By Douglas Anele

Human life is so full of uncertainties that one cannot say for sure what tomorrow might bring, despite the pretensions of prophets, fortune tellers and astrologers. Ancient Igbo sages knew quite well the facticity and essential indeterminacy of human existence and encoded this knowledge in names and aphorisms such as Onyemaechi, echi-di-ime and uwanaatughariatughari.

Therefore, it is the hallmark of psychological and spiritual maturity for every adult human being, particularly those in the commanding heights of power, wealth, authority and influence in the society to be humble and level-headed, because of the real possibility of falling from the Olympian height of power and wealth down to the mud of disgrace and economic ruin.

Of course there is a flip side to this: some lucky individuals such as President Goodluck Jonathan, Steve Jobbs and countless others throughout the world, despite the existential privations and daunting challenges of their childhood,rose to the apex of their chosen professions and vocations.

The multidimensionality and indeterminacy of man’s finite existence constitutes the bread and butter of existentialist philosophy, whose proponents have devoted considerable talent and ink in demonstrating that a human being is always an unfinished project, always a work-in-progress, a continuous process of becoming. Now, James OnanefeIbori, former governor of Delta state from 1999-2007, is a textbook example of how a person can fall from grace to grass, so to speak.

Keep in mind that under the current revenue formula in Nigeria, Delta State receives one of the biggest allocations from the federal government due to the 13% derivation specifically devoted to oil-producing states. As with most prominent politicians in a morally decadent country like Nigeria, Ibori was an untouchable governor who strutted around Delta State like a feudal lord.

After all, he is wealthy and was protected by the immunity clause in the 1999 constitution which forbade prosecution of a sitting President or governor, irrespective of the crime the person concerned might have committed while in office. Moreover, Ibori was a member of one of the ruling cabals in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when he was in power.

Now, although his administration recorded some modest achievements in the area of infrastructural development, a critical assessment of his overall performance vis-à-vis the hundreds of billions of naira that accrued to Delta during his watch shows unambiguously that Ibori was a failure.

Critics of his corrupt government were viciously attacked by well-paid sycophants and praise-singers whoeulogised him for every kilometer of road that was repaired and every borehole that his administration sank in his state.

But his long march to jail predated his final exit as governor. In 2003, atwo-page petition signed by Andrew Oru and Joe Igbuzor accused Iboriof being an ex-convict and, therefore, unfit to be governor in the first instance.

Specifically, the plaintiffs submitted in their suit that the James Onanefe Ibori who was a sub-contractor to Spibat Nigeria Limited, Abuja, and convicted in September 28, 1995, on a two-count charge of negligent conduct and criminal breach of trust was the same James OnanefeIbori who was then the serving governor of Delta State. However, in November 8, 2004, an Abuja High Court dismissed the case against Ibori.

Subsequently, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission headed by NuhuRibadu tried several times unsuccessfully to nail Ibori for corruption.As a matter of fact, a Federal High Court in Asaba, on December, 17, 2009, discharged and acquitted the embattled former of all 170 charges of corruption brought against him by the anti-graft outfit.

While his cat-and-mouse game with the EFCC lasted, Ibori repeatedly alleged that former President OlusegunObasanjo and Ribadu were persecuting him for selfish personal reasons. He claimed that Obasanjo was hounding him because he (Ibori) teamed up with other governors to oppose his reelection bid in 2003, and that Ribadu was determined to deal with him for not supporting his (Ribadu’s) quest to be appointed Inspector General of police.

Of course, only those who were benefitting from Ibori’s misgovernance believed him. Most Deltans and Nigerians in general strongly suspected that the former governor was stealing from his state; for even if his allegations were true, there was no way Obasanjo and Ribadu couldhave manufacturedincontrovertible evidence of criminality against Ibori if indeed he did not commit any crime.

Anyway, in April 2010, Ibori’s case file was reopened and a new allegation that he stole N40 billion was brought against him. Attempts to arrest and subsequently prosecute himfailed: he reportedly fled from Abuja to Lagos and then to his village, Oghara.

On April 25, he escaped to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he was arrested by operatives of INTERPOL, based on an international arrest warrant issued by the British government in respect of money laundering charges. From Dubai Ibori was extradited to London where he was confronted with a 10-count charge of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud Delta State.

Last month, contrary to media reports that the ex-governor might enter into a plea bargain in order to avoid going to jail, he pleaded guilty to the charges brought against him. Judge Christopher Hardy of a Southwark London Crown Court where Ibori was arraigned has slated April 16 and 17 2012 as the date for sentencing him.

Remember, Ibori’s wife, Nkoyo, his sister, Christine, his mistress, Udoamakaand his lawyer, Bhadresh Gohil, are serving jail terms in London for bring partners-in-crime with James Ibori. Now that the former governor has pleaded guilty, his reputation as a cat with nine lives while he was in Nigeria has been blown to smithereens.

The summary ofIbori’s saga just presented is intended to provide a an appropriate context for critical interpretation of his present predicament, his scandalous escape from justice in Nigeria, and the implications of the scenario playing out in a foreign countrywhere Iboriand his accomplices are getting their just deserts vis-a-visthe effort to eradicate or at least minimise gargantuan corruption in the country.