There are indications that issues bothering corruption, the tragic rise in militant activities, the failure of the State through the Military to reinforce trust in Nigeria's sovereignty provoked by administrative anomalies may be brewing a major revolution in Nigeria, according to a former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Commission, Justice Mustapha Akanbi. Justice Mustapha who dropped the hint on Tuesday during an interactive session with Journalists, berated the Judiciary for allowing itself to be bought by those with resources. Shadedreflects.blogspot.com Correspondents have reported.
He also warned political actors in the country and its leadership against godfatherism and corruption saying a revolution exemplified by the recent incident in Ouagadougou is possible in Nigeria.
The renowned Jurist spoke with journalists in Abuja ahead of the public presentation of his two books – “The story of my two worlds” (an Autobiography) and “A life of service and grace: Shared perspectives” (a collection of Essays by scholars) scheduled for today (Wednesday) where ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo will function as chairman of occasion.
According to him, the present generation should not see life as mere acquisition of wealth but a call to service.
He said, “I have been a member of the National Judicial Council with Justice Babalakin. I remember that when we were leaving, the Secretary was almost weeping saying ‘when people like you are leaving, who will be the voice of the voiceless’? The Bench is not supposed to be for the highest bidder. I was invited by an Oyibo man, the Chief Justice of Northern Nigeria then to come unto the Bench because I started practicing Law initially. I didn’t want to be a Judge.
“But I told my father that I have been invited to be a High Court Judge, he said he was a friend to the father of Williams and Fani-Kayode who was a great Lawyer and said, ‘as a young Magistrate, they will bow before you. Now they called you to become a Judge and you said you want to think about it? Go and take that job.’ It’s not like now, if the right persons are appointed, you won’t have any problem with the Bench. You know the pressure now, with everybody lobbying to get to the Bench, that is the problem.”
Akanbi also warned that revolution should not be ruled out in Nigeria so long as the political actors continue to misplace their priorities.
He however said that the African Union and the world generally frowns at violent revolution and will always ensure a return to democratic rule.
The ex-ICPC boss said, “I am a democrat, but if you see what happened recently in Ouagadougou when they have to go and burn those places, it wasn’t a coup as such but a demonstration to show that the people aren’t going to take it. See how Hong Kong became a less free corrupt country. It was the people who rose up to challenge the Chief of Police.
“What I envisage is that when you push people and they have their back pushed to the wall, they are bound to react. Revolution means more than a change. It can be violent, it can be peaceful. But what happened in Ouagadougou recently is an obvious lesson for those who care to listen. It (revolution) is possible in Nigeria if we go on without thinking of the ordinary people.
“Among those to whom I dedicated my book, I spoke of the poor, needy and ‘talakawas’ of the society because I have been privileged to bring up my children with my late wife in the way we deemed fit. Our philosophy in the house was to produce a scholarly and religious people. Today, I have produced scholarly and religious people. So long as we continue to see poor people suffering but live in mansions, with the way things are going and we pretend, there will be problem.”
According to him, Nigeria should be a society where people should be in appointment or employment on the basis of merit and not godfatherism.
Akanbi said, “With the way things are going nobody feels comfortable, no reasonable person feels comfortable. If you went to the same school with another person and did very well. Because that person knows me or Mr. X, he’s able to get a job you cannot get because he belongs to a particular political party, will you be happy? In my days, you can be anything without knowing anybody, without having a godfather. But today, we all know what it is; there is corruption.
“I have heard of one Fakunle who said he has been sleeping in the church for five years begging only to see his name pasted on a Notice board that he has been employed in ICPC. He didn’t know me, I didn’t know him. In fact, when he was to be appointed, a different name was suggested. But it was because I sat at the interview and saw what happened. I didn’t know him and have never met him.
“I told somebody, the chap you are bringing is not as qualified as Fakunle, I later discovered he came from the same town with one of our officers. I said no, he can’t come in. I demanded for his papers and I saw he did better. That was how he got to ICPC.
“Integrity matters, I was very lucky because in my early years, I worked with the expatriates and generally, all these godfatherism and nepotism don’t come in. That is why I see it as a challenge. I have preached and practiced it. I felt that if I put it in a book form, those who will have access to it when I am no more, will know what made my life what it is.
“Look at late Dr. Nelson Mandela, he was for 27 years in prison. Can anybody compare him with anybody in Nigeria? If you take Martin Luther King Jr and what he stood for, we will get there. But let’s create an environment where the children of the weak and poor will also have a place in the society that they can compete very well with the children of the rich and the leaders.”
He added that as a product of a generation who lived in Ghana when politics was volatile and when Kwame Nkrumah was fighting the imperialists, “the present generation should not see life as mere acquisition of wealth.”
“They must seek, propagate knowledge and live and fight for the rightness of their call. Let them make a retribution that they must live on the path of righteousness for service to God and man. Those who make a great nation are those who sacrifice for the common good. My belief: I am an optimist and I know that Nigeria will survive. We can’t remain like this but we will have to open up the space to appreciate what is good and decent.”
“We have to tell the world that there is another aspect of life other than politics and wrangling. In ICPC, I have been able to prove a point that you can employ people without necessarily knowing them. There hasn’t been any teacher who taught me from Primary 1-7 and secondary school that I haven’t written about; In my book, I talked about decent Nigerians of yesteryears and compared them with Nigerians of today because they were the people who made me to read Law, who assisted me without knowing my background, they don’t come from my family”, the retired auspice stated.
By Shadedreflects team
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