(As we wait for the verdict, it is important to restate the nature of the challenge Andy Uba posses to a generation of Nigerian citizens yet unborn. Below is a piece first published on December 18, 2007.)
God comes in trinity. Evil comes in triplets.
The triplets of Anambra evil are Chris Uba, Chuma Nzeribe and Andy Uba.
Many are familiar with the two Ubas but Chuma Nzeribe, the most brutal of Anambra evils, operates under the radar.
I met Chuma Nzeribe at the 2004 World Igbo Congress convention, in Newark , New Jersey . Before then, I had read a lot about his various exploits: How he led Chris Uba’s convoy that knocked Gov. Chris Ngige off the road. How he masterminded the kidnapping of Gov. Chris Ngige. How he worked as the commandant of the Uba gang of urchins who terrorized Anambra state.
When I beheld Chuma Nzeribe, his stuffy bodyguard built, bloodshot eyes, arrogant and threatening posture, suited perfectly well with his records of alleged crimes and misdemeanors. During an Anambra Forum, when a participant asked Chris Uba, then the resident terrorist of the state, an uncomfortable question, it was Nzeribe who warned the participant that Uba gang would be waiting for him whenever he returned to Anambra State.
During an evening with Chris Uba, when I observed their mob-like life, Chris jovially told horror stories about taunting Gov. Ngige, making the Governor kneel down and plead not to be locked up in a room forever. Chuma Nzeribe on the other hand pensively expressed his disappointment that he was not allowed to finish off Ngige.
In their Presidential Suite at the Hilton, when one of their henchman was throwing out a guest who said the wrong thing, it was security conscious Chuma Nzeribe who combed the room as another henchman went round the suite querying everyone who the gang was not familiar with. When the henchman got to me, he asked me where I came from.
“ New York ,” I said.
Later, when my report on the evening with Chris Uba came out, I was told how furious the henchman and the Uba gang were. From sources inside the gang, I was told that the henchman was sure I was the one who called Chris Uba group the “Pirates of the Niger .” And that it was I who described their arrival in Anambra State as “the end of Igbo Civilization.”
“He lied to me,” the henchman said to the source. According to him, he was sure I was the man from Boston , but when I “lied” that I was from New York , I threw him off balance.
I recalled all these because few weekends ago, in a party in New York , I met that henchmen again, three years after.
“I remember you,” he said, pointing at me. “The spy,” he added.
Of course, I discussed the Uba brothers with the henchman. Aside from telling me to ask Okey Ndibe to find something else to write about, he made all the typical arguments supporter of Uba had been going about making. What moved me was when he told me the reason why the Ubas are not going to walk away quietly to enjoy their loot. “In that country,” he said, “No matter how much money you have, you need the power to protect it. Otherwise, one day, what happened to Adenuga will happen to you.” Andy Uba and his brother are in politics to stay, he said. And that Emeka Offor is making a comeback.
It all reminded me of the reason why Chuma Nzeribe continues to ensure that he is re-elected to the House of Representatives every four years even when he has never been quoted to have said a word in the chambers.
In April election, Chuma Nzeribe ran for re-election. He was challenged by Michael Ozulumba, a Boston lawyer who went home to run for election into the House of Representatives. I have always wondered how Ozulumba was able to take on the evil Nzeribe and get to stay alive. Well, following the publication of my piece titled Understanding the likes of Ikenna Ellis-Ezenekwe, Ozulumba sent me an email from Nigeria in which he told the story of his campaign against Chuma Nzeribe. Here is Mike Ozulumba in his own words:
Rudi:
“Thanks for the piece. I must tell you that Ikenna played a big part in my present state of complacency regarding our political affairs. I saw Ikenna as a vibrant young fella. Our days at ASA-USA exposed me further to think he was our point man here.
