Date Published: 03/25/11
Imo 2011: Combating the bogey of Secret Societies by John I. Mgbe
The most controversial topic in the political realm in Imo State today is the role of secret societies on the political realm. On Friday 4th March, there was pandemonium in a section of the Owerri Municipality when a group of overzealous street urchins descended on the administrative office of the Nigerian Horn Newspaper and wreaked some havoc on office equipment and also dragged the editor to the corporate Headquarters of the All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA)Organization – the platform that is driving the governorship agenda of Owelle Rochas Okorocha, the governorship candidate of APGA. The rampaging youths who executed this scam were reacting spontaneously to a screaming and banner headline entitled: "Ogboni Fraternity: Is Rochas a member? It was this emotive banner headline that catalyzed the unruly behaviour of the overzealous youths who used disproportionate force without waiting for directives from Owelle Rochas Okorocha who was on electioneering activities at the time of the episode.
The genesis of the mayhem is a news story which was culled from the internet alleging that the Ogboni Fraternity had dispatched a letter of felicitation to Owelle Rochas on his emergence as the governorship candidate of APGA in Imo State . In the alleged letter of felicitation, the Ogboni Fraternity had described Owelle Rochas as one of them (ie an Ogboni member). When some members of APGA youth wing read this story, they became highly incensed and flabbergasted since they did not understand why their political idol should be labelled a member of Ogboni Secret Society. This reaction by the restive youths is a classic case of youth militancy and exuberance.
In his reaction, Owelle Rochas decried the use of disproportionate force and self help to resolve any dispute. He said that the youths acted without waiting to get orders from him. Owelle describes himself as a humble and peace loving politician who would not resort to self help in redressing any wrongs done to him. It is pertinent to state that the Nigerian youths of today have a predilection for combativeness and militancy at the least grievance whether it is in Niger Delta, Oduduwaland, the Igbo nation or in Hausa land. This is what happened on the topic under discussion.
This episode has sparked off a cacophony of opinions on the position of secret societies in relation to partisan politics. Some have asked why the Horn Newspapers played the role of a busybody in interfering into the private life of Owelle Rochas. The newspaper has been accused of being used by opponents of APGA in a desperate bid to truncate the governorship agenda of Owelle Rochas. To those in this school of thought, The Horn Newspaper is a meddlesome interloper who would not mind its business. On the other side, political opponents of Owelle Rochas have been shedding crocodile tears for The Horn Newspaper Group in a bid to eke out some political mileage from the brouhaha. It is very appalling and ridiculous to see agents of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State denouncing with vehemence the role played by the alleged APGA Youths. The frequency of visits from government officials to the Horn Newspaper Group has surged all in a bid to tarnish and besmirch the integrity of the APGA team. As a result of the bellicose and swashbuckling disposition of the politicians from the PDP and other parties who see Rochas as a threat, a misunderstanding which would have been resolved amicably by both APGA and The Nigerian Horn Newspaper is allowed to fester and exacerbate. Perhaps, most provocative is the fact that some individuals who should have reconciled the APGA and The Horn are busy beating the cymbals of war, even when it is well known that they do not wish The Nigerian Horn well. They shamelessly use their hostile newspaper features to stampede The Nigerian Horn to seek court intervention and to reject any compromise. Some other moneybags have even offered to bankroll the legal costs on behalf of The Horn Newspapers. These developments might have caused Owelle Rochas to withhold his original promise to pay a visit on The Horn Newspaper Group. It is pertinent to state that these same politicians who now shed crocodile tears and weep inconsolably for the “disaster” that befell The Horn Group are the same politicians who have severally threatened to deal with The Nigerian Horn Newspapers, with special emphasis on the publisher and the editors. A few days ago before the present incident took place, The Nigerian Horn Newspaper had reported in its editorial and news stories of several hate messages which were sent to them and in which the senders had threatened to visit calamity on the management team of the Nigerian Horn Group. These same people who yesterday threatened to destroy The Nigerian Horn have now suddenly become the new friends of High Chief Bright Chimezie, the publisher of THE HORN. At this juncture, we advise THE HORN to be wary of these their new friends because they are wolves in sheep’s clothing. The only thing these his new friends have in common is the agenda to stop an effective and enterprising opponent from scoring a winning goal of the highest quality in the forthcoming election. This common opponent is Owelle Rochas Okorocha. The Horn management should be clear headed and circumspect in how it takes decisions on this issue.
