I have just read a so-called letter doing the round in the social media by a character who referred to himself as Frank Agbons Idehen and claimed that Captain Hosa Okunbo is his cousin.
While I doubt the claim of this social media bully, I have every reason to believe that Frank Agbons Idehen is a pseudonym adopted by a paid agent of Capt. Hosa’s traducers to tar a global brand that has been built for over two decades with a brush of public odium.
But, unfortunately for this ghost writer, who lives in the world of fictive narration and puerile imagination, it is too late for him and his timid sponsors to unconscionably de-market, negatively deconstruct and wickedly profile Capt. Hosa, whose records of achievements and contributions to national and global peace are writ-large.
Idehen claimed to have written from the USA and populated his contrived letter with dubiously-crafted tales and salacious lies that could have come only from a warped mind. Yet, he failed to substantiate all his claims.
That the letter came at a time my younger brother, Capt. Hosa Okunbo published an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari and the good people of Edo State explicates the suspicion that the writer of this spurious letter in the social media could very well have penned the preposterous missive from a cozy office in the Government House.
With just an open letter, the political climate in Edo State has changed dramatically and the elements in power are no longer at ease.
I expect them to clutch on to available straws and my brother, who declined overtures to contest the governorship position because he would not want to hand over his massive investments to proxies, became a significant straw to hold on to.
My take really is that if the so-called Idehen knows he is speaking the truth and he is ready to prove to the world that he is not an agent of Capt. Hosa’s traducers who are on a familiar voyage of character assassination, he should accept the gauntlet by presenting himself to the public instead of lurking in the dark.
This letter falls in the class of the series of stories about Capt. Hosa’s business deals with the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Allison Madueke, which traducers have continued to circulate and recirculate in the last four years and yet, Capt. Hosa walks about a free man.
Those who were involved in oil deals with the former Petroleum Minister are either on exile or before one court or the other in Nigeria standing trial.
Capt. Hosa has not written a statement at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in connection with any oil business involving the former Minister of Petroleum; or at any other anti-corruption agency in Nigeria in connection with any fraud.
I hereby on behalf of the Okunbo Family of Edo State declare that the so-called Frank Agbons Idehen is not known to us. We are a closely-knitted family and as the head of Okunbo siblings, I know all members of our family both immediate and distant.
I can also attest to the character of my younger brother, Capt. Hosa Okunbo, who has a home in America and was in 2012 conferred with the African Titan award by the US Congress.
I have lived in America for so many years now where I practise as a medical doctor and there is no single incident yet that has pitched him against the law of the US.
We have told our brother, Capt. Hosa Okunbo that all of these shenanigans are political and we have advised him not to bother to reply any more to these silly insinuations.
We call on people to disregard these calculated attacks to damage a reputation that had been built a long time ago through honest hard work and commitment to value addition.
We take this opportunity to advise the candidates in the forthcoming Edo governorship election to focus on their campaigns and leave our brother alone.
Signed
Dr Tinyan Okunbo MD
For the Okunbo Family
