From CHIDI NNADI,

After the late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s Will was read in an Enugu High Court last week, his son, Emeka Ojukwu Jr, claimed that the Will was not genuine, arguing that the lawyer said to have prepared the Will, Chief Emeka Onyemelukwe, was not his father’s lawyer.
After Onyemelukwe replied EmekaOjukwu Jr, last Monday and insisted the Will remains sacrosanct, a close associate and confidant of the late Ikemba, Hon (Sir) Azuka Okwuosa, has urged the Ojukwu family to sheathe their swords and stop washing their dirty linen in public
Okwuosa, who began to associate with Ojukwu after he returned from exile in 1982, said the late Igbo leader once told him that Chief Onyemelukwe was indeed preparing his Will.
He revealed the encounter Debe Sylvester Ojukwu had with the late Ezeigbo Gburugburu that probably led to the exclusion of his name in Ojukwu’s Will despite efforts by Bianca, while Ojukwu was still alive, to integrate him into the family.
Okwuosa, who ran for Anambra senatorial seat in 2007 under the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) platform, also said Ojukwutold him about his “strange” daughter, Teni Haman, adding that the Ikemba did not marry hermother officially.
Looking at his long relationship with Ojukwu, he said the Biafran leader would not be happy over the controversy trailing his Will, and advised the family to resolve their grievances amicably to protect the family’s image. Excerpts…
My relationship with the late Ikemba
I have been very close to the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu since 1982 when he came back from exile. I have beena top confidant to him, I associated with him, I shared the same passion with him, the same ideals; as a matter of fact, it was his ideological conviction that endeared me to him. Because of that he accepted me as part and parcel of his family and I saw that as a rare privilege. I was with himthroughout his turbulent period when he came back from exile foralmost 10 and when the property of the dynasty of Ojukwu was confiscated. I was there with him up to the point the properties were restored by the late former head of state, Gen. Sani Abacha. I was with him throughout the period of recovery, and at Queen’sDrive, when he went there and they tried to eject him, I was with him. I was with him through thickand thin until he went to court through his lawyer, the late Chief Rotomi Williams, where he was able to get justice from the court in Lagos and subsequently the rest of the properties were released. Fortunately, I was so close to him to the extent that he actually gave me the baptism of fire in the murky waters of Nigeria’s politics. He was instrumental of my being chairman of the old Nnewi North Local Government Area from 1994to 1996 when I left office. Subsequently, in 1999, I was Commissioner for Works and Transport in Anambra State, I left in 2001; in 2003 during the formative stage of APGA, he called me specifically to join hands with him for a new rediscovery of the Igbo agenda, and I resigned fromthe Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and joined him because of my ideological conviction for what he really represented for our people. And ever since I have been very faithful and close to him, and I still do even now that he is no more; this ideals still endure to me, these are the only way I believe he can be remembered and immortalized.
Controversy trailing Ojukwu’s Will
I see the Will as the personal wishof the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, because most of what the Will contains, I wasn’t there the day it was read and I am not supposed to be, but I know that most of the things in the Will are not strange to me, because these are things he had discussed with his close confidants over the years. He was a man that would ask you a question to know your thought formation, though he was a man that knew what he wanted to do and was not a man that could be easily influenced on the spur of the moment; he would look at issues and decide on them. To me, I see the Will as his last wish and I believe that actually the resultant effects of actions and reactions that trailed the Will are actually what are worrisome to me, because I know that up till now we are still mourning the great Ikemba, and materialism should not be the bedrock of people very close to him. To me, joining issues on the pages of newspapers is rather very unfortunate. I know every member of that family and I have respect for all of them, starting from the wife, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; I know Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu Jr, who was also very close to be afriend because of my relationship with his father; the younger brother, Okigbo, the sister, Mimi, Ebele and the children of Bianca – Chinemerem, Afam, and Nwachukwu and the rest of them.To me, I believe these are very responsible characters by every parameter of judgment.

