Re: Moro’s sorrow

The entire saga of the recent arrest, detention and bail of a former Minister of Internal Affairs, Comrade Abba Moro has expectedly been generating intense debate especially within media circles. It is within that context that one would view the opinion piece titled Moro’s sorrows written by Mr. Eugene Enahoro and published on Tuesday March […]

The entire saga of the recent arrest, detention and bail of a former Minister of Internal Affairs, Comrade Abba Moro has expectedly been generating intense debate especially within media circles. It is within that context that one would view the opinion piece titled Moro’s sorrows written by Mr. Eugene Enahoro and published on Tuesday March 1, 2016 edition of Daily Trust.
In his desperation to justify the arrest and ongoing prosecution of Comrade Moro by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Eugene Enahoro contended that “the crux of the matter therefore isn’t about public procurement. He reasons that it’s about causing the avoidable deaths of law abiding citizens. And to him, Moro “must be held responsible and found guilty of culpable homicide or involuntary manslaughter not public procurement violations”.
The writer wants Moro and the other three accused to be charged with culpable homicide not public procurement violations. His analogy which likened Moro to a bank robber who robbed and caused the death of a bank customer and must be charged for “murder occasioned by robbery” not simply robbery, is unfortunate. It glossed over the good intentions of the recruitment exercise.
Only a handful of people like Enahoro question the fact that the ill-fated recruitment process by the Immigration Service during Moro’s tenure was a well-intentioned process that sadly derailed along the way due to accidental acts that were beyond the control of the former Minister. The resultant tragedy which rather unfortunately culminated in loss of lives is not only painful and unfortunate but an unforeseen act. It is incontestable that if the recruitment exercise had been a success story, the country would have been better for it.
One can also recall that during the time of the unfortunate incident when emotions were very high, not a few people called for the Minister’s resignation. But the Minister had his reasons for not yielding to the spur of the moment by throwing in the towel. By opting to stay on his post, he was able to play a leading role in remedying the ugly situation. Mechanisms and processes were put on steam to assuage and compensate the bereaved families and the injured applicants.
Matter of fact, if the palliative plans have not been exhaustively implemented till date the logical thing for the incumbent administration to do is to continue from where its predecessor stopped rather than make a scapegoat of former office holders like Moro.
It is a well-known fact that Nigeria has for decades been facing alarming rate of graduate and youth unemployment, with the country’s percentage of jobless youths being one of the highest in the world. Such worrisome statistics were not created by Moro but nevertheless remain a sad reality staring our leaders and people in the face. The former Minister was and is not responsible for the scandalous rate of unemployment in the country that resulted in multitudes turning up at the various recruitment centres.
Nobody denies the fact that the unfortunate stampede which resulted in the death and injury of tens of innocent job seekers opened our eyes on the severity of the unemployment saga in our land. What the incumbent government ought to devote its energy to are policies and programmes that would create employment and job opportunities for the millions of school leavers roaming the streets without productive engagement.
Chasing and persecuting the likes of Moro and hounding them into Kuje prison cannot solve the problems at hand.  Indeed, there are many questions that are begging for answers concerning the ongoing persecution of Moro: Why did his arrest and subsequent detention come barely a week after his political god father and former Senate President, David Mark of the PDP defeated his All Peoples Congress (APC) opponent, Daniel Onjeh in a bitterly fought election for the Benue South Senatorial seat? Why was Abba Moro singled out for an orchestrated media trial and public ridicule while the key actors in the Immigration recruitment saga continue to enjoy their freedom?
Those who know Moro well are unanimous that he is a gentleman who cannot hurt a fly. He is also a modest person whose lifestyle is guided by personal discipline. The question arises as to why such a genial man should be so harassed and hounded into prison for an alleged offence that can hardly stand the test of time. It is however worthy of acknowledgement that the former Minister has been granted bail on self recognition and we should doff our hats for the Presiding Justice of the High Court for that sound judgment. No doubt, Moro’s detention was anomalous and has further lent credence to the allegation that the rave of arrests and hyped up trials of some political elite may aimed at humiliating, intimidating and silencing the leaders of the main opposition PDP. 
All considered, while Moro cannot be said to be a saint, he is definitely not a villain. In the present circumstance, he may well fit the bill of a victim. He meant well for his country and fellow citizens. It is unfortunate that lives were lost following stampedes during the aborted recruitment exercise but Moro never set out to maim and kill innocent youths. The issue of the procurement process and loopholes in the process had earlier been addressed by the past administration after the unfortunate incident. Reopening the matter now by fishing for charges against the former Minister cannot bring back the dead youths. Efforts should be made to fully implement the compensation and settlement package approved by Government for the injured victims and the families of the dead ones. Let nobody play God in this matter because no one is immune to accidents including the Nigerian Immigration Service recruitment stampede. And there is no reason boring our esteemed readers with a litany of past cases of stampede and loss of lives in stadia, places of worship and even markets.
Mr. Osuji writes this piece from Mpape District, Abuja.