by Reuben Abati

WHY won’t the NPA Six who were convicted by Justice Bunmi Oyewole’s court, a court of competent jurisdiction, and who have since been kept in prison not wear prison uniform? The only explanation that can be gleaned from reports in yesterday’s newspapers is that Nigeria runs a two-prison system: one for the rich convict, another for the poor. The Sun newspaper in its “Life inside Bode George’s Cell” (October 31, p.13). and The Vanguard in its “Why Bode George, others refused prison uniforms” (October 31) offer a sad picture of all that is wrong with the justice administration system in Nigeria. The import of legal conviction and imprisonment is to remind society of the supremacy of the law and of the equality of all persons before the law. In reality, Nigerian Prison authorities allow a variation of this when they receive convicted persons into custody. If the reports in The Sun and Vanguard newspapers truly reflect the situation in Bode George’s cell, then whoever is in charge of the Kirikiri Maximum Prison has some explaining to do. Besides, higher authorities must find out why those in charge of the Kirikiri prison have allowed it to be turned into a PDP party secretariat.

We are told that Chief Bode George stays in a special cell, in a VIP section, and one asinine prison warder suggests that no one should expect a big man like that to be kept in the same section with pickpockets and armed robbers because after all, there is a classification of convicts by the prison authorities. Need that fellow be told that indeed pickpocketing and armed robbery may be a lighter than the grounds of the NPA six’s conviction and that the kind of privileges that Chief Bode George and co. are said to be enjoying violate the intent of their conviction by the court of law? Chief George, the papers report, has refused to wear prison uniform and the prison authorities have allowed him to bring along with him, a suitcase of clothes. A few days ago, we were informed that Chief George’s measurements had been taken and that his prison uniform would be ready by Friday. So why won’t he wear it? There is only one uniform for Nigerian prisoners. The case of the NPA six has already been determined; they may be granted bail pending the determination of their appeal for bail, but until then, they have to abide by the rules of prison life. At the moment, Chief George and his men are behaving as if the success of their bail application is a foregone conclusion but that is presumptuous and outrightly contemptuous.

Chief George is said to be taking this in his stride and reassuring his supporters that his imprisonment is the handiwork of his enemies and part of the price of leadership. The supporters reportedly arrive very early and they practically fall over each other to see their Godfather. To all intents and purposes, the Kirikiri prison has been turned into a car mart and a party secretariat. The Sun report states that Chief George starts holding court by 8 am. He obviously thinks that his conviction is a joke and the prison officials also see it as such! The big man does not eat prison food. Every day, his family and friends bring special delicacies for him to wolf down. Does he drink beer? Or wine? Or fruit juice? And is he also having that while in prison custody? I can imagine all the prison officials falling over themselves also to pay homage to the PDP chieftain.

One of them is quoted as saying that the likes of Bode George will always have their way in prison because an average warder’s salary is so poor; he survives by depending on the generousity of rich inmates. Corruption within the prison system compromises the justice system. No wonder it was disclosed not too long ago that persons who had been convicted and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment for drug-related offences found their ways out of prison and the records were doctored accordingly to cover them up. This was the finding of a panel set that was set up to probe the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency under the previous administration. There has been no further word on that scandal. A fresh probe of Nigeria’s prison system is long overdue.

The only inconvenience that Chief Bode George suffers, The Sun newspaper states is the lack of electricity. The prison generator is put on at 4 am and it is switched off at 6 am reducing the PDP big man to a fighter of mosquitoes, using every available fan to ward off heat and insects. If Bode George gets his bail and he gets out of this, he would at least have learnt that special lesson: no condition is permament. He must also have learnt one or two lessons about public service: namely that it is a double-edged sword for those who play games with the demands of integrity. Another lesson about human behaviour: prior to his conviction, he must have considered himself a sacred cow, an untouchable Godfather, but now he must know that he is human after all and that the law is no respecter of persons. He must not complain. What has been proven through him is that President Yar’çdua takes the rule of law seriously or that he does so when he so wishes.

This year alone, he has watched quietly as bank CEOS who donated to his campaign fund and that of the PDP were publicly humiliated. He has also refused to get involved in Bode George’s trial. Hopefully, all the persons who think that they are rich and privileged would learn from this, taking to heart the last line in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex that no man should consider himself happy until he takes that happiness to the grave in peace. The air of happiness that is being created around Bode George’s presence in Kirikiri Maximum Prison is false. When all the visitors who see him in batches of five at a time leave, he would be left alone with mosquitoes and the eerie darkness of damp prison walls. He needs to be reminded that if he had been in China, he and the five others may have been given the death sentence. If he had been a Frenchman, he would not think that being convicted for corruption is a joke. Jacques Chirac, 76, former French President who has been charged for corruption is showing more sobriety than Bode George and he has not even been convicted yet. Chief Bode George and his men should stop behaving as if they are in a Guest House at Kirikiri. They are in prison. The reports about the special privileges that they seem to be enjoying should lead to an investigation.