It is wrong to accuse The Nigerian Horn as a meddlesome interloper who went fishing in troubled waters. In reporting the controversial story, THE HORN did not create the story. It merely reported a story which was already in the public domain (on the internet). However, it is pertinent to warn editors of the dangers of lifting every story they see on the website.There is a need to emphasize that most of the stories on the various websites lack integrity.Anybody can set up a website in a few minutes and upload whatever information he likes in order to tarnish the integrity of a perceived enemy.On the other hand, there is a need to emphasize that journalists do not create news,;they simply provide space to report the news. In every modern society, the press is the mirror through which society can see and appraise itself. Above all, The Horn Newspaper was performing a duty ascribed to it by the Constitution: the duty of holding leaders to account. For the avoidance of doubt, section 182(i)(h), of the 1999 Constitution stipulates thus: “No Person shall be qualified for election to the office of Governor of a State if he is a member of any secret society”. So, in spite of the perceived or real roles of the APGA opponents in the Nigerian Horn report, the important thing is that it was playing the constitutional role of holding leaders to account and safeguarding the integrity of the Nigerian Constitution. So, the newspaper is not an interloper. Rather, the interlopers and busybodies are political opponents of Owelle Rochas Okorocha who have since converted the Horn Newspaper’s office to a Pilgrim Centre as they make incessant visitations in their frantic bid to fan the embers of discord atavism and recrimination. Today, these same people who had hitherto denounced The Nigerian Horn’s objectivity have suddenly made The Horn Newspaper the beautiful bride of the Imo political terrain. It is provocative that politicians who should preach peace have hijacked a mild disagreement which was spearheaded by overzealous youths to engage in a campaign of calumny and blackmail on the governorship candidate of APGA, Owelle Rochas Okorocha.
It is well known that at the slightest provocation the Nigerian Youths of today are restive and militant in the pursuit of real or imaginary grievances. We have seen this malaise in the activities of the youths of MOSOP or MEND in the Niger Delta, the youths in MASSOB in Igboland, the youths in OPC in Oduduwaland and, of course, the youths in the Boko Haram Group in Hausa-land. They are rampaging, tetchy and ferocious in their use of self help to resolve issues. While some are vagrants and deviants, others have a case of righteous indignation. These youths catalyzed the attack on the Horn Newspaper Group. The APGA Group had made it clear that Owelle Rochas Okorocha was not aware of what was happening because he was pursuing his electioneering activities elsewhere. If those whose responsibility it is to provide security in Imo State were useful, the youths would have been overwhelmed and stopped from executing their gambit of attacking The Horn Newspaper office. It is pertinent to state that both the Government House and the Central Police Station are within a walking/shouting distance from the theatre of the assault. The policemen who are always at the Library/Wetheral Road junction turned a blind eye while the restive youths allegedly carried the editor of Horn Newspapers through their duty post to elsewhere. This conspiracy of silence by the policemen on duty at Wetheral Road /Library junction should be investigated. Who gave them orders to turn a blind eye on this affront? The same people whose ineptitude in security management facilitated the problem are today pressuring The Horn Group to seek litigation because “this is a case of kidnap”. We in Imo State are sophisticated; we are not mediocrities; we have seen through the veneer of their subterfuge. We are a lot wiser. This act of ventriloquism is an ill wind that blows no one any good.The HORN Newspaper must be circumspect and should stop these political demagogues and desperadoes from converting the Horn GROUP to a chess board of political atavism and safe haven for political intrigues and backstabbing.
As stated above, a report which the Nigerian Horn Newspaper published in the ordinary course of business was hijacked by political demagogues and desperadoes in a bid to subject the integrity of their political opponents to contumacy and opprobrium. The people of Imo State must deprecate this despicable blackmail and resurgence of political atavism and prebendal politics, more so, now that the 2011 election is here. It is distressing that a social dislocation which was caused by overzealous youths is being twisted to stigmatize and demonize political chieftains of some political parties, even when these bigwigs were not on the scene of the upheaval.
As already stated elsewhere sections 137(i)(h) and 182(i)(h) of the 1999 Constitution bar the president and Governor respectively from becoming members of any secret society. Recall that membership of a secret society was one of the grounds used by the Election Petition Tribunal in Umuahia to rule that Governor Theodore Orji of the PPA should vacate the office of governor for Onyema Ugochukwu of the PDP. Governor Theodore Orji was alleged to be a member of the Okija/Ogwugwu secret society. However, the Appeal Court in Port Harcourt set aside the judgment of the lower Tribunal and allowed Governor Theodore’s Appeal. Many people feel that T.A Orji’s appeal was allowed because the Court of Appeal is a corrupt court that does the bidding of the highest bidder. However, what is relevant here is that Governor Theodore Orji nearly lost his governorship seat because he was alleged to be a member of a secret society. Delivering judgment on Governor T.A. Orji's appeal, Saka Adeyemi Ibiyeye, JCA said inter alia;
“Since the petitioners/1st and 2nd respondents failed to establish the several stringent conditions set out in the definition of section 318 of the 1999 constitution on what a secret society entails, no membership of any secret society not even Okija/Ogwugwu could be ascribed to the 1st appellant. The 1st appellant was not a member of Okija/Ogwugwu secret society or any other secret society before the election into the office of Governor of Abia State that took place on 14th April 2007. This court recognizes oath taking as a valid process under customary law arbitration”. Theodore Orji's suit was heard in three courts: the State Elections Tribunal which ruled against him on 25th February, 2008. The second was Court of Appeal, PH which upheld his appeal on Wednesday, 11th February 2009 and again the court of Appeal Owerri which also concurred with the Court of Appeal PH. It is my advice that the Rochas Group should set up a think tank to peruse the court pronouncements on Governor T.A. Orji/Ugochukwu suit in order to decide the next line of action.
