It did not come as a surprise the recent pronouncement by the Chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commision (EFCC), Mrs Farida Waziri that nothing had been found a as proof of the former president Obasanjo's culpability in financial embezzlement from the beginning to the end of his eight-year rule of this country. Only his supposed incrimination by the anti-graft body could have been a great surprise as well as a shock to many Nigerians who believe that a person does not bite the finger that feeds him.
It did not come as a surprise the recent pronouncement by the Chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commision (EFCC), Mrs Farida Waziri that nothing had been found a as proof of the former president Obasanjo's culpability in financial embezzlement from the beginning to the end of his eight-year rule of this country. Only his supposed incrimination by the anti-graft body could have been a great surprise as well as a shock to many Nigerians who believe that a person does not bite the finger that feeds him. Precedents abound forecasting President Yar'adua's unwillingness to probe his predecessor, Obasanjo, the latter being the finger that feeds the former.
Even though EFCC was established by the Obasanjo administration with the sole aim of annihilating the cankerworms of corruption, the agency was believed to have been grossly abused by Obasanjo himself and turned into a witch-hunting instrument which the former president used at his disposal to intimidate or fight to finish his known and perceived political enemies. At the initial stage of its creation, Nigerians especially the masses collectively jubilated over the laudable performance of the agency seeing that people who vaingloriously held exalted positions, who treacherously betrayed the trusts they swore to uphold, who waywardly violated the constitution they took a firm oath to defend and who pervertedly used such prestigious offices to siphon the nation's treasury by cornering it to their selfish aggrandizement were now being subjected to an unprecedented series of thorough investigations, strict interrogations and possible legal prosecutions.
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This trend certainly heightened tension and twisted events in the circle of "their excellencies" and "honourables" who previously posed as untouchables and belied the saying "nobody above the law" by conspicously breaking the law and going about scot-free. The mere mention of EFCC used to send tremors through the veins of any financial miscreant no matter how highly placed. It was then unanimously agreed that EFCC was the only efficacious remedy for corruption in this country. But all this was at the early stage of its life and under the reign of its first chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, a police commissioner whose boldness and eccentricity in facing harsh and difficult tasks became too amazing for Nigerians to believe. Things, however, began to change before the exit of the Obasanjo regime. The confidence reposed by people in the agency subsided at an incredible speed owing to the change in their perception of the agency's purpose of existence.
This was necessitated by the sudden turn of events in the scope of its work when its boss, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu was believed to have been receiving directives from above to turn the preying eyes of the ant-graft agency towards those who had vehemently opposed the third-term agenda of Obasanjo, pull down their political carreer and to chase or intimidate any member of the opposition perceived as being a threat to the Obasanjo-controlled PDP untill such a person succumbed to pressures by either decamping to the PDP or working for it to undermine his own opposition party from within. This selectivity and partisanship nature assimilated by EFCC had really weakened the massive support it used to enjoy from teeming Nigerians up to the time it totally lost focus and glory. After Obasanjo's exit, Mallam Ribadu made some attempts to re-focus the agency and bring it back on track.
The current president, however, seemed not happy with this stance especially when it became clear that those targetted by the anti-graft body were the very ones who helped tremendously in enthroning him. That stance coupled with outpouring calls for the probe of Obasanjo were apparently too heavy for Mr. President to the extent that he had to devise a means of curtailing the long route. Towards that end, Ribadu was forcefully sent back to school. Ordinarily, his enrolment at NIPSS would have been hailed by many except for the wrong timing and perhaps the hidden motives. This of course was the first instance signalling Yar'adua's aversion to probing his newly found political mentor, Obasanjo. Ribadu was succeeded by Lamorde whose tenure apart from being brief was also sedentary and lifeless. The incumbent boss, Farida Waziri then took over the mantle.
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Although they say whatever a man can do, a woman can do better (or worse?), majority of people welcomed her appointment only with much skepticism about her capability in efficiently discharging her responsibilities more especially taking into consideration the non-performance/failure of various women who had attained so high but relatively easy-to-handle positions and yet failed to deliver. To give her the benefit of doubt, some people acknowledged her and even likened her courage to that of the NAFDAC boss, Mrs. Dora Akunyili, the only reputable woman who has performed to the expectation of many Nigerians. But Farida's recent outburst that seemingly exonerated the former civilian dictator, Obasanjo, from all financial recklessness is to say the least unfortunate.
She, however, may not be the only one to carry the entire blame. It can be rightly apportioned between her and those who insisted in seeing through her appointment with them taking the larger percentage. As for the menace of corruption in Nigeria, it becomes obvious that this government is by far aggravating the situation instead of finding a way of halting it. One wonders how Nigerians can be convinced that nothing incriminating against Obasanjo is before the EFCC in spite of the ample petitions forwarded to the agency by numerous concerned groups. The only lesson derived from this whole episode is that Yar'adua's so-called policy of zero tolerance on corruption is actually full tolerance in such a way that any official entrusted with public resources can feel free to soil his/her hands and all he/she needs to do in order to go scot-free is to dance to the tune of the government in power.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters
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