But there is a flip side to all of this: with Bode George turned into a common criminal, and public opinion concretely against him and the malfeasances of the NPA six, the PDP elite may find in this a good excuse to launch a war through the courts against members of other political parties who may have skeletons in their cupboards. Allegations would have to be proven in a court of law of course, but should it happen and certain opposition figures get convicted, they would have no moral justification to complain about political persecution. The PDP hawks have made an example out of their own men, they may spare no knife in hacking the “political enemy” . Once this is upheld by the court of law establishing actual wrong-doing, so be it. More interesting scenarios await us before the 2011 general elections. But in the meantime, higher authorities should put an end to the offensive “Owambe”scene that Bode George and his supporters are allegedly staging at the Kirikiri Maximum Prison. Allowing a two-prison system that is based on class discrimination defeats the purpose of that system. There should be no hierarchy among prisoners, no double standard, no VIP-treatment behind prison walls.

Soludo’s Baptism Of Fire

PROFESSOR Charles Chukwuma Soludo would remember when he was baptised Charles at his family church. But that is nothing compared to the kind of baptism that he is currently receiving in Anambra state. His 78-year old father has been abducted. The kidnappers want N500 million, another group, OMEGA 12, has asked him to pay N5 billion. Is it possible for two different groups to kidnap one man? Soludo’s wife and children have since been relocated abroad. He has also moved his mother out of the family house. He and his supporters insist that whoever is behind this cannot break their will. But how much price is Professor Soludo willing to pay to realise his ambition of becoming the Governor of Anambra state in 2010?

There is no doubt that he is strong-willed. When he ran into trouble as CBN Governor over the redenomination of the Naira and he was practically disowned by the Presidency, he refused to heed the advsie that he should resign his appointment. If he is driven by the same resolve in this matter, he may choose to dare his opponents and damn the consequences. But if his father manages to survive the attempt on his life, Soludo would have to relocate him too. He may also have to relocate his siblings. And his nephew. And his in-laws. Even his associates. And he has to constantly look over his shoulders, lest he too is kidnapped. In the same Anambra state which he wants to govern, a sitting Governor was once abducted from the Government House. And those who did so are still active in that state, obviously.

Soludo’s travails have been linked to the manner of his emergence as the PDP Gubernatorial flagbearer in Anambra state and Chris Uba’s highly revealing outburst this week would further confirm that assumption. Hear Chris Uba as reported: “Soludo is a visitor in the state, he is a visitor in the party, but when he came we started the primaries, and in the delegate election he got only five, and when he got these few votes, Soludo himself went and brought a court order and told me, Chris Uba, that he brought that court order. He later came to my house to beg me for us to discuss. I told him to go first and vacate that court order, he told me the court order cannot be vacated. He also told me that he has about three court orders in his pocket….He has been calling me, begging me to soft pedal; and I said I will not soft pedal, that he must vacate because he came in through the backyard and he must leave through the backyard…

Soludo is not a member of our party, Soludo has not attended meeting anywhere… Soludo is a blackmailer but he cannot blackmail me to stop. I will continue to fight the cause I believe in…I will continue to fight his candidature till I get him out of office. He can’t try this in this party, he has ruined all the banks in Nigeria and he wants to ruin the party, it can’t happen. He knows the whereabouts of his father, let him bring back his father. Soludo is not at peace with his people, he is fighting with his people, he created an autonomous community. I want Nigerians to judge me and Soludo who has a skeleton in his cupboard…I am fighting a just cause and I have followers and my followers will not support illegality as exemplified in Soludo’s candidature.”

Weighty words, quite interesting but would Chris Uba be willing to tell us what the “skeleton” in Soludo’s cupboard is and how in specific terms he has as he alleges, “ruined all the banks in Nigeria?” And as for him, is he saying there is no skeleton in his cupboard? Does Chris Uba remember any one called Chris Ngige at all? Soludo is being exposed to so much harrassment because he wants to be Governor. Chris Uba says he came to beg him. A Professor of Economics and former Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank going to beg Chris Uba? Did he prostrate? How much book dis Uba read sef? I hope Soludo will not fall into the trap of swearing to an oath at a shrine! Howsoever the drama of his Gubernatorial ambition plays out, Soludo must see in this the urgent need for him to join the campaign for electoral reform. And hopefully, also, he would see good reason to keep away from the PDP: a party with an unlimited supply of strange characters and incidents.

