The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has warned that all politicians, including Chief Olu Falae, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, Chief Tony Anenih, Olisa Metuh, Chief Raymond Dokpesi and others who shared in the allegedly diverted $2.1billion arms deal must return what they got or face trial.
Others are; Bello Matawalle (N300m); ACACIA Holdings (N600m); Bashir Yuguda (N1,950,000) Peter Odili (N100m); Rashidi Ladoja (N100m), Attahiru Bafarawa (N100m), Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi (N100m), and Jim Nwobodo (N500m).
A Source in the EFCC said; “We have conducted a thorough investigation and we have retrieved some of the memos sent to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan by the former National Security Adviser; none of them indicated that the cash should be for political purposes.
“There was never a memo for cash advance for political matters like campaign or election. We have also traced some of these funds directly to the accounts of these bigwigs or their proxy companies.
“Having gone far, we are asking them to return these funds or else, we will go after them any moment from now. I think they should respect themselves and make urgent refund. In the alternative, we will arrest them and arraign them in court to defend such strange allocations.
“We will retrieve every kobo given out from ONSA. It is insufficient to say somebody gave me this money. Once we trace undeserved public funds into your account or phony and proxy companies, we will ask for refund.”
On General Lawal Jafaru Isa, he was said to have admitted collecting money from ONSA and that he has refunded 60 per cent of the sum credited to him.
“I think it should be about N100 million. Isa is the only person who has so far refunded money among the political figures who collected funds from ONSA. We have granted him bail to allow him time to source for the balance.”
The Source also alleged that The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Publicity Secretary Chief Olisa Metuh had admitted the transfer of N400 million into a company in which he has substantial interest.
“So far, Metuh has admitted the transfer of N400 million by ONSA into a company in which he has substantial interest.
“It is left to him to justify why he deserved such benefit from arms cash. We are still questioning him on other remittances into the company’s account. We are also demanding how he will refund the cash.
“Contrary to the noise outside, we did our homework very well. Anybody we bring to the EFCC this time around, we used to make sure that we have established a case against him.
“So, we don’t invite or arrest on frivolous basis. We do thorough investigation this time around.”
Some of those who got Cash from Sambo Dasuki includes; Chief Tony Anenih (N260m); ex-PDP National Chairman Ahmadu Ali (N100m); Chief Bode George (N100m/ $30,000), Yerima Abdullahi (N100m); Chief Olu Falae (N100m); Tanko Yakassai (N63m); Gen. Bello Sarkin Yaki(N200m); Raymond Dokpesi, Iyorchia Ayu’s company (N345m); BAM Properties (N300m); Dalhatu Investment Limited (N1.5b); ex-PDP National Chairman, Mohammed Bello Haliru, Abba Mohammed, Sagir Attahiru, serving and former members of the House of Representatives (over N600 million); former Chairman of the House of Representatives on Security and Intelligence. [myad]
I had a few sleepless nights last week. It had nothing to do with the searing heat in the country or the epileptic power supply by Nigeria’s eternally dysfunctional electricity company. My discomfiture had to do with the report about the heist at the Nigerian Air Force. The dizzying allegations of sustained robbery by the officers in charge, though not completely surprising, left me breathless. I ruminated on the trial of Alex Badeh. I reflected on the figures, did the math, and was driven to despair.
I then asked myself the same question I asked a few years ago while researching grand corruption in Nigeria and the looting of the Nigeria Police Force by an ex-Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun. From all accounts, Mr. Balogun was a pathological criminal who rose to become the chief law officer of Nigeria. By the time he was forced to retire in January 2015, he had stolen billions of naira belonging to the Nigeria Police in what would go down as the most barefaced stealing spree by a public officer in Nigeria. The question I posed was: what kind of country or system makes it possible for public officers to loot their establishments so easily, ceaselessly and shamelessly? To understand the Badeh and Balogun syndrome, this is the question every sane Nigerian ought to be asking. I shall return to this.
Alex Sabundu Badeh, 58, until his retirement last year was a four-star flag officer of the Nigerian Air Force who served as the 18th Chief of Air Staff (October 4th, 2012 – January 16th, 2014), the 15th Chief of Defence Staff of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (January 16, 2014 to July 13, 2015), and Commander of the Presidential Fleet during Olusegun Obasanjo’s presidency, according to a Wikipedia entry. He was born in Vimtim (a town sacked by Boko Haram in October 2014) in Mubi Local Government Area of Adamawa State, North East Nigeria, into a family of peasant farmers.
