Candidate for Ohio Governor Ed Fitzgerald

ONUMBA.COM – For quite some time now, speculations have been rife about who is going to take on Republican Governor John Kasich in the next gubernatorial showdown.

Some Democratic names have been dangled around as likely candidates, but no one has categorically declared an interest in running for governor of Ohio until now.

He is Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerald, the former Mayor of Lakewood, who last week kicked off his campaign with planned clambakes in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.

Fitzgerald is the first Democrat to jump into the race for governor. But it came as little surprise given that the 44-year old former FBI agent had been talking up his interest for months. He made his most revealing move toward that pursuit in March after forming a gubernatorial campaign committee to officially start raising money for the race.

Also, in many ways, Fitzgerald interest in running for governor grew a lot after former Governor Ted Strickland decided against mounting a comeback effort in what would have been a bruising rematch of a race he lost to Kasich by 2 percentage points cliffhanger in 2008. A recent survey by Quinnipiac University Polling Institute indicated that the 71-year old Strickland would have encountered little opposition had he decided to run again, holding a nine percentage point lead over Fitzgerald.

Now, if Fitzgerald is the man to take on Kasich, who is going to take him on?

Currently, it is surprisingly not a crowded field. Today, Fitzgerald is the only declared candidate.

Former Ohio Attorney-General Richard Cordray, who now serves as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency in the Obama administration, has long been rumored as a likely candidate. But he hasn’t responded to these speculations. One thing that’s for sure however is that Cordray has before expressed an interest in being Ohio’s chief executive.

Congressman Tim Ryan has also expressed interest in running for governor in the past.

As yet, no Black politician has shown visible interest in being a candidate for governor. Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, who remains popular in the city, has the best chance of succeeding. A formidable force in the Ohio Democratic Party, he once briefly, unsuccessfully contested for governor. Still, he remains a potentially potent force if he decides to try again.

Mgbatogu is a freelance writer and editor of Onumba.com based in Columbus. He can be reached by email at: Onumbamedia@yahoo.com /

Copyright 2013 Onumba.com.   The information contained in the Onumba.com news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Onumba Media Group (OMG).

Some folks are startled by the fact that it was his only visit to the ancestral homeland in his first term, to say the very least.  When White House Director of African-American and Minority Business Outreach Michael Blake visited Columbus a couple of years ago, it was one of the questions posed to him by the Onumba.com during an interview at the State House, Downtown.

Blake, who was in Columbus to trumpet the president’s accomplishments for the African-American community, was asked if the president was planning a major trip to Africa.

“It is not finalized,” he replied, but quickly veered off matters of African visit, saying, “We have shown a very sincere and continued engagement with Africa,” particularly in the area of economic aid and support for elections to shore up Democratic governments there.

“Finalized,” or not, it never happened in the president’s first term.

It is often an issue of discussion among Africans, with opinions on the matter running the gamut, from outright brickbat of the president to a more lenient tone excusing him for being too busy with domestic matters, even though he somehow found time to visit other places.

But all of that is now water under the bridge.  With his recent reelection to a second term, Africans everywhere are now hoping that the president, whose father hailed from the East African nation of Kenya, would now embark on a major visit to the continent.  He has inspired and instilled pride in Africans and Black people all over the world.

In 2008, when Obama was elected the first Black President of the United States, the entire continent, from Cape to Cairo,  erupted in jubilation and embraced him as a favorite son of Africa.

It’s no different with his recent reelection.  However, many are encouraging the president to pay closer attention to Africa in his second term than he did during his first term.

From my conversations with folks on this matter, they feel a major visit is needed, not a pass-through, and definitely not a swing-by.

Meanwhile, news of Obama’s reelection was greeted with rabid joy and intense celebration throughout Africa, with the epicenter of the shindig understandably being Kenya where bands of agog folks danced, cheered and chanted his name, while banging on drums, woods and waving tree branches.

Obama, whose father Barack Obama, Sr., was a student in the United States, was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4th 1961, to a White mother from Kansas, Ann Dunhan.

Mgbatogu is a freelance writer and editor of Onumba.com based in Columbus. He can be reached by email at: Onumbamedia@yahoo.com /

Copyright 2013 Onumba.com.   The information contained in the Onumba.com news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Onumba Media Group (OMG).

