The Big Set Up

BY - OLUTAYO OLUBI 

THE country's National Assembly which comprises the House of Senate and the House of Representatives has never amounted to anything in the estimation of average Nigerians. And very lately, the two Chambers have done very little to either erase this sordid impression or justify the need for the jumbo pay, the legislative office fetches.

Apart from the strings of scandals, scams and corrupt practices perpetrated on regular bases, a major avenue for fraud has been in the area of the chambers exercise of its oversight functions. This national assignment has given the two chambers unbridled access to acts of intimidation and blackmail, all in an effort to satisfy their high level of wanton greed.

Not very long ago the whole nation was appalled at disclosures made by the Director-General of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Ms.  Aruma Otteh against the chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market and Other Institutions, Mr. Herman Hembe during the committee's unwarranted and belated probe of the Stock Market crash in 2008, that Hembe requested for a bribe of N44million in order to squash the probe.

The personality in the latest scandal turned out to be an unassuming and highly respected member of the lower House. He has been in the House since the inception of this democratic dispensation, and when the tide swept away his very close friend and associate, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Ghali Umar Na'Abba, Lawan had survived the storm, returned to the House and turned into a power broker.

Lawan led the Integrity Group, an alliance of Representatives opposed to the former Speaker of the Lower House, Mrs Olubunmi Etteh. He even effected her impeachment over corruption charges.

The task that has however put the diminutive sized man in an unsavourable lurch was his last assignment at the chairman, the House Ad hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy Regime.

Tall order

When the ad-hoc committee probing the fuel subsidy scandal rounded off its public sittings recently, the committee's chair Farouk Lawan boasted that "our recommendations will certainly bring about the running of a better oil industry in Nigeria. Some of the recommendations will have judicial implications. Some will require prosecutions and so on".

But if there is anyone that would be facing any manner of prosecution, it is likely to be Lawan himself as he had falling for one of the oldest tricks in the book; frame up.

As expected when the findings of the probe came out, there was so much upheaval not only within the oil and gas industry but also in the Presidency where many cronies of the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan were having a field day dealing in Petroleum subsidy. Not only the close aides of the President but many influential members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Heads of States were all neck deep in petroleum products racketeering.

Early signs of the reluctance of the Presidency to involve itself in the probe was its lack of enthusiasm towards the outcome of the probe, forcing the Speaker of the House, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal to voice the need for independent prosecutors should the Federal Government agencies in charge of corrupt practices; the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); his Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)  and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) refuse to follow up on the report.

Pressure

Aside this stance, members of the House Committee probing the fuel subsidy were subjected to untold fears following disturbing approach of lobbyists on their trail. Besides endless telephone calls by faceless stakeholders, some of the lobbyists have reportedly approached relatives of the members to help influence the outcome of the probe.

Lawan even confessed that himself and other members were under intense pressure from lobbyists representing various interests, ranging from politics, business and even private. It was even gathered that some of the relatives of the members allegedly approached by such desperate lobbyists are said to be afraid of their lives.

Burdened by such development, it was gathered that some of the members had lodged serious complaints to the leadership of the National Assembly. Although assurances were given to such members and their immediate families, it was learnt, that the leadership of the House may have resolved to tighten security around such members and their relatives so that the probe would not be affected negatively.

"Nearly all the committee members have been approached. The intention of those trailing them is the same. They would like the lawmakers to protect one interest or the other as the investigation continues.

Huge amounts of money are daily being offered the lawmakers by these people. Political and business patronage were also dangled as carrots before them.

But most worrisome to the lawmakers, according to the complaint they made to the leadership of the House recently, was the fact that some of these people had also attempted to reach the committee members through their relatives. They fear this could prove negative should the lobbyists decide to apply force," our source said.

Following the report, an emergency meeting was held between the committee and the body of principal officers led by Speaker Aminu Bello Tambuwal.

At the meeting, the Speaker reassured the members of the support of the entire house and urged them to continue their work without fear or favour.

It was also resolved that the House leadership should call certain individuals within and outside the ruling PDP to order over alleged acts of interference in the committee's work.

It was also learnt that some committee members expressed fears over the safety of their immediate and extended families since some people have actually approached relatives of the lawmakers in their bid to get the attention of committee members.

While promising to do something about the matter, the Speaker was said to have expressed his displeasure with the turn of events.

It was equally gathered that Farouk Lawan, was summoned by some top functionaries of the ruling party to discuss the probe. "There is even an allegation that some committee members were summoned to the villa at a point," the source added.

Swan song

Eventually, the pressure worked as the main actor, Farouk Lawan caved in. He was lured into accepting $600,000 bribe as part payment for a $3million settlement.

It was gathered that Tambuwal had confronted Lawan over the issue in a meeting of Principal Officers of the House where the Chairman of the Adhoc Committee on Petroleum Subsidy was summoned to defend himself over the allegation.

