By Bola BOLAWOLE
turnpot@gmail.com 0807 552 5533; 0803 251 0193.
God, grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference – Reinhold Niebuhr.
“The Serenity Prayer” is what the above quotation is generally called. The wisdom of my own elders that equates it says, “M’oja m’osa la n mo akikanju”. The valiant on the battlefield is one who knows the right time to advance and the right time to beat a retreat. The English saying that0 approximates it is, “He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day”. An event happened during my days at the PUNCH newspapers that made the then General Manager of the newspaper, Mr. Osuolale Mustapha, to recall another Yoruba proverb which says, “Balogun ojo ni n se irohin iku ti o pa Balogun akikanju”, meaning, it is the cowardly general that returns from the battle field to relate the story of how the valiant general fell on the battlefield! The import of the above quotations is that every fight or war requires tact and wisdom. Lest I forget, let me add another proverb: “Alagbara ma m’ero baba ole”, which means the strongman that lacks tact is not only a weakling but the chief of weaklings. Scripture is then correct when it says in Proverbs 4: 7 that “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding” Understanding in this wise means having profound insight and a good sense of judgement.
Not only the fight against corruption demands all of that, rubbing minds with top media editors like the EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede, did in Lagos last week Friday demands no less! Usually, the question-and-answer session is the most testy aspect of such engagement, after the reading of a prepared speech. Trust the Nigerian media, the kind words for the media that Olukoyede started his speech with did not prevent the editors from firing on all cylinders when it was time for comments and questions, holding the EFCC boss’s feet to the fire, as it were. Beyond that, however, conscionable Nigerians must wonder whether the war against corruption can be left to the EFCC alone, judging by some of the revelations made by Olukoyede. We are all aware of the over 790 persons arrested in one fell swoop for financial crimes in the heart of Victoria Island, Lagos; close to 200 of whom were foreigners. Some of the foreigners had no travelling documents – no visa, no passport – yet they were allowed entry into the country! Our borders are porous on account of the corruption of those charged with the responsibility of manning them. The traffic of foreigners and Nigerians alike in the vicinity where these hundreds of criminals were bursted should have attracted the attention of neighbours: why did everyone keep mute over it?
During COVID-19, a similar incident that embarrassed the country happened. Some foreigners travelling in Ghana without vaccination papers were stopped at the airport. The Ghanaian airport officials demanded a bribe, which was paid, and the foreigners were led to a COVID-19 centre where they were properly vaccinated and documented before they were allowed in. The same foreigners came to Nigeria, were stopped at the airport where a bribe was demanded and they paid. When they asked to be taken to a COVID-19 centre for vaccination and proper documentation, they were told it was not necessary. They told the officials of the dangers of unvaccinated people entering the country but the officials told them not to worry; God would protect all of us from COVID-19! Some of the Chinese fraudsters bursted by the EFCC said they were told to pull their ears and run into the country after they had settled the officials at the point of entry!
These were foreigners who left their country to perpetrate in Nigeria fraudulent acts that attract capital punishment in their own country! Over 500 SIM cards fully activated using Nigerians were recovered from them. They use Nigeria and Nigerian names and addresses to make it look like the criminals were Nigerians, thus giving the country and its citizens a bad image worldwide! Elements of terrorism were also said to have been unearthed in their operations. Now, tell me, how can the anti-corruption war succeed without the buy-in of Nigerians? How can the war be won with the active connivance of Nigerians themselves with the criminally-minded?
Questions were asked about the 700 plus Abuja duplexes said to be worth billions of dollars that the EFCC burst but without mentioning who owned the property, which non-disclosure caused an uproar. After Olukoyede had explained how they came about the information, the intricate network of subterfuge woven by the perpetrators to hide the identities of those concerned, and how the law had been exploited in the past to frustrate EFCC’s efforts to recover looted funds and assets, even the editors who asked the question agreed that the EFCC’s approach was the best in the circumstance.
