The Tragedy of the Igbo Intellectual

Wake up everybody
No more sleeping in bed
No more backward thinking
Time for thinking ahead
The world’s change so very much
For what it use to be
There is so much hatred
War and poverty

----Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes

If you fast-forward the Kenneth Gamble-Leon Huff production on The Sound of Philadelphia Records label released by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes with that powerful voice of Theodore Pendergrass way back in 1973 now, there will be a whole lot to tell the world has not gotten any better based on if one should ask me coming that afar thirty-something years ago when technology had just begun in making life better from every aspect of society.

We haven’t seen much change over the years because the entire world is still compounded by the same old problems; problems now worse than ever seen before. Thirty-something years ago when the Blue Notes envisioned a fragile world if I still remember, was after the pogrom in a fast pace took place in Nigeria when pregnant women were eviscerated and disemboweled and the world looking the other way as if nothing happened which is reason enough the Igbo intellectual is seen as lacking a sense of belonging in taking the lead putting into perspective all that happened during the pogrom and the ominous consequences that followed. On the other hand, it had been presumed what happened over forty years ago should be forgotten by moving on and I will be coming to that in a minute.

Perhaps I may not have a problem with such gruesome acts of unnatural taste committed against humankind for the fact Igbo people as one observer noted are just “stupid” because if you walk into any bookstore today some Armenian who wasn’t born during the Armenian genocide of 1915 has written a book provoking greater popular outrage around the globe; one Jew born about twenty-seven years ago and has learned from the Synagogue that to forget is to proclaim Hitler innocent has compiled a book on a witness to the truth – the Holocaust; a South African who found his way escaping Apartheid to the woods around Mississippi has jotted down his experience of injustice; a teenager somewhere in the Lebanese community in Michigan is writing about the Beirut massacre of 1982; a Brit having no clue of 17th Century England has written a detailed account on the Gunpowder Plot orchestrated to bring the British empire to its knees during the Elizabethan era; a Chinese immigrant whose forebears were demolished and plundered writes about the Naijing massacre; a Cambodian puts into perspective the Cambodian genocide of the 1970s; a Balkan writes about the Bosnian massacres of the 1990s; a then seven-year-old is reflecting and piecing together the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and a curious minded being documents on the death of Anne Frank and the Concentrations Camps, and construction of the Holocaust museums as the list goes on and on.

But nowadays, encounter an Igbo anywhere especially at a beer parlor, isi-ewu joints and places like that, the theme of such forums would sound much normal as in any regular bar – hanging out in those Armani suits and spewing out nonsense on the grounds of alcohol and loose women being involved. The irony though is that none comes out with something of substance, some kind of brilliant and meaningful stuff even though altered minds in an environment alcohol and women are involved can still have decent debates and argue intellectually.

My point here is precisely about we who have embedded ourselves into the American social system which is unlike any other in the world, a nation that has emerged from nations all over the world, and a nation pragmatically created, never seen before to have not taken advantage like other immigrants in building community and being concretely part of a system where collectivity ultimately leads to utopia.

My attempt here is a studied survey based on different accounts regarding the Igbo guardian, the so-called “intellectual” and how it is today a tragedy.

Is there an instance where some thought has been put in place how we explored the shores of America over forty years ago like our other immigrant counterparts and yet have nothing, absolutely nothing to show for it? Has anyone thought about what would be the position of our children fifteen years from now in a faster changing environment resourced through community, put it this way, a historic problem that absorbed so much effort to resolve and finally brought about change by electing a second generation immigrant Barack Obama president of the United States? And did anyone think about how we could have established ourselves here in Diaspora as a powerhouse in every aspect, in such a way we could influence the “power brokers” in our native land permanently putting to a stop riff raffs running the show? Has anyone reflected, studied and investigated the most blood soaked event in its era where our women were raped by Islamic hoodlums who were also nihilists, killed en-masse infants and children; and then murdered our men in the most brutal of circumstances in an attempt to wipe out a specific ethnic group which amounts to genocide by any accepted definition?

Besides a very notable few like scholar Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe whose extensive and exhaustive writings on the pogrom and Biafra is out there; Oguchi Nkwocha as a vivid witness who consistently maintained his ground on the status quo in evaluating and studying the ominous consequences of the pogrom; Emeka Amanze whose movement is quite revealing on a sorry state of the Igbo nation and lessons learned during the pogrom; M. O. Ene’s unrelenting effort and the book Jaundiced Justice, and most recently an inspiring novel Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who wasn’t yet born during the said conflict, no Diaspora Igbo has emerged to author an analysis regarding the atrocious nature of what the Islamic Jihadists deliberately did to the Igbo people in a “premeditated and diabolical act” programmed to wipe out the Igbo nation from the face of this planet.

