Quote: “Hold your head high. You came, you
saw, and you conquered. What’s more: you’re
leaving when the ovation is loudest and even
your detractors are forced to publicly
acknowledge your good work in the service of
your fatherland. There has never been anyone
like you before now and probably won’t be in
the foreseeable future; one with
demonstrable courage and fearless
disposition to step on the toes of the
mighty and the powerful in our corruption
infested society. You trod where angels
feared to go. You are a role model for the
Nigerian youth, just like your contemporary, Mallam el-Rufai.
“You fought gallantly against a system that
sacrifices and destroys its stars and
rewards mediocrity. May God keep you and
prepare you for higher duties in the future,
for no one knows what tomorrow might bring.
Your traducers today might be at your mercy
tomorrow. Such is the life of man. No
condition is permanent. But this much I
would assure you: The day of your departure
from the EFCC, Nigerians will hold an
inter-denominational Requiem Mass for the
repose of the soul of the EFCC and formally
commit the demised body of the agency to
mother earth as tradition demands. R.I.P.,
EFCC!!”---Franklin Otorofani
Introductory Remarks:
Nigeria is my beloved country and so she is
to millions of my fellow compatriots who
still believe in her and her manifest
destiny despite her seemingly congenital
disabilities. Her paraplegic conditions
notwithstanding, I’m an incurable and
eternal believer in the country. Therefore,
I would respectfully advise the incurable
cynic not to count on Franklin Otorofani to
give up on Nigeria because it’s not going to
happen.
On the contrary, I would latch on to any ray
of hope that manages to filter through the
dense fog of failures and disappointments;
of despair and hopelessness; of lost hopes
and dreams; and of the paradox of poverty in
the midst of plenty. I’m a child of faith,
and I believe strongly, that someday, my
disabled country would be healed and walk
again. But the Messiah is long in coming. He
is yet to appear on the horizon. But every
once in a while, an imposter pops out from
the woodworks claiming he is the Messiah
that would redeem the country only to leave
her in a worse shape that he met it. The
nation has been raped, battered, pillaged,
plundered, and left for dead. But she has
refused to die and clings on tenaciously to
life on her death bed. We, her faithful
children, could not but be with her at her
sick bed hoping upon hope for the arrival of
the true physician that would cure her and
restore her to pristine health.
Therefore, as a true and trusted son of our
dear motherland, I would hate to cast her in
derogatory terms. I would not cast a stone
at my motherland nor expose her nakedness to
the world. Yet, it might not be out of
place, and not in the least unpatriotic to
characterize the country as the land of
hostage takers coming next in ranking to
Iraq, that is, if she has not displaced Iraq
already in category. The irrepressible
militants in Niger Delta have ensured that
the country maintains its leading position
in hostage taking. The vocation of
hostage-taking, which was initially
practiced on foreign oil workers has, in the
manner of a malignant cancer, rapidly
metastasized, and now extended to fathers,
mothers, grandfathers, and grandmothers of
state executives, and other high ranking
government officials. Hardly a week passes
without a high profile hostage taken,
followed by behind-the-scenes negotiations
for his/her freedom. The parents of high
ranking government functionaries have
suddenly become endangered species in
Nigeria.
Hostage taking has grown into a lucrative
cottage industry that is providing jobs for
thousands of jobless youths in the Niger
Delta. The “national cake” baked on the back
of Niger Deltans but denied them; so
sumptuously and lavishly consumed by other
Nigerians who don’t even know where it came
from in the first place, is being forcefully
appropriated through the force of arms by
the deprived youths of the region. That’s
what happens when a cancerous tumor is left
untreated until it consumes its host.
While criminal behavior is not to be
condoned in any way shape or form, hostage
taking is a coded message to the authorities
that if they cannot provide jobs for the
youths of the Niger Delta, the youths will
provide jobs for themselves! This is by no
means should be construed as a glorification
of hostage taking, but an acknowledgement of
the root cause of the problems. Water, they
say, must find its level, no matter the
obstacles placed on its path. The nation is
paying the price for decades of neglect and
lip service to the genuine and legitimate
demands of an impoverished geo-political
zone that feeds the nation. It validates the
axiom that whatever goes around comes
around.
