FEATURE ARTICLE

Friday, July 20, 2018
[email protected]
Pikesville, Maryland, USA
THE ADEOSUN SAGA: NIGERIA IN A DILEMMA

et me start this article by appreciating Mr. Adewuyi Atiba who was gracious enough to make available an outstanding article containing more facts about on-going NYSC Exemption Certificate issue. Mr. Ray Ekpo, being a veteran journalist, will not put his pen on paper to write, if he is not sure of his facts. I commend his write up on this subject. Going by the trend on this saga, it is clear that the matter is an extremely complex one. A potent Yoruba proverb says "Bi igbo ba fa gburu, gburu a fa igbo" The actual meaning of this saying is that there is coming a 'Band wagon effect' of this issue at hand. I refer you to my article once again and especially the title, "When it rains it pours, Kemi Adeosun Saga: Heads must roll". I also wish to stand by the facts I presented without necessarily favouring Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, the Honourable Minister of Finance.

Like Ray Ekpu's write up, I had also received more information on the ills in our society which confirm that all may not be well with our SICK NATION CALLED NIGERIA. In fact, too many things are wrong which need to be straightened out very urgently. Please permit me to report a few of the damning testimonies just received after my article here, just for our readers' information.

First - A Nigerian once arrived in Britain with a genuine British Visa on a fake Nigerian Passport. He was detained at Heathrow Airport for the weekend when his Lawyer provided evidences of his genuine passport payments and processing at the official, accredited Nigerian Passport Agency.

Second - Another Nigeria living in Yugoslavia was said to have obtained his permanent stay permit on a fake Nigerian passport, a fact which came out upon his visit to another European Country. He forfeited his stay entitlements, due to this anomaly.

Third - Many innocent and responsible Nigerians were stock with FAKE drivers' Licenses purportedly issued by the FRSC for many years until they had to go for the genuine one, upon discovery by the Law Enforcement Agencies.

Four - Many fake Tax, Marriage, Divorce, Birth and Death certificates are issued daily by some Government Agencies to innocent Nigerians, who operate through TOUTS and Unofficial sub-Agencies, who pose as bona fide officials in designated environments.

These four examples above represent a tip of the iceberg out of the many loop holes of corruption in official environments in Nigeria. We all know that at the end of it all, the holder of these fake documents will be pronounced guilty by the courts. This is simply because the Law is nasty and ignorance of the Law is never an excuse! These bring us to the crux of the matter once again. Mrs. Adeosun will be deemed guilty even when she may have been a victim like I was (with my son's fake birth certificate), and like many other Nigerians are or can be.

Oluwole or no Oluwole, our work environments, Fraud Depos and Corruption Enterprises need to be crushed, cleaned up and/or sanitized like never before. Our Licensing and other Offices, where vital documents are obtained - Passport, Tax, Drivers, Marriage, Divorce etc. must be sanitized immediately. Innocent Nigerians are being conned and swindled on a daily basis. The embarrassment is incalculable and we need to put a stop to it. Governments should create jobs for these TOUTS and Swindlers so that they can be more meaningfully employed. Our image, as a nation continues to be tarnished on a daily basis in the Diaspora due to these types of frauds. How much are we ready to expend on Image Laundering as part of our annual budgets instead of adding such to the Health or Education sector and even the Power sector of our economy? WE need the Kemi Adeosuns of this world to plug more of these holes before leaving that office!

Another Yoruba proverb applies her which says "Bi a ko ba tori isu je epo, ama tori epo je isu" which translates to the fact that there are always exceptions to rules. Even in civilized part of the world and the justice domain, Judges have been known to grant pardons to individuals on compassionate grounds or on the ground of being first offenders. There are also other grounds for pardon which a Judge might invoke and not explain to the courts for taking particular actions. This is what Nigeria and Nigerians need to do at this time. This lady is easily, in my judgment, one of the most dynamic Ministers in this administration. In fact, it is her dynamism that has fetched her this type of unfortunate 'discoveries' by her enemies. Remember she was a "nobody" when she wanted this Exemption Certificate and not grounded in the legalities of exemption or fake certificates. However, I am only a Professor, not a SAN or a Judge but I do know that ignorance of the law is never an excuse! My plea now is that we temper justice with mercy.

The HMF has definitely stepped on TOES TOO BIG TO BE IGNORED. Being born and schooled in Britain, she is 'culturally na�ve' and definitely not aware that in Nigeria, there are some UNTOUCHABLES. She has dared to plugged too many corruption loopholes which is perhaps crippling many corrupt families. Corruption has fought her back now so viciously and ferociously as we can all see. The choice is ours as Nigerians, to PARDON her and let her continue the good work she is doing to save the poor masses or we get rid of her and REOPEN THE FLOODGATE to corruption. The implications of her sack far outweigh her pardon because of its ripple effects.

If the latter is our choice, to get rid of her as Minister of Finance, then HEADS MUST ROLL. For the benefit of my readers who did not have access to my original article, please find below the seven "Heads", real or imaginary that must exit with Kemi Adeosun:

"In summary, all of the following must be prosecuted for breaking the NYSC Laws on the purported illegal jobs offered to Mrs. Kemi Adeosun in Nigeria, to date:

  1. Quo Vadis Partnership as Managing Director

  2. Ogun State Government as Commissioner for Finance

  3. Federal Government of Nigeria as Minister of Finance

  4. Ogun State Government Commissioner Screening Committee

  5. Federal Government Ministerial Security Screening Committee

  6. Senate and National Assembly Interview /Screening Committee

  7. Federal Government/NASS Officials who spotted the NYSC anomaly BUT allowed it to pass through.

Out of the seven listed culprits above, by my own assessment and judgement, only number seven (7) refers to persons and individuals. Others refer to Governments and Organisation and Committees. This is where the complications come in and what should we or what can we do about these? We certainly cannot close down Governments or jail the Governor and President! It is in these ensuing complications that wisdom should dictate the expediency of a GRAND PARDON for Mrs. Kemi Adeosun. Another Yoruba proverb applies here again and I will endeavor to transliterate as follows - "If you want to kill a mosquito with a sledge hammer, you will only hurt yourself in return!" May be her silence, afterwards, will not only be golden but wise so as not to be easily faulted and hurt herself any further. I have also seen and read many purported responses from her but I am sure she is more polished than such responses and similar unsolicited letters and writeups. There are many fake letters and responses in the social media these days. Nigeria needs to exercise some wisdom and not shoot herself on the foot by taking the decision which may not add any value to us as a people or our Government in particular. Good luck to our nation.


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