Discourse 341
By Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
Ribadu and the Fate of ‘Baidu
The question has always arisen whether “good people”, to put it in that simple way, should serve under “bad governments”.
The latest of such occasions in Nigeria is the appointment of Malam Nuhu Ribadu, the founding Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and a Presidential candidate under the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria, as the head of Petroleum Revenue Special Taskforce (PRST). The body was recently constituted by the federal government to ensure transparency in the stinkingly corrupt Nigerian Petroleum industry. A giant task, given the interests at stake and the powerful people behind them.
Quite a good number of Nigerians, particularly among his political associates and personal friends, have objected to the appointment on different grounds. Some believe that ethically, the good should shun the bad, irrespective of the situation. Such people believe that this government is corrupt and it is merely looking for a means to launder its image which was terribly battered by election rigging, incompetence and, recently, the removal of fuel subsidy. They argue that it is bringing in Ribadu not to allow him perform but to give the public a semblance of response to its agitation for probity in the industry. “The appointments”, the government confessed in a statement issued by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, “were consistent with the policies and promises of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and underpinned by yearnings of the people for transparency in the petroleum industry.”
Their skepticism is not baseless. In his search for support when he came to power, Jonathan promised Nigerians that he will conduct a free and fair election. We believed him, then. To show that he was honest in his promise, he appointed one of the most respected academics in the country, Professor Attahiru Jega, to head the Independent National Electoral Commission. We hailed the appointment, en masse, to the extent that even the opposition believed that come April 2011, it will give the ruling PDP a good run for its money. It will occupy the Presidential Villa.The elections came and PDP had their way, though, to be honest, the opposition was misguided by its overconfidence and naivety. Rightly or wrongly, the opposition bitterly placed the blame at the doorstep of the professor. Ribadu, it is feared, will be greeted by the same fate. Though his record and zeal in fighting corruption are hardly contestable, he may end up frustrated and the PDP government will, as usual, have its way.
Some think the appointment is morally reprehensible, since Ribadu was the presidential candidate of the largest opposition party during the last election. Once you pitch your camp with the opposition, the idealists would argue, you must remain there, as a matter of principle. Ribadu has rightly criticized the ruling PDP during the last election using some of the most uncomplimentary remarks in the English dictionary. To accept a position in such a government, less than a year after the elections poses what could be described as a political contradiction. Such opponents to the appointment are supported by the general belief that one of the reasons behind the failure of democracy in most African states is the incoherence and backsliding of the opposition parties.
Supporters of the appointment will easily and quickly rebut the political argument by arguing that in contemporary Nigeria the opposition parties do not stand on a higher moral ground than the PDP. They commit the same excesses. Their governments are equally as corrupt and hardly have a the people at heart. Governors of opposition parties, for example, supported removal of subsidy with no less vehemence than their PDP counterparts. In the case of Ribadu and the ACN, many of his supporters know that he does not owe the party as much as it owes him, given the manner it handled his campaign and its woeful failure to secure votes for him in its domain. Would he decide to shun it any day, such supporters believe it would be a good riddance.
From another angle, many have opined that accepting the appointment is like nailing the coffin of his political future. How could Ribadu later resign and fight against the PDP government he has accepted to serve? Added to these are the cynics who would, as they have done already, interpret the appointment as a pay back from the ruling party, in line with the argument that both he and Shekarau were hired to divide opposition votes, especially in the North.
Finally, there are few who look at it from the point of view of ego. Accepting to serve in a taskforce set up by a minister – Diezani Alison-Madueke for that matter - falls well below his ambition to be the President of Nigeria. And even when seen from the angle of fighting corruption, this task would only be a fraction of the wider brief of EFCC, a department to which Ribadu was a celebrated founding father.
It seems from his response that Ribadu was not unaware of these criticisms when he finally decided to accept the appointment. His reasons:
“Regardless of our affiliations, our differences, and our engagements, it is at least safe to say that we have a national consensus on the deadly impact of corruption on our march to greatness, and on the capacity of our people, particularly the youth, to earn a decent promising life.
