My esteemed, revered, and distinguished professor, warm regards.
You have been and will continue to be my mentor. I have been your secret follower, admirer and lover all the years. So it will not surprise you when I decide to write to you about your role in the selection of Adirahu Igede.
Honestly speaking, I am not sure if you are on facebook, but most of your write up are shared in one Andyson Iji Egbodo’s wall. They range from your letter accusing government/party officials of interference, your recent rejoinder to Professor Johnson Onah’s interview and your physical presence at the OJU LGC guest house when the zoning was done and the election day of march 10th,2017.
I will share the letter with Andyson and hope it will get to you.
The first section will be on the rejoinder and the second on my minimum expected role in the whole of Igede land.
In your rejoinder, “I do not play God’ that is based on Professor Johnson Onah’s interview is well absorbed and I am not in the capacity to assess if your whole rejoinder square properly to the issue in the interview. We will leave that to careful readers and analyst.
My interest was captured by the following statements:
Ø I have played and continued to play a fatherly role.
Ø As a father it was my decision not to take side.
Ø Am indeed very concerned right now about the avoidable crisis that the competition for the chieftaincy title has generated in this otherwise progressive and peaceful family (Ejugwu family)
My erudite scholar, based on my previous knowledge, your words (spoken or written), your actions and intentions/motives always exist in harmony if you have not changed. So I have no good reasons to doubt it.
I also saw your reluctance in giving to the public your role around the chieftaincy contest and also for the peace of Ejugwu family.
Let me hope your honesty of purpose and integrity is not compromised or you have put your integrity in to jeopardy because of selfish interest or in a bid to take a short cut.
Let me also hope that your long interaction with the Ejugwu family and your knowledge of the people within the family is not used as an advantaged to set them against themselves.
Let me also hope that you did not wait for Professor Johnson Onah to arrange a meeting in your Abuja home, but you have before that meeting had several contact with the two as a claimed father and mentor to broker peace.
Let me hope after your Abuja meeting, and your advice to go home and talk and also for the two to step communication, you have done follow up as a claimed lover of the family.
Let me also hope that as the conferred head of the family, you have gathered other stakeholders in the family with the aim of resolving the two or talked with other stakeholders to convene a meeting.
Based on my previous knowledge of your moral integrity if you have not changed, you might have even done more than that for a peaceful family you identified with since 1969.
My mentor and professor, please join me to pray for Ejugwu’s family, which I hope you will do if you have not changed.
Ø That the family will remain strong and united after all these.
Ø That if it is a design out of envy, malice, jealousy that outsiders desire to set the family against themselves, that God will judge them with fire.
Ø That no life will be lost at the process.
Professor Ode Ojowu, God that knows the heart of man and watch peoples actions, inactions, body language and motives will keep and bless you.
The second section which is my minimum expectation on your role in Igede nation.
Leadership is complex and the stakes are high. We all begin our lives as empty notebooks. Every day we have opportunity to record new experience on our pages. With the turning of the pages, we gain more knowledge and understanding, as we progress our notebook becomes filled with observations.
There is a thin boarder between a serving-leader and a self-serving leader, and very easy to slip into any of the divide. It is possible for a once morally upright person to degenerate into immorally corrupt person because of personal interest, pride, envy, fear of competition and unreasonable hatred.
My mentor and professor, those of us living in Igede nation and even those dead in the grave are proud of you and accepted you as leader. Our prayer is not for you to be a champion in Igede, zone c,Benue or Nigeria but the whole world. You have the capacity, influence and authority to call any meeting at any place/time in Igede land. You have the capacity to organized league of professors in Igede or think tank comprising of those in academics, politics, traditional chief and religious groups. Your acceptability and ability is not in contest.
With all humility sir, you love climbing without connecting. You most times make unilateral decisions about Igede nation and then turn around to plant it on people, and if such is resisted, you resort to telling everyone that you acted in the interest of Igede nation and those against you are planted from Idoma land.
Formally, it was Senator David Mark, but now is His Excellency Benson Abonu. Any other option that does not square with your pre-arrangement is termed external and from Idoma land; even at that are we not connected to Idoma people or why do you want to incite the new generation against Idoma people.
If we travelled memory lane, you openly mobilize and presented Rt Hon Samson Okwu as if he is a non-indigene and planted on Igede people by Senator David Mark.
Sir, maybe my observations may be wrong, I stand to be corrected.
My expectation from you about the first class stool is for you to organize or cause to organize all relevant stakeholders, cause an enduring template to be done and a pre-selection committee be set and the whole exercise will go differently. You would have written your name in gold in all people’s heart. But when you got yourself involved in meetings home and outside Igede with powers that be and did not seems to have your way, do write ups accusing people and participated in election day events; it is only kids in nursery classes that will accept your NEUTRALITY hook, line and sinker. Still I stand to be corrected.
Sir, you said in your rejoinder that Igede youths have continued to demonstrate maturity in political and cultural matters to the envy of many since 1999.
It had me thinking differently, if you have made enough investigation in to the youth organizations in Igede. The Igede National Youth Council is the umbrella body of Igede youths and headed by Comrade Moses Onu, but most of the insultive,foul and malicious write-ups by unofficial, unregistered youth are done by Andyson Egbodo. My professor, which group are you working with. Any other group apart from one handled by Comrade Moses Onu are thugs, hired mischief makers who are only specialist in doing odd job for a morsel of bread. These hired boys believed that for their pay master to remain white every other Igede person that is not loyal to their master must be black if not hell will be let lose. Sir, you have children (your very own from your wife) that by all standard are Igede youths, you can ask them which group they belong to.
Sir, you are highly respected to work with unofficial group headed by a manner less person like Andyson, who insult elders and blackmail any perceived opposition of his pay master.
My revered scholar, behind an able man are always other able men and women, God has bless you with many in Igede, please use them and leave the paid propagandist of likes of Andyson.
According to Professor C.S Lewis, “every time you make a choice, you are turning the central part of you either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature.”
With profound humility, I send this letter and hope it will find you well.
Dated: 2017
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