Fast forward to Wednesday, March 16, 2016. The trial of Badeh began at a Federal High Court in Abuja where we were told that as Chief of Air Staff, Badeh made N558.2 million ($2.8 million at the official exchange rate of N197 to a dollar) monthly from the salary account of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), an account we were informed predated Badeh’s tenure. N558.2 multiplied by the 15 months that the diversion lasted (between September 2012 and December 2013) comes to N8.3 billion. We know that not all of that money went to Badeh. He had to settle the boys, perhaps going as high as the ministry of defence and the budget office of the federal government! But whatever the balance, as Chief of Air Staff, Badeh was a stupendously rich man. I don’t know any business, not even that run by Bill Gates or Warren Buffet that boasts of that kind of return on investment in 15 months.
Badeh’s loot, we understand, was the leftover after salaries and allowances of workers from NAF had been defrayed from the N4 billion received monthly and it was conveniently earmarked “for general administration for the office of the Chief of Air Staff”. And he administered it in the interest of the Badeh clan. Badeh bought a retirement home for N1.1 billion, a deserving prize for his trouble in ending the war against Boko Haram. He bought a commercial plot of land for N650 million and paid N878 million for the construction of a shopping mall and another N304 million to complete the mall. When his sons wanted to own houses, he bought a house worth N260 million for his first son, renovated it with N60 million and furnished it with N90 million. And when his second son turned down a house worth N340 million, he ordered that a second house be bought for N330 million to compensate for the indiscretion of his man Friday.
“The amount in most cases was usually converted into US dollars by the Finance Officer at Nigerian Air Force Headquarters, Abuja. Thereafter, it is brought to the Director of Finance who in turn takes it to the Air House which is the official residence of Chief of Air Staff at the Niger Barracks,” revealed a prosecution witness, Air Commodore Aliyu Yishau (retd.), who said he served as former Director of Finance and Account of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF). You still wonder why the country has a foreign exchange crisis.
Badeh obviously had no business being in the Nigerian Air Force or building a career as a pilot trained at the expense of Nigerian tax payers. But this is Nigeria, a country of anything goes, where perverse actions perpetually multiply and endure as instruments of governance. Badeh, of course, is not alone. The man who succeeded him as Chief (Thief?) of Air Staff, Adesola Nunayon Amosu, a retired Air Vice Marshal, has been indicted in the arms procurement scandal during his tenure. One of the criminal deals involved the procurement of two second-hand Mi-24V helicopters instead of the recommended Mi-35M series at a cost of $136.9 million. The second-hand helicopters were allegedly not operationally airworthy at the time of delivery while a brand new unit of the same helicopters costs about $30 million. On November 13, 2014, two officers were killed when the Air Force chief allegedly pressured them into flying one of the unserviceable helicopters which crashed in the North-east region.
According to reports, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has seized houses and other properties belonging to Amosu, Air Vice Marshal J.B. Adigun, the immediate past Chief of Accounts and Budgeting of the Nigerian Air Force, and Air Commodore O. O. Gbadebo, who was the Director of Finance and Budget at NAF. When Amosu’s wife, Mrs. Omolara Amosu, was arrested by EFCC operatives, the sum of N3 billion was allegedly traced to her bank accounts. She has voluntarily returned N381 million in three tranches of N180m, N101m, and N100m.
Amosu’s putative boss, ex-National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki (retd), alongside Shuaibu Salisu, a former Director of Finance and Administration, Office of the National Security Adviser, Aminu Babakusa, a former General Manager, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Acacia Holdings Limited, and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited, is currently being prosecuted by the EFCC on a 19-count charge bordering on money laundering and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N13.5 billion. A committee set up to investigate Dasuki’s office indicted more than 300 companies and individuals, including serving and retired military officers. In one case, the committee found out that a company, Societe D’Equipment International, was overpaid to the tune of €7.9 million and $7.09 million.
True to form, the trial of Dasuki could not continue last week because he refused to show up in court. But he doesn’t have to. The important thing is for the trial to go on and if he is found guilty, bundled to jail. I am reliably informed that the rot in the military is far worse than what we have experienced with our politicians. And that is saying a lot considering the criminal proclivities of Nigerian politicians. We have seen a bit of the rot in the Air Force. We await the revelations from the Army and the Navy.
