NIDO CROOKS AT WORK Since September 9

NIDO: CROOKS AT WORK

Since September 9, 2000, when the President in his big Atlanta Diaspora speech initiated the setting up of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organization (NIDO) and its subsequent establishment formally in America and Europe, it's been one long yawning exercise for the supposed beneficiaries - Nigerians in Diaspora. Not that the speech itself or even subsequent ones in the same vein contained no interesting promises to keep us all alert and excited; but after all that talk-talk, who is walking the walk? We simply woke up in 2004 to see that two 'Diaspora' Ministers (and possibly a few more others) are claiming dollars in our name - in the name of Nigerians in Diaspora, the original suffer-head 'beneficiaries' of NIDO - through a Nigerian Diaspora Trust Fund managed by the UNDP!

Of course, sane voices had cautioned then that it was a vortex of contradiction and confusion for the Federal Government to set up an organization and still call it a "non-governmental organisation" - an NGO - or to seek to spoon-feed Nigerians in Diaspora in a supposed attempt to attract them home to contribute to national development. But officialdom's response was as dismissive as ever - Government's involvement they said, was only in the interim. So, the drums were rolled out, the trumpets sounded and the cymbals were waved in the hysterical mode only Nigerians know how. A new dawn of cooperation between Nigerians abroad and the government at home is here, the President proclaimed amidst all the official gyrations; and then, there was dead silence - dead silence that is, apart from the eternal wrangling and the creepy government interference in the running of the organization. Needless to say, NIDO was dead on arrival. Nigerians abroad heralded it with what it duly merits - a total disregard. After all, if you only want to hear your own voice, have a coterie of sycophantic poodles sing your praise and pretend that you're at work, Nigerians are very good at granting you the space to do that; so, they did.

It was therefore a little amusing, even if not entirely surprising to read a Statement from NIDO Americas (the more 'active' of the two NIDOs), issued on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 and purporting to speak on the latest Dollar Ministers controversy. What did they have to say?

Below is the text of their Statement:

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Statement of NIDO Americas Position on the Remuneration of Diasporal Nigerians Serving As Public Officers in Nigeria

Washington, D.C., March 16, 2004.

We, the members of Nigerians in Diaspora Organization, Inc. (NIDO Americas), have noted with deep concern the ongoing public debate in connection with the special remuneration arrangements as they pertain to the salaries of two Federal Ministers.

NIDO recognizes that this matter has touched upon a number of policy and public interest issues. It is also clear to us that there could be several perspectives to this matter, and that important and well meaning Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike have taken varying positions in the discussion. NIDO is also sensitive to the fact that the matter is now a subject of litigation in Nigeria. Yet, the entire discussion, in so far as it appears to impact the ability of the members of our Diaspora community to serve as public officers in Nigeria, calls for NIDO to express its collective views on the matter.

It is a positive development for the Nigerian Government to seek best talents among its citizens all over the world to serve as public officers. It is also a noticeably welcome global trend that members of the Diaspora community are willing to dedicate their time and experience earned overseas to the service of their home country.

The Vision that gave birth to NIDO in 2001 was for it to serve as an umbrella organization, through which Nigerians in Diaspora will contribute their expertise and resources to the task of national development. Towards this end, NIDO has a duty of ensuring that the terms and conditions of engagements are adequate, fair, and legitimate to all stakeholders. Such terms and conditions {including but not limited to remuneration packages} must, in conformity with international best practices, be the product of negotiations between an employer and an employee on a case-by-case basis.

The country needs all hands on deck to accelerate the pace of national development. There is also no doubt that Nigerians in Diaspora must be encouraged to contribute their skills and resources to the task of nation building. The critical question is how to attract Diasporal Nigerians to serve our country without creating double standards {by way of preferential treatment of some} or infringing on any employment / remuneration laws. Regulations that are against the principle of voluntary service or negotiated compensation in any currency are hindrances to repatriating highly skilled Nigerians. Therefore, we hereby call on the Federal Government to ensure that such existing regulations be amended.

In closing, we would like to emphasize that this statement constitutes the official position of NIDO Americas on this subject as approved by its board of directors, and that the organization hereby dissociates itself from any other statement or petition on the subject.

