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Obi Cubana and the drug pushers
Obi Cubana and the drug pushers By Tunde Odesola
OBI CUBANA– Globally, crime is the fugitive that lurks behind every insane quest for money, power and drugs. In most underdeveloped countries, Nigeria inclusive, crime walks unashamedly naked, bigger than the aforementioned threesome, bending the arms of the law over backwards like a twisted branch of a tree. In developed countries, however, crime – silent and unobtrusive – works hand in glove with money, power and drugs, wreaking havoc like cancer.
Let’s talk about numbers. For certain, three is a very powerful number in the physical and metaphysical realms. The integrality of three is universally seen in the body, spirit and soul composition of man, and in the three elements that make up the world – heaven, earth and water, as well as the division of day into morning, afternoon and night. When something happens three times, it’s neither a mistake nor a coincidence.
In Christian orthodoxy, the oneness of God the Father, the Son, and the holy spirit in a blessed threeness summarises the sojourn of man, his fall, and salvation. The horn-headed Lucifer tempted Christ thrice. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day.
Trinity as a symbol has 
universal significance. Traditional religion worshippers offer sacrifices to the gods at junctions where three footpaths meet. Every tribe has their own worldview about the perfection of number three. The Yoruba would say, “aro meta kii d’obe nu,” in agreement with the perfection in trinity.
Even the late British naval intelligence officer, journalist and writer, Ian Fleming, renowned for his James Bond 007 series of spy novels, buttressed the unignorable importance of three as a number, saying, “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.”
Last week, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency quizzed 46-year-old internet celebrity, Obinna Iyiegbu, aka Obi Cubana, over the payment of THREE different tranches of money by drug pushers convicted in New Delhi, India; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Lagos, Nigeria, into his various bank accounts.
Cubana inherited no fortune from his parents, just like his trusted 40-year-old second-in-command, Pascal Chibuike Okechukwu, aka Cubana Chief Priest, who was a shoemaker in Aba, Abia State, with his father, a few years ago.
Cubana graduated with a B.A in Political Science from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1998, served in the National Youth Service Corps in 1999, and barely six years later, he had become a multi-billionaire in Nigerian currency, founding Ibiza Nightclub in Abuja.
From my findings over the weekend, Cubana came under the radar of security agencies when foreign intelligence services, in partnership with their Nigerian counterparts, established that THREE drug convicts separately paid various sums of money into his accounts.
A highly placed security source disclosed to me, “He (Cubana) has been under secret investigations for months based on what our foreign partners shared with us concerning the details of payments into his accounts by convicted drug pushers.
“Coincidentally, the NDLEA was the agency that arrested one of the drug pushers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, in 2016, securing conviction against the drug pusher in 2017.
“Apart from the NDLEA case against him, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is also looking into money laundering allegations against him. That was the reason why the EFCC also invited him.”
Eehhh! Mba! Mba! Mba! Cubana isn’t guilty of dealing drugs yet. He remains innocent until found guilty by a law court. The money paid into his accounts by the three drug convicts could be money for lifetime accommodations in any of his hotels in Lagos, Abuja, Owerri, Enugu and Port Harcourt.
Cubana is street-wise. He defended himself in an Instagram interview with On-Air Personality, Daddy Freeze, on Saturday. But his defence was the most devious sleight of the tongue.
Cubana said, “I was in detention for four days and three nights. I didn’t feel bad because I knew the agency would do a thorough job and if I am cleared, I’d be let go (sic). There was no witch-hunt, nobody was after me. But to link me to drugs? I’ve never felt so low. To me, it’s repulsive.”
He continued, “I was never accused. I was never linked to anything but they said somebody paid money into my account, and I believe that the agency in question is a very responsible one. I know that at the end of the day, they would make their findings public.”
For me, there goes the stupidest defence since wanted-for-crime Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, alleged witch-hunt after collecting $20,600 from internet bandit, Abbas Ramon, alias Hushpuppi, to silence a smaller internet robber, Chibuzo Kelly Vincent, who threatened to expose a $1.1m fraud Hushpuppi was set to commit against a Qatari businessman. Kyari had hushed Vincent into silence by putting him behind bars and instilling fear in him, thus clearing the way for Hushpuppi to go ahead and defraud the Qatari.
