Opinion
Ike Ekweremadu: How The Mighty Have Fallen
It was a sad day for our nation on March 23, 2023, for those of us at home, those in the diaspora, and particularly those who are residents of the United Kingdom, when former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice Ekweremadu were both found guilty of organ trafficking under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 of the United Kingdom. How the mighty have fallen was David’s lamentation when he learned of the death of King Saul and his bosom friend Jonathan, in the battle with the Philistines. It was a lamentation for the mighty men who fell on the blade of war; unlike our present quandary, where our heads are bowed with shame because a mighty man, a veteran politician, and a political juggernaut who has occupied the highest legislative chamber of our nation has fallen.Because in spite of all the ills a few Nigerians have been known for across the world, the former Deputy Senate President and his wife have added another ugly layer to our sack of ignobility. We are now a nation of organ traffickers.
It never stops to amaze me how our mighty politicians, in their god-complex, will pontificate to us ordinary Nigerians how to live when actually the reverse should have been the case. These are men and women who travel the world unhindered with their diplomatic passports, and with taxpayers’ money, yet come back with no ideas to improve the plight of the masses on whose account their lifestyle is made possible. Some of them, and, or their wives virtually live in Dubai. Why? Because it is a country where things work; and a place where the ruling class took time to really think outside the box to build an oasis in the heart of the desert.As you can imagine, Ekweremadu and his gang, apart from impoverishing the nation, and cementing our ranking in the global poverty index, they are also the ones that shame us the most. His story was in every major newspaper in the UK yesterday. The headline in the Daily Mail reads, “Wealthy Nigerian senator faces jail for organ harvesting plot: Politician, his wife, and doctor are convicted of trafficking penniless market trader to the UK to provide a kidney for their daughter in a landmark case.”
In the same vein, the headline on the Daily Mirror reads: “Wealthy couple guilty of plotting to bring man to the UK to harvest kidney for daughter.”Similarly, the first and second paragraphs of a news article in the UK Guardian of the verdict read, “A senior Nigerian politician, his wife, and a doctor have been convicted of organ trafficking, in the first verdict of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act. Ike Ekweremadu, 60, a former deputy president of the Nigerian senate, his wife, Beatrice, 56, and Dr. Obinna Obeta, 51, were found guilty of facilitating the travel of a young man to Britain with a view to his exploitation after a six-week trial at the Old Bailey.”The UK Guardian article was careful to mention that the verdict was the first of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act that came into force on October 29, 2015, with the implication the name of our country will now be etched in the history of this Act, and prosecutors will now refer to the former Nigerian Senator and his wife in future cases.
But there is another side to this story, a very dark side that reveals the dastardly mindset of the average Nigerian politician. Even though we already have an idea, a closer look at a few statements from the prosecutor Hugh Davies KC, would be enough to reveal the resident evil in most of our innocent-looking politicians when he told the court that the Ekweremadus and Obeta had treated the man and other potential donors as “disposable assets – spare parts for reward”. He said they entered an “emotionally cold commercial transaction” with the man.
While speaking to the jury, Mr. Davies said the behaviour of Ekweremadu, a successful lawyer and founder of an anti-poverty charity who helped draw up Nigeria’s laws against organ trafficking, showed “entitlement, dishonesty, and hypocrisy.” In the view of the chief crown prosecutor, Joanne Jakymec, it “was a horrific plot to exploit a vulnerable victim by trafficking him to the UK for the purpose of transplanting his kidney.”The convicted defendants showed utter disregard for the victim’s welfare, health and wellbeing, and used their considerable influence to a high degree of control throughout, with the victim having a limited understanding of what was really going on here.” Unfortunately for the veteran politician, this is the United Kingdom, a jurisdiction where he has little or no room for finagling.
Regrettably, as bad as the case may sound, there is even something worse going by 2018 data from the Global Slavery Index (GSI). As a Nigerian, living in Nigeria, I could never have imagined that there are active slave owners and hundreds of thousands of slaves in Nigeria. In fact, in a global ranking of modern day slavery of 167 countries, Nigeria ranked fourth among the top ten countries in the world with the highest number of slaves, with a total of 1, 386, 000 slaves. The other countries are India, China, and North Korea, with 7, 989, 000, 3, 864, 000, and 2, 650, 00 slaves respectively according to GSI.Beyond the GSI data, about 133 million Nigerians are classified as multi-dimensionally poor, and it is obvious that their current estate in life is attributable to the actions of politicians like Ekweremadu who by spending so much time in the corridors of power have perfected every possible avenue to game the system, and by so doing enslaving millions of Nigerians in the process.
