My first part of this article, as entitled above, was inundated with torrents of telephone calls and written messages as reactions – from within and outside Nigeria. In the titanic class struggles that define and decline the Nigerian society, the ‘leftists’ and ‘bourgeois’ had interrogated the piece – just to guess from their comments. I am and still on the ‘left’, where my good friend, Prof Julius Omozuanvbo Ihonvbere, who claimed to be one, had used ladder to the other side, another life.
Still, Prof Ihonvbere, the outgoing representative of the Owan Federal Constituency of Edo State in the House of Representatives (HoRs), Abuja, and its Majority Leader, is the theme and sub-themes of this article.
In my first article published a week ago, it was only about few persons from the lots of its readers, who may be Ihonvbere’s hangerons and kitchen cabinet men, who would have had misgivings for it. Indeed, few of them wanted my head on a long pole for public display. They talked and wrote twaddles that I wrote in a pen dipped in acid.
Prof Ihonvbere wasn’t just on his own, minding his once enviable life of a school teacher, meant to mould the youth in a career, that he swore to a heavenly reward, before I accosted him. ted him. Neither, I didn’t just go questioning or reminding him about his private life, or how to live it, when he junketed about the world, seeking empirical knowledge, wisdom, and the greenest of pastures.
No, he conceded to us the freedom to probe his doings, the very moment he chose to be the people’s servant of goodwill, not the overlord who can’t give his only cup of water to assuage the thirst of those he swore to lead, whereas he swallows the saliva.
But, if a dancer could afford to mock his own dance steps or prove to be smarter than the ones whose drumming gives him the majestic strides, the least expected from his drummers is to either play nonsense or sleep on the drums.
This precisely refers to the catchy title of Fred Agbeyegbe -“The King Must Dance Naked”. I think this essence was also captured in an Abuja public forum, where Dr. Otive Igbuzo, the former Nigeria’s Country Representative of ActionAid, was not only in one piece with the Agbeyegbe’s title, that bores down to integrity, selflessness and sacrifice, but also in tandem with Chris Matthew. The American journalist once wrote that “All Politics Is Local”
“Charity begins at home and not from the outside”. This is what the Edo people would readily admonish to homeboys. The manner a child leaks his fingers in a meal could foretell if a child is glutton or not.
Prof Ihonvbere’s outing in the Abuja’s Green Chamber, with the other prominent positions ge had had, have little or nothing to show for them more so that he breached a standing agreement where his two tenures in the House had exhausted his Owan West’s stay in that office. It’s appalling that an erudite professor and important personality of his carriage could stoop so low to play such backwater politics like the motor park touts.
Matters are made worst when the people of Evbiobe (Sabongidda-Ora), the headquarters of Owan West Ihonvbere’s had always openly expressed deep disappointment in the representation of the professor of political science. Recently the sisterly community with Uzebba, Ihonvbere’s hometown, gave him a shocking score of 7/100 performance as their representative. The community and numerous Owan West villages that complained recently, reflected years of unmet expectations, lack of visible impact, and growing frustration among the people who once believed in better representation. All over the two LGAs, residents say he made empty promises, where hopes were raised and dashed.
Ihonvbere is deceitful, selfish and a promise wrecker. I got to know him in absentia, in the NADECO days, when as a functionality of the Ford Foundation, an American global charity, he was accidentally gravitated to the struggles against the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election, won by Chief MKO Abiola. I got to know him through the late sage, Chief Anthony Enahoro, NADECO’s Diaspora chairman and my mentor if note. As a member of the Project Underground, who lived in the trenches, it was a black testament, traversing the lonely and dangerous streets, country’s boarders laid bare with landmines.
Ihonvbere was only armedchair activist, who was there not because it was a dangerous personal choice that he had made, but because he was a go-between donors and those in the actual struggle. And I agreed that he made some contributions, like the Freedom Radio broadcasting. We made guerrilla journalism possible, scavenging for tangible news, for them to slot in grooves and parrot all through in opulence.
I had the first misfortune of meeting him for the first time at Golden Gate Restaurant, Ikoyi, Lagos. It was a fundraising ceremony, Orobosa Omo-Ojo and Emeka Ogbeide, both publishers of the now rested Midwest Times newspaper joined them to organise. At that time, I did some reporting for the medium, which brought me intermittently to Edo and Delta states, where it was circulated.
In that event, I had gone to a rest room, when I overhead Prof Ihonvbere being welcomed to the venue. When I asked Oroh after him, because we hadn’t met in persons, he jokingly introduced himself “Naim Be This”, which became a campaign catching phrase during his governorship campaign in Edo State. With Omo-Ojo and Ogbeide we did lots of media work to popularise him in the state, ehere he was relatively unknown and had become a household name in no time.
