In Dasukigate Stealing is
not Corruption By Anthony A. Kila Yes, I agree
we must put issues into perspective. In so doing, we cannot but conclude that
in the ongoing Dasukigate stealing is not
corruption, it is treason. Details coming out of the saga go beyond looting
of public funds. It is not just about
the extreme case of abuse of power but the betrayal of fundamental trust and
that of a country. The
unraveling treason in Dasukigate targets a lens on
the Nigerian life. What comes up goes
beyond the man. It also involves how people, organizations and offices betray
themselves and, what and who they ought to stand for. Let us be
clear, as at the time of writing this piece, no one has been convicted of any
crime so all we have at hand are speculations and allegations. The courts
will decide who is guilty and who is innocent. Although, my personal outlook to
politicians and public office holders, in general, is that everyone is guilty
until proven innocent. For the sake of
decency however we shall not treat anyone as guilty here. Hence, we continue to talk of the Dasukigate as a saga in which we see how stealing is not corruption but treason of minds, offices and ideas. If you are
reading this piece you do not need to be lessoned
on what Dasukigate is about. It is everywhere you
mention Nigeria. A closer look will however reveal some shocking details. The
first thing I discovered is that technically there is no Office of the
National Security Adviser. The
Constitution does not mention it and no legislative Act approved such office.
Yet, newspapers refer to it, even official memos of
the government offices refer to it and even call it ‘ONSA’. That in itself is
grave; for in reality someone has created such a powerful office with no
legal foundation or justification. At best it is an illegal office, at worst
it is a parallel power to but set above the ministry and minister of defense
as well as the chief of the defense staff. Yet amongst
those that were sidelined no one protested, no one spoke, no petition, no
memo seeking any clarification whatsoever. The silence of those who knew what
was going on was not only deafening but also very dangerous. There is no
other way to put it. The silent ministers and officers betrayed their
offices, the Constitution and their dignity as leaders and citizens. Their actions could have saved some money
from being diverted and maybe even some lives. If the
episode we read about the Dasukigate is anywhere
near true, you can easily understand me when I say the then Security Adviser
could have easily executed a coup d’etat. For most
people, Dasukigate is about money. So let’s talk
about money. The famous Abacha loot was earmarked for infrastructure and
development. Our very vocal former minister for finance and coordinating
minister for economy personally wrote to seek approval for the diversion of
part of such funds from infrastructure and development into the bottomless
pit of Dasukigate. Yet she never suspected anything
nor did she inform the public and she did not follow up on how the money was
spent. If I was a
youngster and could choose my parents, I would choose former President Dr Goodluck Jonathan as my
mother and former Finance Minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as my father. With
those two as parents you can have sex, drugs, ‘rock n roll’ at home every
day, at any time and they would not suspect anything at all. None of them
noticed a Father Christmas in the Dasukigate days. In all this, my favorite ‘victim’ is the chap that testified/confessed
in a written statement that he did not get a single kobo from the Dasukigate Father Christmas bounty. He simply did as he
was told. The man is not alone. It appears the CBN Governor and those that acted
for him simply did as they were told. I am very worried for those that simply
‘did as they were told’ because the law is very clear about doing what you
are told when you know it is illegal.
You cannot say ‘I didn’t know it wasn’t illegal’ since ignorance is
not an excuse. By the way, I would be keen to know what the very conscientious and
consistent Justice Adeniyi Ademola
now thinks about Dasukigate. He is the judge that
granted Sambo Dasuki bail on self-recognition in
September and later in November ordered that his passport be released so
‘poor Sambo Dasuki’ can go abroad for medical
treatment. In the middle of all this chaos, the bygone ruling party, PDP, had
nothing better to say than to ask for a wider probe that will include all
Presidents starting from 1984 and to include the funding of the APC. Total
nonsense! They say “you are a thief”, you say “yes, but I am not the only
one”. PDP needs some honest people to
stand up, apologise and ask any indicted person to
defend him/her-self. The party needs to assert: The PDP is not a bunch of
looters but a national party of ideas.
If the present leaders cannot make such statements, then it is time
for the young ones who genuinely believe in the ideology of the PDP, whatever
that ideology is, to kick out the present leaders for betraying the founding
spirit and takeover the party. Join me if you can @anthonykila
to continue these conversations. |