The APC is now being
haunted by the saying, “When you point one finger, there are three fingers
pointing back at you.” If it knew, it wouldn’t have accused Goodluck Jonathan
of running a very corrupt government. Most times, we forget to listen to the
voice of reason that says, “Look in the mirror, brother. You might just be
talking about yourself.” It is now clear that the APC focused on the speck in
Jonathan’s eye and ignored the log in their own eyes.” Who would have thought
that just few weeks into a new regime in Lagos State, Fashola would be engulfed
with the following accusations – Drilling of just two bore holes with N139m, remodelling
and equipping of the official residence of the state’s Chief Judge at N510m,
reconstructing of a car park with N640m, spending N300m to relocate cables,
N175m to replace the railings of a pedestrian bridge, N220m on the facility
management of the Lagos State University College of Medicine, N619m on surface
repair of a road, N1.2bn on the construction of an unidentified multi-storey
building, N1.6bn on the construction of a 48-bedroom hotel...
These things don’t
seem like what a person as intelligent as the former governor would do;
especially for those of us who regard him as one of the very few bright spots
of our democracy. In fact, I am still of the belief that in the annals of
corrupt governors in Nigeria, his place remains to be seen. But the question
here is, can the Lagos State government come out with such weighty accusations
without having evidence to back them up?
It was in the papers
that “some in the former governor’s circle” are worried he might face charges.
If that happens and if he is found guilty and if it results in conviction and
if he ends up in prison-yes, four ifs-then considering his achievements in
Lagos State, all other former governors from other states (especially the
eastern states) should have long since been in jail awaiting his company. But
yet again, does any governor go to jail in Nigeria?
Over drinks at a bar
around Omole Estate, Ikeja last Monday, a friend who works in one of the
ministries at Alausa laughed as he finished off his beer.
“Everything’s messed
up, and nobody goes to jail,” he said. “Etcetera, that’s your whole article
right there. Hell, you don’t even have to write anything more. Just write
that.”
I put down my phone.
“Just that?”
“That’s right,” he
said, signalling to the waitress for the cheque. “Everything’s messed up, and
nobody goes to jail. You can end the piece right there.”
Sounds funny but
sincerely, “Nobody goes to jail” should be the mantra of our democracy, one
that has seen virtually almost every public office holder embroiled in obscene
criminal scandals — and nobody went to jail. Nobody, that is, except
Alamieyeseigha, and that was probably because of the attention he brought on
the nation as a result of his dress sense from the UK. And the Federal Government
has apologised for the mistake by granting him full pardon.
If Fashola is found
guilty of these allegations, he should face the music. That’s the way the
system is supposed to work. But a veritable mountain of evidence indicates that
when it comes to government officials, the justice system not only buckles at
punishing criminals, it has actually evolved into a highly effective mechanism
for protecting them. This institutional reality has absolutely nothing to do
with politics or ideology — it takes place no matter who’s in office or which
party is in power. To understand how the machinery functions, you have to look
back, at least, at Obasanjo’s time in Aso Rock, as case after case of financial
malfeasance was pursued too slowly or not at all. Indeed, the shocking pattern
of no enforcement with regard to corrupt public officials is so deeply
ingrained in our democracy that it raises a profound and difficult question
about the very nature of our society: whether we have created a class of people
whose misdeeds are no longer perceived as crimes, almost no matter what those
misdeeds are. The Justice Department has evolved into a bizarre species of
social surgeon serving this untouchable class.
- - Etcetera
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