These politicians in the top echelon of the political value chain of our country loot our commonwealth, launder it, and boost the economy of other countries. It gives me no joy to write this article because it is a lament; the kind that is only heard in our traditional communities when they say, ‘the Iroko has fallen.’ It is indeed an anti-climax for a man with such a towering political career.In a November 14, 2022 article, titled “Ekweremadu’s Sand Castles,” I tried to make sense of the Senator’s appetite for property acquisition, even when it was evident to all that he was not in the real estate business. The article was written in the wake of the seizure of 40 of his properties by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and also in reference to a 2020 report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, interestingly titled: “Sand Castle Data.” It was revealed that Ekweremadu was connected to eight properties in Dubai, with an estimated total value of $7 million. The report also linked the Senator to two properties in the UK purchased between 2008 and 2011 with an estimated value of £4.2 million.
How do you begin to wrap your mind around the fact that if nothing else changes in the appeal, this giant of a man will be making a British prison cell his home for the foreseeable future? In fact, the ordinariness of so-called mighty men was driven home, when I saw the mug shots of the Senator, his wife, and their accomplice, Dr. Obeta in the UK Guardian. Seeing them without the visage of power, I felt heartbroken and sorry. They looked like the members of an average criminal syndicate.I wish the situation were different for the sake of the name of our country, but unfortunately, they were in contravention of section (2), and sub-section (1) & (4) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 that deals with human trafficking. Sub-section (1)states that: “A person commits an offense if the person arranges or facilitates the travel of another person (“V”) with a view to V being exploited.” While sub-section (4) states that: “A person arranges or facilitates V’s travel with a view to V being exploited only if – (a)the person intends to exploit V (in any part of the world) during or after the travel, or (b) the person knows or ought to know that another person is likely to exploit V (in any part of the world) during or after the travel.”
The Act, in section (3) explains sections (1) & (2), and specifically in section (3) sub-section (4) gives the following explanation regarding the removal of organs, etc., “The person is encouraged, required or expected to do anything—(a)which involves the commission, by him or her or another person, of an offence under section 32 or 33 of the Human Tissue Act 2004 (prohibition of commercial dealings in organs and restrictions on the use of live donors) as it has effect in England and Wales, or (b)which would involve the commission of such an offence, by him or her or another person, if it were done in England and Wales.Having been found guilty, they now await sentencing on 5th May by Mr. Justice Jeremy Johnson; and according to the Act, they are looking at a minimum of ten years in prison. it’s a huge loss but it is also a stark reminder to the heavy and mighty in our society that there is always a day of reckoning either in the here and now, or in the hereafter.
By: Raphael Pepple
The Niger Delta Development Commission was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria to mitigate the effects of oil exploration and exploitation activities on the oil bearing communities or States. It is worthy to clarify that some of the NDDC states are not from South-South geographical zone. NDDC is about oil producing States, irrespective of the geographical location. South – South geographical zone is made up of six states namely; Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers State. As it is today, there is no regional commission called South-South Commission. Rather, what is well-known, is Niger Delta Development Commission to aid development in the oil-bearing States. NDDC is a distinct interventionist agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria to douse down tension or agitation of the people of Niger Delta region.
Agitation by the bearing community led to the establishment of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, despite being scrapped by the present administration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu. For instance, Abia State is in South-East region and it is part of NDDC, and it will benefit from South-East Commission established by the present Federal Government of Nigeria, to fast track development of South-East Zone. So, Abia State would benefit from NDDC and South-East Commission. Abia is an oil producing state in Nigeria. In the same position, Imo State is a South-East State and also an oil producing state; which automatically makes it a member of NDDC State. And would benefit from both commissions; and no doubt, because of being an oil producing State and by location, South-East State. Automatically, by virtue of oil activities going on in the two Eastern States, they are members of Niger Delta Development Commission.
