By

Pius Isume

(piusisume@yahoo.com)

Like a burning fire fueled by the harmattan wind, the headlines over the past two weeks has gone unabated about the dramatic escape from Britain of the self styled “governor general of Bayelsa State”. From the outrage to the outright sarcastic, many have opined in true “nationalistic” flavour what they see as another dent (?) in the image of an already bloodied nation state called Nigeria. For a country which, many posited, have long toiled to establish whatever assumed fallacy they still uphold about the failing nation, this escape was too much to bear. Their girlfriends and families going on summer holidays with stolen public funds will now get embarrassed the more. Those privileged social and business associations they enjoyed with expatriates might be hampered as a result of this “thieving” governor who had the guts to stand on the other side of Baba. That for now is by the way.

In the political, sporting and economic life of the country, we have a long history of cheating sometimes our opponents, sometimes our colleagues and when we find no one else to cheat, we end up cheating ourselves and paying the ultimate price (as Abacha found out) and so the question remains pertinent: Really, are we really surprised at Alamieyesegha?

This poser is increasingly more pertinent, as Nigeria since the unfortunate amalgamation of a distinctly diverse people with dissimilarities in everything but for a common English language we try to speak, has over time shown to the world our deft capabilities in showing our uniqueness in modeling the obscene and making it look acceptable.

We are testimonies of our time and historians of time past the pre-independence era and except someone establishes to me with video clips of some earth shaking born-again conversions of all Nigerians, what Alamieyesegha did by jumping bail and refusing to resign when faced with the reality of his position against a determined high chief at Abuja as foe is entirely down our alley. Not two Nigerians faced with a certain conviction for a crime committed would not seek to bend the rules, twist the laws, run if allowed a breathing space or simply call on their “gods” for powers to simply vanish as some would claim they have powers to in this our own Nija! After all, we are living witnesses to how the 419 elections of 2003 where carried out in full military style with preferred candidates announced as winners while the public where denied voting rights and securely positioned in their living rooms to await the announcement of people preferred to be their rulers by the despotic ruling cabal.

It was in this same country that a relatively unknown Salisu Buhari came on to the political stage and somehow got installed as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1999 and quickly got impeached after evidence showed he forged a certificate from Toronto University. This same person got the “modesty” of being convicted and asked to withdraw an “enormous” N2,000.00 (Two Thousand Naira) from his wallet for not being smart enough to keep his tracks covered. Before we raised our voices in astonishment at the “weight” of the punishment, what did we hear? A presidential pardon was given the young man in appreciation for his “orderly” behavior while resting in his father’s house! Would that deter him from forging his Finance Ministers signature when he becomes President of the country as we know can happen in only a country called Nigeria aptly aided by the kind of rulership we have at the moment?

This same funny country of comedians and jesters that arrested the big policeman Tafa Balogun and went to press with sordid details of huge financial assets unbecoming of an officer from a poorly paid police force, tortured in public glare and charged with an endless array of convictable counts and what did we get? A 6-month jail term for not responding to EFCC on time rather than for stealing money, a return of a “huge” N4Million and forfeiture of his assets across the country. By Christmas, for a Nigeria I know, this man would be back home released for “exemplary behavior” while incarcerated. Would he have leant a lesson enough to stop him consuming all security votes when he becomes the national security adviser like we all know is possible only in a country called Nigeria and under a government like we have now?

This country of refuge for killers where confessing to a crime as “modest” as killing of several Nigerians can earn one a recall to active service at the Directorate of Military Intelligence. Is it not nauseating enough that Sgt. Rogers the Abacha hitman, can be so “encouraged” by this government for his “effective” use of smoking guns in aid of a despotic regime as Abacha’s and gets his rehabilitation fast tracked by a supposedly righteous government rather than facing trial for possible conviction? Would he have leant any lesson when he gets nominated as head of the EFCC in further proof of his “rising” potentials as we know is possible under this regime and in a country called Nigeria?

And my favourite mafiaso hit movie, “Bloodbath Across the Niger River” starring the don Chris Uba and ably supported by the enigmatic Chris Ngige. In a movie that bemused its viewers by showcasing how an uncompromising mafia don gets his major support from a supposedly righteous President of the country in an unholy alliance of sorts, viewers had to go through gory scenes of destruction of lives and property and even abduction of the sitting Governor whose cries to the President where met with rebuff and threats of forced removal for not giving the mafia don a part of the treasury of the state. The morality is lost on the viewers as close to the end of the epic movie, the don is even been nominated into the inner chambers of the Presidents party as a “trustee” (???) and further rewarded with the potential of getting a sizeable oil block for himself! Would Chris Uba have leant any lesson to stop him pilfering the nations resources when he becomes a Minister of Works, which is only possible in a country like Nigeria when he was never cautioned, arrested or convicted for his treasonable act of abduction and confessing to electoral fraud? Rather we have Alhaji Asari and Chief Uwazurike on trial for offences that borders on the glaring truth of their personal convictions on the failing and highly polarized ethnic and religiously disoriented country like Nigeria that needs a total overhaul for peaceful co-existence if we so decide. How ironic!

In all this enumerations, one thing is striking. Corruption, criminality and all social vices are a norm in Nigerian and are only punishable when a cordiality line is breached and you are faced with a situation where your once friendly companion becomes your foe. True except you just came in from another planet!

Evidently, there has been no sincere effort aimed at putting the fear of God in the minds of Nigerians to deter them from unlawfully enriching themselves and so the easiest way to carry on corruptly is to ensure you remain loyal to the high forces of the day. Save the Buhari / Idiagbon regime where there was an apparent sincerity in the approach to tackle corruption, I dare say no other regime, this inclusive, has attempted more than lip service, to address this evil vice that seems prevalent in the blood of Nigerians - a majority at least. So I ask again, really, are we surprised at what Alamieyesegha resorted to in a show of his “Nigerianess”?