Sources said that Hon. Lawan had initially denied the allegation when it was put to him by the Speaker but froze in shock when he was confronted with details of what transpired at the address where officials of an unnamed oil company had given him the huge amount of foreign currency which had been marked.

It was further gathered that unknown to Hon Lawan, the entire incident was recorded by video after which copies were sent to a former Head of State who handed it over to Tambuwal.

Already there are speculations that the EFCC may have invited Hon Lawan over the bribery allegation which sources say have already resulted in the Speaker of the House Hon. Aminu Tambuwal disowning the legislator over the messy incident.

Information showed that EFCC had interrogated the alleged ring leader of the bribery scandal who was said to have collected the $600,000 bribe directly from the house of a top player in the oil industry.

It was learnt that the top player was indicted by the subsidy probe for allegedly collecting foreign exchange, without using same to import fuel but that the oil magnate approached a member of the adhoc committee for succour.

A deal of $3million was said to have been struck, while the oil chief gave a cash of $600,000 for the job.

It was learnt that in fulfillment of the deal, the committee later removed the oil magnate's name from the list of indicted companies in respect of alleged abuse of forex for oil imports.

Sources in the National Assembly confirmed that the  heat was turned on the adhoc committee man some days ago when he got wind that the State Security Services(SSS) has tapes of his receipt of the bribe from the oil magnate and that the service was ready to confront the leadership of the House with the details.

The affected Rep was then said to have moved to ensure that the money was displayed on the floor of the House last Thursday after allegedly handing over the cash money he got from the oil magnate.

The plot, according to sources, was that the Rep wanted to claim that he got the money so as to play along with the bribery saga and that he was now sure the time was ripe to release the money.

Sources, however, said that the foreign currency handed over to the Rep were marked notes   and that the security agencies were on top of the probe.

“There was a frenzy in the House last Thursday when the affected Rep attempted to cause the committee on anti-Corruption to display the money as evidence of attempts to bribe him but members resisted the move on the claim that the line of argument cannot be pushed because the man had kept the money for more than two months.

Besides, the Reps who, opposed the bid, were said to have claimed that the request for which the money was given was carried out on the floor.

Report

The total amount of fuel subsidy fraud perpetrated was $6.8 billion and the House Ad-Hoc Committee, headed by Mallam Farouk Lawan, had recommended that 121 oil marketers should be investigated by anti-graft agencies.

They are as follows: 

17 marketers that did not obtain FOREX but claimed to have imported petroleum products.

15 marketers who obtained FOREX but did not import petroleum products.

71 oil marketers to face probe and refund N230.1billion

18 oil marketers for further probe

The report of the committee also faulted the management of the subsidy regime between 2009 and 2011 by thePetroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency(PPPRA) Board, which was led by Senator Ahmadu Ali (GCON, fss)

The committee also recommended sanctions for some staff of the PPPRA.

Ex-PPPRA Executive Secretaries, Mr. A. Ibikunle (August 2009 to February 2011) and Mr. Goddy Egbuji (February to August 2011) for further probe and trial by the EFCC, ICPC

PPPRA's GM Field Services, ACDO/Supervisor-Ullage Team 1 and ACDO/Supervisor-Ullage Team 2

All staff in Procurement Unit of PPPRA between 2009 and 2011.

On the NNPC, the report said the accounts of the Corporation be audited to determine its accounts profits and solvency.

The House had, on January 8, 2012, instituted investigation into the management of oil subsidy over the years, during an emergency session held to discuss the removal of fuel subsidy on New Year's Day by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Attempts to reach Hon. Lawan proved abortive. He did not also attempt to respond to the message sent to him on his MTNN mobile line.

