Chief James Onanafe Ibori: Just before we get the narrative twisted

BY IKENNA ONUGBOLU

With his release from London prisons, Chief James Onanafe Ibori has continued to be celebrated as some kind of hero for reasons best known to his admirers.

Chief Ibori as a staunch supporter of Late President Umaru Yaradua was acknowledged to have nominated the then Attorney General and Minister of Justice Michael Andokaa and the then EFCC chairman Mrs Farida Waziri who with deference to their benefactor began a process that killed the tempo of the fight against corruption. Chief Obori, who was then standing trial for corruption and theft, was cleared and acquitted of the charges against him by a special division of the Appeal court set up in Asaba on a property donated by the government of Delta State. He subsequently became one of the most powerful politicians in the Late Yaradua’s kitchen cabinet.

Trouble however started brewing for him with the sickness that befell the Late President. When it became apparent that the Late President Yaradua could no longer perform his duties, and calls for Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to assume the role in acting capacity heightened, Chief Ibori like other kitchen cabinet members of that government failed to read the handwriting on the wall. They adamantly deployed every means to prevent this from happening. Chief Ibori had envisaged that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency will rob him off his enviable position as the “numero uno” Niger Delta politician in the country then, but he lost out.

Goodluck Jonathan was subsequently proclaimed Acting President by the National Assembly via what they termed “doctrine of necessity”. With this, Chief Ibori envisaged trouble. Emissaries sent to the Acting president were snubbed. He sensed vindictiveness from the presidency and decided to flee the country. He knew he was a wanted man in UK, which meant that Europe and America were ‘no go’ areas. He therefore chose UAE as his safe heaven. Unfortunately, in his desperation to flee from Acting President Goodluck Jonathan, he failed to realize that UAE had an extradition treaty with UK. With the activation of the treaty by the UK government, Chief Ibori was arrested.

His subsequent failure to stop his extradition legally culminated in his subsequent extradition, trial and conviction in UK for corruption related offences. It will interest us to know that part of his crime was the conversion of $20m (20 million USD) investment by Delta State government in Econet Nigeria to personal use.

Now if we interrogate these actions by Chief Ibori, we get confused on the reasons for his celebration by the government and people of Delta State. Is the act of chickening away from the suspected arrest by then Acting President Jonathan heroic? or maybe the masterful act of stealing what belongs to all is what is celebrated. It may also be that our senses has become so twisted that we no longer think rationally.

Chief Ibori was not a political prisoner. He was in prison for stealing what does not belong to him. Its immaterial that the owners of the property did not care about what was stolen. As expected, his family should rejoice and be glad that their son is free but those craving hero worship and hero status for their benefactor should do well by desisting from the assault on our collective sensibilities.