Watching, last week, the “ceremonial” unveiling of the statue of Chinua Achebe held at Ogiidi, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, my first reaction was instant curiosity, then followed with one or two questions.

First, – when did Chukwuma Charles Soludo start celebrating excellence in people instead of pulling them down? Who has he celebrated before now?

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Second – what would Ugobelunenuoji, Ndigbo’s gift to the world, have said, if he were still here with Soludo on earth, or if those who planned that project and actually attended that event, had contacted him in the spirits to seek his approval?

I asked these questions, given what we all know about the literally giant – the author of Things Fall Apart – that epic that has mesmerised the global audience since making its debut some decades ago, especially after reading There Was A country – his last intervention before he left to join Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Akwaeke Abyssinia Nwafo Orizu and the rest of his Anambra greats.

For those in doubt, go back and read what Achebe wrote in that last hand-down, interpret its essence and situate it with the picture you have about Soludo, the man that undertook that project, before arriving at what you think would be the countenance of the recipient of that supposed “honour.”

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But you don’t even have to go far in re-reading that last drop-off. In the case you find it too tedious or the book is not readily available, just use your phone, search Achebe’s reaction to national honours award on google or any other search engine on the internet and see the result.

Okay, you probably don’t know how to go about it! Let me fill you in a little bit. Twice, this man was offered awards of national honours by two different Presidents of Nigeria and twice he threw it to their faces.

Don’t forget, that award is not moi-moi! It is what some Nigerians would give half of their fingers willingly to get and some desperate cravers, actually pay mouth-watering amounts in cash or kind to get it.

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Why? Simple! As a recipient, you not only stand out among your peers and in national reckoning, but flashing that medal alone grants you access to exclusive privileges in many quarters. At airports, government offices, institutions and other public places, you get the highest Very, Very Important Personality (VVIP) treatment, by force of convention and law.

Now, you know what that means to the average Nigerian, who is so craving of distinct social stature that he has a generator called – I better pass my neighbour. To some, it is everything. This is what Achebe denounced, not once, but twice.

In rejecting the first offer of the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) he had this to say: “I have watched particularly the chaos in my own state of Anambra where a small clique of renegades, openly boasting its connections in high places, seems determined to turn my homeland into a bankrupt and lawless fiefdom. I am appalled by the brazenness of this clique and the silence, if not connivance, of the Presidency.”

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That was in 2004, when Anambra was consumed or submerged in a cataclysmic eruption of blitzkrieg carried out by political bandits, with the same President Olusegun Obasanjo, who offered him the award, believed to be looking the other way, if not complicit.

Then, in 2011, the government tried again, this time by President Goodluck Jonathan, Obasanjo’s protegee only to get the same response of the award thrown at his face, when Achebe, retorted once more in a terse letter: “The reasons for rejecting the offer when it was first made have not been addressed let alone solved. It is inappropriate to offer it again to me.”

Now, the question – what has changed either at the federal level or in Anambra to inspire this latest attempt by Soludo? Would the Achebe the world knows, approve the mfoto and mmegheri that have defined the circus show of shame called Soludo’s outing in the last four or five years now? Would he look at Soludo and say daalu, nwannem or would he derisively dismiss him with a similar rebuke delivered to Satan by Jesus Christ – away with thee?!

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Here is the thing! If Soludo were any other, outside being the most intellectually-gifted in the Nigerian corps of governors today – his case would have been mitigated by virtue of pleading ignorance. But a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), a former university teacher, and a globally-acclaimed scholar, whose pedigree earned him the position of an advisor to top global institutions, could not be ignorant by any means.

Therefore, his throwing-in with the charade and wickedness of the central government in power in Nigeria today, could only be deliberate. His approval, support and rationalisation of President Bola Tinubu’s not only insipid, clueless and impulsive outing that has made Nigeria the poverty capital of the world, but one decked in impulsiveness, brazenness, brashness and impunity make it even worse.

Now, this is the issue! Achebe, rejecting such awards when things were better, at least with the standard of living of Nigerians, would probably puke at the prospect of Soludo’s new offer, especially being hands and legs in full support of today’s more parlous situation.

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Pray! Would Achebe, for instance, as an Anambra man, approve Soludo’s current unmerited attacks on Peter Obi, given the nuances surrounding it? Would the Ugobelunenuoji, sanction a government, whose staffers rampage the streets, practically crippling citizens with pestles, breaking the spines of others, stripping young women to their birthday suits in the display of raw power as the world has seen of Soludo’s Anambra?

Too bad that he is no longer here, hence the ill-motivated attempt to harvest his name, “boasting the privileges of their high offices.” That is why death is such a terrible thing. Otherwise, would Soludo attempt such an insult on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie? Let him try and see what he gets.