The Mighty Ex-Convicts

By Nafisat Makinde, Jubril Lado & Chijioke Madumelu

THE current bribery scandal rocking the House of Representatives, FRESHFACTS gather, is being seen by many as another test case for government to prove its willingness to deal with mighty corruption suspects. Not long ago, the United States Secretary of State, Mrs. Hilary Clinton, in a report to the US government, said that Nigeria never applied its anti-corruption laws on big suspects, especially. Also, transparency International, TI, only last month, lamented that Nigerian’s corruption situation was “gargantuan”. And then, the Human Rights Watch, HURIWA, on its website, also disclosed that only four big corruption suspects had been successfully tried and convicted by the EFCC. But why is it difficult to arrest and try big corruption suspects? Our investigators returned with the answer that government, willy-nilly, offer protection to such persons, and that it was, therefore, a great wonder that Chief Olabode George was even brought to trial and convicted. In the last two months, two major bribe scandals have emanated from the “honourable” House of Representatives. The first involved the Capital Market crash probe committee, headed by Hon. Herman Hembe, who was accused by Ms. Aruma Oteh, Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, of having demanded a bribe form her. The second is the raging one involving the fuel subsidy probe committee, headed by Hon. Farouk Lawan who was, a few days ago, accused by Mr. Femi Otedola of Zenon Oil, of collecting a $620,000 bribe from him in order not to be included among the oil companies which illegally benefitted from government’s fuel subsidy. Will Farouk Lawan and his secretary Boniface Emenalo, be tried? Our team of Investigators put this question to Nigerians, having recalled that a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, once gave a “clearance letter” to James Ibori, who is now a prisoner in Britain. FRESHFACTS team learnt from Nigerians that it is government that shields big corruption suspects from arrest and trial. They also blamed the judiciary very vehemently for granting big suspects frivolous ex-parte injunctions, and overseas trips for dubious ailments. Recently, as if outraged, the Bureau for Public Procurement, BPP, headed by Dr. Emeka Eze, has now “enlisted” in the anti-corruption ‘army’. Only last week, the Bureau categorized contracts by launching a database of contractors in Nigeria. The database, FRESHFACTS gathered, will be put on its website and made available to foreign investors who desire to do business in Nigeria. The idea, we learn, is to enable them know reputable and genuine contractors so that corruption would be minimized in the country. Nine years into the relentless fight against graft by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions, EFCC, Nigerians are worried that only a few “big” convictions have so far been secured by the anti-graft body. Even at that, many Nigerians are disturbed that those few convictions were secured mostly through plea bargain that often left the corrupt to go home with a chunk of what they had illegally acquired. Findings by our investigation confirmed that the anti-corruption body and its sister agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices (and other related offences) Commission, ICPC, have worked hard over these years to discourage Nigerians from helping themselves to the commonwealth entrusted to them. The problem, our findings revealed, however, is that the agencies are over-stretched with cases and, therefore, compete for the attention of the courts with other cases that are also necessary for the growth of the society. This has made it difficult to prosecute cases with dispatch. Presently, several cases against politically-exposed persons are pending in the courts with some of them having lasted over six years with little or no progress made. With the exception of Bode George, Lucky Igbinedion, Cecelia Ibru, Tafa Balogun, Emma Nwude, Amaka Anajemba and a few others that many Nigerians do not know, other accused persons being prosecuted by the EFCC are as free as the air, having been granted bail by the courts which, many opine, is not any different from acquittal. In this special report titled The Mighty Ex-convicts, FRESHFACTS presents Nigeria’s anti-graft agencies’ chequered history of fighting corruption, their successes and challenges. The Independent Corrupt Practices (and other related offences) Commission, ICPC, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, were established by the Obasanjo administration as a tool to wrestle the scourge of corruption to the ground. Before then, Nigerians had seen governments, both civilian and military, toppled by those that claimed to be anti-corruption crusaders. From Nigeria’s first post-independence government of Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, to that of General Abdulsalami Abubakar, that eventually handed the reins of power to Obasanjo in 1999, the story was the same: corruption. When Obasanjo therefore promised at his inauguration on May 29, 1999, that it would no longer be business as usual, a promise he kept by setting up the EFCC and ICPC, many Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief, that finally, the monster of corruption will be dealt the death blow. That expectation is still alive. History The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was established in 2003 by the Obasanjo administration to confront the corruption which Nigerians believe, is the cause of the country’s under-development despite its immeasurable natural resources. Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, a police officer, was appointed its pioneer chairman. He laid the foundation of the commission. Between 2003 and 2008 when he was unceremoniously removed from office, he left nobody in doubt that he was prepared to step on powerful toes. Within the five years, he convinced even a cynical international community that had once seen Nigeria as a hopeless case that genuine efforts were being made to stamp out corruption. To his credit is the interest shown by donor agencies that gave generously to his crusade. He took on the hitherto untouchables and gave many, a bloody nose. He once appeared before the Senate where he told Nigerians that of the 36 governors, more than 30 were neck-deep in corrupt practices, including those who had deceived Nigerians with their religious posturing. Under him, the governor of Bayelsa State, D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha, who escaped from the custody of the British authorities on charges of corruption was impeached, arrested and prosecuted. Chief Joshua Dariye, another ex-governor who like Alameseigha, was arrested in London with money whose origin he could not successfully prove to the British authorities but managed to escape from captivity, was impeached, though he evaded arrest by going into hiding. Ayo Fayose, then governor of Ekiti State, also suffered impeachment following the heat from Ribadu’s EFCC, even though, like Dariye, he managed to go into hiding to avoid arrest, prosecution and possible jail term. Chief Emmanuel Nwude, a business mogul and a director in the Union Bank and his business associate, Amaka Anajemba , widow of the late Socialite, Ikechukwu Anajemba of Ogidi in Anambra state, were prosecuted and convicted for their roles in the defrauding of a Brazilian Bank of almost $240 million. Alhaji Tafa Balogun, former Inspector-General of Police, and Ribadu’s boss, was arrested, prosecuted and given prison term after he had like Emma Nwude and Amaka Anajemba , forfeited the proceeds of his crime to the state. Besides these high-profile personalities, the EFCC under Ribadu, fought