By Msonter Anzaa
In Nigeria, all things are possible.
It’s a land of big things. If you
want to do anything, just do it the big way. If you do it the petty
way, you will suffer. Gather momentum or liver, and just do it with a
bang. Men and women will talk and bicker. Nothing else will happen.
The people in authority know their kind – big men, big thieves, big
corruption, and big scandals. And the business of corruption is
transacted in billions.
The nation was enraged some weeks ago when an Abuja High Court convicted a self-confessed police pension fund thief and former director at the Police Pension Office, John Yakubu Yusufu, and sentenced him to 2 years imprisonment with an option of fine. Mr. Yakubu is a big, billionaire thief, worth over – according to varying news reports – 23 billion naira. All of it is gotten from retired police officers’ money, which he and his co-thieves were entrusted to administer. Nothing new; it happens every day in Nigeria. No shaking. The thing that stands out in this conspiracy to rob and assault the sensibilities of the Nigerian people is the caricature of justice offered by Justice Abubakar Talba. Mr Yusufu was sentenced for 2 years in prison or a fine of 750 000 naira. After he would have paid the fine, he would still be a billionaire all his life. Dividends of stealing; see how Nigeria rewards those she is pleased with.
Every day, the Nigerian population decries the manner in which corruption is encouraged and nourished by disturbing judgments coming from the courts. It is in this country that a court can grant a permanent injunction, preventing a former governor from ever standing trial over alleged financial misconduct during his time in office. What Justice Talba and his co-conspirators in the nation’s judiciary have done is to encourage massive stealing of public funds. Instead of stealing in millions, just steal all the billions you can find. Dare the EFCC and the Nigerian public. Go to court. Tell the judge you actually stole the money! No qualms. You are willing to return some of it. The judge – if he is the Talba kind – would simply appreciate you for not wasting the court’s time and being honest to the court. Your lawyer could even argue that if you are simply fined and released, it will encourage other thieves to come over and return part of what they have stolen! After all, is the whole country not an animal farm where some thieves are more equal than others?
Now, we are not talking of funds that were lying idle somewhere – even though that would not in any way justify the theft. We are talking about pension funds. Police pension funds! Men and women in the force spent their youth facing danger in order that we could live in safety, and in their old age, they get robbed of their life savings by the satanic and insatiable evil-affinities of Mr. Yusufu. We are all witnesses to the strenuous conditions our senior citizens are subjected to whenever they desire to receive their pensions. They have had to travel from their villages to far places to participate in screening exercises that last many weeks, even though many of them are too old for that kind of exercise. We have seen many who have died in the course of validating their statuses. That’s the way they get
rewarded for serving Nigeria!
One thing however, is certain. The people of Nigeria are not amused with this and similar stories. Big thieves like Mr. Yusufu may never face justice in the courts. They own the courts! But we remember Dele Giwa’s words that “an evil done by man to man shall never go unpunished. If not now, then later, and if not by man, then by God, for the triumph of evil over good is but temporary.” A revolution is
imminent in this nation, and it is being hastened and precipitated by the actions of big thieves and the judges that set them free in the full glare of the suffering masses.
The nation was enraged some weeks ago when an Abuja High Court convicted a self-confessed police pension fund thief and former director at the Police Pension Office, John Yakubu Yusufu, and sentenced him to 2 years imprisonment with an option of fine. Mr. Yakubu is a big, billionaire thief, worth over – according to varying news reports – 23 billion naira. All of it is gotten from retired police officers’ money, which he and his co-thieves were entrusted to administer. Nothing new; it happens every day in Nigeria. No shaking. The thing that stands out in this conspiracy to rob and assault the sensibilities of the Nigerian people is the caricature of justice offered by Justice Abubakar Talba. Mr Yusufu was sentenced for 2 years in prison or a fine of 750 000 naira. After he would have paid the fine, he would still be a billionaire all his life. Dividends of stealing; see how Nigeria rewards those she is pleased with.
Every day, the Nigerian population decries the manner in which corruption is encouraged and nourished by disturbing judgments coming from the courts. It is in this country that a court can grant a permanent injunction, preventing a former governor from ever standing trial over alleged financial misconduct during his time in office. What Justice Talba and his co-conspirators in the nation’s judiciary have done is to encourage massive stealing of public funds. Instead of stealing in millions, just steal all the billions you can find. Dare the EFCC and the Nigerian public. Go to court. Tell the judge you actually stole the money! No qualms. You are willing to return some of it. The judge – if he is the Talba kind – would simply appreciate you for not wasting the court’s time and being honest to the court. Your lawyer could even argue that if you are simply fined and released, it will encourage other thieves to come over and return part of what they have stolen! After all, is the whole country not an animal farm where some thieves are more equal than others?
Now, we are not talking of funds that were lying idle somewhere – even though that would not in any way justify the theft. We are talking about pension funds. Police pension funds! Men and women in the force spent their youth facing danger in order that we could live in safety, and in their old age, they get robbed of their life savings by the satanic and insatiable evil-affinities of Mr. Yusufu. We are all witnesses to the strenuous conditions our senior citizens are subjected to whenever they desire to receive their pensions. They have had to travel from their villages to far places to participate in screening exercises that last many weeks, even though many of them are too old for that kind of exercise. We have seen many who have died in the course of validating their statuses. That’s the way they get
rewarded for serving Nigeria!
One thing however, is certain. The people of Nigeria are not amused with this and similar stories. Big thieves like Mr. Yusufu may never face justice in the courts. They own the courts! But we remember Dele Giwa’s words that “an evil done by man to man shall never go unpunished. If not now, then later, and if not by man, then by God, for the triumph of evil over good is but temporary.” A revolution is
imminent in this nation, and it is being hastened and precipitated by the actions of big thieves and the judges that set them free in the full glare of the suffering masses.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Say your mind here