FEATURE ARTICLE |
Dele Edobor | Monday, March 22, 2004 |
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[email protected] London, UK |
A QUICK THOUGHT ON AMAKA ANAJEMBA
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It is quite encouraging that NGOs like the Women's Right league are there to stick out for the rights of the women when and where infringed upon. Except one intends to be economical with the truth, not a few people will admit that even in this jet age most women still battle the primordial superiority ego display of some men. Instances that support this assertion have shown that not only do these occur in private homes but some offices as well. In many major advance countries many companies have had to be slammed with charges of sex discriminations, though occasional overzealousness on the part of the women have also been recorded. Sadly enough, third world countries happen to be the worst culprits in the respect of women rights. Most prominent of the cases of women degradation however, are domestic violence, female genital mutilation, early marriages, the reluctance of some men regardless of their educational background or exposure to readily embrace the realization that women today are no longer home or kitchen materials but also successful professionals in their varied chosen careers and so on and so forth.
Considering the aforementioned therefore, the possibility of an instinctive feeling of empathy towards the suggested plights of Amaka Amajemba cannot be written off. On the other hand, on taking a second look at the available facts, the hollowness of the objection can surely not be lost on anyone. Agreed, the grouses of the Women's Right League were quite direct and explicit. They posit that there can be no lawful or moral justification for the ordeal being suffered by Mrs Anajemba, simply because she was married to one of the major perpetrators of the crime in question. For more clarity, the major perpetrator being referred to here is the late Ikechukwu Anajemba, the multi-millionaire husband of Amaka, who reportedly died in a "mysterious circumstance" in 1998.
Furthermore, the communiqu� went on to state that the only offence "the widow" to borrow the common phrase in the advert, could be said to have committed is being a Director in her late husband's company and by any imagination, there could be nothing wrong in this as it is "customary for husbands to make their wives and children directors in their company by proxy, for formality and to retain the control of the equity shares without them (wives and kids) knowing what goes on in the company. To probably support their claim of the vindictive or rather selective nature of justice in this instance, reference was made to the widow of the late despotic ruler of Nigeria, Sani Abacha, whom the group averred never got detained for one day even with the record of gargantuan financial embezzlements. It then follows to reason that left to the organisation, if Amaka's present incarceration is order then Maryam Abacha also, should by now be permanently resident in one of the numerous prisons in the country.
Besides a handful of people like Wada Nas, the special duties Minister under the better-forgotten military misrule of the Abacha government, who has stood by the family even after the death of the patriarch, many Nigerians cannot be said to have a dint of goodwill for the family. To put more harshly, they should never have existed at all. But irrespective of the understandable ill feeling, the logic behind the argument put forward by the Women Rights' League in defence of Mrs Anajemba regarding the claim of selective justice as compared with the Abacha's widow does not seem to hold water at all. It is either they have not completely assimilated the facts of the case as reported by the news media or there is a deliberate attempt here to pool a wool over the eyes of the public. In as much as it will be prejudicial to pronounce a guilty as charge verdict on Amaka at this point, it will also amount to miscarriage of justice or better still misrepresentation of facts available for one to conclude that the allegations against her are clearly out of vindictiveness.
It is often said, ''clear conscience fears no accusation''. The fact that Mrs Anajemba evaded the law from May 2003, when she was first declared wanted by men of EFCC and even refused, to show up after the arrest of her three kids used as a bait to get to her pointedly suggests that there was something she was running away from. In addition, what could have prompted the reported various bribes running to about 40million naira to Alhaji Nuhu Ribadu, the commission Chairman and some members of the commission? Chief (Mrs) Amaka Anajemba was a major newsmaker in the country prior to her arrest. She could have cleared her name then since "a stitch in time they say saves nine". Therefore it will be an insult to our reasoning faculty for anyone to expect the Nigerian public to believe otherwise now.
Another contestable part of the arguments put up by the Women Right's League is that Mrs Anajemba is only involved by virtue of her marriage to one of the perpetrators of the heinous crime. But it might interest the group to know that based on reports, she seemed to form part and parcel of the crime from the outset. She allegedly stood in as Mrs Gomwalk, wife of Rasheed Gomwalk, the Director of International remittance, a role played by her husband. To surmise that she acted ignorantly will be ridiculous, as she sure know that her late husband wasn't an employee of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
There is no doubting the fact that the issue of advance fee fraud popularly known as 419 has become one major source of worries for every Nigerian with a decent source of living. On a larger scale are the resultant damages done the overall image of the country through the activities of these fraudsters. To further buttress this point, beside the unstable political climates in most African countries, which has unfortunately become prominent in almost all foreign governments warnings to their citizens while visiting, there is also the relentless calls for them to be wary of those they enter into business dealings with. To say that this does not augur well for our much-trumpeted desire to woo investors into the country will surely amount to an understatement.
Advance fee fraudsters are not difficult to know in our society. Ask any youth and you will be amazed at the rate they reel out names of popular big time scammers. This could not be unconnected with their proclivity to display their wealth at every slightest opportunity coupled with the fact that they own most of the modern day state of the art cars and edifices one could think of. The import of the above is that to an extent a 419er doesn't shy away from publicity. As a matter of fact, he enjoys revelries in his flamboyant lifestyle. Though this in a way works to his disadvantage, as it affords the society the privilege of knowing his source of income thereby displaying less surprise and emotion when the long arm of law catches up with him eventually, as is the case with Mrs Anajemba now. But on the lighter side their primitive display of wealth may also be connected with the lax position of the law, which hitherto seems to treat the immoral act with kid gloves.
However, luck could be said to be running out fast on these professional conmen considering the intensity with which the Obasanjo government has been fighting this social malaise. In support of this is the current detention of some individuals known to be involved in the despicable trade including an elected federal legislator, Maurice Ibekwe, who unfortunately has just been reported dead while still in prison custody. This no doubt is a good development considering the fact that the only known time that some of the perpetrators were known to have been detained in the past was when there were alleged misunderstandings between them and a top notch in government. The prayer now should be that the well-known Godfather, that is talking about General Ibrahim Babangida does not find his way back to power, as this could mean nothing but the reinvigoration of the trade.
To the Women Rights League - good try on the Amaka issue even though not many right-thinking people would be impressed at the efforts expended here. But rather than dissipate energy on the purported discrimination against the lady who has come to be known in recent time as "419 Queenpin", it will serve the body better if it would re-channel its energy into more pressing problems facing the Nigerian woman. Some of these problems have already been mentioned earlier on. However, one that seems to require all hands on deck at this stage is VVF (Vesico Vagina Fistula) - a problem presently ravaging the Northern part of the country. Though little is likely to be done now considering that all the people need is proper education on the causes and treatment of the disease, but attempts at fund raising to treat those suffering from the sickness will be a good way to kick-start such campaign. Except there is an "insurable interest" in the Amaka issue, no non-governmental body should be seen losing sleep over it. After all said and done, Amaka's level of culpability will only be secondary. What is primary is, who has interest in her case.