Tag Archives: Madness

Opinion: Thieves, Madness and the Nation – By Jibrin Ibrahim

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…we should open a register in what should be called the NATIONAL HALL OF SHAME, where the names and the terrible deeds of mega thieves would be displayed. The information on the register should be used to teach this history to our children, now that we have decided to re-introduce the teaching of history in our schools.

Nigeria is suffering from a real crisis related to the scale of theft of public resources that is beyond all logic and can only be equated to madness. For decades, some public officials have been stealing billions of naira and subsequently some of them graduated into stealing billions of dollars. In the process, they have completely lost sight of rationality; that is, how much can you reasonably spend in your lifetime and the lifetimes of your children?! Two million dollars, for example, is over one billion naira and there is no way a family can reasonable spend one billion naira in their lifetimes. I say ‘reasonably’ because, of course, one can spend one billion naira renting planes and buying houses that are too big for a family to live in. It is the disappearance of reasonableness that I find extremely alarming.

We have it on judicial authority that the former Delta State governor, James Ibori, is a thief. Specifically, Mr. Ibori was convicted of corruption and money laundering on April 17, 2012, after five years of trial by the Southwark Crown Court in the United Kingdom, and sentenced to 13 years in prison. The whole world knows that, and yet he was bold enough to go for thanksgiving in his church and say that he is not a thief; that his enemies were simply maligning him. This happened when Mr. Ibori returned to Nigeria after serving a jail term in the United Kingdom for corruption and the theft of public funds. During the special thanksgiving held in his honour at the First Baptist Church in Oghara, Delta State last Sunday, Mr. Ibori said he was wrongly accused and that he was truly hurt by the anguish his people went through because of the long absence of their hero. He told them that: “They want me to go to the corner where I won’t be seen. Today, I have decided to speak for myself. I am not a thief; I cannot be a thief. Today is the day they say I should give testimony to God. For those who know me, you know that my life is a testimony itself. I have said it over and again that my life is fashioned by God, directed by God, sealed, acknowledged and blessed by God. I believe that since the day I was born.” This is the other element of madness that I find unbelievable. People will break God’s commandments, do the ungodly and confidently declare God to be on their side. I find it difficult for someone who believes in God to act this way because the first principle is that God knows what you have done, and although human beings can sometimes succeed in deceiving other human beings, they cannot deceive God. The only real explanation I can think of is that they do not really believe in God.

Just before starting to write this column, I saw a video clip distributed on WhatsApp by the friends and colleagues of Andrew Yakubu, the former Group Managing Director of NNPC, giving testimonies of his life as a good Christian and an excellent professional. I remember when I met him once in a mutual friend’s house, he spent a lot of time talking about his devotion to God. At the same time, he would see no contradiction in being found with almost ten million dollars, which had obviously been taken from public coffers. I remember that when the discovery was made, a number of people from his zone in Southern Kaduna were complaining bitterly that he had never done anything for his community, had no record of helping people, and yet was hiding all this money he and his family would not have been able to spend.

I now think this policy should be widely publicised so that more looted funds would be recovered. The whistle-blower policy is only about two months old and so much money has already been recovered. From all indications, only a very small amount of stolen money has been recovered so far. The capacity of some of our people to engage in mega looting is indeed scandalous.

The Federal Government announced a few days ago that its whistle-blower policy has started yielding fruits and has so far led to the recovery of US$151 million and 8 billion naira in looted funds. According to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the amount does not include the $9.2 million in cash found with Andrew Yakubu. The monies were recovered from just three sources through whistle-blowers who gave actionable information to the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation. This means that relations and friends of looters of funds are releasing information so that they would get their slice of the cake, which is between 2.5 and 5 percent of the amount recovered. When I heard about this inducement, I had laughed it off thinking people would not take it seriously. As usual, I was underestimating the greed of some Nigerians. I now think this policy should be widely publicised so that more looted funds would be recovered. The whistle-blower policy is only about two months old and so much money has already been recovered. From all indications, only a very small amount of stolen money has been recovered so far. The capacity of some of our people to engage in mega looting is indeed scandalous.

I think some basic civic education is necessary for the Nigerian elite. The most important one is to send as many people as possible to long jail terms for corruption. That is the ultimate lesson that can teach people that corruption is bad. This approach is the most effective because many corrupt Nigerians are convinced that God is on their side, so lessons on morality and ethics cannot be effective. The second lesson would be for the National Orientation Agency to trace the home communities of all confirmed mega looters and organise seminars and rallies on how such people have done so much harm to the nation. Its difficult to succeed but seeing the way Ibori was received at home, we cannot fold our hands and say communities have the right to welcome thieves with a 21-gun salute and mega feasting. Finally, we should open a register in what should be called the NATIONAL HALL OF SHAME, where the names and the terrible deeds of mega thieves would be displayed. The information on the register should be used to teach this history to our children, now that we have decided to re-introduce the teaching of history in our schools.

