The Jaundiced Idea of ‘Copsocracy’ and the Hallucination of Treasury Looters

By Prince Singa Edward Zhattau…

As ordinary Nigerians commemorated President Muhammadu Buhari’s return with wild jubilations from his seemingly endless London medical vacation, the corrupt political elite on the other hand was plunged into paroxysms of grief on the account of the President’s safe return. The ecstasy among ordinary Nigerians wasyet again a clear demonstration of their faith in the man they had chosen to turn the abysmal tide towards which the country was headed in 2015. And while most Nigerians were committed in prayers for the healing and safe return of the President, a coven of ill-intentioned individuals, on the other hand, bayed for the President’s blood and busied themselves pontificating ‘copsocracy’ – an allusion to a form of government whereby the dead rule. In their necrophilic wanderlust,Buhari was not only dead, but already a carcass that was not even worth being icedsomewhere in a London morgue, but should have been abandoned in the open for vultures to feast on. Yes, such was the level of hate!

But if the callous attacks on Buhari in a democratic dispensation were permissible, these political opportunists would shock us all by resorting to doing the most unreasonable. They openly rose against a nation, in the purported service of which,they turned its commonwealth into their personal patrimony by brazenlycanvassing its disintegration, if not total extinction. While in power, theseopportunists only perfected the art of collecting coins (money), and without undergoing any formal tutoring in that regard, became some of the world’s most notorious numismatists. Instead of delivering health care, education, power, portable and clean water, infrastructure etc, they could only perfect the art of plundering the treasury. Surprisingly though, they now sanctimoniously fill the media with holy book verses while posing as “Defenders of the Faith”. Since when did these coins collectors gain recognition in the Kingdom of God? Have they forgotten that the love of money is surely the root of evil? “So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle, he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their table”. (John 2:13). “He overturned the tables of money changers and the benches of those selling doves,”and as he sanitized the Temple of greed and embezzlement, Jesus quoted from Isaiah 56:7 ‘It is written, ‘my house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers”. (Mathew 21:12-13)

In a dizzying array of tactics, they have fruitlessly sought to trivialize thecommendable work rate of this government in the recovery of astronomic amounts of monies they insanely looted when they held sway. With their full participation, the business of government became a criminal enterprise in which perfecting the art of financial hemorrhaging won official plaudits. They have rummaged everywhere without finding any cogent reason that will have justified the removal of Magu as the EFCC Chair. They have stoked the embers of hate and are laying bare their ultimate desire to someday have the nation incinerated into ashes. They have suddenly become the preachers of God’s message, and they have proved adept at pitching one faith against another.
They propagate hate and claim Buhari is responsible, while in the true sense of it, Buhari’s sin stems from his resolute resolve to not only stop them from feeding on the nation’s treasury, but also in forcing them to expectorate the monies they have gulped with much gusto in the days of state sanctioned financial racketeering. It was truly an endless list of official crimes when they reigned: running dubious charities, state approved oil smuggling and oil subsidy diversions, diversion of funds set apart for military armament, and a host of insane and ceaselesswithdrawals of billions of petrodollars from the Central Bank.

To these coins collectors, factionalizing the country along the fault lines of religion, regionalism and ethnicity through their dangerous ranting is that water scarlet rock that provides good cover for their humungous and senseless rape of the nation’s treasury. And by way of huckstering this criminal enterprise, apologists of corruption try to rationalize these dangerous speeches as constituting free speech permissible under our Constitution. False! I have been a student of the school of thought which asserts that, “Criticism [of government] even if destructive is necessary for good governance”. Therefore, when you stingingly criticize Buharior the way he runs his government, that may cause some unease within me as a Buharist, but the same wouldn’t warrant my moving to gag you. But when you go beyond the government and its officials to disparage a group of people based on their ethnicity, region, religion or any other acceptable means of social grouping, your speech becomes unacceptably destructive and ought not to be tolerated by anysensible government. For instance, issuing quit notice to the Igbos residing in the North to leave the region; disparaging a certain race by authoring articles such as “The Sons of Fouta Djallon”; associating a certain ethnic group with every violent attack that comes by, are tantamount to the propagation of hate.

Read also: Femi Adesina and the Godification of Buhari

In the course of their contribution to national debates, statesmen run constructive and not destructive commentaries about their nation. Instead of placing themselves at the forefront of the battle for national integration as atonement for their sin ofsapping dry the treasury – these self professed ‘voices of the voiceless’ are hell bent on pulling down the roof of the nation. Instead of taking a long hard look at their ugly past and allowing emerging voices to champion the opposition, these same old actors who were rejected at the polls and who are responsible for emptying the public coffers of our dear country have continued unashamedly to fill the air with noise. What a pity! And as part of their sinister plot, and sadly too, is the quest to screw some unsuspecting members of the public into holding the skewed view that the anti-graft war is alienated from justice and other forms of fair play. That “I was not the only one that did it” is no criminal defence recognized anywhere in the world. Statesmen ought to rally to the values that strengthen and unite us as a nation and not the other way round!