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First, the statement was unsigned, yet purporting to come from the office of the Chairman. Secondly, as if the writers feared the acrid stench their sickening farts would emit into the atmosphere of the ongoing debate, the Statement was not widely distributed. In fact, it was actually published on Wednesday, March 17, 2004 (a day after its purported release) and only on the NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com listserv (a messageboard) by the NIDO Americas Vice Chairman, Dr Ola Kassim. More curiously was the pedestrian and mediocre delivery; and knowing Mr Ephraim Ugwuonye, an articulate, intelligent and accomplished lawyer, who is the NIDO Americas Chairman, I doubted very much such a statement strewn with terrible constructional and logical errors would come from him. I mean, even though he'd sometime ago made the controversial decision to represent General Abdulsalami Abubakar, I still expect him to be smart enough to see the danger of championing impunity and illegality as openly expressed in that NIDO Statement. In any case, I really didn't care; the fact that the Statement was posted by Dr Ola Kassim, the NIDO Vice Chairman on Wednesday, March 17, 2004 tells me, in spite of my doubts, that it could indeed be official. So, I responded; but only on the listserv as well.

Below is my response:

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This is a very strange release. It purports to come from the Office of the Chairman of NIDO Americas and claims to be "the official position of NIDO Americas on this subject as approved by its board of directors" - all in an unsigned statement. Why would an organization like NIDO come out with an unsigned statement on such an important issue?

Secondly, in a not-so-veiled reference to our Petition to the UNDP, it states: "the organization hereby dissociates itself from any other statement or petition on the subject". Now, isn't this funny? There was no time Concerned Nigerians called on NIDO for support, nor do we need their support knowing exactly that they are an appendage of those who've taken our Constitution to the dogs!

A cursory look at the second to the last paragraph of their Statement says it all:

"The country needs all hands on deck to accelerate the pace of national development. There is also no doubt that Nigerians in Diaspora must be encouraged to contribute their skills and resources to the task of nation building. The critical question is how to attract Diasporal Nigerians to serve our country without creating double standards {by way of preferential treatment of some} or infringing on any employment / remuneration laws. Regulations that are against the principle of voluntary service or negotiated compensation in any currency are hindrances to repatriating highly skilled Nigerians. Therefore, we hereby call on the Federal Government to ensure that such existing regulations be amended."

This is a bundle of confusion. First, it parrots the UNDP "facts sheet" and then in trying to explain further what it means by double standards by calling it "preferential treatment of some", it couldn't even recognize the glaring fact that this is exactly what is being done in the case of the Ministers concerned. Not only are they given preferential treatment within the cabinet, they are also given preferential treatment amongst Nigerians in Diaspora! It talks about "the principle of voluntary service or negotiated compensation in any currency" as though this is paramount and must take precedence over the Constitution and our national laws! And in a most callous and contemptuous disregard for Nigerians and their feelings on the issue, it calls on the Federal Government to amend such regulations that are not to its liking after the President and the Ministers have severally breached them so far. What guts! It has nothing to say about the breaches, but is quick to call for their amendment after the breaches! How smart!

NIDO is irrelevant; it is the mouthpiece of those who today are acting with impunity in the name of serving Nigeria. It's offered nothing meaningful to consider regarding this issue, so I think they should be appropriately ignored.

CHEERS!

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But, my curiosity did not die; and that curiosity was further rekindled the next day when, instead of responding to my comments as should be expected, Dr Kassim simply reposted the same Statement. What are they up to? What are they thinking? I decided to find out.

First, I checked the NIDO America homepage www.nidoamericas.org to see if such supposedly important Statement was posted there, I couldn't find it. The only things I could see on the Homepage were Remarks by President Obasanjo at the NIDO Convention in New York on 27th April 2002 and a 'Welcome Address' by the Chairman, Mr Ephraim Ugwuonye; then at the top of the page is a gallery of pictures of some prominent Nigerians and links to other sections of the site. I clicked "News" and all I got were some old news of some NIDO Convention; clicked "bulletin board" and it tells me it's "under construction". I then clicked "Executives" and found there a list of "executive members", "nido staff", "board of advisors" and "committee members"; but there was nothing about "board of directors" that purportedly "approved" the Statement issued. I really was hoping to see this "board of directors" so as to get an idea of exactly the kind of characters that "approved" such a laughable Statement. Nothing! So, I clicked "board of advisors" Oops! No members! It was blank! Na wetin dey happen? Abi this NIDO people no get "board of directors" or "board of advisors"? Who are the members of this board of directors/advisors purported to have sanctioned the Statement then? Anyway, I still wanted to do more clicking; so I clicked "executive members".