 

A professor of Political Science and development consultant/expert, Jibrin Ibrahim is a Senior Fellow of the Centre for Democracy and Development, and Chair of the Editorial Board of PREMIUM TIMES.

Another ‘Lunatic’ Arrested With 18 ATM Cards In Ondo

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The Ondo State Police Command has arrested a middle-aged man who appeared to be a lunatic in Akure, the state capital, on Monday with 18 Automated Teller Machine cards of different banks and some cash in his possession.

The suspect, who was said to be in his 30s, was arrested in the Ijapo area of the capital city by the residents of the area.

They later handed him over to policemen in the Ijapo Police Station, saying they suspected him to be
an armed robber disguising like a mad person.

According to a source, some residents of the area have been observing him (suspect) roaming around the streets and suspecting him to be using his appearance to deceive the people in the area.

On Monday, the source said the suspect was accosted by the residents, but his explanation was not tenable as he was reportedly incoherent while responding to the different questions put to him. He was arrested and handed over to the police.

The source said an undisclosed sum of money made up of different denominations was found on him and he could not explain how and where he got the money from.

The source said, “After carefully looking at the man, we discovered that he was a normal human being. How could a mad man be counting a huge sum of money and also has different ATM cards belonging to different people in his possession?”

Some valuables, including jewellery and neat clothes were also said to be inside the bag the suspect was carrying.

The Police Public Relations Officer for the state police command, Mr. Femi Joseph, said the suspect would undergo some medical tests to ascertain his mental status.

He said, “We don’t want to presume that he is a mad man yet. There are medical tests he needs to undergo for us to believe him. We asked for his name, but he spoke incoherently to show he is insane. We have to do the test.

“If he is found to be a robber as it is being speculated, he will face the wrath of the law.”

Joseph commended the residents of the Ijapo area for their vigilance.

He urged the people of the state to always be vigilant and report any case of suspected criminality to the police.

Source: Punch

#Pausibility: Ambode and The Burden of Continuity by Adebayo Coker.

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Akinwumi-Ambode-350x253

Two Sundays ago, Mr Jimi Disu, the host of The Discourse With Jimi Disu, dedicated the whole of his one hour phone-in radio programme to discussing the possible solutions to the problems Lagos State is seemingly faced with in recent times. It is expected that some people will see such an eye-opening discourse as a threat to their political hegemony, but I found it incredulous that someone will resort to name calling in the guise of doing a rejoinder to the many elicitations by Lagosians through the programme. JD is an egbon to ju agbalagba lo and he was never rude to anyone on that particular programme, nor at anytime on his radio show.

Anyways, I would not want to deify nonsense and its peddler, hence I will summarise the so-called ‘response’ as one of those cries of insanity. It will take the deepest level of insanity for anyone to agree that Lagos is working as it is presently. It is that level that so many of us will not slither to. Nobody is just kidding here.

This will be my second note after: #Pausibility: Ambode, Lagos Is A State Of Excellence!

Governance is usually measured based on deliverables of tangibles and intangibles. Physical and social infrastructures are tangibles because they are what the people can see: Roads, water, hospitals, etc fall under this divide. For the intangibles, both social and economic policies occupy this divide; if I may add: security of lives and properties. These are things that are felt. Any Lagosian can attest, we took both almost for granted under the immediate past administration, hence, the nostalgia.

During the campaigns, we were sold a first class graduate, a chartered Accountant per excellence, a guy who self-financed his education. A man who almost went through his childhood shoeless like the former President. He was not a talk-active but his action-packed posters caught some people’s interest. Even when dust was raised about his ancestry, many ignored it with the faith that we are certain of continuity of the changes that were heralded by BRF. But little did we know that the clout that governed Lagos till the morning of 29th May, 2015 took flight immediately Fashola left Marina; instead a Jonathanian spirit gained the Right of Occuppancy in Lagos House. It is the ilk of Jonathan that will serenade their audience with: I had no shoe, get into office, and raise the hopes of the people because they believe his humble background will make him align with the common man, but instead of stepping up to the plate, steep deeply down the curve due to incapacity and intelligence. The first could be pardoned but when arrogance will not make you call out or listen to people that can help you out of your quagmire even when they are available, then the latter cannot be overlooked. I see no reason why Fashola should not be reached out to at this time. One thing I know, Fashola would not want his town razed because he was not born in Ondo. He gave his words when he was leaving, he said he is always a phone call away and he never gives his word and go back on it, although, The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born.

