Ribadu and el-Rufai: The Price to pay for Courage

By Francis Omeruni

The Nigerian ruling class is very smart. It is aware of the extreme gullibility of Nigerians; that Nigerians are easily taken in by lies and have truths. They know that there is a tendency among uncritical Nigerians to believe as true if you mention or drop hints that a certain ex or incumbent public officer has stolen huge sums of money from the public treasury or has abused his office in a certain way. Once you mention that, most Nigerians are likely to believe that the man must be guilty, in spite of clear evidence to the contrary. Those who do not believe fully will harbour some doubts about the integrity of the man accused. And this is all that the devious men of power want to achieve: to thoroughly discredit their target or create doubts about his integrity. 

This smear technique is being employed against El-Rufai and Nuhu Ribadu. And the tragedy of the whole matter is that very few of our countrymen and women can see through the wickedness of these men’s persecutors. First, it was Nuhu Ribadu. The EFCC alleged that the man has palatial houses in Dubai, London and Abuja. It took the eagle eyes of some patriotic and professional journalists, especially those of them on the internet, to expose the lies being concocted against Ribadu. 

While the Ribadu agenda has been pursued to a certain extent, the next target is el-Rufai.The EFCC is selling to us a dummy that it has declared el-Rufai wanted because he has refused to come and answer to grave allegations. His lawyer’s response has helped us to understand that EFCC have all the records they if that is what they really want. What they want from el-Rufai is not to give them useful information to aid their so-called investigations. What they want is his presence so that they can achieve their wicked plan to get even with him for the wrong they think he did them while he was FCT minister. 

It is unfortunate that our frustration with the corrupt ethos that is reigning in our public and private lives has made many Nigerians to become cynical: they are more than ready to believe the worst about whoever is accused of monumental wrong-doing, no matter how fantastic the tale about them is couched. Our rulers know this mindset of Nigerians that is why the EFCC people cleverly gave to the public the lie that el-Rufai is wanted to account for N32 billion of the money realized from the sale of FGN houses in the FCT. 

From the comments of some Nigerians who responded to the write-up entitled “El-Rufai vs. the EFCC: The Facts Speak for themselves” which was posted on several of our internet journalism sites like Saharareporters.com, Pointblanknews.com and TheNigerianVillageSquare, it is clear that el-Rufai’s antagonists have partially succeeded in their smear campaign.

Many otherwise intelligent Nigerians allowed themselves to be deceived by EFCC’s lies that they are after el-Rufai because they want him to come back home to answer to certain allegations against him. The EFCC people are not after accountability or any such noble thing. What they are after is to use a good reason to blackmail and compel el-Rufai to come and when he does, they will now reveal their real reason which is to possibly handcuff him, parade him before TV cameras with the sole purpose of humiliating him. That is what will give joy to some of the former corrupt and powerful governors backing Farida Waziri. Nothing will feel them with greater joy and sense of fulfillment than to see Nuhu and el-Rufai severely tarnished for daring to step on their toes. Now they are in power and must exact their revenge. They can not wait for God to avenge them if they think those two have wronged them. Since they are now tin-gods, they want to play the real God. 

Because of the sterling performance of Nuhu Ribadu and el-Rufai in the positions they once held, they have endeared themselves to several persons in the security and intelligence community who feed them with reliable information of the evil plot being hatched to ridicule and humiliate them. The issue, therefore, is not whether el-Rufai is trying to evade or avoid facing the law but that he is aware of a sinister plot to seize his passport and prevent him from traveling back to the USA to pursue his studies. And no one in his right senses will see a trap set to catch him and will willingly walk into it. He was quoted in a Daily Trust newspaper report of Monday 22nd December as saying that,“the arrangement was that if I came to Nigeria they would seize my passport and stop me from finishing my studies, because they have observed that that was the only way they could frustrate me”. El-Rufai knows their game plan that is why, he said in that Trust report that “what they want to do is to harass and discredit us because we disgraced the godfathers of those who control the EFCC”.

I am in complete agreement with the brother who calls himself ISPY who submitted as follows concerning the EFCC vs. El-Rufai saga: “Basically in as much as I do not proclaim the El-Rufais and Ribadus innocent of any charges against them I just think it is sad that those people who made some sort of meaningful change or impact no matter how small seem to be the ones now being persecuted whilst the Iboris, Orji Kalus and Igbenedions use their ill-gotten wealth to buy 'JUSTICE'. 

He also gave Nigerians a good counsel by saying that, “I think all Nigerians should not get carried away by just anybody being prosecuted in the name of fight against corruption but also take note of exactly who and who is actually being prosecuted. A key question is, has anybody who was Obasanjo's so called enemy also being prosecuted or are all so called Obasanjo enemies(IBB, IBORI, KALU, IBORI,ATIKU, etc) during his tenure all suddenly become saints by virtue of a change in Government !!!”

Whatever mistakes Nuhu Ribadu and el-Rufai made while in office, there is no doubt that they tried to bring change to Nigeria. Those who are hounding them now can not measure up to one tenth of the good these men did for Nigeria. For sure, Nuhu and el-Rufai are not saints. They sure made mistakes but to hound them for giving of their best for their fatherland is unacceptable.

Nigerians should learn to rise to the danger this nation is facing by the desperate, discredited politicians who surround Yar’Adua. Yar’Adua is obviously giving these desperate men the go-ahead but he does not seem to realize the danger they pose to his government and to the corporate existence of this nation. The persecution of Nuhu and el-Rufai has outraged many honest and well-meaning Nigerians who can not understand why those who need to be hunted are the ones hunting for the jugulars of others. 

