*An Open Letter to Nigeria’s Fourth Republic Rulers: Where Are the Okparas Among You?*
To the Presidents, Governors, Ministers, Senators, Members of the National and State Assemblies, and Local Government Chairmen of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic (1999–Date),
There was once a man named *Dr. Michael Okpara—* Premier of the old Eastern Region between 1960-1966, a visionary who transformed agriculture, established industries, and built institutions that outlived his tenure. When the Nigerian Civil War ended and the dust of exile settled, this former Premier returned to his homeland with a shocking truth: *he did not own a single house.* Not a mansion in the city, not a villa abroad, not even a modest family home. His life’s work in public service had yielded no personal real estate.
So his friends, associates, and prominent Igbo businessmen pooled their resources and built for him a *modest bungalow* in his hometown of Umuegwu Okpuala, Ohuhu. That bungalow became the *only house he ever owned.*
Let that sink in.
A man who governed one of Nigeria’s most prosperous regions, who had access to public treasury and patronage, who could have amassed wealth beyond imagination, chose instead to live with integrity so intact that he needed charity to have a roof over his head in retirement.
Now, I ask you—every President, Governor, Minister, Senator, Legislator, and Council Chairman who has held office since 1999:
*How many of you can stand before Nigerians today and declare, without fear of contradiction, that for the entire period you governed, you did not siphon public funds? How many of you can say that every naira entrusted to you was spent for the public good, not diverted into private accounts, foreign properties, or hidden trusts?*
Dr. Okpara did not see power as a means to wealth. He saw it as a sacred trust—a temporary stewardship over the lives and resources of his people. He understood what too many of you have forgotten: *leadership is service, not enrichment.*
But there is another wound that festers in our national conscience.
*Where is the remembrance for the families of our founding fathers?*
The children of *Nnamdi Azikiwe* , Nigeria’s first President, who gave his youth and health to the independence struggle—where are they in your plans? The descendants of *Obafemi Awolowo,* whose vision for free education and federalism shaped modern Nigeria—do they feature in your “stomach infrastructure”? The family of *Michael Ajasin* , the austere Governor of old Ondo State who left office poorer than he entered—have you lifted a finger for them? The heirs of *Ahmadu Bello* , the Sardauna who built the North—do they sleep under the shadow of your gratitude?
These men served Nigeria with *all their minds, all their strength, and all their integrity.* They did not loot. They did not privatize public assets into family empires. They did not treat state coffers as personal inheritance. And yet, their children wander in obscurity while you, their successors, build dynasties of wealth from offices that were meant to serve the people.
This is not merely unfortunate. It is *shameful.*
The purpose of this message is not to wallow in nostalgia. It is to issue a *challenge and a warning:*
*Change your ways. Not tomorrow. Not after the next election. Now.*
History is not kind to looters. The names of those who stole from the poor are remembered, yes—but as cautionary tales, as symbols of national betrayal. But the names of the Okparas, the Awolowos, the Azikiwes, the Ajasins, and the Bello’s? They are remembered with reverence. Their legacies live on in universities, in hospitals, in roads, in the very consciousness of a nation that knows what true leadership looks like.
Dr. Okpara died without a mansion. But he died with something far more valuable: *a name that history will never forget.*
*Can you say the same?*
*Otunba Ademola Akinnola*
Opinion Columnist
08067526682
