Fela Anikulapo Kuti
Emmanuel Yawe
royawe@yahoo.com | 08024565402
On that bright day in April 1980, the body of a Nigerian Senator was lying in state inside the Senate Building in Lagos. Speaker after speaker, across the political divide stood up to give testimony of how hard the man worked for the unity and progress of Nigeria. President Shehu Shagari, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Dr Namdi Azikiwe in a rare demonstration of unity spoke in honour of the dead man. His name was Joseph Sarwuan Tarka.
Outside the Senate building, another drama was playing out. A man held a giant black board on which he called on President Shehu Shagari to probe a stolen 2.8 billion Naira. The protester was not an ordinary
Nigerian. He was the first African to get a Doctor of Science (DSC) degree in Engineering at the University of London. His research work was in the rare field of vibrations and was at that time one of the few people in the world to earn a DSC at an age below 40. He was 37. The man – Professor Ayodele Awojobi – was a Nigerian genius who was made an associate professor at the University of Lagos and then promoted a full professor – all within a week.
Nigerian. He was the first African to get a Doctor of Science (DSC) degree in Engineering at the University of London. His research work was in the rare field of vibrations and was at that time one of the few people in the world to earn a DSC at an age below 40. He was 37. The man – Professor Ayodele Awojobi – was a Nigerian genius who was made an associate professor at the University of Lagos and then promoted a full professor – all within a week.
He was a newsmaker anyday. His action on this day attracted newspaper headlines. The venue and manner of his protest suggested that it was the dead Senator who stole the money. In a culture where the dead are entitled to dignity and respect, many felt outraged at his conduct at Tarka’s funeral. It was an unreasonable thing to do.
But that was the N2.8 Billion scandal. Every thing about the it stood logic on its head.
The Punch newspaper broke the news. And even though its story was sourced from an audit query that was still in its draft form, it was taken as the gospel truth. Prof Awojobi was just one out of the many credible opinion leaders in Nigeria who latched on the inconclusive audit report to say that the money was actually stolen. There was even a report on NTA network news that Olusola Saraki, the Senate Leader claimed that the money had been discovered in an account in a London bank. When the public pressure became too much, President Shehu Shagari, a man who at normal times resisted being pushed around set up a Judicial Commission of inquiry under the Chairmanship of Justice Ayo Irikefe to get to the truth of the matter.
At its sittings, Nigerians were treated to more unsual drama. None of the opinion leaders who said he had information about the missing funds could substantiate his claim.Professor Awojobi came to the tribunal with complex mathematical equations, understood only by him. Tai Solarin, the prolific newspaper essayists, educationist and social crusader claimed in his columns in the Nigerian Tribune that he had information on the stolen funds. When he showed up at the Panel, we thought he was going to volunteer the information. We were disappointed when he said he picked the rumour from the back seat of a public bus he boarded in Lagos. A man with whom he shared the seat had the information; but he did not know the mans name or his contact addresss.
Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the popular musician claimed he had information of the stolen money. He gathered past copies of Nigerian newspapers into a huge pile and came to the panel with it urging the panel members to read the newspapers carefully because the information was contained in there.
With this quality of information, the panel in its final report to government could not trace the whereabouts of the missing money. It however observed that the NNPC was hopelessly inept and its account department in absolute shambles. Some recommendations were made to remedy the situation. President Shagari implementd some of these recommendations while some were pending when the military came at the end of 1983.
Between 1984 and 1999 when the military were at the helm, corruption graduated to a higher level. The politicians were accused of collecting a certain percentage of the contracts they awarded but by the time the military handed over, we began to hear of looting the public kitty as the style of corruption in Nigeria. Military strongmen would just drive to government treasury and make away with the funds there without the inconvenience of contract awards and kick backs. It was a risky business trying to find out what was happening to our oil revenue.
With the return of democracy in Nigeria, one thought there would be more accountability in handling our oil revenues but the reverse was the case. Engineer Hamman Adama Tukur, a careful and emotionless technocrat who was appointed Chairman Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commisssion on several occassions raised serious issues about missing oil revenue to the executive and legislative arms of government. The figures he quoted as stolen funds were far above N2.8 billion and rather mind boggling. Nothing was done.
In 2003, the government of President Obasanjo started the process of implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. It set up a body to drive the process and in 2007 enacted a law to enforce it. But the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has become a celebrated toothless bulldog. It has lofty ideals and regularly submits well informed reports which are roundly ignored. In 2010, Professor Assisi Asiobi, the arcane and colourless but honest Chairman of NEITI came to Porth Harcourt to talk to Nigerian Editors about “Accountability in the Oil and Gas sector in Nigeria – Role of NEITI”.
One of the frightening factual things he said was that “Nigeria’s oil and solid minerals are stolen or lost raw; the commodities themselves are not accurately measured; revenue from them are not accurately accounted for (NEITI has facts and figures on this).”
To the credit of NEITI, it has continued to make these facts and figures public. But then what happens?
In 1980, we were treated to a drama of a stolen N2.8 billion, full of fury and noise. At the end of the day, it signified nothing. It turned out a false alarm. But as the common saying goes in Nigeria, there can be no smoke without fire. If no N2.8 billion was not stolen, those who raised the accusation appear to have romanticised the idea to the extent that it has now become a reality.
The accusations of stolen N3.5 trillion are coming this time from serious government sources and not from a mysterious traveller at the back seat of a public bus. We do hope the Buhari government will demonstrate the spleen to catch the thieves and put in place a system that will end this brigandage.
Ref: http://www.peoplesdailyng.com/from-n2-8-billion-to-n3-5-trillion/
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