In the line of operation, Ondo State is in South-West region and by virtue of being an oil producing State, is a member of NDDC. This no doubt, makes Ondo State a beneficiary of NDDC creation. There is no question to ask why Ondo should be member of NDDC? And Ondo State is a member of South-West Development Commission, because of its geographical location as a State in that region. So, the argument that NDDC is a regional commission is out of place. Thus, NDDC is not only for States in the Niger Delta. Another question is: is there an established commission known as South-South Development Commission, that Rivers State, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa and Cross River should benefit from? The answer is capital No! So NDDC is not a regional commission because it is not only for the six states that make up the South- South. Hence, there is need for the present Federal Government of Nigeria, to urgently address the inequality and disparity created already.
This is because the six geographical zones have zonal commissions. The Federal Government should correct the equation. The misconception that NDDC is regional is not in order and is not correct. As it is today, there is no South-South Commission to help fast track development in the region. The political representatives from the South-South zone, should unite themselves and demand for South-South Development Commission as other zones have theirs. The Federal Government should put modalities in place to establish South-South Development Commission. The status quo should not be allowed to remain as it is now. Thank God, the daily quota of oil production has increased to about 2.5m barrel per day. And that is the reason why South-South should also benefit from the increase of oil activities in Nigeria.
Observationally, every region is bracing up to gain from the oil revenue of the country. And South South Zone which seems to be the hub of oil and gas is lagging behind in terms of purposeful development. NDDC should embark on an aggressive development of the member states. The Federal Government of Nigeria, should correct the negative believe that NDDC is a regional commission. Politicians of the zone should sheathe their swords of discrepancies and work together for the development of the zone. There should be a united front to convince the Federal Government to create or establish South-South Development Commission. Therefore State of the South-South zone in the Niger Delta Development Commission should be made to benefit like their counter parts from South- East and South- West in the NDDC. Thus, NDDC goes beyond regional vision. And that is why the Federal Government should establish South- South Development Commission to balance the equation of regional commission springing up in the country.
Frank Ogwuonuonu
Ogwuonuonu is a free lancer in PortHarcourt.
Last week, precisely Thursday, February 20, 2025, students in Nigeria and the diaspora, under the umbrella of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) inducted the former Chairman of Tai Local Government Council, Chief Matthew NenuBari Dike into its Hall of Fame and gave him a certificate of recognition for what they described as his “outstanding contributions to the development of education and students in Nigeria”. Presenting the award at Saakpenwan, headquarters of Tai Local Government Area, the National Vice President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Mohammed Sabo, said unequivocally that the induction into the Hall of Fame and conferment of the award on Chief Dike was essentially by merit; a product of his endeavor in building the education sector and human capital in Nigeria.
According to the National Vice President of the National Association of Nigerian Students in Nigeria and the Diaspora, the students body does not have a history of conferring frivolous and financially induced awards on people. Chief Matthew NenuBari Dike is one of fewest local government area chairmen of Nigeria that have been so recognised and honoured by students in Nigeria and the diaspora. This is a welcome development given the fact that Tai Local Government Area has not been one of the local government areas in Nigeria that has attained the social, economic and infrastructural sophistication to come to national limelight because of its rural and seeming obscure nature. However , good works and success like light cannot be suppressed, not even by enemies. Success is contagious, a force and voice that speak louder than arm-chair and callous criticism.
Looking at the antecedents of the awardee and recipient of the Nigerian students goodwill, Chief Matthew NenuBari Dike, it is not saying a new thing that he deserves the honour. Within 100 days in the saddle as chairman of Tai Local Government Area, Chief Dike had made significant achievements in driving the development of the education sector and students in Tai Local Government Area, and of course, Nigeria, a feat that marked him out for honour by the National Association of Nigerian Students. Aside recruiting 250 adhoc teachers to improve teaching and learning in Basic and Senior Secondary Schools in the Local Government Area, the former chairman has also established a Special Science School to develop manpower overtime in critical areas in the Local Government Area having noticed that in the last ten years no student of Tai Local Government Area had gained admission to read, Medicine, Engineering, Medical/Health Sciences and many other science based courses.
