For tribal reasons, I feel pain writing this, but I am left with no choice. My father always told me: “When an elder disgraces himself in public, a younger person who corrects him does so while covering his own face.” Therefore, my face is covered as I write, I will not be silent. I will speak briefly, but without fear.

Chidi Amuta, a 72-year-old Ngwa man from Isiala Ngwa, once paraded himself as an acclaimed scholar, journalist, literary critic, columnist, and public policy consultant. By his supposed stature and long years in journalism, one would expect him to understand the ethics of the profession, the sanctity of truth, and even the Nigerian Cybercrimes Law that criminalizes the deliberate circulation of falsehood. But sadly, this self-proclaimed intellectual giant has pathetically and shamefully crawled into the pit of irrelevance and disgrace.

How can anyone believe that Chidi Amuta, at 72, is unaware that it is criminal and an offence to knowingly or intentionally peddle fabricated lies that cause harm, panic, and reputational damage online? Ignorance cannot be his excuse, cowardice, mischief, and cheap sycophancy are more likely the drivers of his descent into this abyss.

This, he shamelessly did when he shared on his Facebook ‘Chidi Amuta”a concocted piece of fake news against the 4th Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, a man far above his petty mischief. 

Mr. Self-acclaimed public policy consultant, how did you arrive at the belief that a whopping N1 trillion was stacked somewhere in Australia? Are you really so daft as to believe that? Did you even interrogate Abia’s inflow between 2015 and 2023 before sharing such trash? I pity those who read and rely on your weekly back-page nonsense for updates. Wait until the person you’re struggling to project is done with Abia, then we’ll know who truly deserves to be sentenced.

Chidi Amuta, if your intentions were not evil, a simple phone call to your paymaster, who lives in your village, would have exposed you to the so-called ‘Justice Chukwuemeka Nwogu’ of the Abia State High Court that allegedly gave the ‘landmark ruling.’ But because you were in a hurry to execute your evil plot, you rushed to hit the share button, to give lies and fake news a wider reach.

And let no one pretend not to see the link: Chidi Amuta is a well-known ally of the 5th Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti. The moment the falsehood began to spread online, fingers pointed naturally to Isiala Ngwa South, Chidi Amuta’s backyard where Otti now sits in his private residence in Umuehim, running Abia from outside Government House. It is no coincidence that Chidi Amuta, who only recently licked Otti’s boots in an article titled “Alex Otti and the Voices of Babylon”, turned out to be one of the prime carriers of the false news against Ikpeazu. Again, my father always told me: “The animal that excreted is the same one that left the footprints behind.”

Chidi Amuta, you have not only pathetically and shamefully crawled into the pit, you have shredded your reputation, stripped yourself naked before your peers, and broadcast your gullibility to the world.

What a shame! At 72, with all your so-called “height” in journalism, to reduce yourself to a cheap peddler of lies in service of your paymaster? You deserve nothing but ridicule. You are not just Mr. Petty back-page writer, you are the faded shadow of a journalist who once had promise but has now sunk into the sewer of propaganda.

Your desperation and frustration are glaring. Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, PhD, will not lose sleep over your childish antics. He is miles ahead of you in intellect, relevance, and legacy. He has built what you can only envy, and his record towers above the pit you have dug for yourself.

Nde Ngwa, it is now clear to the blind and audible to the deaf why this 72-year-old relic has no impact in Ngwaland. Dede Onye Ngwa! Le kwa anya m, rasịa! Le kwa onụshi m, rasịa! I only pray you live long enough to witness the downfall and sentencing of your paymaster, the same man for whom you have foolishly disgraced yourself.

Unfortunately, Dr. Ikpeazu will never stoop low enough to use you as a scapegoat, he is far too meek, tolerant, and peace-loving for that. This is one aspect of his character that many of us find frustrating. But make no mistake: history will remember that at 72, Chidi Amuta was not a towering voice of truth, but a pitiful, shameless peddler of falsehoods.