relentlessly against cyber criminals and drove most of them out of business. The drastic reduction in their activities won back for Nigeria, some genuine investors, who had earlier developed cold feet on the suspicion that every Nigerian was a crook. In 2007, Obasanjo left office, having spent his constitutional two terms of four years each. Somehow, his exit created room for some public officials to become too powerful for the law and Ribadu’s attempt to call such people to account for their stewardship, culminated in reactions that climaxed in his unceremonious removal from office in 2008. For instance, Dr. Peter Odili, former governor of Rivers state, who had been on the EFCC radar for a long time, hurriedly procured a strange court order, restraining Ribadu and EFCC from arresting, investigating, prosecuting or jailing him, perpetually. Before Ribadu could recover from the strange development, he was directed to proceed to the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS, Kuru, Jos, for a one-year course. Before this directive, he had tracked and arrested the notorious ex-governor of Delta state, James Onanefe Ibori, preparatory to taking him to court on charges of massively decimating the resources of his state. So, by the time he arrived Kuru after handing over to his Director of Operations, now Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, everything pointed to the fact that the government of the late President, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, was very uncomfortable with his tough actions against those the government saw as friends. It was only a matter of time before he was removed and attempts made by the then Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, to rubbish him and his accomplishments with the commission. He was demoted to the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police from his rank of Assistant Inspector-General and dismissed from the Nigeria Police. He went into self-exile, where he remained until the death of President Yar’Adua in May 2010. He was in 2008, replaced with Mrs. Farida Waziri, who, many Nigerians and the United States, said, failed to impress for the three years she headed the commission despite her claim of successes. In fact, things were so uninspiring under her that the visiting American Secretary of State, Mrs. Hilary Clinton, chided the Federal government for applying the brakes on the fight against corruption. Even the few convictions recorded under her watch were widely described as laughable. For instance, Lucky Igbinedion, former governor of Edo state, who was accused by Farida’s EFCC of converting billions of Edo state’s money into his private use, was sentenced in Enugu to a jail term and given an option of N3.5 million, which he immediately brought out from the boot of his car same day and walked into freedom. Bode George, the former deputy national chairman, south, of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, was, however, jailed for two and a half years without an option of fine by a Lagos High Court. That remains, Mrs. Waziri’s only major, perhaps only achievement, in her over three years of leadership of the commission. She was sacked by President Goodluck Jonathan, whose administration has since brought back the former Director of Operations of the commission under Nuhu Ribadu, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, as the commission’s chairman. Some vibrancy, observers say, has been injected into the activities of the commission but Nigerians are still watching, especially with discoveries of open stealing of the nation’s wealth by those entrusted with the safe-keeping of same, everyday. EFCC’s Achievements Records available to FRESHFACTS show that EFCC has, since inception, taken over 700 cases to various courts. Out of these, it has won over 400 and recovered about $11.6 billion. Though the expectations of Nigerians have not been substantially met, many praise it for having arraigned about 30 nationally prominent political figures on corruption charges. But one of its achievements that is often downplayed by Nigerians is its relentless campaign against cyber crime. Before its inception, the activities of fraudsters had started scaring foreign investors away from Nigeria. Therefore, the world salutes the conviction of some notorious 419 kingpins who had, morphed into an order beyond the nation’s penal code. For example, Fred Ajudua, Ade Bendel, Emmanuel Nwude, and Amaka Anajemba were exposed and dispossessed of their proceeds from crime, thereby helping to rekindle the interest of investors in the country whose population, has positioned it, as the destination of choice. Another remarkable development is the awareness campaign of the commission aimed at dissuading young ones from seeing people with questionable sources of income as role models. Challenges Unfortunately, some Nigerians lamented to our correspondents, EFCC is being frustrated by big suspects who can afford the services of the best Senior Advocates. Despite the efforts of the EFCC, these senior lawyers, who defend politically exposed persons, know all the tricks. They usually start by questioning the jurisdiction of the court, which they sometimes take up to the Supreme Court. When they are done with that, they then accuse the Judges of bias, which they can also take to as far as the Supreme Court. This is when the substantive case of corruption against the suspect has not even started and is on bail. This is why many Nigerians are now agitating, as Mrs. Waziri did, for the setting up of a special court for corruption cases. But that must be preceded by an amendment of the Act that set up the commission. More worrisome is that, they suddenly become ill when the law catches them. At such times, their illnesses are invariably such that cannot be handled in the country. They must, therefore, be flown abroad for proper medical attention. These are some of the challenges that have made it very difficult for the commission to secure conviction easily even in cases that the commission’s operatives are certain of securing same. Great suspects undergoing trial 1) Sunday Ehindero - former Inspector-General of police 2) Gbenga Daniel - former Ogun state governor 3) Timipre Sylva - former Bayelsa state governor 4) Ayo Fayose - former Ekiti state governor 5) Orji Uzor - former Abia state governor 6) Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala - former Oyo state governor 7) Femi Fani Kayode - former Aviation Minister 8) Nasir el-Rufa’i - former FCT Minister 9) Boni Haruna - former Adamawa state governor 10) Saminu Turaki -former Jigawa state governor 11) Chimaroke Nnamani - former Enugu state governor\ 12) Francis Atuche - former MD/CEO BankPHB 13) Sebastian Adigwe - former MD/CEO Afribank 14) Eratus Akingbgola - former MD/CEO Intercontinental Bank 15) Herman Hembe - Chairman House of Reps Co’ttee on Capital Market 16) Chris Azubuogu - Deputy Chairman House of Reps Co’ttee on Capital Market 17) Joshua Dariye - former Plateau state governor 18) Shaibu Sani Teidi 19) Ali Abatcha 20) Actor Zal Nigeria’s Mighty Ex-convicts Tafa Balogun, Lucky Igbinedion, James Ibori, Olabode George, D.S.P. Alamieyesegha, Cecilia Ibru, Emmanuel Nwude, Amaka Anajemba , fred Ajudua, Maurice Ibekwe (late). Discharged Adenike Grange Special case Afolabi Sunday (late) Okwusilieze Nwodo - former National Chairman and National Secretary, PDP Strange case Peter Odili (above the law) The ICPC The ICPC has also recorded some successes over the years, especially under its Acting Chairman, Barrister Ekpo Nta, whom many informed watchers within and outside government have commended for his quiet, but effective style. Watch out for ICPC’s Achievements & Challenges in our Part 2 report.