However, if you thought that only foreign
oil firm workers; mothers and fathers;
grandfathers and grandmothers of governors,
deputy governors and high ranking government
officials, are victims of hostage taking,
you’re dead wrong! And if you thought that
hostage takers luxuriate only in the dense
winding creeks of Niger Delta, you’re dead
wrong again! If your typical image of a
hostage taker is that of an Ijaw youth
strapping a machine gun over his shoulders
in a gunboat roving the creeks in search of
hostage candidates, you’re dead wrong, yet
again! Hostage takers are operating all over
Nigeria and they include the high and the
mighty in our society. And you would be
surprised who their biggest victim is—Mr.
President himself!
President Musa Yar’Adua is currently
wallowing in bad press today because his
entire presidency has been held captive by
vested interests. Yar’Adua came to power
with the noblest of intentions to make a
difference. His declarations before and
after inauguration mirror those noble
intentions. I am not unmindful that every
one of his predecessors made such noble
declarations only to do the opposite while
in power. So there is nothing really new in
making grand, politically-correct,
declarations upon assumption of office.
However, in the case of Yar’Adua the nation
truly believed that given his youth Yar’Adua
would represent a paradigm shift in the
field of governance.
But alas! Nigerians have watched with a
sense of alarm as the Yar’Adua presidency
allowed itself to become totally encircled,
hijacked, and emasculated by vested
interests. The innocent looking, unassuming
ex-Governor of rural Katsina state, walked
right into a labyrinth of corruption
perpetrated by those who funded his
campaigns and ipso facto put him in power.
Many of Yar’Adua’s ministers, including, of
course, his rampaging Attorney General and
Minister of Injustice (?), Mr. Aondoakaa,
were sponsored by, and therefore, direct
beneficiaries of the forces of corruption on
the prowl in the nation that have left the
country in a comatose state. Their nemesis
is a man called Nuhu Ribadu, Czar of the
anti-graft agency, EFCC. Who wants Ribudu’s
head? It’s the corrupt ex-governors who
funded Yar’Adua’s campaign. And who would
they use to cut off Ribadu’s head? The man
they planted in Yar’Adua’s cabinet for that
singular mission-- AGF Aondoakaa, of course!
He was the man who had been defending them
in court against the EFCC when OBJ was in
charge. With the generalismo in power Mr.
Ribadu had the necessary political and
executive cover to deal with the vermin. But
with OBJ out of power, his successor has a
different agenda. A successor who vowed to
pursue the anti-graft war to its logical
conclusion has been conscripted by
entrenched interests not only to turn his
back on the, war but set himself on a course
of confrontation with the very agency that
is prosecuting that war. Oh, what a
difference seven months make!
Mr. Aondoakaa, Yar’Adua’s so-called AGF, hit
the ground running and immediately went to
work to accomplish his mission of
emasculating the EFCC. But he didn’t reckon
with the usually docile Nigerian public,
which cried foul forcing him to beat a
retreat. Try as he did in his counter
attacks Mr. Rule of Law did not succeed in
his mission, largely because the Nigerian
public and the press were solidly behind the
EFCC and its helmsman, and to some extent,
the National Assembly too. Defeated, Mr.
Aondoakaa later announced to the world that
he would work together with the EFCC to
fight corruption. It was clearly a tactical
move to deceive the public but not many of
us bought that line. Coming on the heels of
that declaration was a seemingly newfound
desire to re-energize the war on corruption.
But don’t be fooled, folks. It was all
strategically mapped out.
Ibori’s Show Trial:
In arresting ex-Governor Ibori, Mr. Rule of
Law had sought to tout the arrest as
evidence of renewed efforts on the part of
the Yar’Adua government to tame the monster
of corruption. But again, many of us saw
Ibori’s arrest as a smokescreen. In an
article published soon after the arrest this
author pointedly described Ibori’s arrest as
“show arrest” calculated to deceive the
people. The imperial treatment Ibori is
receiving today in his detention (?) home
bears eloquent testimony to the “show
arrest” categorization. To all intents and
purposes, Ibori is in “protective custody”
and not in “detention” as the government
would have us believe. This assertion is
borne out of the sheer luxury Governor Ibori
is currently enjoying in a supposed prison
when compared with other gubernatorial
detainees like Fayose and Nnamani, for
example. Ibori has virtually taken over the
prison and converted it into Delta
Government’s Liaison Office from where he is
allegedly plotting the attacks on EFCC with
the backing of the presidency! Ibori’s
luxurious lifestyle in prison detention (?)
is not fortuitous but by design.