CONTINUED:

So, that is actually what baffles me with the level of tirade we are seeing on the pages of newspapers. But I must really commend Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu because I have never seen anywhere she spoke about this Will; she has remained silent and focused. So, I am also appealing to the rest of the family to emulate that sense of honour; people are bound to disagree, butwhen you disagree, you don’t disagree on the pages of newspapers, this is purely a familyissue that can always be resolved in a family way. I have also been privileged to see a man who willed all his assets and belongings to his dog, that is his own wish, and he is entitled to it. So, I believe Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu is entitled to whatever is contained in his Will. The only way we can honour him,the only way we can immortalize him, and the only way we can rever those convictions and ideological beliefs he stood for that are enduring as a legacy to the Igbo nation and entire Nigeriais not to do anything that will diminish his status, anything that will diminish what he stood for our people. I believe this issue is very simple; if there is any point of disagreement, there are two options: either they come together as a family and look at it;I don’t think that option has been explored, so, why not explore thatoption? On the alternative, if one thinks these issues cannot be resolved in an amicable way, there are other proper ways it can be addressed; if it is inevitable, one can quietly go to court and challenge it. These two options have not been explored, so why start throwing diatribes on the pages of newspapers? It isas if the bedrock of what Ikemba actually represented is about materialism to some people, which is actually what I am quarrelling with, because anything that will diminish the image, character and what Ikemba stood for, people like me will stand firm to make sure we oppose such retrogressive ideas and actions.

Ikemba’s number of children and Sylvester Ojukwu

I was privileged to have personally discussed this issue with the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, precisely when the properties were released to the family through Ikemba. Sylvester Debe went to the JAMB Office, as it is called, one of the father’s properties in Ikoyi, and occupied it. Ikemba called meand said, come let’s go and see what is happening there; when we got there we saw Debe with two suitcases in one corner of thebuilding and Ikemba asked him, “What are you doing here?” He asked him this question three times and he did not talk, and Ikemba told him, “If you say I am your father, prove yourself” and he didn’t answer that question, too. And he told him that the best way to prove himself was not to occupy the property, because thatproperty was actually where Ikemba’s father lived and by extension it was like an Obi of thefather and by extension Obi to Ikemba. And Ikemba told him, “If you call yourself my son, you cannot occupy my Obi while I’m still alive.” Subsequently, I also remember when some community people from Umudim, Nnewi, came to Ikemba barely two weeks after that visit to the JAMB Office; they told him that they came to tell him that he had to accept Sylvester as his son. I remember what Ikemba asked them in Igbo parlance: “Is it the community that tells somebody that this is your son, or is it somebody that will tell the community that this is my son?” At that point, you can understand that Ikemba was somebody that was always philosophical when it came to certain things. But actually, I have no doubt in my mind, Ikemba never said that Debe is not his son, but all I know is that he never accepted him while he was alive. But, to me, I share Debe’s passion, because I know that Debe is one of the most responsible characters I have ever seen in and around thatfamily. I have been visiting Ikemba periodically, so when I was counting the children I noticed that he was conspicuously omitted in the Will. So, who am I to challenge the wish of the great Ikemba? But theonly thing I can say is that if… I don’t know if we will even have an opinion about that, because if we do, I know that somebody likeBianca had made case for Debe before to be incorporated into the family, but Ikemba had his own ideals that were sacrosanct to him, he knew his reasons and nobody should challenge it.

CONTINUED:

I don’t want to go further than this; so, to that extent, he was notincluded in the Will, but I know that when he lost his mother, Bianca went for that burial about 10 years ago at Udi, Enugu State. Bianca and Debe are very close; she went to that burial and came back, even with little resentment from Ikemba, she still attended the burial and Debe always visits the house, he is a likeable character, and likeable personality; but the most important thing now is not whether somebody’s name is in the Will or not, the issue is that the Will is out and it is out, and there are proper ways to go about these things.

Ikemba told me of Teni Haman

He mentioned the issue on three occasions to me in a lighter mood; so, it didn’t come to me as a surprise when I saw it in the Will. And anybody who was really close to Ikemba; even when I read Emeka Jr’s interview he also acknowledged the fact that his father told him about that lady, soit is not strange to me. He told me she is actually his daughter he had many years ago, but he didn’ttell me when. I don’t think he wasmarried to the mother, but the only thing is that when you have a child you know that this is your child and you have passion for the child, then you have the right to choose either to accommodate that child in your Will or not; so tome, I believe Ikemba had spoken and who am I to say otherwise?

