Will the real treasury looters please stand up?
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- Written by Mohammed Sahabi Achida
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Despite its limitations, the Wikileaks whistle blower is bringing to light the high level hypocrisy and insincerity of the former Obasanjo administration in the implementation of the anti-corruption crusade. One of the latest shocking revelations by Wikileaks is that negotiators for the recovery of the so-called Abacha loot were also helping themselves under the guise of protecting public interest. According to Wikileaks, Mohammed Abacha, one of the children of the late military ruler, was asked to surrender 500 million dollars to the private pockets of the negotiators. And his refusal to succumb to blackmail was the beginning of his troubles and harassments from these so-called negotiators appointed by the former Obasanjo administration.
You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to appreciate the level of insincerity that surrounded the recovery of the so-called Abacha loot. How can anyone explain the rationale of negotiators demanding their own share of 500 million dollars of “tainted” funds? One would have expected the Obasanjo administration not to touch corruption with a bargepole. There was, however, a wide discrepancy between Obasanjo’s publicly declared commitment to fight corruption and what it was doing in practice. In fact, the recovery of the alleged Abacha loot became a weapon in the hands of the former President to convince or impress the Western nations that he was ridding Nigeria of corruption.
As it ridiculously turned out, however, Nigeria won a notorious distinction for corruption under Obasanjo’s nose, thanks to Transparency International, which rated Nigeria as one of the most corrupt nations of the world. Like a wounded lion, former President Obasanjo dismissed the corruption rating by Transparency International as a lazy job. Ironically, Obasanjo was once a member of the Board of Trustees of Transparency International. But Nigerians didn’t need the international anti-corruption watchdog to know that corruption was defeating its hypocritical enemies in the country. It was revealed then that more than 50 percent of official corruption was taking place in the Presidency under Obasanjo.
Nigerians have short memories; that is why they are easily fooled by hypocritical leaders. Did we forget so soon how Obasanjo fired the former Acting Auditor General of the Federation, Mr. Vincent Azi in 2002 for daring to disclose the lack of transparency in the Presidency and the National Assembly? The no-nonsense Auditor General was accused of “breaching civil service rules” by going public with his report. Ultimately, the poor Acting Auditor General lost his job merely on the account of his honesty under an administration that claimed to be fighting corruption.
The unceremonious removal of Mr. Azi was a fatal blow to the moral image of the Obasanjo administration. In decent democratic societies, the poor Auditor General would have been rewarded or commended, especially by an administration that was sincerely committed to fighting corruption. Even without the revelations by Wikileaks, it was an open secret that the anti-corruption crusade of the former Obasanjo administration was founded on hypocrisy. The Halliburton bribery scandal, for which a poor aide to former President Obasanjo is currently facing prosecution for collecting 7 million dollars on behalf of the PDP or one untouchable big man, has removed the mask from the face of the Otta farmer. A poor aide is now the fall guy in the Halliburton bribery scandal. No one is surprised, however, that the EFCC couldn’t go after the real culprits in the Halliburton scandal. Nigeria is a society that hangs small thieves while the big ones scoff at the law and behave with brazen impunity. With the death of the late General Sani Abacha, who allegedly looted Nigeria dry, one would have expected corruption to be decidedly dead, following the election of a puritanical former President Obasanjo. What happened that corruption survived Obasanjo’s eight years in power and still ravages the nation thirteen years after the death of General Sani Abacha?
It is on record that former President Obasanjo bought 200 million naira shares in Transcorp and, predictably, public outrage was spontaneous. However, like anything Nigerian, the issue died a natural death because of our gullibility to swallow the ridiculous official excuses offered to defend Obasanjo’s incredible sources of his sudden wealth from rags to inches! He was financially rehabilitated by friends and other men of good will such as Generals T.Y. Danjuma, Ibrahim Babangida, Aliyu Gusau and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Eight years after leaving office, however, Obasanjo now ranks among the richest former public office holders. Could this sudden wealth be as a result of a Midas touch, honest labour or the influence of public office?
As a man who introduced the EFCC and ICPC, former President Obasanjo should have led the way by declaring his assets publicly so that Nigerians could make comparisons between his financial status when he came out of jail and what he acquired eight years after leaving office (1999-2007). Admittedly, the constitution doesn’t require him to declare his assets publicly. However, as a leader who believes everyone else is a thief, except himself, former President Obasanjo should have waived the secret declaration of assets. Is he so overwhelmed by his new level of wealth that he is not comfortable with the prospect of subjecting his riches to open public scrutiny? Should a man that always branded General Abacha as the embodiment of corruption be afraid to account for his own wealth? It is never too late for General Obasanjo to shame his critics, including the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), which has consistently challenged the former President to explain the sources of his current incredible wealth.
Achida lives at 58, Panama Street, Ministers’ Hill, Maitama Abuja. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Will the real treasury looters please stand up?
