A FREE WOMAN AT JAMES IBORI'S SENTENCING.

My ticket No. 10

A relative of mine called last night to say he just saw me on BBC prime time news and as the conversation progressed, he asked, “Now sis, what drives you?” I was taken aback as I realised I did not know the answer but I said, “Whenever I find a man not being treated fairly by a wife whose loyalty lies with the family she came from instead of the one she should be building with her husband, I want to take him home and look after him; When I find a woman who is battered by her spouse and being treated as less than a human, I want to take her home and just protect her and when I find a child not receiving the nurturing love and care s/he deserves, I just want to take the child home and just love him/her.

I guess that whatever it is that drives me must have driven me to start speaking up for and become protective towards Deltans and Nigerians generally, from the fraudulent Nigerians that have seized our common wealth. The same force drove me and a few other Nigerians to rise up against the James Ibori thieving dynasty.

For weeks, I had thought of nothing much but the sentencing of the man who admitted to colossal fraud and corrupt self-enrichment to the tune of £150million in the United Kingdom alone. Every penny of that amont represents a denial of the much needed infrastructural development in our state. That money and many more that Ibori stashed away all around the world, are the reason our children in Delta state, sit on the floor of dilapidated classrooms with no basic provisions like desks. This unprecedented looting, denied Okeoghene the access he needs daily to medical care to help him manage his medical condition which at the moment has no known cure. This banditry in looting is very evident in our road net works as Asaba, the state capital, Warri, Sapele, Ughelli, Burutu, Bomadi, Obiaruku, Agbor, Ogwashi-Uku etc., have all fallen into a state of disrepair with no tangible evidence of being in an oil, (crude not palm), producing state.

I have become a regular face at the Southwark Crown Court and a few of the Ibori crowd-for-hire, who always spot T-shirts with despicable inscriptions extolling a known and self-confessed fraudster, now know my face and possibly my name too! When I turned up at the entrance of court 9, on the 4^th floor, the crowd of supporters of corruption was mammoth. As preference was given to the press and "family members" of James Ibori, I was not interested in making an effort at getting into the court as I knew the sentencing was for the next day. As like terms attract, anti-corruption Nigerians Kayode Ajulo, Ailish Abrahams, Ethel Moemeke and yours sincerely found each other and we chatted away at the ills of our nation and the way forward.

On the second day of sentencing, I arrived with a determination to get into the court to hear the sentencing from Judge Anthony Pitts. As I arrived on the 4^th floor, a kindly-looking young man led me out of earshot of the huge Ibori supporters and warned me to mind what I said as those there were all Ibori’s supporters. I let him know that I would respect their freedom of free speech and I would also exercise mine and expect them to respect it. If as Nigerians, we become mute in other to keep the peace, thugs and hoodlums who have no respect for human dignity or rule of law, would continue to intimidate and rule over civilized, educated and cultured Nigerians. I am not a trouble-maker, I am just brutally honest and if it’s not your cup of tea, tough!

Those who were not allowed in became abusive to the Police Officers who stood their ground and took it in their strides. The court 9 Usher came to the entrance to announce they had more seats to fill and straight away 3 members of Ibori’s family were taken in and then the Usher looked at me and asked me to come in as well. Then an over-zealous and over-paid Ibori Assistant lawyer stood in my way declaring I was not a member of Ibori’s family! (Thank goodness, I would be hiding in mars) I explained to the Usher that as a Deltan, who has supported this case, going to the extent of applying and obtaining a Police notification to rally in support of the trial, I had an interest in the case. This man stood his ground and made contact with me as he tried to stop me from going into the court. The Usher reprimanded him and insisted that I went in and I did. I sat in a chair surrounded by “members of Ibori’s family” including two from Anioma area. The Lawyer was now sitting at the bench but frantically making a conversation with three other people in his team and pointing openly at me and others just stared at me with fire in their eyeballs. What more could they do? I relished the moment. This lawyer ran out and I saw him still speaking angrily to the Usher while pointing at me. The Usher left him and walked up to me. For a moment I thought this hired-hand had had his way! No he hadn’t! The Usher asked if I was in the courtroom the previous day and when I said I wasn’t, she handed me a yellow ticket and said it was my authorisation to stay in court for the whole day! A small victory for me, and for Nigeria too! But this guy did not stop and it did not matter to me as I thought I was doing very well seeing I was the only one among the fully-packed courtroom they wanted out. I sat among James Ibori’s "family", some of who fell asleep straight away, snoring loudly and being roused by the good mannered Nigerian-born security officer of the court. The few who were awake continually pried chewing gum into the mouths of the snoring supporters. There’s more but that’s for another day.