Obioma “Ebony” Agwuncha

ONUMBA.COM – Obioma “Ebony” Agwuncha hails from Nigeria, a country of some 150 million located in West Africa. She is visiting relatives in Columbus where her daughter recently gave birth to twins – a boy and a girl.

The 60-year old widowed mother of seven has her hands full with a motley of chores involving the care she is providing for her daughter and their bundles of joy. Actually, Agwuncha’s visit is for that, caring for her daughter and the babies, that is. She said that it is called ‘Omugwo” which according to her traditional Igbo culture of Eastern Nigeria, she is required to do.

And she has been doing just that conscientiously since the babies were born nearly two months ago. But recently she took a break from her ‘Omugwo-ring’ obligations to speak to Call & Post about her visit, expressing her views about this country and the deep connection she feels for American Blacks.

“I feel we are all the same, treating each other as brothers and sisters because we are really the same people,” said Agwuncha, who owns a school in Anambra State called Ebony Foundation School. But at the same time, having visited the country two times now, she has seen enough to express some disappointment, saying, “I don’t see the kind of brotherhood and sisterhood that is necessary to build a strong bond between African immigrants and American Blacks.

Agwuncha, who regretfully told a story by her grandfather of how a relative was sold into slavery because she was disobedient, feels a lot of work still needs to be done to bring American Blacks and Africans together, which is something she hopes to see happen sooner than later.

In that bonhomie spirit of loving one another, Agwuncha expressed pride in seeing a Black man elected president of the United States, saying, “His work is excellent and that’s why he was reelected.”

But she feels a bit disappointed that President Barack Obama is yet to embark on a major trip to Africa. The president’s only visit to Africa was that short trip to Ghana soon after he took office for his first term.

“He is one of us, he is supposed to pay a major visit to Africa,” said Agwuncha, who also noted, “that [visiting Africa] will show us he is one of us.”

Asked about how she is enjoying her visit to Columbus, she replied, “I like it.” One thing she doesn’t like though is what she described as the excessive focus on individualism here.

“Everybody minds his or her own business, quite unlike Nigeria,” she said.

As for Columbus, she likes it. “Columbus is very good,” she said. “I had never seen snow before. This was my first time of seeing snow in my life.”

Mgbatogu is a freelance writer and editor of Onumba.com based in Columbus. He can be reached by email at: Onumbamedia@yahoo.com /

Copyright 2013 Onumba.com.   The information contained in the Onumba.com news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Onumba Media Group (OMG).

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But there’s no assuming what role Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman is playing as part of his effort to help improve the district. Recently, he and City Council President Andrew Ginther formed a panel of 25 members to recommend ways to do that. It is called Columbus Education Commission (CEC).

To be sure, it wasn’t clear at first just how both independently concieved orbs, that is, the districts internal housecleaning efforts and Coleman’s moves, would coalesce or at the very least work in choriamb in pursuit of a common mission. That lack of clarity in large part played into why the Call & Post published a recent story titled, ‘Future of Columbus School District, who is in charge of shaping it unclear.’

Even with recent expressions of desire to work together on this, it’s still largely unclear just how the labyrinths of this herculean and multilayered mess will be resolved in the end. The good news however is that both sides, clearly frosty about each other, have at least expressed commitment to coexist in favor of advancing a common agenda. But that dovetailing spirit only came after somewhat a corrosive start, a brief hedging on the part of the Columbus Board of Education that easily underscored the undercurrent feelings of turf tiff among some involved in the matter. The board, after stiffening its resolve not to allow Coleman’s panel members to conduct a management review of the district operation, eventually agreed to invite them in, even deciding to abandon its initial demand requiring the group to submit its request in writing.

Seemingly, both sides, after a well-managed acrimonious posturing possibly rooted in distrust as well, have agreed to work out a plan for proceeding with the management review.

Eric Fingerhut, the commission’s executive director, in a letter to the school board, called for both sides to assign individuals who would meet to discuss the way forward in terms of the “scope and timeline for the review.”

Fingerhut’s plan was approved by the school board. President Carol Perkins is the board’s representative who would meet with Mary Jo Hudson representing the panel.