“I embarked on a political mission by injecting myself as a candidate in the last charade in Nigeria . I quietly toured the state with the APGA big wigs while personally funding my campaign against a known thug/candidate Chuma Nzeribe for the Ihiala Federal Constituency. It was very tense as everyone practically was so afraid of Chuma in our region. However, I once participated as an Attorney in Representing the Okija Shrine saga suspects. I earned so much of their respect and trust that when they saw me as a candidate in Okija, they all massively formed my security network. Mind you these boys are known as Chuma's boys before I took them over. Whenever Chuma saw me during the campaign in company of my Ogwugwu boys who snatched ballot boxes for him in 2003 election, he was very worried even with his Hausa security Mopol boys like the notorious Haruna from Awka Mopol. He would stay far from me while he wiped sweat. I got Chuma so intimidated that I was free to campaign even in his Uzoakwa Ihiala village primary school packed with his own cousins who were more than eager to see and hear Ozulumba.
“Chuma earned his PDP Candidacy very late. Three weeks before election as his Godfather Emeka Offor of Oraifite paid millions to INEC to clear Chuma and dropped the PD Candidate, Vitalis Okafor, backed by the powerful Dr. ABC Orjiakor of Uli. The case is still in Court.
“When Chuma made his dramatic entry into the race, he brought his violence immediately into the campaign. Opponents’ posters at Ihiala were torn down. People were beaten up and he for once placed his posters for election. I capitalized on it and reminded my multitude of followers that the Ugly man has finally shown his ugly face to his people. I wrote a piece of article concerning the new dimension of violence that has crept into the race at Ihiala and hoping our good friend here Ikenna would republish it as his investigative report, or communicate with me for any clarification. He went on and published the article with some additions and captioned it under my name EVEN THOUGH I WAS A RUNNING CANDIDATE. I was shocked!!
“I continued my campaign but intensified my security as a result. All the policemen around Ihiala, my region, had been paid and further payment promised them by Chuma. Some of the DCOs and ACOs visited my house seeking to provide me with adequate protection. However, I have a close confidant who is a mole at Chuma's security network and the boy though he openly fights for Chuma, briefs me to the last dot about INEC officials and the Nigeria Police factor in the election. I rejected any police officer sent to me for protection, not even from Awka when my APGA Party Secretary worked for one.
“After the non-election, Chuma sent word to me that he wanted to see me through my town's Igwe. I responded that he was free to see me at my villa. He called me and sounded very holly. I told him he could only come to my house in the company of one person and no policeman. He agreed and came at 10 pm to my Umuatuegwu Villa Hous,e Okija. We had good pleasantries and he demanded to know what I needed now the election is over and he chairs the House Works Committee. I told him that I would think about it and will be in touch. We had dinner at my house and he left.
“On our other meeting now at his residence at Ihiala, he brought out the name of Ikenna Ezenekwe that came to Nigeria and handed a dossier of me to him along with the article he published at Nankareports. He demanded money from Chuma in order to give him more information about me during the wee days of the election. Chuma dismissed him, according to Chuma and told him that he did not consider me a threat to his life or job at all. CHUMA STATED "YOU SEE THAT YOU PEOPLE IN AMERICA COULD BE FUNNY" Your American brother wanted you dead!, but you know me how I respected you during the campaign. I wouldn’t want anything to hurt you as I know Okija will blame anything on me!
Hey take care for now.
Mike Ozulumba
Just like fingers cannot cover the sun, so will no smokescreen cover the footprint of evil.
After failing to persuade me with the argument that educational degrees are not a requirement for anyone to be governor and that all Nigerian politicians are thieves, I have been asked by Andy’s people if I will let him be if he confesses that he has no degree and that he made his money through business deals while serving Olusegun Obasanjo. They were surprised that I still said no. My reason is that evil allowed to foster permeates the core of society and ultimately leads to its destruction.
I was in Nigeria when PDP had what was called the primaries for those who would be going to the state house of assemblies. I was in Anambra state where my class mate was running. The day after, I asked him how it went. He said to me that there was no primary election. Andy Uba simply fed and “boozed” those PDP members who came from Abuja to monitor the primaries and sent everyone home saying that he would hand pick the people that would be in his state house of assembly. He did not want men and women that would give him headache.
