Political Odyssey of Chief Madu Ndigba- (a belief in totems by an african leader

CHAPTER III

CHIEF NDIGBA ARRIVES AT JOHANNESBURG
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

At the airport, he had time to look around the bookstalls. He knew it would be proper to know more about Madiba, either through conversation with those who know him or by reading. In the bookstall, he glanced through “Long Walk to Freedom” published by McDonald Parnell, “Mandela”, by Anthony Samson, “A fortunate life”, by Ishmael Meer, “In our lifetime”, by Elinor Sisulu, etc. some of these books were voluminous, bulky and not portable. He however found one that was portable, easily digestible, comic and interesting as most essential characteristics were highlighted in the publication entitled “The Madiba Legacy Series – Becoming a Leader”.

The Chief dressed casually because he was heading to another hotel after a long tiring flight. In his entourage, was a young lady, who was not necessarily his personal assistant, but works closely with him in the National Secretariat of his great Party. It would not be strange to observe that the young lady must have been experiencing some fancy. What do I do to win his favour? She quipped in her mind. While at headquarters, she had his attention, but there were several other younger ladies, as well as society ladies, who might be struggling to have his attention, she imagined. Now that we are away from home, I must do something to attract his attention; she surmised.

She had many options in her mind. First, she could make a big impression on the Chief by buying an ostrich egg mounted on a stand between two elephant tusks, as a souvenir during her visit/trip. She could pretend to have forgotten something in her room and then look for it late in the night. In that case, she must be in the mood to seduce him. Alternatively, she would try to notice any mark on his chest, leg or main body; for use in future comparative gossiping among contestants in order to determine who really knows the chief and to what extent.

When therefore the chief wanted to change his dress to a formal warm clothing on account of the weather, she felt it was an opportunity to survey his body and take note of any spot, mark or anything that can be used for propaganda, or blackmail as she would be discussing with other ladies, the degree of her intimacy with the Chief.

As the Chief was to put up with a close fiend in that town, before he changed his mind to go to Hotel Unicoco, an arrangement was made for the Chief to use one of the rooms to unpack and dress up. Surprisingly, the chief looked around and indicated that he was a ‘village man’ and so ordered his luggage to be brought in the full view of everyone. The lady in question pretended to go away, but the chief insisted that he was not doing anything unusual. The lady consequently remained behind. The Chief gently removed his different layers of dresses, until he exposed his hairy chest as well as white crocodile tattoo on his lap. This sight then satisfied the curiosity of the young lady as she was now armed with these facts and descriptions, which had remained a source of speculation. She heaved a sigh of relief as she thought the Chief would ask her to leave the scene. Now that events had worked in her favour, she nearly betrayed her emotion by shouting ‘eureka’. The stage was therefore set to use these facts in any manner possible, since the crocodile symbol tattoo had been an object for local speculation.

Chief Ndigba was one of the early students who studied abroad with Ndiauku Community Scholarship. He was hardworking, self-made man, having obtained his inter B.A. at home. He had bagged Bachelors of Laws LLB Degree, Cum Laude in 1946 and MA in 1950. At Trinity College, he narrowly missed ‘Michealmas Prize in Constitutional Law as well as Trinity’s Criminal Law Prize.

Despite this brilliant academic achievement, he was unable to be considered to work in Legal Department of then regional government or Federal Government. He remained in Private Practice and was graded ‘Charge and Bail’ lawyer. It is not surprising therefore, that he was able to wade through Nigerian political murky terrain, which is based on ‘Cash and Carry’ and ‘Man know Man’! As well as hobnobbing with the military rulers. His support for trade union movement had been minimal but he had grown prominent in the ‘Abacha days’ transformation to civilian and permanent rule. Speculations were therefore rife as to the source of his political power. Was this due to the totem – crocodile? Some people thought he had escaped many assassination attempts due to his belief in totem mythology.