Stones do not have blood. So, they cannot have life. But when you come across a stone that is living, you have got to take extra look. There must be something about this Livingstone. I really thought there must be something when in 2015, Livingstone Wechie, the executive director of a hitherto unknown group, Integrity Group, stole into our consciousness. I assumed he was rich or his organisation had heavy grant from overseas to battle graft.
Don’t blame me; when you open pages upon pages of newspapers and you see adverts on one single matter, the assumption is that the individual behind it must be rich. That was my thinking when Wechie’s adverts against Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi took several pages. I believed it was all a bid to stop Amaechi from being made a minister by President Muhammadu Buhari, whose election he played a very critical role in.
Time and questions here and there revealed that neither Wechie nor Integrity Group was rich. So, the poser was: Who was behind him? It was easy to assume who it was given the timing and the nature of the documents Wechie was churning out. They were stuffs he could not assess unless he was given.
On Monday, Wechie was on Focus Nigeria, a programme on the African Independent Television (AIT). He rubbished the documents, which he made media organisations published against Amaechi. He said he was deceived into believing the documents were real.
His recent outing reminds me of a day one of our correspondents in Port Harcourt called to tell me there was a full page black and white advert an activist wanted us to publish. I asked that the material be forwarded to my e-mail. The potential advertiser turned out to be Wechie. I read the copy and was just screaming. It was full of bile, libel and claims that can never be substantiated. I called the correspondent and let it be known that there was no way this newspaper would publish such an advertorial, even with all the money in the world.
From the correspondent’s account, Wechie wanted it published that way or nothing. My response was: to hell. A day after, the correspondent called to say Wechie said we could edit it to a publishable standard. I edited out the bile and the libel and as I suspected, what I edited out was what the sponsors wanted and Wechie said we should not publish.
Permit me to quote Wechie words on the source and credibility of the documents he caused to be published.
His words: “We acted in 2015, believing that the documents used in fighting Rotimi Amaechi were true, being documents emanating from the Government. Time has played out, we have just realised that those documents were only politically fabricated just to fight and stop Rotimi Amaechi’s appointment.
“I was the architect of Justice Omereji’s panel report that indicted Rotimi Amaechi in 2015. I drew the script, the report etc.
“The only intention of Nyesom Wike’s government was to let the world know how bad this man, Rotimi Amaechi, was and leave it at that without prosecution, because they have nothing really indicting him. They have continued to ride on those wings to exhibit fiscal irresponsibility in government.
“In the 8 years of Amaechi’s tenure, the Budget was a public document, but in this Wike’s government, no one government official, not even commissioners have access to the budget for these two years. Only a criminal hides Budget.
“My joy is that I now have the opportunity to explain what actually played out in 2015 and still going on.”
Hours after Wechie dropped the bombshell, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), an organisation to which he belongs, disowned him.
“Mr. Wechie admitted in his live appearance that he told lies, on behalf of his Integrity Group and not on behalf of CLO. We therefore urge the relevant agencies to further investigate these lies and do the needful,” the group said.
Wike’s media aide Simeon Nwakaudu also descended on Wechie. He described him as “the proprietor of Integrity Group of Companies”. He claimed Wechie struggled in vain to exonerate Amaechi .
“There was no time that Mr Wechie acted on behalf of the Rivers State Government or the governor. There was no need for the merchant of blackmail to work for the administration, since he runs a private company.
“Mr Wechie, himself, on his different television and radio appearances, stated unequivocally that he was not on the sponsorship of the Rivers State Government. With the benefit of hindsight, the interviewers helped to keep everything in the right context. Whatever Livingstone Wechie said on Focus APC is unfounded falsehood. His thoughts on the programme are the baseless concoction of a blackmail trader who hides under the cover of activism,” said Nwakaudu.
My final take: Since Wike has dissociated himself from Wechie, can he show us evidence that the government is the source of the documents? Wechie needs to tell us who paid for those adverts. Was the Integrity Group buoyant enough to have paid for the publications? Was the fund from members’ contributions? Who and who are the members? Or did he get grants from foreign organisations to carry out his anti-corruption campaign, which, he said, he has since found out were propelled by forged documents?
In his AIT outing, Wechie blamed everybody but himself. His excuse for the evil he did was that he was misled. I laughed and cried for this nation seeing a grown-up admitting lying on television and seemingly expecting the viewers to clap for him. The way he carried on, he obviously expected to be decorated with a national honour. He needs to apologise, tell it all and seek forgiveness.
Festus Adeniyi Keyamo and history
The last time I saw him was in our newsroom. He came as part of his campaign activities for a political office. He recognised my face and hugged me. I am not sure he remembered my name. Festus Adeniyi Keyamo is not just a name to me. He was a good source in my early days in journalism.
I remember the lengthy interview he granted me with which I crafted a mini-biography of him for The Source, where I cut my journalism teeth 18 years ago. The three-page publication occupied a space on the notice board of his then small law firm in the Maryland Business Plaza, which has now given way to Maryland Mall.
Till today, a particular statement he made during the interview sticks: “I am hungry for history to record me.” History is sure recording Festus Adeniyi Keyamo, the Urhobo man with an Ilaro, Ogun State mother. He has been admitted into the enviable club of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). He deserves it and more. I felt some form of personal loss when he was earlier refused the honour.
Forget his foibles, Keyamo has made his marks. And I have a strong feeling that this country has not seen ten per cent of what Keyamo has in stock.
Congrats to this man who once called me ‘agbalagbi’.