If you want to understand why Nigeria is not working, why we are a fourth rate nation, look no further than the Dasukis, Badehs, and Amosus of Nigeria, their compatriots in agbada (the grand boubou) and their partners in wigs. People like our billionaire judges, like Olisah Metuh, Stella Oduah, and Bukola Saraki, the Teflon President of the Nigerian Senate who is currently standing trial for false asset declaration and for repaying his personal loans with state fund. There are others like Ikedi Ohakim who as governor of Imo State paid $2.29 million cash for a property in Abuja, Ahmed Sani Yerima, Mohammed Danjuma Goje, Abdullahi Adamu, George Akume, and Josuah Dariye – executive scoundrels who have found refuge in one of the most disreputable institutions in Nigeria – the Senate. Not even the colonial masters could have damaged this country the way these men and women who claim to be Nigerians have done. Indeed, it’s a safe bet that the legendary unfeeling colonial chieftain, Lord Lugard, will weep no end if he were to return to the house he built in 1914.
Clearly, these thieving individuals like their alter ego, the fiendish late military dictator, Sani Abacha, have no concept of a nation of people. Their moral universe is limited to family and friends. That is why their politics, to paraphrase radical scholar and activist, late Prof Eskor Toyo, is reduced to a grabbing game, a cake sharing contest. So, for example, while Abacha was head of state, pretending to love Nigeria and working to uphold her honour and glory, he, his family, and accomplices were busy looting the country and stashing the loot where their hearts were: Switzerland, Liechtenstein, etc. In just one instance, in December 1999, the Swiss government announced the freezing of $550 million in different banks belonging to Abacha and his family, former National Security Adviser Ismaila Gwarzo, and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu (current Governor of Kebbi State). It is simply impossible to know exactly how much Abacha and those around him stole from Nigeria in the five years of his tyrannical rule.
There are many Abachas, Dasukis, Badehs, Amosus and Sarakis in the system, people who “pledge to Nigeria my country, to be faithful, loyal and honest”, yet they will steal from the same country at every opportunity. But why are millions of Nigerians who bear the brunt of the licentiousness of our thieving public officers not outraged? There is no outrage because most of us will behave the same way if we found ourselves in the shoes of Abacha, Dasuki, Badeh, Amosu or Saraki.
And the reason is simple: “Much of what passes for corruption is not simply a matter of greed but rather the byproduct of legislators or public officials who feel more obligated to family, tribe, religion or ethnic group than to the national community and therefore divert money in that direction.” That was Francis Fukuyama writing about the relationship between nation building and state building in his book, Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy. These bandits in uniform and agbada, according to Fukuyama, “are not necessarily immoral people, but their circle of moral obligation is smaller than that of the polity for which they work”.
Savagery rears its head when we believe something that belongs to us is stolen, when anyone comes into our small circle of moral obligation. So, somewhere in Aluu, Rivers State, four undergraduates are lynched and burnt by mortally offended fellow citizens for allegedly stealing laptops and cell phones; somewhere in Lagos a woman is beaten and sexually assaulted by an incredulous and bloodthirsty mob for stealing pepper; in Ondo State, a man is mercilessly bludgeoned to death by “irritated angry youth” for being gay; and somewhere in Kano, a man is set free after more than two decades in prison for allegedly stealing a transistor radio. Yet each time Dasuki, Badeh, or Saraki appears in court, oozing splendor, they are not tailed by “ordinary” Nigerians mocking and jeering but by a throng of well-heeled lawyers, friends, associates, and family members. These high-profile supporters know that it is not only Dasuki, Badeh, or Saraki that is on trial.
What they seem to be saying is, “That is the way the system works. Only a fool would want to be law abiding in a patently lawless society.” So, Dasuki, Badeh, Saraki, and company, can sleep comfortably at night knowing full well that there is a chance that in the end they will be free to enjoy their loot. As a people, we have imbibed the dictum that when evil is commonplace it becomes a tradition. That is the case with corruption in Nigeria. Corruption is a national tradition. It has been with us since independence, got worse through many military regimes and became a directive principle of state policy in 1999 when the military again foisted one of their own, Olusegun Obasanjo, that exemplar of everything wrong with Nigeria, on a hapless nation.
