Sad Ending to a Beautiful Beginning for Ekweremadu

Senator Ike Ekweremadu, a former Deputy Senate President, remained one of the most experienced lawmakers in Nigeria’s political history, particularly in the Fourth Republic.

The Enugu State-born politician has climbed every rung of the ladder and built himself an intimidating political profile that ultimately made him one of the political gladiators that the country can boast of, and expectedly, to the chagrin of many.

Without a doubt, providence has literally lavished its favour on him, though his enviable status in Nigeria was not thrust on his laps. Rather, he has worked tirelessly to attain his current height.

It is also an incontestable fact that since Ekweremadu joined active politics in 1997, he has not looked back. He has showcased his resilience and self-will; all of which have combined to help him to stay in the political arena for long.

But the political trajectory of the man who once held an exalted and enviable position in Nigeria’s political climate and who many look up to as a role model has suddenly crashed to ground zero while his integrity built over the years was shattered to pieces right before him inside a courtroom in the United Kingdom.

Ekweremadu, alongside his wife, Beatrice, in what seemed a desperate bid of a parent, literally poked the law in the face in the UK when they allegedly took one David Ukpo, a 21-year-old Lagos hawker from Nigeria to have a kidney transplant in June 2022.

But after they were pronounced guilty of the offences preferred against them, the former Deputy Senate President, his wife, and their doctor, Obinna Obeta, were recently in a UK court sentenced under Section 2, Sub-section (1), of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. They were found guilty of attempting to illegally harvest a kidney to give to their ailing daughter.

It would be begging the question to say this has finally nailed the political coffin of the once powerful parliamentarian in the Nigerian red chamber. It can be simply concluded that his political light has gone into total eclipse.

Depending on which side of the divide you belong to, this matter has continued to make the once respected lawmaker a butt of criticism by many in and outside the country.

What a sad ending to a beautiful beginning!