By: Emeka Ugwuonye, Esquire
Life is full of twists and turns. My personal experiences with some Nigerian senators have led me to expect very little from them. The ongoing controversy in the Senate over the case of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan has only reinforced my view that the same type of individuals still occupy these positions. However, one senator, Orji Uzor Kalu, stood out as an exception.
During my unjust and politically motivated detention, I reached out to several Nigerian senators, hoping they would intervene in my case. I had witnessed the egregious abuse of prosecutorial power by the Nigerian state, particularly after I attempted to expose corruption within the Nigerian police force. This experience made me realize that our constitution and the rule of law were meaningless in the face of such pervasive corruption.
While detained, I tried to leverage my connections outside. I wrote to a former Attorney-General of Nigeria, who had previously visited my home in Maryland and even had suits made by my tailor. He offered to help only if I agreed never to criticize the Nigerian police again—a condition I could not accept. Consequently, he did not assist me. I also sent letters to several senators, but their responses—or lack thereof—were deeply disappointing.
My first letter was to Senator Ike Ekweremadu, my senator and a fellow lawyer. Twenty years earlier, when he was newly elected, he visited Maryland, and I was introduced to him at a dinner. The host emphasized how I could be of help to him. Ekweremadu was humble then and gracious, and we exchanged pleasantries. Given our past interaction, I believed he would at least make a phone call to the Inspector-General of Police to demand due process on my behalf. Despite my efforts to ensure he received my letter twice, he never responded. However, when two other politicians were detained in the same prison, Ekweremadu visited them and encountered me three times. Each time, I asked for his help, and he promised to assist but never followed through. Despite this, I supported him as much as I could when he later faced legal issues in the United Kingdom.
My second letter went to Senator Bamidele Opeyemi, head of the Senate’s judicial committee and a former university friend from the University of Benin. He was quite a close friend, I thought. We were involved in student union politics together, and he was once rusticated for organizing a protest but reinstated after a court ruled in his favor, citing a lack of due process and fair hearing. Given our history and his position, I was confident he would help. Yet, he never responded to my letters or did anything to acknowledge receipt of my letters. More troubling, I later saw him support the blatant abuse of due process in the case of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan—the same man who had benefited from judicial protection of his own rights was now denying those rights to another.
Ekweremadu and Opeyemi are not unique; they are typical of many Nigerian senators and, indeed, the broader Nigerian political elite. They are often greedy, selfish, and indifferent to anything that does not directly benefit them. However, I must acknowledge that there are a few good individuals, albeit extremely rare. My support for Orji Uzor Kalu stems not from personal gain but from having known him closely. I was surprised by the depth of his character, which contrasted sharply with the negative portrayals I had read online. His lone voice of fairness in the case of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan did not surprise me. It is worth noting that Kalu has maintained an independent stance, unlike other senators who seem eager to pander to Senate President Akpabio’s perceived wishes.
These reflections on my experiences with Nigerian senators have led me to conclude that, based on my personal knowledge and their mishandling of the case of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, we should not expect much from the
