Bianca: Ezechukwu’s Callousness

Comfort Obi

I am not a regular reader of Capital Matters, Uche Ezechukwu’s weekly column, in the Daily Sun. But I read his two-part article of Febraury 7 and 14, entitled: Now, the Swindle.
In all my adult life, I have never read anything as callous as Ezechukwu's impression of Bianca Ojukwu, wife of Igbo icon, Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu. His language was uncouth. The attack was unprovoked and vicious. If Bianca is physically attacked anywhere, Ezechukwu should be held responsible. His write-up was meant to incite the Igbo against Bianca. Even though my concern here is the deliberate incitement against Bianca, I will briefly touch on his case against Gov. Peter Obi, and the South east governors.
Using President Goodluck Jonathan’s appointment of Bianca as his Senior Special Assistant, Diaspora Affairs, as a peg, Ezechukwu alleged that the South east governors have sold the Igbo to Jonathan. Now, four of the governors are in the same party with Jonathan, and expectedly, are rooting for him. The odd man is Obi, an APGA governor, who intelligently joined his brother-governors to root for Jonathan. APGA’s declaration that it would back Jonathan is what has pushed Ezechukwu to near-suicide. He called the governors betrayers of the Igbo cause. After his secular sermon on how he, and others, founded APGA, Ezechukwu chickened out. He never worked for APGA. He chose, instead, to work for the then ANPP presidential candidate, Major General (rtd) Muhammadu Buhari. But for the likes of Ojukwu, Obi, APGA Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, and a few others, APGA would have since been dead. What is Ezechukwu’s contribution to APGA’s survival? And now, what is his alternative? He wants the Igbo to work for Buhari, his master, instead of Jonathan who, for the brief period of his presidency, has given a sense of belonging to the Igbo through appointments and provision of infrastructure. The question for Ezechukwu is: What is for the Igbo in a Buhari presidency? Truth is: Ezechukwu has never hidden his dislike for Jonathan. Long before the presidential primaries, he was amongst a few people who organised a meeting in Owerri which aim, among others, was to speak against Jonathan’s presidential bid. It is this dislike that pushed Ezechukwu to pour venom on Bianca, and incite the Igbo against her? Here is her offence.
A couple of weeks ago, Jonathan appointed Bianca his Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora. In Ezechukwu’s eyes, Bianca committed a mortal sin by accepting it. Why? Bianca’s husband, Ojukwu, is ill in a London hospital. For the records, Bianca accompanied him to the London hospital, after days of worrying and sleepless nights at the UNTH. Until this other day when she came back briefly, she has been at her husband’s bedside. Because she came back a couple of weeks after the appointment, Ezechukwu concluded that she ran back to accept the appointment. Bianca didn’t need to come back to do that. She could have accepted it from London. But she needed to settle her children in school, and to register to vote. Bianca has since, even before Ezechukwu’s cruel write-up, gone back to her husband’s bedside! This was what Ezechukwu interpreted as an abandonment of her husband. He stopped short of saying that Bianca was celebrating her husband’s condition. He said it was an ebullient (emphasis mine) Bianca who stormed an APGA rally, stomping (emphasis, again, mine) around. False! Bianca never spoke for more than one minute. Even then, her presence at that rally was important. If she was there, then, Ojukwu was there. If she spoke, then Ojukwu has spoken. Ezechukwu was so low-down that he accused Bianca of lying about the state of her husband’s health at the rally. He wickedly alleged that Bianca was not in contact with her husband. Why? Bianca gave the impression that Ojukwu was getting better when he had, according to him, gone back to the intensive care unit. False. Bianca only said: "It is a miracle my husband is alive."
In any case, what did Ezechukwu expect Bianca to tell the public? To publicly say that Ojukwu is dying? Did Ezechukwu want Bianca to ridicule Ojukwu the way he did by saying that Ojukwu was almost lifeless when he was moved to London? Let Ndigbo note this. Ezechukwu has ridiculed Ojukwu. He has also ridiculed the Igbo race. He did so in many ways. He brazenly lied that Ojukwu was abandoned for days in his house before he was taken to the UNTH. Where were Bianca, Ojukwu’s children, and Governor Obi? He told the world that Ojukwu has been visually challenged for about three years. Parrot! Who asked him? His unsolicited revelation shows how he holds Ojukwu in contempt . Years back, before one Yoruba top leader died, he was a vegetable, yet it was not public. President Umaru Yar’Adua was a vegetable weeks before he died, yet, his people protected him. Not Ezechukwu. He is the one to tell the world of Ojukwu’s near – lifelessness and visual challenges. But a comment here: That Bianca still lovingly, and proudly, accompanied her husband to everywhere, covering up beautifully the visual challenge, speaks volume of her love for, and commitment to him.
Ezechukwu chides Bianca and Jonathan for Bianca’s appointment. He says Ojukwu had earlier turned down an offer to Bianca for a ministerial appointment, and mischievously added that he stroked out three days later. One could interpret that to mean that Bianca may have nagged her husband so much (for refusing) that he stroked out. Which is why Ezechukwu gleefully wrote that she accepted a lesser position when her husband was in a no position to talk. This man is wicked.
The Ojukwus need to be careful. This man is either a spy in their house, or he has one within. Who told him of the ficticious ministerial appointment? Was he there when the offer was made? Who told him that Bianca was not in touch with her husband? Ezechukwu has not told the Igbo what he set out to achieve. But back to Bianca’s appointment.
The Igbo need more appointments like Bianca's for the children and/or wives of their icons. Check out the families of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Professor Wole Soyinka, Ladoke Akintola, Abraham Adesanya, Olusegun Obasanjo, Shehu Shagari, in Nigeria's political space. Where are the families of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Dr. Michael Okpara, Dr. Akanu Ibiam, Major General Aguiyi Ironsi, Professor Chinua Achebe, and more? Nonsense!