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The Gospel According To Bola Ajibola By Banjo Odutola Lately,
there have been a good number of presentations – in form of symposia,
Commissions and treatises dealing with effects of Corruption and corrupt
practices in our country. Mr. Obasanjo – the president of our nation
in eulogising his deceased friend – Mr. Sunday Afolabi, chose peculiar
words centred on the same theme of Corruption, which arguably were
inappropriate at a funeral but effective in the circumstance because of
the prosecution that redefined the career of the deceased. Even, the
Special Duties Ministry has enlisted the Independent Corrupt Practices
and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to assist the Screening
Committee for this year’s National Merit Award - to ensure only worthy
men and women receive the accolade. Levi
Obijiofor in his submission: “Corruption:
How we stained The
intention of this article is not to be unkind to Mr. Ajibola. Avoidance
of the harsh inference by Edwin Madunagu in: “Anniversary
essays on our future”
against the former Judge is my objective. I could not attempt but be
kind because of past interaction with Mr. Ajibola. Yet, I am puzzled not
by what was observed in his paper – it is the absence of intellectual
solutions that turned what would otherwise have been an excellent paper
to a yeasty presentation. Of
my interaction with him - when he was Nigeria High Commissioner to the
Court of St James; I cannot vouch any closeness. Neither can I deny his
graciousness and kind respects on several occasions. Once, he introduced
me to a Baroness and former minister of the British Cabinet – his
words were kind and the experience will remain with me for the rest of
my life. I had access to him and his office. At his tenure, my name was
on his invitation list and I was invited to many functions at the London
Mission. Unbeknown to him - he gave me a sense of importance that my
upbringing denied. His Christmas Cards remained on my mantle-piece –
even past their sell by dates. Also, I am aware of his other
generosities – some of which manifested; others, which did not. I am
not unique in his credit. He was just qua Bola Ajibola. He was to me and
I am still to him - a stranger. However, in the travels of life his
goodness to me impaled the importance of too many relatives from whom
favours were begged and expected; but who denied the same with lame
excuses. Perhaps, this is the reason for my deep and possibly incurable
contempt of them and respects for people like the eminent jurist.
Nonetheless, his paper is my focus and through this attempt, I shall
remain venerable in repayment of his kindness but critical of the
argument raised. In expounding the observations of the Deipnosophist, who advised: “signing of bad contracts, reckless and irresponsible acts, are the major factors contributing to the nation's huge debt burden, which has been put at $30 billion”; I inquire - where is the news in this disclosure? It is common knowledge that many Nigerian State Officials in collaboration with officials of Credit Institutions were involved in various scams to dupe the Nigerian Treasury, which was not properly coordinated and disciplined in the discharge of its obligations. From the Carpet manufacturing turnkey project to construction of inexistent highways for which loans were drawn - all these are no State secrets. In fact – why should they be? The purpose of each loan is verifiable and should not remain a matter of public record. If the Debt Management Office does not possess documentations for each loan – why is the Office not seeking proof? Are the signatories still alive? Are the projects visible? Where projects are not visible – why is this government not empowering the people to inquire difficult questions of it and previous government officials, who have been enriched by suspected recklessness or commission of financial crimes against the State? Its silence is a collusion of sorts and it does not advance what Mr. Ajibola propounds. The
Jurist noted: that by 1983, when the military took over, the country
had already incurred international debt to the tune of $3 billion,
regretting that the amount has now increased to $30 billion. Again,
I ask - where is news in this submission? Save for the value of the
nation’s indebtedness – the current president, Mr. Obasanjo and Mr.
J.K Randle – the former president of Institute of Chartered
Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) have averred that no-one knows the correct
amount owed by the nation. How is it that the eminent former Judge could
be so emphatic of his figure of Thirty Billion? Anyway, did the
Attorneys General during the period in reference alert the nation or
their Heads of Governments of the dubious and unfair contract terms; and
“lawyers who compromised the nation”? If not, such Chief Law
Officers can equally be charged of “compromising the nation.”