For all involved in these efforts, it is probably refreshing and encouraging to see a once caviling and battleax Perkins involved at any level of collaboration with the mayor’s panel. Weeks ago, she wasn’t optimistic about any of this, even going as far as almost declaring the Sultanhood of the board concerning matters of education in the district.

“They’re fast-tracking with possible conclusions,” said Perkins at a recent board meeting, declaring, “Bottom line, whatever comes down, this board will make the final decision.”

That was her daggers-drawn feelings at that time.  But recently, she offered a more conciliatory tone.

“Now, I imagine, as we get further, if there’s some points that come up, I’m sure we can work it out, said Perkins, who also noted, “We have no objections to this, and again, this could be information that could be meaningful to the next superintendent.”

The current superintendent, who along with Perkins, presided over this whole mess, will retire at the end of the year. While Harris is on the verge of departure, Perkins on the other hand is staying as board leader after she received a vote of 6 to 1 to continue serving as president.

But Harris will hang around long enough to see and possibly react to the recommendations of CEC due in April, according to Fingerhut, who also noted that the panel would offer proposals for revamping the district’s practices.

Mgbatogu is a freelance writer and editor of Onumba.com based in Columbus. He can be reached by email at: Onumbamedia@yahoo.com / Copyright 2013 Onumba.com.   The information contained in the Onumba.com news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Onumba Media Group (OMG).

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But just how bad does Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney really want to win Ohio’s 18 electoral votes?

Apparently, bad enough that Romney said this, “We need to win Ohio. If we win Ohio, we take back America.”

And bad enough that his 42-year old running mate Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan last week took over a soup kitchen in Youngstown for a photo-op without gaining permission from the president of the facility.

But it wasn’t just Ryan being in the kitchen that was the kicker. It was what he did when he got there. While in the kitchen, Ryan, who was decked out in a white apron, was photographed washing pots and pans that appeared very clean.

It was a 15-minute visit to the soup kitchen for a photo-op that went terribly awry. It resulted in a pointless publicity for the Romney campaign, forcing it to explain why Ryan snuck into a soup kitchen pretending to be washing dishes without asking the president of the facility if it was OK to do so.

Ryan offered explanation for what he was doing in a soup kitchen.

“We just wanted to come by and say thanks for doing what you do,” Ryan said. “This is what makes society go. It makes it work. Helping people.”

That was a nice clarification , but the president of the facility didn’t appreciate it.

“We are apolitical because the majority of our funding is from private donations,” Brian Antal told the Washington Post, as he kvetched that Ryan pretty much
“ramrodded their way” into the facility without asking the people who runs the place.

It all begs the fundamental question: Why was it that important for Ryan to be seen in a soup kitchen to start with?

That’s easy. For one thing, for politicians running for office, it seemingly conveys, even if it is phony, a connection to struggling hoipolloi.

For another, especially in this case, it might be a continuation of Ryan’s effort during his debate with opponent Joe Biden to debunk the notion that the Romney campaign is only looking out for millionaires and billionaires and intrinsically detached from the pain and concerns of average folks.

Mgbatogu is a freelance writer and editor of Onumba.com based in Columbus. He can be reached by email at: Onumbamedia@yahoo.com / Copyright 2012 Onumba.com.

The information contained in the Onumba.com news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Onumba Media Group (OMG).

That was how a very satisfied Thomas H. Stephens, Assistant Director of the Mayor’s Equal Business Opportunity Office, described the 10th Mayor’s Small Business Conference & Expo that played out recently at the Hyatt at the Columbus Convention Center, Downtown. The theme of the gathering was “Go Forward: Driving Local Economic Growth through Small Business Inclusion and Sustainability.” 

“This is outstanding. People loved it,” said Stephens, adding, “It was more than what we planned it to be. This year’s conference was a full day, previous ones were half a day. We brought in national speakers. It’s been great,” he said.

Stephens told Onumba.com that the main reason for holding the gathering was “to help small businesses move forward, that was the whole key, providing access to capital” and “helping small businesses link up with large businesses, that’s the whole point, helping them move forward through these rough economic times.”

But it was also to introduce the city’s small business community to the process of securing contracts with the city, which according to Mayor Michael Coleman, summed up to“more than $300,000 in contracting opportunities” in 2011.