However, as if the show arrest of Governor
Ibori is not enough deception, the man who
arrested him is now in trouble! Having been
forced to eat a humble pie, the AGF has now
joined forces with the Inspector General of
Police, (IGP), having seemingly lost his
comrade-in-arm, NBA’s Olisa Agbakoba, to
finally rout the EFCC Czar for daring to
arrest Ibori.
Mr. Aondoakaa has, in defense of the IGP’s
action, let it be known that the
reappointment of Ribadu by the ex-President
did not follow due process in that it was
not sent to the Senate for ratification. As
learned colleagues have rightly pointed out
Mr. Rule of Law has again, deliberately
misinterpreted the EFCC Act to suit the
sinister purpose of the Yar’Adua regime. The
AGF is advised that the EFCC Act requires
Senate ratification of the initial
appointment of the Chairman of the EFCC and
not his re-appointment.
Section 2 (3) of the EFCC Act states as
follows: “The Chairman and members of the
commission other than the ex-officio members
shall be appointed by the President subject
to the confirmation of the Senate.” Nowhere
is the President required by this section to
obtain senate confirmation for the
re-appointment of the Chairman of EFCC. What
does this imposter SAN not understand in the
simple text of the law? Has he not heard of
the literal rule of statutory construction?
What is more: even if the law required a
senate confirmation of reappointment (which
it has not), and a confirmation was not
obtained in the Chairman’s reappointment,
the fact that he has functioned
unquestioningly in that capacity for almost
a year validates his re-appointment, which
is thereby presumed to be regular by virtue
of the doctrine of Omnia presumuntur rite
esse acta. This doctrine is king in
administrative law and could be decisively
en-pleaded in this case even in the absence
of the decided cases that have been cited by
some of the learned colleagues.
The doctrine of Omnia validates all official
actions of Ribadu in the event that his
reappointment actually required senatorial
confirmation, which is not the case. That
Mr.Aondoakaa is pushing this argument
therefore, clears shows, rather
pathetically, the malafides of the Yar’Adua
government towards Ribadu. It’s a shame that
Yar’Adua and his wily AGF, would condescend
to this low level to undo a serving public
officer who has achieved the impossible for
his nation. It’s such a shame and so
distasteful to hear the AGF mouth such
shameful arguments seven months after
dealing with him without questioning the
validity of his re-appointment. This is a
shameful after-thought that has portrayed
the administration in a vindictive light.
There seems to be some element of envy in
all of this. Ribadu has outshone the AGF and
other colorless functionaries of the
Yar’Adua regime even as he continues to
garner both national and international
laurels, which has put this tardy
administration in the cold. And rather than
tap into Ribadu’s enthusiasm for the
anti-graft war and the glory it brings to
the country, they have decided to do away
with him altogether and reduce the agency to
an arm of the notoriously corrupt and
ineffective Nigerian Police Force. First, it
was the AGF that wanted the agency subsumed
under the Justice Ministry where he could
quietly snuff the life out of it. Now, it is
the IGP that is calling the shots. There is
no end to the plots to destroy the agency
and render it irrelevant.
The bottom line therefore is that the EFCC
Act does not require senate ratification for
a reappointment. But that is a side issue
the AGF would push to rubbish the tenure of
Ribadu. And for now the forces of corruption
are once again on the offensive. Only Ribadu
stands in their way and he must be yanked
aside. Reports available at Sahara Reporters
indicate that Ribadu was hurriedly nominated
after the nomination for the NIPSS course
had long been closed. It was a plot hatched
in the aftermath of the Ibori arrest. The
forces of corruption have now finally
pocketed the Yar’Adua presidency in one last
desperate push to get rid of Ribadu and
replace him a malleable, pliant head of the
EFCC who would turn the agency into another
toothless ICPC. It’s baffling that the
Yar’Adua government would degenerate to the
extent of openly fighting the head of an
anti-corruption agency, who has made so much
difference in the perception of the country
as one of the most corrupt in the world; all
in an effort to protect a few individuals
who funded his campaign. And the government
is pushing ahead totally oblivious of the
damage this action has inflicted on its
image and reputation.
Which begs the question: Does the Yar’Adua
regime care more about corrupt ex-governors
than the Nigerian people? How much premium
does he truly place on the war on
corruption, or it’s just a convenient
slogan? The national outcry against the
latest onslaught against the EFCC should
signal to the Yar’Adua regime that Nigerians
are not ready for business as usual with
corruption. If the administration had not
shown its hand in the manner Mr. Rule of Law
had been plotting to castrate the agency and
its chief, no one would read any sinister
motives to the selection of the its chief
for the NIPPS course and Ribadu would have
quietly been eased off without any uproar.
