It will be very difficult if not impossible to
honestly know if Mallam Nuhu Ribadu is a friend or a foe. His chameleonic and very slippery lifestyle
since he first came into limelight under the auspices of his godfather Rtd. Gen.
Olusegun Obasanjo as the chairman of the anti graft economic and financial
crimes commissions (EFCC) where his achievements left nobody indifferent.
Many Nigerians still believe today that since
the exit of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu from the EFCC, the anti graft commission has been
transformed into a toothless bulldog and another of those many irrelevant
institutions for the sheer wastage of public funds and are advocating for its
dissolution. It would be recalled that under the chairmanship of Mallam Nuhu
Ribadu many key government agents and agencies were detained and arraigned for
the first time in the political history of our nation before a financial crimes
court thereby creating a resurgence in the faith of Nigerians in our law and our
constitution which had hitherto been fashioned in a way that influential
persons are always treated as the sacred cows and are always getting away with
whatever crime they commit, especially corruption and financial crimes.
But another political school of thought argue
that Mallam Nuhu Ribadu was not the hero that many Nigerians thought him to be,
they say he was a corrupt tool that rtd General Olusegun Obasanjo used to
persecute his political opponents and those who at some point fell out of his
favor. Subsequent actions of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu especially since his return
from exile are appearing to give credence to these allegations. It would be
recalled that Mallam Nuhu Ribadu at his return from exile joined the ACN and
even contested as its presidential flag bearer, a party led by Alhaji Bola
Ahmed Tinubu whom Ribadu had once reffered to as the most corrupt Nigerian,
ever.
And while most Nigerians were still trying to
digest that, Malam Nuhu Ribadu made an unexpected move towards the PDP,
claiming he was only answering a national call to duty after he was called upon
by the presidency to serve as the chairman of a 17-member petroleum revenue
special task force, a duty he performed with no significant input if one is to
consider the fact that the findings and the submissions of the committee he led
has really not improved the petroleum sector seen by many Nigerians as the most
corrupt sector of our economy.
The sudden silence of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu on key
issues affecting the nation lately, especially the insurgency in the north
continue to attract all sorts of criticisms. One does not understand how such an
outspoken person like Nuhu Ribadu and some key northern elements are not making
any cogent pronouncement on the issue of Terrorism that is affecting Nigeria,
especially the region of the country where they come from. His decision lately
to vie for the governorship ticket of Adamawa State under the PDP was the last
straw that his critics needed to conclude that Mallam Nuhu Ribadu is just another
power hungry Nigerian lacking any honest ideology worthy of public support.
Although he was consequently humiliated by the PDP power brokers and refused
the gubernatorial ticket, many are already classifying him among Nigerian political
prostitutes, who are ready to do anything to get to power. His popularity has
dropped drastically in the national political panorama and maybe that is his
reason for wanting to withdraw to his state where he believes he is still
relevant.
If Mallam Nuhu Ribadu left so many doubts as to
his patriotism and his honest resolve at the helm of affairs of the EFCC under
the Gen Obasanjo led government, he is unfortunately dissipating those doubts
today to his utmost disadvantage and fast joining an endless list of dubious
Nigerian politicians who are ready to remain relevant in the Nigerian political
scene at all costs.
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