A friend of mine would always say that this guy he is looking at doesn’t strike him as someone who has the smartness of Lagos to govern Lagos but I will always argue that the guy does not need to do more than is expected (Fashola’s stroke can only be Fashola’s), he only has to follow a path that is already paved with shinning light. But when a son inherits a well-maintained archetype of his father but decides to remodel the structure and pulls down the edifice, first of all, before contacting the draughtsman or considering the financial implication of such a task, then such a child doesn’t deserve anyone’s praise.

Why would any sane person disrupt the easy flow of events?

If one wants to know how a state is governed, test the impulse of the commercial bus drivers then you will know the volition of the state Governor. The directive to LASTMA of non-impoundment of vehicle even when such a vehicle is caught in the act of grievous violation of traffic rules is meant for a society that can boast of adequate biometric of citizenry and verifiable vehicular databank. The insanity of the commercial drivers that followed that directive threw Lagos back into several decades of incivility. We know you may have some good intention beyond your usual populist approach( populist: like the one that was reported that you went on vigil with the police in one of those dark spots in Lagos), but that good intention was immediately eroded, that even the Danfo drivers themselves became nostalgic of the metropolis they had just few months ago. Iya Ramota with her lambebe sef dey ask if the government for Lagos no be APC to APC again? Any sane mind expected Lagos to run on Plug-And-Play. It takes more than executive pronouncement or recitation of Riot’s Act to curb the madeness of Lagos traffic.

We were told that when the OBJ-led Government saw the need to muscle Lagos in order to frustrate the existence of the additional local government areas created by Bola Ahmed-led Lagos State government by not releasing the fund accruing to Lagos state from the Federation Account, Ambode designed the IGR masterpiece which is quintessential in the nation. The Fashola-led administration enjoyed the plan and he was able to perform to the level that Lagosians took both the tangibles and the intangibles of governance for granted. We have not been told the people have refused to pay their taxes because me I dey pay my tax. Till few months ago, I drove on better roads well lit at night with refreshing greenery greeting me here and there. I felt like a cosmopolitan in my city without having to be in Dubai or in any of the cities of the Queen or Obama’s lane before I savour the beauty of nature. Today our dear green is gone and I don’t think they will return in a long time to come. Hardly would one drive for ten minutes without your car having to screech because our roads are punctuated with potholes at alarming intervals that one would wonder what happened to those yellow-overall guys we used to see blocking those deathtraps few months ago . Anytime I come to such a stop, I reflexively jam my palms and say: Orisa bo le gbemi… Apart from the need to have a very sharp headlight for night drive in Lagos recently, you also must make sure your car cooling system is working fine. Bereft of the two, you either get buried in the hole or get brazenly robbed that you would suddenly realize what those Armoured police vehicles stationed at various points few months back meant.

As the Chief Security Officer of the state, Mr Fashola never for one day gave Lagos the excuse that he couldn’t curb the menace of robbery because the security agencies were not under his control. Fine, he complained of inadequacy of men of the security agencies but never did I read where he opened up the State to the robbers of whatever operation level on the premise that it is the job of the Commissioner of Police to secure the state. Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) was even instituted to assist the security agencies in carrying out their duties smoothly and we all were better off.

What happened to those novelties?

I am fortunate to live close to a Water Works but for several days now I can only patronize meruwa. Few months ago my tap would not go dry this long. I was recently in the office of one of the senior members of your cabinet, we could not get water to drink. The excuse was that they had to go to the Office of the Deputy Governor to make requisition before they can refill their water bottles. What pettiness!

That someone run to the press claiming that they curbed wastages does not mean it is not a ploy for greater ‘wacking’. Now, we are asking: who sent you to save money meant for service delivery? Watch out, because soon, the ‘wacking’ will start vociferously like no man’s business and if you raise any question, the answer is there: Weren’t you the one that told us to spend?

We should stop concentrating on people’s degrees but rather, we should screen their pedigree. Fashola’s pedigree was a no-nonsense man, even as the CoS to Asiwaju. But the story of someone being pushed out of service was politically quelled with some old good story. The unfolding events point to a vendetta: the striking move to undo Fashola at all cost.

If you must undo what is good, replace it with what is better or put in its stead what is best. The way you are going about it may spell your political doom regardless of who your godfathers are. You are allowing the service that you were employed for to suffer.

I wonder the level of excellence you have brought in.

 

NB: This piece is written in simple English.