Now, it is not as though I didn't know some "executive members", in spite of having little regard for the organization (like most Nigerians in Diaspora); but what I saw on that page almost sent me tumbling from my chair in shock! Jimi Lawal? Holy Cockerel! What in God's name is Jimi Lawal doing on the Executive Board of such a supposedly important organization as NIDO - an organization that officially represents Nigerians abroad? Jimi Lawal? I couldn't believe it! But there it was, blinking back at me in black and white! A further click to the "committee members" page reveals also that he's Chairman of the Project Committee and a Member of the Budget Committee. I'd had enough! Any organization with Jimi Lawal in a position of trust or authority must begin to sing the Requiem; it's that simple!

Further investigations revealed that Jimi Lawal has been on the board in one capacity or the other since inception. How? How can President Obasanjo and his administration and all those supposedly intelligent men and women of our diplomatic missions abroad sit in the same room with Jimi Lawal, and, not only sit in the same room, but actually allow him to hold positions of trust and responsibility in an organization like NIDO that represents Nigerians abroad? He's even said to have been Secretary of NIDO Netherlands - that is on the same Board with people like Mrs Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu, Prof Dele Olowu (NIDO Netherlands Board of Trustees members) and such other members of the Management Board as Chukudozie Okonkwo, Wole Awolaja, amongst others! Anyway, for those who do not know, Jimi Lawal was the former Managing Director of Alpha Merchant Bank, who distressed the bank and ran away with depositors' money to live in luxury in America. This man who is a fugitive from justice at home (having being convicted in absentia) and the subject of an extradition request from Nigeria is on the Board of NIDO! When I saw that, I knew with him in such an organization, scandal and shame will not be far behind. So, what has he been up to in the name of NIDO? A lot, I discovered.

Mr Lawal's grand design is to use NIDO as a springboard to gain official pardon at home and how he does that is to sweet talk his way into the ears and hearts of gullible Nigerians and foreigners by presenting himself as the unofficial mouthpiece and confidant of important government figures, dropping names left, right and centre as he picks his preys. In spite of officially being a fugitive from justice, Jimi Lawal goes around in the name of NIDO to engage in his favourite business of 419, hobnobbing with government officials who visit abroad and swindling anyone with an ear for him. One of his most well-known escapades concerns a promise said to have been made to NIDO by the Minister of the Federal Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai. The Minister, in a bid to give the NIDO a presence at home had promised to give the organization land in Abuja (though this was against the better judgment of those within the organization who believe it's better to simply have an office than to have land).

Mr Lawal did not waste time to put his incredibly criminal talents to use. He's been going around presenting himself as Chairman of NIDO and the great confidant and unofficial spokesperson for Mallam el-Rufai, all with a view to selling this Abuja land to unsuspecting persons and/or organizations, even as the land is yet to be issued with official documentation! Sources claim that Mr Lawal is well-known for his criminal activities, including his name-dropping antics in some Nigerian diplomatic circles abroad, having attempted severally with a degree of success to swindle them. In fact, there's a joke that goes around in that circle to the effect that giving Jimi Lawal your home number is to sign your death warrant!

In Mr Lawal's grand scheme NIDO is to be rabidly pro-government, no matter on what issue and no matter how ridiculous it would make the organization look. His hope, of course, is that one day the powers that be will recognize his 'great work' and grant him the official pardon he needs so desperately. His appetite for greed is so large that he believes that getting a pardon will give him that licence he needs to come back publicly to Nigeria and foist another swindler's scheme on the gullible Nigerian public. Yeah, he makes a lot of money from his present "underground" criminal activities, but he needs a public and official legitimization as well!

To achieve his aim, he succeeded in splitting the Executive Board of NIDO America into three. Apart from his crack team in the Crooks' Camp, which is the one he directly controls, he also indirectly controls the Naïve Camp led by Dr Ola Kassim, who knows no better, being very trusting, honest and yes, terribly naïve. This ensures that the team under Ephraim Ugwuonye, which still believes in the original ideals of NIDO and which thinks it is working very hard to give it a credible voice, knows no better. The overall effect of all this of course, is that the more Ugwuonye and those who believe in his ideals think they're cracking it, the more Mr Lawal and his team drags them down. And, of course, all this is done in the guise of democratic debates within the Executive Board.

