Ribadu and His Learned Friends

By

Olasite Edward

eolasite@frigoglass.com

I usually do not respond to issues in our country by writing in the public space. However this time I feel the situation demands a response. The issue this time is the responses of two public commentators I hold in high esteem, namely Reuben Abati & Levi Ebijiofor to the call of the outgoing NBA president for EFCC chairman Nuhu Ribadu & FCT minister Nasir El-Rufai to be removed.

When I read Odogiyan's call for their removal, my first thought was who is he speaking for, for I had no doubt in my mind that he could not have been speaking from the love for the rule of law. Why do I hold this view? The NBA, some years back, fashioned a new constitution for itself the main thrust of which was to prevent ambitious Lawyers from using the NBA presidency as a launch pad for the  desire to be ministers. The present minister of Justice Bayo Ojo was the first Lawyer to be elected as NBA president under the new constitution; That he choose to rubbish their constitution by lobbying and accepting to be the minister of justice did not surprise people like me, well acquainted with the venality of most public office seekers in Nigeria. What surprised one was the response of the NBA and senior Lawyers to the issue. Many expected Bayo Ojo to be disciplined for this lack of respect to the law he swore to uphold, instead of this the NBA leadership with Odogiyan at the helm went all out to protect Ojo from been sanctioned. Now what do we have, The same NBA and Odogiyan who would protect those that desecrate its constitution is duplicitously defending the rule of Law by calling for the removal of El-Rufai and Ribadu. really how low can we sink morally before we begin to perceive the odour of our own vomit. Like I said in the beginning, my grouse is not with Odogiyan or the NBA, I have since stopped to expect anything good from them. my grouse is with Reuben Abati and Levi Ebijiofor. both men writing in the Guardian Newspapers edition of Friday 1st September, 2006 gave the impression that Odogiyan was right in calling for the removal Ribadu and El-Rufai. Abati, on his part choose to approach the issue oblieqly by appearing to be a neutral arbiter. I felt disappointed in his response to say the least. By implying that the EFCC is somehow guilty of overreaching its enabling law he his somehow taking sides with criminals who would go to any extent to keep the law from catching up with them. I have no doubt that if it had been a Northerner (by the way, I am Yoruba) who said what Odogiyan said, Abati would have examined his motives, analysed his statement word for word and arrived at the conclusion that the Northerner was acting for his paymasters. To tread the path he took in this all important matter makes it difficult for to ignore the accusations of ethnic bias sometimes levelled against him by Igbo and Hausa public commentators. He cannot claim to be ignorant of all that transpired in the NBA or what might have been Odogiyan's motives given his antecedents of imputing unsalutary motives to public comment of people who are not from his region. It is in this regard that I am disappointed in his response. Mr. Ebijiofor on his part, to my mind seems to set a very high bar of ethical conduct for the operatives of the EFCC by deploring their readiness to chase criminals into courtrooms. For one I am not aware (correct me if am wrong) of any law in Nigeria that specifies where an accused person might not be arrested. He is asking for restraint from EFCC Operatives in a country where corrupt former and present rulers do everything, legal & illegal to escape justice. If we all agree that Dariye stole and Plateau state assembly men are aiding him to steal and escape justice, is it not rather foolish to say the EFCC should only arrest these men only when they are willing to give up themselves, I mean if fugitives fleeing justice run into the courtroom, ostensibly, to escape arrest, or if a GLOWING rich man has questionable funds in his keep, are law enforcement agent, in a bid to appear "gentlemanly", wait interminably, outside their houses after sending "polite" requests to the accused to give himself up. Both men disappoint me in their responses because I know they are capable of better insightful analysis than their comments seem to imply. If, according to Abati, Odogiyan should have listed the specific court rulings disobeyed by the EFCC, to give the accusation empirical evidence, what gives him the impression he is free of this requirement by stating that "The corrupt, lawless, officials of the EFCC; and the bribe-taking, document-falsifying members of the FCDA are products of a system that is given to doing even the right thing wrongly" without giving empirical evidence. Demanding a standard of conduct from others you are not ready to fulfil might open one up to accusations of hypocrisy. Both of them allude to a "public opinion" that is judgemental of the EFCC and claim to be giving voice to this opinion. Who are they fooling, What both men are attempting to do is to subtly mould the public opinion against the Anti-corruption agency, on whose behalf, one might ask, the public? the masses? The thing that comes to my mind is that when men of knowledge choose to cover their motives with such hubris they are up to something far far less that honourable... and i am disappointed in both men.

Edward Olasite

Lagos