“At this point in my life, it is also easy to answer the honest question if it is inappropriate to invest my modest talents and capacities to my country what I have readily offered many foreign communities, from sister nations in Africa to far flung places like Afghanistan. This, If nothing, makes my decision very personal, freeing all affiliations (social and political) of complicity, but investing the decision also with the unique character that even people reach evaluations in favour of their larger communities, it doesn’t necessarily blemish their moral identity.
“This is therefore a national call. In answering it, I go back to the template of my own parents who taught me that honest public service is the greatest asset a person can offer his community. It was the same lesson I learnt from his biographical example when my own father returned home as a federal legislator in Lagos to take a job as a local official in Yola – it is all about community, and it is sometimes bigger than our personal ego.”
Those who support his acceptance do so on grounds similar to those that informed Buhari to accept the Chairmanship of Petroleum Task Force (PTF) in 1995 under the late President Sani Abacha. Buhari’s friends then, like Ribadu’s today, were divided on whether to accept the position or not. Those who oppose it brought the strong ego argument. “Look”, they argued, “you were once a Head of State like Abacha. Abacha was the person who announced the coup against you in 1985. The regime, to which Abacha was second in command, incarcerated you for four years without any charges and even prevented you from visiting your dying mother. They put an end to your good intentions for a disciplined and corrupt free Nigeria. They ruined government and the economy. How would you accept to serve under one of those people?”
But those who favoured Buhari’s acceptance put forward an equally strong argument, from the point of view of public service, as Ribadu did above: “It is either you accept it and Nigerians benefit from your honesty or the opportunity will be given to a corrupt person that will misuse it to the detriment of Nigerians. Is your ego better than Nigeria? It is not you or Abacha. It is Nigeria. So accept it and, in so doing, use the opportunity to prove that those who turned against you were wrong, that good things are still possible in Nigeria. That is the best way to pay them back.” Buhari, painstaking as usual, took some time to make up his mind. In the end, he went for the job, but under conditions that he will be allowed a free hand. “Granted”, said Abacha, a promise which he faithfully kept until his death. He never sent a single name to Buhari for contract award, Buhari would later attest. Allah jikan maza sun fadi!
The rest is now history. The PTF that Buhari headed is remembered today as one of the most efficient departments of government in our recent history. In the end, Buhari proved that honesty combined with competence could translate into good services to his country. And when he joined politics, his days at PTF were extremely helpful in canvassing the enviable support he today enjoys among the commoners.
The same fate awaits Ribadu when he succeeds, say those who support his acceptance. His success, in spite of PDP and under ministers like Diezani, will be a good investment for his future in politics.
There is no doubt that the petroleum sector is among the most corrupt sectors in our public service, perhaps second only to the Presidency. Nobody really knows how much petrol is drilled from Nigerian wells daily. Not the President, not the Petroleum Minister, not the GMD of NNPC. Just nobody. Figures are just given to NNPC by different oil companies and NNPC itself is for obvious reasons reluctant to know the exact quantities. Then NNPC would in its turn hide some and present some to the federal government. When it was challenged recently by the National Assembly, NNPC literally said its enabling law gives it the status of an independent commercial venture with the freedom to use its revenue without recourse to any government institution, that it is the profit it declares which it forwards to government. I doubt if there is any decent Nigerian who will not support any measure that will end this impunity.
So If Ribadu succeeds to bring probity to the sector, in spite of the circumstances, I am sure Nigerians will be large-hearted to acknowledge his achievements, as they did to his brother earlier.
However, it is failure that Nigerians, including me, fear most for Ribadu because even his past record at EFCC will be washed away in the drain of criticisms that will ensue. This would reincarnate the Hausa parody called kamun gafiyar ‘Baidu.
