Between thief and barawo

Hardball

“All of us are thieves,” goes that ultra-cynical street quip, “but only the one caught is barawo.”

You can’t but recall that quip, as the conviction and gaoling, for seven years, of Farouk Lawan, former four-term member of the House of Representatives, during the entire PDP power years (1999-2015), hit the wires.

Lawan, tiny and diminutive, but as flamboyant as they come, made quite an impression as some pocket bomb — move over, Nasir El-Rufai!  Before the Otedollar scandal, he was darling of not a few — and for good reasons.

For once, he was a veteran and ranking member of the House from Kano.  For another, the former House Finance Committee chairman boasted a House banner without stain: the House leader of the formidable Integrity bloc — the all-mighty bloc that torpedoed Patricia Etteh, Nigeria’s first female Speaker!

All of us are thieves but whoever is caught is the barawo!

The Ette ouster was the zenith of Lawan’s “reign”.  As the power behind the throne, at powering Dimeji Bankole into the Speakership, Lawan was speculated as a shoo-in for governor, in his native Kano.  But then, Otedollar came and burst the bubble!

The Lawan scandal was really axiomatic of the preening corruption of the PDP years.  Lawan was chair of the 2012 ad hoc House Committee on Petroleum Subsidy Regime, probing alleged fuel subsidy payment abuse.

At committee sessions, Chairman Lawan was the thundering, archangel of probity, giving no quarters, brooking no nonsense, sworn to dishing out justice to the accused persons and firms, reaping loud applause in the streets!

But in the shadows, he was the execrable Mr. Hyde in the dark, soliciting for bribe; the pole opposite of the beloved Dr. Jerkyll growling for justice, against the subsidy creamers!

In any case, that was the accusation.  Femi Otedola’s firm, Zenon Petroleum and Gas, was alleged a subsidy payment cheat, to the tune of US 1 million.  Otedola claimed that to get Zenon off the hook, Lawan demanded a US$ 3 million bribe.

Otedola went calling on the DSS, got marked dollar notes, a sting camera planted at the scene of alleged crime — and the Otedollar scandal was born!

In a stunning end, a case that had dragged for nine years — no thanks to technicalities and allied bad faith, rightful appeal from ICPC, and the blackmail of at least a judge to recuse — ended in a shattering denouement: gaol for Lawan, all seven years of it!

And he is to refund, to the Federal Government, the US$ 500, 000 bribe he collected, from the alleged US$ 3 million he demanded!

All of us are thieves but the one nabbed is the barawo — good riddance to bad rubbish!

The mass poverty of today springs from the blind stealing of yesteryear.  It’s a good day — justice for the perpetually raped, long-suffering Nigerian people, by privileged parasites!