It’s difficult to forget them in a hurry because of the positions they once occupied in the life of the country. But where could they be now? ELEOJO IDACHABA asks in this piece.
Vincent Ogbulafor
Chief Vincent Ogbulafor was the chairman and secretary respectively of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He became its chairman in 2008 and served less than two years before he was forced to resign over allegations bothering on corruption which investigation never saw the light of day. It was, however, gathered that the powers that be then actually never wanted him in that position any longer because of his stand on rotational presidency. As the party’s chairman, the Abia state-born politician was noted for controversial statements which irked many Nigerians. For instance, he, like Ahmadu Alih, another chieftain of the party, once said the party would rule the country for 60 years.
“I have done justice by addressing you on issues and policies of our great party and I expect that all Nigerians in no distant times would all return to PDP. I don’t care if Nigeria becomes a one-party state. If we succeed in bringing all the states of the federation under one umbrella, then it means we are doing a good job,” he once told media executives in Abuja. Political analysts are of the opinion that his removal from office as chairman was connected to his stand in 2010 that after Yar’Adua, power must return to the North before it returned to the South. Therefore, after the death of Yar’Adua, he was forced to resign by the Goodluck Jonathan administration. In his letter of resignation to Jonathan and Bukola Saraki, then chairman of the all powerful Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), he said, “In view of my recent meetings with President Jonathan and governors of the PDP extraction, I hereby give 30 days’ notice of my intention to resign as the national chairman of PDP. This resignation is informed by the case I have with the ICPC, for it would give me ample opportunity to prepare and face my case frontally in order to prove my innocence.”
Not long after that, he was acquitted of the 17-count charges. While reflecting on the misfortunes that befell the party, Ogbuluafor said, “The person who caused the problem of PDP was Jonathan. The party had internal democracy mechanism in place which worked for it in 16 years and we agreed at several meetings that power would stay in the north for eight years before it would return to the south for another eight years, but Jonathan scuttled it.” Following the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 elections, he paid a visit to its chairman, Chief John Oyegun, where he gleefully felicitated with President Muhammadu Buhari, a move that was misconstrued to his leaving the PDP, but he said, ‘I am still in PDP and I have not discussed with any other person on plans to defect to APC.” Since then, not much has been heard about him again.
Dominic Oneya
Brig.-Gen. Dominic Oneya (retd.) was the military administrator of Kano and Benue states. In Kano, he was the administrator between 1996 and 1998 under the late Gen. Sani Abacha. In the transitional administration of Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar, he was posted to Benue and remained there until he handed over to George Akume in 1999. As the administrator in Benue state, he initiated a major fertiliser plant with the state government paying about N70 million for preliminary works. However, there were delays and setbacks before the project was finally competed in 2007. Whether the project is still functional is another matter entirely. Oneya is one of the military officers that were advised by Obasanjo to retire from service because of their erstwhile involvements in politics. Before his appointments as administrator, he held several military postings and commanded several posts like adjutant, 31 Infantry Battalion, Instructor, 4 Division Training School, Instructor, Nigerian Army Military Training College, Jaji and Commander, 16 Battalion, Nigerian ECOMOG Contingent in Liberia and then director of administration, Training and Doctrine Command, among others. To that extent, he was a core military officer. Beside this, however, Oneya is a sports lover.
In 2000, after he left the military, Oneya was appointed as the chairman of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA). In 2002, he said Nigeria should have gained more than a bronze medal at the African Nations Cup given the wealth of talents among Nigerian footballers. To that extent, he called for the replacement of Amodu Shaibu by Festus Onigbide. In 2008, he headed a team that investigated allegations of corruption in the local league in response to comments from a former Kano Pillars coach, Kadiri Ikhana. Amazingly, long after he left the football house, nothing has been heard about him again despite the flurry of political activities in the country.
Cecilia Ibru
Madam Cecilia Ibru was once a managing director and chief executive officer of Oceanic Bank, one of the ‘happening banks’ in the country. She began work at the Ibru Organisation as a project director in 1978. After two years in this role, she went on to serve as the international finance coordinator, a position she held until 1990, when she started working with Oceanic Bank as its general manager. After seven years, she was promoted to the position of managing director and CEO. The bank began as a small family-owned institution, but grew into one of the nation’s largest publicly quoted institutions during her stewardship despite allegations of financial recklessness against her.
For instance, on August 13, 2009, she was among five bank CEOs who were dismissed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over financial scandals. Writing about Ibru, Oladapo Sofowora said, “At her prime as the head of Oceanic Bank, Mrs Cecilia Ibru commanded immense respect from all and sundry. She was a socialite of high repute with a heavy financial war chest to fund her lifestyle. She was classy, highly cerebral, cosmopolitan, stylish and well-composed. She is well lettered in finance and economics. Her home was a Mecca of sorts for favour seekers who needed one financial help or the other. She was indeed generous to a fault. During her reign, several businesses benefited from her milk of kindness until everything went awry.” Lately, no one knows where this woman with a large heart is again.
