Obienyem Replies Onoh: “You Cannot Invoke Ojukwu to Mask Your Own Shadows”

Obienyem

By TANKO ALI

Valentine Obienyem, Media Adviser to Mr. Peter Obi, has responded to Dr. Josef Umunnakwe Onoh’s attack on Obi’s political integrity and one-term vow, calling his comments “morally hollow” and “politically opportunistic.”

In a widely circulated statement published in newspapers and on social media platforms, Onoh accused Obi of reneging on a promise to the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. Obienyem dismissed this as both “distasteful and desperate,” and challenged him to name those promises Obi reneged on.

“It is unbefitting for Dr. Onoh to drag Ojukwu’s name into cheap political commentary,” Obienyem said. “Mr. Obi treated Ojukwu with deep affection, visiting him over ten times in a UK hospital. Upon Ojukwu’s death, Obi, who had just returned from visiting him and was at the Abuja airport, immediately switched on his phone. Looking pale and sullen, he showed me a message from Ojukwu’s wife, which read: ‘Thank you very much. You have tried your best. He is gone. I am in pains.’ Obi had to take the next available flight to Lagos and returned to London that same morning on Virgin Atlantic, where he managed to secure an economy ticket. He did this out of profound respect for Ojukwu. To the best of my knowledge, Mr. Onoh did not even make a phone call, let alone visit once to see his brother-in-law or his sister, who tended to him with deep affection.”

“Even in death, Mr. Obi’s reverence for Ojukwu was unmistakable,” Obienyem recalled. “The burial accorded Ojukwu, organised under Obi’s leadership, remains one of the best in history. While funerals should not ordinarily be used as political yardsticks, the scale, solemnity, and dignity of that ceremony reflected the depth of respect Obi had for him. He condemned what he called ‘the reckless invocation of revered Igbo names like Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu by political opportunists desperate for visibility and favour.’”