The Import Of Mike Adenuga’s Arrest

By

Jide Ayobolu

jideayobolu@yahoo.co.uk

The arrest of Chief Mike Adenuga came as a rude shock to not a few perspective Nigerians. The commando style in which his house was invaded and the valuable property recklessly destroyed as well as menacing manner he was abducted shows very clearly that respect for the fundamental human rights of people and the dignity of people as human beings are presently on leave in Nigeria. Nigeria is fast becoming an organized police state, a banana republic where jungle justice is the order of the day. What makes the whole development very worrisome, disturbing and saddening is the fact that, we are supposed to be in a democratic environment where the rule of law, constitutionalism and democratic ethos ought to be the guiding principles, however, it is horrendous to note that, politics in Nigeria since 1999 has been over militarized because of the high number of ex-military officers who have not purge themselves of the-obey-before-complain command structure of the military. This has rubbed-off negatively on Nigeria’s democratic efforts so far. It is to this end that people now see the EFCC as a willing tool in the hands of the powers that be at the corridors of power to even up with their political enemies to settle political scores because of political vendetta. And, those in power seem to have forgotten that political power and indeed positions of authority are transient and ephemeral, and no matter how long those in power today will be, one day they will be called upon to give an account of their stewardship, while in office. What those in power today should know is that, they are actually holding such positions in trust on behalf of the people; hence, they should always discharge their duties and responsibilities with the fear of God and service to humanity. Again the question must be asked, as to why this government is running from pillar to post in search of what is not lost? Why the lemon-squeezing and faulting-finding of credible Nigerians by the government just to discredit them?

It in this regards that Afenifere has pointedly remarked that, “the commando-like abduction of the Globalcom chairman, Chief Mike Adenuga by operatives of the EFCC, assisted by over 70 mobile policemen has confirmed the assertion that the EFCC has become the thuggery arm of the PDP. This lawless and primitive mode of dealing with Chief Adenuga confirms the suspicion that his abduction may not be unconnected with his not joining the Transcorp gang to promote the failed elongation project. It is sad that a president who has been junketing around the world in the last seven years to woo foreign investors could now be wittingly destroying the confidence in Nigeria’s business climate. If the government had genuine case against Adenuga, the civilized approach should be followed in bringing him to book. But there is no doubt that this crude assault on Chief Adenuga has removed substantially from the credibility of the present administration if it has any left. There is no man who is above the law and that every offender must be prosecuted. What we see in Chief Adenuga’s saga is a war of vendetta…it is tragic for Mallam Nuhu Ribadu who started out well as anti-corruption czar that he is, now ending it like a political thug let loose on opponents. Yet, this same commission is insisting on not having any evidence to probe the scandalous bribery allegation over the failed tenure elongation project despite the fact that some legislators claim openly that they were offered bribes”. Adenuga had been under intense pressure to team up with other members of the Transcorp group with a view to make the $750million available as stipulated by the BPE rules. Again, the Globalcom consortium may have emerged as the preferred bidder for Transcorp, an indication that should Transcorp fail to pay for NITEL the onus would be on the BPE to transfer its ownership to Globalcom group, for which those in power are not comfortable.

This is certainly not how to fight corruption or even follow the due process, those in authority should be tolerant and accommodating, there is no way the EFCC would have invited Chief Adenuga that he would not have turned up, going by his standing in the society, why arrest him like a common criminal? If the EFCC is not a tool in the hands of the president why has it not arrested anybody over the money that changed hands during the third term agenda? There have been a lot of furores about the Transcorp deal as well as the third term agenda. For one, the establishment of Transcorp without following the due process and the dubious manner they are acquiring public assets have call to serious question the integrity, credibility, sincerity and transparency of the present administration, and if they don’t correct these anomalies, because they are in power today, very soon some other governments will correct these illegalities, that is why the house committees on privatization and commercialization, capital market and communications are set to look into the entire Transcorp deal and the acquisition of NITEL,  also it will be a great error of judgment for government to persecute anybody for not participating in the infamous political agenda. This is an issue that will traumatize those who support it for the rest of their life. But, why will anybody want to rubbish Adenuga? This is a man that has helped in no small measure to assist in employment generation, poverty eradication, wealth creation and all-round development of the Nigerian state, through the many companies he has worked hard to set-up, is this how to reward him for investing so much in Nigeria? Even when Adenuga made attempts to see the president after his release, he was snubbed in a very rude manner after waiting for over six hours. This definitely is not how to run a country, governance requires a lot of tact, diplomacy, maturity, perspicacity and humility, it is not about area- boy mentality or bolekaja attitude to governance or how else does one describe a situation where new powers to arrest and search suspects without warrants will be given to EFCC. Under the proposed laws, EFCC officers will be able to arrest and search suspected drug dealers and exam cheats without seeking permission from the courts. If now the EFCC is behaving as a law unto itself, what will it do with limitless powers? Again, it is important to note that, it is not only Chief Adenuga  that has suffered the terrible fate also Otunba Fasawe was suggested to a harrowing ordeal in spite of all he did for Obasanjo and his family while he was in prison.

The new method adopted now by EFCC is reminiscent of what happened in the dark days of military, where people where arrested arbitrarily, now people are detained in secret detention camps just like the Ita-Oko which Obasanjo himself set-up. No matter what anybody does they should be detained in police cells and it should not be more than 24 hours before they are taken to court. Also, in a Gestapo operation EFCC officials invaded a bank in search of evidence to nail the vice president at all cost. This is really an abnormal thing to do, and more importantly, this is a violation of the sacredness of the office of the vice president as well as the violation of his inherent fundamental human rights as enshrined in the constitution. The vice president is not someone that uses people and dumps them. That is why he has a lot of people around him. Again, the way and manner Ribadu speaks is very uncouth and totally unacceptable, how can he label all the governors and past rulers as rogues? If indeed they did anything or stole any money why is their names not published? It seems that Ribadu has come to the realization that his fate is tied to that of Obasanjo, hence they would swim and sink together. But instead of harassing governors and innocent businessmen, why can’t he beam his searchlight on the NNPC where there is unprecedented large scale fraud, in fact, NNPC has become a cesspool of corruption and fraud, not only do they steal crude oil and engage in bunkering, they launder the money they get in the process. So, why is Ribadu chasing shadows? However, EFCC ought to establish itself beyond the image of Ribadu, so that it can outlive him, because as it is now Ribadu is EFCC and EFCC is Ribadu, this the personalization of law enforcement and this should not be so. In the final analysis it is important to know that, the arrest of Adenuga was as a result of his failure to support the illegal third term project, as well as his closeness to the vice president and this is too bad for Nigeria’s democracy.