Ruined by her own hands

I thought at the weekend of Prince Fumimaro Konoye, who served Emperor Hirohito as Prime Minister of Japan in the years leading up to his country’s involvement in World War Two, 1938-41. Fast forward to December 1945. With 100,000 American troops on the ground to begin the occupation of Japan after its defeat in the […]

I thought at the weekend of Prince Fumimaro Konoye, who served Emperor Hirohito as Prime Minister of Japan in the years leading up to his country’s involvement in World War Two, 1938-41. Fast forward to December 1945. With 100,000 American troops on the ground to begin the occupation of Japan after its defeat in the war, the Military Government of the Occupation ordered Prince Konoye to report at a detention facility, preparatory to being charged for war crimes before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. Konoye threw a lavish farewell party at his home, donned pyjamas and a silken robe. He then opened a copy of Oscar Wilde’s book De Profundis and underlined a passage which stated, “I must say to myself that I ruined myself and nobody great or small can be ruined except by his own hand.” Konoye then committed suicide.

I do not know if, side by side with her cockney accent, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun found time to read great literature during her three decades as a top-flight accountant. Where Prince Konoye reacted to charges against him by underlining a philosophical passage in a book, Adeosun’s resignation letter as Minister of Finance, which was made public last Friday, pedantically absolved herself and instead pushed the blame to others. The letter was a mish-mash of praise singing and self-pity. Her post-haste departure for the UK, a country of which she has dual citizenship, would make it difficult in future for the National Assembly to confirm a person with dual citizenship for high office. Adeosun is now beyond the reach of Nigerian justice, since the Brits are unlikely to extradite Her Majesty’s subject to face a charge of certificate forgery.

Adeosun’s letter to President Buhari, dated September 14, stated, “I have, today, become privy to the findings of the investigation into the allegation made in an online medium that the Certificate of Exemption from National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) that I had presented was not genuine. This has come as a shock to me and I believe that in line with this administration’s focus on integrity, I must do the honourable thing and resign.” On our part, we are shocked to hear that Mrs. Adeosun was shocked by the findings of the investigation. Many weeks before that very slow investigation was concluded, most Nigerians had concluded from the totality of evidence and from government officials’ confused response that Mrs. Adeosun presented a forged NYSC exemption letter. To be sure, Prince Konoye did not express shock when he was told that he was going to be charged for war crimes, a far more grievous offence than certificate forgery.

Another shocking passage in Adeosun’s resignation letter was where she tried to justify how she came into possession of a forged NYSC exemption certificate. She said, “…I obtained my first Nigerian passport at the age of thirty-four (34) and when I relocated there was debate as to whether NYSC Law applied to me. Upon enquiry as to my status relating to NYSC, I was informed that due to my residency history and having exceeded the age of thirty (30), I was exempted from the requirement to serve. Until recent events, that remained my understanding. On the basis of that advice and with the guidance and assistance of those I thought were trusted associates, NYSC were approached for documentary proof of status. I then received the certificate in question.”

In this explanation, Adeosun did not say to whom she made the enquiry as to her NYSC status, or who was it who informed her that she was exempted from the requirement to serve. We heard before from NYSC that she applied for an exemption certificate. The Corps was however silent as to whether it responded to her application and if it did, what was said in the response. We can however add two and two together. If it was NYSC that told Adeosun that she was exempted from the requirement to serve, they would have given her a genuine exemption certificate. The fact that they didn’t shows that one of two things happened. Either Adeosun asked a tout, who told her that she was entitled to exemption and proceeded to obtain one under the Lagos bridge, or NYSC responded to her letter and told her she was not entitled to exemption, so she then resorted to a tout to obtain a forged exemption letter.

To justify her use of a tout, whom she decorously described as “trusted associate,” Adeosun wrote, “Having never worked in NYSC, visited the premises, been privy to nor familiar with their operations, I had no reason to suspect that the certificate was anything but genuine.” Is that right? I have never been to NYSC headquarters either but that is not enough reason for me not to be familiar with NYSC’s basic laws and rules. In the same vein, I have never entered the premises of the Federal Ministry of Finance. If I used a tout, secured a voucher and presented it to the Finance Minister for payment, would she accept my explanation that I am unfamiliar with the ministry’s rules and operations?

Accountants are supposed to be the most meticulous of people. They do not accept documents at face value but must check and double check them and submit them for audit scrutiny. Now, given the complexity of her circumstances with respect to the NYSC scheme when she returned to Nigeria, it is shocking indeed that Mrs. Adeosun never went to the NYSC office and instead resorted to the use of a tout. It was a sign that even though she was bred in England, she remained a Nigerian at heart. It is important for the authorities to carry out investigation into all other documents that she obtained since her return to Nigeria, including passport, driving license, ID card, debit card, BVN, SIM card and tax clearance certificate. Given her tendency to use touts, many of these items in her possession could be forgeries as well.

Mrs. Adeosun then tried to blame other agencies for not detecting her forged certificate. She wrote, “I presented that certificate at the 2011 Ogun State House of Assembly and in 2015 for Directorate of State Services (DSS) Clearance as well as to the National Assembly for screening.” The fact that these agencies failed to detect that her exemption certificate was forged, or maybe some of them detected it but turned a blind eye, does not in any way help Madam’s case. If a bank customer manages to withdraw money with a forged signature, it does not help his case one bit if he says the bank cashier and supervisor cleared the cheque for payment. Universities are known to withdraw students at the point of graduation for gaining admission with forged SSCE results even though the Academic Office cleared it during registration.

The former minister then added, “Be that as it may, as someone totally committed to a culture of probity and accountability I have decided to resign with effect from Friday, 14th September, 2018.” This claim is not supported by the facts. Anyone who uses touts to get around stultifying bureaucracy in Nigeria cannot be totally committed to a culture of probity and accountability. This is because by their very nature, touts cut corners and they operate by the maxim that the end justifies the means.

Mrs. Adeosun ended her letter to the President “by commending your patience and support during the long search for the truth in this matter.” She was the one that made it a long search. She could have saved the Presidency from agony by resigning as soon as the scandal broke, instead of waiting for 69 days, during which she maintained a contemptuous silence and refused to respond to the allegations.