Home-coming At Last - - 30 June 2000
Inspired by the emergence of a new democratic order, GREAT OVEDJE
OGBORU, who was believed to have bank-rolled the 1990 bloody putsch against the
regime of GENERAL IBRAHIM BABANGIDA returns to his fatherland after 10 years in
exile, reports ADELANWA BAMGBOYE Nigerians woke up one morning in the month of
April 1990 to hear the unfamiliar voice of one Major Gideon Orkar announcing to
them via radio that a coup had taken place, and that General Ibrahim Babangida
had ceased to be Nigeria’s head of State.
Babangida was accused of several failings, including homesexualism. The coup
failed and Orkar and other coupists paid with their lives as they were
executed. Chief Great Ogboru, the alleged financier of the coup upon its
failure fled Nigeria into exile in Europe and America but it did not stop his
conviction in absentia.
To make good his escape, Chief Ogboru’s younger brother, Turner Joseph
Ochuko Emerice Ogboru took him to Seme Border. But Turner Ogboru was not as
lucky, for he was nabbed and sentenced to life imprisonment.
It is instructive to note that the mutineers called the coup “revolution” .
They also made history in Nigeria.
The Orkar Coup has been described as the “bloodiest coup” in the country’s
history of military coups and counter-coups. Besides, the 1990 coup was noted
for its many strange features. The coupists attempted to align the “Middle
Belt” with southern Nigeria.
They also excised five states - Bauchi, Borno, Kano, Katsina and Sokoto -
from the rest of the federation. They alleged that people from these five
states, often referred as the core North had dominated political power in the
country to the detriment of the rest of the people. They also accused the then
military president, General Ibrahim Babangida of unbriddled corruption.
According to the coupists, those who produce the wealth of the nation had
been denied the wealth and impoverished beyond human standard.
But the insurrection failed, perhaps, because of lack of popular support,
and especially over their plans to excise some Nigerian states from the
federation. Many Nigerians prefered that Nigeria remained an indivisible
nation.
The alleged financier of the failed military coup, popularly referred to as
the “Orkar Coup” had immense wealth. He was the Managing Director of Flogret
Nigeria Limited, a successful international fishing company. The company’s
fishing depot at Owutu near Ikorodu provided employment opportunities for
hundreds of Ikorodu indigenes and was reportedly the operational base and
assembly ground of the coup plotters It was alleged that Ogboru’s Flogret
warehouse in Ikorodu (now overgrown with weeds) was the place where the plot to
overthrow the government of Ibrahim babangida was hatched.
At the time when Flogret was sealed up by the government, gun totting
soldiers took over the premises after, mounting sentry at the location for
months. By the time the soldiers left, the building was in a state of decay.
The owners of the estate had to struggle to retrieve their property from the
government.
Shortly after the April 22, 1990 abortive coup, the Ogboru family became
ready prey for soldiers and other government agents.
Everywhere then, the name Ogboru elicited immediate caution. Consequently,
it became wise for many members of the Ogboru family to go into hiding.
Gripped by fear, others reportedly changed their names, just to pass
unnoticed. And with all these, the fortunes of the family dwindled
progressively.
Having held Turner Ogboru hostage, his two sisters were arrested. The eldest
one in her husband’s house, while the younger sister was arrested at her
school, University of Benin (UNIBEN).
As if that was not enough, the military junta froze Chief Ogboru’s bank
accounts, The companies were all vandalised and fish valued at about N40
million were sold by the government and proceeds paid into an escrow account at
the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In Warri, a lot of the properties are still unaccounted for as many of the
vehicles and other property of the company in the office were reportedly
removed by members of Ogboru’s staff, even before the arrival of the soldiers.
P.M. News checks revealed that the Effurun warehouse with two giant cold
rooms is no more.
Great Ovedje Ogboru, then 32, was declared wanted by the then military junta
led by the gap-toothed IBB who accused him of bank-rolling the bloody putsch.
A self-made young man, Great Ogboru is an Urhobo from the Niger Delta area.
He was born to the Ogboru family of Abraka. He attended Government College,
Ughelli. While in self exile, Great Ogboru bagged two masters degrees and a
doctorate degree in business management. But in Nigeria, his business empire
crumbled.
His Nigerian businesses ranged from fishing, rubber and banking to
furniture-making. Today, vestiges of his once flourishing but now ruined
business empire are there for everyone to see.
In Lagos, Warri, Port Harcourt and other places, his hitherto flourishing
businesses empire now lies in shambles with rodents and reptiles as the new
occupants.
Always very sure of himself, calm, orderly, quiet and decent, Great Ogboru
through sheer hardwork and excellence rose from the position of a salesman with
the Exchange Fisheries which belonged to Chief Marutu in Delta to own a fish
company of his own.
Today, Ogboru has links with the major fish marketers in Russia, Norway,
Belgium Angola and so on.
In a chat with P.M. News, friends and associates of Chief Great Ogboru
expressed their gratitude to the government for deemeding it fit to pardon him.
Said Debo Adeleke, the leader of an advance team to welcome Great Ogboru:
“Ab initio, he was not guilty but the pardon was welcome. He has not told us he
sponsored the 1990 putsch. He only identified with reasons for staging the
coup.”
Said one of the villagers from Ikorodu: “He helps people. When he returns,
we’ll be happy because poor men will have hope again.”
On the involvement of the Ikorodu royal fathers, Adeleke explained that
Great Ogboru happened to be one of the few people that had multi-billion naira
investment in Ikorodu.
“The hosting of Chief Ogboru by the Ikorodu community is a mark of
recognition of his contribution to the development of Ikorodu,” he stated.
According to Adeleke, Ogboru is in high spirits and wants to partake in the
economic development of the country.This is one reason why he chose to come
home.He is aready being tipped to play a great role in Nigeria politics in the
future Ogboru is the second person to come home among the people linked with
the Orkar coup.The most senior army officer linked with it, Col. Anthony Nyiam
recently returned to Nigeria along with the former NADECO Leader, abroad, Chief
Anthony Enahoro.