In his greetings, Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman said that “Columbus is committed to providing education, support and opportunity to these businesses as they continue to enhance our city’s image as a great place to start and grow a business.”

The event was well attended. Actually, many who sought to register for the conference were unable to do so because registration was closed days before the event.  But for those who attended, it was all worth it.

“I think this has been a phenomenal event,” said Jessica Figgins, owner of Down Home Soul Catering. The conference, said Figgins, “has been an event where you feel comfortable coming in, small business or large business, you are not afraid to ask questions. They provided a lot of resources that I didn’t know were out there.”

Asked about the networking opportunities, Figgins replied: “It has been over the top. I got what I expected and more. So, I’m glad to be here.”

Luke Estice agreed.

“It’s really successful because I found a lot of different avenues that I can reach out to other businesses so I can expand my business,” said Estice, who owns two businesses, Luke’s Huy Road Barber, Beauty & Nail Shop and L&E Soul Food, along with a Food Truck.

“It’s really helpful,” he said.

Raymonia M. Lacy took the same view.

“It has been very helpful, the networking has been great,” said Lacy, who owns IJN Enterprises, LLC, a venture that is involved with business development and
training.

Beside learning “a lot about how to maneuver through the city and the canals we should go through in order to obtain city contracts, Lacy said that she appreciated making connections with the city and other businesses.

Mgbatogu is a freelance writer and editor of Onumba.com based in Columbus. He can be reached by email at: Onumbamedia@yahoo.com / Copyright 2012 Onumba.com.   The information contained in the Onumba.com news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Onumba Media Group (OMG).

But recently, he weighed in with a bray and caviling posture about the simmering hubbub. 

Simply put, there would be no changes to the charter, he declared.

The “petition” is “over.”

But the bad news for the leaders of Columbus Coalition for Responsive Government, the cabal rabidly seeking to reform the city charter, is not really that Ginther is fiercely opposed to their plan.

Rather, their official waterloo is that not enough petitions were submitted to advance their cause, meaning that they failed to meet a cardinal requirement for amending the city charter.

Ginther, whose opposition to the plan certainly doesn’t help, elaborated further in a letter he sent to the citizens of Columbus last week.

“In short, the petition failed to meet the minimum requirements for a charter amendment to be placed on the ballot, which is 19,164 valid signatures, representing 10 percent of the electors in the last preceding municipal election,” said Ginther, adding, “Upon review, the Franklin County Board of Elections determined the petitions contained only 8,471 valid signatures.  Therefore, City Council concluded the process by voting unanimously not to place the proposed charter amendment on the November ballot.”

The cabal of reformists is seeking to place the issue on the November ballot for residents to decide. In a June 16^th letter to Ginther, the group proposed a radical overhaul to the process of electing members of the city council, decrying the status quo as startlingly “archaic” and staggeringly “inadequate.”

Currently, the city maintains an at-large system where council members are elected to serve, represent and be accountable to the entire city. The coalition is pushing to change a system it describes as antediluvian that doesn’t serve the city well. It argues that the current system, which was crafted in 1914 when the city had a population of 181,000, is no longer adequate for a sprawling metropolis of 787,000 ethnically-diverse populations.

In their eyes, it all sum up to a need for change.

And their clarion call for reform embraces an approach that would combine the current at-large method and ward/district system for the city. That plan would expand the council membership from seven to eleven, to consist of four at large members and seven ward/district members.

But it is plan that would be implemented over the dead body of another group ferociously opposing it.  That group, ‘Keep Columbus Strong,’ was recently formed for the sole purpose of undermining and ultimately kiboshing this plan.

Leaders of ‘Keep Columbus Strong’ simply like things the way they are, meaning they favor retaining the current at-large system of electing city council members, arguing that it works because they represent the entire city of Columbus and are accountable to all residents.

Opponents of the plan argue that the coalition’s proposal would create a bifurcated city and encourage a detrimental culture of “horse-trading” pitting one section of the city against another.  They fear it could lead to dangerous intra-city tiff over resources and city projects. They also maintain that the current system has served the city well, and therefore see absolutely no reason to mess with it.

Ginther agreed.

