Ribadu and El-Rufai: short-sightedness of the Nigerian governing elite
By Idang Alibi
As a writer you feel flattered and at the same time challenged when readers write wondering why you have not used your platform to plead the cause of a particular citizen or citizens who is, or are, seen as being persecuted either by the government or by some other oppressors. And so I felt when in the past few weeks some readers have sent me text messages, telephone calls and emails asking why I have not written anything condemning what they see as the persecution of the duo of the former EFCC chieftain Nuhu Ribadu and former FCT Minister Nasir El-Rufai.
This kind of solicitation makes you realize that you are seen as a crusader of truth and as a respecter of the public trust which one holds as a writer. It also reminds you that you have a voice that can be heard and appreciated. And who is that man no matter how shy and modest he is who does not feel good if he is told that he counts or that he is a fair and an honest dealer?
Since the travails of the twosome started, I have deliberately shied away from commenting because I am well-known for my bias in favour of these two young men of my generation who have proved beyond reasonable doubt that with a combination of courage, clarity of vision, conviction and commitment to a chosen cause one can make a significant difference in the public life of this nation. The way I feel about these two (solely on the basis of their sterling performance in office) unless it is reported today that they are guilty of some unspeakable abomination against God and man, I will continue to hold them in high esteem no matter what dirt their enemies try to pour on them.
I also did not bother to say something because many have pointed out the obvious truth that these men are suffering because some powerful men they had offended while they were in office are out for revenge. I also reasoned to myself that if those tormenting Nasir and Nuhu can not listen to the protest of millions who have voiced out their displeasure, what guarantee is there that they will listen to a humble me?
I have now decided to comment on the two today because they is a perspective I wish to bring to bear on the issue. I hope to draw the attention of our ruling elite to the fact that in their blind rage to finish off their enemies, they are shooting themselves and the nation in the foot.. My worry about what is happening to Nuhu and Nasir now and what happened to Atiku under Obasanjo is that in the quest for vengeance, the first casualties are our institutions. There is no way vengeance-seeking government officials can deal with their targets without employing and rubbishing in the process institutions of state which are supposed to be fair, neutral and impartial.
Our courts, the police, other security agencies, electoral bodies, EFCC and some other bodies that are supposed to be the pillars of a modern society are usually manipulated by wily and wicked power wielders to achieve selfish or self-serving interests. The result is that such manipulation helps to erode the faith or confidence of the citizens in such state organs being ill-used. Gradually, there will be an erosion of respect for those in governance as protectors of the common weal. And that is very dangerous.
In the case of the current persecution of Nasir, the first state institution to suffer damage to its image is without doubt the Senate. When last year the Senate gave notice of its intention to probe the administration of the FCT between 1999 and 2007, many perceptive Nigerians were quick to point out that this was a game plan to discredit and humiliate el-Rufai who was the real target of that exercise.
Such Nigerians were proved right when the public hearing opened. The hostility of members of the Senate Committee on FCT towards el-Rufai was apparent to any discerning watcher. The committee was practically begging people who felt they had a case against el-Rufai to come and testify against him. The committee never gave any one any indication that they were out to do an honest job in an honest and fair manner.
Even when el-Rufai and his lawyers protested that many members of the committee had a conflict of interest issue to address, neither the committee nor the larger Senate bothered to consider the merit of that protest and insist that those who were guilty should disqualify themselves from sitting in judgment against el-Rufai. It later became public knowledge that almost every one in the committee had one grievance or another against el-Rufai and that the probe was not motivated by any desire for the public good but by the malice of some of the senators and others outside to get even with him.
The committee went ahead regardless and wrote a report one of whose highlights was that el-Rufai should be banned from holding public office in Nigeria for life. El-Rufai went to court and filed an action asking for a nullification of the committee report citing several reasons. And while that action is still pending, the Senate began a debate on the report on Tuesday 20 January in complete disregard of its own rule and the rule of the country that when an action is in court, parties are bound to hold fire until the court decides. All of this is taking place under an administration that places a premium on the observance of the rule of law.
The impression any patriot gets is that the senate is being used to persecute a citizen, namely Mallam Nasir el-Rufai for daring to step on the toes of powerful men when he was FCT minister. It is interesting that since the debate on the contentious report opened a majority of senators who spoke all had very harsh words of condemnation against el-Rufai. Only a few have had the courage to say some kind words about him by acknowledging that he did something positive for the FCT. I have always said that this tendency among us to dwell so much on someone’s faults to the neglect of the good he may have done will not do us any good. The movers and shakers of our society who love impunity lost so much during el-Rufai’s corrective tenure in the FCT so it is understandable that they hate the man so much. Machiavelli said it before that many men may forgive the death of their fathers but they can not forgive any one who causes them the loss of their property!
