TOP NIGERIAN SENATOR,DR ANDY UBA OFR, WRITES BABTUNDE FASHOLA(SAN)

DEPORTATION OF NDI IBO:

ENTER THE GRAND TEN POINT SUMMARY OF SENATOR (DR) ANDY UBA’S LETTER TO GOVERNOR BABATUNDE FASHOLA (SAN)

(IT IS A SAD DEVELOPMENT, SAYS SENATOR UBA)

 Compiled by MIKE CERUTTI OSAGIE

POINT 1=PAIN IN THE HEART IN THE SILENT OF THE NIGHT

The serving Nigerian Senator Andy Uba admitted writing this letter in the silent of the night, with massive laden pain in his heart, reason being the deportation of his people, NDI IGBO, but insisted that he could have written this same letter if the deportees were Hausa, Yoruba, Ijaw, Kanuri, Edo or Ibibio as long as they were deported from one part of this Country to another, for the fact that this subject has no ethnic garb or coloration

2=THE OPEN LETTER, NO AIMED AT SEEKING POLITICAL GAINS

The second cardinal point that Senator Uba raised was that he personally has no reason to seek political gains out of an issue so grave, as this deportation of NDI IGBO. He was quick to advise that as leaders of this great nation, they must constantly remind themselves that the constitution of this Country is alive and that the words in it are sacrosanct that guarantees the right of every Nigeria to move freely and to reside in any part of this Country him or her so desired. The serving Senator and Gubernatorial candidate then wondered aloud: How  then can His Excellency, the Lagos State Governor, justify the deportation of His (Senator Uba’s) people, the Igbo’s ,to Anambra state on those ghostly hours of Wednesday, July 24, 2013?

3= EXPLANATION TO THE AKA IKENGA

Yet another motivation behind Senator Uba’s decision to tender this letter was in view of the fact that he was not totally satisfied with the explanation the Governor gave when some leaders of thought of the Igbos under the auspices of AKA IKENGA ,when they paid him a courtesy call in his office as published in Vanguard of Saturday, august 3, 2013(page 49)the visitors  that ‘’ Only 14 persons were re-integrated to their native town’’ and not 72 as widely reported

4= BEYOND NUMBERS

Senator Uba was quick to let the Governor know that what is at issue here is not number. The point is that by deporting  or forcefully moving some Nigerians out of Lagos and dumping them in another State, the  Lagos state government breached a critical section of the constitution(Section 41  and 43)of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999,which gives them the right to live and move freely in any part of their nation

5=IKENGA AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAWERS

With humility, Senator Uba begged to differ on pungent criticism of some Constitutional lawyers that the Governor allegedly told Aka Ikenga that the rights guaranteed by  constitution is not absolute because ‘’ if you want to live in my house you must live according to the law by not constituting a nuisance. If you become a nuisance, I have a duty to protect myself.

6=OF NUISNACE AND CONTRACTS

 Here Senator Uba begged to differ arguing that the fact that if someone living in your house becomes a nuisance, there is due process of ejecting the tenant because he has a contract with you as tenant. Uba wrote to the governor: ‘You cannot take the law into your hands, for an usual leader like your good self whose thoughts and actions pass through intellectual rigor, I did not expect that you would act outside the dictate of the law, deporting some Nigerians, my people, to Anambra State, even if you call it ‘’ reintegration’’ or any other name, does not change the solemn fact that the Lagos state government violated the constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria. it is crass violation of my people’s right and it is indeed a sad development

7=INCONCLUSIVE LAGOS/ANAMBRA CORRESPONDENCE

Though Lagos confirmed that there was correspondents between her Anambra state government between April 9^th and 29^th, the former admitted that this was inconclusive and conceded that Lagos state acted, probably, a bit in haste, to this, Senator divulged that this is simply inexcusable and deeply regrettable

8=ESSENCE OF MULTI-ETHNIC SOCIETY

Speaking on the strength of essence of Nigeria being a multi- ethnic nation, Senator Uba argued that because the country is multi-ethnic society, we must be very conscious of the sensibilities of other people so that even the best of our intensions or actions are not misinterpreted or misrepresented. His stand is that Nigeria need to imbibe the ideals of patience, consistent discussions and negotiations as we engage one another, that way, he opined , we can prevent or at least mange better some actions like the case that inspired this my letter

9= FASHOLA A DEEP MAN. BUT……………………………

On the 9^th point, Senator Uba did not hide his feelings as regards the esteem he holds Governor Fashola. Hear him: ‘’Your Excellency, I consider you too deep for this kind of glaring political misadventure. You are undoubtedly a great Nigerian leader and this is why you must do everything possible to protect the constitution no matter how daunting the challenge you are faced with, there is no tenable reason, no excuse for the deportation of my people within their fatherland’’

10=SENATOR ANDY UBA, OFR GRAND CONCLUSION OF HIS LETTER TO FASHOLA

‘’ I must however commend your humility in apologizing to the Igbos, as you put it, if your action had caused them pains. Yet I will advice that you need to come out more openly to engage them on this matter. You come across to me as a humble and certainly detribalized leader and so I think you need to apologize to them again in a broader setting. You need to reassure them that the Igbos are not unwanted in Lagos state and that their rights under the constitution are guaranteed in your state. By doing this, you will invariably be assuring all Nigerians, including Yorubas, living outside their states of origin that their rights will also be protected in those states’’ was how Senator(Dr) Andy Uba OFR concluded his ten point letter to Governor Babatunde Fashola(SAN)