‘Baidu was one day hunting for rodents. He was happy to have caught one. Just as he was enjoying the pleasure of his success, another rodent appeared. But ‘Baidu did not know what to do: Would he content himself with his first catch and let the second go, maybe he catches up with it another day, or would he try his luck by throwing the first rodent at the second, perchance both get injured by impact and collapse? With only a fraction of a second to think, 'Baidu opted to attack the second with the first and, behold, both rodents escaped, leaving him empty handed. Poor ‘Baidu!
I wished I had a wind of the deal of the appointment was sealed. This essay would not have come at a better time. Now, we can only pray that Ribadu succeeds in the task and comes out of it unblemished. Yet, one thing remains. Many people have requested me to advise him that he resigns any moment he realizes that the government is not serious. Not only that, he should come out to categorically state the reason behind his resignation. I have used that strategy to threaten my former governor, Muazu, and it worked. I enjoyed a free hand under him. I hope it works too for Nuhu if he decides to use it.
Goodluck, Allah rene.
Bauchi,
9 February, 2012
Showing posts with label Nuhu Ribadu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nuhu Ribadu. Show all posts
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Friday, May 21, 2010
Discourse 233 Ribadu, the Anti-Corruption Prince
Friday Discourse (233)
Ribadu, the New Anti-Corruption Prince
People who are conversant with the intricacies of government, the complexity of politics and the dictates of law in Nigeria will not find it difficult to discern that the task of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is not an easy one. Since the inception of his commission, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, its Chairman, has distinguished himself as an officer who is not afraid to go after any criminal, regardless of his position in the society, no matter the attendant risk to his life or position, and notwithstanding any foreseeable political furore. For one's peace, Machiavelli once advised his prince, he should avoid tampering with the source of people's wealth and with their women. Ribadu's task is to tamper with the first while he has no business with the second. So his task is naturally a difficult one. It could well be considered as the toughest in the Nigerian Police Force. Yet, he pursues his duty with the commitment of a suicidal instinct. I have never met him, but I, together with millions of Nigerians, admire his courage, commitment and sincerity. We support him.
Government and politics are intertwined, so we will treat them together. In fact, some people will argue that in the context of Nigerian political arena, politics overrides government. We will give two examples of how the two impede our progress towards checking corruption. Two weeks ago the Federal Government came up with a list of politicians it believed are corrupt and are not fit to stand for elections if indicted by an administrative panel as provided by the constitution. The government said the list originated from EFCC. The Commission did not deny that. After all, many times Ribadu has sworn that his Commission will prevent such politicians from running in the next elections. So the Commission, aware of its constitutional limitations, ambushed these politicians after their parties have officially submitted their names as nominees to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). EFCC collected the list and started pencilling down names of people whose dossier are dirty enough for disqualification. Then, aware of the fact that it has no constitutional right to prevent anyone from standing for elections directly, the Commission submitted the names to the President, whom they expected – or advised – to finish the job by constituting an administrative panel of inquiry that will offer the accused politicians the chance to defend themselves.
The politicians affected, as expected, cried foul and accused the government of subverting the chances of its opponents. The opposition described the inclusion of ruling party members on the list as a smokescreen. The real intention, they alleged, was to checkmate political heavyweights like the Vice President. More damaging to the credibility of the list, however, is the fact that, to the disappointment of EFCC, the Presidency has tampered with the list by removing the names of PDP members who are in its good books and, possibly, adding some. Even if Ribadu did not leak this fact, we would have arrived at it from the inconsistency of the list with his previous statements. Ribadu had earlier told Nigerians that majority of their governors are corrupt. He has documents to prove corruption charges against at least thirty out of the thirty-six governors, he continues to claim. And we believed Ribadu for he is in a good position to know and he has never prosecuted any innocent person. He even mentioned names which, surprisingly, by the time his list passed through the political filter of Aso Rock, have mysteriously disappeared. Something is amiss.
