Give some Nigerians in high places high marks for celebrating the elevation of shame to fame. They expect all of us to join. They call it political sagacity. Their followers applaud.
One had thought that Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu would have been changed by his six-month imprisonment. But a correctional facility was not for him, as the courts have decided he was not guilty. He has returned more emboldened by the streams of visitors who find themselves praising his leadership. They missed him. They are glad to have him back to continue from wherever he stopped.
Trust Kalu to lap up the moments. He speaks magisterially about forgiving everyone, including the judge. We apparently offended him. Were we the court that found him guilty of theft, money laundering to the tune of N7.56 billion? Was he not released on a “technical point”?
Our Senate called off a day to visit Kalu in his Abuja residence. One could wave that aside. Senate President Ahmed Lawan was Kalu’s roommate in their days at the University of Maiduguri. Kalu has been a mentor of sorts to him. They have remained family friends.
Lawan led principal officers of the Senate to Kalu’s home on the night of Thursday 4 June 2020, a day after his release from Kuje. They were celebrating his return from prison. People were falling over themselves to identify with the former resident of Kuje.
The laughter should have belonged to a reception for an illustrious individual, an accomplished one who was marking the execution of another feat, not an illustrated one whose examples fit into the complications of Nigeria.
Praises are being heaped on Kalu for understanding Nigeria, its peoples, its politics. Are they also applauding his ruination of Abia State and the despoliation of its resources?
Some people are even jealous of Kalu’s achievements. They would not give him the distance our traditions accord one who has returned from such journey. He is a hero, the perfect amalgam of the putrescence Nigerian politics.
He is the poster boy of the Senate resplendent in his white, stainless attires. He bears no stains and we must note that. The strains remain in the dissonance the receptions create.
Kalu has no sobriety over his actions that erected the foundations on which Abia State has stood still for 21 years. It would take dramatic decisions to change the status of Abia State on the next 21 years.
He is a Senator, a distinguished one at that being the Senate’s Chief Whip. Why would they not celebrate as one of their own has proven that the law is applicable to those who do not understand the workings of Nigeria? There are enough talks of him being the best presidential candidate for 2023
While angry Nigerians were processing the Senate’s waste of public time on Kalu, his predecessor and former sworn foe, Dr. Theodore Ahamefula Orji visited. They had not been chummy for more than 13 years. Their seemingly irreparable relationship was public.
Details of the visit, apart from the pictures, were not public. The public joke was that with the allegations against Orji at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), he could have gone to Kalu to learn how to deal with those matters.
Kalu on Tuesday 16 June 2020 tried shading Justice Mohammed Idris who had put him away for 12 years. According to Kalu, Idris’ dad, Idris Legbo Kutigi, a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, who died in October 2018, at 79, was a regular visitor to the same Abuja residence, where Kalu regaled his guests with his importance.
Chinedu Orji, Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, son of immediate past governor, Theodore Orji, was visiting.
A well-known character for his garrulity, Kalu did not spare a thought for the dead Kutigi who was no longer in a position to define his relationship with the former governor of Abia State. His remarkable performances have shifted to higher gears since Kuje.
Chinedu arrived with his two uncles, elderly people – Chief Charles Ogbonnaya, a former Deputy Chief of Staff, Abia State, and Chief Godfrey Onyemobi, Abia State Chairman, Elders Council, All Progressives Congress (APC). They were witnesses when he handed Abia State back to Kalu with these words, “Whatever I am today, it is because of you; whatever my father is today, it is because of you. These are two elderly men from my community to show you that I came here to pay you allegiance as our leader”. He was more elaborate, anybody who had become anything in Abia State since 1999 was courtesy of Kalu.
The Abia Speaker continued, “Now is the time for the family to stay together. We are not in competition with you for leadership. You are the leader. In the heat of everything, you are the leader. That leader means a lot. You are leading us. Forget about political platform”. Chinedu was right about the Orjis being family with Kalu. His father was Chief of Staff to Kalu for eight years. Kalu’s younger brother Mascot was Chief of Staff to Chinedu’s dad. Mascot was at the meeting.
If Chinedu said these publicly what was said privately?
Kalu was in his elements. The leader said, “I want to thank you for this uncommon visit. We are in a new era. I have forgiven everybody that offended me. I am not saying some people, I am saying everybody. I have said this to Mr. President; I have said this to our National Working Committee; I have said this to the Chairman of the party of APC; I have said this to the Senate President and I have said this to fellow Senators. I have forgiven everybody because my going into incarceration was a lesson for me and it was the will of God. I hold no grudges, even about the judge, Justice Idris. His father was a very close friend to this house, Justice Kutigi, may his soul rest in peace. He was coming to this house until his death. So, I bear no grudges against anybody. But I give glory to God that I was able to go there. If I did not go there, I could have died.”
Has it ever crossed Kalu’s mind that he should be asking for the forgiveness of the people of Abia? Have they forgiven him? Will they forgive him?
Abia State lies near comatose in the midst of the Coronavirus. Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has been hospitalised with the virus. The state’s health facilities are stretched with rising figures as the pandemic sets off news waves of panic. The state does not have a test laboratory. Samples are taken to Abakaliki, 112 kilometres away, on journeys that take more than three hours because of bad roads.
Did these worries feature in their current conversations which centred on their future, not the future of Abia State? Have they not heard of how important people like them, elsewhere, are leveraging their relationships to mitigate the impact of the pandemic in their state? It is all about the Orjis with Kalu resuming leadership. He has humbly accepted.
Chinedu spoke with unmasked authority while handing over leadership of the state to Kalu. He bowed so profoundly that you would think he was before a god. Obviously, he warehoused the leadership. What else counts?
Covid-19: Abia Lives Matter was the title of a speech by Professor Gregory Ibe, Founder/Chancellor of Gregory University, Uturu, in an interaction via Skype with journalists on Monday 15 June 2020. It bore his concerns about the ricocheting Covid-19 figures from the state.
There is no better reminder to Kalu and the Orjis – who relish the future without the past and present – that power should be about the people. Do they care? Would they care?