But thank goodness, the regime had put the
nation on notice that it has no stomach for
the war on corruption, and would therefore,
do anything to kill it. The problem for
Yar’Adua is that Nigerians had taken that
early signal to heart, and have therefore,
become wary and suspicious of every
government’s move that has any bearing
whatsoever with the EFCC and/or its chief
functionaries, particularly, Ribadu himself.
National and International Reactions:
Below is a representative sampling of
reactions of a cross section of notable
Nigerians, and the international community,
so far, as reported by a cross section of
the Nigerian press:
(1) Mr. Kanu Agabi, former AGF, who was
among the first to react:
|
“I was sad, and so I think, were many Nigerians, when it was first rumoured that the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission would have to leave office for nine months to attend a course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies…I am firmly convinced that to move him away now will give the impression to well meaning Nigerians and foreigners that your government is indifferent to the fight against corruption. The more reckless of our critics will even say that we now support corruption…”---Punch
|
(2) From E.K. Clark, former Federal
Information Minister, comes this:
“The decision of the Inspector-General of
Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, to send Ribadu on a
one- year course at the National Institute
for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru near
Jos, came to Nigerians as a surprise. This
is a wrong time for this action and
Nigerians will read meanings into it. The
President should suspend this action.
Nigerians are not happy about it, we are
with the people and they are now saying that
the action is designed to reduce the crusade
against corruption, which should not be the
case. The President and the IG should listen
to the voice of Nigerians, majority of them
believe that it is a wrong time to remove
Ribadu, who is serving a second term. When
the second term expires, he can go to NIPSS.
As far as we are concerned, we from Delta
State are satisfied with the performance of
Ribadu, especially his courage to prosecute
former governors and we have heard their
supporters boasting that Ribadu was going to
go. If Ribadu goes now, it shows that
something is wrong somewhere.” ---Punch
(3) From the fiery Gani Fawehinmi, (SAN)
comes this riposte:
“I think the two chief officers of the EFCC
(Ribadu and Lamorde), the prime movers of
the agency have performed creditably. If
Yar’ Adua is planning to remove them, then
the head and the legs of the agency have
been removed. The torso of the EFCC is now
in the hands of corrupt politicians. The
international repercussion of this
development is that Nigeria has plunged into
the abyss of the most corrupt nation in the
world. Stealing of the people’s resources by
corrupt public officials has now received
official sanction by Yar’Adua. All the
promises he made on May 29, 2007 as regard
zero tolerance for corruption have turned
hypocrisy of the worst order in Nigeria.
Yar’Adua will go down in the history of this
country as a leader who deliberately ignored
Section 15(5) of 1999 Constitution, which
says that the state shall abolish all forms
of corruption. Thus, Yar’Adua regime has now
thrown the country into corruption trauma
and a culture of corrupt acts. We can never
make any social and economic progress as
long as Yar’Adua pursues his pro-corruption
stance. Yar’Adua must ensure that Ribadu and
Lamorde are not directed to proceed on any
course now, otherwise the credibility of his
government will be totally shattered.
Besides, corruption will now be a free for
all action. And that will be dangerous for
the political stability of the
country.”---Punch
(4) And here comes the stormy petrel of
Nigerian trade unionism, Adams Oshiomohle,
with this reaction:
"I thought the challenge before the
Yar’Adua’s government was to make the EFCC
go after those people said to have been
shielded from investigation and prosecution
during the government of President Obasanjo.
It is only if he fails that you can fire
him. As it is today, it is going to raise
dust about government sincerity in the
anti-graft war. In spite of its
shortcomings, EFCC has been registered in
the minds of Nigerian people and the
international community that the commission
under Ribadu has achieved a lot.”
“I believe it is not too late for the
government of Yar’Adua to retrace its steps
and recall Mallam Ribadu. The way the whole
things happened, it will be difficult for
EFCC to get focused under a new leadership.