It is for this reason that these indicted public officers, rather than going to court to prove their innocence, shout “persecution” and “political witch-hunt” at every opportunity. You can’t really blame them! Why should they be punished for upholding tradition? It is for the same reason that we have not heard a word from the military high command or from retired military officers, including ex-heads of state, on the revelations about our military.
Knowing how powerful the thieving class is in Nigeria, President Buhari should be praised – I can’t think of any politician who would have done this – for his courage and political will. Of course, the issue goes beyond President Buhari to the question posed at the beginning of this essay. As long as Nigeria remains the way it is, public office will be nothing but sinecure for self-serving individuals.
We need to create a country where there is no incentive for Nigerians to steal from Nigeria. No sane person steals from himself. When people feel ownership of this country, we won’t see the high incidence of wanton pillage of public fund currently going on at all levels and in all sectors.
In the interim, let Nigerians who suffer the effect of corruption pick up the gauntlet and act. After all, the enfant terrible of Rivers State and now Honourable (emphasis mine) Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, once remarked publicly that he and other thieving politicians get away with murder because Nigerians have not risen to defend their patrimony by stoning those who gratuitously steal from them.
President Muhammadu Buhari has cautioned South Sudan against making same mistake Nigeria made by relying heavily on oil. He further asked the South Sudanese government to invest more in agriculture to grow the nation’s economy. Receiving the outgoing South Sudanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Makuet Riak, at the State House in Abuja, President Buhari said South Sudan can avoid the mistake made by Nigeria in her over-reliance on oil revenue. The President told the outgoing envoy that Nigeria’s economy, which has been heavily dependent on oil over the years, has been adversely affected by the drop in global oil prices. “Investing in sustainable agriculture is one of the best ways to provide jobs for the people and keep the nation productive. “Food security is important to any country and that is what we are trying to achieve here, years after we `threw away’ agriculture for oil.” President Buhari praised the excellent relations between Nigeria and South Sudan and reaffirmed his commitment to strengthening existing bilateral ties. In his remarks, Ambassador Riak described his four-year duty tour as his country’s first ambassador to Nigeria as very fruitful. He said South Sudan was blessed with fertile land and would welcome more investments from Nigerian companies. [myad]
The immediate past Director-General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Ladan Salihu, has vowed to remain as journalist all his life even as he disclosed his plan to venture into private broadcasting.
Salihu who spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi after a reception organized by the Illelah Development Association in his honour, said: “the industry is part of my life; journalism, the media, the press, and broadcast journalism especially, is in my DNA.
“It is something that I will live to cherish, to practice, till the very last day of my life. I want to assure you that the chapter has closed in public broadcasting and another chapter will soon open in private broadcasting in my life.
“I do not have a retirement date as a broadcaster. As a public servant, like I say, the chapter is closed and glory be to Allah, the most high, for the privilege to serve and for all the challenges that one has had to face and for giving one the capacity and the ability to surmount them.’’
Salihu spoke about what he seeks to achieve by delving into private broadcasting, saying: “my job as a journalist is to rise above sentiments in whatever situation I find myself.”
Salihu was sacked on February 15 alongside 26 other chief executives of some federal agencies and parastatals.
Before his appointment, he had served as Zonal Director of the Kaduna National Station of Radio Nigeria. (NAN). [myad]
A 68-year-old woman, whose name was given as Mariam Raji, was reportedly crushed to death in Amukoko area of Lagos state by a driver who was said to be under the influence of alcohol.
The accident, which occurred on Easter Sunday, reportedly involved four other persons who were left severely wounded.
According to reports, the elderly woman died hours later at the Ajegunle General Hospital.
The other injured persons are identified as Mohammed Sani, Angel Anusiem, 38, Kafayat Lukmon, 30 and another unidentified person, who are responding to treatment in the Ajegunle General Hospital.
The drunk driver, Eugine Nweke, a resident of 63, Muri Ojora Street, Amukoko, was said to have lost control while driving a Mercedes Benz 190, marked EPE471CD at about 2:30pm.
The accident attracted the wrath of residents who almost lynched the driver but for the quick intervention of policemen from Amukoko division.
The suspect who was said to have been gulping a herbal concoction known as Action Bitters found in his car by detectives, was immediately arrested.
