A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chief Eze Chukwuwmeka Eze has dismissed the reason offered by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nyesom Wike, for his failure to condole with former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi over the death of his mother, Dame Ezinne Mary Orduah Amaechi.
Wike, in a recent interview, had said that he did not condole Amaechi because Amaechi did not personally write or inform him about the passage of his mother.
But Eze, an ally of the former Minister of Transportation, in a statement said that Wike‘s argument represents an unnecessarily narrow interpretation of what should ordinarily be a profoundly human and culturally sacred obligation.
Eze said: “Since when did the death of a mother require a formal invitation before a fellow Nigerian, particularly a former political associate, can extend condolences?
“Wike may choose not to condole with Amaechi; that is his personal decision. But Nigerians are equally entitled to examine the reasoning he has offered for that decision. And in my view, the explanation has raised more questions than it has answered.
“Must the bereaved personally dispatch letters before friends, associates, political leaders or even political adversaries can acknowledge such a monumental loss? The death was public knowledge; the burial arrangements were extensively publicised, and the entire political community was aware of the event.
“Did former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senator David Mark and the numerous national leaders who attended the burial require Amaechi to personally write each of them before they could demonstrate sympathy? What Wike has offered Nigerians, therefore, is not an explanation but an excuse.”
Eze observed that condolence is not a political transaction requiring prior notification, invitation or reciprocal obligation, but an expression of humanity, compassion and respect for the dead.
According to him, the death of a mother should ordinarily rise above the sediment of political disagreements, particularly in a society where communal sympathy for the bereaved remains deeply embedded in the cultural consciousness.
Eze also dismissed Wike’s attempt to scrutinize Amaechi’s public engagements during the mourning period, particularly his appearance at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference, as an inappropriate intrusion into the personal manner in which another human being chooses to process grief.
“Grief has no statutory timetable. There is no constitutional provision, cultural canon or moral injunction stipulating that a bereaved person must withdraw completely from public life before his grief can be considered genuine.
“Amaechi’s decision to attend a professional engagement does not diminish his loss, nor does it confer upon Wike the moral authority to prescribe how another man should mourn his mother.
“Indeed, if Wike’s argument is that participation in public affairs during mourning constitutes an affront to grief, then he should explain why the death of Dame Amaechi has itself become an occasion for another prolonged political discourse about Amaechi.”
He added: “Politics is inherently competitive, but political competition ought not to become an interminable vendetta. Amaechi has continued to engage the political process according to his convictions.
“Wike should permit him to do so without making every public appearance, statement or engagement another occasion for political recrimination.”