Meanwhile the effigy in question is not even Achebe in anyway. It reflects not only a bad job but the bad mind-construct of those who erected it. The world knows what Achebe looks like. No need saying it that at the appropriate time, it would be pulled down and a proper statue that reflects the image and personality, erected to bestow TRUE HONOUR to the icon. Enough said!

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My name is Sunny Igboanugo, I’m The Tiny Voice!

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Venezuela’s ousted president Nicolas Maduro and his wife will go on trial in the United States in June 2027, a court ruled Wednesday, after the US military captured them in a stunning nighttime raid in January.

The former leader, 63, and wife Cilia Flores have been held in a Brooklyn jail for more than seven months after pleading not guilty to federal drug trafficking and firearms charges.

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American commandos snatched the pair from their compound in Caracas on January 3. The lightning operation combined naval, air and ground forces, deposing the strongman who had led Venezuela since 2013.

During a roughly 20-minute hearing, Judge Alvin Hellerstein set the trial date for June 1 next year following a joint request from prosecutors and defense counsel.

Maduro, dressed in a beige prison uniform and wearing glasses, did not speak during his third US court appearance other than to say hello to the court as he entered.

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Flores, wearing the same outfit with her blonde hair tied back, sat a few feet from him with the couple flanked by their lawyers.

Protesters with signs reading “Free President Maduro” gathered outside the Manhattan courthouse waving Venezuelan flags, while opposing demonstrators held placards calling Maduro and Flores “dictators.”

Judge Hellerstein also on Wednesday set a November 17 hearing devoted to defense motions, including a challenge to the legality of how Maduro and Flores were captured.

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Maduro himself has said he was “kidnapped” and described himself as a “prisoner of war” back in January.

Since Maduro’s capture, Venezuela has been led by his former vice president Delcy Rodriguez, while the United States effectively controls the country’s oil exports, with proceeds going into special accounts overseen by Washington.

US prosecutors allege that Maduro used state power to protect and promote illegal drug smuggling, and that he allied himself with cartels to ship tons of cocaine into the United States.

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Maduro has denied the four counts he faces: “narco-terrorism” conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices as well as conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.

Flores has similarly pleaded not guilty to the three counts she faces: cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.

The United States in April allowed Venezuela to pay for Maduro’s and Flores’s legal defense, something previously barred by US sanctions.

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The couple had sought to have their cases dismissed on grounds that blocking the funding violated the US Constitution’s right to counsel of one’s choice.

Maduro also faces a civil case in the United States after the families of five young men slain in Venezuela alleged that he ordered the extrajudicial killings as part of a wider pattern of state violence.

The complaint filed last month states that Maduro had an elite security force called Special Action Forces, or FAES, execute the men between 2017 and 2020.

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It says the victims were among thousands killed under Maduro’s command by units including FAES, which dissolved in 2021 after complaints of human rights abuses including from the United Nations.

During his 2013-2026 presidency, he was widely accused of using political repression to cling to power. Both of his re-elections, in 2018 and 2024, were rejected as fraudulent by numerous countries, including the United States.

Maduro was expected to seek immunity in the civil proceedings as a head of state, The New York Times reported.

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In what seems a major irony, the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), an institution that ought to be the bastion of law enforcement, has been named as topping the culprit’s list in habouring ghost workers – a phenomenon in which public funds are funneled into private pockets due to payroll padding.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), which made the revelation, indicates that no less than 908 ghost names were uncovered across several federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), with the NPF most guilty.

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Announcing a recovery of about N942 million allegedly paid out through the fraudulent payroll scheme.

Musa Aliyu, Chairman ICPC, who disclosed that the discovery followed an investigation launched in 2024 after the commission identified irregularities in pension payments,  explained that the probe exposed widespread payroll manipulation, with fictitious names allegedly inserted into government salary systems to syphon public funds.

Stressing how some senior public officials enrolled relatives and associates on government payrolls and diverted the salaries for personal use, he cited one case in which a suspect allegedly placed the names of his wife, son and mother-in-law on the payroll while also collecting the salaries of 12 other workers.

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Referring to how investigation report, covering at least 50 federal MDAs, unravelled the scams with the Nigeria the police recording the highest number of suspected ghost workers at 570, he named other affected institutions to include the National Water Resources Authority with 80 ghost workers, the Federal Ministry of Works with 56, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with 24, and the Ministry of Defence with 19.

Also on the list, were the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment each recorded 17 ghost workers, while the Federal Ministry of Health had 15 and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation had 12.

He further disclosed that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Ministry of Interior were also implicated in the investigation, although the commission withheld the number of affected names in those institutions as inquiries continue.

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