The circumstances leading to the removal of
Mallam Ribadu would be difficult to convince
people that it is was not politically
motivated. My advise to Mallam Ribadu is
that he should not resign. The political
system is so dynamic and Nigerians knows the
stuff he is made of.”---Vanguard
(5) From ‘MEND’ the Niger Delta-Based
Militant group comes this:
“The group also said that they remained
worried by the apparent lack of vision on
the part of the presidency, insisting that
contrary to public stance of the Yar’adua
that he wants genuine dialogue and
zero-tolerance against corruption;
politicians like former governor of Rivers
State, Peter Odili, James Ibori and DSP
Alamieyeseigha continue to influence
Yar’Adua. They cited a recent example, where
Yar’adua tried to force James Ibori on the
team as a member of the “Presidency Dialogue
Team” in the discussions with members of the
Niger Delta community at the peace talks.
The groups also expressed disappointment
that Yar’adua allowed Ibori to order him
(Yar’Adua) to suspend swearing-in for Elder
Godsday Orubebe as minister a few weeks
ago.”---Sahara Reporters
Authors comment: Think about that for a
moment—Ibori to become member of the
“Presidential Dialogue Team” for Niger Delta
in a Yar’Adua administration—the very person
claims to have arrested for prosecution! How
much more hypocritical and dishonest a
President can be? This shows how influential
the corrupt and discredited ex-governors
still are under the Yar’Adua regime. I don’t
know how Yar’Adua’s handlers would explain
this. Poor Mr. Adeniyi! The fellow is now
trapped in a web of intrigues and
presidential hypocrisy.
Now, even the international community that
has invested in the EFFC and the war on
corruption is now worried about the
direction of the Yar’Adua administration
with particular reference to the reform
policies and the war on corruption. The
reported moves by the US and Britain, with
co-optation of Germany, to prevail on
Yar’Adua to stay action on Ribadu’s NIPPS
course is symptomatic of the loss of faith
in this government by our development
partners. Yar’Adua had destroyed the faith
of Nigerians in his government before that
of the international community. The
international community is just finding out
now what Nigerians had, sadly, come to
realize, with deep sense of disappointment
like this author, about the chicanery and
double face of the Yar’Adua administration.
(6) From Transparency International (TI)
comes this:
.“We are moving into an environment of
impunity because it is a demonstration of
the lack of political will to fight
corruption by the present government.
The lack of political will to fight
corruption has been proved beyond doubt
through the removal of the EFCC Chairman,
Nuhu Ribadu…
“The tempo of the corruption fight has died
down since the advent of this regime. It has
diminished seriously and this is being
spear-headed by the Attorney General of the
Federation, Michael Aondoakaa who is working
for indicted ex-governors.
“Ribadu has fought the very powerful
governors who have cornered a lot of wealth
and who helped to install those people in
power now. It is the governors that are
being prosecuted that pushed for Ribadu’s
removal,”
---Thisday
Authors comment: TI is right on the money!
It puts its finger right on the problem: the
ex-governors being prosecuted by Ribadu!
They have taken the Yar’Adua presidency
hostage.
(7) From presidential candidate, Prof. Pat
Utomi, comes this:
“My worry is the timing of this whole thing.
As far as I know, it will send a bad signal
to the world because it is a surprising
order and will put Nigeria in a very bad
light in the comity of nations. Nuhu Ribadu
is one man and we should not be focusing on
individuals but we recognise that
nation-building in Nigeria has been
determined by finding passionate and
committed individuals to fill appropriate
positions in our institutions to give
direction for progress. In Nigeria at this
moment, Nuhu Ribadu is very much fit to be
the kind of person we need for that
institution…” …Vanguard
(8) From the Pulpit comes Prelate Makinde of
the Methodist Church:
“He is a very
courageous man who can lay down his life for
the course he believed in. The man is very
courageous and is the man who can lay down
his life for Nigeria. He is like Mallam
el-Rufai. If they want to improve him, there
is nothing wrong with that. But I must say
that the removal at this time is suspicious
when he is doing a noble job for the
nation,” ---Vanguard
(9) In rare agreement with Gani, Wole
Soyinka the lion roared from his den:
“The ruling party of Nigeria, the PDP has
proved yet again that there is no reformist
agenda possible within its ranks. The
presidential incumbent bears the primary and
ultimate responsibility for this grotesque
reversal of the nation’s frustrated push
towards possible redemption, but it is the
ruling party itself, the PDP, that continues
to suffocate the nation in its folds of
corruption, negating every attempt to rid
her of this incubus, since that party has
exhibited itself, again and again, as the
very quagmire of corruption, nurtured on
corruption, sustained by corruption and
dependent on corruption for its very
survival.
