For those who may not be familiar with the Holy Bible, the following verses quoted from Saint Luke’s Gospel will help us understand the story of some ten lepers who beseeched master Jesus to heal them of leprosy.
“And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.” Luke 17:14-18 (KJV)
I read with utter resentment a report which emanated from the media team of my brother Michael Johnny where he wailed like a baby that Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan connived with the State Working Committee of the APC to disqualify him and other aspirants from the party’s Senatorial Primary. Another report via one inconsequential online medium accused Uduaghan of spending N29 billion to secure the APC ticket. As someone who used to do all of Johnny’s write ups before he got too greedy, I know the fictitious reports were reeled from his lie machine. How can a Nigerian politician spend N29 billion to buy a party’s senatorial ticket? How much did Atiku Abubakar spend to buy the PDP Presidential ticket? This is a bogus lie that Johnny himself knows will not hold water.
As I wrote in an earlier article, Johnny is desperately looking for relevance. We all know this. But I do not know if the public knows this for a fact. Michael Johnny picked the APC forms when Dr. Uduaghan moved to the APC. As a matter of fact, it was Senator James Ebiowou Manager that backed him to contest against Dr. Uduaghan in an attempt to checkmate him. Manager knew that Dr. Okowa was going to give him the ticket in the PDP. So he wanted a mole to pick the APC ticket. Since the Ijaws in APC know that it is the turn of the Itsekiri, they did not bother to contest but there had been a grand plot by Senator Manager and Governor Okowa to block Dr. Uduaghan from picking the APC ticket. Hence, one of the ungrateful “nine lepers” cleansed by Dr. Uduaghan revved up his already hibernating intention by picking Senatorial forms.
There was another grand plan to rig the primary for Johnny with Governor Okowa and Manager chesting the financial burden. In fact, three of the other four Itsekiri contestants were all backed by Manager and Governor Okowa. Someone close to the Adams Oshiomhole NWC who is a member of the PDP cartel blew the lid on their anti-party activities which led to their disqualification. All attempt to blackmail Dr. Uduaghan to settle him (Johnny) out of the contest before the primary hit Aso Rock as Uduaghan insisted on going to the field. I had written an article titled “Michael Johnny’s Botched Relevance Seeking Mission” but I wasn’t taken seriously.
For the umpteenth time, I am telling the world that Michael Jonny has no business wanting to go to the Senate. The ex-militant and notorious crude oil pilfer is acting James Manager’s script. Johnny that can not even win a councillorship position in Warri North wants to be a senator? Has he forgotten that he has not been completely reintegrated into the society as a repentant militant? How did the APC bring their party so low as to selling Senatorial ticket to Johnny? What a joke!
I am bent on exposing his nefarious spoiler mission against a man that took him and his likes from the creeks, cleaned them up and made them relevant in the society today.
I am proudly Ezon-Ebi and partly Itsekiri. Even when our fellow Ijaw brothers wanted to sell him out to the Federal Government, it was Uduaghan that saved him. I churn in my stomach when Johnny allowed himself to be used by some of our greedy leaders to fight Uduaghan. Can’t Johnny be like Kingsley Otuaro and Alaowei George Timinimi who are well respected in the society today? These are men that were also cleansed by Uduaghan. Till date, Johnny is still a crude oil thief. No matter how well you bathe a pig, he would return to the mud over and over again.
Johnny is a betrayer of the meaning of Ijaw. True Ijaws are grateful and fair to all. Johnny is one of the nine ungrateful “lepers”. Dr. Uduaghan helped me when I was framed up in a murder case. He helped me without meeting me one on one till today. I am not sure if he would still remember my name. If not for his intervention, I would have been rotting in jail as I write. The same way Johnny would have been rotting in Kirikiri for militancy if not for the Amnesty Programme that was initiated by Uduaghan administration.
All ex-militants should be grateful to Uduaghan for what he has done for us. Leaders like him are rare. The tyranny that should end is the one of Senator Manager who has customized our senatorial seat to himself.
Freetown Ayonmitsi Olikegheme, Wrote in from Delta state.
