Igbo Reps oppose honour for Black scorpion, Adekunle

The memories of the Nigerian Civil War came a light on Tuesday as some members of the House of Representatives from the South-East geopolitical zone disregard a call to honour the late Gen. Benjamin Adekunle. The members bluntly refused to observe a minute of silence for Adekunle, a civil war hero nicknamed “Black scorpion” for his reported exploits during the war on the side of the Federal Government. Adekunle died on Saturday at the age of 78 years while the lawmakers were on their annual recess. They reconvened on Tuesday and took a decision to honour the late general, following a motion moved by the Majority Leader of the House, Mulikat Akande-Adeola. As the Speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, called on members to rise and observe a minute’s silence in honour of the deceased, some of the South-East lawmakers grumbled. Two of them, Mr. Arua Arunsi, and Mr. Udo Ibeji, refused to stand.

They sat throughout the one minute as other lawmakers heeded Tambuwal’s call. The grumbling continued and almost marred the moment of silence. At a point, Tambuwal was forced to interject, “the one minute will start counting after the last voice is heard.” Despite the interjection, the murmuring continued, leaving Tambuwal with no choice than to end with “may his soul rest in peace.” There was subdued laughter in the chambers after the prayer ended, with many members looking in the direction of Arunsi and Ibeji.