The initial faulty thought of their invincibility in all aspects of the political spectrum has been smashed by Buhari; it is therefore understandable that any talk of goodwill on their part for Buhari was always going to be in acutely short supply. Sadly, they incessantly peddle rumours of the President’s death, and to them, “If wishes were horses, beggars would have long taken a ride.” Lo and behold, the ordinary Nigerians are not thinking like them, and despite the cheap talk of a Buhari masterminded hardship, most ordinary Nigerians appear to appreciate the situation fully well that there cannot be a real shift away from the status quowithout pain.

Speaking Truth to Power

Mr. President, I have been an enduring supporter of yours. I have stood with you all through, even in those days when you were much demonized, especially, in a deeply “Christian environment” such as the one I hail from. However, this enduring love of mine for you would do little in dissuading me from drawing your attention to anomalies that have thus far characterized your government.

Baba, for every throne, there are powers behind it. However, when these powers turn out to be the proverbial “clog in the wheel of progress”, you have to act urgently, if not desperately fast, in ensuring that the revolving exit door is set turning against these “strongmen” who appear to be “more Catholic than the Pope”in their actions and inactions.

Baba, in team sports like football, managers usually switch roles for certain players and they do make changes of personnel with the view of improving the team’s performance. Sometimes, even the best players are taken off and replaced as part of a tactical switch with the aim of resting them ahead of future games. That it is difficult to steer the ship of the state in times of recession is undoubtedly true; however, it is even much truer to posit that challenging times need thickly competent hands, because even a minuscule display of mediocrity in such hard times could rock the boat. It is time you took seriously the clarion calls for acabinet reshuffle. Those who are clearly unfit in so far as the discharge of their official functions is concerned should exit the cabinet. Some of your cabinet members do not believe in your mantra of change; they have not won over one person to your side, and all they pursue is self glorification. Worst still, some of them have been working round the clock just to undermine your government as they do not share the same ideology with you, yet you seem not to care. Act fast Mr. President!
The recent unfortunate remarks of Hajiya Aisha Al Hassan shouldn’t be the marker that will determine the fate of your cabinet officials. The ongoing jostling by some of your cabinet officials to sing praises of you following Aisha Al-Hasan’s outburst may well be aimed at hoodwinking you into retaining those who have got nothing to offer. It was Malcolm X who famously remarked as follows: I have more respect for a man who lets me know where he stands, even if he’s wrong, than the one who comes up like an angel and is nothing but a devil. Any such re-jigging should be informed by the obvious necessity to improve the delivery of quality governance to Nigerians, period! Baba, Aisha Al-Hassan’s outburst is to you, a painful vindication of the disenchantment with your appointments once raised by another Aisha, whom you erroneously held as only belonging to ‘the other room’.

Baba, it has been suggested in some quarters that you were “singly responsible” for the APC victory at the 2015 polls. Being your devout disciple, I wish that were the case, however, the fact speaks slightly differently. The victory of the APC, when viewed from the perspective of individualistic clout, stemmed from being “doubly responsible”. Take Tinubu out and it would have been a disaster, take Buhari out and it would have been a non starter! Under no pretext should you shove aside those who have given their all to this struggle. Tinubu is the only political twin brother you have in this whole alliance, because just like you, he has never been part of the PDP. You must hold onto him in spite of his going solo during the Ondogubernatorial election, and I beseech you not to be tempted into pulling down his verdant political canopy, if this house is to stand.

Baba, Nigerians were shocked to discover that the head of the DSS whom you appointed was the one who wrote a somewhat unsatisfactory, but damning report aimed at disqualifying Magu as EFCC boss. It is no news that our “forthright legislators” who double as “lovers of the common man” – having recently acquired for themselves cars, each costing a whopping 17 Million Naira to “assist in their oversight functions” – have placed heavy reliance on that correspondence in spuriously halting the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu. As if that was not enough, Nigerians had shrill sent down their spines when the Chief Law Officer of the nation got involved in unsavoury exchanges with the EFCC over the transfer of case diaries of corrupt and politically exposed persons. What on earth could be responsible for these crevices within a government presided over by a man whose orderly antecedent we have always flaunted without hesitation?

Mr. President, let me remind you of a few lines in your inaugural address thus: “No single cause can be identified to explain Nigeria’s poor economic performance over the years than the power situation. It is a national shame that an economy of 180 million generates only 4, 000 MW, and distributes even less. Continuous tinkering with the structures of power supply and distribution and close to $20b expanded since 1999 have only brought darkness and frustration, misery, and resignation among Nigerians. We will not allow that to go on”. Regrettably though, any talk of improved power supply today in Nigeria can only be muttered in the few metropolitan cities of this country, as Nigeria’s niggling power problems haveconsistently oscillated between bad and worse in the majority rural areas since you delivered that speech. As you proposed in your inaugural address – this must not be allowed to go on!