The Diaspora Igbo intellectual’s inability to deal solidly with home-abroad realities is characteristic of the peculiar failure of the Igbo intellectual and so also is a failed leadership back home resulting to being compelled to give up and quieted in exchange for cash and other treasures by gangsters who overnight hijacked and destroyed every aspect of Igbo ideals. Since the Igbo intellectual has been flattened and cannot deal adequately with a hijack of Igbo ideals on moral grounds by a group of imbeciles and thuggish elements who are now thriving on a confused and chaotic Igbo nation, the option left for the Igbo intellectual becomes obvious which is ultimately succumbing on the basis of being vulnerable and gullible.

A situation like that is a dangerous one especially in a society that is still on its path for a structure required to make the availability of social programs a basic as in all civil and organized societies. It is only in banana republics checks and balances are negated to track the records of public office holders; and the trouble of the Igbo intellectual, in this case, is abandonment of responsibilities because the Igbo intellectual is no longer interested on the welfare of the people supposedly to be guided, thus relying heavily on individualism and bent on a selfish gain based on what his surroundings are feeding him.

The following statements are typical confessions one hears constantly from supposedly Diaspora Igbo intellectual: “Look, our mates are now running the show in Igbo land and they are chopping. I have no choice than to join the bandwagon.” “Did you hear he has been appointed as assistant to the local government chairman? I just spoke to him on the phone not too long ago and he was full of life because he is now chopping, talking big and things like that.” Or “I have been dreading in this country for too long with nothing to show for it but bills and all kinds of troubles including my marriage which seemingly is heading to Splitville. This country has been a nightmare. I have to go so I can join the chopping class… Naija money still dey nyafunyafu… make I go join them before the scramble and grab is over. Make you dey there now.” Even, “In Nigeria you are served like a king with the women kowtowing and you can have as many women as you wish, and as long as your pocket is loaded you’ve got it all, and that’s the way it goes.” And listen to this, “I am building a castle.”

Yes, of course, the castles on dusty alleys with no street numberings, serfdom, servitude, coercion and prostitution and all that amoral in this modernity for a people who once were top notch in utopia and republican ideals in an about face paved way for ndi gburu ozu, the money bags who destroyed every aspect of Igbo values and cultural relativism. It is hard to believe running into an Igbo intellectual is like meeting a generation of airheads who have no clue the importance of determining their contribution to creation and why they are in this universe, in the first place. It is also disturbing that the Igbo intellectual from every scope rejected Igbo values for materials not necessary in establishing a profound leadership based on the concept of how it all began when our forebears had the vision of what the Igbo should be in today’s society.

The pragmatic and egalitarian Igbo envisioned by Michael I. Opara, Mazi Mbonu Ojike, Francis Akanu Ibiam and other great Igbo visionaries of the time which was drawn from the Igbo guardian and the days of the Igbo Union, and its principles of making the Igbo nation the best it could be to parallel the Western Hemisphere in all standards of social programs and infrastructures distressingly vanished overnight because the Igbo intellectual succumbed to the ways and means of Omemgbeoji 1 of Igbo land, the societal nouveau riche whose elevation to prominence is questionable and whose socio-economic status shouldn’t have arrived had the Igbo intellectual been firm keeping his composure and principles been respected for the fact the social programs are all out there for all and sundry to see as evidence of good leadership; and as beneficiaries of a sound socio-cultural and political order, no question, the sudden eruption of empire and an ensuing anarchy wouldn’t have also arrived.

Under normal circumstances, such titles as Eze Igbo Gburugburu should be done by merit based on community service – building of schools, offering free education, equipping the libraries, providing basic amenities (water and light), providing healthcare by way of dispensary facilities, abundant food by helping farmers through some kind of subsidies and creating many other provisional social programs including parks and recreation. And as a result of failed leadership, the young intellectuals have been asked to take over the mantle of Igbo leadership. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu at the 2000 World Igbo Congress Convention held in Dallas, Texas, speaks:

I am now an old man. I have done mine. I have not seen who will take that baton from me. I was 33 years when I did it. That the old did not agree to hand over power is not true. Come and take the baton. If we refuse to give it to you, grab it by force. You Igbos abroad are the window of the world to us. Don't turn your back on anything Igbo. Come and join. Our time is gone... My people, I will not lie to you. We came from home, we laugh and embrace, but I can tell you that big rain is falling. Our land is not good. Our condition is like a war. Nobody loves Igbos. The person who is scared of you will not love you. But we are not loved is Nigeria's problem not ours. If they love you, it is good. But the greatest is to be feared. We want to be feared.

