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The President’s inaugural speech and maiden national broadcast to Nigerians pointedly identified a similar national problem. Simply summarised, “a few cabals are strangulating the economy of the country and these handful of people are very powerful and they are ready to fight dirty.”
President Bola Tinubu said: “Thus, the defects in our economy immensely profited a tiny elite, the elite of the elite you might call them. As we move to fight the flaws in the economy, the people who grow rich from them, predictably, will fight back through every means necessary.”
Many years back, the head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri, in the heat of her fighting corrupt politicians and others in the country, raised the alarm, stating that Efcc personnel were being murdered in the course of their investigative assignments. Sequel to that unfortunate development, Mrs. Waziri, a retired police Assistant Inspect General, alerted the country that, “Corruption is fighting back.”
Such defeatist dispositions are what many heads of security agencies have continuously thrown into the national space just to curry favour and sympathy from people, since Nigerians are sympathetic in nature.
If truly there are “blood-thirsty cabals,” why is it difficult for leaders to expose them, and publicise their names? Why is it difficult for the government to name and shame them?
It was surprising to hear the President notifying the Nigerian populace of the enormous wealth that is under the control of these demi-gods who, according to him, “wield enormous power.” Was the President instilling fear in the heart of Nigerians, or is he preparing our minds toward the fact that the government cannot fight and recover these looted funds? What then is government all about if a handful of people can amass such enourmous wealth and power to bring down a government and it is the President that is informing the people about these personalities. Where then is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? Where were our dependable and proactive intelligence agencies when these handful of powerful people were fraudulently syphoning and amassing so much from our commonwealth, to the extent that none of them was nabbed from the outset?
This is a sad commentary on how both the government and security agencies are run in Nigeria. Is it not shameful and inconceivable that none of our security agencies was able to detect the fraud that had made the cabals so rich and powerful, from the initial stages? After all, these humongous financial crimes were perpetrated in the country. How come no Nigerian was audacious enough to leak the information of such economic fraud to the security agencies. When, many years back, the police through its spokesman, Mr. Tunji Alapini, started a national reorientation programme by educating the people that “the police is your friend.” Had the country imbibed this into our consciousness, maybe the friendship with the police would have been upgraded to trust and trust would have produced confidence in the police that would not only endear the people to the police and they can easily report or leak any important criminal information to any of our security agencies for the betterment of the country at large. Today, the situation is that, since we as a country did not do the right thing, our negligence has come to haunt us and we are paying dearly for this negligence and indiscretion. Check the cost of living in every part of the country, from transportation to agricultural products, many families are suffering because government and the security agencies did not do what they are supposed to do by safeguarding our God-given natural resources. Very soon parents whose children are in school will cry out more as the brunt of educational increase is coming their way.
There are tears everywhere because heartless and insensitive cabals are sucking our economy. When China discovered that consuming foreign products, which were flooding their markets, thereby making their local products to be unattractive and not appreciable, including monitoring the activities of financial thieves in their country, many of whom were condemned and sentenced to death, they agreed with their visionary leader Deng Xiaoping immediately after wide consultation to further close their boarders. They jointly had a rethink and progressed jointly to solve their economic problems themselves. The country bore the burden of deprivation but later became a world resource destination. Their story changed economically and in all ramifications.
Our economy is seriously leaking and once a man with a serious cut on his body refuses to stop whatsoever he is doing and ensure that the haemorrhage is stopped, doctors usually say that a man that is experiencing excessive bleeding would go into shock and if the bleeding continues and is not controlled it might lead to death. It is, therefore, unimaginable that President Tinubu, who should ingeniously be looking for solutions to resuscitate the dying country he is presiding over, and needs to be truthful about his intentions, rather, is planning to use the remaining economic strength left in the country to fight another country whose backers and supporters have been eyeing the remaining resources of his country, Nigeria. What does Timubu want to achieve? This is the story of a boy who refuses to listen to his parents, elders and relatives about his decision to go and fight his neighbour with an empty stomach, knowing full well that his neighbour is not alone in the fight. Our military is bleeding, so is our financial standing. A country that goes aborrowing, goes asorrowing because his systems are not working. Had we been able to internally handle the cabals that had over the years been sucking our economy, maybe we would have been in a better position to want to take this chance of trying to play the role of a big brother when we are not able to fight bandits, terrorists and economic cabals who have been sucking the country dry. A word is enough for the wise, and the word is a security advice that Tinubu should employ diplomacy that would bring all the aggrieved parties to a roundtable, that is how a big brother behaves.
This system was advocated for use in the case of IPOP leader Nnamdi Kanu but it was jettisoned. Had the APC government adhered to this noble suggestion, maybe the country would have been in a better position. If they had successfully handled the over a decade of insecurity in Nigeria, they would have adopted the same method to solve the Niger problem. America had no known internal security and economic problem before assisting Ukraine to fight Russia. So Nigeria has no business nor moral justification to lead other countries to intervene in the Niger imbroglio.
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FPRO Security Hints (4)
1) Everything in life must come with moderation
2) Avoid night trip, it could be dangerous
3) Avoid any group behaviour that could lead you into trouble. Screen your friends and those you move with
4) Expose any criminal intent or act so that you don’t become an accomplice or charged with accessory after the fact.
(Report to police 08031230631 NPF RESCUE ME toll-free line )
5). Don’t be a party to any offence. Facilitating, propelling, encouraging any commissioning of offence makes you liable under the law.
By ACP Muyiwa Adejobi
