In ancient Rome, there was a popular
sharp practice among unscrupulous antique dealers and builders where flaws are
covered up with wax to create a sense of perfection.
Over the years as this
practice grew stronger, concerned professionals devised a way to separate their
works from those of the charlatans hence they came up with a tag on their products
called ‘sine cera’ which means ‘without wax’. These two words later
formed ‘sincerity’ in our modern English language.
The ideology of sincerity isn’t one
borne out of the need to create a sense of perfection but that of purity,
truthfulness and distinction. For a cause to be tagged sincere it must be
immune to selectiveness, hypocrisy and cosmetic justice.
Few days ago, the Presidential
Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement in the Nigerian Armed
Forces submitted its report detailing how funds released for purchase of
military equipment and gadgets from 2007 to 2015 were diverted into private
accounts and shared among cronies.
While the report gave a blow by blow
analysis of how funds were moved from one accounts to another, the committee
also listed names of top military officials who perpetrated this act of extreme
treason against the country.
Those indicted in the report include,
former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh; former Chief of Air Staff, Adesola
Amosu; former Chief of Army Staff, Azubuike Ihejirika; former Chief of Army
Staff, Kenneth Minimah; former Chief of Army Staff, Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau;
former Director of Procurement, Tukur Yusuf Buratai amongst others.
In a rather surprising turn of event
President Buhari allegedly ordered that the names of both Dambazau (who is now
the current Minister of Interior) and Buratai (current Chief of army Staff) were allegedly
deleted and the report doctored to have the grievous atrocities linked to them
expunged.
Early January this year, the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) quizzed retired Brigadier-General Jafaru
Isa who is a known associate of President Muhammadu Buhari and a member of the
President’s Transition Committee. Unlike the usual tradition of charging
accused to court where they proceed to seek bail, Jafaru Isa did not only enjoy
the luxury of being questioned for just eight hours but was allowed to
embrace the comfort of his house after a controversial part payment of 100
million naira was allegedly paid by him on the spot. Till date, no case has
been instituted against Jafaru in any court nor has the EFCC moved to pursue
his case to logical conclusion.
The nucleus of Nigeria’s democratic
system is under extreme threat. Not just by the ravaging militants in the
creeks of the Niger Delta, the blood tasty assault-rifle-wielding nomadic
herdsmen on a killing spree across the country or the ‘technically defeated’
but yet bombing Boko Haram terrorists in the North East. Far from these known
and almost used to horrors, one that creates an immediate risk to our
federation and capable of setting the rulers against the ruled if not swiftly
addressed is the unprecedented level of selective prosecution by the
Presidency. Deleting Dambazau and Buratai from the report doesn’t only show a
contradiction of the so much preached integrity and holistic war on corruption
but a rape on the purity of transparency which ushered the administration into
power.
Right before our eyes, the Central Bank
of Nigeria led by Godwin Emefiele was alleged to have secretly recruited sons and
daughters of notable associates of those in power into juicy positions in the apex bank.
A move
that does not only sever any sense of transparency but point clearly to the connivance
of the rulers against the ruled. Emefiele was not queried nor interrogated by
ICPC.
As if borrowing a leaf from the CBN,
the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Babatunde Fowler was alleged to have adopted
the same process of secret recruitment which only favored sons and daughters of
the privileged class.
What about those accused of being the
brain behind the padding of the national budget? After the press releases and
media face-saving charade, no one has been prosecuted for the avalanche of
misappropriation and scheming against the Nigerian state.
President Buhari should understand that
anyone with power can order the arrest of enemies and oppositions but only
those with sincere hearts of justice can prosecute friends, families and
associates who continuously make mockery and stand against the tenets of
integrity he/she preaches. While it is politically right that the President
rewards loyalty, such reward should never include a Presidential immunity
against acts of corrupt practices against the country.
Everything President
Buhari stood and advocated for before and during the 2015 election, he has
stood against. His steps negates the so much publicized zero tolerance for
corruption posture and if he doesn’t retract his steps, he may go on record as one
of the most paradoxical president in world’s history.
The major criticism against the
Jonathan’s administration is not about him being personally linked to any
corrupt practices but rather, that under his watch, his trusted allies and
aides elevated sleaze to unprecedented heights in our polity while he blindly
defended them without recourse to the authenticity of the evidences against
them.
Corruption does not end with stealing
of public funds. When corrupt individuals are shielded from prosecution and blind
eye turned on their deeds, such decisions creates a nursery for greater
atrocities. A Yoruba maxim says ‘It is not he who steals the Jar of Palm
oil that has stolen but one who aided such fellow’
Boladale is on twitter @adekoyabee
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