The state command’s spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police (SP) confirmed the incident to newsmen at the Amukoko police division.
According to her: “the matter was reported by one Azeez Raji of 7, Alafia Street, Amukoko.
“The car hit five people. One died this (Monday) morning at the hospital and the corpse was deposited in the mortuary.
“The suspect is in custody and was arrested under the influence of alcohol.” [myad]
Senior Special Assistant to the president on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has described members of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) and other groups agitating for a Biafra State as ignorant of the history of Nigeria.
Garba told news men that as far as he was concerned, Nigerians paid the ultimate prize of going to a-three-year civil war, where over one million people lost their lives.
According to him, those who are protesting for a State of Biafra have no information about the political history of the country, adding that the issue of Biafra was settled at the end of that civil war.
“Remember that this country fought a civil war for 30 months in which one million people were killed. The issue of Biafra was settled at the end of that civil war.
“What is there again? It is people who haven’t read Nigerian history and don’t know about it that are trying to raise new dust.”
Recently, Buhari was said to have thrown his weight behind the liberation of the Saharawi people in Morocco, a statement which most Nigerians frowned at against the agitation of the Biafra group.
Garba said: “For anybody to make comparison between Western Sahara and Biafra, that is a display of knowledge deficit in international politics. One, Western Sahara is a classic case of decolonization.
“It is the last remaining colony on the African continent and we all owe it a duty to ourselves to liberate Western Sahara.
“In fact, as military Head of State, President Buhari was the first to recognize Western Sahara and then the rest of Africa followed.
“So, he is being consistent. But Biafra is for the dismemberment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which is already a settled entity. These two scenarios are clearly different.” [myad]
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) has warned Nigerians to brace up for more hot days, warm nights and heat waves.
This is coming on the heels of the global average air temperature of the earth which is hitting 1°C hotter than it was at the start of the twentieth century. In a statement by the Head of the Public Relations Unit, Eva Azinge, NIMET noted that with the long residence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the current warming would continue beyond 2100, even when the emission of greenhouse gases is reduced.
The statement said, “We must therefore prepare for a future with more hot days, warm nights and heat waves because of past and present emissions. This preparation will require smart adaptation strategies and engaging in climate resilient practices to cope with the damage that has been done.” [myad]
The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has confirmed another pipeline blast at an oil field, operated by the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) in Bayelsa, killing three people. The Director-General of the agency, Dr Peter Idabor, who confirmed the deaths said that a staff of the agency was lucky to escape death during the incident.
A source in Olugboro Community said that those who died were maintenance workers, repairing crude oil pipelines at Olugboro in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa.
The explosion, which occurred on Easter Sunday, also left several people injured.
Idabor said that the survivor had drawn the attention of oil workers to the breach of safety procedure and left the scene shortly before the incident occurred.
“I received a report of the incident from our staff in Yenagoa office and luckily one of our officers on the team survived.
“Because of the safety conditions of the place after inspection my staff left the place and he was not affected.
“I am going to report the matter officially to the minister of environment today,” Idabor said.
On July 9 last year, a similar blast at Agip’s oil field in Azuzuama in Southern Ijaw left 14 people dead.
A regulatory official of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment and NOSDRA and 12 maintenance crew members were among the victims. [myad]
Dozens of people scrambled for cover today in the afternoon when gunshots were fired inside the U.S. Capitol, the seat of the United States Congress which is the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. It sits atop Capitol Hill, at the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
In the confusion that followed the gunshots, workers and visitors were immediately warned to shelter in place. And it was not unclear if anyone was injured in the ordeal, but initial reports said a U.S. Capitol police officer and the suspect may have been wounded, but later dispatches questioned if there were any injuries at all. The alleged gunman was reportedly apprehended.
“One suspect is in custody, no further suspects appear to be at large, however the U.S. Capitol Police are continuing to investigate,” read an email sent to congressional employees. All staff and visitors in all buildings are to remain sheltered in place.”
The White House was put on lockdown for several minutes, but that caution has been lifted, according to Yahoo News Chief Washington Correspondent Olivier Knox.
While Congress is currently in recess, there were tens of thousands of people expected in Washington, D.C., on Monday, during a typically busy spring break and tourist season. An estimated 35,000 people were expected to visit the White House for its annual Easter egg roll alone. Shortly after the lockdown at the White House was lifted, several hundred tourists were seen moving freely outside the fence and taking selfies as if nothing happened.
