Bolaji:
I agreed with you until you wrote this:
"You would hope that if you were accused of some heinous crime, many would come to your aid BEFORE they knew all the facts, EVEN if you later turned out to have done the crime, God forbid. No one should then be accused of shamelessly supporting you, when in fact you have not done anything prior to suggest you would do the crime."
Am I right to read you as saying that if one is accused of corruption, people who knows one's prior conducts are right to defend the accused even "BEFORE they knew all the facts"? I disagree with this. What I would hope is that people who know or think they know my prior would withhold judgment either way until all the facts are out--until they know all the facts. Obviously I wouldn't want them or anyone for that matter to start pronouncing me guilty on the strength of a mere allegation, but I would also not want them to pronounce me innocent until they know the facts. Prior conduct and character can be a guide to present or future conduct, but people do change either because of personal evolution or environmental influences, or both. In fact your approach and mine, if I do say so myself, is the right one, which is to withhold judgment and ask both parties to divulge information they possess in regard to the allegation and for the accuser to provide specifics to back up the accusation.
Even if the accused is my friend and APPEARS innocent, I would not go public with a defense or exoneration until I knew all the facts.
Anyway sha, for me it is a good thing when politicians accuse each other of corruption or fight about such accusations. In most cases, it is the only opportunity for regular citizens like me to know the malfeasance that happen in the corridors of power, to know what the high and mighty do behind closed doors with our common patrimony. Without conflict among politicians, they usually keep these things secret, and adhere to the informal Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) pact of silence and secrecy. This is why I welcome and get agitated about roforofo among politicians, especially when it has to do with allegations and counter-allegations of corruption.
On Mon, Jan 11, 2016 at 11:17 AM, Mobolaji Aluko <alukome@gmail.com> wrote:
Moses:Let us admit it: we are in a silly political season, in this "body language" environment of change. There are those who are supportive or oppositional to Wike, Amaechi or Soyinka, no matter what - and a lot of people in-between. So in this triangular environment, you will see all shades of reactions to these latest allegations - or this latest N82 allegation - which did not come out when Amaechi was first "extensively investigated" an indicted in the days leading up to his confirmation as Minister first being held up and later confirmed.My own position is horror about the N82 million figure, but skeptical of it because of its source. If the allegation had come out saying that Soyinka was paid Y million, the musicians were paid X million, security was Z million, etc., then one would have seen exactly what items were EXCESSIVE in the N82 million. The accuser has the onus here, not necessarily the honoree Soyinka at all, or even Amaechi, who may simply say that the records are there already, and he is ready to accept or deny the figures stated.You and I are NOT politicians, even if we are very much interested in politics, and I don't think we should jump up and down when one politician attacks another. But yes, you can expect people to SUPPORT those who they think they know their priors. You would hope that if you were accused of some heinous crime, many would come to your aid BEFORE they knew all the facts, EVEN if you later turned out to have done the crime, God forbid. No one should then be accused of shamelessly supporting you, when in fact you have not done anything prior to suggest you would do the crime.And there you have it.Bolaji Aluko--On Mon, Jan 11, 2016 at 5:42 PM, Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com> wrote:"But I state that a government can STAGE a cultural fiesta to DELIBERATELY coincide with an icon that it wants to celebrate, and I personally see no problem with that."Bolaji,But is that what the event was, a cultural fiesta? You seem to be clearing a lot of potential exculpatory space for Amaechi with the introduction of this cultural fiesta angle. And yes, both the accuser and the accused have to divulge how much and for what specific purpose the N82 million (or whatever the amount was) was spent on. It's not enough for Amaechi to simply deny spending 82 million on the birthday party. How much did he spend and on what items? Wike, too, has to disclose the specific expenditure items his government discovered in respect of the Soyinka event.My problem with the trajectory and tenure of the discussion is the sly, cunning way some respondents were already exonerating Amaechi and discrediting Wike's allegation. Sure, politics is implicated in the allegation; I stated that in my first post on this subject. Wike wants to get at Amaechi and Soyinka is both collateral damage and the intellectual celebrity that will guarantee coverage. But how does that make the allegation itself false as some folks are already insinuating even in the absence of any credible defense on the part of Amaechi/Soyinka?Finally, I think Ikhide's acerbic style, not my measured tone, is the appropriate rebuke to those (not you) who are shamelessly dismissing the allegation or exonerating Amaechi for purely predictable partisan reasons. There is a time and place for sharp rebuke, and I think this occasion calls for it.