OBONO OBLA: THE FACE OF A FRAUD

Source: thewillnigeria.com

I have followed with nausea, the ongoing spat between Okoi Obono Obla and one of Governor Liyel Imoke's aide, Mr. Christian Ita, bothering on petition written by Obla to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

First and foremost, I am not particularly surprised at Obla's petition. Anybody who knows Chief Obla and have associated with him closely, knows what he is always up to and capable of doing. His stock as a mischief maker is always on the high side.

Obla's vituperation as it appears had to assume the dimension of a spat following the decision of Imoke's aide to respond and in the process, he ended up unwittingly, not only glorifying him but according him an unearned relevance in the media.

If Ita had opted to ignore Obla as it were, he would ordinarily have confined him to his place as someone with high nuisance value, a perpetual whiner and a grump. However, you cannot blame the young man for choosing to take issues with Obla, for so unashamedly and obnoxiously taken to dancing naked in the market.

While I have nothing against Obla for engaging in his stock in trade, for petition writing has been his lucrative venture, following an undistinguished legal career, I am rather pained at the governor's aide for not realizing all this while who Obla was and is- a blackmailer, fraudster, nitwit and a political jobber. Those close to him have been in short of unsavoury words to say about him, except that he has been a serial petitioner with a chequered legal career.

Not surprising also, is the knowledge that his own friends are always too careful to deal with him so confidently for fear of his distrustful tendency.

Coming back to the subject at issue, one of the items in Obla's petition, the N40 billion bond which he has petitioned EFCC to investigate, my private investigation reveals that the bond itself, which is causing Obla so much hysteria, has yet to be issued. How then can the EFCC Investigate the governor for something that does not exist?

As a diligent professional, which Obla has shown he is not, one would have expected him to do a thorough investigation to ascertain the availability or otherwise of the bond before going public that the governor is already accessing it.

Is Obla carrying out a vendetta against the governor? Or could his action be borne out of personal grudge against Imoke, which his victim, the governor may not know what constitutes his sins against him (Obla)? That is the character Obla is made of.

To understand who Obla is, one needs to do a psychoanalytical job of his personality. My personal investigation of the character that defines this failed lawyer is that he is a man perennially afflicted by identity crisis.

Right from his childhood, he has always been associated with anything shady.

A peek into Obla's early life as a student at the University of Jos would offer a startling and earth shaking revelation of the 'moralist' and 'puritan' called Obono Obla.

While I beg to leave the gory details of his childhood and student days at the University of Jos for another day or in my next outing, it would be pertinent for Obla to tell Nigerians or Cross Riverians readers why his Sociology programme at the University of Jos was botched. Did he leave the university on his own accord or was he rusticated by the institution? It is not as if I do not know but I want Obla to be man enough and make a full disclosure of his aborted studies at the institution.

Another puzzle that Obla must unravel to Nigerians is who is Okoi Obono Obla and Ofem Obono Obla. I am sort of confused here, but could Obla tell Cross Riverians if he is Okoi or Ofem Obono Obla?

I am making this inquest because I knew his elder brother who until his death, was Ofem Obono Obla and he as Okoi Obono Obla. While everybody knew him as Okoi obono Obla, his elder sibling was Ofem.

Obla would do much to clear the air because there are insinuations and strong ones at that there is something fraudulent about his sudden change of name from Okoi to Ofem Obono Obla. It is not just a happenstance. Obla reportedly used his elder sibling, Ofem’s school certificate to gain admission to study Law in the university after he had been rusticated in his second at the University of Jos where he was studying Sociology. Which explains why the name on his Law degree is Ofem Obono Obla instead of his name, Okoi.

Okoi was a student at Mary Knoll College, Ogoja, while Ofem, his elder brother was a student at Community Secondary School, Ugep. How come Okoi Obono Obla's Mary Knoll certificate suddenly changed to that of Ofem Obono Obla of Community Secondary School, Ugep, with which he gained admission into the university?

While Obono Obla may think that people have forgotten so soon how he issued several dud cheques which led to an inquiry leading to his almost being disbarred, save for Barrister Kanu Agabi (SAN) who came to his rescue. I challenge Okoi Obono Obla or is it Ofem now, to deny it and I will go further to expose more of his dirty past for all to know the fraud called Obono Obla.

As a lawyer, Obla would do well by ensuring that his hands are clean as he makes febrile effort to go to equity. Else, he should be prepared to put up  defenses upon defenses when I would have been done with him.

See you for more of Obla's shady past next week.
Written by Bassey Effiom.

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