NIDO sources say when the Ministerial Dollar Salary affair broke, Mr Ugwuonye was as shocked as everyone by the fact that the government concealed such information from the people, went ahead and instituted such differentials without consultation and deliberately breached the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in pursuit of that aim. He was said to be working on a scheme that will limit the damage, save government's face and that of Okonjo-Iweala especially, since, according to the sources, the Iwealas are family friends of his. It was while he was on this mission that the Lawal group came up to him to propose that NIDO America issues a Statement on the matter. Ugwuonye was said to have been scandalized, first, because he was already working on an idea that would save everyone and return the government to legality and secondly, because the Lawal draft, already prepared and presented for his signature, was a rabidly anti-people and pro-government Statement that was terribly, terribly bad.

He told them he wasn't against issuing a Statement, but that such Statement must understand the facts of what has transpired and that rather than castigate Nigerians who are legitimately asking questions, NIDO ought to encourage them to seek the truth, while at the same time offering government proper advice on how to proceed from hence, having made the blunder already. He said it was no use pretending that no laws were broken or that the negotiation rights of the Ministers were above the Constitution, neither does the fact that Mr Lawal's draft attributes unsavoury motives to everyone against the action helpful. He reiterated that he believes in the idea of having qualified and capable hands steer our ship of state, but that it would be a contradiction to condone lawlessness in pursuit of that. He was said to have proceeded to put these ideas down as a draft of the Statement, proposing it as an alternative to the one written by Lawal.

There were some heated exchanges and Kassim, the head of the 'Naïve Group' thought he had a solution. He proposed a "merger" of the Statements as a compromise - the usual Nigerian style of seeking peace and reconciliation at the expense of principles. But, Ugwuonye was said to have insisted that it is not about mergers or compromise, but about principles. He insisted that everything in the Lawal draft was totally against all he stands for and would be no party to a Statement that proceeds to support illegality. He told them that since no agreement was reached on the issue, he considers it dead and buried; but that he's working on an idea that he hopes will be a viable solution to the problem. He promised he would table the proposal before the Executive Board when he's perfected the idea, checked his facts and ensured that it is indeed workable in a manner that would save government's face, please Nigerians and reduce the tension that has characterized the polity since the story first broke.

Now, the question is who issued the NIDO Americas Statement? Did the bickering parties finally agree on a Draft after which they released the Statement? If so, why was it not signed? If not, why was it purported to be issued from the Office of the Chairman of NIDO Americas? And if indeed from the Chairman, why didn't he sign or someone sign on his behalf? Why is Dr Ola Kassim not saying anything or responding to the comments that I've made? Why is the Statement not on NIDO America's own site, as it should be, if properly issued by the organization? Why is Mr Ugwuonye himself saying nothing, especially as the Statement is purported to have come from his office?

Again, these questions have become more necessary in view of later developments since Dr Kassim's earlier posting of the NIDO Americas' Statement. On Saturday, March 20, 2004, Dr Femi Ajayi forwarded the same release to the nigeriaworld.com, where it is now published on the front page (still unsigned); then, on Sunday, March 21, 2004, the Sunday Guardian published a story titled, "Dollar Salaries: Nine Nigerians Affected", in which it claims that the NIDO Americas' Statement was issued by "Emeka Egwuonye" (which I suppose to mean Ephraim Emeka Ugwuonye, the NIDO Americas Chairman).

In any case, since this Statement is now being published widely, it is pertinent to find out what NIDO as an organization knows about the Nigerian Diaspora Trust Fund. I mean, here is an organization set up by the Nigerian Government to represent Nigerians in Diaspora, so one would expect that it has been consulted and put in confidence by government over this matter. If it has, why then did it not reveal to its membership that there's such a trust fund; and, if it was not consulted nor put in confidence by government, why this precipitate attempt to justify what government has done behind its back, rather than join the people to challenge government's bad faith?

Whatever the answers to the above questions, it is clear at least that a criminal mafia has taken over NIDO America, but whether they have official backing or not, we cannot now say for sure. But one thing is certain; people like Jimi Lawal have no business representing Nigerians abroad in any capacity. It is time for NIDO worldwide to do its own house-cleaning exercise and stand with the Nigerian people on the side of truth, fairness, justice and the rule of law - especially in this critical time for Nigerians abroad. Until that is done, the organization should forget the idea that it represents anyone.

March 2004