The Capitol Visitor Center opened in 2008. It is located on the east end of the National Mall between the Capitol building and the U.S. Supreme Court building.
The U.S. Capitol Police have been on heightened alert since last week’s terror attacks in Brussels. There was an active shooter drill at the U.S. Capitol earlier Monday.
Gun laws in Washington, D.C., are among the strictest in the nation. Until 2008, handguns were banned in the District, and until 2014, the carrying of open and concealed weapons was prohibited. (Open carry remains prohibited). [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the political history of Nigeria would be incomplete without capturing the roles of the founder of the second republic’s Nigerian Advance Party (NAP), Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, who died in the early hours of today.
In a condolence message issued by his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, the President called on political leaders to emulate the virtues of the founder of NAP during the Second Republic, “who perceived politics as a platform for honest service to the nation rather than an opportunity to make money.”
President Buhari said that late Dr. Braithwaite was quintessentially selflessness, patriotic and committed to national development as his passion to serve the people never waned despite not winning in the presidential elections.
The President recalled the immeasurable contributions of the late sage to the development of democracy, rule of law and human rights in Nigeria, assuring his family and friends that the political history of the country would be incomplete without capturing his roles.
He believed that the passing away of the lawyer, author and politician came at a time that his wisdom, intellectual depth, vast knowledge and experience were sorely needed by the country even as he sympathized with his immediate family, friends, professional colleagues and political allies.
Buhari prayed that God will grant his soul eternal rest, and comfort his loved ones. [myad]
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has warned that all politicians, including Chief Olu Falae, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, Chief Tony Anenih, Olisa Metuh, Chief Raymond Dokpesi and others who shared in the allegedly diverted $2.1billion arms deal must return what they got or face trial.
Bandits In Uniform, Or A Country Of Anything Goes, By Chido Onumah
I then asked myself the same question I asked a few years ago while researching grand corruption in Nigeria and the looting of the Nigeria Police Force by an ex-Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun. From all accounts, Mr. Balogun was a pathological criminal who rose to become the chief law officer of Nigeria. By the time he was forced to retire in January 2015, he had stolen billions of naira belonging to the Nigeria Police in what would go down as the most barefaced stealing spree by a public officer in Nigeria. The question I posed was: what kind of country or system makes it possible for public officers to loot their establishments so easily, ceaselessly and shamelessly? To understand the Badeh and Balogun syndrome, this is the question every sane Nigerian ought to be asking. I shall return to this.
Alex Sabundu Badeh, 58, until his retirement last year was a four-star flag officer of the Nigerian Air Force who served as the 18th Chief of Air Staff (October 4th, 2012 – January 16th, 2014), the 15th Chief of Defence Staff of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (January 16, 2014 to July 13, 2015), and Commander of the Presidential Fleet during Olusegun Obasanjo’s presidency, according to a Wikipedia entry. He was born in Vimtim (a town sacked by Boko Haram in October 2014) in Mubi Local Government Area of Adamawa State, North East Nigeria, into a family of peasant farmers.
Fast forward to Wednesday, March 16, 2016. The trial of Badeh began at a Federal High Court in Abuja where we were told that as Chief of Air Staff, Badeh made N558.2 million ($2.8 million at the official exchange rate of N197 to a dollar) monthly from the salary account of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), an account we were informed predated Badeh’s tenure. N558.2 multiplied by the 15 months that the diversion lasted (between September 2012 and December 2013) comes to N8.3 billion. We know that not all of that money went to Badeh. He had to settle the boys, perhaps going as high as the ministry of defence and the budget office of the federal government! But whatever the balance, as Chief of Air Staff, Badeh was a stupendously rich man. I don’t know any business, not even that run by Bill Gates or Warren Buffet that boasts of that kind of return on investment in 15 months.
