Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, sounds bona fide. His statements of late are so authentic, but perhaps too genuine to be Nigerian.
Two incidents in the past week are making Nigerians to pause. But it is not so much the events themselves that have created a buzz, but statements credited to Ribadu. First is his declaration to go after state governors who have stolen public funds for political use. The second incident is his reaction to the interrogation of super-rich businessman, Mr. Mike Adenuga. On both occasions, the EFCC topshot said things that have not been uttered by public officials in Nigeria in a long time.
Check this out: “Why are you so particular about Mike Adenuga? There are 101 people who are being investigated daily in Nigeria. Go today and see who we have taken. He is not the latest. What is special about him? Is he not a Nigerian? What is special? Does he have four legs? He is a Nigerian just like all of us. For God’s sake, there are people who have been taken in and detained and nobody is talking about them. Responsible and good Nigerians have for long been taken in and investigated."Mike Adenuga is so rich, he is a banker to the millionaires. And commands the attention of the whole country, including the President. But there seems to be a David in Ribadu, as he flings the stone with his slingshot towards Adenuga. In a nation where the only thing that talks is money, we have this salaried public official daring the powerful, not privately, but openly.
Another attention-arresting event is what the EFCC boss said about corrupt state governors.
Another attention-arresting event is what the EFCC boss said about corrupt state governors.
His long warning reads: "It is wicked that a state governor took out N150 billion out of the N250 billion meant for his state for himself. There are governors who take their state's money abroad, buy houses for themselves and stash others away for their comfort and that of their family. Is that fair? Should we allow such to continue? And when you go after them they say you are sectional. When we were going after 419, bank officials, government officials, etc, we were not selective, selective my foot!
"If you are doing this job, you have to forget your life. Nobody should arrogate to himself/herself that he/she is better than others, we are all human beings. If you have been given opportunity to serve and you fail then you should bear the consequences of your failure.
"Leadership is important, it determines what happens in a country. We have had our fair share of bad leadership and our country has been reduced to a Tokunbo country where everything is dumped here. We have had to occupy the number one position as the most corrupt country and you say we should not change that? I don't think it is right.
"Take the Niger Delta issue, for instance, the people are reacting because they have been neglected despite the fact that their states have been collecting allocations. We have it on record every local government chairman in the Niger Delta region has at least N200 million in his account and the same goes for the governors and yet the people are impoverished. Why will they not be angry?
"Politicians have all the money to build an army of thugs, they have the money to rig the elections, bribe the electoral officers, buy votes from the electorates, etc. Why will the electorate not sell their votes when they are hungry? When they have no shelter over their heads. We will never have free and fair elections if we have corrupt person as candidate because they have the money to subvert the process.
"It is time for us to go after corrupt officials. Enough talk. We have to act now. We know where the problem is but we need the courage and fear of God to clean them out. These same people campaigning were the ones that piled up N30 billion debts for us. Now they have seen that it has been cleared and we now have N30 billion in our foreign reserve, they want to come and throw a party with it. We will never let them, they will never touch it. Government reforms might not be perfect but we are getting there.
"Nigeria is denied the means of e-commerce, we cannot shop on the Internet, we can not use credit card because of the activities of these corrupt individuals in government or outside government. We have now cleaned the system they want to come back and rule us. What moral rights do we have to prosecute the 419 when these individuals are walking free? Unless we address these, we cannot have free and fair elections. Until we can prove that those we are entrusting our monies to are worthy we will continue to be slaves in our country.
"If we don't fight now, how can you present good candidates to contest? Honest Nigerians will never win elections because it's all about spending money they have ensured it is so. We will continue to take the heat, we will continue to take the abuse it does not matter but good people in Nigeria must stand up and say enough is enough. We might not be doing it perfectly but we can tell you we are doing it correctly."
In Nigeria, everything is political. But this guy Ribadu sure brings fresh air to a stinking parlor, in so far as he can be taken serious on the account of his statements.
Vice President Abubakar Atiku, General Ibrahim Babangida, the great Julius Berger Construction Company, in addtion to Adenuga, are some big names believed to be under the EFCC's microscope at the moment.
Can Ribadu take on the mighty Babangida? If he should, Nigeria should be shaken right from the roots. It will be an herculean task, even for the EFCC. But who knows? Ribadu might be God's secret weapon for the redemption of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Nigerians await and wonder if Ribadu is for real.
