JAMES ONANEFE IBORI, IT IS TIME HE RETURNED HOME BACK TO NIGERIA!

Odumegwu Ojukwu was allowed to come home in 1982 after waging a war for his people's survival against the then genocidal Yakubu Gowon led Federal Government of Nigeria. Recently, Nuhu Ribadu was allowed to return home after being on a forced exile as a result of his disparate enforcement of EFCC anti-corruption laws against targeted Obasanjo's critics as well as known oppositions. Great Ogboru safely returned home after heroically sponsoring the attempted coup that nearly toppled the evil one, the despotic Babangida. NADECO operatives led by Anthony Enahoro similarly came back home after the demise of their nemesis, the midget of Kano, Sani Abacha. So, Icheoku asks, when would James Onanefe Ibori be allowed to come back home to Nigeria, Mr President Goodluck Ebelechuku Jonathan; or is there no forgiving spot in your'goodlucky' soul to let bygones be bygone?

Icheoku says if other very corrupt men and women of Nigeria could freely roam the streets of Nigeria without any consequence, and one of them Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida even running for the presidency, why then must it be only James Onanefe Ibori that will be singled out for 'prosecution or persecution; and conversely forced on exile in lands far away in the Middle East of Dubai? Babangida, Obasanjo, Orji Uzor-Kalu are poster-boys for corrupt men of Nigeria, yet no one is talking about their prosecution or arrest as they vagrantly flaunt their loot of state, so why must it be Ibori alone who is languishing in exile for the same alleged financial impropriety? How about the Halliburton retired army generals bribe takers of Nigeria; or the Senator Jubril Aminu involved Siemens bribery scandal; yet he is a serving senator and chair of its Foreign Affairs Committee. Who determines who shall be singled out for 'persecution' in your government Mr President; or is yours, a government by the proxy of Chief Edwin Clark and/or Olusegun Obasanjo who is still smarting to have his pound of flesh from a person he considers his greatest migraine while his eight years ruthless and despotic regime lasted.

Please Icheoku begs of you President Goodluck Jonathan not to tarnish your image by perpetuating a glaring injustice of a singled-out 'prosecution' of James Ibori, just because you can. Tomorrow as always, holds some mysterious foreboding which no one knows; even the fabled Julius Caesar bragged about the Ides of March having come without the prophesied conspiracy coming through, but he was warned that the "Ides of March had come but not gone; and lo and behold, his fate was determined before the day went by the conspirators led by skinny, mean and hungry looking Cassius. So now why tempt fate by holding James Ibori out to dry since you do not know what tomorrow may hold in stock for him. What if the military staged a coup today and appoints Ibori their interim president like Babangida did with Ernest Shonekan? What if James Ibori becomes a Jerry Rawlings of Nigeria and orders the rendering of account by past head of states and presidents; how would you plead your case before him? The possibilities are endless and so please tread with caution and use your powers of state discreetly against him and/or any other person who lost out in the power struggle between you and the YarAdua cabal. In your seeming endless quest to 'get him at all cost' and shown antagonism of James Ibori, please be smart about it since power is very ephemeral.

How much did Ibori steal or was accused of stealing that he should be singled out for a forced exile from his people in Nigeria; or that would make him more criminally liable than Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida? Yet Babangida is lavishly enjoying his loot and now even trying desperately to find his way back in Aso Rock again to replenish his piggy bank, possibly? How much did all those army generals of Nigeria steal including Abdulsalam Abubakar who never executed the 16 billion Naira power contract he got from Obasanjo government with over 75% mobilization cost paid upfront? What did James Ibori do that have not been done before by other Nigerians, living or dead, to warrant his being singled-out for a continued forced exile in Dubai? Icheoku strongly believes that James Ibori is not on the run out of cowardice; but out of a reasonable fear of his being extra-judiciary dealt with or possibly made to suffer in the hands of his traducers, if not completely eliminated. Icheoku is not carrying water for Ibori nor in any way defending corruption in Nigeria especially among the high-ups; no, but we are against any targeted and disparate unequal treatment of people just to settle old scores. Everybody doesn't have to be former President George W. Bush who went to war against Saddam Hussein just to avenge Saddam's attempt to kill his father, President George H. Bush Senior; which Bush personally acknowledged when he said, referring to Saddam Hussein, 'here was a man who tried to kill my dad.'

