“I love my
country I know go lie
Na inside am
I go live and die
I know my
country I no go lie
Na im and me
go yap till I die…”
Fellow
Nigerians, let me borrow that incredible song I believe was composed by Tunji
Oyelana and produced in the Shehu Shagari era, around 1981. The National Party
of Nigeria (NPN) was comfortably in charge and the ruling party had gone on
spending spree. The situation got so bad, or so we thought, and Wole Soyinka
and his irrepressible “conspirators” regaled us with satires. Stage plays were
still popular in those days and the place to be, as a student at the University
of Ife, was Oduduwa Hall, next to the Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library. I will never
forget “Opera Wonyosi.” Even now “The Beggar’s Anthem” still reverberates in my
head. We thought we had seen the worst of our country then but the profligacy
of that time pales into insignificance compared to today’s madness.
Late last
year, the Federal Government announced that it would be pursuing a
whistleblowing policy to encourage Nigerian citizens to inform, snitch or tell
tales (depending on what side of the divide you are) on their fellow citizens
who have been engaged in corrupt practices and secretly salted away money and
property. The incentive for the whistleblower was that they would receive
between 2.5% to 5 % of whatever the value of money or property recovered as a
result of the information. On another day, I will deal with the politics,
morality and efficacy of whistleblowing as a tool in the fight against
corruption. On my own part, my major concern is the lack of protection other
than financial reward offered to the whistleblower!
The serious
season of the Whistle Blower started in February 2017 when EFCC operatives
raided a building said to belong to Andrew Yakubu, former Group Managing
Director of the NNPC. They recovered almost US$10 million dollars and £100,000
from a safe ensconced in a building deep in the outback of Kaduna. The Man
subsequently walked into the offices of the EFCC and demanded the money back
contending it was a gift. As the matter is now in Court and thus sub judice, I
will not enter the debate as to who, how or why?
The season
continued in March 2017 with another discovery of money in Kaduna. The closure
of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja and its relocation to Kaduna
led to this expose. Upon information received, security agents had intercepted
a package at the baggage screening point at the newly refurbished and revamped
Airport. Originally it was claimed that the money, which was found in five
unmarked and unaccompanied bags, was in crisp new N200 and N50 notes.
Investigations swung into full gear but till today we have not heard anything
further about the investigations. The only information, if any, was that the
money had been recovered as a result of the activities of a whistleblower. We
certainly are none the wiser about the owners or the purpose of the money.
The season
of anomie moved Southwards into Lagos, the commercial capital of the country,
in April, when money was recovered in various locations there.
On April 7 a
whistleblower tipped off the EFCC Lagos Zone that a large sum of money was
stashed in an office building at the LEGICO Shopping Plaza in the Nigeria Air
Force Complex in Victoria Island. When Operatives raided the office, they found
almost N500 million in N1000 and N500 denominations in several “Ghana Must Go”
bags. On enquiry, it was discovered that the officers concerned were abandoned
Bureau De Change (BDC) offices. The offices had apparently not been used for
two years. As far as we know, efforts to locate the owner of the BDC has proved
abortive and nobody has turned up to claim the money.
The next
major heralded whistleblowing event occurred on April 10 when the equivalent of
almost N250 Million in Naira and various foreign currencies was recovered in a
Bureau De Change (BDC) in the popular Balogun Market area of Lagos. Although
two people were apprehended, they claimed the money belonged to their
unidentified boss from the Northern part of Nigeria. The real owner of the
money and the BDC involved remain un-named.
However, the
mother of all discoveries was apparently yet to be made. On 12 April 2017
Nigerians woke up to the revelation that more than US$43 Million, £27 Million
and N23 Million was found in a flat in Osborne Road, Ikoyi. The discovery in
Ikoyi has apparently opened a can of worms and it is not known who will be
exposed and consumed by the debacle. Unlike the other unknown and unnamed
owners affected by the previous whistleblowing escapades, a few people have
been touted as potential owners of the property and the money.
The first of
the alleged owners was a former Managing Director who was recently fired from
NNPC, Mrs Esther Nnamdi-Okagbue. She promptly dissociated herself from the
money or the property and threatened that if she continued to be intimidated
she would break her silence and cause cataclysm in the country. Next up was a
former national Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu’Azu who allegedly owns the
property although it was claimed that a prominent Nigerian bank has foreclosed
on it. The embattled former national Chairman immediately and stoutly denied
any link with the flat in which the money had been found or the money itself.