Chief Dike’s initiative is therefore to address a felt and critical need of the people. Through a rigorous screening process, 104 students emerged as the first set of students to begin the Special Science School at its take-off facility, Model Primary School 2, Uedume, under Mr. Tete Baridamue Osih as the Director. Speaking during the Inauguration of the School, two weeks ago, the former Chairman of Tai Local Government Area, Chief Dike affirmed his administration’s commitment to deliver a new building for the Special Science School . No doubt, the Chief Dike’s adventures in the Education sector is a novel, and capital intensive project. It is a road less taken; only Local Government Area chairmen who are selfless, sacrificial and committed to human capital development of their people can take up such gigantic project, considering the cost-implications. Establishing a fully-furnished Science School for the Local Government Area requires a modern laboratory, provision of science books, a state-of-art science library and adequate funding.
Recurrent expenditures such as payment of salaries of staff, political appointees, councillors, overhead, and other entitlements of workers combined with ongoing capital projects and empowerment programmes that the chairman of the Local Government Area is embarking on, amidst limited income source, make Chief Dike a celebrity in governance, after the like of his principal, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, the “Rivers First” Governor. Students in Nigeria and the diaspora therefore, were objective, sound in judgement and devoid of primordial sentiment when they adjuged the former chairman of Tai Local Government Area worthy to be inducted into their Hall of Fame and honoured for his contributions. The adage that the “aroma of the Fart determines the substance of the poo” finds expression in the person of Chief Dike whose exploits in the education sector aimed at developing the capacity of students to meet critical needs of the Local Government Area, is a testament that Chief Matthew Dike will do more when given higher responsibility or another term.
John C. Mason, in one of his best sellers, “Leadership Gold”, said every human organisation rises and falls on leadership. A good leader will inevitably midwife development in his sphere of influence. This corresponds with the wise saying of the Biblican King Solomon that ‘when the righteous rules, the people rejoice but when the wicked rules, the people groan”. The socio-economic situation of a people to a great extent shows who a leader really is. The works or activities of a leader in relation to the people speak volumes of leadership stuff. Chief Matthew NenuBari Dike made significant impacts in the education sector and human capital development for a greater development in Tai Local Government Area. He is determined to leave a legacy in the sands of time of that Local Government Areas by raising millionaires through his economic empowerment programme to drive self reliance and reduce the level of abject poverty the people wallow in.
If Chief Dike had to achieve such commendable feat within only 100days of 1,095 days term of office, with availability of funds or sustained financial resources, a stable economy and peace, he had the capacity to achieve ten times what he had done for the people of Tai Local Government Area. While this is the beginning of a long and tortuous journey in governance, it is necessary to join students in Nigeria and the diaspora to commend Chief Dike for his impacts in the critical areas of education, human capital development, economic development, etc. To act contrary is to live out the saying of Decimus Magnus Ausonius that “The earth produces nothing worse than an ungrateful man”.
Igbiki Benibo
Since late Prof. Dora Akunyili’s tenure as the Director General of the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the fight against fake, illegal and expired drugs seemed to be in limbo until the current raid by the agency. For over one-week NAFDAC has been in the news as it has taken the war to the door post of fake, unauthorised, expired medicine dealers across the country. From Ariaria Market, Aba to Bridgehead, Onitsha, Anambra State, to Idumota drug market, Lagos, the stories are the same. Warehouses are being raided, medicine shops are being closed, counterfeit and expired drugs are being destroyed and so on. The current Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, must be commended for the reinvigorated effort towards ridding our society of poisons in the name of drugs.
Some of these drugs according to NAFDAC are expired, imported drugs which are repackaged and pushed into the markets. Some of the seized drugs were vaccines stored in dilapidated, unventilated rooms, sealed with iron sheets in highly unsanitary conditions. It is doubtful if there is any adult Nigerian that is not aware of the damage caused to the citizens and the country by fake and substandard drugs. How many times have we or someone we know taken malaria drugs, antibiotics or other medicines for a cure of an ailment and they were ineffective? How many people in the country have died because fake or relabelled expired drugs were administered to them? Experts have posited that fake, adulterated, substandard drugs fuel antimicrobial resistance, as substandard antibiotics fail to properly treat infections, leading to stronger and more resilient bacteria.