Badeh’s loot, we understand, was the leftover after salaries and allowances of workers from NAF had been defrayed from the N4 billion received monthly and it was conveniently earmarked “for general administration for the office of the Chief of Air Staff”. And he administered it in the interest of the Badeh clan. Badeh bought a retirement home for N1.1 billion, a deserving prize for his trouble in ending the war against Boko Haram. He bought a commercial plot of land for N650 million and paid N878 million for the construction of a shopping mall and another N304 million to complete the mall. When his sons wanted to own houses, he bought a house worth N260 million for his first son, renovated it with N60 million and furnished it with N90 million. And when his second son turned down a house worth N340 million, he ordered that a second house be bought for N330 million to compensate for the indiscretion of his man Friday.
“The amount in most cases was usually converted into US dollars by the Finance Officer at Nigerian Air Force Headquarters, Abuja. Thereafter, it is brought to the Director of Finance who in turn takes it to the Air House which is the official residence of Chief of Air Staff at the Niger Barracks,” revealed a prosecution witness, Air Commodore Aliyu Yishau (retd.), who said he served as former Director of Finance and Account of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF). You still wonder why the country has a foreign exchange crisis.
Badeh obviously had no business being in the Nigerian Air Force or building a career as a pilot trained at the expense of Nigerian tax payers. But this is Nigeria, a country of anything goes, where perverse actions perpetually multiply and endure as instruments of governance. Badeh, of course, is not alone. The man who succeeded him as Chief (Thief?) of Air Staff, Adesola Nunayon Amosu, a retired Air Vice Marshal, has been indicted in the arms procurement scandal during his tenure. One of the criminal deals involved the procurement of two second-hand Mi-24V helicopters instead of the recommended Mi-35M series at a cost of $136.9 million. The second-hand helicopters were allegedly not operationally airworthy at the time of delivery while a brand new unit of the same helicopters costs about $30 million. On November 13, 2014, two officers were killed when the Air Force chief allegedly pressured them into flying one of the unserviceable helicopters which crashed in the North-east region.
According to reports, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has seized houses and other properties belonging to Amosu, Air Vice Marshal J.B. Adigun, the immediate past Chief of Accounts and Budgeting of the Nigerian Air Force, and Air Commodore O. O. Gbadebo, who was the Director of Finance and Budget at NAF. When Amosu’s wife, Mrs. Omolara Amosu, was arrested by EFCC operatives, the sum of N3 billion was allegedly traced to her bank accounts. She has voluntarily returned N381 million in three tranches of N180m, N101m, and N100m.
Amosu’s putative boss, ex-National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki (retd), alongside Shuaibu Salisu, a former Director of Finance and Administration, Office of the National Security Adviser, Aminu Babakusa, a former General Manager, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Acacia Holdings Limited, and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited, is currently being prosecuted by the EFCC on a 19-count charge bordering on money laundering and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N13.5 billion. A committee set up to investigate Dasuki’s office indicted more than 300 companies and individuals, including serving and retired military officers. In one case, the committee found out that a company, Societe D’Equipment International, was overpaid to the tune of €7.9 million and $7.09 million.
True to form, the trial of Dasuki could not continue last week because he refused to show up in court. But he doesn’t have to. The important thing is for the trial to go on and if he is found guilty, bundled to jail. I am reliably informed that the rot in the military is far worse than what we have experienced with our politicians. And that is saying a lot considering the criminal proclivities of Nigerian politicians. We have seen a bit of the rot in the Air Force. We await the revelations from the Army and the Navy.
If you want to understand why Nigeria is not working, why we are a fourth rate nation, look no further than the Dasukis, Badehs, and Amosus of Nigeria, their compatriots in agbada (the grand boubou) and their partners in wigs. People like our billionaire judges, like Olisah Metuh, Stella Oduah, and Bukola Saraki, the Teflon President of the Nigerian Senate who is currently standing trial for false asset declaration and for repaying his personal loans with state fund. There are others like Ikedi Ohakim who as governor of Imo State paid $2.29 million cash for a property in Abuja, Ahmed Sani Yerima, Mohammed Danjuma Goje, Abdullahi Adamu, George Akume, and Josuah Dariye – executive scoundrels who have found refuge in one of the most disreputable institutions in Nigeria – the Senate. Not even the colonial masters could have damaged this country the way these men and women who claim to be Nigerians have done. Indeed, it’s a safe bet that the legendary unfeeling colonial chieftain, Lord Lugard, will weep no end if he were to return to the house he built in 1914.