But what can be expected of the young intellectuals when the old intellectuals such as Okenwa Nwosu who runs the Physician Omni Health Group in Maryland write articles that do not reveal the issues of their own political and cultural history? What can be expected of the young intellectuals when Kevin Osondu, the first black man, I repeat, first black man to earn a PhD from the State University of New York at Buffalo way back and nobody knows much about him? What can be expected of the young intellectuals when the old ones have lost every sense of purpose in keeping the Igbo ideal intact for generations to come? What really can be expected of the young intellectuals when a confused bunch of old intellectuals parleys with demonic gangsters in the likes of Orji Uzor Kalu who in broad day light took Igbo assets hostage and courageously on the humbleness of a paralyzed Igbo intellectual, got away with it? And what can be expected of the young Igbo intellectual when the old Igbo intellectual has shown nothing other than have outsiders in the likes of Nowamgbe Omoigui write its history while Appalachian State University political science professor Emmanuel Ike Udogu is writing on Nigeria fiscal economy and political compromise in Nigeria in the Twenty-First Century: Strategies for Political Stability and Peaceful Coexistence and photo journalist Ike Ude writes on Style File: The World’s Most Elegantly Dressed?

For some reason, while combing through Ude’s new book, I decided to give him a call to find out what drove him into writing a book on style and furthermore to find out a little bit about him. Ude was born in Okigwe and grew up in several Northern cities before the Civil War. After the war his parents relocated to Enugu where his father worked for the Nigeria Railway Corporation. He sojourned to the shores of America in the 70s and began what would be a long journey. In Style File: The World’s Most Elegantly Dressed, Ude, without a doubt, displayed a symbol of excellence on style of which he eloquently illustrated the fifty-five people in this world he mostly admired and considers to be stylists in their respective rights. Ude’s work, an impressive list which includes a handful of designers like Oscar de la Renta, Christian Louboulin, Carolina Herrera, John Galliano, Barnaba Fornasetti; journalists in the likes of Vogue editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley and Hamish Bowles; and photographers such as Coreen Simpson, Francesco Scavullo and a touch to the Motown look. Ude’s work also includes celebrities and the creative types ranging from perfumer Frederic Malle and actress Isabella Ferrari to burtesque dancer Dita von Teese. Malian-born photographer during the colonial era, Seydou Keita, made the list, too. Sculptor Andrea Logan, vintage couture dealer Didier Lindot, and London-based fashion designer Amechi Ihenacho whose 18th Century outfit graced the pages with biographical datas.

In all the occasions I spoke with Ude and in my attempt to pick up some understanding regarding his awareness toward a failed Igbo leadership, his interest in anything Igbo seemed to have waned and for the record he never talked back to me in Igbo despite my approach in many instances where I spoke Igbo fluently. As the case has been, Ude’s taste for style and perhaps neglect of his cultural heritage may be two different things and as a matter of choice, but a society whose cultural background is lost definitely has no place in history.

In any society and as in the case of Diaspora, it is the intellectuals who come to the fore as the molders and shapers of what is now vital and relevant in terms of social, cultural and political opinion. It is the intellectuals who give form and content to mass liberation movements that change society. It is the intellectuals who, because of their déclassé position, can see objectivity and clearly which way class forces are actually moving or aspiring to move, and which classes are advancing or retarding that advance. It is the intellectuals who detect and resolve conflicts in its community by recommending patterns from around which such problems would not be repeated again.

To be Continued.

Igbo Politics: The Struggle Against Orji Uzor Kalu's Cults And Demonic Gangsters

I have written long time ago in praise of Orji Uzor Kalu and Igbos political future, in which I expressed my profound gratitude. I was driven by Kalu’s “pragmatism” when the Fourth Republic came into being, and upon the course of the fate of Nd’Igbo, notably, a Biafran memorial museum, Biafran veterans who hanged around the motorways by Oji River begging for dimes to make ends meet, and a final resting place for Biafra war heroes. The struggle was arduous as Igbo politicians and related governors argued over what should be done to avoid complicating matters with Olusegun Obasanjo’s-led administration in an issue that had to do with Biafra.

It also had to do with a lost civil war, and that Igbos were getting back on a good political footing with Kalu’s no nonsense approach towards Igbo leadership and political future, which presumably should be handled with caution, in other words, diplomacy, to secure a final resting place for Biafran war heroes by way of a memorial.