SANUSI AND ILLEGALITY

Taken aback by the virulent insults and comments recently precisely on 24th July, 2011 in Arewa House, Kaduna, when the SCSN President, Dr. Ibrahim Datti Ahmad vowed that Muslims would defend the implementation of the Islamic banking system “with the last drop of their blood.” “Jaiz bank has come to be and there is nothing they can do about it and if we have to go to war on this, we’ll go to war… Whatever they call themselves, whether archbishops, priests or whatever they are, let them stop disturbing our lives… We’ll meet fire with fire if they make the Jaiz bank impossible.”

Dr. Ibrahim Datti Ahmad was basking in the euphoria of Islam as second to non, just the same way in Kaduna at the venue of the Northern Peace Conference, the former minister of education and oil, and a former senator, Jubril Aminu, had called for the scrapping of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

The unsavory reputation of Mallam Lamido Sanusi and His allies as a bunch of vicious individuals with a despicable disregard for the rule of law, has gradually reached limits that no rational society can tolerate any further.

As if JAIZ Islamic Banking is a better life support programme, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and His allies in their guise to Islamise and destabilise Nigeria introduced it to the Nigerian banking sector.

We now have President Goodluck Jonathan and President Mallam Lamido Sanusi of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the constitution said we should not established any bank on any religious basis, Sanusi whom had denied of not planning to Islamise this country has again proved to it.

According to Justice Kolawole - "any operation license granted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to any Islamic commercial jurisprudence bank under non interest financial services is "unlawful, illegal, ultra vires, null and void."

Justice Kolawole gave the warning while delivering judgment in a suit filed by an Abuja-based lawyer, Sunday Ogboji.

Justice Kolawole said the guidelines issued by the CBN upon which the Islamic Banking license was granted had no statutory basis upon which its legality can be substantiated".- Justice Kolawole.

I aver that Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, and deadly Islamic sect, Boko Haram, plotted to Islamise and destabilise Nigeria by secretly introducing Islamic banking against the nation's constitution.

The southerners whom their oil is been used to run CBN will decide on what to do with their oil.  Apart from Jaiz Bank, which is chaired by the former Chairman of First Bank Plc, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, two other banks have shown interest in offering Islamic banking services. In July last year, Stanbic IBTC Bank was given a provisional licence by the CBN to offer Islamic banking services while Standard Chartered Bank also opened discussions with the apex bank on starting similar services in Nigeria.

However, Lotus Capital, a fund manager and issuing house has carried on business according to Shariah compliant principles since 2004. The company , which is chaired by pioneer Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank, Mr. Fola Adeola, prides itself as a pioneer of Islamic finance house in Nigeria offers wealth and asset management services and manages a diversified portfolio which does not employ the use of leverage, or earning from interest-bearing debt, or invests in prohibited businesses such as breweries, casinos, adultentertainment, tobacco, conventional banks and insurance companies.

Again! The southerners whom their oil is been used to run CBN will decide on what to do with their oil.

When I Grow Up, I Will Steal Plenty--A Nigerian Ambition

"A lady in Chicago was reported to have used hammers to kill flies. When asked why, she replied that she wanted to make sure the sucker was dead! –Ezeana Achusim

These are court-free times; Court freed Elumelu, frees Akingbola! Court freed Ibori, freed Lucky. Court frees all publicly accused big thieves in Nigeria. When they are not freed, they get a slap on the wrist; ala Bode George, Cecilia Ibru, both whom have seamlessly moved back into the system.

