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THE KIDIO AFFAIR By When president Olusegun Obasanjo, gleefully told the nation that as far as corruption was concerned, that it was no longer "business as usual" for government officials during his inauguration three years ago, many people heaved a heavy sigh of relief solely on account of that promise because the nation was thought to have recently descended to its very nadir, haven been brought so humiliatingly low already by the combined effects of misgovernance and brazen kleptocracy by the succeeding military leaders and their cronies. That message, no doubt, lifted our national spirits as we all looked forward to a concerted effort at redressing the many years that dictatorship destroyed through inebriated soldiers in government, 419ers on the prowl and the unbridled national pastime of greed and corruption.
Obasanjo might have meant every bit of his statement but events so far coming to the surface do not give much room for hope that thieves and 419ers have been driven out of government business. If anything, it is the general concern nowadays that there does not seem to be any moral connection between the routine preachment of the president about accountability and probity in service and the open and covert conduct of some of his men. Nigerians are wise enough to know that no matter how serious the president might be in his call for probity and accountability in governance, that there will always be some Judas whose business would be to vitiate and undermine the very essence of the president’s transparency campaign. What people cannot stand right now is the frequency with which highly trusted individuals are proving to be totally unreliable and completely incorrigible.
Not too long ago, we heard that right under the nose of the presidency, one Mr. Julius Majokuola, a permanent secretary in the ministry of defense was alleged to have been caught swindling the princely sum of USD$3.3 million from funds that were supposedly under his care. It was quite a relief that the president, contrary to the seemly departmental attempt to cover up the mess, promptly ordered that the man be justly investigated and prosecuted. The nation was aghast to hear that in these days of "no business as usual"; an appointee of the president could be found in such a situation. It is the hope that the truth about the swindle allegedly committed by permanent secretary Majokuola is speedily prosecuted and if found guilty, be swiftly dealt with so as to prove to the world that everybody cannot just be like Abacha in Nigeria. Credit must be given to the president that a lot of people have already been dispatched to the anti-graft panel headed by Justice Akanbi and, from the look of things, many more would still be sent there.
Another of the swindles that kept tongues wagging is the recently reported story of Tunde Fagbohungbe, the executive-secretary of the mouthful WOTCLEF (Women Trafficking and Child Labor Eradication Foundation). It is common knowledge, stretching back to the days of Mariam Babaginda that people who sell such seemly mundane and evidently ego-driven "pet projects" to wives of our leaders are nothing but 419ers in suits and babarigas. So Tunde, the son of Fagbohungbe, is not different from the other first- and second- ladies courtiers who thought that their own time to swindle the nation behind the wrappers of Madam has come. The shame in his own allegation is that he has, in a sense, defecated in his in-law’s parlour. Mrs. Atiku is from Ilesha where Tunde is a ‘homeboy’.
But for the fact that there is the "in-law" connection, it is doubtful whether Tunde would have been able to find his way from Ilesha to Abuja and be entrusted with a body that was evidently set up to swindle the nation just like we came to know of similar Abuja based projects since the days of the two Mariams. But for the apparent firmness of VP Atiku, lawyer Tunde would have been at least 149 million Naira richer today; enough cash to pay his way to the Osun state gubernatorial office come 2003 which he has recently shown interest in!
Perhaps the most shocking of these series of thieveries is the recent one that came out from the office of INEC which, for lack of better words, we have chosen to call, the "Kidio Affair". That this loot of the nation is coming from the office of INEC, which is statutorily expected to be above reproach if it must have the moral authority to referee our perennially corrupt politicians, is something for special regrets. How can INEC assure us of its credibility and honor when such scandals are oozing out of its premises? This scam has no doubt created a record of sort as it involves mostly lawyers who go by the haughty title of senior advocates of Nigeria, SAN!
Before looking at the ethical implications surrounding the involvement of so many SANS in such a "lawful scams", let us first discuss the transactional context in which the frauds was hatched and executed. The story is that INEC entered into a contract with a South African firm to supply it with equipment and materials to be used in the forthcoming elections. The contract is said to be in the mouth-watering region of 3.5 billion Naira. Trust 419 educated Nigerians, from that contract they wanted a slice of it in the capacity of ‘consultants’! And they did.