Only Rochas knows the truth about this matter. If he is actually a member of Ogboni secret society, he should resign his membership now and he will be clean enough to contest in the election. It is a thing of joy for the APGA supporters that the revelation was made ahead of the election. It would have been devastating and fatal to the APGA if the revelation came after the elections when Owelle will have emerged Governor-Elect. Once Owelle expunges his name from membership, he will be free of any legal encumbrances, should he emerge winner in the poll. For now, it’s an allegation which has yet to be proved beyond reasonable doubt. It is still a mere accusation. If, however, he is not a member of Ogboni society, Owelle should seek a retraction of the story and a profuse apology from the Nigerian Horn Newspaper as well as the Edo Voice Newspaper which originated the story. Once the retraction and apology are obtained, the matter should die off. If however, the newspaper refuses to retract the story/tender apology then litigation can be an option. It becomes a case of libel.
The management of Horn Newspaper should also show interest in reconciliation instead of pandering to the advice of some mischievous politicians to drag Owelle Rochas to court. These people who are advising him to go to court are the same people who have been threatening to visit calamity on the Nigerian Horn Management Team. These new friends of the Nigeria Horn Newspaper are dangerous and they should be kept off the matter. They are deviants and vagrants who wish to hide under THE Horn to unleash vendetta on their political opponents. The Nigerian Horn Newspaper which has carved a niche in the area of objective and professional editorial policy should not suddenly become a clannish newspaper. The Nigerian Horn should be more interested in reconciliation; it should not be caught in the web of interminable litigation unless where it becomes extremely imperative. The people who are asking NUJ to investigate the matter have not told us what NUJ did when Wale Oluokun, Samuelson Ikenna, Rev. Fr. Eustace Okorie and the like were pining away in the shadows of the valleys of death. We are not aware of any official press release from the Nigerian Union of Journalists(NUJ) secretariat. Even when the Imo House of Legislaturewas suspending their members indiscriminately, the NUJ remained silent. They were rather more interested in given all manner of awards to members of the legislature and the executive arms of government. In all these catastrophe, the NUJ Imo State was a disinterested party; they heard nothing, said nothing and did nothing. They took the posture of siddon look. So, why are they now being called upon to get involved on this matter?
The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) is an organization which has chosen to be part of the New Face Group (PDP) in Imo State, thus becoming a bystander and mere spectator in a game in which it should have been an active participant. This is why I support Senator Abba-Aji who recently criticized the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill (FIB) by the House of Representatives. Journalism in Nigeria is not yet ripe for such legislation. This issue will be more elaborately discussed elsewhere. But why should any body be demonizing the so-called secret societies which draw their membership from the highbrow segment of the Nigerian society? They draw their membership from the Bench (Judicial officers) and Bar (Lawyers), the Clergy, the political party chieftains, captains of industry and the like. Some prominent citizens of this Country including top religious leaders belong to the Freemason society and the related societies. After all, one man’s religion is another man’s secret society and vice versa. So, why all the hullabaloo about secret societies?
The section of the Nigerian Constitution which bans membership of secret societies did not ban the existence of such societies, otherwise, why are their secretariats conspicuously displayed all over the nooks and crannies of this country? That section is incompatible and incongruous to the section which guarantees the right of religion and the right to associate freely. In fact that section should be expunged from the Statute. With what Imo people have suffered in the last four years there is no alternative (TINA) to change. Things can only get better; after all, he who is down needs fear no fall. It was the then President of United States , President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who once told his people: “The only thing you have to fear is the fear of fear itself. Do that which you fear and the fear of fear will die”.
In this country, the occupational hazards of news papering are well known. Prominent newspapers have been severally closed down in the past; journalists have been killed, harassed and even jailed. But in all these travails, such newspapers have often put those vicissitudes behind them and even emerged stronger than they were. They did not abandon their editorial policies of objectivity, fairness and balance. They did not shut the door of reconciliation. Against this backdrop, the recent drama involving THE HORN Newspaper with some politicians in IMO State should be seen as a storm in a tea cup. The pressure being mounted on The HORN Group by some desperadoes to seek litigation is counterproductive and an avoidable waste of time, money and scarce resources. These political turncoats do not wish THE HORN group well. In the end these political clowns who have been shedding crocodile tears will vanish and leave The Horn Publisher with the short end of the stick. I wish to state, for the umpteenth time, that as one of the guest writers of THE Nigerian HORN Newspaper, I am sad that those who ,yesterday, threatened to destroy THE NIGERIAN HORN on the grounds of its superlative objectivity and sound editorial policy have been piling pressure on the Publisher to make mountain out of molehill. A “family affair” which would have been quietly resolved over a glass of wine has been politicized by a section of the political class in order to gain political mileage.
In this coming election, it is in the interest of the candidates to tell the electorate the truth and nothing but the truth. They must make sure that any legal encumbrances that may haunt them in the Election Tribunals are nipped in the bud. For the first time NDI IMO must be given the chance to elect their governor. Never again will any governors be imposed on the people by the so-called godfathers. The people are poised to reject any such imposition. Should that happen, the ongoing crises in North Africa and the Maghreb(Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Algeria and others) will resonate in IMO State in its entirety. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
John I. Mgbe
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