For a celebrity role model with 2.5 million Instagram and 1.9 million Facebook fans to admit in an interview that he was linked to drugs, and to say in the same interview he was never accused, never linked to anything, was a dirty slap on the faces of his fans who he’s taking for idiots.
What Cubana probably wants his fans to believe is that he spent four days and three nights in NDLEA detention teaching the chairman of the agency, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa (retd.) how to slaughter 500 cows for suya, juggle wads of naira notes with the feet, and stone friends with bales of foreign currencies.
In the Instagram interview, Cubana was careful not to condemn the NDLEA that detained him (an innocent man) for four days. I had expected Cubana not to be vague, and to disclose what he sold to or brought from the three drug convicts that warranted them paying monies into his accounts.
If the NDLEA detains a small me for ONE day and the EFCC quizzes me on allegations of drug and money laundering, I’ll demand unreserved apologies from both agencies, and head to court if they fail to apologise.
For someone in the hospitality business, drug and money laundering allegations would hurt Cubana’s brand as millions of rich Nigerian customers who stream into his hotels daily are likely not to want to associate with a patron alleged to have links with drugs and money laundering.
The crazy way millions of Nigerian youths idolise get-rich-quick celebrities has fuelled crimes such as Yahoo-Yahoo, ritualism, kidnapping, drug peddling, armed robbery etc. Poverty, unemployment and lack of life-changing opportunities occasioned by bad governance have imperilled Nigeria’s youths, exposing them to crime.
Unfortunately, instead of laying good example by sending fugitive Kyari to the US as requested by the FBI, the retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari-led regime has continued to shield the Kanuri police officer while another Nigerian wanted by the US for drug-related offences, the late Senator Buruji Kashamu, was commendably holed up in his Lagos residence for many days and almost sent to the US by the Buhari government.
The craze for living large is pervasive among Nigerian youths. The son of President Buhari, Yusuf, has many multi-million naira motorbikes that his job of being a first son cannot support. The son of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was seen in a viral video, clutching a bag of foreign currencies, and uproariously doling out dollars in a country whose National Bureau of Statistics says 83 million Nigerians live below the poverty line.
This is the same country, where two bullion vans ferried an undisclosed amount of money into Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s Bourdillon residence during the 2019 national elections. Another Nigerian, Obinwanne Okeke alias Invictus Obi, is currently serving time in US prison over multi-million dollar fraud. How this type of country would raise credible youths for critical nation-building responsibilities is beyond me.
I know Cubana is innocent and has nothing to hide because, in the dark world of drugs, power and money, three things cannot be long hidden: they’re the sun, the moon, and the truth.
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: @tunde odesola
Twitter: @tunde_odesola
TINUBU IS THE WISEST MAN EARTH -PROPHET IKURU.
by Collins Nkwocha
Nigerian prophet, prophet Godwin Ikuru of Jehovah Eye Salvation Ministry, Lagos magnetized everyone’s attention when he referred to the president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the wisest man on earth regarding the appointment of Daniel Bwala as special Adviser on policy communications.
Speaking to reporters today in Lagos,
Prophet Ikuru applauded the president for choosing him and enunciated that he’s capable of delivering effectively and marketing the Renewed Hope Agenda of the president and urged Nigerians to stop the criticism because of what he said in the past “I’m personally happy with his appointment and I urge Nigerians to forget about the past, forget about what he must have said about the president some years ago which people are now disseminating on the social and taunting him a betrayal that lacks integrity, Nigerians should forget his past because he’s the best choice”.
Prophet Ikuru insisted that Bwala saw the sincerity and genuity of the president’s Renewed Hope Agenda and he decided to partake in it “even if he criticized the president, it was in the past, he saw the sincerity in the Renewed Hope Agenda and decided to join in nation building ,the president is ready to unite everyone in order to build Nigeria,that’s why someone like Wike is in his government,Bwala has what it’s required to be successful under Mr.president, as a wise man, the president saw it and decided to harness it ”
Finally, he praised Tinubu and referred to him as a great leader who is ready to involve everyone in his government, he maintained that his wisdom is magnanimous ,Baba is truly the wisest man on earth.