The veterans, among a case load of Igbo problems, grand and small, weren’t an issue. The case of the Biafran war heroes and a memorial seemingly was the main issue when the gulf between Obasanjo and Igbo leaders began to surface on the premise Obasanjo, then head of state, and a civil war commander who bridged the gap resulting to armistice, coupled with leading a political party that was in power, had Igbo political leaders cornered to avoid a misinterpretation of the war and Biafran heroes which may be detrimental to a “new republic” that had been on a litmus test.

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu had had sleepless nights when the idea of a Biafran war heroes and a memorial was not coming through based on the tactical debate which came along with it, with regards to a conflict of interest between Igbo related governors and Obasanjo. Specifically, the tactical debate was about where in particular should Biafra memorial be situated and which of the governors would be bold enough to pull the bull by the horn and take some action since the initial location at Uli had been backpedaled by Chinwoke Clement Mbadinuju of Anambra State. Apparently, there were none but Kalu who stood bold enough to scorn Obasanjo and take the heat, notwithstanding the fact he belonged to the same political party with the president, which probably could lead to disloyalty and violating party principles.

Kalu had thought about it and the ripple effect it might have on his political career; that is, if he okays a final resting place for Biafra war heroes in his home state of Abia. Eventually, Kalu made up his mind and Biafra war heroes were finally recognized by way of a memorial in Umuahia. Kalu had gained my respect doing that; and I had adored him, henceforth. I would be wrong in my assumption and Kalu would be full of it, not knowing a gangster and a demonic cultist had emerged.

But the case of Biafra war heroes was of concern to every Igbo – at home and in Diaspora – for historiography and the importance of the struggle for self-reliance, as in the Balkans, for posterity. As it happened, the hackles raised on the Biafran subject reflected much on the youngish intellectuals who founded Biafranigeriaworld –BNW -- and its sister related sites, which embarked on extensive to near exhaustive commentaries and analyses on keeping the Biafran struggle alive. The founders of BNW were adequately consulted to every move in establishing a resting place for Biafra war heroes. Kalu was part of the negotiations and a new born BNW backed him up based on his front as Igbo pragmatist.

Kalu’s life and stewardship to Abia State would turn out to a full blown Orwellian and Shakespearean drama, with mean spirited characters and tragic stories transcending the opening acts. But since the gangster-like operations initially in Umuahia, and especially with the revelations at the Okija Shrine and how Kalu orchestrated every deal at the oracle, so many among the deadly culthood under Kalu’s orders took different positions becoming obvious and impossible to tell where they will come out in any new situation because of a political switch for a bargain not too favorable to Abia citizenry.

The abomination and unbecoming conducts at the Okija Shrine and other related shrines where these shameless politicians had convened has triggered a whole series of heated debates among the pundits, about a questionable past election in which Kalu’s party, Progressive Peoples Alliance –PPA – won two gubernatorial seats from the seven Igbo related states; and thanks to Obasanjo who engineered every move in a rigged election never ever seen in the nation’s history.

There has been much discussion of the voodoo and what had been going on at the shrines in Okija and elsewhere. What is more disturbing about the Okija visits and invocation of agwuisi, is the nature from around which civilized people supposedly should have preferred a sound political order typical of organized societies than resorting to the spirits dancing in the flesh and witchcrafts, just for the purpose of attaining a public office by which they have pledged during the course of election campaigns to do their best and make their respective zones and states better, by way of providing "basic amenities," as proclaimed in their campaigns.

The Okija incident and other cases of abominable character may be opening our eyes, suggesting such a spooky, and demonic scenes had been an ongoing affair within the power structure of a so-called neo-democratic experiment; the power seekers and the ones that had already taken a grip to power; thus, the ability in a likewise position to dictate to would be power brokers on how democracy works in a “Nigeria” set up – ala, the legitimacy to voodoo and witchcraft in sustaining a viable and intact government – and what that actually means to a new kind of democracy which may also suggest visiting the shrines and swearing to “fetish oaths” makes these states in question viable and may no longer be viable the moment it stops visiting the shrines. It is the norm and accepted when the citizenry of these related states are not complaining, and not doing anything about it, practically.

“Governor” Theodore Ahamefule Orji of Abia State whose Okija visits was all over the news with more questions popping up, and a Youtube video of the governor seen in his underwear proved the governor had agreed to a “fetish oath” as a done deal to fulfill the terms of his stewardship to the people of Abia State. Orji had been locked up for corruption charges before winning the gubernatorial seat and was released some few days to inauguration, and hurriedly sworn-in to succeed Kalu who had suddenly given up his executive throne knowing scores of charges will be leveled against him, as well, by federal agents upon leaving office. However, the constitution’s immunity clause saved Orji from further prosecution until probably he serves out his term, that is, if he survives an election tribunal that may likely nullify his election and send him back to jail.