Because they know that INEC did not need such service at all, being neither legal nor operational, they went ahead and floated a sham firm by the name KIDIO (Kill and Divide International Organization?) to act as consultants to the contract, ostensibly to re-interpret the sections, chapters, paragraphs and clauses of the contract to both INEC and the South African contractors and, for that, they were asking for 10 percent as their cut! If this is not wrong let any one who knows the law better please tell us what it is. Nigeria is reputed to be holding the unenviable world record for the reckless inflation of government contracts. As a matter of fact, the bulk of the negative points that landed us at the peak of Transparency International’s ranking as the "most corrupt" nation on earth last time are from inflated and bogus transactions like this. INEC cannot in all honesty tell the nation that it did not deliberately inflate the cost of conducting the national elections just to accommodate these sharks and worms that habitually devastate the national treasury. Equally, those who set up KIDIO had only one thing in mind: the swindle of the nation. No more, no less!
Messrs. Adetokunbo Kayode, Alhaji Dodo, all SANS, and Mrs. Mary Obegolu and her son, Emeka, all lawyers, ought to be thinking of hanging up their wigs and gowns by now if the NBA and the Body of Benchers were to be alive to their responsibilities. As professionals, they have disgraced themselves and the discipline of law by their conduct. It is okay that they merely entered into a contract within the "parameters of the law", but they must know that by their actions that they were actually contributing to the fiscal adversity of the nation. Using their insider connection with INEC is not only immoral it also smells everything 419! Added to the misbehavior of Tunde Fagbohugbe, what hope does the common man still have from lawyers who have abandoned the courts in pursuits of quick deals? The Ganis, the Rotimi Williams, the Nwabueze and all must be piqued that some rogues amongst them are ruining the good name of the legal profession and that of the silk culture in particular.
KIDIO is a national shame. I am happy that the government has not cover up these scoundrels parading as lawyers. I am ashamed, personally as a lawyer, and I trust any other person concerned about the integrity of the legal profession would. And to know that amongst these crooks are very senior member of the Bar is a clarion call to clean up the legal profession. INEC, on its part, did not need so much money for the conduct of the elections if not for the KIDIO (kill and divide) mentality that informs its operations and we have repeatedly screamed that the outlandish budget being banded by the Commission for the coming elections can only discredit the democratic process because it must be cheaper to maintain a democracy than what it is quoting right now. Otherwise, people would be tempted to renounce democracy as being too expensive.
It must occur to the president that it is individuals like these that continue to embolden the Abacha family because they can see that others are doing exactly the same thing for which they are being made to account. The enraged almagiris of Kano who are not prepared to see the juridical imperatives of the steps so far taken to disgorge the Abachas of the tons of money they stole from the nation while in power may also point to the KIDIO story a justification for their actions. Unless we are able to deal very ruthlessly with the thieves that are already caught, whether lawyers or laymen, people like General Buhari will continue to win more and audience whenever they say that the president treats culprits of the national treasury with kid gloves. In any case, if this country is ever going to successfully negotiate this treacherous moral corner, we must begin to deal with those who use their connections with official power to inflict grievous economic harm on the nation. It is gratifying that crooks like Dr. Nnamdi Ozobia formerly of Nigerdock are now being made to face the music. It is also important that our traditional rulers and universities that indiscriminatorily shower crooks and robbers with bogus titles and undeserved honorary degrees, respectively, should start to retrieve all those undeserved awards that are currently counterfeiting the idea of honor and dignity in Nigeria.
Quite frankly, one continues to wish and hope that these gory tales are just not true and that the parties involved are not real, because the allegations sound too horrible to be true at time when probity ought to be the vogue. But this is Nigeria, a nation that is apparently up for grabs and also full of all possibilities, official gimmicks aside.
And until we begin to isolate and treat criminals for what they are, the future of this nation is sorely bleak indeed. For the little the president has done so far, he can rest assured that he is winning hearts by the day, because Nigerians know that the economic hardship now in the land is the direct result of the unbridled thievery by those who have access to official power. It does not give hope to the people when those who ought to be preaching and demonstrating morality are the very ones now plundering us so immorally.
NB. Remember you can always reach me with your comments at: Issues@law.com August 2002
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