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IkoyiGate and More By J.E. Iyobhebhe
You see why I now Love Mr Prez, he is a no- nonsense man all the way. Even when it affects his wealthy in-laws, the Abebe’s of Ekpoma or is it Iruekpen - he speaks his mind and it is public. Please Nigerians, tell me. Which Civilian President, Military President, Head of State or Dictator has ever sent a Memo to his Housing Minister or any Minister for that matter, questioning why prestige Federal Government property was allocated to his in-laws and other BIG and MIGHTY citizens without Due Process. I know there are those of you out there saying this man in London with his Bigmouth, what does he know. I know I don’t know a lot, but please somebody educate me. Was it the EVIL GENIUS himself? Was it Abacha? Who? Please tell me. The Man is on a mission for the long suffering Nigerian people and nothing can stop him now.
Let us talk about Corrupt or inappropriate Allocation of prestige Federal Government properties to the Good and the Great of the Nigerian political, social, business and military elite.
I have always said that when it comes to unfair advantage, corrupt or inappropriate enrichment the elites in NIGERIA unite. The English would say they Close Ranks. This is the only time tribe and tongue becomes irrelevant. Irrespective of their religious or tribal affiliations, they share in UNITY and FAITH, PEACE and PROGRESS. Again, did you hear Jihad when FG prime estates in Ikoyi were being allocated to the Elites of the 4th Republic. Look at the list of those affected and you will see what I mean.
As I understand the matter, the FGN- after relocating to the spanking brand new FCT called Abuja- had a massive stock of prestige real estate in an exclusive area of Lagos called Ikoyi, where initially the British housed their top colonial servants and soldiers. After independence the British Union Jack came down and the Green White Green went up. Our top political, civil service and military elites took over these beautiful colonial mansions for themselves and rightly so. After all it is Our Country. I happen to know the area well because as a young man in Nigeria I visited the area as my aunt, who was and still is a top legal civil servant, lived at Queens Drive, Ikoyi whilst another relative lived at Luggard Avenue. Just a few mins from each other.
The FGN resolved to dispose of these houses because first, it was no longer needed as most top government officials and civil servants had relocated to the new Heaven called Abuja. And also, I gather, because some of our top people were, years after relocating to Abuja, still sitting tight on their Government allocated property in Ikoyi, Lagos. Some rented them out. Others had extended families or girlfriends in them. While some used it as their Lagos retreat. Basically, a waste of money for the FG.
OBJ in his Egba or is it Owu man style said, Wo o. Enough is enough. Not only did the FG resolve to sell these Lagos prestige mansions but also went further and said if you are an Ordinary Civil Servant, the Government will no longer provide houses for you in Lagos or Abuja . We will monetize it ( whatever that meant ) . You go and rent your own property. The Federal Government is not a Housing Association, they said. And also we need to cut down on waste in Government, they argued. The Government basically realised that it was paying far more in civil service accommodation than it should. Those who have tried to rent any decent property in Abuja will know what I mean. I know relatives who lost their nice Government flats in Abuja and Lagos because of this policy. Still I bear no grudge against OBJ. There was logic to the policy although its impact on lower to middle ranking civil servants in Lagos and Abuja was a bit harsh. I know relatives who are now homeless because of this Monetization policy. Still, I bear no grudge against OBJ. The implementation was the problem.
Now our Dearest Minister for Housing and Urban Development was mandated by the Cabinet to implement the sale of the Ikoyi estate. We have a due process office in the Presidency. I would also like to think that we have a due process officer in every ministry. I don’t know. Please someone educate me. Instead of the properties being sold in accordance with due, open and fair process to all NIGERIANS, somehow, somewhere, these properties ended up in the hands of the GOOD and the GREAT in Nigerian society. Please read the list, it is astonishing. Some of the most illustrious names in Nigerian society today were sold or allocated properties which ordinarily their salaries cannot afford. Properties with USD$500,000 – 3-4M price tag and more.