What has transpired in the Orji and the Okija affair is an Igbo tragedy, which calls into question the validity of Orji and his master Kalu. And what that means is, Kalu and his cohorts who ultimately believed in igwo nshi, of the bewitched and sorcery in the name of power politics, and which as it happened, rendered the people who reside in Abia State and elsewhere in AlaIgbo without a say in what supposedly should have been a nascent democracy having nothing to do with elections conducted by means of a social contract or any form of contract; should be basis for an ultimatum and sanctions, especially when such demonic scenes like the Okija episode and Umuahia are not healthy to a democratic fabric, and civilization, in particular.

If elections in a democracy with regards to power belonging to the people by means of electoral process based on the rule of law, and then, all of a sudden, fetish rituals springs up, making it valid for would be politicians seeking political appointments and things like that to pledge allegiance through bloodsucking and igba afa, invocation of the gods in order to struck a deal according to the principles of ndi dibia and agwuisi, soothsayers, idols, and so on and so forth; then, upholding and respecting democracy, the said election should be declared null and void for the simple fact democracy and demonic rituals does not add up.

And I believe most of the nonsense that keeps hanging around Igbo states should be blamed on a failed leadership. I remember the World Igbo Congress convention which was held in Los Angeles on Labor Day weekend of 2005. And I also remember Igbo politicians and “power brokers” who came from Igbo land. It was not inspiring and one was left to ponder what happened to Igbo people. When Kalu spoke, a vulnerable Igbo Diaspora applauded, and applauded for reasons I’m still having problems trying to figure out and what had happened to a people who are now politically impotent, demolished and conquered.

Somehow, Kalu had inspired his admirers when he quoted himself saying “I want to be the next president of Nigeria” noting it was time the Igbo man gets on the block for the nation’s top job. The entire chant turned out to be a political gimmick to persuade Igbo Diaspora that much need to be done regarding an Igbo president, a post that had eluded top-notch Igbo politicians since the post-civil war era. Kalu seemed to be talking tough when his entourage began a campaign on a different political setting realizing his pursuit of the presidency would not be entertained within the framework of the ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party – PDP – which had already been designed for the president to handpick a presidential candidate from the Sultanate North, to be precise, Umar Yar’Adua, younger brother to the late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, and the president’s best crony during his military dictatorship was the predetermined choice.

Kalu regrouped and formed the Progressive Party Alliance with a platform that he wrote. His friends and kitchen cabinet members backed him up including Orji who would be the flag bearer of the party for Abia State, and a kingpin of the Okija saga where demons invade the natural being through rituals which sets the tone on how to follow the deadly rules when one is elected into public office.

On the other score, nobody can say for sure what had been involved in the visits to the shrines, even with abstract revelations, which would amount to nothing; for instance, say, if human heads and other body parts are linked to the rituals. Nobody knows the whole truth yet, and in this case, the question is, why hasn’t the government permanently closed these abominable shrines of demonic worships after discovering and excavating body parts from these places? Why would such a cult that has destroyed all aspects of civil liberties and dangerous for practicing Christians be allowed to operate without questions asked whatsoever? Why are devoted Christians engaged in affairs against the will of God?

It all boils down to agreeing to a catch phrase “oath of allegiance” based on a deal, and in reality looks very bizarre considering the fact that both Kalu and Orji had been friends since the Fourth Republic popped up. The whole story seems bizarre, indeed, and Orji, in particular, according to a series of newspaper reports did not care about the consequences if one should look at it the other way with his humble beginnings through Holy Ghost College (Arugo High School), and University of Ibadan. Orji must have been desperate or perhaps blindfolded to have gone mad exposing himself to dumb and stupid characters.

From the scheme of things, however, Kalu has denied getting involved with anything relating to the shrines in his native village and the ones in Okija even though he knows nobody is buying that hogwash. In a Tell magazine report, Kalu declares:

“The only shrine I know in my life is the shrine (grotto) of the Virgin Mary, revered in the entire Catholic Church. I am a devout Christian, God-fearing, and I wish to state categorically that I do not have any business with the Okija Shrine. I challenge the accuser to make available to the police his letter of employment, identity ca5rd, pat slips and other such accoutrements of legitimate employees to substantiate his claims”

The hook up here and Kalu’s denial is dangerous. First, starting with one Gordy Duru, former Chairman of Abia South Local Government, and Kalu’s mother lover boy over the years, has been the brain behind all the messy stuff because of his sexual relationship with Kalu’s mother, and his political connections to Kalu himself. The Duru of a guy who powered the entire episode and captured the events at Okija knows it all, and surprisingly, he is not telling much which has something to do with the “oath of allegiance” coupled with his courtship with Kalu’s mother, his own mother in relative terms since Kalu is age mate to the said Duru who ran Abia South Local Government and had nothing to show for it but an abandoned Aba Township which is uninhabitable by human standard, a cult fellowship satanic in nature, and sad that Christians had contacts at night with arushi, the devils that invade the spirits after paying homage to a Catholic Priest during the day for redemption. It is sad indeed, and it got to stop if we really want to come to terms with reality. Apparently, we have become more of idol worshippers with evil intentions than the Christian doctrine we proclaim to uphold.