Bianca getting lion’s share of Ojukwu’s
assets in the Will

To start with, I have been privileged to go through the content of that Will; I have a different notion completely. I wouldn’t say Bianca had a larger chunk per se; if you look at it superficially, you might say yes, but actually when you look at it deeply… if you look at that Will, you will discover that the only commercial property of the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu on Sokoto Street in Onitsha was given to Emeka Jr, it was even given to him before Ikemba died. So, seeing the other ones in the Will I was not surprised, and the house on Forest Crescent, GRA, Enugu, you know Ikemba was not a materialistic character and he didn’t really have much, but you could see he was living in a rented house at Independence Layout and yet, that was the man who was military governor of the Eastern Region, a man who was head of state of a sovereign nation for almost three years and he never had a single property in any of the state capitals in the South East. And you will also realize that he was instrumental, and through his legacy, APGA wasable to win elections in Anambra State and recently in Imo State. I challenge anybody to tell me otherwise. Ikemba had no single property in Awka till his death, not even in Owerri. So, after living in a rented house in Independence Layout, he eventually, through concerted efforts between him and his wife,Bianca, were able to build the house on Forest Crescent. And ever since they have been living there. And he had strong passion for Bianca from the onset, he loved her so much and she was the woman who stayed with him up to his trying moments, and during his sickness. So, if you lookat the inscription on the gate of that house, it is CasaBianca; it wasn’t by accident, I know Ikemba in his rhetoric; if you look at his vehicles, you will see Ezeigbo 1 or Ndigbo or Ikemba; so, one had expected that that property on Forest Street would have been named Obi Igbo or something like that, but he chose to name it CasaBianca. That will tell you he had already made up his mind while he was alive that the property belongs to Bianca, just like the one he gave to EmekaJr at Sokoto Street in Onitsha. Then, the one he willed to the daughter in Zaria, the other ones were actually the properties of the larger Ojukwu family, the estate of his father, Sir Louis PhilipOjukwu. Actually, you know they never shared anything in their family. So, after the release of their property, they have over 90 properties scattered all over the nooks and crannies of this country, and Ikemba was controlling about six. He was conscious of the fact that the properties were a collective interest concerning the larger family, they made concerted efforts for these properties to be shared in their life time, maybe heknew this will not be actualized inhis life time, so if you look at that Will, he said he advocated for these properties to be shared andin sharing the properties that 29 Queen’s Drive otherwise known as Vilaska Lodge, Ikoyi, they have a special passion for the place because it was where he made history, where he started his struggle towards recovering his father’s patrimony. So, he said he would appreciate if that place is considered as part of what he would get, among others that would be given to him, and that whatever that would be given to him, he wanted the wife to manage it on behalf of his other children, and should be shared equally among the children of the first wife and Bianca’s children.

CONTINUED:

So, to that extent, you cannot say that Bianca had the lion’s share; that she had a managerial scope doesn’t mean those properties are allocated to you; a man has the right to say I want this personto manage this thing to a particular time, only him knew thereason. The other house at Nnewiwas given to Emeka Jr, so I don’t understand the issue of large chunk being given to Bianca, though that is not the subject for now, but even if somebody wishes otherwise, my advice is to resolve it amicably or go to court in the interest of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu; for what he stands for, his name should not be messed up because of personal interest over material things.
Why some members of the family are complaining
This is a big question because I wouldn’t know why, but the only thing I can say is that it is just human imagination and expectation. I might wish my dad would give me 50 per cent of his estate if he dies, and if at the end of the day he gives me 10 per cent, I may start complaining, but my complaint would be inconsequential because that wasmy dad’s wish. So, maybe expectations, to a reasonable extent, might be the basis for these agitations we are seeing today, which, to me, are really unnecessary. There are two issues now; there is this contention from what I read in the newspapers that the Will was falsified or was not genuine, but Ido know actually that if you look at the trustees and executors of that Will, these are people who were very close and top confidants of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. One is late, the Igwe Emeka Ogbunide, the late Igwe of Oraukwu, an architect by profession and a veryclose confidant of Ikemba; I knowof Mark Ezemba, who was Ikemba’s best man during his wedding in 1994 or 1995 or so, at Abuja, the reception took place at Nicon Hilton, I was privileged tobe one of the page boys as a localgovernment chairman. So, Mark Ezemba was there with him and ever since he has remained a close confidant of Ikemba. Then James Ezike who is also one of the closest allies of Ikemba, a lawyer of long-standing, he handled Ikemba’s election petition at the Election Petitions Tribunal in 2003 during his presidential campaign bid; he is one of the trustees and executorsof that Will; so, to my mind, these are people who are impeccable, who are very close and people who have nothing to gain by going against the Will of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. I can vouch for them andanybody who knows Ikemba knows that these are the closest people to him. And, of course, the lawyer, Barrister Emeka Onyemelukwe, since Ikemba camedown to Enugu, he has been part and parcel of the retinue of friends who have been going to Ikemba. After seeing him on several occasions, I was privilegedto have asked Ikemba what the man’s mission was and Ikemba told me in confidence that this man was actually helping him to put his Will together. So, I was surprised when I started reading on the pages of newspapers that he was never the lawyer that wrote the Will. I say this thing for the sake of posterity, I say this because truth is always sacrosanct, I don’t care, people can disagree, but the truth must be told, people like me cannot foldour hands and pretend as if everything is normal, I owe that to posterity, to speak the truth. If the content of the Will is not palatable to anybody, let’s not take to press war, it doesn’t augur well for the image of the Ojukwu family, it doesn’t even augur well for those who are making such press utterances. It is very unfortunate and I know that whatever place the great Ikemba is now in his grave, he will not feel good about this recent development.
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/cover/sir-azuka-okwuosa-why-ojukwu-disowned-son/

