Nuhu Ribadu is one of the most notable and controversial Nigerians in the last several years. As head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from 2003 to 2007, Ribadu’s charge was to fight perpetrators of financial crimes, both petty and big. He became a folk hero to many because of the way he hounded and arrested such big time embezzlers of public funds as former Bayelsa Governor DSP Alamiesiegha, former Inspector General of Police Tafa Balogun and former Delta Governor, James Onanefe Ibori. Even so, his critics accused him of being a tool in former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s vindictive politics and charged that Ribadu’s EFCC was selective in those it targeted as well as prosecuted. At any rate, Ribadu acquired the image of a principal enemy of state officials and corporate leaders who were used to skirting the Nigerian financial system. A vociferous crusader in the fight against corruption and economic crimes, he struck fear in the hearts of many public officials but also drew derision from critics.
In the post-Obasanjo era, Ribadu was sent on compulsory leave and ordered to proceed to the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru, near Jos, Plateau State.
In his career as a police officer and anti-corruption czar, he has been promoted, demoted, shot at—and finally fired from the Nigeria Police. He is at present living in England where he is pursuing further academic studies.
Is this man a national icon or, as some insist, a bully for the Obasanjo regime? Ribadu answered some of these questions recently in New York City where Saharareporters caught up with him for an interview in-between his numerous other appointments.
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