With an ordained Christian doctrine that we pretend to respect and uphold while we crawl at night to invoke Agwuisi and Amadioha, the gods of our fathers, which never meant any harm from its origin on a traditional standpoint necessary to keep its values related to a socio-cultural concept as history demands in keeping up with the status quo – the ability to maintain those values for a healthy society – was all they prayed for in their endeavors. It had nothing to do with putting someone under duress on the grounds of vulnerability which is the case with Kalu’s cults and demonic gangsters who altered the way we use to be in that capacity. What beats me is the pretense to use God as a cover to deceive the people when Kalu insinuates he is a “devout Christian.” Just like the devil in the flesh, they walk around to preach the Gospel but yet they are evil in character. They will pray, and pray, praising the Lord, and after all the prayers, they end up committing all sorts of atrocities.
This is the true nature of how we destroyed all that our forebears created with their good intensions, despite their limited learning capability and exposure.

The idea that our forebears worshipped idols does not make sense at all, compared to what an “educated” folk like Orji reduced Igbo land to by drinking some concoction of human blood and swearing to an oath that would sustain his power as governor, and under the same oath, to answer to his master who had made it possible for him getting to that political height in a state turned to empire and anarchy by thuggish elements. Our forebears did not have the kind of resources we have today, yet they prevailed. They were true republicans. They functioned as a democratic fabric with transparency and accountability taking its right course. They had values and upheld, and respected our cultural heritage which is why they gave us a sound and quality education based on the status quo.

I can understand a cultural phenomenon, like Owu, Okorosha, Ekeleke, Ogbamgbada, Ogbu Opi, Egwu Onwa, Ikeji, Ifo, and things of that nature – which was established by our forefathers – as a norm to our well being culturally and socially; but when a group of thugs hijacks this very phenomenon to a level unimaginable, then, the Igbo people have a problem which did lead to another Igbo tragedy when the intellectuals stood by and watched these abominable acts unfold in an era where civilization thrives to make life better for the citizenry. These thugs, who, overnight gerrymandered the electorates with lists of ghosts as voters proves the democracy as we thought it to be is nothing but quasi. A democracy and an election where vulnerable voters are left with no choices but take gifts – bags of rice, meats and bottles of soda – to succumb to a state of empire and anarchy in what supposedly should have been a true democracy where elections are free and fair should have us ponder why we got trapped by the Kalus and the rest political thugs who now call the shots in our land.

The failures of Igbo intellectuals and a confused, collective, efulefu, worthless Diaspora are reasons why people like Kalu are running the affairs of state in AlaIgbo today, which is now typical of fascism. Of course, Kalu seems to have known his way around in dirty politics, having spent more of his time as a crook in high school, swindling his peers, and his stunt without credentials at University of Maiduguri where deception to the nadir took its course. But one shouldn’t be amazed on how Igbo intellectuals and its efulefu Diaspora bunch did not get things done in a way that would have kept the Igbo on top of the game in politics and leadership, which under normal circumstances should be based on merit, and not the Kalu ilks who hijacked the citizenry with looted public funds.

Never mind Igbo intellectuals and a confused Diaspora bunch. Kalu had succeeded in his cruel behavior and criminal activities because of an inept and corrupt judiciary in the state which lacks judicial independence due to external pressures and a combined “Ghana must go” bags which did compromise the integrity of their rulings. In any democracy the judiciary must be independent and accountable; accountable which requires that the laws that they interpret based on its judicial decisions responds to the constitutional values of the state. A state that lacks this very measure in its democratic fabric ends up in anarchy, and that is why the Kalus have gotten their way and calling the shots.

The saga continues!