In his view, the coalition’s plan will be bad for the city on a number of fronts, including, his argument that the “proposed charter amendment would limit the power of our citizens, disenfranchise our diverse community, and create a dysfunctional form of local government while pitting neighborhood against neighborhood.”

He concluded: “If enacted, it simply would devastate our collective ability as a community to keep Columbus moving forward.”

Ginther lauded the city’s economic growth, affordable living, and safe, strong and healthy communities, and credited the current government, its charter and structure for the exemplary status and ranking it now enjoys among other major cities in the country.

He said that “Columbus works because we work together.”

Mgbatogu is a freelance writer and editor of Onumba.com based in Columbus.  He can be reached by email at: Onumbamedia@yahoo.com / Copyright 2012 Onumba.com.

The information contained in the Onumba.com news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Onumba Media Group (OMG).

Accordingly, Harris was notified of the state’s investigation of the potential tinderbox a couple of weeks ago in a letter from Stan W. Heffner, state superintendent of public instruction.

“ODE will continue to expect that you and your staff, including your internal auditor, will be readily available to provide any necessary information or access to permit this special audit to occur,” wrote Heffner. 

Heffner’s agency has the authority to conduct the investigation to see if there was academic finagling involved.  Documents being requested include district policies for recording student attendance, email and handwritten correspondences by district officials involved in the matter as well as policies describing how and why students are removed and re-enrolled into the system. 

Harris, in response to Heffner, agreed to make all documents available to him and his staff.

But those documents would also be turned over to the Auditor of States’s office where David Yost is preparing to plunge into the allegations of euchre with his own investigation.  Spokeswoman for Yost’s office Carrie Bartunek said that her office is now assembling a cabal of investigators, attorneys and accountants for the project, for a gavel to gavel look into the labyrinth of matter.

Apparently, both investigations would run parallel with the one currently being conducted internally by the district’s audit office under Carolyn Smith.

So, with up to three separate investigations looking into the incident, it remains unclear how it all plays out. 

Apparently, Harris, in a heads-up June 15 letter, had notified Heffner of a potential problem with the district’s attendance record.  At the same time, when the story broke last week, she noted that she was not quite sure how serious the matter was and whether there was an intention to “cheat.”

“We don’t know what we have here — a big issue, a medium issue or a small issue.”

Seemingly, the big question for the investigating teams, and the nexus of the matter, is whether district officials often intentionally fudged attendance records of students for the purpose of boosting the district’s state report card. 

Several current and former district employees, some of them data analysts and principals have expressed the view that some data manipulations and calculated Kafkaesque occurred in the district, with some recalling having wondered for years why a dizzying shoal of students with poor attendance records would suddenly be erased from the system and then later reappear.

But, who could be doing that, and for what? 

They explained that the purpose of doing that would be to erase the records of students with poor attendance record from the system, that way they would be excluded from score tabulation for state report, which ultimately improves the district’s total student attendance score.  The students would then be re-enrolled later. 

Obviously, that’s their story and they are seemingly sticking to it.  But the ongoing investigations will ultimately determine exactly what happened, and why. 

Data submitted by school districts to the state are used for scoring district performances, especially student attendance rates which has direct and profound impact on student performances.  If these reports of shuck and data manipulation are true, it certainly casts a scandalous pall of uncertainty over the performance of the Columbus School district the past several years.

Mgbatogu is a freelance writer and editor of Onumba.com based in Columbus.  He can be reached by email at: Onumbamedia@yahoo.com / Copyright 2012 Onumba.com.

The information contained in the Onumba.com news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Onumba Media Group (OMG).

But sadly, reminiscences of that June 2 jaunt were drowned out by a deadly tragedy back home that left them reeling in a collective grief.

Recently, a cabal of Nigerians in the United States by the name ‘Nigerians in Diaspora Organization America’ (NIDOA) inaugurated its Ohio chapter in Columbus. The event played out at the Aladdin Shrine on Stelzter Road where festivities included music, food, speeches, panel discussion and a few tamed outbursts of weird tantrums.

Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Communications Labaran Maku was at the clambake and participated in a panel discussion entitled ‘Nigeria: A New Frontier.’  He spoke at length and took questions from the audience. 

