The corruption hit list
The list revealed that each of the execu-thieves between them have stolen, mismanaged or misappropriated monies ranging from N10 million to N100 billion which, ostensibly belong to the good and suffering people of Nigeria. Notable on the list are eleven former governors, some of who were partially prosecuted by the strong arm tactic former anti-corruption […]
The list revealed that each of the execu-thieves between them have stolen, mismanaged or misappropriated monies ranging from N10 million to N100 billion which, ostensibly belong to the good and suffering people of Nigeria. Notable on the list are eleven former governors, some of who were partially prosecuted by the strong arm tactic former anti-corruption czar, Nuhu Ribadu. There is also one former acting governor and of course the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP. There is at least one high-profile senator, several members of the House of Representatives, several bank managers and of course a few foreigners. Nigerian graft is so lucrative that foreigners come here for corruption tourism. Others even seek corrupt nationalism.
What truly baffled me in the whole saga is the fact that Madam Waziri, who first accused Ribadu of using non-judicial means in the anti-corruption war, is herself strongly envying those tactics. Some of the names on the list are featuring on them for the first time. That smells very much like Ribadu’s voice and Waziri’s face. God help us. The second is the fact that she is seeking an unholy alliance with labour. Pray, what is labour supposed to do since as far as we remember, it has no prosecutor powers? Is Waziri trying to pile pressure on the Yar’adua government to put its money where its mouth is? If the answer to that is yes, does that mean that Madam No Corruption has lost the ear of the man who appointed her? These are very serious questions requiring answers.
But perhaps the most baffling of the questions is whether these 56 are the first in a series of yet to be published list of names? Because the list looks like the reserve bench of an A-team of corrupt persons, perhaps that is why it is provoking wagging tongues. Nigerians, mostly unschooled in the art of investigations, and having left that in the hands of the police and other agencies believe they can see farther than Madam Waziri’s medicated goggles. In other words, they believe that the EFCC boss has not had an eye check-up for a long time and that those heavy goggles she is wearing are indeed very weak. Nigerians believe that this list looks, smells and sounds very suspicious. That there are people who are publicly known to be so highly corrupt they smell worse than the long-nosed rat or the he-goat. Indeed, it would appear that they are saying to Madam Waziri that the very czars of corruption have been left out of the list.
Or, did something happen to the list between its movement from the Wuse II headquarters of the EFCC and the Central Area offices of labour? Nigerians query, how it is that some offensively smelling corrupt public officers got their names tippexed off while others remained. And for fear of libel, this kind of thoughts only thrive on the internet, the new market place of subversive ideas where it seems many resort when they want qualified or absolute privilege.
It is shameful when the camels of corruption escape the eye of the Waziri needle while ants and squirrels are trapped. Such costly omissions happen only when mischievous students try to make use of a defected magnet. When that happens, the magnet chooses to pick some nails and leave out others. May we then appeal to Madam Waziri to return to the people of Nigeria for help if this is all that her net can catch in the ocean of corruption. If that were the case, we ask her to launch to the people’s side of that ocean for a big catch.
For me, the last baffling point is the strange coincidence which saw the list coming on the eve of the day Barrack Obama, the world president decided to make Ghana his first step of his touch with motherland instead of Nigeria, the self styled Giant of Africa. At any rate, this list comes two years too late.