Clearly, these thieving individuals like their alter ego, the fiendish late military dictator, Sani Abacha, have no concept of a nation of people. Their moral universe is limited to family and friends. That is why their politics, to paraphrase radical scholar and activist, late Prof Eskor Toyo, is reduced to a grabbing game, a cake sharing contest. So, for example, while Abacha was head of state, pretending to love Nigeria and working to uphold her honour and glory, he, his family, and accomplices were busy looting the country and stashing the loot where their hearts were: Switzerland, Liechtenstein, etc. In just one instance, in December 1999, the Swiss government announced the freezing of $550 million in different banks belonging to Abacha and his family, former National Security Adviser Ismaila Gwarzo, and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu (current Governor of Kebbi State). It is simply impossible to know exactly how much Abacha and those around him stole from Nigeria in the five years of his tyrannical rule.
There are many Abachas, Dasukis, Badehs, Amosus and Sarakis in the system, people who “pledge to Nigeria my country, to be faithful, loyal and honest”, yet they will steal from the same country at every opportunity. But why are millions of Nigerians who bear the brunt of the licentiousness of our thieving public officers not outraged? There is no outrage because most of us will behave the same way if we found ourselves in the shoes of Abacha, Dasuki, Badeh, Amosu or Saraki.
And the reason is simple: “Much of what passes for corruption is not simply a matter of greed but rather the byproduct of legislators or public officials who feel more obligated to family, tribe, religion or ethnic group than to the national community and therefore divert money in that direction.” That was Francis Fukuyama writing about the relationship between nation building and state building in his book, Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy. These bandits in uniform and agbada, according to Fukuyama, “are not necessarily immoral people, but their circle of moral obligation is smaller than that of the polity for which they work”.
Savagery rears its head when we believe something that belongs to us is stolen, when anyone comes into our small circle of moral obligation. So, somewhere in Aluu, Rivers State, four undergraduates are lynched and burnt by mortally offended fellow citizens for allegedly stealing laptops and cell phones; somewhere in Lagos a woman is beaten and sexually assaulted by an incredulous and bloodthirsty mob for stealing pepper; in Ondo State, a man is mercilessly bludgeoned to death by “irritated angry youth” for being gay; and somewhere in Kano, a man is set free after more than two decades in prison for allegedly stealing a transistor radio. Yet each time Dasuki, Badeh, or Saraki appears in court, oozing splendor, they are not tailed by “ordinary” Nigerians mocking and jeering but by a throng of well-heeled lawyers, friends, associates, and family members. These high-profile supporters know that it is not only Dasuki, Badeh, or Saraki that is on trial.
What they seem to be saying is, “That is the way the system works. Only a fool would want to be law abiding in a patently lawless society.” So, Dasuki, Badeh, Saraki, and company, can sleep comfortably at night knowing full well that there is a chance that in the end they will be free to enjoy their loot. As a people, we have imbibed the dictum that when evil is commonplace it becomes a tradition. That is the case with corruption in Nigeria. Corruption is a national tradition. It has been with us since independence, got worse through many military regimes and became a directive principle of state policy in 1999 when the military again foisted one of their own, Olusegun Obasanjo, that exemplar of everything wrong with Nigeria, on a hapless nation.
It is for this reason that these indicted public officers, rather than going to court to prove their innocence, shout “persecution” and “political witch-hunt” at every opportunity. You can’t really blame them! Why should they be punished for upholding tradition? It is for the same reason that we have not heard a word from the military high command or from retired military officers, including ex-heads of state, on the revelations about our military.
Knowing how powerful the thieving class is in Nigeria, President Buhari should be praised – I can’t think of any politician who would have done this – for his courage and political will. Of course, the issue goes beyond President Buhari to the question posed at the beginning of this essay. As long as Nigeria remains the way it is, public office will be nothing but sinecure for self-serving individuals.
We need to create a country where there is no incentive for Nigerians to steal from Nigeria. No sane person steals from himself. When people feel ownership of this country, we won’t see the high incidence of wanton pillage of public fund currently going on at all levels and in all sectors.
In the interim, let Nigerians who suffer the effect of corruption pick up the gauntlet and act. After all, the enfant terrible of Rivers State and now Honourable (emphasis mine) Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, once remarked publicly that he and other thieving politicians get away with murder because Nigerians have not risen to defend their patrimony by stoning those who gratuitously steal from them.
conumah@hotmail.com; Twitter: @conumah. [myad]