Barr. Chukwuma Okafor and the Crisis of Conviction

Valentine Obienyem

Ordinarily, we should not waste valuable time writing about an individual’s hypocritical life, characterized as it is by an untruthfulness to oneself, as we have seen with Barr. Chukwuma Okafor. We are dwelling on him only as a lesson to younger people on the importance and enduring value of being truthful to oneself.

I have always argued that there must be a minimum standard in life. At the risk of sounding immodest, I can say of myself that there are things I simply cannot do. Even when I had opportunities to secure jobs and facilitate admissions for hundreds of people, I can boldly state that, despite chances to make millions, I never took a single kobo from anybody. In the past, I facilitated the emergence of individuals into both State and National Assemblies without collecting a kobo or engaging in any form of negotiation. Today, many people call and are willing to offer millions for tickets if it were within my power, but God knows I could never request a kobo from any of them. I deliberately avoid meeting some because I know their intention is to offer money in the usual Nigerian style. Yet, some men collect money to do exactly such things. This is why I insist that people must possess standards and character.

Again, as Governor, I was closest to Obi. I did not exploit that proximity to demand money from any contractor. I can shout this from the rooftops, knowing full well that these contractors read my pieces. Even when I was bereaved in 2008, I did not approach any contractor or friend of Peter Obi to support me in burying my father. In one of his lighter moments, Mr. Peter Obi told me that he cherished me because I was the one person who supported him while he was fighting his case at the Tribunal without being influenced one way or the other – in fact, without even being known at the time.

I say all this not to appear saintly, but because in Nigeria, one hardly encounters people of character. We are, sadly, a deeply hypocritical society. This hypocrisy-garlanded culture is vividly reflected in the life and writings of Barr. Chukwuma Okafor.

Those who follow him know that he has consistently poured obloquy on Peter Obi, portraying him as one of the worst Nigerian leaders and as someone who should never be trusted with leadership. According to him, Obi performed poorly as Governor of Anambra State. When many of us argued that, in the interest of equity and justice, an Igbo man should be allowed to become President, he dismissed the argument and effectively preached “Tinubu forever.” His published lies about Obi would fill a book; some are even unpublishable, such as when he implied that Obi was a Judas who had betrayed the Igbo people.

Now, surprisingly, he made a post yesterday presenting Obi as a man of “consistent commitment to democracy, justice, fairness, and good governance in Nigeria.” He further wrote that Obi’s “principled leadership and stand on issues of national importance continue to inspire millions of Nigerians who believe in a more progressive and equitable country built on genuine moral and political renewal.” When you read the post under reference, you must grant it to him that he is an expert in employing every known method to arouse people’s emotions. People like him consider themselves clever because of what they perceive as the folly and gullible simplicity of Nigerians who are easily subjected to deceit.

After attempting to relight a lamp he had long extinguished, he then proceeded to appeal to Obi on the issue of political balance in the Oyi/Ayamelum Federal Constituency, asking him to intervene in the zoning of a House of Representatives ticket to Ayamelum.

My initial reaction was:

“This is yet another color of hypocrisy. Here is a man who dismissed the equitable cries for a competent Igbo man to become President with daily drenches of nonsense about why PBAT should continue.

To satisfy those paying him, he also daily castigated Mr. Peter Obi. There was no tool he did not employ: ridicule, satire, and crafty distortions of truth against Obi.

I am sure some people may also have clandestinely lubricated his palms for him to write what he does not truly believe. Nonsense!”

Yes, he may be raising a genuine concern. He may even have a legitimate point. But is Obi the right person to whom such a plea should be directed? How does one suddenly repose confidence in the leadership of a man one had previously written off as an example of failed leadership? How does Obi suddenly become a moral authority on justice and equity after years of being portrayed as unfit? Was Obi transformed overnight? Or were the previous attacks merely political merchandise designed for convenience and patronage?

Between his earlier and later opinions on Obi, which do we take? In this confusion, we can generously describe him as a perfect artist at acting out an opinion he merely pretends to hold.What Chukwuma has done is confuse the public. Which of his opinions about Obi should people now believe?

This is precisely Nigeria’s problem with people like Daniel Bwala, Bayo Onanuga, Femi Fani-Kayode, Reno Omokri and Kenneth Okonkwo. These are men who always seem to stand on shifting ground. Today they condemn; tomorrow they praise. Yesterday a man is unfit; today he becomes a symbol of justice. Such dramatic reversals leave citizens wondering whether convictions are genuinely held or merely dictated by changing political circumstances.

Men who stand for nothing eventually fall for anything. How, finally, do we rank him? I think he is an outstanding man in three things: inconsistency, sycophancy, and hypocrisy. He is an instructive study in the tragedy of convenience-driven politics – a vivid example of how the absence of firm convictions can reduce a man to a prisoner of diverse interests, where principles are abandoned whenever expediency demands it. His case offers a stark lesson on the danger of saying today what one is fully prepared to deny tomorrow.