Could Mr. Ajibola by extension be guilty of his own charge? What
remains unclear is the purpose of the Debt Management Office. Why is it
that up till now, the president is not versed in the components of the
loans that are being serviced? Mr. Ajibola went on to say that “…though
between that period till now, To
understand the dilemma behind the submission of the eminent jurist –
consider the report of the House
of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts. We operate a civil
service that is not only inept - it is a den of vipers, thieves and
robbers. It is unsurprising that government remains the biggest business
in our nation. If the state of our civil service is as portrayed in that
report – it is clear that an undeserved debt cancellation would set
straight our records. The insuperable position of this debt is not the
undoing of the credit institutions or foreigners who taught us to “load
contracts” - it is squarely of a people misguided by their
leaders and a nation where the rule of law applies only to plebs. This
is the pronouncement, which is the good news that Mr. Ajibola offered as
a gospeller. Before
tackling the issues of compounded interest chargeable by lenders and
manifestly unfair contract terms of our external loans – we need to
examine and sensitise the nation on the import of the Public Accounts
report. What hope is there for development when evidence of financial
transactions are either not properly kept or destroyed by ministries and
their parastatals? What is unfathomable about the Civil Service and
every succeeding government in the 21st Century is the techno
phobia and unwillingness to employ technology to curb waste and use of
the same for proper record keeping.
Anyway, the Civil Service as indicted is full of Arsonists.
Anyway, who can guarantee the safety of records and hardware? There must
be a viable system for efficiency to dethrone malfeasance. On
the issue of adequate provisions in the Criminal Code Act and Penal Code
for dealing with different types of crime – the eminent jurist asseverated
that the problem is the implementation of these laws by the appropriate
authorities. Without stirring trouble between him and Mr. Obasanjo –
to admit the above submission is germane is to conclude that the eminent
jurist questions the usefulness and establishment of ICPC. After all, in
his own words – “…the Commission has changed nothing.” Does the establishment of the cash starved Commission not in itself depict how our leaders fail to consider the implications of their policies? ICPC may have appeared in the short term - popular and expedient in dealing with corrupt practices. Its demise is only a matter of time -a very short time for that matter. Yet, Mr. Sunday Awoniyi – the Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) once posited that ICPC was incapable of dealing with its mandate as there are other prosecuting authorities charged with similar powers. It appears that unless funds are provided – Mr. Justice Akanbi had better reengage himself in grandfatherly pursuits of retirement. Mr.
Ajibola’s colourful approach to corruption is more of fire fighting
and one that is reckless advocacy from a former Chief Law Officer. Chika
Amanze-Nwachuku
of This Day Newspaper reporting his words – though a hear-say: “…
Nigerians should learn to tell any corrupt person, no matter how highly
placed, that he is corrupt. However, a direct quote of: "Let us
call a spade a spade. Any person who is a thief should be told he is a
thief…" does not diminish the report. This type of advice is
a wise crack to the common man. It is technically irresponsible and
eminent jurist knows better. If
the advice pertains to a common thief that has been prosecuted and found
guilty – the legal luminary has again stated nothing new. Judging by
his paper – his advice relates to corrupt leaders. It beggars belief
that he admitted so much that ICPC has not made any difference. If that
position were acceptable – save for minor offences perpetrated by
junior officers, the Nigerian system is still to punish or find guilty
major league perpetrators of corruption. Around us, we recognise former
government officials living in laps of luxury at retirement and their
corrupt collaborators with unexplainable wealth displaying the evidence
lucre. Yet, the State remains blind to them. In fact, these men and
women are patronised; their children graduate into political high
offices and the judiciary with comfortable ease. Who wants to display
the level of foolhardiness that the retired diplomat advocates? Not you.
Not me! Calling
a spade a spade is indeed what is required. It is the spade of Freedom
of Information that must be endowed. Since, Mr. Ajibola has a good
influence on the current president - he should influence his friend to
direct government information flows freely to the citizen. Classifying
loan documentations (if they have not been tampered with or burnt by
Civil Servants) signed as State secrets will defeat attempts to expose
Nigerians who have “compromised the nation”. After
name calling of spades – perhaps, we can commend Mr. Obasanjo for his
attempt to reposition the economy through diversification and
non-reliance on Oil as the only source of foreign revenue. Whilst
government must not remain the largest business in the country – there
is a need to refocus and reposition unregulated economies outside of the
mainstream. Also, our technological blueprint must take a cue from BANJO
ODUTOLA
The
writer is a solicitor of the Supreme Court,
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