How the Ongoing NIDO Controversy Will Eventually be Resolved
by
Friday, April 9, 2004
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PROLOGUE
My fellow Nigerians, I am in a jocular mood this Easter, with
my last fortieth birthday just past (on April 2), and that of many members
of my family still brewing. April is always our month of birthday
celebrations.
Happy birthday, y'all Arians!
INTRODUCTION
Over the past three weeks, as a fallout of a probably
ill-advised, neither-here-nor-there "Dollarized Ministers" press release by
the Executive of the Nigerians in the Diaspora Organization (NIDO):
a schism has developed in the organization resulting in a
purported (?) change of its leadership.
As you read NIDO's Board Shake-Up release, you will
find that the old Chairman (Barrister Emeka Ugwuonye of Washington, DC) has
been removed in favor of the former Vice-Chairman and new Chairman
(pathologist Dr. Ola Kassim of Canada). The smiling pictures of the new
team are also well displayed on NIDO's website, including Emeka's own,
strategically the best smile of the lot::
The nemesis of NIDO has been one "bulldog" lawyer Kennedy
Emetulu of London, England, reportedly an old Uniben friend of Emeka's,
with a few poodles here and there taking sides, and not a few terriers
barking weakly on the sidelines, from Atlanta to Zambezi.
A Poodle as a dog of war
Quite an international cast of characters!
Some have called the whole episode a bizarre "palace coup",
others have found some of the accounts quite dizzying and disquieting.
Nevertheless, a number of well-meaning people, including
yours truly, (a probably lapsed and near-foundation member of NIDO) have
made some good suggestions, quite many suggestions actually, as to the
long-term way forward, even though the short-term way forward has no
consensus.
But what do my tea-leaves read as to how this controversy
will be resolved?
THE PROBABLE "BABA-IC" WAY FORWARD
Well, we should remember that NIDO is President Obasanjo's
baby, birthed in Washington, London and Abuja, nurtured in Atlanta and
christened in Washington, DC by the medical doctor (and then Ambassador to
US and now Senator) Prof. Jubril Aminu:
The river remembers its source, as the saying goes.
Consequently, this is how I believe that this controversy
will eventually be resolved:
1. The news of all this hullaballoo will eventually reach
Mr. President - or "OBJ" or "Baba" as he is fondly called in some circles.
Very little escapes his attention; how he does it is a wonderment. Quite
frankly, Emeka Ugwuonye also has a few more "long-legs" in high places than
most of the other Execos put together - but I may be wrong, because he may
have expended much of his capital over the years with his over-lawyerly
pontifications, who knows?
2. OBJ will call all the parties together - either when he
next comes to the US (which will probably be soon, after all this scary coup
palava blows over)
[Okay, if you still don't believe it, see this one:
or else he will send the principals flight tickets to come to
Abuja - maybe about 6 of them, including at least one lady or two, for
gender sensitivity. [Eg Emeka, Ola, Jimi (!), the lovely Nnenna or will it
be Nkem or both sef, Joe Igietseme, Bato Amu]. He will say, "All of you are
disgracing me and disgracing my dear country that I can die for! What kind
of patriots are you? Hen, even in the Americas where you are, you still take
your coakroaches and rodents of controversy and ethnicity with you - and
money-grubbing? And you even have some women joining in! You cannot even
copy Ngozi or Dora, not to talk of Oby!"
3. Baba will hear them out. Mr. President will listen most
closely to all the money aspects in order to make a decision: he always
determines character by your attitude to money, so it is likely that both
parties will try to play that up. Emeka will play up how much he has
spent for NIDO [Baba likes super-patriots] and that he was trying to prevent
fraud; Ola will play up how the advert was to support Baba's dollar salary
to those two ministers and other unknown sacrificing "public servants",
Baba will now like that too, and will be momentarily confused!
4. Ola will disclose further that Emeka opened a bank
account in NIDO's name without approval and that he was preparing for
fraud. "Is that true?", Baba will ask? Both people will be very careful
how to play up alleged fugitive (?) Alpha-Banker Jimi Lawal's name (NIDO
Execo member Jimi proposed and voted for Ola; Emeka can say one or two
things about Jimi; and Ola can counter with one or two things too about
Emeka! What a chess game!) because that could make or break each of their
cases. Emeka might call up Abdusalami Abubakar [his client in the Enahoro/US
case] to plead his case too.
The Absolution of Abubakar
That tack might be dicey though, because Abdusalami's
relationship with Baba reportedly ain't too cosy, and "Salami" being
effectively IBB's "cousin", IBB's relationship with Baba is also dependent
on the political weather, which changes from presidential election to
election.
5. All that NIDO election/constitution palaver based on
Roberts Rule of Order Newly Revised (RONR), Art. 2.43 of US Corporation
Law, and Sections 1.01, 5.08, and
12.01 of NIDO's ByLaws will not interest OBJ much - for
goodness sakes, see how Baba reacts to federal, state and local government
elections (with all the outrageous riggings) and the Constitution (budgets,
Ngige, Tinubu in Ekiti, etc.) in Nigeria! He just "dey kampe" with all of
them! So is it NIDO Mr. President will care so much about for those NIDO
bylaws? Haba!
6. OBJ may then say, "Okay, Emeka, you remain as Chairman
or "Okay, Ola, you are the new Chairman. No more 'two fighting', se e
gbo?" Even my tea-leaves do not tell me how Mr. President will go; maybe I
should check my crystal balls?
7. Once Mr. President speaks, everybody will leave "Aso
Rock" (Abuja or Washington DC) smiling, marvelling at his wisdom. "Why did
we not think of this before?", they will all be asking each other and
themselves as they kiss and make up before the President - and slap each
other out of his sight!
IS THERE A NEW PROPHET IN THE HOUSE?
Notice that I predict the process, but not the outcome. But
how do I know even all of that? Am I a prophet or what?
Mba, mba! Me kem prophet? Can there be a prophet from Ode-Ekiti?
But if the above scenario happened over the recent ngTLD
domain palaver
with BIGGER players in Nigeria involved, and despite all the advice of IT
"experts," yours truly among others:
why will it not happen with "little" NIDO?
You watch this space.
EPILOGUE
As I said, I am in a jocular mood, but as the saying goes,
many a truth is spoken in jest:: you just don't know what those truths are!
Have a Happy Easter, y'all, as I rest my case!