Ojo Maduekwe saved the day in America (2)
ACHO ORABUCHI
Dallas, Texas
Thursday, July 6, 2006
Reactions continue to trail the aborted election of PDP-USA Chapter in Houston on June 24, 2006. Many PDP stakeholders in the Diaspora continue to rain accolade on the National Secretary of PDP, Chief Ojo Maduekwe for they called a judicious action.
Chairman, Louisiana Branch of PDP-USA, Chief Osagie Odeh, was ecstatic about Chief Ojo’s decision to cancel the election. He said, “I saw with Ojo; Ojo’s action is one of the best we’ve had. We all embraced it. I strongly support his action in canceling the election and nominating Dr. Mambula as the Caretaker Committee Chair.”
However, Chairman, Houston Branch of PDP-USA, Ali Abdulkadir, was alarmed about the cancellation of the election. “It’s sad that it happened after putting the money and effort in the preparation for the election only to see it cancelled. People incurred expenses to make the trip, including abiding by the guidelines published by the electoral committee, which some people refused to obey. It’s a great deal of insensitivity on Chief Ojo Maduekwe’s part to cancel the scheduled election. Those who claim to respect the rule of law disobeyed the guidelines,” he regretted.
Also, Chairman, California Branch, Mr. George Nze opined, “Chief Ojo Maduekwe gave us a second chance to have a unified election of credible people. Individualism should take a back seat for the accomplishment of the collective goal of the party and the nation.”
Chairman, Minnesota Branch and CEO of Chuckuemeka & Associates, LLC, Chuck O. N. Chuckuemeka echoed, “The wisdom in canceling the Houston election was such that Chief Maduekwe could go back to Nigeria with his head high, knowing that he has given PDP-USA a new beginning, a new lease in life, and an opportunity to get it right once and for all.”
Chairman,
North Carolina Branch, Chike Ejiofor held, “I think what happened was very sad
and regrettable, but the way our Hon. National Secretary, Ojo Maduekwe, resolved
the impasse was very wise and commendable. It was unconscionable and despicable
for Dr. Stanley Onye and his cohorts to try to disenfranchise majority of the
branches they thought would not vote for them in Houston. I believe that the
dissolution of Tex Warriboko administration and subsequent appointment of Dr.
Salamatu Mambula as the Caretaker committee chairman was the best outcome
from Houston and the best thing that has happened to this chapter in a long
time. I hope that the stakeholders will forget their personal differences and
ego and throw their weight and unconditional support behind Dr. Mambula and help
her to unify this chapter and make it stronger and relevant in Abuja.”
Mohammed Ibrahim, PDP-USA, Chicago offered, “While we await the full composition of the Caretaker Committee (CTC), I appeal to all well meaning members to use this forum to fashion out a way forward. Regrettably, we cannot make meaningful progress until we retrace our steps backward and find out where things went wrong. We have to get to the roots of the problem and take corrective measures. This will help us to avert a re-occurrence in the future. Anything short of that will amount to building on a shaky foundation; and the consequences could be dire. Let us not pretend that all is well. All cannot be well overnight. There is, therefore, an urgent need for us to put our heads together and come up with constructive suggestions. There is no way to peace; peace is the only way! ‘An eye for an eye’ will make the whole world go blind someday. This, however, should not preclude us from restoring credibility and integrity to PDP-USA. This should be PDP-USA's priority and everyone’s task.”
Failed Peace Efforts
Prior to June 24, 2006, several attempts had been made to unify the party in the United States. In each of the episodes, every effort to reconcile the warring factions failed.
Pursuant with The Guidelines for the Operations of International Chapters, Article 5 (E) 1, both Okpalobi and Wariboko's claim of legitimacy was muted with the elapsing of April 26, 2006. However, efforts were made to achieve peace once again in the Chapter prior to their respective terms expiring. In the peace effort, unified election became paramount since each faction was planning to have separate elections. The conveners of the peace initiative—Concerned Committee for Peace in PDP-USA (CCFPIP), Rev. Daniel Imo and Dr. Acho Orabuchi had the blessing of the National Secretary, Chief Ojo Maduekwe to find peace in PDP-USA Chapter. CCFPIP convened the first teleconference on April 18, 2006. Unfortunately, Atty. Tex Wariboko did not call in after being duly informed and consulted with by Rev. Imo. The people that called in for the peace teleconference were Rev. Imo, Dr. Orabuchi, Mr. Bright Olaokpu, Engr. Victor Emuakhgbon, and Dr. Okpalobi. Since Mr. Wariboko and his people did not call in, the conveners pleaded with Dr. Okpalobi and his people for the conference to be postponed to the following night. Dr. Okpalobi and his people magnanimously agreed. The following day Wariboko and his people were informed of the postponement and were advised to call in this time and they did. On April 20, 2006, Imo, Orabuchi, Olaokpu, Emuakhgbon, Okpalobi, Wariboko, Joseph Ogundu, and Ali Abdulkadir (three representatives from each group with the two conveners) were on the peace conference.