This is a Country where the average Nigerian does not earn more than $300 per year. This is a Country where (apart form our dear finance and foreign minister) no public official earns anywhere near USD 100,000 per year. This is a Country asking the international community for debt relief. This is a country that is at the top half of the world’s poorest nations league. This is a country that will not provide adequate basic medication and care for the millions of Nigerians affected by HIV/Aids. This is a Country that cannot provide basic water and electricity for its Citizens. Where did our Leaders get the Money? Amazing stuff. I was shocked to see the names of some able men and women I respect. Please people, see the list. It is Who is Who in NIGERIA. We were barely recovering from OsujiGate and now IkoyiGate or should we call it OsomoGate.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not against progress or wealth or wealth creation. We surely need entrepreneurs in Nigeria. WE need more Dangote’s, Adenuga’s, Jim Ovia, Odumegwu, etc. We need more private wealth creators in Nigeria. But please, there is money and there is corrupt blood money. What salary was Tofa Balogun, for example, earning to have about US$300M in various bank accounts around the world? I never knew policemen could be so wealthy!. Forget the N13B. I am more interested in the US$300M or Hard Currency, as we say.
I hear he said he has never been so humiliated in his life. Well, Mr former Inspector General of Police, at least you are alive to tell the tale and you are being tried in accordance with due process of the law. A process you used to intimidate, blackmail, and threaten the rich and the poor alike to amass your ill-gotten billions. A process your men have used to shoot and kill innocent law abiding taxi drivers going about their lawful business just because they refuse to pay the illegal N20 police tax (bribe) your men demand from our poor taxi drivers and transporters.
Please people, let us not condemn the poor man before his trial. After all we live in a democracy and every man is presumed innocent until proven guilty. May be Operation Fire-for-Fire caught up with him in the end. I hear he has a law degree or went to Law School. Maybe he can use all the tricks he learnt climbing up the greasy pole at the NPF and his knowledge of criminal law, evidence and procedure to explain to us mere mortals, at his Trial, where he got the money from. He is lucky OBJ is not handing him over to our transporters, taxi drivers and armed robbers for trial! That I would call Real humiliation, Oga Sir.
Forget Balogun, I beg. Let’s go back to IkoyiGate. Surely all these people who bought or agreed to buy our FG mansions in Ikoyi are intelligent men and women. If a Minister or someone else in the Ministry of Housing or Govt came to you and said land for grabs in Ikoyi, surely you should enquire as to whether it is in accordance with due process. The Minister I hear said that the properties were allocated before due process or competitive tendering came into being. Whatever the case should she not as the responsible Minister ensure that she had some sort of due process going on in her Ministry? Was the Minister trying to curry favour with our beautiful and glamorous First Lady by allocating xxx number to the Abebe family? I don’t know. I was not there. Maybe this is how we have always done things in NIGERIA. Maybe the Due Process and Transparency that OBJ has been preaching to us and the international community about is just window dressing to get Debt Relief ? Please tell me. Maybe Due Process is just for the Poor and Oppressed masses who cannot find US $1M equivalent in Naira to buy an Ikoyi mansion.
There is also a serious point to this. Should the Government not be encouraging ALL Nigerians to own their own home. If you are going to sell land in Ikoyi, why sell to those who already have one or two or three in Ikoyi, VI, and Abuja already.. Can we not discount the price and sell a certain proportion to our lower to middle ranking civil servants who cannot otherwise afford to compete with Dollar Millionaire Generals, Politicians, Ministers and Civil Service Mandarins. Can’t we Govern with a human face. Can’t we do things with just a little bit of compassion and concern for our fellow human beings. Why can’t we have leaders with compassion for the less fortunate. Why must it always be Chop-and- Quench for the Elite and to hell with 99% of Nigerians. Why? What is wrong with us? You cannot have peace in Nigeria if 90% of the population are living in abject poverty. It is not possible. You cannot have an island of opulence surrounded by an Ocean of poverty. The Ocean must one day reclaim the Island. It is true.