Mr. President, you just returned from a long medical vacation in faraway London. And testament to your being properly treated is the visible and physicalimprovement in your health. The dexterity with which you addressed the 72nd UN General Assembly further lends credence to your good state of health. Your Excellency, what are you doing to upgrade the standard of our hospitals to that of the London hospital that restored your health?

Baba, under your watch, a committee was put in place to look into the problem of soaring commodity prices. But the high level of expectation that greeted the birth of that committee has now translated into higher levels of despondency among Nigerians. While prices continue to skyrocket in the markets, nothing has been heard of that committee ever after. Have you chosen to abandon your most trusted constituency – the poor?

Baba, in as much as we will continue to sing praises of our armed forces for performing creditably well against the dreaded Boko Haram sect in the North East,herdsmen have proved to be imperiously positioned in rampaging communities all over the nation. You need to halt this ugly trend! The military, since your coming on board as their C-in-C, has displayed uncommon gallantry in defending the territorial integrity of Nigeria; however, in quelling the acts of insurrection, our armed forces must always be cautioned as to the need to prosecute such assignments in full accordance with the known rules of engagement and other related global best human rights practices. The current UN Report on the causes of violent extremism says it all and I say no more!

Baba, the numerous Social Investment Programmes (SIPs) fashioned out by your government to ameliorate the parlous economic conditions of ordinary Nigerians are surely a step in the right direction. However, it is sad to note that there is no any viable body put in place to supervise the aspect of service delivery by the beneficiaries of some of these programmes. For instance, most of the beneficiaries of the N-Power programme hardly report at their primary places of assignment, and yet, they receive their pay at the end of the month. The same goes for the school feeding programme whereby pupils are hardly served food, and if served at all, they only get an infinitesimal amount of food, far below what the government has provided for in monetary value. A thorough supervision ought to be put in place for Nigeria to realize the ultimate objective of these welfare programmes.
Mr. President I am done with you!

Despite the challenges posed by a hamstrung criminal justice system, Ibrahim Magu has performed superbly well in the recovery of looted funds and ill-acquired assets. While this is being raved by all patriotic Nigerians, the high priests of corruption and their protégés have seen nothing worthwhile in this war, and as pretext for discrediting the feats so far achieved, they readily point to the supposed failing in the prosecution of politically exposed persons as evidence of a weak anti graft fight. The apologists of corruption would maintain a loud conspiratorial silence any time billions and numerous mansions are recovered by the Magu led EFFC from their ‘goddess of graft’, but will sensually cavort to reports like “rats chased Nigeria’s President out of office”. Magu has discharged his duties thus far with such enviable meticulousness and that has earned him his place as the substantive Chairman of the EFCC in the eyes of patriotic Nigerians. Consequently, Buhari must do all that is within his lawful powers to retain Magu, for in him, we have a knight and luminary of the anti graft war.

Buhari and Magu, like the Amazonian Alligator, have developed strong armouredskin against the numerous offensives launched by these kleptomaniac looters, and I don’t see the Buhari-Osinbajo led government succumbing to the psychological warfare adopted by the corrupt that is simply aimed at discombobulating the present administration’s unflinching stand against corruption.

All the tales of being on life support machine have come flat! All the malicious snippets of amnesia have vanished! All the sensational stories of a dead and forgotten President have died! Those who had proved to be corrupt have also proved to be incompetent neophytes in passing information and can only propagatefake news. Buhari has returned, and did mark such a comeback by issuing a stern warning to daring bloodletting groups in his address to the nation. For the President, government will not stand idly by as criminal groups wrestle for the soul of this nation. Clearly, Mr. President has returned from the land of the Queen in martial mood, and this reminds us of the dawn of his Presidency when he ordered the relocation of the command center from Abuja to the theatre of war in Maiduguri – a strategy that has accounted in no small measure in the degradation of the once dreaded Boko Haram sect. We hope that the current order to the security apparatuses by their Commander-in-Chief to protect Nigerians and defend Nigeria will as well lead to the restoration of law and order across the length and breadth of Nigeria.

“Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come follow me.’ When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he was very rich” (Mathew 19:21-22). This was Jesus speaking to a rich man who might have acquired his wealth legitimately. What is then wrong in Buhari asking those who have thieved from the nation’s purse to return the loot that the brutal inequality gap that currently exists between those plunderers and ordinary Nigerians may be bridged?
The reinvigorated Buhari on his return from London has demonstrated thus far that he still has plenty to offer Nigeria, and there is no chance that he will quit before 2019. To those who think they can frustrate the war against corruption, to those who think they can restore a tainted and undignified leadership, to those who think they can stop the sun from shining, to those who think they can bring down Nigeria – those are clearly vanity projects! The sanitizer of the nation is back and here with us!

 

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