On October 01, 1960, when Nigeria supposedly gained political independence from Britain, the young hitherto amalgamated nation in the making, which assumed the status of a Republic three years later, did not foresee itself as a country that would breed the likes of Ibrahim Babangida, Umaru Dikko, Adisa Akinloye, Sani Abacha, Ishmaila Gwarzo, Jerry Useni, Hope Uzodinma, Tom Ikimi, Don Etibet, Amaechi Elumelu, Bashir Dalhatu, Atahiru Bafarawa, Tafa Balogun, Joshua Dariye, Orji Kalu, Dere Awosika, Bola Tinubu, and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, to name a few of some of Nigeria's worst and most disdainful public treasury looters on record. The thought of their names and the knowledge of their illegal criminal details make one sick. And as my Igbo brethren would exclaim, tufia!
The moral decadence which has plagued the social fabric of the Federal Republic of Nigeria cuts across all the ethic backgrounds. From the post-independence era of the Abubakar Tafawa Belewa parliamentary government, through the various past military regimes and civilian governments, up to the present Obasanjo administration, corruption in high places amongst Nigerians continues to stand solidly as an impediment in the way of real political and economic progress.
All the reform-minded and futuristic Nigerians have every right to be angry about the sad state of affairs in their beloved country today, after over forty-five years of political independence. While the current Obasanjo administration claims to be fighting corruption via the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), political pundits and other social critics charge that President Obasanjo lacks the credibility and the moral standing to champion such a cause. Some have even accused the president of using the EFCC to witch-hunt his “political nemesis” or “perceived political threats” to his rumored third-term bid.
But if you're still waiting for the report on the conduct of the public office holders in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, whether in the past or in the present, then wait no more, because the jury has its verdict. On behalf of the International Reform Order of Nigeria (IRON), the corrupt status-quo in Nigeria is hereby pronounced GUILTY of economic profligacy and social rape of the Nigerian people!
The majority of the players of the status-quo in Nigeria are the social culprits who constitute “the Ink in our Blood.”
They are guilty of spiritual wickedness. They are guilty of money laundering. They are guilty of narcotic trafficking. They are guilty of economic sabotage. They are guilty of terrorist roguery. They are guilty of the murder, rape, and truncation of the hopes of millions of innocent Nigerians.They are guilty of influence peddling. They are guilty of ethic marginalization, tribalism and nepotism. And above all, they are guilty of insulting and denigrating the integrity of the good peoples of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They are guilty, guilty, and guilty! Many of these guilty social misfits simply do not deserve to be citizens of Nigeria, to say the least.
Despite the many bitter lessons of serious consequences in Nigeria about the country's turbulent history, many of Nigeria's so-called political leaders in all of the geo-political zones of the nation are still sadly behaving in ways and manner that do not at all help the battered image of the country in the eyes of the world community. There continues to be illegal governmental shield of protection, exclusively for the very rogues and thieves who looted the nation's treasury and caused unnecessary perpetual hardship for their fellow Nigerians.
These protected crooks live in the affluence of their loot, while millions of their fellow citizens have been reduced to the status of short-changed proletarians. As for the down-trodden poor citizens, their devalued status cannot even be likened to that of the proletarians of ancient Rome! My prayers for these enemies of Nigeria, who have contributed to the human suffering of their fellow citizens, is that may woe betide their legacy. And may the calamity which accompanies the wrath of God be their portion, because of their spiritual wickedness against their fellow country men and women. Anyone who believes or desires the fate of these social culprits to be otherwise is of course entitled to their own opinion.
In my opinion, the likes of the social culprits such as Ibrahim Babangida and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha ought to be treated similarly. So, if arrest and trial for alleged corrupt practices is considered good for a sitting democratically elected governor, who was hurriedly impeached by his State House of Assembly under the apparent pressure and weight of the Federal government, then the same arrest and trial that's currently on-going for the former Bayelsa State Governor is certainly in order also for former “President” Ibrahim Babangida, the erstwhile Nigeria's unelected military dictator.
As a matter of principle, the most appropriate question today ought to be “what legal immunity does General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida now has, as set forth in the laws of Nigeria, other than the implied ORDERS of President Olusegun Obasanjo to Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, that IBB should be accorded the status of “untouchable?”
Again, on behalf of the International Reform Order of Nigeria (IRON), a challenge is hereby set before Nigeria's legal community to present to the civilized Assembly of Nations, any legally valid reasons as to why a roguish former general such as Ibrahim Babangida, with an unprecedented degree of documented criminal and evil details, is gallivanting all over Nigeria as a free person! And with all due respect, the question is also, hereby directed to President Olusegun Obasanjo. Therefore, Mr. President, if Diepreye Alamieyeseigha deserved to be arrested, why not Ibrahim Babangida as well?
Is former Army officer Ibrahim Babangida above the constitution and laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? It is hereby strongly suggested that he is not. In the same token that former Air Force officer Diepreye Alamieyeseigha is not above the Law. Yet, one thief has been totally disgraced by the Obasanjo administration, while another thief of a similar treasury looting and money laundering orientation continues to enjoy the government's protection. Should it make any difference that one is of Ijaw ethnicity, while the other is of Hausa ethnicity? Both of them, like many other Nigerian treasury looters, are thieves who have stolen enormous sums of money from the Nigerian people. And the peoples of the Federal Republic of Nigeria have the right to reasonably hold these two known thieves to account, without bias or prejudice.
This one example among many others, stand prominently as one of the reasons why the EFCC remains a fallacy in the minds of millions of Nigerians, who expect more from this federal Agency. When the Chairman of the EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu finally develops the needed strong enough “balls” to muster the courage to bring indictments or charges against such so-called “big fish” as Ibrahim Babangida, then and then only, will Nigerians and the rest of the world community start to truly take the Commission seriously.
Meanwhile, despite its other known major successes, the EFCC will continue to be viewed as President Obasanjo's political attack machine, which is used to muscle and intimidate opponents of his rumored alleged third-term bid! Nigeria's current political leadership can really use some repentance from their wicked ways, recognizing that they have a unique and an historic opportunity to begin the detoxification of the nation's inked blood. While there are a few good women and men in the midst of the rotten bunch, it remains to be seen if the few good ones would stand in the gap on behalf of posterity, to do what is right for Africa's wealthiest, and the world's most populous black nation.
Hopefully, sooner or later, the “good for nothing status-quo” in Nigeria, would have to get a grip with the realities of today's world. They would have the choice to either provide the right leadership to move the country forward. Or, have the next generation of reform-minded Nigerian leaders take over from the rotten eggs of the present dispensation. As a starter, the indictment, trial, and permanent incarceration of the likes of General Ibrahim Babangida and his gang of social misfits will signal the beginning of the much anticipated gradual but sure removal of the ink in our blood in Nigeria. To paraphrase the former Head-of-State of Nigeria, General Yakubu Gowon, to remove the ink in our blood in this case, is a task that must be done! |
