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Learning From The Wise: Persecution, Triumph Of 80-year-old Comrade Ihonde In Fight Against Social Injustice

Published

2 years ago

July 25, 2022

Pa Comrade Jonathan Ihonde (3rd right)

Joseph Ebi Kanjo

“Let us rise in solidarity with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). They are on strike; they are not fighting for themselves, they are not fighting for their pockets but for all of us; for a better educational system in our country; for a better education for our children,” said 80-year-old labour activist, Comrade Jonathan Ihonde as he handled the microphone to narrate to the younger generation his experience, betrayals and persecutions he faced in the cause of fighting against social injustice and for opposing privatization of government establishments. It was the third edition of Learning from the Wise series organised by Health of Mother Foundation (HOMEF) held at Comrade Ehonde’s residence in Benin on Saturday, July 23.

As Pa Ihonde let the cat out of the bag, initiator of the programme and Executive Director, HOMEF, Nnimmo Bassey, told those who were seated at the feet of the 80-year-old Playwright and author of Hotel De Jordan series on NTA years back, to learn from his wealth of experience, that the programme was a deliberate platform for forging a just and sustainable future through intergenerational dialogue with elders and knowledge holders.

Bassey, however, added that the third series with Comrade was not just the usual series as he said it was meant to celebrate and honour Comrade Ihonde on his 80th birthday and learn from his revolutionary wisdom.

In his quest for social justice, Pa Ihonde, a playwright, unionist, progressive political organizer and teacher, was arrested and detained because he stood against the privatization of government’s establishments under which over 17,000 worker were earning their daily bread in the then Mild-West Region and later Bendel State under the Military government. This human rights activist arrest was so much that even his wife almost abandoned him. Her belief was that only armed robbers could be arrested continuously the way the 80-year-old activist was arrested.

Narrating his experience to the younger ones he said: “The man I helped to become the governor of Bendel State then arrested and detained me because I was fighting for social justice. I was not fighting for my family; I was not fighting for my children but for the common interest of the public. In fact, the arrests got to a level that my innocent wife had to go and tell her father that she never knew she was married to an armed robber. According to her, only armed robbers are arrested that way.

“The enemy of progress went to tell the authorities that Ihonde had started a red revolution, so I was arrested at Dawson Road, Benin because I told the authorities that they cannot privatize a public organization that is very viable and profitable. It was during the military regime. When I was in detention at Oko Prison, the media world over including Voice America aired my arrest. The man who arrested me went to Urhonigbe Rubber Estate and said, ‘your stupid leader has been arrested; now resume your work, but they told him the man that called for the strike was yet to come and until he comes, they will not resume.”

He continues: “Why was I arrested? We had in the then Mid-West and later Bendel State, one segment of our organization called MNDC now dissolved. The organization had Urhonigbe Rubber Estate; Ughelli Glass Factory; Ewohimi Oil Palm Plantation and Tenboga, Benin with more than 17,000 workers. Foreigners came from abroad to buy from these companies in hard currencies. With all these benefits, somebody just rose up and said he was going to sell these companies to private individuals, I then told my friend that that was not possible, I resisted it.”

The 80-year-old who was trained in the Soviet Union and a frontline leader in the Radio Television Theatre and Art Workers Union of Nigeria (RATTAWU) warned the younger generation that government’s claim that privatizing public establishments would make such establishments do better was a lie, just as he urged the public to resist such a move .

He warned: “Please be very careful. They will say the public establishment cannot manage its corporation well. Please resist it. It is a big lie. Please resist it.”

Comrade Ihonde was not just arrested and detained for fighting the government over social injustice, but was demoted as a civil servant from Grade level 12 to Grade level 4.

He further narrated: “At the end of the day, after my long stay in the prison, I was released. But because they were not satisfied, they sanctioned me. I was demoted from Grade Level 12 to Grade Level 4. They insisted that they were going to make me an example for fighting against the government.”

He urged the younger generation not to be deterred by his ordeal but to always be upright and fight for the interest of the public.

He added: “As young people, don’t be deterred and don’t do negative things. Be careful. You cannot be fighting for social justice and you are morally corrupt. If you want to fight against corruption and oppression, you must not engage in those vices.”

The octogenarian, however, said despite his fight for the interest of the common people, he was not appreciated by many including his immediate family until recently, noting that they felt disappointed that he did not use opportunities and connection he had to acquire material wealth.

He added: “People including my children are of the belief that I wasted my time fighting for social justice. They believe that I did not use the opportunities I had to accumulate wealth. It is only recently that my children and some people started appreciating me and my works.”

Related Topics:Labour activist Learning from the wise

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I Was Imprisoned, Demoted From Grade Level 12 to 4 for Opposing Privatisation of Public Establishments – 80-year-old Labour Activist

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Dave Umahi Trends Online After ‘Me I No Hear Phone’ Comment On Live TV [VIDEO]

Published

3 hours ago

May 1, 2024

Editor

Minister of Works, Dave Umahi is trending online over his exchange with Arise TV correspondent, Laila Johnson, during a media session today, May 1, on the construction of the Calabar-Lagos coastal lane.

While Laila asked him a question, Umahi interjected by saying “Sister I was raised in the village, me I no dey hear “phoné,” which simply means phonetics.

Responding to this, Laila told the minister that it’s the way she speaks.

When Umahi asked for interpreters, Laila pushed back by saying that he had enough people around him to make him understand what she was saying.

Shortly after the exchange, Umahi responded to Laila’s question by saying they got all the necessary approval to initiate the project.

