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The Conspiracy Against Ribadu By Maxwell James
The establishment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by the then administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo brooked the frowns of privileged roguery in Nigeria. The success story behind that feat is Mallam Nuhu Ribadu (AIG). This youthful, striving and energetic police officer from Adamawa state is so no – nonsense and mean that he stares the enigmatic cabal of crookness and the heavily corrupt straight in the eyeballs, not minding whose ox is gored. Despite his emergence from the hodgepodge of the most corrupt entity (the Police) in Nigeria, he bestrides the baronial enterprise of official thievery like colossus, clipping their corrupt wings. He is also a glorious example of a patriotic Nigerian with an undiluted commitment to destroy the criminal cartel in our clime.
However, since the inauguration of the Yar’Adua administration on May 29, 2007, the servant leader has been delivering wrong messages to the nation other than what he promised Nigerians during the presidential campaign rallies in 2007. For instance, Yar’Adua never minced words as regards his desire to continue with “Obasanjo’s reform agenda.” To him Obasanjo’s effort was sacrosanct. He never challenged any policy that was initiated by the then administration. All the campaign promises that were made by Yar’Adua were hinged on Obasanjo’s ‘good programmes’. Today, Chief Obasanjo that thought he was selling a ‘good product’ to Nigerians has suddenly realized his folly. As short as our memories were, we forgot the Yar’Adua that ruled Katsina state for 8 years. Pronto, he became the darling of the Nigerian press with little effort to dig into his past. It is on records that Yar’Adua was one of the first governors to declare the sharia legal system in his home state of Katsina, with the most controversial decision on sharia made in his state. Yar’Adua was never democratic as many a Nigerian would believe, what with his irrational face – off with his former deputy governor that latter resigned?
Former Speaker Aminu Bello Masari can also testify to the undemocratic propensities and tendencies of President Yar’Adua as evident in the way and manner in which the PDP Governorship primaries were conducted in Katsina state in 2007. Who says Yar’Adua cannot stifle down his opponents with power of incumbency in 2011 as he did in Katsina? Time shall tell.
While Katsina people were wallowing in unmitigated and galloping hunger, the former reclusive governor, now president was busy claiming he saved 6 billion of tax payer’s money. We saw what happened in Sokoto state because with opposition in power, such deadly and spurious claims cannot be concealed except a political surrogate and lackey is forcefully enthroned. There was also this hype about the educational strides in the state; a visit to Katsina will prove book makers wrong as educationally, Katsina is still a near – illiterate state.
What defines development? Can Yar’Adua safely tell Nigerians how many industries he established in Katsina state during his 8 – year rule? Or how many factories are functional in Katsina today? Better still, what is the standard of living in the state today? All this gaffes about Yar’Adua should better be known to Nigerians. Placing the above in perspective is very important because many Nigerians are wondering if the administration has lost steam from take off. What we have today, is four steps backward and one step forward – a clear case of monumental retrogression. Recently, a respected columnist wrote and I quote: “the Yar’Adua administration has been preoccupied with reversing the policies, upturning the programmes, and canceling the decisions of the immediate past administration”. In fact, the administration has even recruited some faceless propagandists in the garb of Movement for Liberal Democracy to sell the ‘New Policy Initiatives, Reversals and Benefits’ to Nigerians. As we all know, Nigeria is a dumping ground and Ginny pig for policy experiments! One reversal that may be too many for Nigerians is the latest attempt to gag the EFCC from performing it anti – corruption crusade. Though several failed modus operandi were adopted by the Yar’ Adua administration to muzzle down the anti corruption czar, through the Attorney General and Minister of (In) justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa SAN, the latest attempt is seen as a carefully scripted plan, hatched in the presidency to forestall the trials of some high profile corrupt politicians that unfortunately milked their states dry during their tenures.
Reports have it that Mallam Nuhu Ribadu will be proceeding on a ‘compulsory’ one – year study leave at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, near Jos, Plateau state. Nigerians are aware of the grand plot to remove Ribadu right from the inception of this administration. The body language of Aondoaka has been very clear. In one breath he conceived the idea of taking over the prosecutorial powers of the commission, in another, he dreamt of a more robust and mega EFCC like our mega banks as he planned the ‘merger and acquisition’ of the commission with other anti corruption agencies. He also loved the commission so much that he recommended a UN job for its boss. For stampeding EFCC, the Yar’Adua administration is not only canonizing fraudulence, she is brazenly celebrating impunity which pollutes the ethical hygiene of our society. This spells doom and torpedoes our collective dream come year 2020. This is a clear antithesis of the administration’s swansongs.
The plot against Ribadu would no doubt jump – start a process of social profligacy that was fast becoming an old order. Some argue that the fight against corruption is beyond Ribadu as a person, good. But of what use is the one year training programme to the fight against money laundry and other fiscal indiscipline that transcend the parochial insularities of our country at this material time when the tenure of the man in charge is still constitutionally valid? For instance the EFCC Act (2004) in section (3) sub section (2) state; “A member of the commission may at any time be removed by the President for inability to discharge the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of the mind or body or any other cause) or for misconduct or if the president is satisfied that it is not in the interest of the commission or the public that the member should continue in office.” As an apostle of the rule of law; which of these constitutional provisions can justify these moves by Yar’Adua?
If we desire progress, we must join hand with the likes of Ribadu to do ceaseless battle against the negatives in our society. As pan-humanic as corruption appears to be in Nigeria, this administration that espouses due process and the rule of law to high heavens has just succumbed to the forces of social retrogression that are bent on crippling the anti corruption fight.
Ribadu is a bulwark against social ills in our society; I crave to meet him live and direct to tell him my profound joy about his style and method, in fact, he is a method man! This is because even within government circle, the fear of Ribadu is the beginning of wisdom. With his operational style that some critiques call Gestapo, the message is strongly etched and reinforced in the sub – conscious mind of corrupt Nigerians; corruption is unwelcome here. This creates a high sense of probity against dubious practices.
As Ribadu goes to school, albeit compulsorily, we still believe that our liberation as a nation can only come from a coordinated effort led by a blunt refusal to be compromised as displayed by Ribadu and his men over the years. Ribadu remains my man of the year!
Maxwell James Kpansia – Epie Yenagoa, Bayelsa State
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