But, Ihonvbere hardly appreciates helps done for him.
During his governorship aspiration under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), he would sweet-talk all into doing more work pro bono. I say this with emphasis because I still relate with some of those who slave for him that are suffering today. I had a revelation and told him not to spend so much on his election, because the President Olusegun Obasanjo he relied on for the ticket will fail him. He nearly hit the ceiling in anger and yell on me not to repeat it again. I only laughed it off in his then Campaign Office at Ikpokpan Street, GRA, Benin City.
While I was in Benin, a phone call came from Omo-Ojo that I should help him interview Ihonvbere in his Uzebba resident. I declined after which I listened to his appeal. While I was in a taxi at Iruekpen, veering off towards Ozalla, Hon Joe Edionwele, my old schoolmate urged me to meet him at Ihunmudumu Ekpom, as there was an urgent discussion to have. We thereafter drive to the house of the late Chief Christopher Abebe, my own relation, who was father to the late Mrs Stella Obasanjo. Chief Abebe didn’t know I was his closed relation and was unhappy about the several newspapers reports I had made on him and Mrs Obasanjo, which led to the arrest and long detention of Dr. Godsent Akhabue (aka Joefel).
Chief Edionwele did well settling me and the old man. Chief Abebe, who chose his words told me in confidence that I should go and support Prof Osereimen Osunbor, as the one Chief Obasanjo has chosen as governor. When we cane outside he phoned her daughter, the First Lady, who was happy to speak to me. She also told me to go and meet Prof Osunbor, who was then at Iruekpen. I refused to go there nor support his ambition, and opted for Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
When I met Ihonvbere at Uzebba, his first remark was “You again Comrade”? I picked offence and wanted to go back to Benin, whilst Dr Tunde Lakoju pleaded with me not to go. After my interview with him, I told him to reduce his campaign expenses as Chief Obasanjo has given the ticket to another contestant. He was angry again. But I told none of them about my meeting at Abia, Iruekpen.
While my NGO, the Okpamakhin Community Initiative (OCI) has a serious land grabbing problem with the Okomu Oil Palm Company, Professor Ihonvbere was SSG, under Governor Oshiomhole. After promising to help because the grabbers were advancing from Uhunmwode and Ovia North East to his LGA. He left us in the struggle and never told us that the Oshiomhole’s government had revoked 13,750 hectares to the communities, a gazette focumants which he had signed.
Following the coming of the Godwin Obaseki’s government, we had taken our campaign to the world. All he did was to try to thwart our agitation. After intense protests the Obaseki’s government appointed him Chairman and Barrister Osarodion Ogie as Secretary. An interface meeting was to be held between our Coalition and Okomu Oil, which his committee did not allow to hold. And the South African boss of the Company was having regular meetings with and they had perfected a deal to return the revoked lands belonging to poor farmers of his area to the original grabbers.
One day, he called me on the phone to meet him immediately in Government House, and I sensed that it was a trap, hence I refused to go. The white people waited and left. When we met again I told him it wasn’t for only me to meet them, but the coalition members and two of our lawyers, Dr Osagie Obayuwana and the late Barr NP Osifo. After a promise to call for a general meeting, we were cut off in group, only for overtures to be made behind us and the local communities to few members of the coalition, who were bought over.
The Okomu Oil was encouraged by those in government to drag me through court at Okada over the same land issue. After giving the vast lands to Okomu Oil and others, more lands were again ceded by government from the forest reserves adjoining his community, Ora, Ozalla, Sobe and others. Though I no longer trusted him, some of his relatives insisted that we meet him in Abuja, which I and another Owan person did. We met him twice and a certain Barr Ahamise, his PA. He promised to link us to his community under the Chief Utebi, and to give the farmers the needed support.
We had two meetings with Chief Utebi, who boasted he would support our efforts to retrieve the lands to the poor farmers. On a second thought, we sued the Edo State Government at the ECOWAS Court Abuja, where we were taken aback by the same Chief Utebi of Ihonvbere’s community and one Chief Okanigbuan of Evbiobe, who addressed the press that their communities were not with us for taking Edo State Government to court. Today a great deal of the land had been given to big plantation firms, from poor farmers.
For years, we fought until a month ago when the ECOWAS Court had its last sitting and all asked to go wait for a day for judgement.
I have more instances to believe that Prof Ihonvvere isn’t there for anybody, but for himself alone.
What surprised everybody was that after the painful death of his grown up son, a hardworking one, the Prof’s wife was said to have had elaborate birthday celebration in Abuja, recently, where over N300 million Naira was expended, in a manner that reminded all about Imelda Marcus, wife of the late Filipino president, who had several thousand of shoes, and other apparels.
Of the many houses built by the earthworms in the wet season, are soon pulled down in droughts, while in search of water.