Once upon at time, a certain Dariye came in through our borders the same way as Alamieyesegha and today the heat is on again just because several people have tried to use him as a reference to why Alamieyesegha should also be spared. Question is, was it a wrong analogy to use in the first place? Are we pretending we did not remember he jumped bail as well? When he was attending all Federal Executive Council Meetings in Abuja this while, did our moral high ruler forget he was shaking hands with a fugitive or did the PDP arrange their now infamous “family affair” get together to plead for reprieve from prosecution? Did we suddenly forget to find a way to send the army like OBJ is doing in Bayelsa at the moment to get him to face trial in Britain by all means possible?

People suddenly talk of saving a battered image caused by an escapee Alamieyesegha and I laugh. We are just smooth talking hypocritical lots I tell you. What image did we really have to save? The one that allowed a war criminal stay on in Calabar despite all efforts by the United Nations and well-meaning people to have Charles Taylor sent to the International War Commission for trial and a moral high priest says it will never be done? The one that a judge was so disgusted with the manner a sitting president rigged his own state and promptly cancelled the results from that state? The one that allowed his cousin Makunjuola to leave this country and till today has not faced any criminal charges despite the misappropriated funds at the defense ministry? Are we trying to save our image already battered by a sitting president taking funds from government contractors to open a presidential library to his name while in office? Is it the image of a country where Halliburton in less than 6 months after a ban placed by the federal government for importing toxic substances and other tax evasion allegations get fast tracked into operations and Sloak Airline owned by a Nigerian is banned outright due to the owner been a foe of the President? Maybe we are talking of an image that was not battered when the Presidents late wife and her family accompanied by civil servants were buying houses at Ikoyi and rather than arrest all for explanation of their source of funds, all we got was a refund and a cancellation of their purchase orders and the mere sacking of the Minister Mrs. Osomo while her erstwhile counterpart Mr. Osuji was disgraced for finding a way to get more allocations for his ministry for which he is still facing trial? Maybe we are talking of an image not damaged when a prime suspect in the killing of the No.1 Law officer of the country won a selection sorry an election (?) to the senate from his jail custody! Please spare me all these cacophonous attempts at making a mockery of a governor whose action was clearly a chip of the “exemplary” standards set by the government of the day!!!

One thing is obvious to me in all this. Alamieyesegha would not be hounded today if he had not fallen out with the president. No one would have known how much he stacked away, how much he has deprived his people of state funds and allocations. This is more glaring when you consider how many times the modern day Gestapo in Nigeria, the EFCC have told all who cared to listen the corrupt nature of our governors without attempting to shed some light on the identity of those speculated.

Alamieyesegha without doubt is not the reason why the federal government has not been alive to its responsibilities to the people. He is not the reason why the east west road running from Aqua Ibom to Warri is still in its state of disrepair. He is not the reason OBJ wants to change the constitution and run for a 3^rd term. He is not the reason the refineries are not working. Definitely not the reason Nigerians are paying more for fuel, more for food and thinking of going out of the country for medical treatment. As much as Alamieyesegha may have failed his people, so too has the federal government failed the country for which we only have God to call on for help and not EFCC. He is only a “good” student of the Nigerian factor. A factor that allows some people to get away from punishment while others enjoy their loot. He is only an “ingenious” one who expanded the frontiers of desperation when cornered and faced with outright humiliation in a foreign land where his home government sent a high level emissary in the person of the Minister of Justice to ensure his bail conditions were not varied. He surely has a case to answer to his people if found guilty of the high crime of money laundering. “If found guilty I say” because suddenly even the ardent civil rights people have already condemned him as guilty no longer remembering the principle of innocent until proven in court. We owe Britain absolutely nothing by refusing to deliver him as Britain has for a long time from the Umaru Dikko saga failed Nigeria by providing asylum to criminals from Nigeria.

The Alamieyesegha dilemma has again exposed the horrifying nature and mentality of the typical Nigerian as distinct from other humans. Something has to be wrong somewhere when the mafia-like “escape” has been described in such eye-catching terms as “disgraceful”, “a dent on our image (?)” ending with some damning conclusions like “go back to Britain and be convicted!” My shock and surprise are only as a result of the obvious self-scrutinizing poser which I dare all Nigerians to answer honestly: “Really, are we surprised why Alamieyesegha decided to take his fate into his own hands in typical Nigerian fashion or just plainly acting holier than thou guided by our present political inclinations, our endemic ethnic beliefs or just been plainly hypocritical to earn some rave endorsement from the high chief at Abuja?”

In conclusion therefore, whilst people join in the chorus to use despicable words to describe Alamieyesegha forgetting they are using their mouths to spite their faces because there is an Alamieyesegha in most Nigerians, for me the issue remains simple: we must sit down and decide once for all to fight the scourge called corruption by accepting that selectiveness can no longer be tolerated. Vindictiveness must be avoided. We must spare no effort to ensure that sacred cows are not giving leeway to avoid justice. A situation where Abacha is hunted to his grave and IBB is left to pursue his presidential ambition in this country is not setting the right standards. Only that way can people be proud to support any anti-corruption fight in this country. Only then will people swallow their ethnic, religious and political stance because when they look up they realize that their brother’s thieving colleague from another state is similarly facing trial for same crime committed. Until then, again I ask the question, Alamieyesegha: Really are we surprised?

Pius Isume

Port Harcourt

Nigeria

December 2005.