That was exactly what happened in Anambra state. Andy handpicked those men and women in the state house of assembly. They will always do his bidding. And from all indications, he is preparing to call them up to act.
When Andy loses at the Supreme Court, he will most likely switch to plan B -which will be to impeach Governor Peter Obi. In fact, the talk of that happening is already an everyday discussion in Uga.
In Andy Uba: The Politician as a Great Listener, a mesmerized and greatly induced Sunday Independent correspondent traveled to Uga to bring us a glimpse of the war room. Without knowing it, the correspondent painted a picture of an ordinary citizen who lives like a government official, with an array of police officers guarding every square feet of his house, while he met with government officials with whom he plots the continuing destabilization of the state. At no point did it occur to the correspondent that all the edifices of the Ubas that seduced him and the resources marshaled out to protect them were a continuation of waste of illegitimately acquired resources that belonged to the people.
Why Andy Uba must be stopped is not because of Andy Uba. As a man, Andy Uba, Chris Uba and their likes are mere mortals who will, like the rest of us, soon exit this earth and go and answer to their creator. Why they are dangerous and must be stopped is because of the influence they are having on the new generation.
To many outside Anambra state, the exploits of the Ubas may just be another story in the newspaper. But to those of us from Anambra state, it is real. In every local government area, in every town, in every village, in every clan, in every family, there is today a replica of Andy Uba wrecking havoc. In your corner of the world, they may not cause you sleepless night, but not in mine. Every phone call home now tells me that the infestation of Andy Uba’s type across every space is becoming total.
There is now a generation who grew up knowing nothing but the obnoxious norms and values that are espoused by the likes of Andy Uba. These are our children who are coming. They are the generation who do not know Zik, M.I. Okpara, Akanu Ibiam etc. All they have been exposed to is the thuggish lifestyle of the Uba generation. Today, that generation is watching and working hard to perfect that manner of lifestyle.
This generation must be shown that things the Ubas stand for are all wrong. They must be shown that there are consequences for those who choose to live that kind of lifestyle. This generation must be shown that in a society that wishes to survive, everyone does not surrender to the intimidation and destructive forces of a minority that is determined to define their society in their own awful image.
If we fail to point this generation-that-knew-not-Zik in the right direction, we are certifying our own doom. For thirty years from now, when the Ubas will be walking with the aid of walking stick, swallowing pills to make it into another day, the people who will be manning things at Awka are people who have taken Ubas’ screwed up perception of life to a level, even the Uba will marveled at.
Again, we usually identify evil in our midst, be it Adedibu or Andy Uba. But hardly do we identify their disciples. We often do not fully grasp the direct and indirect consequences of allowing evil to prowl freely until their disciples begin to emerge.
Often today’s disciple of evil becomes the evil of tomorrow. Arthur Eze begot Emeka Offor. Emeka Offor begot Chris Uba. Chris Uba begot Andy Uba. And on and on it goes… As we watch the landscape of Anambra state, we see, but yet ignore, the mini-Andy Ubas who are busy in apprentice. Be it Jerome Azobuko, Sylvanus Nsofor, Chuka Nwosu, Charles Maduka – the lawyer behind the outlaw, Acho Arobuchi – the pen-pusher who will not disclose his association with Yar’Adua campaign, Ikenna Ellis-Ezenekwe etc, all flirting with evil, learning the tricks of the trade.
It is worth restating that Andy Uba is nothing but a heap of excrement by the road side. The only dignified thing anyone can do to it is to cover it with sand. But for maggots and houseflies that hover on top of the excrement mound, hoping to move it an inch, they are merely wasting their lives in a dance of the infidels. A skunk rat can be as plump as it pleases: if his hind leg cost one kobo, I still will not buy.
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