Sometimes, attending such sessions can hike anyone’s BP! Imagine these: The cost of recovering looted funds is very expensive as a result of the time and resources involved in the recovery effort. The criminals engage in all manner of delay tactics to frustrate prosecution. Recovered funds are also relooted, which is why foreign countries returning Abacha loot, for example, always added conditions and asked for assurances! One of the major problems encountered while fighting corruption, according to Olukoyede, is insider abuse. Some of those engaged to fight corruption are themselves corrupt and are in cahoot with the corrupt. Complacency and overzealousness capable of giving the commission a bad image also bothers Olukoyede. Hence, the EFCC boss recently fired 27 of his staff to sound a note of warning that it would no longer be business as usual. He maintained that he will not waver on his zero-level tolerance for corruption. “Whatever it will cost, we will instill discipline in the system”, he vowed. With the JAPA syndrome, it will not surprise anyone to hear that visa fraud is one of the major headaches of the EFCC as we speak and the commission has had to set up a desk to address the increasing wave of fake visa and foreign job placement procurers.
Answering a question, Olukoyede said he couldn’t agree less that some civil servants are bigger thieves than the politicians that Nigerians usually fix their gaze on! “There are civil servants who steal more than politically-exposed persons”, he said. Answering another question, he swore that he had no party or political affiliation and, as such, would go after corruption wherever it rears its ugly head. The argument here was heated. The EFCC, however, cannot be everywhere at the same time. It has offices in only 17 of the country’s 36 states. Therefore, he said, in response to another question, that he had no objection to states truly and sincerely complementing the EFCC’s efforts to fight corruption. This, also, is where wisdom, tact, and understanding comes in: How to proceed, where to proceed, and when to proceed. He must pick his fights and be certain he is not on slippery grounds when he makes his moves.
Answering another question, he agreed that no major fraud takes place in the system without the connivance of some of the banks. “It is mind-boggling”, he moaned. “They return trillions of Naira every year but the economy is what it is. You wonder what economy they are funding”. Are some banks fully involved in money laundering? Yes, they are! “Some of them ride private jets. They live large”. The EFCC is filing charges against some of them, he said. He mentioned names. “We used to use them as witnesses but now we will be charging them as accessories after the fact… But we have to be careful with that because of the sensitivity of the banks”.
This page is not enough to cover all that was revealed at the event which Olukoyede said was to “further deepen the relationship between the EFCC and the media because the war against corruption cannot be won without the support of the media and the citizenry”. He described 2024 as a most challenging year for the commission due to attacks on it from many angles and quarters. Ironically, the same year was when EFCC made its most astounding achievements. As he reeled them out and the hall was silent, Olukoyede behaved like the proverbial lizard that fell from the top of the iroko tree and nodded its head three times, saying, if no one salutes me, I will salute myself! “EFCC deserves commendation”, he said! Twice he said that and his audience did not disappoint! Resounding applause!
Olukoyede is fortunate: He has been chief of staff and secretary in the same organisation; so he knows the place inside out. That, however, comes with a price: the shenanigans of the past are now on his table to address, even where he was not directly involved. Cases were mentioned that he admitted raised eyebrows but he is doing all in his powers, following due process, to redress perceived injustice and unprofessional conduct and bring the culprits to book. Remember Professor Wole Soyinka’s “ethical revolution”? Olukoyede is instituting his own ethical revolution at EFCC that will affect how exhibits are handled and what kind of seasonal and other gifts operatives can receive from members of the public.
A few weeks ago, I was at another media parley by the EFCC’s sister-organisation, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) whose chairman canvassed the National Assembly to enact a whistleblower law to help the fight against corruption. Olukoyede made a similar plea last Friday. He, however, went a step further to advocate for an unexplained wealth law. “Strict liability offence”, he called it, whereby “we hold you accountable for any wealth you cannot explain how you got it!”
Where there is commitment to the fight against corruption, the tools for the work should be made available if we are really serious! Whistleblower law! Strict liability law! These are some of the concrete demands that I think civil society, Labour, ASUU, and other pro-democracy activists should file behind and begin to make on our leaders. The day the whistleblower and strict liability offence laws are passed is the day the fight against corruption will assume a new dimension in this country!
Former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-Chief, BOLAWOLE was also the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Westerner newsmagazine. He writes theTHE LORD’S DAY column in the Sunday Tribune and TREASURES column in the New Telegraph newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.
Share your story or advertise with us: Whatsapp: +2347068606071 Email: info@newspotng.com