Icheoku condemns such retaliatory vindictiveness of anyone including President Jonathan as is being exhibited in the case of James Ibori; and makes bold to state that not even London has a right to indict or punish James Ibori because James is not Her Majesty's subject. London is equally as corrupt if not more corrupt than James Ibori; as it provides a safe haven for so many Russian wanted billionaires as well as other peoples of the world, running from justice in their respective home countries. It is also on record that the British aerodynamics industry was few years ago implicated in about a two billion dollar bribery to the House of Saud (Saudi Arabia) in order to secure some defence contract with the Kingdom? Also, recently the oil spilling British Petroleum is being fingered for corruptly influencing the release of the Libyan agent who was jailed in Scotland for his complicity in the Lockerbie bombing that killed so many Americans; yet they want to try a Nigerian former governor for a supposed money laundering just to satisfy their errand-boy man, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Icheoku says, a government of and by a real man with some backbone will, using the language of Dick Cheney to Patrick Leahy, tell 10 Downing Street to go f**k themselves. That Nigeria is no longer under their colonial wings and is now capable of trying their own citizens and on their own soil, under their existing laws. Icheoku says should anything happen to James Ibori while he is wandering around, hopelessly in strange foreign lands, trying to escape from the assured bad fate which awaits him under President Jonathan's Nigeria, should he return without his presidential approval and assured safe landing, the president shall be held responsible. Vengeance is mine says the Lord; and President Jonathan should see one of the Lord's statement manifested clearly in his presidency by default of President Umaru Yar'Adua's demise, and therefore not hold any grudge against anyone, including James Ibori. The almighty one, the omini-potent, the all knowing one has so far fought and won President Jonathan's battles against all his enemies, both real and imagined; so he should not start now to fight by himself by seeking a pound of flesh off James Ibori.

A man rich in spirit does not hold grudge, but laughs-off his antagonists. To such detractors, he shows enormous magnanimity and largess of heart just to prove a point that in his presence, they are but little midgets. Conversely, when such a naked man, taking a bath, pursues the naked mad-man who has just collected his bathrobe, both of them running down naked on the streets would be adjudged mad by passersby who see the two running naked men. The mere fact that James Ibori did not get to the presidency before Jonathan is enough victory already for Jonathan. Added to this thumping is that Ibori's alleged 9 billion Naira investment in Yar'Adua has also been lost and interred with Yar'Adua. We say enough of this victimization of James Ibori and call on President Goodluck Jonathan to show mercy, fully aware of the undulating tides of time; and instruct, just as he did with Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, that James Ibori should feel free to come back home.

Thereafter he can face whatever 'fair and legitimate' accusations and charges that may be leveled against him. His cohorts and alleged accomplices from the North are walking the landscape of Nigeria like kings of the manor, including the discredited former Attorney General Michael Kase Aondoakaa; so why single out Ibori; or is President Jonathan telegraphing that his love for the northerner is more than that of his fellow Niger Delta man. But in the event of Edwin Clark completely hijacking President Goodluck Jonathan's will and forcing his own 'no-forgiveness of Ibori', then the Urhobos of Nigeria will know that the Itshekiris have added insult to the injury of their long-running and simmering antagonism in Nigeria;and only God knows what will become the faith of an Itshekiri man stranded in any part of Urhobo land. An eye for an eye makes the world go blind; so if our Lord and Master Jesus Christ could forgive those who crucified him for no justifiable cause or reason whatsoever, who is then President Jonathan not to forgive James Ibori for their political rivalry gone too far? Both men are products of the South-South Niger Delta and as one popular Igbo aphorism goes, after the attempted resolution of a family's disputation in the public arena, then comes the taking of the same dispute to the family for the real resolution.

Icheoku calls on President Jonathan to remember when he was a 'nobody' within the Yar'Adua government and was rode a rough-shod on by the cabal, whose membership Ibori reportedly enjoyed; and please forgive Ibori just for posterity sake and in order to rise above the frail of pettiness of "you do me, I do you, God no go vex" idiocy of many a peoples of this world, including many Nigerians. To your enemies, show love; to your detractors, mercy; and to your accusers some forgiveness. Then and only then shall the true 'man' in 'magnanimity' show up for the contrite heart to see that nothing is permanent in this world, as a yesterday's 'nobody' Jonathan is today the president with powers over hundreds of Iboris including James Onanefe Ibori. President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, now, this hour, this minute, this second is the time for you to show that you can rise above petty squabbles and leave the vengeance on Ibori to the Lord. Please forgive James Onanefe Ibori and allow him a safe passage back home to Nigeria. He is a formidable politician of the South South and his bravado can be handy this time, assuming you still want to go against every grain of rationality and run for president in 2011.