THE DESTROYERS AND THE SALVAGER

It is beyond question, at least in the reckoning of conscientious souls, that the current travails of the heartless thieves of the Jonathan administration are nothing compared to the carnage their evil deeds caused in the lives of more than 170 million Nigerians. I once opined that the extent of Goodluck Jonathan's pillage of our economy would not be fully appreciated until he left government. Even then, the emerging facts and figures are simply mind-numbing; obscenely beyond the realms of human comprehension. What is just as staggering in its sheer madness, and senseless misplacement of loyalty, is the agitation in some parts of the country that the current drive to unearth the details of imprudence and economic thuggery of Jonathan's mob is nothing short of witch-hunting. The calculus behind that sort of thinking remains a mystery, and the delusory disposition of such agitators only exposes their lack of capacity to empathize with Nigerians that have been severely impacted by the unfolding decadence that was all-pervasive under Jonathan. Tribal and ethnic considerations should have no place in the current dispensation and it will not, agitations or not.

As it happens, what we have seen so far is still only the tip of the iceberg. Shedloads of information on economic sabotage and downright financial recklessness are still forthcoming and the hurricane that these revelations will cause among the scheming and thieving elite can only be imagined. It is in the interest of fairness that stolen monies be recovered for the benefit of Nigerians, and it is in the interest of justice that retributions be meted out to the destroyers of our commonwealth. Why should the salvager then be vilified for fighting the cause of fairness and justice?

It can be only in Nigeria that those who have suffered and are suffering defend those who have brought about such unimaginable misery into their lives. Is it a surprising sight that these thieves rally round each other in a show of solidarity and defiance? When so-called Senators like Dino Melaye accompany the wife of the insufferable so-called Senate President to the offices of the EFCC, it is very clear to all and sundry that these inhuman cretins intend to stick together and fight dirty against the forces of sanity and probity. Isn't this enough reason for all well-meaning Nigerians to confront these destroyers by giving our unstinting support to the salvager? 

I know of no single Nigerian who hasn't greatly suffered the consequences of blind corruption, and hundreds of thousands have paid the ultimate price with their lives. Destinies destroyed, hopes dashed, prospects truncated. It is no use highlighting the instances of unforgivable treachery, the manifestations are there for all to see. This is why tales of stolen monies being returned in exchange for a soft landing are troubling. Can those lives lost due to the very inhuman acts of these thieves be brought back? Can the lost productive years of tens of millions of graduates be retrieved? Can those businesses that have gone bust because of corruption and greed be fully compensated? For their crimes, they must be commensurably punished. Why should they go scot-free when petty thieves who in many cases got done for stealing a few tins of milk spend years incarcerated? Why should our legal system be two-tiered? The punishment must fit the crime. There can be no compromise.

It is heartening to learn that special courts to deal with corruption cases are being set up, and judges of established probity being sourced to head them. For years, these thieves have exploited the legal system to prolong corruption cases, and coupled with the deliberate under-funding of the EFCC, they have largely escaped justice. This cannot continue, and justice must be swift. These new courts are bound to discourage lawyers who have made their own fortunes defending these treacherous clowns. Nigeria has come of age, and the salvaging is well under way. All forces attempting to undermine the process will be forcefully resisted and rebuffed. We're ready.        

AMUSING MUSINGS: THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT

The so-called Peace Committee has undoubtedly drawn the ire of the majority of Nigerians, and I am one of them. It beggars belief that some people, under whatever guise, could have the effrontery to attempt to temper, and tamper with, the current drive against corruption in our country. Are the constituent members of this committee inhabiting Mars? Are they so far removed from reality that they have not really grasped the overwhelming mood of absolute intolerance to corruption and corrupt practices prevailing in the current climate? Well, some of them are past leaders that have skeletons in their own cupboards, and some are so-called men of God who have long forsaken the real essence of their calling and sold their souls for a tin of porridge. Even if Jonathan and his mobsters had been lobbying them to intercede on their behalf, shouldn't common sense and human decency impress upon them that such entreaties ought to be swatted with derision and discounted out of hand? Are they seriously suggesting that thieves should get away with the stolen wealth of Nigerians? Seriously, I haven't a clue what they actually stand for! Their lobbying of Buhari is nothing short of treasonable, that's the long and short of it.
On the same side of the coin are those who are huffing and puffing, declaring the whole process of making thieves return their ill-gotten wealth is all but witch-hunting. That's utter, sheer and absolute flumadiddle!! Buhari has insisted that the rule of law will be followed, and that means any accused person is innocent until proven guilty. Isn't this concept the bedrock of justice and fairness? What has anyone got to fear if they haven't got anything to hide or had their hands in the till of our commonwealth? Why introduce all this parochial nonsense into the noble act of retrieving for Nigerians what has been stolen from them? Pilferers and plunderers have to be punished and relieved of their ill-acquired loot, that's the long and short of it.
Buhari and his government are painstakingly preparing their assault on these vile thieves and it is a no-brainer that those who were part of the conspiratorial destruction of our national financial liberty and independent pursuit of happiness are those finding the whole process of sanitizing our economy, and politics, highly objectionable. Some folks who are clearly deficient in charity, and undeniably unendowed with the spirit of equity, are casting aspersions on the person of Buhari and questioning the sincerity of his purpose. Well, long-suffering Nigerians are just finding these musings rather amusing, that's the long and short of it. We Nigerians at home and in the diaspora are overwhelmingly in favour of the current drive and we shall back Buhari to the hilt because it is in our interest and that of unborn generation to do so. It simply could not be business as usual, and we will not settle for less than we deserve and demand.
These neanderthals have even made allusions to the noble concept of human rights in their depraved attempt to deflect attention away from the inalienable rights of Nigerians to fairness and timely justice. In their warped sense of justice, they haven't realized they are trying to justify the supremacy of the human rights of thieves over those of the victims of such unprecedented rapaciousness. When they were busy carving up our country and sharing the spoils among themselves, the human rights of Nigerians counted for nothing. When Nigerians die in ill-equipped hospitals of diseases that shouldn't ordinarily be life-threatening, their human rights are unimportant. When the death traps called roads claim the lives of innocent citizens, their human rights equal zero. When government employees go ten months without pay, their human rights are non-existent. When schools crumble due to lack of care and maintenance, millions of poor moppets have no human rights to lay claim to. These cormorants had no thought for tens of millions of impecunious Nigerians, and now that they are going to be called to account for their stolen tens of billions of dollars, their human rights are being violated!
What these perpetrators of evil did to Nigerians is not venial because they were venal beyond any objective comprehension. The onus is on each and every one of them to prove their innocence when the time comes and no apologia must be expected, nor is required, from the Buhari government. Buhari has our mandate to go after our money and bring the thieves to book according to the dictates of the law. That is the long and short of it.