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86 Rooms Where Tenants Paid N250,000 A Year Found Under Lagos Bridge [VIDEO]

Published

3 hours ago

May 1, 2024

Editor

Lagos State’s Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, on Wednesday said the government discovered 86 partitioned rooms, sized 10×10 and 12×10, under the Dolphin Estate Bridge, Ikoyi, on Lagos Island.

Tenants are said to be paying N250,000 per annum for the makeshift apartment under the bridge.

Wahab shared this information via a post on X.com on Wednesday, along with videos.

He added that the enforcement team of Lagos State’s Ministry of Environment and Water Resources had successfully removed all structures, including a container utilised for various illegal activities, from beneath the Dolphin Estate bridge.

Sharing videos he wrote, “A total number of 86 rooms, partitioned into 10×10 and 12×10, and a container used for different illegal activities were discovered under the Dolphin Estate Bridge.

“They have all been removed by the enforcement team of the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources”

A Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Kunle Rotimi-Akodu, further confirmed the eviction of squatters from beneath the bridge towards Dolphin Estate in Ikoyi over illegal settlement and environmental violations.

Rotimi-Akodu mentioned that 23 individuals were arrested during the eviction, which was carried out by officials of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps, popularly known as KAI on Tuesday.

He wrote, “Squatters dwelling under the bridge leading from inward Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi were evicted today Tuesday, 30th of April, 2024 by officials of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps LAGESC (aka KAI).

“These people created their illegal settlement under the bridge, thereby exposing the critical infrastructure to impending destruction. 23 persons have so far been arrested and MoE/KAI will continue to monitor the place. The law will take its course.”

He also confirmed that the bridge has hitherto housed 86 rooms, partitioned into 10×10 and 12×10 with squatters paying an average rent of N250,000 per annum.

“Continuation of the removal of abode under Dolphin bridge. 11 more persons were arrested. It is important to note that wood materials were used to construct the shelters, some occupants used gas cylinders, and some had stored fuel for their generators, these are recipes for disaster,” he added.

Watch video below courtesy The PUNCH

VIDEO: 86 rooms where tenants paid N250,000 a year found under Lagos bridge
Lagos State's Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, on Wednesday said the government discovered 86 partitioned rooms, sized 10×10 and 12×10, under the Dolphin Estate Bridge,… pic.twitter.com/cNq7Q0OuE2
— Punch Newspapers (@MobilePunch) May 1, 2024

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Ex-policeman Who filmed Wife Having Wex With Her Superior Found Guilty Of Stalking

Published

5 hours ago

May 1, 2024

Editor

An obsessed former police officer who caught his wife having sex with a married colleague in a car park has narrowly avoided jail after being convicted of stalking.

Gavin Harper, 45, found Stephanie Glynn, 40, and her lover Andrew McLullich, 42, outside the hardware store in Birkenhead, Merseyside, UK on February 16, 2021, after secretly placing a tracker on his wife’s car.

He slowly crept up to the vehicle and used his mobile phone to record the lovers, who were naked from the waist down, before allegedly shouting: ‘I’ve got you on film sh***ing my wife.’

The dad-of-two was found guilty of aggravated stalking, including secretly bugging Ms Glynn’s car, listening to her conservations, tracking her movements and taking her phone without permission.

He was also accused of assaulting Mr McLullich, a Merseyside Police Inspector, but was cleared of injuring the officer at Liverpool Crown Court as he claimed he only struck the policeman in self-defence.

Prosecutors said it was Harper’s conviction was the end of the campaign of ‘obsessive, intrusive and unwanted behaviour’ against Ms Glynn from December 2020 to February 2021.

Harper and Ms Glynn met as Merseyside Police officers and were in a six-year relationship before they married in 2018 but she left the family home in December 2020 after she grew close to her work mentor Mr McLullich, an acting inspector at the time and formerly her supervising sergeant.

Giving evidence, Harper said he wanted ‘undeniable proof’ of the affair, which he said Ms Glynn had persistently denied.

His intention was to pass the video to police as evidence of two serving officers having an inappropriate relationship during Covid lockdown restrictions, he said.

On Monday, Judge David Potter sentenced Harper to two years in jail, suspended for two years.

The judge told him he would have faced immediate custody but for the significant effect that imprisonment would have had on his elderly parents and youngest son.

Harper’s lawyers told the court that he would lose his security job if jailed and would be unable to make his mortgage payments. His parents, whom he informally cared for, would ‘not be able to cope’ and his son would have to give up his university studies.

Judge Potter told Harper: “I am sure you became obsessed to the point of criminality in stalking Stephanie Glynn to provide evidence of her affair to weaponise that against her for having that affair, and you also became determined to destroy the career of Andrew McCulloch.

“In that obsession the feelings, embarrassment and pain felt by Stephanie Glynn were collateral damage. You were more concerned about your own feelings and a raging sense of injustice.”

He said the events at Screwfix ‘do no credit to any of the people involved’ and the incident was ‘rash, foolish, selfish and unprofessional’.

Judge Potter went on: “I am sure it has haunted them (Ms Glynn and Mr McLullich) and will continue to haunt them for many years.”

But he said their acts were ‘made worse’ by Harper filming them on his mobile phone.

He said: “It was a further gross example of stalking designed to maximise their humiliation to your advantage. Your conduct was intended to maximise fear or distress.

“You resorted to stalking out of a sense of vengeance for being the victim of an affair. I am sure the distress caused to your victim has been very serious.”

But he added that there was ‘another side’ to the defendant who had no previous convictions, and had suffered mental trauma himself.

Harper had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his Army service in the King’s Regiment and the Royal Military Police – before he joined Merseyside Police in 2001.