Had Wole Soyinka been a foreign dignitary, according to Moses Ochonu, Amaechi would have been justified if he used Rivers State funds to throw a lavish birthday party for him. Since, according to Moses Ochonu, Wole Soyinka is a private citizen of Nigeria, it is corruption "if Amaechi used Rivers State funds to throw a lavish birthday party for him." The man (Wole Soyinka) is not even from Rivers, nor did he ever play a role in the public life of the state - writes Moses Ochonu. Thus, had paternal and genealogical origin of Wole Soyinka been Rivers State and had he played a role in the public life of the state, Moses Ochonu would not have had any objection against the alleged N82 million birthday party for Soyinka by Amaechi. Like all human beings, Wole Soyinka did not choose his parents and as such which part of the world or of Nigeria he should have been born in order to be entitled to the alleged N82 million naira birthday party from Rivers State Government as desired by Moses Ochonu.
In the expression, "If Amaechi used Rivers State funds to throw a lavish birthday party for him (Soyinka), it is wrong - as simple as that. It is corruption;" Moses Ochonu confessed his uncertainty about Amaechi making use of Rivers State funds for the alleged N 82 million birthday dinner. And in his last sentence Moses Ochonu declared, "That's not even to talk of the obvious profligacy of spending a whopping 82 million on a birthday party, if true." Again Moses Ochonu does know IF IT IS TRUE that N82 million had been expended on a birthday party, yet he is lamenting over the absence of a verbal acrobat in this discussion as if his presence would have converted the manufactured figure to be true. Can't we learn to differentiate between brain and brawl? The burden of proof is on the accuser who should show us how he arrived at the total expenditure of N82 million for Soyinka's birth day dinner and until that is done I refuse to buy their hawked malicious propaganda.
S. Kadiri
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2016 08:35:38 -0600
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: meochonu@gmail.com
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
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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