The "NED NWOKO" I Know & The One You Assume To Know -- By Precious Eze.

Precious Eze & Ned Nwoko.

Only recently, I got a call from someone I hold in very high esteem who informed me of the willingness of Prince Ned Nwoko to meet with myself and others in his Abuja home and I was astonished, surprised and happy at the same time that a man of the calibre of Ned Nwoko would want to meet with THE SMALL ME.

I got set and in my usual self, made available the best of shoes and clothings, believing that as a wealthy and influential man, these things, PHYSICAL APPEARANCE would impress him and off to Abuja I went.

I arrived Abuja and was told that he would meet us at exactly 5pm, we got to where we thought was the meeting venue, waited without seeing him and on enquiry, he said, I HAVE BEEN HERE WAITING FOR YOUR ARRIVAL and in me I was like, Ned Nwoko Was Waiting For Our Arrival? Nah lie, dem don come again. NAH DEM! You know that feeling?

We headed out to his home and when we arrived, we sat briefly and as we (his guests) were seated and exchanging gists, ONE YOUNG MAN WALKED IN, I raised my head and it was Ned Nwoko. Shocking how youthful he is, even more youthful than myself in my 30ies.

WOW!! I screamed within me and asked myself, if “THIS IS NED NWOKO OR HE SENT ONE OF HIS SONS TO COME WELCOME US?

As that thought was running through my head, he moved close to his sit and before sitting, he first of all, welcomed us as though he had known us from 1902 and the interaction began.

For me, I behave like the proverbial Igbo Chicken, who when it gets to a new place, would stand with one leg, observing and taking notes of things around him, so that, if Prince Ned Nwoko were as evil as they had tried to paint him for soo many years in the media, BEFORE HE ROWERS, I WOULD JUMP OUT FROM HIS WINDOWS. You get the drift?

So, I behaved myself and was jotting things down in my head, every word, sentence and lines.

Very down to earth man to a fault. Never met him before, never had had a prior conversation with him, but his brain was more magnetic than magnet itself, he knew everything, everyone and every issue.

Haaa! THE MEDIA CAN KILL SOMEBODY SHAAA!

I was looking at him with very keen interest, at his facial expressions, body movements, his gesticulations, eye contacts, finger movements, and who would blame me? This is because, I told myself, that I must be alive to write what am doing right now, especially when sooo many untrue stories had been put out by people who do not have the slightest of an Inkling about who he is, does do not know him and majority of them may never know him till they join their ancestors.

For people who know Precious Eze for instance, they would tell you that I am not easily carried away by who or what you are, but when I am convinced about your person, you can go to sleep with your two-eyes closed and this is the kind of conviction about Ned Nwoko that is driving me right now.

Very humane and humble, Ned Nwoko knows Nigeria like I know how to swallow Fufu. All you needed around him was a mention of where you are from and he will tell you how your village looks like and mention the names of prominent Nigerians who are from there.

He took I and my colleagues on a tour of how he started life, rose through the ranks and has sustained that rising, enjoying the best of life from the very beginning as a young man, who had a smooth sail through, with the best of education and opportunities. Look, it would take a SAINT from Nigeria to have had the privileges and opportunities Ned Nwoko had had in life without being over-blown by them, but no, the man I met, spoke with and shared ideas with has nothing driving him other that humility, which I may not boast of.

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT “TAKE-HOME” FOR ME FROM THAT MEETING WAS THE FACT THAT “PRINCE NED NWOKO” IS A COMPLETE GENTLE MAN WHO HAS ABSOLUTE RESPECT FOR FAMILY AND WOMEN.

Oh, yes, I said so.

What you have read or heard does not matter here if you have not met him like I did, discussed with him and heard him speak. You heard me right. You don’t know him but you are quick to do a summary of him based on what you read on Social Media or heard others say and you think that is a fair judgment?

As one who supports women, I feel very elated and proud when I meet men like me who openly declare the fact that they do not take advantage of woman in any form or shape, which was what necessitated the discussion we had with him on marriage and his choices as it relates with women.

“Ned Nwoko was quick to say and I quote….I Do Not Take Advantage Of Anyone, Especially Women. Infact, I Honour Them As I Would Honour My Mother and This Is Because I Came From Them and Have A lot Of Respect and Regard For That Gender”. So, I felt very relaxed that I met a man who share certain values in common with me, and then, listened more to hear from someone who is truly the word, SUCCESS in human form.

An ENIGMA I would call Ned Nwoko, a man who believes in the chastity of relationship and so, when it comes to marriage, his example is what I believe Nigerians should follow, ONLY WHEN YOU HEAR HIS PERSONAL STORY FROM HIM and stop believing in speculated stories, told by people who either hates his guts or simply cannot understand why Ned Nwoko is who he is.

I have met him! I have spoken with him! I have interacted with him! And I expect that when next you hear or read something about him in the Media that do not portray him in a certain way, you may do well to seek clarifications before you believe, because, I can assure everyone reading this that majority of those who write about Ned Nwoko do not know him in anyway possible.

NO-ONE LIGHTS A CANDLE AND PUTS IT UNDER THE TABLE!

"Let the accusations and counter-accusations against my person begin for thus is the PART-1 of this story".