A chieftain of the Al Progressives Congress (APC), Joe Igbokwe, has slammed Lloyd, the son of the former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, for having an elaborate wedding ceremony while his parents are serving prison terms in the United Kingdom.
Lloyd got married to Tiffany Adaobi Obinna-Uzor, at the Basilica of Grace, Anglican Communion, Gudu District, Abuja, on Saturday.
Governors, Senators, party chieftains among other heavyweights were at the wedding.
Reacting to the event, Igbokwe said the former Senator’s son should have had a very-low-budget wedding, and celebrate big when are parents are freed.
Recall that Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, are serving jail terms having been convicted by a London court of an attempt to harvest an organ for their ailing daughter, Sonia.
They were sentenced alongside Dr Obinna Obeta, who wanted to harvest the boy’s kidney.
The ex-Senator was served nine years and eight months, while his wife was handed four years and six months. The doctor was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Recalling their ordeal vis-a-vis their son’s wedding ceremony, the APC chieftain said, “If I were to be Ekweremmadu’s son I would not have staged this elaborate wedding ceremony with my father and mother in prison.”
“I would have done a low key marriage ceremony and wait till my parents are free. This generation scares me stiff.”
Similarly, Journalist Olawale Olaleye commented on the issue in a social media post.
“I know that at the end of the day, life continues. But God forbid if my father was in prison, how on earth would I have gone ahead to wed at all let alone have an elaborate one, when indeed he is where he is today because he was running around to save one of us?”
“What it means is that if it was the boy, who just wedded that was in a similar condition, Senator Ike Ekweremadu could have done the same thing or even more, thinking this is the scion of the family, and must survive me. It does not matter whether or not my father gave his consent to the wedding. Truth is, he could have done so under pressure, seeing that his son was unthinking and overly emotional about it.
“For me, it speaks more to the son’s capacity to think and make hard choices. I would never have approached my father at all for it, and it’s the most sensible and decent thing to do, knowing his emotional state. The same thing, I’d say, applies to the family of the bride and their daughter. Zero empathy! Is it that kids these days are raised without empathy at all, or it is the westernisation of their thought process?
“Imagine making a move that completely altered the cause of your life because of your kids, and the same children are living their lives regardless, saying life goes on? After all, Daddy made his choice. They might have concluded. I know this is a very sensitive topic, and many people would rather it was left unaddressed. But I feel some type of way as a father, and it really got me thinking about the sacrifices we make for our children.”