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Had FFK Faced Mehdi Hassan, Nigeria Would Have Spoken With Fire
By Mohammed Bello Doka
In politics, timing is everything. In diplomacy, character is everything. And in moments of national importance, leadership must be entrusted to individuals who possess not only experience but courage, intellect and an unshakable commitment to the nation they represent.
It is for this reason that the appointment of Chief Femi Fani-Kayode as Nigeria’s Ambassador to a foreign nation stands out as one of the most consequential diplomatic decisions in recent years.
Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, better known in the South as “FFK” and in the North as “Sadauki”, is one of the most brilliant, experienced, accomplished, vocal, respected, educated, profound, intellectual, patriotic, disciplined, well-read, historically literate, versatile, forceful, persuasive, sophisticated, cosmopolitan, charming, eloquent, courageous and resilient men in Nigerian politics and he has paid his dues and proved his worth over the last 35 years in politics and political discourse.
In each role he has played he has excelled and succeeded even when he was in opposition.
His friends value him as a great and loyal defender and his traducers and political adversaries fear and respect him because when he goes to war he is utterly relentless, takes no prisoners and literally spits fire.
How I wish it was him that was interviewed by Mehdi Hassan of Al Jazeera and not the young and inexperienced Daniel Bwala because he would have not only humbled Hassan but also done Nigeria proud.
He played Bwala’s present role in the Presidential Villa 23 years ago as President Olusegun Obasanjo’s spokesman and not only brought the then President’s domestic enemies to their knees but also had a series of very hot exchanges with foreign Government officials like America’s Under-Secreatary of State for Africa Jendaye Fraser and the White House over the Charles Taylor issue and Liberia.
Tinubu decision to appoint him as an Ambassador for our nation was a wise one because he will fight for and protect the interests of Nigeria and the Nigerian community whetever he goes and will never sell his soul or bow to foreign imperialist interests.
His appointment is not about just rewarding loyalty for the key role he played in Tinubu’s presidentiel campaign organisation as Director of New Media and Special Operations in 2023 and the staunch support he has given the President over the last three years but also about putting a square peg in a square hole.
If you want to put Nigeria first Sadauki is the one to do it.
If he runs the Nigerian Mission in the country that he is sent to in the same way he ran the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Aviation when he was Minister to each of them one after the other twenty years ago he will do very well and both our nation and whichever nation he is posted to itself will benefit from his efforts.
History teaches that diplomacy is most effective when nations deploy individuals who possess both intellect and courage.
As the American statesman Henry Kissinger once noted, “Diplomacy is the art of restraining power.”
To do so successfully requires deep historical awareness and strategic clarity—qualities that have long defined Fani-Kayode’s political career.
Sending a politically seasoned voice like FFK to any nation that is a key partner to Nigeria signals that Bola Ahmed Tinubu intends to strengthen Nigeria’s diplomatic posture with confidence.
Throughout more than three decades in the political arena, Fani-Kayode has remained one of the most resilient and outspoken figures in Nigerian public life despite numerous challenges which would have broken and destroyed lesser men.
Regardless of all that was thrown at him he continues to pull through and come out victorious which is why many refer to him as the “Akanda Eledumare” and the “Ayanfe Oluwa” which mean “the strange one of God” and “the beloved of the Lord”.
There appears to be a divine dimension to his life that makes him unstoppable and irrepressible even though his enemies are legion.
One wonders what sets him apart and makes him so different.
There is no doubt that his education played a part in it and this set him apart from most.
He never went to school in Nigeria but was educated from the age of eight in England starting off at Holmewood House School in Kent, one of the UK’s best and most famous Preparatory schools, after which he attended the famous Harrow School just outside London which is, together with Eton College, an institution that is the exclusive preserve of high society in the UK, one of the two best private schools in that country where only the ruling elite, the rich, the well-to-do, the famous and only a tiny proportion of those in British high society can afford or even qualify to attend.
No less than eight British Prime Ministers, including the great Sir Winston Churchill, and countless British cabinet ministers attended Harrow and so did many leaders, diplomats and top politicians from many foreign countries.
After finishing at Harrow he attended some of the top universities in the world, including London University (SOAS) and Cambridge University (Pembroke College) where he did so well.