“Ribadu’s removal is not an individual
predicament. The situation here does not
permit of the familiar cliche of any one
individual being less than an institution or
agency – no, that is not the issue! The
issue is that an effective agency has been
tampered with, unnecessarily, but with
transparent motivations that constitute an
assault on the corporate integrity of the
nation. The trust of the nation has been
abused - that is the issue.
Instead of reinforcing the autonomy of an
organization that is clearly dedicated to
probity and political integrity, notice has
been sent to all four corners of the nation,
and to the international community that, at
the slightest threat to the hegemony of
corrupt rule, the credibility of even the
most laudable institutions will be eroded.
What a dismal, contemptuous New Year gift to
the nation! Again, I lament with the
democratic people of Pakistan but, even in
the midst of your grief, spare a moment of
pity for that land of eternal missed
opportunities and blighted hopes, that
clay-footed giant sibling on a continent to
your West, known as – Nigeria.’’---Punch
Author’s comment: It is instructive that WS
is calling on the Nigerian press to rise up
to the occasion. As my readers can testify
to, I have always urged the Nigerian press
to be alive to its responsibility in holding
government accountable to the people by
asking questions and getting answers, not
just reporting the news and accepting
government’s explanation at face value. By
now Nigerians oughthave learnt through the
press, about the clandestine activities of
the government that preceded the IGP’s
announcement of the Greek Gift to Ribadu
without his prior knowledge with a view to
unraveling the motives behind it.
(10) From a Coalition of Pro-Democracy Group
in the North comes this:
… “we have established incontrovertible
evidence that certain corrupt few
politicians, dubious businessmen and fifth
columnists are now working to hijack this
administration from the right path, unknown
to Yar’ Adua.
“We are expressing our reservation on the
satanic plot made by members of the cabal
who are working to hijack the Yar’ Adua
government by dismantling the
anti-corruption machinery on ground. Since
the inception of the Yar’ Adua government,
they made several failed attempt to
extinguish the spirit and soul of the
successful anti-corruption campaign recorded
in Nigeria during the last six years of our
fledgling democracy,” he said.”---Thisday
Author’s comment: While the Northern
coalition might think Yar’Adua is the
target, the author has a different take
altogether. OBJ is the real target. Those
who have hijacked the Yar’Adua regime have
nothing against Yar’Adua, but they have
everything against OBJ who had rubbished
them and publicly disgraced them in office.
With OBJ out of power and Ribadu still in
EFCC, however, there is no way of getting to
OBJ to take their pound of flesh without
first removing Ribadu. We know those who
have been clamoring for Ribadu’s ouster.
They are the very same people who are now
enthusiastically endorsing his
removal—hardly surprising. The point,
however, is that the Northern group should
not be making excuses for Yar’Adua. The buck
stops at his desk, period. If he allowed his
government to be hijacked, he alone would
answer for it and no one else.
(11) From US/Canada-based Nigerians, comes
this:
“In order to demonstrate to all his true
commitment to fighting corruption coupled
with a sincere support for his current war
against corruption which is epitomised by
Ribadu‘s led EFCC team, we call on the
Presidency to override Mr. Okiro‘s ill
advised action, sidelining Mallam Ribadu.”
…Punch
Author’s comment: The President would not
countermand the IGP’s order because the IGP
is doing his dirty work for him. It’s not
“Okiro’s ill-advised action.” With respect
it is naïve to think it is. So, why ask
Yar’Adua to countermand an order he has
himself given? He is being asked to reverse
his own decision that was carried out by his
subordinates. That is not going to happen.
(12) And now, from Ribadu, himself comes
this:
“The fact that I am to proceed on a course
does not mean that I have been sacked. It is
the media that has been suggesting that.
There is no big deal about attending a
course once it is proper for you to do so.
Then I wonder why all the noise about Ribadu
going on a course.”
“When I was appointed as the EFCC chairman,
I took up the task hoping to serve my
fatherland to the best of my ability. It is
a difficult job, no doubt, but what keeps
you going is your sincerity of purpose,
commitment and the desire to help Nigeria
attain a height in the fight against
corruption.