In recent times ask Alao Akala, ask Gbenga Daniel, in the beginning ask Alams, ask Dariye, both were the first Londoners and who would forget that former mobile police IG that had a big tummy and jeep farm with plenty 4x4 luxuries called cars littered everywhere.

How about that old fella that was briefly governor in Plateau? I hear he is very sick now, down with some terminal thing. Have we forgotten Boni Haruna of Adamawa and the state house of assembly that sat in Lagos? Yes, there is or was Danjume Goje, now a Senator, like Abdullahi Adamu and a few of them now honorable and distinguished by Nigerian standard.

Witnesses according to EFCC treated us to some lootocratic behavior by the reverend Jolly Nyame of Taraba. Remember the man from the eastern state that starts with an A who rattled a sitting President.

Is it possible to have forgotten Nnamani the governor from the East? Do you have a pure water factory, we just found out you need consultancy from the pension expert woman that makes almost half a million dollars selling pure water.

Have we forgotten those "Ghana will go bags" displayed on the floor of the National Assembly. What became of it...!

Sometime ago, the EFCC beamed cameras on Dimeji Bankole, immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives and eventually docked him on criminal charges of stealing public funds. Today, the youngman with fetish love for white clothing is enjoying life like never before.

There was also one hairdresser and her renovation gimmick and how about the education budget for bribe or bribe for budget. There was also once upon an anticipatory approval. And did we forget the Police Equipment Fund or the Obasanjo Iyabogate palaver with EFCC.

On one hand many of these persons have not be convicted, and are by Nigerian law guilty until proven innocent. But we have known better, from political charges to direct stealing that we see and know.

If these charges that were made public are true? If the charges and legal proceedings are true, if all these SANs with EFCC can't get the job done, then we are far from reality.

The lesson, moral of the story is stealing as much as you can; get some dramatic arrests; routinely attend court sessions; and then go home with a clean judgment of no-offence or no case.

After the president's home state owe lawyers N2bn, something then, indeed is absolutely wrong with Nigeria or nothing is wrong. I will prefer the later. Did I forget the sharia governor whom the then corruption czar said on the floor of the house was stealing directly--raw cash?

How about a current governor in somewhere in the North who seems to be working we hear but won’t pay salary and his son alleged celebrated hitting the billion naira mark in terms of 'stealing'. I am sorry my error, I meant 'earning' or how about another serving governor that has refused to pay civil servants but will be getting married to wife number something from a neighboring west African nation.

Former governor of Bayelsa state, Timipre Sylva, is alleged to have pilfered N6.5 billion from the state treasury whilst he was in office. EFCC in a 6-count criminal charge it entered against the ex-governor on February 24 maintained that the said crime was perfected between October 2009 and February 2010. Yet this man will go free.

Have we forgotten the ex-governor in one of those states with plenty professors and yet he spent the entire state funds on a poultry.

There was also the party chairman to once Africa's largest party, that was docked for we all know, because he fell out and there was need to push him out, once that was a case of Eureka, he was allowed to go and rest.

Apart from alleged stealing, how about questionable academic certification by these men and off course women, they all go scot free.

I have left out all the stealing in Ministries, parastatals, agencies, at federal, state and local level, the list is endless. Yet we have EFCC, ICPC, and the various small 419 departments with duplicate functions in the Police.

If illegitimately one can earn millions as a politician in Nigerian and legitimately get away with stealing even more millions and be celebrated, when I grow up, if there's still PDP and its allied babies in ACN and CPC I will join. I will get a good position I will steal, I will be celebrated, chieftaincy,’ thieftaincy’ awards and rewards and honorary degrees in any field of my choice and if I fall out with the powers that be, I have enough to get the best lawyers and injunctions when I am chased, but that again is if I get caught.

The camera lights of news stations and front pages of newspapers and early morning radio news will be full of me…all these and more will I get if I steal hard and well. In case you need to know, pastors and imams would be praying for me too...all these and more I will reap, except then the Chinese treatment has started.

Today the bitter truth is that corruption beget corruption, the nation’s first citizen would not even declare his assets, he has only condoned corrupt persons…are we ready to treat the scourge and leprosy of corruption, are we ready to have use hammers to kill flies of corruption...to make sure the sucker dies! Only time will tell.

BY PRINCE CHARLES DICKSON

THE POVERTY OF SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS: A CALL TO ACTION

“I dread the events of the future, not in themselves but in their results.” 

― Edgar Allan Poe 

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it. " 

— Alan Kay 

Judging by where we are, is Nigeria at a time for littering wishes and theories?  No! I reckon this is time to roll up our sleeves for concrete action and practice; A time when young Nigerians, at our most physical and creative zenith, ease the tension and apathy between our collective dreams and the shoddy and poverty ridden reality; This is a time when our desires shape the policy of our existence. This is potentially, and quite simply: OUR TIME!