The Hype of Arrests and Corrupt Politicians in Nigeria

I am just laughing my black ass off taking a look at what the jokers have turned Nigeria into. Reading today's news, I'm still cracking up and I think it's now affecting my ribs. Today you will hear that one "vagabond in power" is arrested for stealing public funds and on the next breath the story dramatically changes, and the so-called vagabond in power is released on bail never to be charged again. Then, the media hype trails the story and when one vulnereable journalist or arranger gets paid, the whole brouhaha dies, just like that. The arrest of former governor of Delta State, James Onanefe "Odigborigbo" Ibori shouldn't be any different from the arrests of Orji Kalu, Joshua Dariye, Jolly Tevoru and the rest former rogue politicians who were bent on stealing public funds. As Ibori would be probably charged today in a Kaduna Court and probably remanded in custody or granted bail, it is most likely that a deal would be struck in his favor, as long as he's got the cash that would enable him get back on the streets. No big deal! Kalu is out there still talking with no sign of his case popping up in the courts anytime soon.

But one begins to wonder, of all the arrests and threats to arrest, no one including Mallam Ribadu's EFCC has mentioned or given the public a clue why the former governor of Imo State, Achike Udenwa, shouldn't by now be arrested for the damages and pains he caused to the people of Imo. Udenwa stole from all angles and yet he is scot-free and nobody is mentioning his name for looting the treasury of Imo State. If one should take a closer look, Ibori is a saint compared to Udenwa which makes the whole arrest thing a big joke and a mockery of Nigeria's fledgling democratic fabric. I'm not sure if the nations top cop, Ribadu, is taking a closer look judging from public opinion when he is making all these arrests and leaving out the culprits who destroyed every aspect of civil liberty.

Let's just take a look at charges levelled against public officials since the beginning of the Fourth Republic. It's too numerous to mention, but the fact of the matter is none of the subjects spent time in jail with the exception of the former police chief, Tafa Balogun.

And while Ibori's arrest is all over the news, a sitting governor in one of the North Western states is said to be under the microscope of EFCC for inflated contracts in the said state. Idowu Samuel of the Nigerian Tribune reports:

A governor from one of the North West states is said to have attracted the attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by awarding contracts running into several billions of naira without recourse to due process. The state governor, who himself had probed his predecessor for alleged corrupt enrichment, according to Nigerian Tribune investigations, is now being probed by the EFCC following tips from aggrieved members of his cabinet. A petition by some members of his government now before the anti-graft agency was said to have alleged that the governor had been using his relatives and fronts in the award of contracts. The petitioners had prayed the EFCC to investigate the governor for money laundering. They claimed that all the contracts being handled by the fronts and relations were not listed in the budget. They also claimed that the contracts did not pass through the tenders’ board, thereby violating Due Process in the award process. A top source at the EFCC confirmed that the governor was one of those being investigated.


Ending up this note, it has been confirmed that Ibori bribed EFCC officials with $15m. Imagine, and Desmond Utomwen and Adi Femi of The News reports from the High Court sitting in Kaduna:

Details of how former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, attempted to subvert justice by bribing EFCC officials with $15 million (about N1.8 billion) emerged this morning at the Federal High Court, Kaduna, where he is being tried for alleged money laundering.

Ibori and four others were this morning arraigned on a 103-count charge of money laundering and abuse of office.

The EFCC, in one of the charges, alleged that Ibori on 26 April, 2007 made a cash payment of N1.8 billion ($15m) to EFCC investigators in order to influence their investigation.

According to the EFCC, the offence is contrary to and punishable under section 15(2) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.

The EFCC also alleged that Ibori on 31 December, 2004, collaborated with Lipopo Nigeria Limited to conceal the genuine origin of the sum of N280 million to buy Afribank shares in the names of fictitious persons.

Another charge accused him of collaborating with Kent to conceal the genuine origin of N220 million by using same to buy Afribank shares in the name of fictitious persons.

Ibori was also alleged to have transferred the sum of N5 billion from the account of the Delta State government to buy shares from Afribank with a fictitious company.

He was alleged to have also transferred N5 million to his personal account at Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) illegally from the account of the Delta State government, “and which you knew represent the proceeds of crime with the aim of concealing the nature of crime”.

Another charge against him reads: “That you, James Onanefe Ibori on 10 November 2004, transferred N1 million to your personal account at GTB which forms part of the fund from the account of the Delta State government.”

The presiding Judge, Justice Mohammed Lawal Shuaibu, refused to grant him bail based on the submission of the EFCC counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, that he might jump bail.

Jacobs buttressed his argument with the fact that Ibori had been convicted twice in England for fraud related charges and that he might abscond if granted bail.

Even though Ibori’s counsel, Daudu, pleaded with the court to grant him bail, Justice Shuaibu declined to do so and ordered that he be remanded in EFCC custody until Monday, 17 December, when the court is expected to further consider his application for bail.