the great man ojukwu always in the news to stop us from knowing more of the bokos while we are here fumming about sum1 family,will this make the kidnappers release mama ngozie?

The truth is slowly emerging.
Read the interview below courtesy of Vanguard Newspapers.


BATTLE FOR OJUKWU’S WILL RAGES: Question marks surround Bianca’s inheritance – Ike Ojukwu
On January 20, 2013 · In Ojukwu's Will Controversy, Top Stories
12:03 am
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*Says ex-Biafran leader disowned Dibe during his life time

BY TONY EDIKE

Dr. Patrick Ike Ojukwu, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, is a director of Ojukwu Transport Limited, a company founded by Sir, Louis Philip Odumegwu-Ojukwu to manage his numerous business interests before his demise in 1966 and a nephew of the late Biafran leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. Dr. Ojukwu, in this interview, speaks on the controversy surrounding the Will/Codicil of the former Biafran leader, which is tearing the family apart. He believes that the Will read couldn’t have been written by the Ikemba Nnewi while joining issues with Sylvester Ojukwu (a.k.a. Dibe Ojukwu who claims to be the former Biafran leader’s son.
Excerpts:

You must have read the Will and Codicil of the late Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, which have been disputed by some of his children, especially Emeka Ojukwu Jnr and Sylvester Ojukwu. What is your take on this?
Let me start by addressing mainly the issue related to Ojukwu Transport Limited, OTL, as a director and shareholder. My comments are based on the assumption that what I have read in the papers and internet are the same as that read at Probate Registry. In my view, the late Ikemba Nnewi had every right to write his Will the way he pleased. His dependants/children/beneficiaries have every right to satisfy themselves that he wrote what he wanted without duress, of sound mind and that the signatures are his and that he knew what he was signing.

Sylvester Ude (a.k.a Dibe Ojukwu) was never, to my knowledge, acknowledged by the late Ikemba as his son. Sylvester, I am certain, did not expect to be mentioned in Ikemba’s Will – valid or forged. He should refund company money in his possession whilst he can.

What is your view on the Will as it relates to the Ojukwu Transport Company and the entire family?

Emeka Ojukwu Jnr. is not mentioned as executor of the Will, contrary to earlier reports and it is very surprising, neither is any other child of Ikemba. Ojukwu saying in the purported Will that Bianca “shall take over my seat on the Board of OTL” is unbelievable because the Ikemba, whilst alive, even when ill, never sent Bianca as proxy or alternate to OTL Board meetings; he only requested her presence to assist in reading documents that required his signature due to his poor eyesight. The Ikemba’s acceptance letter to Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, Abuja as OTL director is dated 29 June 2010 after the said Will and Codicil were supposedly written. A late director/shareholder may name or recommend who will represent his shares. The Board of Directors and it alone, when certain laid down requirements are met, decides who to appoint director. In the past, directors, prior to appointment, were required to render account of all properties they occupied/managed.The Board,obviously, will have to be satisfied that any Will presented is authentic and all challenges addressed.

Ojukwu directing that Bianca “shall retain my interest at 29 Queen’s Drive, Ikoyi, Lagos”, a company property, unoccupied and neglected for over 12 years and costing the company over N240 million in lost rent, is currently a court issue. Interest will have to be explained. Again, it is difficult to believe that the late Ikemba would spell hectare as ‘hecter’ in the Will with his mastery of spoken and written English, French, Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba.

Peace enduring sharing arrangement

My late grandfather went by the name Louis Philip [LP] Ojukwu till he was knighted, then he elected to use his Igbo name Odumegwu. None of his children address or addressed him as Sir LP Ojukwu as shown in the Will, it is Sir Odumegwu Ojukwu.