As a journalist who interacts with diverse segments of the population, I have no doubts in my mind that there are millions of Nigerians who love and appreciate the steps el-Rufai took to restore order to Abuja even when they acknowledge that some mistakes were made in the process. Some of his actions caused some pains but I do not think that he was motivated by malice. For me that is what should be considered: one’s motivation in taking a particular action. Abuja is a beautiful city today because some painful steps had to be taken and it was the lot of el-Rufai’s to take such courageous decisions. We need to praise him for doing a very difficult job in a very difficult setting where impunity had become the ruling ethos.
The saga of Nuhu in the hands of the EFCC and the police is too well known to warrant recounting here. It was revealed long ago that after Obasanjo, a four-point agenda was hatched to remove Ribadu from the EFCC chair, demote him in rank, dismiss him from the police and finally jail him on some trump -up charges. It is only the last leg of that plot that is yet to be implemented. The obvious zeal on the part of the persecutors of el-Rufai and Nuhu Ribadu to nail them at all costs shows the poverty of our governing elite. It shows them as a people with very small minds who are also mean and desperate. And the campaign to humiliate and discredit them has failed miserably.
Another thing that can be said is that our governing elite are not wise enough to realize that since they are the greatest beneficiary of the system they have a duty not to do anything that will heat up the system unnecessarily or do anything that can precipitate a revolution. But what are they doing? In their desperate attempt to seek vengeance by using unfair tactic to undo one another, they unwittingly bring condemnation on their entire class. They are telling Nigerians that all of them as a class are corrupt. In the eyes of some of us the desperate attempt to prove that some like Ribadu and el-Rufai that we see as heroes are not any better is a very harsh verdict for a governing class to pass on themselves.
Their short-sighted attempt at democratizing guilt is unacceptable. Some Nigerians believe that the likes of Nuhu and Nasir may not be saints but they at least are better off than most of those trying to persecute them now.
The relentless persecution of the duo for the largely good job they did in office has rather turned them into heroes in the eyes of many Nigerians. Is it a crime to serve one’s nation with dedication and great success? What is the reward for good service in Nigeria? How come that those who tried their best for the nation seem to be repaid with the currency of persecution while those who did not serve as well are given national honours!
Even if in the end it is proven that el-Rufai and Ribadu are indeed corrupt, my high opinion of them will not change because looking objectively at the Nigerian situation, it is only angels who can serve in high level public office in Nigeria and emerge without stain, especially if agencies of state are mobilized to check their past with magnifying glasses and a tooth comb as is being done to Nasir and Nuhu today. While I do not in any way support corruption I am at the same time reasonable enough to acknowledge that our system is highly corruptive. With tribalism, nepotism and an entitlement syndrome accepted as our way of life, a well-meaning public officer may easily fall without meaning to do so. This is what happens in a nation where corruption has become the governing ethos. At any rate my assessment of persons is not based on hypocrisy. I judge people within a context.
And why do I admire Ribadu? It is simple. While at EFCC, he did a lot to change the ugly image of Nigeria as a nation of scammers. All the efforts of our diplomats since independence can not equate with what Ribadu did for Nigeria in five years in the area of creating a good reputation for the fatherland. If today his adversaries succeed in establishing that the man is indeed corrupt, I will not join others in condemning him. Rather, I will ask God to forgive his sin against the background of his achievements. Let their performance and achievements be a mitigation for whatever sins they may have committed. I will do so also because I am aware of the fact that many of those who are anxious to condemn the two do not have half the integrity they have nor have they made the kind of contribution that the two have made to this country.
In the area of integrity, how many Nigerians today including those running the EFCC can reject a bribe of 15 million dollars as Nuhu did? By the way what has happened to that exhibit bribe money?
For me the greatest tragedy of what is happening today in our country is that we sit down and watch our political elite who hold the levers of power use that power to oppress citizens. We allow them to use scarce resources and executive time in their game of mischief and vendetta. What is more they also debase our state organs in their largely ego wars. This is the highest form of corruption. Governmental power should be used to do positive things and not to show how powerful government can be. That is a wrong way of using power. It is ungodly also.
A ruling class reveals its character by how it manages its class interest and preserves the polity. How it does that or fails to do it will show whether it is cohesive or disciplined or indisciplined or disorganized. What is emerging is that the Nigerian governing class does not know how to manage their disagreement in a manner that they can preserve their dignity and class interest. They behave like agberos in the motor parks. How unfortunate. The interpretation of what is happening today to Nuhu and Nasir is that the reactionary faction of the Nigerian ruling elite is having it back at the progressive faction which believes that Nigeria can indeed forge ahead with some discipline.
Idang Alibi is a columnist for the Abuja-based Daily Trust newspaper and can be reached on idangalibi@yahoo.com
