BREAKING NEWS:
James Ibori, ex-Delta State Gov Shuns 57th Birthday Celebration in UK Jail…In High Spirit, Tells Associate Not Yet Time for Party
*Embraces New Lifestyle, Reads Book of Psalms and Proverbs Most Times
*Confides in close pals: “I Have learnt My Lessons I Can Never Forget”
* Presently in High Spirit, Sounding Philosophical
* “Sterling contributions of Chief Ibori Delta State development and Nigeria were legendary. On behalf of the government and people of Delta State, I felicitate with a leader par excellence, Chief Ibori, on the occasion of his 57th birthday”-Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, Delta State Governor
QUOTE: “THE Number one rule of thieves is that nothing is too small to steal”-Jimmy Breslin
BY YVONNE SAMUEL , CRIME WRITER, UK & LORETTA CHINUA, REPORTER, DELTA STATE
“THIEVES Must sit in Prison”-Vladimir Putin, Russian President.
AS rightly predicted by former KGB Officer and incumbent President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, Nigeria’s former two-time governor, James Onanefe Ibori has been sitting in Britain’s Prison for stealing the staggering sum of Fifty Million Pounds, the funds which wholly belongs to the people of Delta State for development as pleaded to by the embattled Nigerian politician which formed the basis of his two indictments and conviction for fraud.
But Ibori, a power-broker politician under the auspice of People Democratic Party (PDP) in the former administration of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has been quiet, more focused and more godly in his United Kingdom jail term.
An eye witness, an aide to one of the associates of Ibori who often visit him in UK Prison and would not want his name mentioned in the media to avoid backlash since he is not authourised to speak to the press confessed that many South-South political big-wigs with dual citizenship in Nigeria and United Kingdom (UK) had been visiting Ibori in the UK Jail. These visitors increased much more yesterday, Thursday August 4, 2016 being the birthday date of Ogidigborigbori of Oghara Kingdom.
His words: “The truth is that many South-South politicians always come around to visit James Ibori in UK Jail. I accompanied one of the politicians yesterday, Thursday August 4, 2016 to see him in prison. He is looking very calm, reading the Holy Bible every evenings, sounding philosophical always.
“Even when some of these politicians were asking him that they wanted to carry out advertorial in some Nigerian newspapers for his birthday, Ibori told them not to carry out the advertorial since he would not want any celebration while he is still in British jail. He reminded them that celebration is good when he is enjoying air of freedom, his conviction quashed by UK courts and his properties released to him fully. He spends time reading the book of Psalms and Proverbs regularly while he takes time out to meditate. I can tell you he is in a high spirit. I overheard him say he has learnt his lessons and would never ever forget.”
In his own view, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, Delta State Governor eulogized Ibori by saying the sterling contributions of Chief Ibori to the development of Delta State and Nigeria were legendary, and will remain a subject of discussion by contemporary political watchers, Okowa said: “On behalf of the government and people of Delta State, I felicitate with a leader par excellence, Chief Ibori, on the occasion of his 57th birthday. My distinguished leader, that oil producing states of the Niger Delta are enjoying 13 per cent derivation today is unarguably due to your indefatigable role as a champion of resource control and fiscal federalism. Deltans and Nigerians cannot forget in a hurry how you laboured to the build the most virile, potent and invincible political force in Delta State, even as your legacies still dot the nooks and crannies of the state.”