Anti Graft Crusade Must Not Be PersonalisedAnti Graft Crusade Must Not Be PersonalisedBY SHETTIMMA YERIMA, ALFRED ITENRE & WALE OKUNNIYI
Permit us to first and foremost remind you that the last major engagement of our platform, Coalition For Democracy and Rule of Law, CODERL, was the Oyo intervention which eventually led to the restoration of the stolen mandate of Governor Ladoja. We are back on a very familiar tuff as we are always ready to stick out our neck for the truth
This latest interface of our movement with the anti corruption crusade in Nigeria becomes imperative in the light of the sinister ploy to personalise and stall the fresh attempt to rejuvenate anti graft effort in Nigeria and it is this same deadly scheme that informed the propaganda and parochial politics that confronted the replacement of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, as well as the confirmation of the appointment of Mrs Farida Waziri as the new EFCC chairman.
However, we are quite impressed that In spite of all the plots and deep schemes to
stop the appropriate and long overdue replacement of Mr Nuhu Ribadu the chambers of the National Assembly were not bamboozled and cowed.
It will interest you to know that we are also not caught unawares by the melodramatic protest called activism which greeted the eventual confirmation of Mrs Farida Waziri. It is a plot well rehashed long before now by a small clique that is determined to continue to utilise the EFCC structure for selfish ends. Today, this cartel is drowning and desperate to cling to any form of political tactics and schemes to stay afloat.
Furthermore, an investigation on the dramatist personae marauding as anti- corruption saints and the coordinators of the various propaganda and contrived outcry clearly reveals the desperation of some appointed consultants, contractors or protégés at work. Therefore, we are unperturbed when these characters raised infantile fuss and ill motivated legalism over the tenure of the EFCC chairman as if the EFCC under Ribadu ever followed due diligence and rule of law in all its operations. Clearly to us, this is an orchestrated sinister incitement to entrench the status quo at the EFCC at all cost.
Meanwhile, having done our painstaking research about the antecedent and professional qualifications of Mrs Farida Waziri, we are convinced and very impressed that she is suited for the job as her credentials in crime fighting is unequalled. Therefore, we think it would be preposterous and disorderly, if not mischievous, to begin to crucify the poor woman before she starts at all.
At this juncture, we wish to commend the fortitude of the National Assembly in confirming the appointment of one of the greatest woman cops in Nigeria as the chairman of EFCC and this is no doubt a landmark decision on the part of the Nigerian government towards moving the antigraft crusade forward.
As Mrs Waziri takes over the anti-corruption crusade in the country, the years of tenure brigandage and witch hunting should now be put behind us and every well meaning citizens should join hands with the new leadership of the EFCC to build a synergy that is formidable enough to prevent and stem corruption at all levels of our national life. The crusade against graft should now be more proactive than reactive because prevention they say is better than cure.
This crusade, through a systematic enlightenment campaign and advocacy should be genuinely taken to the grassroots and the mass of our people as against the Gestapo approach of the out gone regime, which merely drove criminality underground rather than arrest and prevent it. It is also instructive at this juncture to state clearly here that if our anti graft war is not strategically linked to the economic empowerment of our people it may end up as a futile effort because morals are hard to keep in the face of deliberate impoverishment.
This fresh effort at redeeming the image of EFCC should also be devoid of sacred cow and deliberate political vindictiveness or witch hunting akin to the third term era, which ultimately discredited the EFCC under the former order. To this end, we strongly demand that the ongoing prosecutions of suspected former elected state officials including former governors and presidents must be pursued to a logical end.
Again, side by side with an incisive mass advocacy, which can be championed by committed civil society groups, it is important that an effective monitoring system and search light, similar to the monitoring unit of Federal Intelligence Bureau, FBI in the US, should be urgently set up in all the seven hundred and seventy four local governments in the country to serve as strong deterrence to corrupt practices even at micro level.
Mrs Waziri should also be advised strongly to beware of sycophancy and parochialism capable of derailing the laudable agenda she has set for her stewardship so that the EFCC is not again turned into a platform for self serving politics and intrigues. As long as Mrs Waziri remains steadfast, focussed and untainted by narrow considerations we shall be willing to work with her to stuff out corruption from the fabric of the nation.
As a matter of fact a blue print on strategic grassroots mobilisation and advocacy is already been drawn by our coalition to encourage a new direction and impetus for the anti graft crusade in such a way that the entire nation of our diverse people can buy into and own the crusade against corrupt practices and crimes in Nigeria; while building a virile movement and institution rather than super stars as done in the past.
In conclusion, we wish to appreciate the foresight of the senate of Nigeria and the resilience of Nigerians, who stood by the truth and did not allow themselves to be bought over by the sit tight agenda of a cabal. We also wish to congratulate all members of our movement for the victory over the forces of retrogression and backwardness and hereby advise Mrs Waziri not to be distracted by the wrangling of a fading force, as we pledge to stand by her in the renewed bid to free Nigeria from graft.
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