Pertinent issues were discussed and progress was
being made as both parties expressed their contention and positions. Everyone
agreed that it was time to end the rancor and embrace peace. Each person agreed
that PDP USA Chapter should have a unified election instead the two elections
that would prevail in the absence of peace. We concluded the night with an
understanding that there would be another peace conference to iron out the
differences. Based on the information gathered in the conference, the conveners,
Imo and Orabuchi, went to work with the principle of win-win philosophy for each
faction. We drafted a proposal that would have each party give up something in
order to get or maintain their principled value. Compromise was our mantra for
the large goal—peaceful PDP USA Chapter. After drafting the peace proposal,
CCFPIP duly contacted the parties and scheduled another peace teleconference on
April 24, 2006. The parties were further contacted to remind them to attend the
peace meeting. Sadly, Wariboko and his people could not attend the meeting. The
conveners—objective third party, Imo and Orabuchi, presented the peace proposal
to those present and promised to make a copy available to others by email within
two hours after the meeting. Also, it was made clear that the peace proposal
would be made available to Wariboko, Joe Ogundu, and Ali Abdulkadir immediately.
Everyone due to receive the peace proposal received it timely. The conveners
later decided to make the peace proposal available to Dr. Stanley Onye, Sir Ike
Ginigeme, and Mrs. Felicia Hadjesmaili.
During the teleconference on April 24, 2006, the conveners gave Dr. Okpalobi and Mr. Wariboko 48 hours to respond to the peace proposal upon receipt. This was further communicated to them in writing.
Upon receipt of the information, Dr. Okpalobi disseminated it to the members of his group and held an emergency meeting to vote on the proposal. Dr. Okpalobi responded to accept the proposal before the deadline. In the letter he faxed to the two-man committee, he said, “We, after due consideration, hereby accept the peace recommendations as presented by the Peace Committee. We further agree that if they (Executive members of Attorney Tex Wariboko’s group) show up in Chicago, we shall dialogue on the recommendations. However, if they don’t show up, we will go ahead with the election as planned for May 6th, 2006.” At the expiration of the 48 hours, Mr. Wariboko’s group did not respond officially to the proposal.
After speaking with Abuja on May 2, 2006 to update them with the peace process, CCFPIP immediately called Mr. Tex Wariboko per Chief Ojo’s directive and left a message for him on his voice mail. We then called Sir Ike Ginigeme who connected Dr. Stanley Onye. CCFPIP asked them to come to Chicago for the purposes of having Dr. Ogbomudia help broker the peace since he was scheduled to be there. Dr. Stanley Onye rejected the offer. We delivered the position of Chief Ojo Maduekwe to them about the imperative of having peace and unified election, but to no avail. We impressed it upon them (Wariboko group) that this could be the last ditch effort to resolve all the disputes in the presence of Dr. Ogbomudia. Dr. Stanley Onye still said he could not accept the proposal to go to Chicago. “Chicago meeting is an illegal meeting,” Dr. Onye said.
In any case, the meeting in Chicago on May 6, 2006 proceeded without the presence of General Samuel Ogbomudia (Rtd.), who did not want to lend credence to it since it was a non-unified Congress. In her opening remarks, however, Dr. Caroline Nwosu said, “With this 2006 Congress, most of our problems will be a thing of the past.” Nevertheless, the problem persisted after electing Prof. Bernard Ikegwuoha as its leader while unfortunately sidelining Dr. Okpalobi, who had invested so much to uphold the rule of law. CCFPIP was there also to dissuade the group from having a formal election in order to leave room for a proposed unified election in Houston on June 24, 2006, but to no avail. Dr. Okpalobi passionately expressed, “We’ve received hostility from the secretariat of PDP concerning the judgment in Abuja Court. We’re about to respect the rule of law. We should continue to fight—respect the rule of law—you can’t fight from the position of weakness, but from the position of strength. I’ve on my own extended invitation to Wariboko for us to talk, but to no avail. An independent group initiated peace and gave a proposal to us which we accepted, but Wariboko refused to accept it. Let our people understand that we believe in unity; we believe in rule of law and we’re ready to fight for it.” The Chicago meeting did not bring the two factions together thereby setting the stage in Houston—dissolution of PDP-USA Chapter Executive, cancellation of proposed election, and appointment of Caretaker Committee Chair.
At this juncture, there’s another chance—a new dawn in PDP-USA Chapter to get things right. What would determine if PDP-USA would find peace eventually would be the type of leadership it chooses to elect in either late September or early October, 2006. The type of leader PDP-USA needs at this time would be discussed in part three of the series.
Photos are from BLACKTVONLINE.COM
Ojo Maduekwe saved the day in America (1)
Ojo Maduekwe saved the day in America (2)
Ojo Maduekwe saved the day in America (3)