Ribadu must be in a dilemma. This is just another case in which his boss, the President, has disappointed him. There have been many other occasions before, some involving the President himself. For example, when the President extorted state governments, federal ministries and parastatals, private companies and individuals for his personal library project, Ribadu approached him and the President had no credible alibi but to say that the library will be put to public use. Ribadu left unconvinced. A bigger scandal was underway. The President was caught fabricating a company called Transcorp to which he auctioned the national telephone company – NITEL, Nicon, and so on. Nigerians screamed at this glaring act of corruption. And all that the President's handlers could come up with is a concept called blind trust, something completely alien to our Company Law. These and many other acts of corruption of the President do constitute enough grounds for Ribadu to charge him and for the National Assembly to impeach him.
These are few examples of how incumbency impedes the progress of this country. If it were in countries where corruption is taken seriously, Obasanjo would have been behind bars by now, if not executed, like Saddam, for crimes against humanity in Odi and Zaki Biam. And Ribadu is not the only one in that shoe. Many people who have answered the call to serve in various capacities at various levels of government are faced with the dilemma of how to handle the influence of politics on government. Not only regarding high profile crimes, even on ordinary administrative matters political considerations often compel governments in this country to knowingly take disastrous decisions. Progress thus becomes very difficult.
Ribadu's position is not helped by the law, especially how it operates in Nigeria . A clear example is that of the immunity which it grants to Governors and their Deputies, and to the President and the Vice-President. These officials have exploited the immunity clause to loot public treasury. Ribadu cannot prosecute them, until they vacate their offices. In some cases, like Bayelsa, Plateau, and Adamawa States , he had to resort to their assemblies, but the assemblies were not forthcoming until their members were also shown their dossiers. Then only after being threatened with their prosecution did some of them yielded. Consider that their new governors will also enjoy the immunity accorded to their predecessors. It leaves us with the possibility that looting will continue and the fight between the EFCC and incumbents will assume a cyclic form.
Now, ordinary minds in the position of Ribadu, particularly those with a populist bent, will choose to quit. They will look at their credibility, as it obtains in advanced countries and abandon the office, accusing the President of corruption and not living by the dictates of the law. Nigeria is not Kenya . I consider this as playing to the gallery. The fight against corruption will be a long one especially in a democracy where the law is paramount. We will have occasions to smile though; and once we remain tenacious the future will be bright. Take the case of our present corrupt governors in EFCC books. Though we could not remove them in office to stop corruption immediately and Obasanjo is retaining them to enable him rig the coming elections, they will nevertheless be prosecuted. Their prosecution after office will never be late.
My strong conviction for the prosecution of those criminals who parade themselves today as governors arises from the fact that neither the next President nor EFCC can shy away from that responsibility. On the one hand, only a fool as President will allow such governors who have amassed so much wealth to walk freely on the streets and constitute a clog to his administration. This was the reason why Obasanjo entirely obliterated the groups and individuals that brought him to power. Their political weight became a burden for his administration, a sin, if you like, for which they must be sent to hell. Machiavelli rightly spelt this as the first responsibility of a prince. In the same way, as the present governors make the mistake of attempting to exercise their political muscle in the Senate and retaining their clout back in their states, the new President is left with no option but to give Ribadu a nod to go ahead with his job. That will be the greatest day for Ribadu. That day, we will rejoice as we never did before, possibly holding parties across the nation. The new governors too will join us because the pebbles in their shoes have been done away with.
Ribadu, on the other hand, cannot turndown the benefit of prosecuting them. He is offered the chance to laugh last. Sending them to jail will, apart from being a punishment they never contemplated, send a strong signal to their successors that for whatever wrong they commit, the long arm of the law will ultimately reach them. The new governors would circumspect, or even recapitulate, on behaving like their predecessors. Corruption will thus decline. More spectacular is the case of Obasanjo who, most likely, will be behind bars by the time the next President spends two years in power for the same reason as would the old governors.
