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Black and White diamonds
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Who are the criminals?
By Rev. Fr. Clement Muozoba

Many years ago, in one of his albums, the late Reggae exponent, Peter Tosh asked this
question, “Everybody is talking about crime, tell me, who are the criminals?” This becomes
more relevant in our life as a country today. In a media chat with some selected journalists
transmitted live by the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) a few weeks ago, the President
of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan admitted that kidnapping has become a national issue.
Again, he admitted that it has become a lucrative industry and that there are some ‘big
men’ behind the small boys in the field. He also said that his government is after those big
guys. He specifically pointed out that kidnapping has paralyzed commercial activities in
the South-East in particular.

Obviously, the president is not wrong. Kidnapping and its twin brother, broad daylight
bank robbery, believed to be operated by the same syndicate, have held the south-east
to ransom. Funny enough, a friend of mine described kidnap as a nomad who went out
wandering from the south-south. On reaching the south-east, he found a clement
environment and settled there and began a flourishing business with headquarters in Abia
State. On the 11th of June, 2010, the Lagos State Chairman of the Nigerian Union of
Journalists (NUJ), Mr. Wahab Oba was kidnapped with three other journalists and their
driver in Abia State. As if to show that kidnapping is not just a South - East problem, Hajia
Labara Abdullahi, the mother of Sani Lulu, the impeached president of the Nigerian
Football Federation (NFF) was kidnapped in Kogi State. Many questions have been
raised on why this strange business has refused all solutions. The complications following
some of the kidnap incidents have raised no fewer questions. As at now, no answers have
been provided. The one answer readily available is that there is lack of security in the
country.

It would be recalled that apart from Lagos State, no other state has provided the Police
Force with logistics than the South-Eastern states. I’m sure that Anambra has been
praised for providing the Police with not less than 150 operational vehicles, two armoured
personnel carriers and other things. Yet, whenever kidnapping is mentioned, the state is
not left out. It is true that some of the kidnap incidents are mere political hype, but some
are also true and many of them are attributed to the ineptitude of the law enforcement
agents especially the Police. In Anambra State which is fundamentally considered a
business state, the Police have been said to find a haven for their own business. Hence,
more often than not, they spend their time collecting the Nigerian ‘Green Card’ on the
roads and allowing the kidnappers and other criminals a free access. This has equally
caused untold accidents on the roads which have claimed the lives of Nigerians and even
some men of the Nigerian Police.

Many in the South-East now believe that some law enforcement agents must be involved
in these violent crimes in one way or the other. Some people believe that some of them
either engage directly in the business as kidnappers or as negotiators for ransom. This,
according to them, is why kidnapping has refused to go. The popular belief is that on the
days of the violent crimes like the bank robberies, the check-points are always deserted
to give way for the criminals. It is also believed that the cases where the law enforcement
agents are killed are largely due to improper arrangement, lack of information or
misinformation between the Police and the criminals. The Police may not know that the
people hold these opinions about them. That is why many never believe that the Police in
their present form can provide security for the Nigerian citizens. The most horrible part of
this is that on many occasions, the Police have turned their weapons on innocent citizens
in ‘intentional’ accidental discharges which have sent many to their untimely death. Why
has reforming the Nigeria Police become such a Herculean task?  

On the 22nd June this year, Nigerians witnessed a horrible scene in the House of
Representatives. It was a free-for-all fight between just 11 out of 360 legislators and the
rest. People were beaten black and blue, clothes mercilessly torn to shreds and thanks to
God that nobody was stripped naked. The cause of the fracas was allegations of fraud
against the Speaker of the House, Oladimeji Bankole by the Progressive Group led by
Dino Melaye. The speaker was accused mainly of misappropriating N11b capital vote of
the House in 2008 and 2009 financial years. The other allegations against the speaker
were innumerable. In the same vein, in a serendipitous discovery, our Honourable
Senators’ earnings per annum were uncovered as follow: Basic salary – 2,484,245.50;
Hardship allowance @ 50% of Basic salary – 1,242,122.70; Constituency allowance @
200% of BS – 4,968,509.00; Furniture allowance @ 300% of BS – 7,452,736.50;
Newspaper allowance @ 50% of BS – 1,242,122.70; Wardrobe allowance @ 25% -
621,061.37; Recess allowance @ 10% - 248,424.55; Accommodation @ 200% -
4,968,509.00; Utilities @ 30% of BS – 828,081.83; Domestic Staff @ 75% of BS –
1,863,184.12; Entertainment @ 30% of BS – 828, 081.83; Personal assistants @ 25% of
BS – 621,061.37; Vehicle maintenance allowance @ 75% of BS – 1,863, 184.12; Leave
allowance @ 10% of BS – 48,424.55; severance gratuity @ 300% of BS – 7,452,736.50;
Motor vehicle allowance @ 400% of BS – 9,936,982.00 (every 4 years); Total = N29,
479,749.00; Senator’s Salary per month = 2,456,647.70; Grand Total (109 Senators) =
N3,264,329,264.10 (Newswatch, July 12, 2010, p.14). This is in a country regarded
largely to be poor and where an average Nigerian lives below a dollar per day. Folake
Lebi, a US – based consultant lamented this situation thus, “I wonder why these thieves
there in the National Assembly talk of economic saboteurs in Nigeria. I wonder if they have
the sense to introspect long enough to see themselves as worst robbers Nigeria has ever
encountered” (Ibid, p.20). By this, Lebi means that the condemned criminals in Kirikiri are
saints.

Election rigging is now regarded as normal in Nigeria and no serious punishment is meted
out for the systematic robbery of the people’s mandate. One can boldly say that many of
our political office holders are with stolen mandates. It is only just a handful of the states
of the federation that can be said to have elected governors especially those who
struggled to regain their mandates. Even the immediate past president admitted that the
process that threw him up with the incumbent president as his vice was marred by
irregularities. That was where it ended. But if we still think correctly, is there any crime
greater than the theft of the people’s mandate? We now have a new electoral umpire,
Professor Attahiru Jega. Before him, Nigerians had witnessed sham in the name of
elections and the professional riggers boasted openly, always sure of rigging and none
had ever been brought to book. Can Jega move beyond his predecessor, Professor
Maurice Iwu? Can he withstand the politicians’ enormous financial inducements?

We have heard of billions upon billions recovered by our anti-graft agencies where they
were stashed away in foreign banks. Where are the monies and who stashed them away?
On many occasions, the leadership of the anti-graft agencies has been accused of
complicity in crimes. In fact, many believe that some of the leaders of such agencies were
planted to protect the sacred cows. As a result of that, no serious cases have been made
against some of the obviously corrupt ex-governors and other politicians, except to settle
some scores. Many are of the view that some of their case files have mysteriously been
lost in the custody of the agencies while those with countless charges have surprisingly
been discharged and acquitted by the courts. Funny enough, at least one of such people
has been convicted in a foreign country.

Though kidnapping holds sway these days, it should not distract us from the fact that it is
not the one and only crime in the country. If the truth has to be told, what Chinua Achebe
pointed out many years ago as the problem of Nigeria is still there and is worse now. Ours
remain a problem deeply rooted in corruption of our leaders and has given birth to a
confusion of what crime is and who the criminals are. If the corridors of power can be
swept clean, kidnapping will naturally solve itself. But there is the lack of courage to begin
because many are involved.

Rev. Fr. Clement
Muozoba                                                                                                                             
okochacm@yahoo.com, 07060843010