As the proceedings began, this over-bearing Ibori Assistant in gown went out and brought in a sick-looking John Fashanu. He bowed to James Ibori who sat in a bullet-proof cubicle looking gaunt and dishevelled. I have never been disgusted and sickened to the pit of my stomach, as I was while I watched and listened to John Fashanu speak passionately about a Delta state that was revolutionalised by James Ibori through the provision of educational, sports and healthcare infrastructures.  He went on to say they were some of the best in Africa. Fashanu stood, under oath, in my presence and lied through his teeth as evidently, he has never been to Delta State! It was clear that Fashanu was a witness-for-hire as they could not find any of James Ibori’s friends who really know him and who was clean enough to dare come into the UK to testify for him! In simple words, Kayode Ogundamisi, civil right activist and blogger, described John Fashanu as “Notoriously corrupt British Born (Nigerian) Footballer”. Fashanu has a history with corrupt looters such as Abacha and was seen publicly in Nigeria at the sentencing of Al Mustapha, Abacha's henchman.

When the Judge began his ruling he listed Ibori’s crimes that he pleaded guilty to. He appeared uncomfortable and shifted many times in his chair. It was clear from his body language and he said it too that the law provided punishment for small scale money-laundering offences and repeated many times that no one could have imagined the scale of James Ibori’s thievery and the elaborate network set up to cover the tracks. The Judge said that the £50million pounds the prosecution would proceed to seize from Ibori’s proceeds of corruption was a tip of the iceberg with regards to what he still owns around the world. He proceeded to quip in a sarcastic manner saying that the British people have struggled with building one Olympic-sized stadium and wondered how James Ibori, aged 50 or 54, built 9 in eight years. The judge repeated that he was not judging Ibori on his tenure as the governor of the oil-rich Delta state of Nigeria but for crimes committed against the British people and that its up to the Nigerian government to bring him to justice for his looting spree in Delta state. The judge came short of calling on the Nigerian government to get Ibori.

The judge also said that no application was made for Victim impact statement or Family impact statement. I was devastated that I hadn’t taken it upon myself to do it as I assumed some lawyers from Delta state would have applied to do it and would not let such opportunity pass them bye. Now I have learnt a valuable lesson in assumption. It was also shocking that the hall was packed full of James Ibori’s ‘family’ but none was bold enough to stand and plead for him because their hands have been soiled and none of them would risk having the Metropolitan Police turn the searchlight on him/her

When he handed his judgement, many figures were mentioned in relation to all the charges he pleaded guilty to. The judge rushed through the numbers but it boiled down to Ibori having a discount of the time served in Dubai and the UK as well as a third off the total for pleading guilty on the first day of trial, saving UK tax-payers a huge amount in a trial that would have lasted six months or more. We all have to wait for a copy of the judgement as I do not want to try to interpret figures I did not understand.

An Ibori supporter who sat next to me did a quick sum and concluded that Ibori would be back in time for the 2015 elections in Nigeria. I was the first to leave the courtroom after the departure of the judge to sign out my placards. As they were not privy to the argument that raged on at the door before I went into the courtroom, you cannot imagine their shock when they came out of the room to see me in my now familiar spot, placard in hands, singing and dancing. The older Anioma man with them led the other to the Police officers to protest my presence in the court. He proceeded to take photos of me and I posed for him. He said I was illegal in the UK and he would have me removed which I laughed off and carried on with my singing and dancing.

Then the women proceeded to call me names; Imagine it and they said it! They were frustrated that it didn’t get to me as I cared more about what the majority of our long-suffering Nigerians thought of me. My favourite was ‘Free woman’. I loved it and I relished the fact that I am a free woman who conducts herself with dignity and decorum yet free enough to stand up and be a voice for the millions of Deltans who have no voice to condemn James Ibori for the hardship he has caused them. Yes I am a free woman who would not be cowed nor intimidated by a bunch of hangers-on who pick the crumbs of corruption; I am a free woman who would not sell her birthright for less than its worth.  I know the truth about my nation and the truth has set me free and because she whom the Lord has set free is a free woman indeed.