In the end, the Anambra debacle is all about the underdeveloped nature of Nigeria’s political process and the failure of the PDP. By 2011, there may be more copycats kidnapping the parents and relations of candidates. And if all aspirants have to start the race by first relocating their relations to neighbouring countries, this would not only drive up the cost of political particpation, it will also shut out well-meaning candidates and compel us to ask: who would be left to vote in Nigeria’s elections? An electoral system that requires political aspirants to send their loved ones on exile to prevent their abduction belongs to the age of barbarians. Kidnapping for whatever reason is unjusitifiable, it is criminal. The kidnappers of Pa Soludo must be found and the innocent man must be brought back home. This is another test case for the Nigerian Police.

by Reuben Abati

“MI’LORD has caught a big one. In fact not one, five. It is a wonderful day for Nigeria”.

“You always like to jubilate when someone falls on bad times. What’s the matter with you?”

“Why shouldn’t we jubilate? No, tell me, why shouldn’t we roll on the floor with laughter from rib to rib? When last did the long arms of the law catch up with big men who have mismanaged public resources? Madam Farida Waziri’s EFCC has been busy with too many cases in progress. Everyone who wanted progress with the anti-corruption war started yearning earnestly for Ribadu, the action-packed former Chairman of the EFCC. Now something big has happened”.

“I know. Mrs. Waziri has been beating her chest. President Yar’Adua must also be pleased”.

“But it is the judge that we should praise. He has shown courage and determination. It doesn’t matter what they do to him after this. He will be remembered for his courage in sending six big men to jail in one day, without the option of fine. What was it again? – the splitting of contracts, abuse of office, and disobedience of lawful orders.”

“Heavy matter”.

“And the whole matter took 14 months. The case began in August 2008 and now, it has been determined. Some other judges allow cases to drag on endlessly. And lawyers would be allowed to keep making frivolous applications just to delay the course of justice”.

“I hear this Oyewole is a no-nonsense judge. I recommend his example to other judges. Take a case, stay with it, do justice in record time”.

“You know for a moment, I thought Chief Bode George was going to get away. I mean the man is a big man in every sense of that word in Nigeria. Former Governor of Ondo State. Former Principal Staff Officer to the No: 2 man in the Abacha Government. National Deputy Chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (South West). The topmost chieftain of the PDP in Lagos State. A friend of the one and only OBJ of the do-or-die politics fame. A judge looked at the man straight in the face and sent him to jail?”.

“They are already sewing his prison uniform at Kirikiri. Have you not heard? He will get it today. The moment he arrived, the prison authorities took his measurements. The law is no respecter of persons. Nobody is above the law. That is the good news in all of this.”

“Even those five others are big men. We are talking of Board members of the Nigerian Ports Authority and a former Managing Director of the NPA. The NPA is one of those lucrative departments. When a man is given a high position in a body like that, he throws a party”.

“But there is something about the case that I still don’t quite understand. I think there is an escape route for the NPA Six when the matter goes on appeal”.

“It doesn’t matter. What we know at the moment is that the men have been convicted. That is the position of the law. Did you not read that when Chief Bode George arrived at the Kirikiri Maximum Prison, one of the first inmates to welcome him was Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, Abacha’s Chief Security Officer who has been in that prison for nearly nine years”.

“Ten”

“Whatever”

“No condition is permanent, my brother”.

“I’d like to see more big men in jail. May be that will curtail their greed”.

“Like who and who?”

“Like all the ones whose cases are still pending.”

“Name one person”.

“I don’t want to be charged for contempt; only a Court of Law can determine who goes to jail”.

“You see? You are a coward. You don’t want to offend anybody”.

“Okay, you too, name somebody you think also deserves a prison uniform and a special welcome by Abacha’s CSO.”

“Walahi, prison no good o. So, where do you think they will keep Chief Bode George. Will they give him a VIP suite?”

“You think Kirikiri Maximum Prison is a five-star hotel?”

“I understand it is organised like one and you can stay in a VIP suite if the price is right. You may even get a chance to have your wife sneak in for an overnight stay, again if the price is right. This is Nigeria. Were you not in this country when the wife of a prominent prisoner took in while he was still in prison and it was reported that the pregnancy was his. At night, you may even be allowed to go home and return at dawn before anyone notices your absence”.

“One of these days, this your mouth will put you into trouble. But whether there is a VIP suite in prison or not, I don’t think Chief Bode George will find it funny”.

“I hear he is not taking prison food.”

“Don’t worry, he’d soon adjust.”

“But why are you talking about Chief Bode George? What about the other five?”

“This is Nigeria. Don’t be surprised if they are granted amnesty sooner than you think.”

“You think they will be granted bail pending the hearing of their appeal?”

“I suspect the men will be released at the Court of Appeal. I have been reflecting on the grounds of their conviction. Splitting of contracts, Abuse of office. Disobedience of lawful orders. These look to me like administrative irregularities. I mean when did a contract become an atom? Is Bode George a scientist turning contracts into atoms, and splitting them to create a bomb?”.