The proliferation of these harmful substances is indeed a crisis of national significance. It threatens public health, weakens trust in the healthcare system, and exacerbates Nigeria’s already fragile health sector. Local drug manufacturers who invest millions of Naira to produce genuine, quality drugs for the citizens are denied the fruits of their labour by criminal syndicates who take advantage of regulatory loopholes and weak enforcement to flood the market with dangerous substances, putting millions of lives at risk. So, by all means, they should not be spared. But the question that begs for an answer is, where were the government agencies when these fake and expired drugs entered the country and travelled to the states? Why were they not intercepted at the point of entry either via the ports or the land borders and the importers arrested and prosecuted?
According to Adeyeye, most of these poisonous drugs are brought into the country through the ports and the porous borders. Is there nothing that can be done to beef up security and checks against illegal drugs at the borders? Or is it a case of the personnel at the borders looking the other way when they must have been settled thereby allowing unhindered entry of fake and unauthorised products into the country? It is also worrisome why we have allowed drugs to be sold in the open markets in the country. For many years, the federal government has been coming up with policies to address the uncontrolled and undefined buying and selling of medicine with or without approval, all to no avail. Open drug markets continue to thrive, leading to abuse and counterfeiting.
A former National Chairman of the Association of Community Pharmacists, Mr Samuel Adekola, in a recent interview bared his mind on the issue of open drug market. He said, “We know that open drug markets are not the best for Nigeria because of how the drugs are sourced. The government has been coming up with policies to address it, but you know that nature abhors vacuum, so once there is no alternative, these markets crop up because people must use drugs. Policies of the government must support alternatives which will make the drug distribution process/system in Nigeria a regulated and sanitised one. The whole essence of this is to save society from fake and adulterated drugs because the burden of fake drugs on citizen’s health and the economy is huge. Today, 70 percent of deaths in the hospitals arise from drug misuse or fake drugs.”
Early in the week, the NAFDAC DG during a television interview announced that the Kano Coordinated Wholesale Centre for drug marketers has taken off and that that of Lagos, Aba, Onitsha and other places are in the pipeline. Hastened efforts in actualising this will go a long way in checking the menace of fake drugs. Also, in addition to Adeyeye’s request for more funding and more staff for the agency to help in manning the borders and prevent the infiltration of poisonous drugs into the country, there is the need for technology-driven solutions to the challenge. The adoption of digital tools, such as mobile verification codes on drug packaging, can help consumers verify the authenticity of their medications. Blockchain technology can also be explored to track and trace pharmaceutical products from manufacturers to end-users.
NAFDAC and other regulatory bodies should be empowered with adequate resources to crack down on counterfeiters. Policies that improve oversight, enhance drug registration processes, and promote stricter penalties for offenders are essential. The nation’s drug distribution policy which stipulates penalties for defaulters must be implemented. While Adeyeye’s proposed death penalty for fake drug peddlers may be too harsh, many years imprisonment without an option of fine will not be out of place. While commenting on the recent raids, the National Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria – Young Pharmacists Group, Tekena George showered some encomium on the NAFDAC DG, saying that beyond enforcement, her transformational policies promote local production of high-quality medicines in Nigeria, noting that by encouraging domestic manufacturing, she is not only reducing the country’s reliance on imported drugs but also strengthening the nation’s medicine security and economic resilience.
Indeed, over-reliance on imported drugs increases vulnerability to counterfeit products. Both federal and state governments should therefore encourage domestic pharmaceutical production, backed by strong quality control measures. This will ensure a safer drug supply chain. Nigeria should work closely with international agencies such as INTERPOL and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to dismantle transnational drug counterfeiting networks. Sharing intelligence and coordinating enforcement efforts will help disrupt the supply chain of fake drugs. Awareness campaigns are inevitable in dealing with the menace of fake drugs in our society. Many Nigerians remain unaware of the dangers of fake drugs. Government agencies, civil society groups, and healthcare professionals must therefore collaborate to educate the public on how to identify counterfeit drugs and report suspicious products.
Most importantly, the National Orientation Agency, religious and traditional leaders, parents, schools and other organisations must join hands in changing the “get rich at all cost” mentality of some Nigerians. As some people say, corruption, greed and selfishness are the root of all the problems in Nigeria. And unless these vices are dealt with all efforts at stemming fake drug distribution and other menace in the country will bear no positive result.
Calista Ezeaku