Mr. Omeruni is of the Department of Political Science, University of Abuja.

Robot  # 1 | 24.12.2008 12:52

Ribadu and el-Rufai: The Price to pay for Courage By Francis Omeruni What is the reward for sterling performance in public office in Nigeria? What is the reward for trying to be an achiever in a country of very low achieving like Nigeria? Given the treatment that former FCT minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and the former EFCC Chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, are getting in the hands of the Yar’Adua government, the answer is: persecution, harassment and a smear campaign waged against you. The aim, it seems, is to prove that all Nigerians are sinners and that there is none that is cleaner than the others. The Nigerian ruling class is very smart. It is aware of the extreme gullibility of Nigerians; that Nigerians are easily taken in by lies and have truths. They know that there is a tendency among uncritical Nigerians to believe as true if you mention or drop hints that a certain ex or incumbent public officer has stolen huge sums of...Read the full article.

changenigeriamovement  # 2 | 24.12.2008 14:16

This article and the many others make for great reading and I praise the writers. However, we are not going to get anywhere speaking english. The time has come for us to move beyond words and start learning from our brothers in Thailand. It is very easy to speak English but that will not change anything in Nigeria. In fact, our politicians will be happy if we continue to speak big English because this is all we have been able to do for decades. We must learn from our brothers in Thailand and have the guts to stand up to these demented elements running Nigeria. We are all writing and theorizing as if getting rid of the Yar Adua government is a complicated job. It is not complicated and we can do it in a matter of weeks if not days. If Nigerians could come together to express dismay at British Airways' treatment of Nigerians, how come hundreds, if not thousands of Nigerians cannot gather in front of the Nigerian Embassy in London or some other city to express disapproval with the government's policies? Our politicians are smarter than we give them credit for. They have been able to figure out that almost all Nigerians are for sale. They figure we cannot go beyond big words and in case anyone goes further than that, they try to bribe that individual with a "breakthrough" The next thing you know, the individual starts speaking a language that you no longer understand. Nigerians are more powerful than they realize. A few thousand citizens camped out in front of the Embassy and the London branches of the Nigerian banks that have provided the basic infrastruture for money laundering with severely damage the government to an extent that it cannot recover from. Such demonstrations, peaceful, could also provide the necessary global attention needed to address the concerns of all Nigerians. We have this tool and have no right to complain because we have refused to use it. Let us stop being cowards and start taking immediate steps to stand up to the powers that be. I have done this myself and my group has done it. It is therefore up to the others to stop talking and start doing something. For facts in support of my position, you can visit www.changenigeriamovement.blogspot.com

i-go-better  # 3 | 24.12.2008 16:45

El-Rufai and Ribadu were as effective as Fani-Kayode wouldn't you say? So also was "Dr" Andy Uba. Less I forget, Prof Iwu was extremely successful in his own domain. Even the indomitable Adedibu of blessed memory who single handedly filled all elective positions in Yorubaland, of all places, with men and women of his/Obj chosen, was that not a remarkable achievement? You Nigerians have a very long way to go. The common denominator connecting all of their frenzied effectiveness was a fetish curriculum to ingratiate Obasanjo. Out of 30 governors Ribadu claimed were heavily corrupt (I agree with him 100%) how many did he punish? Absolutely none! Or would you consider that drama with Alams/Draiye as enough punitive measure against corruption? What stopped him from prosecuting all 30 of them as soon as they lost their immunity? Is 30 too much a number? Remenber Obj himself went on air to announce to the whole world he caught very big thieves-former Senate President and Education Minister. And how much were they accused of stealing? 50M Naira!!!! This same Obj had individuals, who are his government contractors, donating billions(1000,000,000M Naira) each to his Library project. Until Nigerians' psyche is re-wired to re-orientate the institutionalised attitude of once-my-oga-is-satisfied, I have performed well, Nigeria will continue to swirl in this unenviable"comfortable" zone of vicious cycle. One example would suffice to show the difference between service to satisfy my oga and service to the general public; Dora Akunyili and NAFDAC. While Akunyili was distroying FAKE DRUGS to save Nigerian lives, El- Rufai was distroying Nigerians' BUILDINGS to the whims of his oga, causing death and disintegration of many homes. What El-Rufai did to fellow Nigerians was more than enough execuse for war if another country did exactly same to Nigerians in such country. Despite all these, what is required of El-Rufai and Ribadu is, go to EFCC and clear your name for God's sake. What makes that unfair treatment to these men? I need a holiday!

changenigeriamovement  # 4 | 24.12.2008 17:55

There are lots of government spokesmen and women who comment on ribadu and el rufai in support of their masters. No matter what these individuals have done, the fact is that Yar Adua is not fighting corruption. when I hear these individuals, I realize how far the Nigerian people will have to travel to find political salvation. Cry the beloved country.

Prince Charles  # 5 | 24.12.2008 18:07

I pity us Nigerians, we are the most selfish humans on earth. We do not have the interest of the nation at heart, that is the reason we can comfortably seat in our house and demand change through writting comments online. Action is all that is needed. Lets rise up and demand our country back to us. Else no amount of praying and fasting or commenting on SR, NVS, PB and other online sites will help. People demand what they want, and as long as we are lazy as have been since, NO GOOD THING WILL COME.