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| Some former Heads of State of Nigeria |
Tuco (the ugly) in the good, the bad and the ugly movie, was captured by an old foe as he was in a bath; well, so the enemy thought. And while the foe was describing how he would kill the Ugly; Tuco gunned him down and made his famous quote: “when you have to shoot, shoot don’t talk.”
Now, a similar scenario to the above is happening in Nigeria. Pres Buhari is constantly talking about how the ministers of former Pres Jonathan looted Nigeria’s treasury. Surprisingly, this retired Army General has not mentioned the names of the looters. Or is he afraid to do so?
Again, when Mr Buhari returned from his official visit to the USA, Gov Oshimole who accompanied him to the White House claimed that US government officials gave them a list of corrupt Nigeria government officials. The Governor also claimed that one of the ministers on the list stole as much as $6 billion. Once more, he didn’t mention any name.
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Apparently, this pervert, I mean the beast who thought he had deceived a beauty into marrying him, equally thought he had deceived Nigerians into believing his propaganda. But, the US government has since denied ever given any list to any Nigerian government official. And Oshimole is yet to apologise for his lies.
In fact, the whole country is tired of Pres Buhari’s rhetoric on war against corruption, corruption and corruption. And so, Buhari; if at all you want to shoot, Nigerians say “shoot don’t talk.” In other words, if you (Buhari) want to fight corruption; fight corruption don’t talk.
Thus, Pres Buhari has stated that in a few weeks time those people who looted Nigeria’s treasury will start facing trial. Yet, Buhari didn’t mention any name and nobody has been arrested.
So, how would the looters face trial without being arrested? However, the newspapers have reported that President Buhari is searching for ‘incorruptible’ judges to handle the imaginary corruption cases. Hopefully, they will follow the rule of law.
But before Mr Buhari decides to shoot, and if he is convinced within himself that he is that Mr integrity his cronies propagate, let him do as follows:
Mr Buhari should swear by his Koran that he has never directly or indirectly stolen from Nigeria’s coffers, irrespective of the amount. Then, he should publicly declare his assets so that we can compare his worth as a retired Army General with that of retired General Colin Powell of the US Army.
Buhari should also publish his Secondary School Certificate. And if the certificate is lost, he should ask the examining body to publish it. At least that will quell the general believe that Pres Buhari became an Army General and the president of Nigeria without attaining the minimum educational qualification as required by law. That on its own is corruption.
More so, prior to the 2015 presidential election, Mr Buhari said that he borrowed about N27 million ($135,000) from his bank to purchase his political party’s nomination form. Then, he presented himself as a poor man even though his wife later wore a wrist watch that costs about US$55,000 to his presidential inauguration.
Now, as a man even Pres Obama referred to as ‘Mr Integrity’, Pres Buhari should publish the names of the people who sponsored his presidential campaigns that ran into millions of US Dollars, considering that he couldn’t afford $135,000 to buy his presidential nomination form.
Really, that is how it is done in every country that wants to fight corruption and maintain transparency in the system. If Mr Buhari is in doubt, he should ask Pres Obama since those people who sponsored Obama’s presidency are known according to the US law.
And hence, if Pres Buhari cannot prove his ‘Mr Integrity’ status, then, what moral justification does he have to probe and prosecute other people?
Besides, nobody says Buhari should not fight corruption; nonetheless, his search for treasury looters should go beyond former Pres Jonathan’s administration. For instance, during the presidential campaigns, Mr Buhari mentioned that in the past 16 years, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) mismanaged Nigeria’s economy.
Now, why does Buhari wants to probe only the 5 years administration of Mr Jonathan while disregarding the 11 years PDP government of Mr Obasanjo and Mr Yaradua?
If Buhari is serious about fighting corruption in Nigeria, he should probe the entire 16 years of PDP administration. Of course he will not do that because the majority of the people who were part of the PDP 16 years misrule of Nigeria are now in his political party - All Progressives Congress (APC). And it was the majority of them that sponsored his Presidential election.
Well, anything short of probing all the past administrations of Nigeria and as Mr Jonathan himself reiterated, will amount to witch-hunt.
By the way, why hasn't Pres Buhari appointed his ministers? It is simply because he cannot find any person who is not corrupt within his APC. And I can assure Mr Buhari that if he is searching to see an Angel within his APC, then, it means he will never appoint even a minister.
Truly, Jonathan is the first person (except Ironsi’s 6months rule) from former eastern Nigeria to rule Nigeria. And Mr Buhari and his likes are insinuating that corruption started in Nigeria during Mr Jonathan’s administration.
In fact, corruption started when Buhari’s Fulani and northern brothers ruled Nigeria from 1960. They are the ones that looted and mismanaged Nigeria’s national ‘egg’ that is laid by the goose from old eastern Nigeria.
And thus, neither the prosecution nor the persecution of former Pres Jonathan and his ministers will eradicate corruption in Nigeria; since the same people (Fulani) whose stock in trade is to steal and misappropriate Nigeria’s wealth are once more controlling the country.
In addition, it is obvious that Buhari has not found any concrete evidence to prosecute Mr Jonathan's administration; otherwise, by the manner he's carrying on, Jonathan and his ministers would have been in prison by now.
And by relying on the Permanent Secretaries (Perm-Secs) of the ministries for information against Jonathan, it is apparent that Mr Buhari is ignorant that the Perm-Secs and civil servants are the people who show the politicians how to steal from the State.
And so, how does Buhari expect the Perm-Secs to expose Jonathan’s ministers? That would amount to the Perm-Secs equally exposing themselves. It appears that Buhari is out of ideas on how to fight corruption and move Nigeria forward.
In all, “every gun makes its own tune” according to Blondie, in the good, the bad and ugly movie. And I believe Nigerians and the world are waiting to hear the tune of Pres Buhari’s gun.
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Nevertheless, I can imagine Mr Jonathan drinking some local gin with his mates in his village, wearing his bowler hat like a cowboy and stating as follows: Mr Buhari; “when you want to shoot; shoot don’t talk.”
“But if you miss, you had better miss very well. Whoever double-crosses me and leaves me alive, he understands...” that I have lived in the Aso Rock Presidential Villa and I have seen the skeletons that the past Heads of State and Presidents of Nigeria left behind in their respective cupboards.