As a matter of fact his great grandfather, Rev. Emmanuel Adelabi Kayode, attended Furrough Bay College which at that time was part of Durham University and graduated with an MA (Hons.) in Theology in 1893. His grandfather Justice Adedapo Kayode attended Cambridge University (Selwyn College) where he studied law and graduated in 1922. His father Chief Remilekun Fani-Kayode attended Cambridge University (Downing College) where he studied law and graduated in 1943. Sadauki himself graduated in law at Cambridge University (Pembroke College) in 1984 whilst his daughter Folake Fani-Kayode graduated from Durham University in 2009.
No African family has an uninterrupted streak of 116 years of Oxbridge-level university graduates except for the Fani-Kayode’s which is something that both his family and every patriotic Nigerian should be proud of.
It therefore makes perfect sense that a man from such a distinguished pedigree and intimidating lineage and that has such an extraordinary intellectual heritage should represent Nigeria on the international stage.
There is also his role in the debate on Gaza which made him a hero in the eyes of millions of people in the Global South both amongst Christians and Muslims.
He spoke out consistently about what he described as the genocide being committed against the Palestinians and he was prepared to put his life and career on the line for this cause even though most Nigerian leaders and politicians refused to say what he was saying publicly out of fear of the Zionist lobby and the Jewish state.
His sense of patriotism is unquestionable and nothing reflects this better than his series of essays written against Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the British Opposition Conservative Party and his write up against one Ben Llewelyn-Jones, who at that time was the Deputy British High Commissioner to Nigeria, when the former consistently sought to insult and denigrate Nigeria and the Nigerian people and the latter attempted to interfere in our internal affairs by making statements in support of Peter Obi and his Obidients in the 2023 presidential elections.
Sadauki successfully put them both in their place and when American Senator Ted Cruz, President Donald Trump, Congressman Tim Riley and other American politicians began to peddle the false narrative and fake gospel of Christian genocide and persecution in Nigeria Sadauki, a devout Christian himself, rose to the challenge and more than any other Nigerian wrote about the issue in a series of essays pointing out the fact that as many Muslims were being killed as Christians by the terrorists in our country and that Christians were not being persecuted by our Government and are in fact faring better when it comes to positions in the security apparatus and governance under Tinubu than they did in the previous administration.
He also spoke out boldly against President Trump and his administration when they accused the Government of South Africa of indulging in genocide against the white minority population in their country and pointed out the fact that South Africa, like Brazil, was a shining example of a successful multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural nation that was treating its white minority population with the greatest respect. Few Africans said a word to defend South Africa at the time even though they knew that Trump was wrong but Sadauki did so without thinking twice.
He is clearly a strong Pan-Africanist and a believer in the importance of the African Union, African solidarity, the BRICS coalition and the Global South alliance comprising of China, Russia, South Africa, India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other emerging world powers.
This is commendable and it reflects his courage and disdain for those that display ignorance, disdain and contempt for our nation and people and that seek to denigrate and misrepresent us.
Sadauki is not the type that bows and quivers before Westerners like so many other Nigerian leaders and politicians but rather takes pride in his Nigerian culture, race, heritage and identity and is prepared to defend us and speak for us no matter whose ox is gored and who is involved.
In an increasingly competitive global environment, Nigeria requires diplomats capable not only of negotiation but also of defending national interests with conviction.
If the energy, eloquence and intellectual fire that have defined Fani-Kayode’s political life accompany him to the country to which he has been posted, his tenure may well become one of the most consequential chapters in Nigeria’s modern diplomatic engagements.
I wish him well and I thank God that he is back in the saddle of public office after so many years.
What more could any of us ask of this great and noble son of Nigeria?
This is undoubtedly the quality of personnel and leaders that we need on the international stage.
I hope and pray that in his endeavours and during the course of his work he meets with Mehdi Hassan in a debate and prove to him and the rest of the world that Nigeria still has men that can not only match them but that can also remove their trousers in any verbal encounter. Bwala put us to shame but FFK can redeem us before the eyes of the world.
(Mohammed Bello Doka, the author of this essay, is the publisher of Abuja Network News and can be reached via [email protected])
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