“Yes. A bomb of free cash. It swells the pocket, the mouth, the belly, and it can send a man to prison… Because public funds are involved, when you split contracts in order to top up prices, you are violating the law. This case should teach Board members of public institutions that if they abuse their fiduciary responsibilities, they may go to jail”.

“How will those big men look in prison uniform”

“That is not important. They don’t do fashion parade in prisons. A prison uniform is a prison uniform. One elewon is not different from the other”.

“Jesus Christ, the husband of widows!”

“I understand Chief Bode George’s supporters wanted to make trouble at the court premises. They became unruly, raining curses on the judge, and threatening journalists”.

“If they are not careful, they’d join their man in prison.”

“And to think Chief Bode George caused all this by suing The News magazine for libel. If he had known, he would have kept quiet.”

“It is like Jeffrey Archer and the UK Daily Star. Look, it simply means that big men should watch how they behave. A big man today can wear a prison uniform tomorrow. That is the way of the world”.

“Even if they sew prison uniform with damask, may my enemy never wear it”.

“Why? Your enemies should wear prison uniform. What kind of prayer is that?”

“You know I am a Christian. We are taught to pray for our enemies.”

“Well, don’t pray for people who split things that shouldn’t be split”.

“Like who?”

“Like the kidnappers of Pa Simeon Soludo, the father of Prof. Charles Soludo”.

“Prof. Chukwuma, please. He has retired his Charles.”

“Look, that is not important to me. What kind of country is this? Why would anyone kidnap a man, an old man, 78 years old, just because his son wants to be governor?”

“Some people’s wives and mothers have been kidnapped before now. And this is the second time they’d take Pa Soludo. When his son introduced banking consolidation as CBN Governor in 2006, and some banks lost their licenses, he was also abducted. He lost an eye during that incident”.

“It is a clear sign of Nigeria’s underdevelopment.”

“More like the failure of the Nigerian state.”

“It is obvious that certain elements are determined to intimidate Prof. Soludo, and frighten him”.

“The kidnappers are asking for N500 million.”

“What price must a man pay to be part of the Nigerian governance process”?

“Certainly not the life of a father.”

“It is called collateral damage, though”

“It is pure criminality and it should be condemned. It raises serious questions about human security.”

“This Nigeria tire me, no be small”.

“Look at what is happening with the U-17 football tournament that we are hosting. When other countries host such an event they end up making profit from ticket sales and endorsements. Nigeria is losing money. Other countries gain international recognition and pride, but Nigeria is ridiculing itself”.

“I hear FIFA is not happy with the Local Organising Committee. They are complaining about low turn-out at the stadium”.

“But I have seen some improvement this week”.

“Artificial improvement. To keep the tournament going, the Nigerian authorities are renting crowds to fill the stands”.

“I know”.

“For the Nigeria-Honduras match, 40,000 tickets were given out free to encourage spectators to come to the Abuja National Stadium”.

“In many of the centres, school children are taken out of school and forced to make up the numbers at the stadium, I don’t remember which match I was watching. It was around 7.30 p.m. and I saw these helpless children, secondary school pupils, watching a football match they probably were not interested in. That’s child abuse”.

“In Lagos, the state government provides free transportation to and from the stadium”.

“In Bauchi State, Governor Isa Yuguda is buying up all the tickets for the matches, and asking people to just come to the stadium. He is paying N20 million.”

“All the governors and Ministers who are buying up tickets for free distribution, I hope it is their personal funds they are spending. I really hope so.”

“It is not only the Nigerian authorities that are bribing the spectators. I read a story in the Nigerian Tribune about how the Italian U-17 team decided to distribute sweets and T-shirts to spectators.”

“Wonderful.”

“And trust Nigerians. They supported the Italians.”

“When are they going to serve food? I beg if you know where they are serving food, let me know.”

“Hungry man.”

“But you know, the biggest scandal of the U-17 tournament occurred on Wednesday in Enugu. It rained heavily and the Burkina Faso-New Zealand match had to be suspended. The artificial pitch was flooded. It became bloated.

“I saw it on television. I saw concerned officials using buckets to drain water from the pitch’

“Nobody used a plastic bucket. You sef?”

“You mean you did not see people frantically using towels to drain water? I saw people using knives and blades to rip the flooded pitch open”

“And that is a pitch that was specially imported and installed. Expensive installation.”

“You never know. May be someone split the contract, and the contractor had no option but to do a shoddy job.”

“It is a shame.”

“Don’t worry. Soon, it’d be over.”

“That thing I said about food, don’t forget eh/”

“Mr. Food.”

“I just want to split some dollops of pounded yam.”

“Don’t worry, you won’t end up in Kirikiri for that.”