Also the Ikemba would not describe Nnewi Building as Nnewi ‘House’. He also did not call his brothers ‘half brothers’. It is a well known fact that Sir Odumegwu Ojukwu, in his Will read in 1966, clearly stated that he did not want company landed property/houses sold. It is strange, to put it mildly, that the Ikemba would not bring up the ‘peace enduring sharing arrangement’ of company/family property with his brothers/cousins/directors at the quarterly board meetings, even though many of the meetings were held at his residence whilst alive.

Who are the ‘three sons of the late Sir L.P.Ojukwu’? No mention of his cousin and director, Engr. Emmanuel Ojukwu, to whom he had written a letter in the past making very clear his (Ikemba’s) view on women as executors of estates. The late Ikemba, aware of his shareholding in OTL, is very unlikely to use the words ‘direct’ and ‘demand’ in requests to the Board especially in a Will/Codicil. These issues and more I shall bring up at the OTL Board meeting having, earlier in the year, nominated Emeka Jnr and one of Bianca’s sons to the Board.
Ojukwu Jnr., his late father, Ojukwu and Bianca

Ojukwu Jnr., his late father, Ojukwu and Bianca

It will be most unfortunate if the Ikemba’s wishes have been distorted. The Will/Codicil I read tarnishes, insults and diminishes him – portraying him as some ‘woman wrapper’, unaware of Nnewi custom, willing out his mother’s interest in this property and father’s/company’s interest in that property in his seventies; nothing mentioned to charity or Biafran/veteran causes for a man who loved the people, in English that does not come close to his prowess. He is also depicted as cowardly and unable to raise issues with his brothers/directors in person whilst alive, a whole general of the peoples’ army!

Absolute insult
The so-called lawyer said to be responsible for the so-called ‘codicil’ was quoted in one of the papers as saying that the Ikemba’s house at Nnewi was built with proceeds from toll booths the Ikemba was managing for the late Gen. Sani Abacha is an absolute insult to Dim, Igbos and Biafra. Can he prove that the houses in Enugu and Nnewi were not built with OTL company property rent money? If Sir Odumegwu Ojukwu, who made the money himself, had, in his own Will, put his 4th wife on the OTL Board in 1966 and given wives the same and not made any child an executor of his will, there probably would not be anything left for his sons to will out. The two surviving wives of Sir Odumegwu Ojukwu are the real victim-widows subsisting on allowances of less than N100,000 a month (combined),whilst one of his late son’s wives in addition to allegedly getting N10 million a month from the party and government in Anambra wants to retain family/company property (case in court), realizing a rent of at least N25 million a month, money that should go to the memorial hospital Sir Odumegwu Ojukwu promised to build at Nnewi for the masses, in addition to an ambassador’s salary – one individual!

Washing ‘dirty’ linen in public is unavoidable sometimes. Justice shall be done. Sir Odumegwu Ojukwu’s money was earned the hard honest way and it will be a fight to the finish to preserve his wishes and assets.

Those that describe graduate former commissioners/advisers or one who has studied medicine, specialised and worked for over 30 years as lazy because they fight for their rights are dishonest.

Sylvester, who claims to be Ojukwu’s legitimate first son, has raised an issue with the Ojukwu family that he was denied his birthrights. Why is the family not willing to accept Sylvester as one of their own?
Because he is not. The late Ikemba was never married to his mother and never acknowledged him to anyone as his child. He told his people that Emeka Jnr. was his first son (Diokpala) and denied that Sylvester was his child. Ikemba drafted a letter disowning Sylvester and admonished the Obi that awarded Sylvester a chieftaincy title – all these whilst alive.

My uncle the engineer, who played a major role in trying to bring the man into the family (against Ikemba’s wish), in whose boy’s quarter Sylvester used to stay in the 70s, who practically gave him the job to manage company property from 1995 to 2007 and to keep 30%, after Sylvester left the Police Force, now describes his support for Sylvester as a huge error. Sylvester to date has not rendered account of any kobo belonging to the company. He built some unauthorized batchers behind Nnewi Building and then turned around to say the company owes him N1.8 billion. The case is in court. The people in Nnewi are furious and impatient.
*Debe Ojukwu

*Debe Ojukwu

But how come Ojukwu accepted Tenni (Aisha) who came the same way and rejected Sylvester?
Family and friends knew about this daughter. Ikemba accepted her as his and was not ashamed of her, her mother or their relationship. In Nigeria, it was his right to accept who he pleased regardless of resemblance, DNA or cheap popularity in Nnewi organizations or media.

