By Tonnie Iredia
The recent release from a British prison of a former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori has since it happened last month attracted comments from across the nation. While many especially Deltans were happy about the development, analysts from other parts of Nigeria were virtually disgusted over what they saw as a sheepish people turning an ex-convict into their hero.
Many of my avid readers and friends have wondered aloud why I made no comment on the subject. I must confess that for once I found a topic that I was not quite comfortable with because I couldn’t agree with the idea of eulogizing the former governor in view of what he was alleged to have done just as I couldn’t agree with those who felt that his release was not worth celebrating by those whose lives he touched.
Luckily, in my visit to Asaba last week, I was well entertained by an interesting debate between some politicians who were on the opposite sides of the divide. Chief James Ibori The anti-Ibori side threw the first jab that it was awkward of the pro-Ibori group to celebrate a common criminal who confessed to his crime and duly served his jail term in full.

They argued that it was a shame that people were celebrating those who embezzled state finances which has largely contributed to our increased unemployment rate in the country, lack of healthcare services, deteriorating educational standards standard and disastrous democracy among other challenges. If such a situation continued, they imagined that our country would end up without values.
Perhaps because of the numerical strength of Ibori’s admirers which tripled the adversaries, the voices of the latter were quickly drowned making it easy for the pro-Ibori group to marshal their points for hours without stop. First, they warned against the erroneous posture that Ibori was the worst Nigerian ex-governor in a nation where every governor turns out to be richer than his state.
They recalled what happened in 2015, when Senator Bernabas Gemade, a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had to decamp from his party so as to qualify to contest the coming elections. His challenge according to the story was that the governor he nurtured having become more viable.

Continued @ http://uneekomunikations.com/wp/iboris-celebration-issues-delta-indigenes-are-no-fools/

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