What exactly should we call this agency supposedly responsible for connecting electricity to Nigeria’s rural areas, but which it turns out was just an official front for stealing public money, whose “real economic agenda” was to provide permanent poverty alleviation for bureaucrats, contractors and sundry senior legislators?
Apparently the Managing Director of the so-called Rural Electrification Agency, one Mr Sam Gekpe, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Power Ministry, Dr Abdulahi Aliyu, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Senator Nicholas Ugbane, three “powerful” members of the House of Representatives-“Honourable” Ndudi Elumelu, chairman of the House Power committee (does anyone remember the show of righteous indignation that this gentleman put up over the $16billion purportedly spent on power by the Obasanjo regime), his deputy “Honourable” Muhammed Jibo, and the chairman of the House Committee on Rural (under)Development, “Honourable” (did anyone suggest to these “Honourables” that what they were doing amounted to dishonourable conduct?) Paulinus Igwe, as well as some other officials-Simon Nanle, Kayode Orekoya, Abdulsamad Garba Jahun and Mr Kayode Oyedeji (and one contractor, Emeka Ohaghena) simply got together sometime in December 2008 and shared N6.2billion in respect of what the newspapers called “phoney contracts”.
Now this people had the responsibility one way or the other for bringing development to Nigeria’s rural dwellers. As my wife asked as she read the report, “Where were the rural dwellers in all of this?” Do we now know what happens to all the millions, billions and trillions that we continually appropriate every year? Now remember that this is not a freak occurrence. Last time, it was the Health ministry-Minister, Minister of State, Permanent Secretary, Directors, and the Senate and House Health Committee chairpersons (the legislators were merely performing their constitutional ‘oversight’ over all activities of the executive, including looting the government purse!) who got together and shared N300million as Christmas gifts.
Earlier similar sharing of budget appropriations consumed the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs Patricia Etteh, former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara, Senate and House Committee chairs of Education and a Vice Chancellor. Earlier in the Obasanjo tenure, it was a Minister of Internal Affairs, His Permanent Secretary and other officials who simply shared national ID card project monies. Already there is talk about another impending prosecution of virtually the entire leadership of the Universal Basic Education Commission over another N850million contract scam. Does anyone understand why it has been impossible for the public sector to deliver power and other services to Nigerians? Do we now know why NITEL, Nigeria Airways, National Fertiliser Company, Aluminium Smelter Company, Nigerian National Supply Company, Ajaokuta Steel, Nigerian National Shipping Line, NEPA, etc all failed woefully to deliver on their mandates while their former heads are now millionaires and billionaires? Does anyone understand why Nigeria will never develop if we remain ambivalent towards corruption?
Now notice that the list of accused persons fully reflects Nigeria’s federal character! All our geopolitical zones are well represented. The accused persons, if the allegations are correct, did not quarrel over zoning, rotation or party affiliation. No one complained of marginalisation. They did not fight on behalf of their states of origins, ethnic groups, tribes or communities. Though their tribes and tongues differ, in brotherhood they stole! And shared! There was no discussion of their religious differences also. Their names suggest they were self-proclaimed Christians and Moslems-Nicholas, Samuel, Muhammed, Abdulahi Aliyu, Paulinus, Simon, Garba, and Lawrence. They did not remember Sharia as they shared the money. No one reminded the others of the Biblical commandment-“Thou shall not steal”.
I am certain that if you check, all our major Christian denominations were fully represented-Catholic, Anglican, Pentecostal, African Church, etc. There was no quarrel over any Islamic sectarian differences either. Some may even have been worshippers of traditional religions. None of that upset the bond of solidarity which filthy lucre fostered between the conspirators-in-theft! The “Christians” will have paid their tithes and the “Moslems” done the required zakat! The traditional religionists will have done “etutu”. That done in their estimation, God would have been successfully settled and their road to heaven cleared of all obstacles. The fate of rural dwellers who might have died due to lack of medical care as a result of absence of electricity, or the numerous children who could have been denied education, or the village artisans who may have escaped poverty if only they had power to work with, or the many other destinies destroyed and hopes shattered was too remote for them to factor into the calculation.
Is President Yar’adua finally launching a true war on corruption? Will the trials proceed to a logical conclusion or will the cases terminate after the accused persons are granted bail? When the accused persons’ Emirs, Obas and Obis as well as their community leaders and powerful friends begin to launch appeals for a “soft landing”, will the system insist that justice must be done? Is this a one-off attack or a sustained assault on the cancer that is destroying Nigeria’s journey to becoming one of the top twenty economies in the world? Will the battle proceed irrespective of who the next culprit is? We can only wait and see.
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