FEATURE ARTICLE

Babs AjayiSaturday, June 21, 2008
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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FIRE AT THE NIGERIAN PORTS AUTHORITY: COVER UP AGAIN!

ire in Soweto' was Sunny Okosuns' popular tune. It was a song of liberation and a condemnation of apartheid South Africa's injustice and inhuman treatment of Black South Africa. But fire in Nigeria is raging far more and has raged over the years when it was time to cover up tracks and traces of corruption. The fire that gutted and razed major government buildings in the eighties and nineties are back. The potent fire that destroyed the Independence building during the Babangida-Abacha days after the cash office of the military within that building had been looted by the Generals is still fresh in our memory.


Nigerian Ports Authorities building on fire at Marina, Lagos .... yesterday.
PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI (THE GUARDIAN)


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It was painful to see the front page picture of a national newspaper where General Babangida, Augustus Aikhomu and a few other soldiers of fortune stood in from of the Independence building after it has been razed smiling and happy at the destruction. That fire was a master stroke that buried all evidence, and no one can produce any proof of how hundreds of millions of dollars, pound sterling, and naira were stolen. The Independence building, which was renamed Defence House by Nigeria's corrupt Generals was a symbol of national unity, but the Generals turned it into a symbol of greed and graft.

The Independence building was not alone in this premeditated fireworks and cover ups. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) building in Ikoyi, Lagos, the Federal Secretariat also in Ikoyi, the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) building along Marina, and the Tafawa Balewa Square also went up in flames. The NITEL flames actually became a bottomless pit that minted more millions for the boys in assorted contracts, and cost the nation far more to repair than it cost it to build; another feat in itself, which is deserving of national honour, the GCFR kind held by Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha, Abdusalami Abubakar and Mohammudu Buhari. Like the wonder works and deeds they accomplished, it is only appropriate and well deserving that they be decorated with the honour of Grand Commander of the Fire for Fraud Republic. The truth is that only this category of Generals deserve those robes and special state honours for fire service to the state.

It is equally appropriate for fire to suddenly start at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) at a time when the search light is on the management of the Ports Authority over the sale of NPA houses in Nigeria and overseas. Also being investigated are payments of terminal benefits to retired dock workers, import charges and concessions. We should also not forget that the EFCC had investigated and found evidence of corruption and inflation of contracts at the NPA during the chairmanship days of Chief Olabode George. The NPA is a rotten and filthy public establishment. Billions and billions of naira and dollars have been pumped into it and very little to show for such huge cash injection. Like every other Nigerian public establishment and utility, very little can be seen as evidence of investment while so much wealth, properties and assets are gathered and owned by those who managed these agencies for personal profitability. If Alhaji Yar'Ardua has any good intentions about fighting corruption and dealing with corrupt public servants and appointed political office holders, this is the time to do so.

The fire at the NPA started from the Boardroom and around the office of the Managing Director! Documents were destroyed and public assets went up in flames, all in an effort to cover up. The likelihood that major board documents are gone and turned into ashes is very strong. Current and former Board members and chairmen are smiling and giggling in their homes now. The arsonists are happy that they have done a very good job, as they were sent to do. They will likely be paid some performance bonus for a job well done by those who sent them. There are enough suspects as things stand now - including everyone who has a case to answer in the matters relating to the mismanagement of the funds of the NPA. In a decent society, the police would have gone into action and forensic experts brought in to begin the process of tracing the cause(s) of the fire and to get to the root of this shameful act of arson. The allocations made to the NPA between 1999 and 2007 ran into billions of naira. Loans from local banks and foreign agencies have to be looked into and accounted for. Forensic accountants are needed to go through the accounts of the NPA. The office of the secretary to the Board of the NPA was not left untouched; obviously the goals of the arsonists and their pay masters are clear. We should no longer allow such wicked acts that have been repeated over and over again to cover up frauds and lootings to go unpunished.

CINDY McCAIN OWE MRS OBAMA AN APOLOGY

Cindy McCain is the wife of Republican presidential candidate John McCain. She is not contesting for any elective office and she definitely does not know what a good understanding of the big issues affecting America today and the picture. She also does not know Mrs. Obama. Michelle Obama was not born into the home of a multi-millionaire beer distribution magnate and she does not sit on the board of any company. Mrs. Obama has come a long way, a tough and rough road. It is a journey Cindy McCain can never understand, no matter how well she tries, which is why her attack on Mrs. Obama is reckless and unwarranted.

Cindy McCain, who used to steal painkillers from the charity American Voluntary Medical Team and got hooked on painkillers, claimed her attack on Mrs. Obama was "�an emotional outpouring on my part." I wonder what she was emotional about. Was it painkillers? Cindy McCain only came out to admit to her addiction so she can cover up another messy story. Who is Cindy McCain to question the patriotism of Mrs. Obama? A woman who admitted to keeping a "grudge list" is not the type of person who should question any other woman on any issue or subject. She owes Mrs. Obama an apology and it will be better she offer one today. It should be said that this is not about lobbying for multinational companies in Washington. The American people should be able to tell the difference between those who want power for what it brings and those who want it for what they can do with it and for the general good of all. Mrs. McCain should note that she is not the candidate and neither is Mrs. Obama. It is only decent that Mrs. McCain refrain from seeking cheap publicity by making rabid and reckless attacks on the wife of her husband's presidential opponent. It will be nice and wise to make the election truly presidential. Babs Ajayi.

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