“This is me and I would always be me. I have
nothing personal against anyone. The thing
is that I know I have a job to do and I must
do it. In the course of doing the job, I
might have stepped on the toes of some
people while some people also admire us for
what we are doing. Such is life.” …Nigerian
Tribune
I must confess that the above sampling is
deliberately skewed in favor of those who
oppose the move. Of course as indicated
above, there are those among whom are ex-VP,
Abubakar Atiku, Olanipekun, who now defends
Yar’Adua at the Tribunal, and other
characters, who want Ribadu out and wish the
EFCC dead. Like other Nigerians, they have
expressed their opinions in favor of
Ribadu’s re-deployment. They represent the
defenders and apologists of the status quo
ante. As such, I have deliberately ruled
them out in this presentation because they
are the very forces the nation is up
against.
My advice to Ribadu:
Hold your head high. You came, you saw, and
you conquered. What’s more: you’re leaving
when the ovation is loudest and even your
detractors are forced to publicly
acknowledge your good work in the service of
your fatherland. There has never been anyone
like you before now and probably won’t be in
the foreseeable future; one with
demonstrable courage and fearless
disposition to step on the toes of the
mighty and the powerful in our corruption
infested society. You trod where angels
feared to go. You are a role model for the
Nigerian youth, just like our contemporary,
Mallam el-Rufai.
You fought gallantly against a system that
sacrifices and destroys its stars and
rewards mediocrity. May God keep you and
prepare you for higher duties in the future,
for no one knows what tomorrow might bring.
Your traducers today might be at your mercy
tomorrow. Such is the life of man. No
condition is permanent. But this much I
would assure you: The day of your departure
from the EFCC, Nigerians will hold an
inter-denominational Requiem Mass for the
repose of the soul of the EFCC and formally
commit the demised body of the agency to
mother earth as tradition demands. R.I.P.,
EFCC!!
Conclusions:
Folks, I would leave you with the words from
our very own WS. All that I have written
above comes down to those lines penned by
the sage in his spontaneous reaction to the
Yar’Adua travesty. The nation is, once
again, headed south after the exit of
President Obasanjo, who made EFCC happen.
Without the least intention of denigrating
our Northern leaders, the emerging Yar’Adua
tragedy closely mirrors that of ex-President
Shehu Shagari, an ex- school teacher, just
like Yar’Adua, who was handed power by then
Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo. Just like Yar’Adua,
Shagari not only messed up our economy but
he equally killed the Murtala/Obasajo war
against corruption 1975-1979. I foresaw this
sorry pass and I wrote an article back in
August titled: Musa Yar’Adua: “Another
Shagari in the Making?”
http://www.nigerian-newspaper.com/yaradua-and-corruption.htm
It was meant to alert the nation on what to
expect from the Yar’Adua administration.
Just as Shagari was a reluctant ruler so is
Yar’Adua. Just as innocent looking as
Shagari is, so is Yar’Adua. As incorruptible
as Shagari was touted to be so is Yar’Adua.
And as timid on the war on corruption as
Shagari was so is Yar’Adua. The Shagari
administration thrived on slogans—green
revolution and ethical revolution, etc. But
in the end Shagari left Nigeria’s vegetation
more brownish than greenish, and our moral
and ethical compass more derailed and
dysfunctional than aligned.
But over and above all, just as Shagari was
a captive President to the forces of
corruption, so is Yar’Adua fast degenerating
by the day. These uncanny similarities are
detailed in the article referenced above,
and point to where they would lead to in the
Yar’Adua administration. It’s sad to note
that my predictions have come to pass. Call
me a prophet of doom, if you like, I
wouldn’t mind. But it has all come to pass,
folks. In the end that’s what matters.
President Musa Yar’Adua is a carbon copy of
President Shehu Shagari. Were ours a
monarchy, we might as well call King Shehu
Shagari II who turned the hand of the clock
backwards. Corruption has been given a new
lease of life in Nigeria by a captive
administration. Too bad the nation has made
a bad choice it must live with and I blame
Obasanjo for it. He should have known
better. I hope his bad choice of a successor
will not come back to bite him some day as
the forces of corruption are unleashed on
the land seeking vengeance on those who
routed them in his administration.
They are now regrouping under President
Yar’Adua to take their pound of flesh. Don’t
say, I didn’t warn you, Mr. President. There
are dangerous times ahead… Watch out: Nuhu
Ribadu is the beginning and not the end…
Those who see beneath the superficial know
that the ultimate target is not Ribadu but
Otta. President Yar’Adua is just a tool in
the hands of the corrupt forces baying for
the blood of their prosecutors in the past
to even scores.
Nigeria? Not Yet Uhuru!!
Franklin Otorofani, Esquire (USA)
Contact:
mudiagaone@yahoo.com
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