SO WHAT IF HE WAS ONCE A PETTY THIEF?: Battling the Junior Ibori within

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT?

Yes! What if he was once a petty thief in London?, After all Apostle Paul was once a murderer named Saul; David the Adulterer bore Solomon who grew to be the wisest of men from his partner in crime Bathsheba; the thief who hung beside Jesus claimed his place in Paradise at the end; the harlot’s name is remembered today because she beheld the Risen Lord first.

Yes, the Ibori issue for me isn’t about what he was in the past but rather how he shaped his future after that less than stellar beginning leading up to this present time of SHAME he is facing that hopefully would be a turning point for him (I have my fingers crossed).  To me the Ibori saga isn’t a simple Karma is a B***h commentary of ‘chickens coming home to roost’, in which he comes full circle in his thieving career  in an ironic twist that sees him finally bite the dust in the UK where it all started.  C’mon, The guy starts of as a petty thief at a Wickes Hardware store in the UK way before he became a governor; the same guy denies the fact of his once upon a time convict status in Nigeria leading to his being cleared by our judicial system that is now the butt of jokes with his conviction by the UK Courts on charges of monumental fraud and looting of the Delta State Treasury in his eight years of rule as Governor.

The Ibori story is also that of EVERYMAN. For the simple reason that way after the sensational headlines passes; because they surely will what with the many stories of corruption in high places that we are assailed with daily; the story should serve as a wake up call to each and every one of us in the little corners of the world we occupy. I laugh when I read holier than thou, self righteous broadcasts of the many Nigerians warning those at the helm of affairs to take heed lest a greater fate than what befell James be their lot. We have failed to understand that Ibori’s was a journey that could be anyone’s. The sad truth of Ibori’s “Grass to grace and back to grass” tale; (though I think this is more like a “down to the miry clay” outcome) is simply one of “Yesterday’s petty thief becoming today’s Billionaire Embezzler”.

How many times have we by hook or crook taken something that does not belong to us; how many times have we been junior Iboris on the verge of metamorphosing into senior Iboris whether in our schools, our offices, our places of worship, in the market etc. I rather believe it is time we all did a little bit of introspection, reflection or whatever high fallutin words one can use at this time. Its best we took out the log in our eyes before we try to do the same for the next person. Let’s all learn to be faithful with little things lest we become overwhelmed when higher stakes are in play. 

It is time we battled every trace of the junior Ibori in us that God forbid we spare ourselves the shame and distress of a future as a senior Ibori.

The cessation of corruption starts with EVERYMAN committing to CHANGE ...ONE STEP AT A TIME

This is my simple Point of View........OTBN

OSA

PS:

MEMO TO THIEVING POLITRICKSIANS: NO LONGER WILL THERE BE A HIDING PLACE; NARRY A HOLE IN THIS WORLD WILL HIDE ANY NIGERIAN WHO THINKS TO FLEE FROM HOME AFTER MAKING A MESS OF OUR TREASURY IS THE SUREST WAY OF GOING SCOT FREE. YOU WILL BE SMOKED OUT, ASK JAMIE.

Signed

OTBN