Anambra election, Obi Cubana and the rest of us

THE first time I truly learnt that being wealthy could be troublous was at the height of our ‘reign’ as youths under the aegis of Catholic Youth Organisation of Nigeria (CYON). In the CYON Dominican Community, Ibadan we had a dance ensemble that danced indeed. The attraction of that group earned us privileges such as invitations to perform at various events by members of the worshipping community and beyond.

Apart from the dancing, the youth group also ventured into some amateur stage plays, singing and sundry artistic performances. In addition, we also engaged in cleaning jobs for our patrons and patronesses for monetary and related gains. One of such related gains was our invitation to a housewarming by one of our benefactors, a prince of a top town in Yoruba land and university professor. It was during the regime of the late General Sani Abacha.

The house was breathtaking. The party to launch it was equally spectacular. ‘Dominican Youths’ as we were called paled into oblivion in the dazzle of the rich and powerful in the house. Uncle Tunji Oyelana and his The Benders Band were supplying the music and we sang “Good Morning Sir, A Dupe Mo Gb’Oyinbo ooooo…” with unencumbered relish. We were having the fun of our life. While we partied in the new compound and walked the same paved lawns and terraces with the high and mighty of the time, we didn’t know that the secret police were lurking. After the events, the State Security Service (SSS) quizzed the Prince in the inner recesses of his new home. “They were asking where I got the money to build this kind of house and throw this kind of party from,” he had told us casually. It was shocking and we were afraid for him and his family. It was over nothing other than the fact that the Abacha administration was vile.

That time it became clear to us that you could be queried for spending your money anyhow you like. Then the Yoruba who gave the warning that wealth comes with its own troubles became more vivid and meaningful. And how true! People even go by the name “Olaniyonu”. For the young me of the CYON days, and perhaps others in my bubbly, intrepid group, that realisation was a sobering experience. It turned out to be one of the most poignant pointers to that eternally wise submission that wealth is sometimes laced with intrinsic troubles. Olaniyonu…

Mr. Obinna Iyiegbu, the man we know more commonly as Obi Cubana is the metaphor for Olaniyonu today. Obi Cubana makes headlines. In July this year, he made headlines. He ruled the airwaves and burst the internet as he buried his mother in his native Oba community in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State. That burial had coincided with the birthday of Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, one of Nigeria’s best musical artistes. That’s Wizkid. But like us the Dominican Youths at the housewarming, the celebrity birthday of Wizkid was blitzed out by the burial of Obi Cubaba’s mother. This month, he had made headlines again after a whirlwind visit to Ibadan. His Ibadan visit turned on the entertainment arena of the ancient city and brought the best out of anyone in Ibadan that can be identified as a socialite. Cubana was in town.

He has made headlines in November. Cubana was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday afternoon. His wealth is under scrutiny just like the wealth of our dear Prince-Professor back then. However, the difference here is that Obi Cubana was arrested and detained for 72 hours. This was to enable the EFCC to ask its questions and receive answers and sieve the answers received. There were no briefings or explanations. We had to force it out of the mouth of the EFCC. The agency could not have done their findings before confronting him with their evidence(s) or ask the effervescent socialite the decent way the SSS did theirs with the Prince of our CYON. We are in a reign of force.

After 72 hours with them, Obi Cubana was released by the EFCC. He was released the stealthy way he was arrested. There was a listless “it is true” response by the EFCC spokesman to confirm his release. The only thing about his arrest is that it didn’t come to many by surprise. He was always like the chick under the radar of the roving kite. And the common belief is that it will end up like the most celebrated arrests, detention and prosecutions by the body. It is like what can be inferred from Macbeth’s “Tomorrow” soliloquy that it “struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Otherwise, we hope to see how Obi Cubana will be prosecuted based on the allegations brought against him.

But what are the sins of Cubana? Some say it’s because he and hordes of his friends and co-mourners sprayed the almighty naira recklessly and thereby ‘disgraced’ and disparaged the currency, in July. That of course is against the law. He was also said to have been called in for tax fraud and money laundering. Those too are grave sins against the government and all of us. So, we wait. But if nothing comes out of his detention and questioning, then we can take it that ‘EFCC boys” wanted “soap” and Cubana was taken there to “cut soap” for them. Why not? Are the “EFCC boys” not Nigerians like the Anambra youths he was said to have “empowered”?

Those Anambra youths may not be able to muster any courage to go out to vote today because they cannot relate well with politicians and the government. They also are under the siege of their fellow youths, and are among the victims of the system. The Anambra governorship election, like the youths is under siege, regardless…

Clerics, respected clerics; political leaders, prominent citizens from the zone and the umbrella Igbo body literally begged the president to act on the situation in Anambra and the South East based on certain terms, as the father of all, for relative peace to be reintroduced to the region.

While those who spoke waited for a response from the president or ‘the presidency’ as we have come to know of this administration, a presidential aide called Lauretta Onochie piled insults on the entire Igbo race, particularly their representatives who wrote to the president and poured out their mind. She is a special adviser to the president on social media.

Since she wrote that stinker and ridiculed the Igbo including herself, neither the president nor the presidency has openly reacted. Was Onochie only acting the trumpet?

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