It is not by force. Why did you not see Sylvester granting interview when Ikemba was alive? Im no dey fear? I hope there is no bias against Ikemba or Igbos in the media. Can you imagine a grown chap showing up at Gen. Obasanjo, Danjuma or Babangida’s doorsteps and declares he/she is their child, resembles them and orders them to go for DNA, in Nigeria?

This is not America. Okay you resemble him – so does the late Jonas Savimbi and his in-law, Prof Ukwu. Of course you can decide first child if you can’t negotiate it. Sir Odumegwu Ojukwu knew his children, accepted them without classification; so did the Ikemba. Sylvester is obsessed with ‘natural’ son here, ‘from the loin son’ there. I have said it before, chemical, biological, physical, geographical, gbanjo, away-match, guzo – were son is nonsense. Ikemba said he (Sylvester) was not his son, and if Sylvester really wants the beans spilled on Ojukwu family and legitimacy, he is going to further tarnish those he claims to be his parents. All Ikemba’s brothers mothers were properly married by Sir Odumegwu Ojukwu.

I really feel for him, it is pathetic to watch a 56-year old grandfather gossiping about young women fighting in kitchen and lying and disgracing himself. He should have settled with Ikemba when he was alive. Very sad because when we were in secondary school (he was a year my junior, I believe his nickname then was ‘Yankee Doodle’), he was a humble, hardworking easy-going guy and we had no problems – it must be the trauma of rejection/denial by alleged parent and realization that he left it too late.

What qualifies one to become a director of Ojukwu Transport Company?
To become a director in OTL, I believe you have to possess a certain number of shares, no conviction/indictment for criminal act – the Board then votes to appoint.

There are a number of cases in court between OTL and Sylvester who owes (allegedly) the company billions unaccounted money. He must account for the money.
Dr. Ike Ojukwu

Dr. Ike Ojukwu

How do leaders of Ojukwu family feel over the disagreements since Ikemba’s demise?
Members of the family, Nnewi and Igbos generally don’t like washing linen in public. When alive, Ikemba was involved in many lawsuits with his brothers/directors of OTL; we did not publicise it and he was not the most righteous in those cases, but some now glibly interpret the civil way those were handled as ‘they were afraid of Ikemba’ when he was alive – a lie. He returned from exile in 1982, OTL properties were released in 1993, he accepted his appointment as OTL director in 2010. In a lawsuit filed in 1998 or thereabouts, Mr. Lotanna Ojukwu claimed that Ikemba collected N12 million arrears of rent on OTL properties (1967-1993) for himself, compensation from Lagos State Government/Knight Frank and Rutley. Knowledge is power, information is invaluable. I believe sometimes washing linen in public is unavoidable if not outright good. I have said it before that there is no ‘war’ in the family – some people wish to claim what is not theirs and they shall not succeed by the grace of God. In Nnewi, we like to say ‘o nwero ife anya fulu gbaa nmee’.

A lot has been written in the media about the status of Sylvester in the family and some believe he is not fairly treated. Is the family comfortable with this?
If I were Emeka Jnr. I would sue any media organization or person that describes Sylvester as Ikemba’s first son. I had in the past posed 20 serious questions that the media should ask Sylvester. Okay he resembles Ikemba, so what? Many do, na resemble we go chop? This is a valid question Sylvester should answer: He should show his birth certificate; he says his poor teacher-mother raised him, when did he reconcile with Ikemba?; let him show any picture of him and his parents growing up; show any letter Ikemba wrote addressing him as ‘son’ or signing as ‘father/dad. Alhaji Mohammed Gambo was Inspector General of Police when Sylvester was forced to leave the police. What was his last transfer?, why?, did he go? if not why not?; whilst in the police, was he investigated for any crime/fraud? , results?; you people call him a billionaire – how much has he made from his law practice? He says Ikemba willed out property his grandmother gave him, what did he (Sylvester) do in the over 20 years after the death of his granny when Ikemba was alive?

Ikemba did not marry his mother, accept, acknowledge or present him to the family as his son. He denied that Sylvester was his child. Is it by force? Even grandmas cannot single-handedly confer legitimacy. Name one person who can say that Ikemba said to them that Sylvester was his child. There are many that he told that Sylvester was not his child.

Abeg make una move this topic to Literature section. Am tired of reading stories about Ojukwu. You guys should allow him rest in peace abeg.