Category: Comments Written by Mohammed Sahabi Achida Hits: 566
Former President Obasanjo came to power in 1999 with a tough moral posture to rid Nigeria of corruption, no matter whose ox was gored. In line with that commitment, members of the Abacha family and associates were forced into a deal to cough out billions of dollars, which they and their late father, General Sani Abacha, allegedly stole. In fact, former Information Minister, under Obasanjo, Professor Jerry Gana was regularly briefing the nation about the billions of dollars being “recovered” from the Abachas. The former Obasanjo administration promised to invest these billions into improving the quality of life of Nigerians. We were excited that the messiah had finally come, with the election of a “born-again” puritanical President Obasanjo! We thought the enemy of corruption had finally come to the rescue. This optimism was understandable, considering the devastation corruption had caused the nation (and it is still doing so). Carried away by Obasanjo’s tough rhetoric on his “uncompromising” and “zero tolerance” towards corruption, many Nigerians innocently assumed that the former President meant what he said. With the passage of time, however, all his geese appeared to be swans! Despite the billions said to have been recovered from the Abachas, nobody in the former Obasanjo administration ever came out to show evidence where these recovered funds were invested into the social service sectors. Our naivety partly contributed to our inability to ask questions. The media men and women who were reporting the “looted” funds from the Abachas with relish, ultimately failed to follow up by asking questions about where all the billions had gone. Did these huge funds develop wings and disappear mysteriously? In whose pockets did these recovered dollars end? Why were the officials of the former Obasanjo administration incredibly silent on the fate of billions of dollars allegedly recovered from the Abachas?Despite its limitations, the Wikileaks whistle blower is bringing to light the high level hypocrisy and insincerity of the former Obasanjo administration in the implementation of the anti-corruption crusade. One of the latest shocking revelations by Wikileaks is that negotiators for the recovery of the so-called Abacha loot were also helping themselves under the guise of protecting public interest. According to Wikileaks, Mohammed Abacha, one of the children of the late military ruler, was asked to surrender 500 million dollars to the private pockets of the negotiators. And his refusal to succumb to blackmail was the beginning of his troubles and harassments from these so-called negotiators appointed by the former Obasanjo administration.
You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to appreciate the level of insincerity that surrounded the recovery of the so-called Abacha loot. How can anyone explain the rationale of negotiators demanding their own share of 500 million dollars of “tainted” funds? One would have expected the Obasanjo administration not to touch corruption with a bargepole. There was, however, a wide discrepancy between Obasanjo’s publicly declared commitment to fight corruption and what it was doing in practice. In fact, the recovery of the alleged Abacha loot became a weapon in the hands of the former President to convince or impress the Western nations that he was ridding Nigeria of corruption.
As it ridiculously turned out, however, Nigeria won a notorious distinction for corruption under Obasanjo’s nose, thanks to Transparency International, which rated Nigeria as one of the most corrupt nations of the world. Like a wounded lion, former President Obasanjo dismissed the corruption rating by Transparency International as a lazy job. Ironically, Obasanjo was once a member of the Board of Trustees of Transparency International. But Nigerians didn’t need the international anti-corruption watchdog to know that corruption was defeating its hypocritical enemies in the country. It was revealed then that more than 50 percent of official corruption was taking place in the Presidency under Obasanjo.
Nigerians have short memories; that is why they are easily fooled by hypocritical leaders. Did we forget so soon how Obasanjo fired the former Acting Auditor General of the Federation, Mr. Vincent Azi in 2002 for daring to disclose the lack of transparency in the Presidency and the National Assembly? The no-nonsense Auditor General was accused of “breaching civil service rules” by going public with his report. Ultimately, the poor Acting Auditor General lost his job merely on the account of his honesty under an administration that claimed to be fighting corruption.
The unceremonious removal of Mr. Azi was a fatal blow to the moral image of the Obasanjo administration. In decent democratic societies, the poor Auditor General would have been rewarded or commended, especially by an administration that was sincerely committed to fighting corruption. Even without the revelations by Wikileaks, it was an open secret that the anti-corruption crusade of the former Obasanjo administration was founded on hypocrisy. The Halliburton bribery scandal, for which a poor aide to former President Obasanjo is currently facing prosecution for collecting 7 million dollars on behalf of the PDP or one untouchable big man, has removed the mask from the face of the Otta farmer. A poor aide is now the fall guy in the Halliburton bribery scandal. No one is surprised, however, that the EFCC couldn’t go after the real culprits in the Halliburton scandal. Nigeria is a society that hangs small thieves while the big ones scoff at the law and behave with brazen impunity. With the death of the late General Sani Abacha, who allegedly looted Nigeria dry, one would have expected corruption to be decidedly dead, following the election of a puritanical former President Obasanjo. What happened that corruption survived Obasanjo’s eight years in power and still ravages the nation thirteen years after the death of General Sani Abacha?
It is on record that former President Obasanjo bought 200 million naira shares in Transcorp and, predictably, public outrage was spontaneous. However, like anything Nigerian, the issue died a natural death because of our gullibility to swallow the ridiculous official excuses offered to defend Obasanjo’s incredible sources of his sudden wealth from rags to inches! He was financially rehabilitated by friends and other men of good will such as Generals T.Y. Danjuma, Ibrahim Babangida, Aliyu Gusau and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Eight years after leaving office, however, Obasanjo now ranks among the richest former public office holders. Could this sudden wealth be as a result of a Midas touch, honest labour or the influence of public office?
As a man who introduced the EFCC and ICPC, former President Obasanjo should have led the way by declaring his assets publicly so that Nigerians could make comparisons between his financial status when he came out of jail and what he acquired eight years after leaving office (1999-2007). Admittedly, the constitution doesn’t require him to declare his assets publicly. However, as a leader who believes everyone else is a thief, except himself, former President Obasanjo should have waived the secret declaration of assets. Is he so overwhelmed by his new level of wealth that he is not comfortable with the prospect of subjecting his riches to open public scrutiny? Should a man that always branded General Abacha as the embodiment of corruption be afraid to account for his own wealth? It is never too late for General Obasanjo to shame his critics, including the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), which has consistently challenged the former President to explain the sources of his current incredible wealth.
Achida lives at 58, Panama Street, Ministers’ Hill, Maitama Abuja. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.