Among Ndigbo, we say, “ Onwu gbuo okorobia, ewere asiri jee akwa ya”, meaning: when sudden death befalls an able-bodied, young man, many fallacious stories are told at his funeral. Indeed many tales have been told since the unfortunate fate that befell former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, and his family in London.
Only a few days ago, one Houston-based critic vomited a whole lot about Ekweremadu with triumphal gusto and air of finality. Among others, he wrote: “I had always told the senator in his face and written extensively on how he used his time in the Senate to collude with contractors to loot the funds budgeted for several public projects in Igbo land. These, of course, include Enugu/Onitsha, Enugu/Port-Harcourt, and Oji-River/Awgu roads, which have continued to claim many innocent lives. A simple scan of the internet on my name alongside Ekweremadu will show more, including a library, water, and road projects that were looted in my hometown of Ugbo, Enugu State”.
He also added: “One of the perceived prophesies is that I never ceased to tutor the senator on the genius of the adage: ‘A tree does not make a forest.’… Senator Ike Ekweremadu made sure that none of his political associates from his area could rise or shine”.
The irony of it all is that this man’s community, Ugbo, in Awgu LGA, is one of the greatest beneficiaries of Ekweremadu’s sojourn in the Senate, be it in terms of infrastructural projects or human capital development, regular employments, and political empowerment. Beside the asphalt road network across the length and breath of the hilly community, the water projects, electricity etc., which Ekweremadu attracted to Ugbo, the slanderer’s kinsman and political scion of Ekweremadu, Hon. Toby Okechukwu, rose from being Ekweremadu’s Special Adviser to becoming a three-term Member of the House of Representatives and incumbent Deputy Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. This has had a multiplier effect in development projects, employments, etc. in Ugbo in particular, and Enugu West, Enugu State and the South East in general. Ekweremadu also facilitated the appointment of the critic’s elder brother, Dr. Alex Ogbonnia, into federal boards and subsequently as Special Adviser to Deputy President of the Senate. In appreciation for all these, the three autonomous communities of Ugbo came together to confer a chieftaincy title of Onwa na-etiri (Moon that shines for all) of Ugbo on Ekweremadu in 2011.
