over 30 years, Michael Prest. Whilst divorce is always a difficult thing it makes it even harder when the facts are broadcast all over the world to feed a hungry press and 24 hour news channels always keen for another sensational story.
Not only have I known Michael for 31 years, I have also known Yasmin Prest for almost 19 years, so I know them both very well. I have holidayed with them as a family; I have been to the baptisms of all their children, so I know the family very well. Michael’s late father took me as his son and I stayed at Michael’s family home even when Michael was not there. His father was a great man and may his sole rest in peace.
Michael Prest, I and many reading this know, is a very private man who never talks. He is a father who absolutely adores his children, who looks after his family and looked after his ex-wife Yasmin. She never lacked anything and you could never speak badly about Yasmin to Michael. Even to this day he will not have you criticise the woman he says has given him the greatest treasure in his life. “Keep your views to yourself please,” Michael would say. For Michael family is number one even if that meant him rushing home from wherever he was every weekend to watch his son play football or his daughters act or do sport.
In the press Yasmin is described as being “British-born wife”, yet I know Yasmin is the second daughter of the late Inua Mohammed, a much loved and highly respected veterinary surgeon from Gombe (may his soul rest in peace). I know her elder sister was the former head of the MDG in Nigeria. Yasmin is a Nigerian and why is it that the press seem reluctant to describe her as a Nigerian? Does she not want to come back to her country?
In the British press the properties at the heart of the dispute are now decided by The Supreme Court of London as being held in trust. Can somebody please tell me what that means? One paper said earlier that the Customary Law Trust was ‘Nigerian Tribal Law’. Can someone please tell me the difference? After twenty years of companies owning and paying for these properties with their own company money, they are now decided as being held in trust. I am not a lawyer so I don’t understand it. Surely it is so easy to find out who did buy them and which money was used to pay for it? Isn’t that why they have searches? Can lawyers reading this help me out?
The Michael I and many reading this piece know is the Michael who is always willing to help. When he was the head of Marc Rich Oil Company he made the point of opening doors for many young people. I don’t want to mention their names but they know who they are and today they hold leading positions in the oil industry. Whilst they will be quick to admit that ‘Oga’, as they call him, was a very hard task–master, they say he trained them well to stand on his feet. Michael trained Yasmin’s youngest sister and brought her into the oil industry at a time she was having problems in London. She worked for him for five years. Michael trained and brought into the business his brother and his cousins and they also worked with him for so many years. I know this because I too worked alongside them in the business. We are all now part of the oil business. Michael ‘bailed’ out Yasmin’s other sister when they needed to buy a house in London. I know this because the younger sister told me. I could go on and on. I am not saying my friend is perfect; like all of us he is not; yet surely let reporting be balanced.
Yet for me Michael is defined by what happened to me earlier this year. In January I collapsed and fell into a coma in Abuja. Despite all his problems upon being told Michael took immediate charge from where he was and arranged for my being flown out of Abuja on British Airways. He then met me and my father at London Heathrow Airport with the ambulance that took me to Charing Cross Hospital. When we arrived at the hospital Michael argued with staff and doctors to ensure I got immediate attention. Within 24 hours of arriving at the hospital I underwent an 8-hour brain surgery. I am told that throughout that time Michael nervously paced up and down the hospital corridor simply counting the time I came out. I feel those 24 hours saved my life. Over my ten-day stay in hospital Michael came EVERY day, talking to the specialists and trying to better understand whether anything else could be done. At the end of the stay, Michael signed my discharge from hospital and then settled me at home. He then quietly left and went back to dealing with his own problems.
I shed tears for my friend because I KNOW him and I know that his ex-wife, despite what her advisers print to try and win her money, she knows the man and knows the great father and provider he is. I know he is a ‘big boy’ who ‘can handle himself’ and I know he will be upset with me by talking but I could not keep quiet anymore my, Brother.
•Ogunkolati wrote from Lagos.