The minister, who was accompanied on the trip by the presidential consigliere on ethics and values Dr. Sarah Jibril, told Nigerians that the government of President Goodluck Jonathan is focused on addressing the smorgasbord of problems bedeviling the oil rich West African country, battering the Nigerian society and ravaging lives. 

He conceded that Nigeria is indeed mired deep in a monumental mess, social squalor and apocalyptic economic morose, but he blamed most of it on eons of neglect going back to the military era, and then assured the community that candid efforts are being made by the current People Democratic Party government to pull the economically moribund country out of ravine of despair and into a path of prosperity. He said that the government is growing the economy, promoting technological advancement, working to provide electricity and to improve security.

Frustrated Nigerians have heard it all before and yet not much progress has really been achieved.  But while Maku left them with that nice package of reassuring and hopeful messages on his way back to Nigeria, it turned out it was a trip back with a heavy heart after the tragic news of a Nigerian plane crash in the bustling commercial city of Lagos located in western Nigeria. 

Apparently, the doomed Dana Air flight, which was traveling from the capital city of Abuja to Lagos, went down with “153” passengers on board. Reportedly, the American pilot radioed trouble with two engines of the aircraft just before its catastrophic rappel. It was reported in the media that the plane crashed in a densely populated district of Lagos, slamming into a two-story building that instantly erupted in an inferno.

Rescue workers rummaged through the mangled wreckage of humans and shards of what was left of the aircraft and found no survivor. A visibly lugubrious President Jonathan visited the glum site of the crash, calling the tragedy a “setback” for the country and vowed to improve aviation security. 

Mgbatogu is a freelance writer and editor of Onumba.com based in Columbus.  He can be reached by email at: Onumbamedia@yahoo.com

Copyright 2012 Onumba.com. The information contained in the Onumba.com news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Onumba Media Group (OMG).  

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“I will not tolerate a situation where there is anyone knowingly or willingly manipulating the data,” she said. “We don’t know what we have here — a big issue, a medium issue or a small issue.”

But at the very least, we do know that it is an “issue” and that it potentially looks pretty bad for the district where almost all its schools maintain near sterling scores in attendance.  Now, some may start to question that record.

This mess bubbled up after media reports exposed disturbing instances over several years where attendance records of students were altered, usually in June, just before the data is sent to the State Department of Education for analysis, compilation and reporting. 

Harris explained that the allegations reached the media after several students who were documented in the system as truants were told by the courts that they were not.

Data submitted by school districts to the Ohio Department of Education are used for scoring district performances, especially attendance rates which has direct and profound impact on student performances.  If these knavery reports of shuck and shenanigans are true, it certainly casts a combustible and scandalous pall of uncertainty over the performance of the Columbus School district the past several years.

Harris, limpidly grappling with an uncomfortable matter of a gossamer ilk, said she does not know if this was an error or whether there was an intention to “cheat.”  Well, that’s precisely what the district internal audit investigation will soon uncover and let everyone know.

The big question for the investigators is whether district officials often intentionally tinker with attendance records of students for the purpose of skewing the district overall scores.  It appears when more of students who maintain good attendance record and less of the truants are included in compiled test scores for statewide report, it improves the performance of school districts.  It then means that when the attendance records of students who are performing poorly are manipulated and excluded from data analysis and score tabulation, which is exactly the allegations facing the Columbus School district, it potentially could be for the purpose of skewing performance in state report. 

However, it is all speculation at this cusp.

At the same time, one former school official, among many who have known for years about problems involving the district’s attendance data, recalled instances of possible data Kafkaesque, having wondered for years why students with poor attendance records would suddenly be erased from the system and before you knew it, they would re-appear there.

 At this cusp, everyone is embracing a “wait and see” posture not knowing the scope and gravity of this potential tinderbox until more is uncovered.

School board member Mike Wiles has nothing to say for now.

“As far as what exactly is going on, I don’t know.  There is an internal audit report imminent,” he said.

Apparently, he and the rest of Columbus are ardently awaiting that report to get to the bottom of a snowballing saga that could be a big mess for the district.

Mgbatogu is a freelance writer and editor of Onumba.com based in Columbus.  He can be reached by email at: Onumbamedia@yahoo.com

Copyright 2012 Onumba.com. The information contained in the Onumba.com news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Onumba Media Group (OMG).