I had intended to commence, this Sunday, a series of articles on the refreshing re-engineering presently afoot in the South-West courtesy of the A C N governors in the region, a pan-regional renewal of infrastructure, education, agriculture and ground-breaking social security programmes for the elderly so heartwarming Chief Obafemi Awolowo would give the architects a thumbs up from his grave since they are earnestly working towards the happiness and well-being of the greater majority of the people which the Avatar unequivocally prescribed as the raison d’être of a good government. That, however, was before the news broke of an insensitive Abuja High Court judge sentencing one John Yusufu, a self-confessed thief of N32.8billion Police Pension fund, to two years imprisonment with an option of a measly N750, 000 fine which the convict promptly paid. Interestingly, less than 24 hours after that judgment, an Ikare Magistrate Court in Ondo State sentenced an accused to three years imprisonment for stealing a telephone handset worth N17, 000.
More nauseating than Mr Justice Talba Mohammed’s unthinking judgment is the fact that the EFCC, with all its effete posturing about corruption, was privy to this unconscionable arrangement. This is obvious from the following statement by the agency: ‘The Commission is of the view that the option of fine runs contrary to the understanding between the prosecution and the defence wherein the convict consented to a custodial sentence with the forfeiture of all assets and money that are proceeds of crime’. Little wonder the convict knew well ahead, exactly how much he was going to be fined. With things as they stand in the country today, the EFCC must reckon as the greatest motivator of corruption. Where in the civilised world, other than Nigeria, would such a rogue walk away with a slap on the wrist? Did Mardof get a plea bargain in the U.S? Is whatever money or property seized more important than the immoralities EFCC is inculcating in the citizenry through these brazen compromises? Where is the money paid by the likes of former governor Lucky Igbinedion and co in past plea bargains or where are the houses forfeited to government in all these ludicrous paddy paddy bargains? Were they not all sold within their cabal? If a man could literally walk free from such humongous heist, why would unemployed graduates not go into armed robbery and some jobless miscreants into kidnapping? As it stands today, EFCC deserves to be completely scrapped. It was no surprise that another government agency, the Code of Conduct, was reported to have summarily quashed the case of one of the co- accused persons in whose account at the United Bank of Africa a whooping N500 million was found, freed allegedly on the intervention of the wife of a very senior government official.
Since the news broke, I have heard lawyers of all hue rationalising plea bargaining. I make bold to say that while this may be provided for in our law books, it is absolutely unhelpful in a Nigerian society where corruption has become, not only endemic but, systemic. Whichever way you turn, all you hear are public servants stealing, no longer millions but, billions of naira given the certainty that no punishment awaits them. Impunity has taken over the land and when anti-corruption agencies make a sham of going to court, all you get is what the Abuja judge dispensed here as punishment -a huge joke and the same reason Ibori was treated here in Nigeria as a paragon of honesty only to be shamefully jailed in the U.K.
What a rudderless government we have and what a spineless people we are turning out to be? What a country? Why will the world not call us thieves? Coming so soon after a British court described one-time governor Ibori as a common thief in state house, who in the world should respect any Nigerian? Are these judicial officers, supposedly operating in the temple of justice, so uncaring they can vomit any judgment, however inane? Granted that this judge cannot single-highhandedly re-write the law, (but) was he obligated to offer the criminal an option of fine knowing full well that a cow thief in a part of this country could have a limb chopped off? What impunity, and, again, is there a single reason young Nigerians should not go into armed robbery or kidnapping when men and women constitutionally empowered to moderate our values through the instrumentality of law are so unthinking? Going by the level of listlessness routinely displayed by the judiciary, shouldn’t every Nigerian be a criminal of sorts since criminality pays so handsomely? And by the way, hasn’t it been suggested this same judge it was who ruled that Kenny Martins had no case to answer in another police-related case where sleaze was strongly alleged? Doesn’t he realise that hundreds of thousands of poor retired old men who had served this nation to the best of their abilities are victims of this heist and that some of them actually die, queuing for this same pension? God, give us judges: men and women in their dignified robes, who will know that they are chosen by you, though appointed by man, to perform what essentially is a solemn function to the edification of your name, rather than simply see it as working for a meal ticket.
Lord, give us responsible judges.
Questions ad infinitum, but let us get to the nitty gritty of this thoroughly revolting case. We have in this country, a party which, as I often describe it, has held this country under its stranglehold for close on 14 years and always with about three quarters of members of the National Assembly. For these many years, has the National Assembly been so irresponsible it did not know that even if you steal the entire Central Bank of Nigeria, all you get is a 2-year jail term? Did they consider this equitable to the offence? What then is the responsibility of the Committees on Judiciary in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, or does it stop with the squandering of funds and allocation of state of the art cars for so-called committee work? Of course Nigerians will not be surprised their representatives are too blinded by graft and greed to notice such inequities.
This case is so nauseating you want to puke.
Where now is PDP’s so-called Ethical Revolution, that shibboleth, like Vision 20 20 20, and its cousin, Rebranding, through which they once ate the nation raw. PDP is never short of such grandstanding rhetoric. Trending now is their Centenary anniversary and Senator Ayim Pius Ayim, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, is throwing his entire weight into it. By the time the dust settles on this too, Nigeria would have been short-changed to the tune of billions of naira. Didn’t former minister Ezekwezili, only last week, ask them questions as to how they squandered a colossal $67 billion; an amount no West African country, beside Ghana, can boast of in a given financial year?
That is PDP with its ideology of ‘share the money’.
And what manner of people are we? Are we so consumed with the challenges of life and living that we have become so spineless? Must we take just about anything when, as you read this, Egyptians, in spite of an emergency declared by government, are still out there on the streets protesting against some draconian decrees by the Morsi government?
.And as somebody has asked, why are the two major religions silent on this evil plaguing our country? What are the moral and ethical tenets driving these religions that they cannot lead their adherents out on a massive anti-corruption demonstration as is routinely done in other countries? And concerning the Bible and the Quran which these rogues, counting on the mercy of God, do not take seriously, shouldn’t our constitution now prescribe that public officials should swear on Ogun – the god of iron – and such like gods which show no mercy to criminals? Shouldn’t our traditional religionists place a curse on those rabidly raping this hapless country? At least one remembers General Obasanjo once suggesting we fight purveyors of the apartheid system with African juju.
If these nation wreckers are so unrelenting, l will suggest it is time unforgiving African gods are unleashed on them for the sake of fatherland.
