Nigeria is a banana republic. Not accepting this is living in denial. What’s a banana republic? The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes a banana republic as,” a small dependent country usually of the tropics…especially one run despotically” while the Oxford dictionary describes it derogatively “as a small state that is politically unstable…” In our usage here, we have extended the meaning to a country where law and order is observed mainly in the breach. It is that country where there are different laws for different people, a country of anything goes. Where punishment for crime depends on who the criminal is or who he knows.
A banana republic is where justice is for sale and to the highest bidder. Where impunity thrives. The story is told of one African country whose late president was the only one who had a copy of the constitution. He alone determined what constituted an offence, depending on his mood and the offending party.
Though, this is always said in jest about this country, the refined form is what operates presently in Nigeria. It is not about which party is in power or who the head of government is, there is no distinction. Impunity is part of the culture. It is on the basis of that that we presently have the saga involving Abdulrasheed Maina, the dismissed Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms Task Team. This article is not to indict Maina in any way. This would be difficult to do as there have been different sides to the case concerning him. While some believed that Maina stole money and it was on that basis that the EFCC declared him wanted, some have come out to state that he was only being hounded by the fact that he had exposed monumental fraud in the administration of the pension scheme. Whether he put his hands in the till in the process of investigating the pension scam is a different thing entirely.
My take entirely is on a crucial issue that concerns the President Mohammadu Buhari administration- the impunity, the observation of due process in the breach which seems to be the hallmark of this administration or some of those working with the President. It is crystal clear that the President is the only lone voice in the fight against corruption and the need to observe due process. Most of the people working with him are only there for the usual pickings and what they can get as a result of the office they occupy. The change mantra, to them, is a mere slogan which has no place in the way the affairs of government are conducted. T
he status quo, the years of locust, of non adherence to due process, remain. To majority of those in government, it is still business as usual. There are so many questions that are begging for answer. Most of these questions have been raised by so many Nigerians. The EFCC and Interpol declared Maina wanted, where was he during the period he was being searched for? Some said he was in Dubai.
I wouldn’t know, but if he was in the country when the search for him was on, why couldn’t they get him. And if he was out of the country, should every detail concerning him not be at the border or point of entry, because that’s one of the ways Interpol operates, so how come he got into the country without anybody being the wiser?
It is clear that his re-entry into the country had the approval of those involved in his reinstatement, and if that is the situation, were they not aware that the EFCC and Interpol declared him wanted? If they felt he was not guilty, why did they not do the first thing first? Get him a clean bill of health from the security agencies that have declared him wanted before re-installing him into office with promotion and the alleged payment of his outstanding entitlements?
A medical consultant friend of mine wondered how they were able to quickly pay Maina’s entitlement while the same government has not paid his own entitlement for a promotion he got about four years ago. But in Maina’s case, someone gave accelerated approval for all his entitlements to be paid. The crucial part of this is; how come the president was not in the know of all these?
This is a man that had been declared wanted over pension funds; would such a decision to bring him back into the civil service be taken without someone briefing the president considering all the storms that attended the matter? If that is the case, then all those blaming former President Goodluck Jonathan for what went down in his administration have done that man a great disservice. In any case, I would not subscribe to the idea that the president of the country, be it Jonathan or PMB, does not know what is happening under his watch. The situation tends to confirm that the president is not in control.
Those working with him take so much liberty. It shows lack of respect for that office and most importantly, lack of ‘fear’ for the person of the president. It is as if they know nothing would happen if they were found out or that they could get away with anything. Some are hailing the president for calling for the immediate sack of Maina from the civil service; it is asinine to do so because that is medicine after death. What do we expect him to do in that situation especially with the national outcry? He could not have folded his hands, although if he had done that, it would not have been so strange, it had happened before.
Allegations of corruptions have been raised against principal officers of the administration, no actions were taken. The allegation against the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal in which the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo had submitted a report, is still pending.
Likewise, that of the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Ayodele Oke. We have not forgotten the one against the army chief. More recently, the Minister of State, Ibe Kachikwu raised issues of non-adherence to due process in the affairs of NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation), nothing happened, nor the fact that some people stopped Kachikwu’s several attempts to see the president.
All these are minuses against the administration and against the avowed fight against corruption which seems selective. Most importantly, it is indicative of the fact that the president is not in total control of the situation surrounding him. And that is very unfortunate. Many people have called for the head of those involved in the entire Maina mess; especially top officials of the administration, I can bet that nothing will happen. Na today.