Alas, amidst the stark poverty in Nigeria, we are confronted with a larger dose of poverty of consciousness within those who should know better- YOU, the YOUTH! What one would imagine to be the least complex constructions of reality, turns out to be the most difficult to grasp. While we should be straining every fibre within us to re-adapt to changing contexts, we are found hopelessly wanting.

Very simply, social consciousness evokes change. We are at the crossroads of changed political and economic realities globally. The Arab Spring and the demand for greater freedoms, chequered by an alertness to the spread of extremism; climate change and the demand for an evolving energy economy; freedom of global capital and the permeation of borders in the global recession, are all distinct pieces of evidence in this reality. This truth is merely descriptive. Laying the way for Nigeria’s ideological future and practical existence lies in the heightening of our sociopolitical consciousness, as young people. This is my prescription.

We will show that it neither suffices to just live in this world; nor suffices to merely interpret it. The point for Nigeria, must be to change it.

That the majority of Nigerians are disillusioned and despondent is not state secret. That many generations to come will suffer anguish is a source of collective shame. That the two phenomena are somehow linked is the first realisation to be reached about the current state of Nigeria.

One need only look out the window to see exactly how waste and mediocrity has sustained a generation starved in the circle of poverty of hope, ideals and the basic necessities of life.  A generation that has no business in the pursuit of a good life can but only worry about daily survival from a short, nasty and brutish end. Our population, in the overwhelming majority, lives on less than a dollar a day. Decaying and obsolete infrastructure left by the colonialists is being replaced with redundant white elephants.  The railways built by Lord Lugard and his compatriots have served generations of Nigerians far better than the budgeted trillions we read have been “invested” in our railways by our recent leaders. With a crumbling educational system, our children will not compete with their Chinese, Indian, Botswanian or Ghanaian counterparts. A nation with abundant energy resources, yet its people lack power. In extreme poverty, the ignorant are nurtured in social and religious intolerance- our diversity becomes a brutal burden, and a harvest of distrust, hate and blood. Our resources are a curse to us, yet prosperity for few. This few, the ruling class, will ensure this blind prosperity is sustained, while we the young majority will complain, again and again. But that is today. What of tomorrow?

I like to take you to a GCE examination centre in Lagos in September 2011. Forty candidates, most of them adolescents, sit in an examination hall awaiting the Multiple Choice Questions (objective) for O’level Mathematics- a test of arithmetic, basic geometry, and algebra. Two invigilators saunter in, they have an announcement, “For today, the answers will be two hundred naira each.” The candidates protest immediately and profusely, they have earned a discount after five days. They insist on a hundred and fifty naira each, or no bargain. The candidates play hardball and it wins them the day. Only one in a class of forty truly gets to the task of the day. He is mocked as mummy’s boy and goaded to turn in his answer sheets quickly, so the invigilators can go home! You observe that these candidates look like many tens of thousands of undergraduates being trained in our universities and polytechnics. Suddenly you realise that it is really them- our future leaders.

At the same time, in a classroom in Mumbai, India, some grade nine students are getting acquainted with, and challenged by the cutting-edge concepts of hadron and quark physics. Growing up in an extremely populated society, these children learn very early the lessons of competitiveness and relevance in a shrinking and globalised world. These are the emerging leaders of the new world order. 

Of these two sets of “leaders”, which will understand the issues and challenges of tomorrow and develop and implement appropriate responsive strategies? Your guess is as good as mine!  The only consolation- our future is our choice. Well it seems our future has caught up with us in more ways than one. Being that just a few years back, it was inconceivable that kidnapping could occur to anyone else but expatriates. Again, the notion that extremism would manifest itself in suicidal expressions was also alien.  The chicken somehow found a way to roost. Didn’t it?

Today, what seems to be abundantly clear is that Nigeria’s political leadership lacks the desire and ability to design and protect the integrity of our developmental process. We have more traits that associate us with Rwanda, Somalia, Haiti and Bangladesh and distinguish us from our former peers, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India and Ghana. I’m not one for lauding the so-called good old days. If anything, our movement should be looking forward, not back. Yet neither am I prepared to be ahistorical. I will not summarily jettison conceptual modes of thought, which have validity beyond the particular circumstances in which they may have been originally formed. One such conception is that of being ‘different’. The historical examples are numerous and we need only cite a few. Historically, the effective organization of individual young people into a unified identity has been the most significant push for sociopolitical change. 

In Palestine, this held true for both the Zionist movement, as well as for the Hamas political movement. The Civil Rights movement in the 1960s in the United States was carried through by black youths. Although to devastating ends, in Hitler’s Germany, the youth movement was critical to his ascension to power and the articulation of the Nazi agenda. We can elaborate on how the hippie movement shaped the political thought and liberalism of the baby boomers. Equally awesome is how hip-hop, a musical and artistic youth movement emanating from the Bronx, New York has in the last thirty years gained significant global cultural influence. Fresh in our minds must be the feat attained by the Obama campaign in re-drawing the Electoral College map in the United States, of course by mobilizing the youth vote.