If the Monetization policy was purely a money raising policy with no social utility aspect to it then put the entire FG estates up for auction or competitive tendering. Establish due process. Get the bidding process underway and sell the properties to the highest bidder or bidders. Obviously banks, property development companies or foreign investment funds would have snapped them up and paid more for them. I really don’t care provided we achieve the objective of raising hundreds of millions of Dollars . Money we can then put into some sort of housing benefit fund to provide cheap loans or mortgages to enable our long suffering lower to middle ranking civil servants buy or rent their own homes. We all know that no honest civil servant can afford to buy or build a decent home in Abuja, certainly not on his or her present salary. I don’t think our dear Minister needs a Degree from Harvard or Yale or Oxford or Cambridge to understand something as basic as that.
Or better still, If we don’t know what to do with the Money, provide ART to every Nigerian man, woman and child affected by HIV /Aids. Since the FGN did not look after them in health surely the least we can do is help our brothers, sisters and children in their hour of need. Instead of relying on foreign governments and charitable organizations to help us pay for treatment of our brothers and sisters.
I would like to think that the Minister forgot that it was no longer business as usual in Nigeria. Some would say it was failure to follow due process and not corruption per se. Others would say that Corruption is Corruption.. Until all the facts are out, it is hard to say. If it was a premeditated attempt to flaunt the Due Process system then she had to go. What about those who bought, agreed to buy or left deposits, what happens to them?
There is the issue of culpability. If you are told by a Minister or a third party that there is land for grabs in Ikoyi and you ask how much and you are told and you say I am interested and the Ministry says: Give us N150M and here is your Cof O. Who do you blame if due process is not followed. The Minister or the purchasers. You tell me. In my view the ultimate responsibility for the fiasco is with the Minister. Her Ministry decided to dispose of FG property in a manner which smacked of cronyism, nepotism and ‘marginalization’ against 99% of the Nigerian population. She must carry the can as the responsible minister. I think in other parts of the democratic world it is called Ministerial Responsibility. In a country where politicians have a sense of morality and a sense of what is right and what is wrong she would have volunteered her resignation to OBJ instead of waiting to be sacked by Mr. President.
There is also, in my view, a secondary obligation on those involved to have verified that it was all over board, especially if you are Minister or top government functionary. Basically if you are part, directly or indirectly, of an OBJ Government that is screaming Due Process, Anti-Corruption etc then there is an even higher corresponding obligation on them to ensure compliance when it affects them personally.
Some of these Big names have in my view been morally and politically damaged by the inclusion of their names on this list. It simply goes to show that the Anti Corruption Revolution has not sank in yet with the Elites in Nigeria. They think OBJ is just making noise. That he cannot change the mentality of Nigerians on Chopping.. That he only has less then 24 months to vacate Aso Rock. That it will be business as usual soon. They may be in for a big shock in my view.
To avoid issues like this in the future, if we don’t have a due process officer in every ministry or government contract awarding corporation or body then OBJ should ensure this is done. In the future if any government body is selling any property or asset or awarding a contract (whether for N5 or N5B) there ought to be a statutory obligation on those selling the asset or awarding the contract to ensure due process is adhered to. There should also be a secondary obligation on the purchaser or bidder to ensure that if he wins the bid or buys the property he is issued with a due process certificate stating that the sale or purchase complies with Due Process. He must obtain two Certs. One from the issuing Ministry or Government body and the other from the Due Process Office in the Presidency. This way we all know where we stand. No body can claim ignorance. And not that ignorance of the law was ever an excuse. I don’t know what the current due process procedure is but certainly it is not working the way it should.
Again, Just my personal view. I am not saying that all the people mentioned in the IkoyiGate scandal are corrupt or should be fired. Far from it. There are some very capable people on the list who may have been caught up unwittingly in this thinking they were buying in accordance with the laws of the land.. I don’t know. I can’t read their minds.