The rumour
mill then shifted attention to one of the foremost and frontline Ministers in
President Buhari’s Government and a vociferous champion of the anti-corruption
campaign, Rotimi Amaechi the Minister of Transport. Linked by satanic rumours
with the vivacious Television presenter and media entrepreneur, Mo Abudu it is
alleged that Amaechi owns the property and the money found in them. It is
claimed that this is so because he bought two properties and gave one to his
friend Mo Abudu. Mo Abudu has also issued a Press release in which she
vehemently refutes the allegation that she is involved in a relationship with
Amaechi or that she owns the flat in which the money was found.
Given my
close relationship with Amaechi, I called him to ask about the story
particularly as the Governor of Rivers State has claimed that the money belongs
to his State. The State Government claims that the money was diverted funds
from the sale of the State’s Gas Turbines to Sahara Energy for the price of
US$319 Million. Amaechi’s reaction was one of incredulity. As he told me, “Bob
Dee, you know that I have always told you I am not rich. How would I have
access to that kind of money and look you in the face and say that!” In short,
Amaechi denied anything to do with the money and told me that he knew the game
his detractors were playing and that he would leave them to their conscience. I
thought that he felt resigned to the fact that as one of the Poster Boys of
this administration and his unflinching support for the President from the
electioneering era till now, he was bound to be subjected to this kind of
buffeting and earth-shattering allegations. Amaechi would never be forgiven by
the PDP who believe that he sacked them from power because of the initial
position he took at the Governor’s Forum which led to the fatal schism in the
PDP.
To compound
the matter and deepen the mystery, social media went agog with the news that
the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) had claimed that the money was part of
its operational funds which it had kept in the flat that it was using as a safe
house in Lagos and that everything went through due process. It is unclear as
yet whether this report is true or not but certainly, the plot thickens.
May the soul
of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti continue to rest in peace. He had a song for everything,
on different occasions. One of my favourites was “Unknown Soldier.” The song
practically portrayed the inability of our government to unravel any major act
of crime and the penchant for blaming it on unknown people, as if Unidentified
Flying Objects (UFO) descended regularly on our shores to wreak havoc. Fela’s
song was so poignant and unforgettable. As I received the news of the huge sums
of dollars being busted in some people’s homes and offices in Nigeria, my mind
flashed back to Fela and how he would have composed a song titled UNKNOWN
LANDLORDS.
Believe me,
our country is super unique. Where else can anyone keep about $50 Million US Dollars
in raw cash? The mere sight of that would have made regular people to faint,
collapse and probably die instantly but not here. When God created us, he
installed a certain shock-absorber in us that makes it impossible for us to
shake or panic in the face of horrendous encounters.
It is
curious that the EFCC claims that in all of these matters it has been tipped
off by whistleblowers yet those people have seemingly not been able to provide
the identity of the owners of the money or even the property in which the money
was found. Wouldn’t any rookie investigator first ask those questions before
hot footing to the scene of the alleged crime? Would you not stake out the
place to find out who comes and goes as well as to be sure that you are not
walking into a trap? Except it is a deliberate strategy to keep the names for
now but why mention some publicly and hide others?
It appears
that these mysterious landlords and owners of money are cloaked with some kind
of aura or “aferi” (rarefier) that makes them invisible to the eyes of the EFCC
but otherwise apparent to everyone else. Many are wondering what is happening
at EFCC. The conspiracy theory out there is that the Acting Chairman of the
EFCC is simply raging around like a bull in a china shop seeking to find prized
heads he can hoist on his stick or at worst pull down with him if he finally
has to fall on his sword? The sing-song is that Magu wants his job
substantively by all cost and any means. Why not? He has every right but he
needs to straighten up his prosecution desks and ensure that the cases are well
handled in the law courts and less of the theatrics that we see daily as if
that is what this anti-corruption fight is all about when it should be much
more. If care is not taken, this extraordinary battle may fizzle out and end
miserably like all others before it.
It seems
like the circus has come to town and the unknown landlords like the masquerades
of yore will never be unmasked. To do so might forebode bad tidings for an
already beleaguered government. It is now obvious that corruption is not easy
to fight in a country where it has become so endemic and malignant. We wait
with bated breath for developments in the saga of the unknown landlords!
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