Compared to the situation and possibilities facing us today, such examples may pale into insignificance. If the 1930’s- 1960’s was a period of rejection of colonialism, and the 1970’s- 1990’s, a grappling with opportunistic militarism, the 2000s have presented a shaky permanence with sham balloting and a complete dissociation by the ruling class with the poor Nigerians underneath. If ever there was a time during which young people could articulate a radical alternative to the contemporary Nigerian approach to governance, it is surely at the present.

Our minds are not intrinsically inferior to those of yesteryears. Our perceptual tools are not intrinsically more blunted. The framework at our disposal is not intrinsically more closed. In fact, we are at a much better advantage than any other generation.  A generation that has witnessed a mind-boggling revolution in social media must find a way to center its focus more on its future than the next few vacation photographs or soccer updates. Between the potential and the execution has fallen the shadow of a fettered consciousness. That is what is different.

Our task in this country is to free this consciousness and start it working furiously. It means raising our perceptions to the point where they can pick up the political nuances of the day. It means transforming these nuances into an eloquent sociopolitical consciousness. It means providing a radical alternative to the sterile political system in Nigeria. It means being the barking and biting watchdog against corrupt and/or inept councilmen, governors, assemblymen and their ilk. It means organizing young Nigerian people in the homeland and in the diaspora to create and implement an assertive social agenda.

Nigeria will never be served in the knowledge that people are merely transplanting themselves individually from gloom. Anything devoid of collectivity is a recipe for disaster. Proper education will only be available to few; the majority is armed inadequately for changing times. A nation of simpletons cannot be productive. Effective healthcare will only be delivered after a long flight overseas. Every house lives the conglomeration of generated noise and power. Daily, the aspirations of millions of young Nigerians are nurtured overseas or on the fast lane. In essence, physically and symbolically, we are in the diaspora. 

We cannot merely observe a diasporic Nigerian way of life. The point is to change it.

3. At no stage during the 51 odd years since the birth of this country, has she functioned against a backdrop of anything other than the reality of the ruling class hegemony. This may therefore rank as a turning point in the ideology of how young people can utilise their strengths to effect sociopolitical change.

While the status quo elevated religious and ethnic differences, we are less susceptible, albeit marginally, to the stranglehold of this flawed outlook. Standards regarding integrity in governance are completely absent, hence the indomitable leviathan- corruption. However, poverty is common, oblivious of language or creed. Our national shame and green passport is shared, regardless of federal character. All told, the dictates of self-preservation demand prudent action. By necessary implication, pragmatism demands a tolerance of a wide spectrum of opinions and beliefs. 

It is naïve to assume that a natural evolutionary transition could refine or redefine our sociopolitical process. Power never yields voluntarily.  Power must be checked. We, the young people have a choice to deploy our power and define our future today or just fold our hands and complain. The demographics favour us- we are large, smart, and have a bigger stake (more years and our children’s hope).

The question to be asked now is the following: Have we not been able to be ‘general’ for all of these years, because we have always capitulated subconsciously and permitted the dominant political, social and economic actions of the ruling few? My postulate is a simple one. When that which a youth movement desires, coincides with that which exists, a youth movement will nonetheless seek out alternatives to the contemporary order. That is the stuff of which great youth movements are made. Eternally critical and positioning an alternative to every given, and a given to every alternative. Negating every thesis and offering the negation of the negation in the manner of the Hegelian dialective. 

Today, we have in most governments in Nigeria that which is in many respects is the very antithesis of everything that promotes growth or tackles poverty. They advocate no social philosophy and have a belief in the misconceived absolutes of resource exploitation. A commitment to creating political fait accomplis through election manipulation. A lack of introspective humility and ongoing questioning. Placing mere mortals beyond the realm of criticism. Subscribing to a mantra that we know has not and will not work in today’s changing and dynamic world.

I suggest that we can no longer be found wallowing in a pool of generalities, secure in the knowledge that there is firm ground on either side of us. That ground has given in. We now have to find islands of social specifics and climb onto them.

The status quo has now changed.  More hungry boys and girls will swell the growing ranks of kidnappers, extremists and armed robbers. Oil will be less relevant in the not-too distant future. Our critical role therefore becomes a more urgent one. It involves creating a consciousness where one has been hitherto non-existent.

We cannot boggle at the new realities. We cannot only interpret them and wish their genesis. The point is to change them.

4.Let us feed a starving social and political consciousness and let us vitalise what appears to be a docile framework. Let us awaken our minds to specifics and let us lay mythical generalities to sleep.

The young Nigerian cannot merely observe the world. That is too shallow. Nor can we merely interpret it. That is no less so. Our existence is vindicated only when we change it. That is the point.

Written By Ikem Isiekwena