So, I will appeal to Ribadu to continue on his noble path. Let him not be worried about the incumbency which breeds the impunity that tampers with his duties, or the immunity that hinders the prosecution of some corrupt officials, or even the distressing public condemnation from agents of such thieves. He is assured that the day they will be within his reach is close. On our part, the majority of the Nigerian public that are behind him, we do appreciate the limitations of his office under the present dispensation. And because we understand the risk involved in his work, we will continue to pray for his divine protection. The fall of Murtala, Buhari and Idiagbon, the pioneers of the fight against corruption in this country, has left us in sadness for decades now. Today, we celebrate the arrival of their offshoot. In my heart, and surely in the hearts of many Nigerians, Ribadu is our new anti-corruption prince. Allah suure!
Tilde,
21 Feb 2007
Ribadu, the New Anti-Corruption Prince
People who are conversant with the intricacies of government, the complexity of politics and the dictates of law in Nigeria will not find it difficult to discern that the task of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is not an easy one. Since the inception of his commission, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, its Chairman, has distinguished himself as an officer who is not afraid to go after any criminal, regardless of his position in the society, no matter the attendant risk to his life or position, and notwithstanding any foreseeable political furore. For one's peace, Machiavelli once advised his prince, he should avoid tampering with the source of people's wealth and with their women. Ribadu's task is to tamper with the first while he has no business with the second. So his task is naturally a difficult one. It could well be considered as the toughest in the Nigerian Police Force. Yet, he pursues his duty with the commitment of a suicidal instinct. I have never met him, but I, together with millions of Nigerians, admire his courage, commitment and sincerity. We support him.
Government and politics are intertwined, so we will treat them together. In fact, some people will argue that in the context of Nigerian political arena, politics overrides government. We will give two examples of how the two impede our progress towards checking corruption. Two weeks ago the Federal Government came up with a list of politicians it believed are corrupt and are not fit to stand for elections if indicted by an administrative panel as provided by the constitution. The government said the list originated from EFCC. The Commission did not deny that. After all, many times Ribadu has sworn that his Commission will prevent such politicians from running in the next elections. So the Commission, aware of its constitutional limitations, ambushed these politicians after their parties have officially submitted their names as nominees to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). EFCC collected the list and started pencilling down names of people whose dossier are dirty enough for disqualification. Then, aware of the fact that it has no constitutional right to prevent anyone from standing for elections directly, the Commission submitted the names to the President, whom they expected – or advised – to finish the job by constituting an administrative panel of inquiry that will offer the accused politicians the chance to defend themselves.
The politicians affected, as expected, cried foul and accused the government of subverting the chances of its opponents. The opposition described the inclusion of ruling party members on the list as a smokescreen. The real intention, they alleged, was to checkmate political heavyweights like the Vice President. More damaging to the credibility of the list, however, is the fact that, to the disappointment of EFCC, the Presidency has tampered with the list by removing the names of PDP members who are in its good books and, possibly, adding some. Even if Ribadu did not leak this fact, we would have arrived at it from the inconsistency of the list with his previous statements. Ribadu had earlier told Nigerians that majority of their governors are corrupt. He has documents to prove corruption charges against at least thirty out of the thirty-six governors, he continues to claim. And we believed Ribadu for he is in a good position to know and he has never prosecuted any innocent person. He even mentioned names which, surprisingly, by the time his list passed through the political filter of Aso Rock, have mysteriously disappeared. Something is amiss.
Ribadu must be in a dilemma. This is just another case in which his boss, the President, has disappointed him. There have been many other occasions before, some involving the President himself. For example, when the President extorted state governments, federal ministries and parastatals, private companies and individuals for his personal library project, Ribadu approached him and the President had no credible alibi but to say that the library will be put to public use. Ribadu left unconvinced. A bigger scandal was underway. The President was caught fabricating a company called Transcorp to which he auctioned the national telephone company – NITEL, Nicon, and so on. Nigerians screamed at this glaring act of corruption. And all that the President's handlers could come up with is a concept called blind trust, something completely alien to our Company Law. These and many other acts of corruption of the President do constitute enough grounds for Ribadu to charge him and for the National Assembly to impeach him.