All I am saying is that there are serious lessons to be learnt for all those involved and future leaders. Due Process. Due Process. Due Process. Next time you want to buy property from the FGN take your lawyer along and ask him about due process. Better still write to the DPO or OBJ and find out if it is all above board. Again we have to take our hats off to OBJ. Who needs the BBC, CNN, NTA, Transparency International or any of the hot gossip magazines when Mr President will give it to you straight- in-laws or no in-laws.
I really don’t know what to say, apart from my sincere belief that OBJ is the man of the moment and the only man who can see this revolution through to its logical conclusion. I still believe that we need Him to continue his Good Work beyond 2007. 24 months is not enough for him to get Nigeria on the straight and narrow after 45 years of self imposed imprisonment, arrested development, madness, instability and corruption. He needs more time to cleanse Nigeria and make us whole again. We need to give him more time.
The next man to come in will spend the next 4-5 years consolidating himself in power. May not be able to keep the armed forces under proper control. May not be able or willing or strong enough to continue the Anti Corruption Revolution. It will be a wasted chance for Nigeria. This is the first real opportunity we have had in 45 yrs to get things right, to get Nigeria working, to make Nigeria a stable and successful nation. Don’t throw it away.
We will continue to use every opportunity to persuade OBJ to Continue if the Constitution is amended and he is Free to Stand again. We know he does not want to. We know he is reluctant to. We know it is against his principles. We know he will never do it unconstitutionally. BUT Nigeria Needs him .Something special is happening in Nigeria. There is a wind of change blowing across the land. We need to flow with this wind for the Sake of future Generations. It is all for the better and only OBJ can see it through, in my honest opinion. Only a man sure enough of himself, his knowledge and abilities, his control of the institutions of power in Nigeria, his own morality and conscience can embark on the mission he has embarked upon. This is no ordinary task. The success or failure of this mission will determine whether Nigeria will continue to be an embarrassment to Nigerians or a Source of Pride and Joy. Will determine whether Nigeria continues to be a burden or an asset to her own people. Whether Nigeria can work as a Nation State and take her rightful place in the league of nations.
I am not saying that OBJ is a Messiah or Another Holy Saviour. That I am not saying. I am not saying that the man has never sinned. That I am not saying either. But is it a crime to sin, ask God (Allah) for forgiveness, you are forgiven and you repent and say there is no turning back for Nigeria. That we are tired of a few people ripping off the majority. That we are tired of poverty for the majority of our people. That we are tired of being at the top of the table for infant mortality and bottom of the table for life expectancy. That we are embarrassed by the condition of Nigeria in the 21st Century. And to have the courage, will and desire to do something about it, not for himself, but for the benefit of our Country.. Well, I don’t think so.
If he is to continue beyond 2007 it must be because the vast majority of NIGERIANS up and down our cities, towns and villages want him to continue. It must be constitutional and in accordance with the Rule of Law. The constitution must allow him to do so. So the first battle for those of us who want OBJ to continue is at the NPRC. If we can scale through that then we move it to the National Assembly for Deliberation and Ratification. I believe we can get the 1999 Constitution amended by the National Assembly. If they don’t or they try to blackmail, we take the PRC Recommendations to the country in a Referendum. Which I believe we will win. It will then be up to the NIGERIAN people to persuade OBJ to answer their call to continue the Big fight against corruption in public life in Nigeria. The single biggest cause of poverty and underdevelopment in Nigeria.
What should we call our New Revolution in Nigeria? Offers please. We have had the velvet, the purple, the yellow, peoplepower, etc, around the world. What should we call ours?
Whiter- than- White Revolution No more Chop-Chop Revolution The Black Man’s Revolution No-Going-Back Revolution Anti Corruption Revolution The OBJ Revolution Due Process Revolution Nigeria-Go-Better Revolution. United Jihadis & Crusaders Against Corruption
Please help me. Offers please!
Again, this article is not meant to offend anyone’s status, integrity or ambition to occupy Aso Rock in 2007. The people of Nigeria may have decided already, in their infinite wisdom, that there is No Vacancy in Aso Rock come 2007. Think about it.
Nothing personal.
J.E. Iyobhebhe |