Security was tight at the premises of the court as armed anti-riot policemen frisked lawyers and judicial staff moving into the premises.

Despite the tight security, some protesting youths were seen with placards commending the EFCC for a job well done.

The inscriptions on some of the placards read: “ICPC, EFCC, CCB, Well Done’; ‘No Hiding place for corrupt leaders’; ‘With leaders like Ibori, Niger Delta Doesn’t need an enemy’; ‘No To Black Market Rule of Law’, etc.

Ibori was arrested yesterday by officials of EFCC at about 11 a.m. at his Asokoro residence in Abuja and taken to the EFCC office where he is currently being interrogated.

He was said to have escaped to the Kwara State government lodge in Abuja when he discovered the presence of EFCC officials around his house.

His arrest brought to an end the cat and mouse game between him and EFCC officials who have been trying to bring him to book to answer charges bordering on alleged financial impropriety while he was governor of Delta State between May 1999 and May 2007.

The London Metropolitan Police had earlier arrested his wife, Theresa Nkoyo, while she was about to board a Virgin Atlantic flight to Lagos.

The police said her arrest was “in connection with an ongoing money laundering enquiry.”

Ibori has been the subject of money laundering investigation in the UK, where his assets, worth N5 billion, have been frozen.

The investigating team of the Metropolitan Police has made several visits to Nigeria on the matter.

Also under arrest were some of Ibori’s associates, including Adebimpe Pogoson, described as Ibori’s special assistant, who is said to control a number of companies and bank accounts in Nigeria and several other countries; Christine Ibori-Ebie, James Ibori’s sister and Udoamaka Okoronkwo Onuigbo, said to be James Ibori’s banker.

Under probe are companies and properties said to belong to Ibori, such as Haleway Properties Ltd., Gibraltar; the property at 7, Westover Hill in the UK, valued at over 4 million pounds; the property at 42, Great Ground Street, Shaftsbury also in the UK and the company called Telston Quaye Ltd., (British Virgin Island).

Among allegations levelled against him were that he paid $20 million to Bombardier Inc. of Canada, an aircraft manufacturer, for the purpose of buying a plane.

Also being investigated is a London Barclays Bank account in the name of MER Engineering.

About 2.3 million pounds in deposits were traced to the account as payments by Chevron and NNPC.

The saga continues!

Strikes and the Disappearing Nigerian Daily Newspapers.

Stanley Macebuh, the media guru in newspaper business, started it all. He had helped erect The Post Express, the first daily newspaper to go online in Nigeria. He was the pioneer managing director and editor-in-chief of Post Express before calling it quits to pave way for a younger generation to take over. It didn't take long, Post Express was offline before anyone knew it. Many have come and gone.

Daily Sun, the tabloid, has not been consistent with its online publishing ever since it surfaced in the Second Republic on Orji Kalu's bankroll. Daily Independent plays a cat and mouse game not caring about the people that pays to keep it afloat. It pops up online whenever it feels like and I'm sure by now the hits to the site has gone down the drain.

Probably, the blame should go to web-journalism since it couldn't challenge newspapers on the streets where it's really practical. The Post Express is a perfect example. When Post Express launched its first online version in 1998, it appeared to signal a whole new trend in journalism. However, it turned out to be expensive and paying the dues wasn't easy. Newswatch equally did the same trying a paid subscription model but lost more readers because most readers weren't willing to pay since they could get the same news source elsewhere, free of charge.

The past four days or so, in my routine early morning News Desk publication, I noticed one or two things. In particular, The Vanguard Group of Newspapers have disappeared online without a trace or explanation whatsoever. Visiting the site, it reads "This is the Plesk default page. If you see this page it means: 1) hosting for this domain is not configured or 2) there's no such domain registered in Plesk."

I have been wondering what would amount to an authentic paper in Nigerian standard of web-journalism vanish online just like that. I hope the owner(s) of this unique newspapers that assembled some fine journalist would do something to avoid losing its archive in terms of making references. I have enjoyed reading the Vanguard for quite sometime now.

The Guardian, the best managed paper, in my own humble opinion, is being shut down as I write. Its employees have embarked on a strike the past four days or so, indicating "the management of Guardian Newspapers Limited wishes to inform members of the public that our newspapers have been off the streets and online, following an industrial action called by our workers."

What these guys are demanding is just a pay raise or some kind of benefits. Would that amount to taking a newspaper of Guardian's magnitude off the streets and online? Why not go to the table and negotiate to stay in business? Assuming that Guardian declines to the demands of its employees, my guess is that Guardian will instantly lose its value. The irony is a paper begun well by Macebuh goes offline after all these years of fine journalism.