Why I apologized to Ojo Maduekwe

On January 1st this year a shrill telephone call woke me from sleep. In the past, New Year morning naps used to be a lengthy affair for me. I would have kept vigil on the New Year eve, reveling in the giddy atmosphere of a passing year; and the dawn of a new one. But those were the days, now I have become an old man as my wife would say. So, on New Year eve instead of reveling in town I would rather go to church or pray at home. The last year’s eve was no different; I sat at home and prayed while my dear wife went to church.

When the phone rang that morning, I was already almost half-awake. And I was startled by the name I saw on the screen:  Ojo Maduekwe. Then his baritone voice boomed: ”Happy New Year Emeka, just to tell you that I’m in the country, back from exile”. I laughed; we exchanged pleasantries and talked a bit more. Sadly, I did not realize that would be last conversation I was going to have with him. I promised him that I would call but I never did. He also invited me to his country home in Ohafia, an invitation I also never honoured.

Ojo Maduekwe and I had an interesting relationship; I suspect he admired me for his own reasons. I respected him for his sharp intellect, and cerebral disposition, but we were not always chummy. We had a major falling out over a decade ago, while I was in office as Commissioner for Information in Abia State, and he was Minister of Transport. I recall vividly the incident which led to our fight.

I was going to Lagos on an official assignment when along the Onitsha Expressway, the bold headline of the newspapers screamed at me: ”Igbo presidency is idiotic-Ojo Maduekwe”. I was agitated. Way back then, the cause of an Igbo president for Nigeria was the centre point of our political agenda in the Abia State Government.  My principal/ former governor, Orji Uzor Kalu had embraced the cause of Igbo presidency and promoted it with unrestrained passion.

As Commissioner for Information, I became the prime mover of that agenda in the media. It was a project that resonated very loudly with Igbos across the country, and even internationally. So, I was startled that an eminent Igbo man of Ojo Maduekwe’s status could rubbish that project, and in such outlandish language! As far as I was concerned, it was a call to arms and I was not shy in picking the gauntlet. When I arrived Lagos, I summoned a hasty press conference and mounted a virulent criticism against Chief Ojo Maduekwe. The next day, I did the media rounds and castigated Chief Maduekwe thoroughly. My response generated a firestorm and many other commentators, Igbo and non-Igbo alike waded in., Chief Maduekwe of course responded, and sent his media aides led by Dr. Okey Ikechukwu to Lagos  to return fire and indeed the fires raged for a while.

Back at Umuahia, I put the various organs of the state’s media to effective use, and made the issue a cause célèbre. On our part, we demonstrated once again the inviolability of the Igbo presidency project. But then, time moved on. Soon, it was 2003, and the issue of who would be the president of the country was put on the top burner.

The PDP was sharply divided on the issue; some part supported the incumbent president Obasanjo, while the other part supported the muted aspiration of the Vice President, Atiku Abubakar. But in the Convention proper, it was not Atiku Abubakar who stood up to challenge Obasanjo; rather it was Chief Alex Ekwueme who stood up once again to challenge president Obasanjo. In the Convention at Eagle Square, Abuja, Abia State was scheduled to be the first to cast their vote for the candidates. I was not at the venue, I had since left the cabinet as commissioner and returned to my beat in Lagos as a reporter, but I learnt that the first person to cast his vote was former governor Orji Uzor Kalu and voted not for Dr. Alex Ekwueme but for the incumbent, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. The story was that he not only voted for Obasanjo but he showed his card to Chief Ojo Maduekwe and a few others.

When I heard the news of what transpired at the Eagle Square, I was not confused, not angry or disappointed but was drained of emotions. Perhaps in politics, some would argue that what happened was pragmatic, but I’m not a politician, I was never one. I am a writer, a passionate crusader and I believe in causes, I dream dreams and I’m more idealistic than pragmatic.

So, when I embraced the cause of an Igbo presidency project I meant it. It was not for me a politically expedient crusade rather it was a genuine campaign to which I committed my whole being. I am not sure, even now, and especially given the things I have come to know about life in Nigeria and the reality of Nigerian politics; that I would have expected Governor Kalu to have acted differently given his own peculiarities, but if I were in his position, I certainly would not have cast my vote for Chief Olusegun Obasanjo against Dr. Alex Ekwueme. I probably would have objected conscientiously by not voting at all. But that is a different topic. And truth is, I was not in his shoes.

When the full story of what had transpired emerged, I was constrained to comment on it in my column then. In the satirical piece I wrote which I titled: Apology to Ojo Maduekwe , I lamented the episode. The piece was meant to be a satire, it was filled with sarcasm, but somehow, Chief Ojo Maduekwe read it differently.

He interpreted it literally, accepted it as a direct apology and used his media network to publicise the article.  I was amused but I didn’t really mind: he was deeply impressed that I found it expedient to apologize to him, that he had been vindicated on his position. I did not want to spoil his fun so I went along.

That however marked the turning point in our relationship: the mutual admiration that existed before our falling out resumed. And we started interacting once more on the basis of discourse and ideas.

On several occasions; we talked on issues affecting our country and our people. He was indeed a very intelligent man, very erudite, scholarly and a deep thinker.