*Mrs. Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu and Peter Obi
Sometime in 2009, ‘Mr’(as he preferred to be addressed) Peter
Obi, Governor Of Anambra State at the time, visited Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu
Ojukwu and myself at Dallas, Texas.
He came to deliver a get well message from Dr Goodluck Jonathan
and was billed to attend a black tie event at the Dallas Marriot. Curiously, he
flew into Dallas airport with one small carry on luggage which he insisted on
wheeling around himself, and on getting to our residence requested to freshen
up.
He opened his carry on, filled with files and paperwork and a
few toiletries and an extra shirt, when the Ikemba and I asked if he was
expecting another item of luggage, and he said no.
‘Then, what will you be wearing to the event tonight?’, we
inquired. It was at that point that it struck him that he couldn’t show up in
his casuals at such a ceremony.
I insisted on taking him to the luxury men’s emporium at Nieman
Marcus to buy a smart black suit. When we got there, he was busy doing the
currency conversions. The suit that was a perfect match for him was a dapper
Tom Ford suit with a price tag of 3,985 dollars plus tax. He did the
calculations and told me ‘do you know how many students this amount of money
can train in Nigeria?’