These are few examples of how incumbency impedes the progress of this country. If it were in countries where corruption is taken seriously, Obasanjo would have been behind bars by now, if not executed, like Saddam, for crimes against humanity in Odi and Zaki Biam. And Ribadu is not the only one in that shoe. Many people who have answered the call to serve in various capacities at various levels of government are faced with the dilemma of how to handle the influence of politics on government. Not only regarding high profile crimes, even on ordinary administrative matters political considerations often compel governments in this country to knowingly take disastrous decisions. Progress thus becomes very difficult.
Ribadu's position is not helped by the law, especially how it operates in Nigeria . A clear example is that of the immunity which it grants to Governors and their Deputies, and to the President and the Vice-President. These officials have exploited the immunity clause to loot public treasury. Ribadu cannot prosecute them, until they vacate their offices. In some cases, like Bayelsa, Plateau, and Adamawa States , he had to resort to their assemblies, but the assemblies were not forthcoming until their members were also shown their dossiers. Then only after being threatened with their prosecution did some of them yielded. Consider that their new governors will also enjoy the immunity accorded to their predecessors. It leaves us with the possibility that looting will continue and the fight between the EFCC and incumbents will assume a cyclic form.
Now, ordinary minds in the position of Ribadu, particularly those with a populist bent, will choose to quit. They will look at their credibility, as it obtains in advanced countries and abandon the office, accusing the President of corruption and not living by the dictates of the law. Nigeria is not Kenya . I consider this as playing to the gallery. The fight against corruption will be a long one especially in a democracy where the law is paramount. We will have occasions to smile though; and once we remain tenacious the future will be bright. Take the case of our present corrupt governors in EFCC books. Though we could not remove them in office to stop corruption immediately and Obasanjo is retaining them to enable him rig the coming elections, they will nevertheless be prosecuted. Their prosecution after office will never be late.
My strong conviction for the prosecution of those criminals who parade themselves today as governors arises from the fact that neither the next President nor EFCC can shy away from that responsibility. On the one hand, only a fool as President will allow such governors who have amassed so much wealth to walk freely on the streets and constitute a clog to his administration. This was the reason why Obasanjo entirely obliterated the groups and individuals that brought him to power. Their political weight became a burden for his administration, a sin, if you like, for which they must be sent to hell. Machiavelli rightly spelt this as the first responsibility of a prince. In the same way, as the present governors make the mistake of attempting to exercise their political muscle in the Senate and retaining their clout back in their states, the new President is left with no option but to give Ribadu a nod to go ahead with his job. That will be the greatest day for Ribadu. That day, we will rejoice as we never did before, possibly holding parties across the nation. The new governors too will join us because the pebbles in their shoes have been done away with.
Ribadu, on the other hand, cannot turndown the benefit of prosecuting them. He is offered the chance to laugh last. Sending them to jail will, apart from being a punishment they never contemplated, send a strong signal to their successors that for whatever wrong they commit, the long arm of the law will ultimately reach them. The new governors would circumspect, or even recapitulate, on behaving like their predecessors. Corruption will thus decline. More spectacular is the case of Obasanjo who, most likely, will be behind bars by the time the next President spends two years in power for the same reason as would the old governors.
So, I will appeal to Ribadu to continue on his noble path. Let him not be worried about the incumbency which breeds the impunity that tampers with his duties, or the immunity that hinders the prosecution of some corrupt officials, or even the distressing public condemnation from agents of such thieves. He is assured that the day they will be within his reach is close. On our part, the majority of the Nigerian public that are behind him, we do appreciate the limitations of his office under the present dispensation. And because we understand the risk involved in his work, we will continue to pray for his divine protection. The fall of Murtala, Buhari and Idiagbon, the pioneers of the fight against corruption in this country, has left us in sadness for decades now. Today, we celebrate the arrival of their offshoot. In my heart, and surely in the hearts of many Nigerians, Ribadu is our new anti-corruption prince. Allah suure!
Tilde,
21 Feb 2007
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