The Ikweremadus: We All Have It In Us

By Kunle Edun

It is no longer news that Senator Ike Ikweremadu, Mrs. Ikweremadu and their doctor, one Obinna Obeta were recently found culpable of violating the United Kingdom’s Modern Slavery Act, which is akin to Nigeria’s Child Trafficking Act. The Court found them guilty of facilitating the travel of a young Nigerian to Britain for the purpose of harvesting his kidney for their daughter. The organ donor had been offered a financial reward and a stay in the U.K to donate his kidney to their ailing daughter. A very sad story of the length a parent will go just to save his daughter. If this had happened in Nigeria, nothing would have been heard about the case.

Senator Ike Ikweremadu is a very prominent Nigerian Senator and was at a time, the Deputy Senate President of the Nigerian Senate. The Senate of which is (or was) a privileged member approves the budget of the Executive arm of government for all projects (some alleged to be fraudulent projects). Therefore, he had all the opportunity to convince his colleagues in the National Assembly to dedicate funds towards establishing world class hospitals in Nigeria, where the ordinary Nigerians could afford world class health services. No, they do not give a damn. The Prosecutor in the case, Huge Davies KC told the court that the Ikweremadus and Obeta had treated the man and other potential donors as “disposable assets-spare parts for reward” and that he showed “entitlement dishonesty and hypocrisy”.

The Ikweremadus are not the only ones that are guilty of this “entitlement dishonesty and hypocrisy”. We are all guilty of same. We have all lost count of the number of times President Buhari has jetted out of the country for medical attention, even to treat leg pains. All the Ministers, Governors and head-of-this-and-that will not trust any local Nigerian doctor with their lives. They must all jet out to Dubai, New York, London, Paris for medical rest (in many cases using tax payers’ fund). With the several billions of naira budgeted for Aso Rock year in, year out, it is still not good enough for the first family.

Just two days ago, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Etukwu Onah died in a ghastly motor accident in Abuja. He was reported to have been rushed to the Maitama General Hospital, Abuja but was rejected by the hospital and was referred to the National Hospital, where he eventually died. Maitama is one of the high-brow areas in Abuja but government could not provide a world class hospital even for its own “privileged” citizens. The eminent lawyer was killed by our collective irresponsibility and incompetence. Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution provides that the “Security and welfare of people shall be the primary purpose of government”. The opposite rather seems to be the case in Nigeria. Thousands of Nigerian doctors have left the shores of Nigeria for Europe, Canada and the US to seek for “greener pastures”.

Every Nigerian has the Ikweremadu in him or her. We are passionate only about things that benefit us personally. We must all loot the treasury to prepare for an enjoyable retirement while still in the midst of poverty. It is a lie. The children of the poor that were neglected by the ruling class will be adults one day, staying in the same country with the rich. No high fence or number of gun-totting khaki guys would be enough to protect the rich from the more than 180,000,000 million Nigerians that are living below the poverty rate. The ruling class must stop the “entitlement dishonesty and hypocrisy” if we all want a Nigeria that will be there for all of us. Granting light sentences to billionaire Governors-thieves while imposing heavy jail terms on petty thieves must stop.