--On Mon, Jan 11, 2016 at 10:14 AM, Mobolaji Aluko <alukome@gmail.com> wrote:Moses:Please stop calling up Ikhide, who you have chided for excessive wailing: speak for yourself, plese.Nobody is saying that N82 million should be spent on Soyinka's birthday....but knowing those who are making the claim, one can very much guess that it is most likely a specious allegation to smear Amaechi, and even Soyinka himself. How come that the government of the day has not been able to determine how much Soyinka was paid directly, and they want to ask Soyinka himself directly?What stupidity is that?But I state that a government can STAGE a cultural fiesta to DELIBERATELY coincide with an icon that it wants to celebrate, and I personally see no problem with that.Bolaji Aluko--On Mon, Jan 11, 2016 at 3:35 PM, Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com> wrote:These are the kinds of discussions for which Ikhide's voice is needed. He would not stand for all the prevarication and specious justifications. Soyinka is not a foreign dignitary. He is a private citizen of Nigeria. If Amaechi used Rivers State funds to throw a lavish birthday party for him, it is wrong--as simple as that. It is corruption. The man is not even from Rivers, nor did he ever play a role in the public life of the state, so the argument cannot be made that "we are honoring or celebrating a former this or that of the state" or we are celebrating "one of our own." That's not even to talk of the obvious profligacy of spending a whopping 82 million on a birthday party, if true.--On Mon, Jan 11, 2016 at 8:15 AM, Salimonu Kadiri <ogunlakaiye@hotmail.com> wrote:Has any evidence been produced that the birthday dinner was financed by the government of the Rivers State or Chibuike Amaechi as a private person, even though he was the governor of the State? Should we rely on rumour that the birthday dinner was funded with state money?
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: Wole Soyinka and the Rivers State Dinner Controversy: Soyinka and Amaechi's Response and Rejoinders to Those [Facebook Debates]
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2016 15:57:59 -0500
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.comA more basic question is: Should any state funds (even one Naira) be used to fund a birthday party for anybody?Kasim Alli.
Sent from my iPadA drowning man will always want to hold on to something whether it can save him or not. Wike and his cohorts will like to blackmail a man of substance before they are shown the way out. There is no hiding place for them.I am not a spokesman of Wole Soyinka, but the very little I know about him is that he would not have asked Rotimi Amechi to honor him with a dinner.On getting to the arena of the dinner, does anyone expect the celebrant to ask his host the cost of the dinner?If the accuser has evidence let him go to court to present it and stop the cheap blackmail.
Segun Ogungbemi.
Sent from my iPhoneBolaji Aluko,
I associate myself with your interest in accountability. The accuser should be able to furnish the public with the 17-point implementation program contained in your table below. So far the accused, Chibuike Amechi has told the public that he did not spend N82 million for Wole Soyinka's dinner but not how much he actually spent. Pressure should be brought on the accuser to substantiate his accusation of N82 million cost of dinner for Wole Soyinka, if he/she is not just throwing out figure to discredit Amechi and Soyinka.
S. Kadiri
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2016 12:03:02 +0100
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: Wole Soyinka and the Rivers State Dinner Controversy: Soyinka and Amaechi's Response and Rejoinders to Those [Facebook Debates]
From: alukome@gmail.com
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.comSalimonu Kadiri:I am interested in accountability. The accuser - and the accused - should be able to reconcile the following straw table:STRAW DRAFT:
PLANNING COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAM
RIVERS STATE DINNER FOR SOYINKA
Implementation
Naira Value
1. Venue
2. Transportation
3. Security
4. Food
5. Brochure & printing
6. Advertisements and Publicity
7. Awards
8. Accommodations for special guests
9. Music
10. Reception
11. Registration
12. Ushers
13. Special Guests Honorarium
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