EFCC & Emeka Ugwuonye: A case of abuse of office.
Governments in many countries all over the world and over centuries have a tendency to make martyrs and heroes of ordinary citizens. Most of the time the government believes the citizen has the powers the citizen does not have. History abounds with the names of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Jesus of Nazareth, Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr., Nkrumah, Kenyatta and now Emeka Ugwuonye. Each of these people merely made statements publicly, usually calling on the earthly powers to do something different from what the powers want to do.
The authorities generally are/were rattled and goe after the fly with machine guns which invariably misses because the fly is too small to be caught in such a massive use of force. If left alone nobody or only a few people would have even noticed the fly or what the fly was doing.
Each of the people named above is now worshipped and glorified from age to age and have become the standard for purity and gentleness. Mr. Ugwuonye is still a notch below but he is rising and would continue to rise as long as EFCC is on his case.
Mr. Ugwuonye could not have bought his current standing with $1.5 million he is alleged to have seized. He is now a David going against the Goliath in Nigeria and the world is rooting for him. His story is in newspapers across the world thanks to internet websites which had initially been the instrument of his victimization.
Jesus, a Jewish carpenter's son merely preached to the Jewish authorities to change their ways, and turn to God. His views were ridiculed and his words twisted as a challenge to the Roman authorities. He was arrested and crucified. 2,000 year later up to 2 billion people now sing his praises. A carpenter's son ignored would have accomplished nothing. A carpenter's son prosecuted has turned the world upside down.
Gandhi pleaded with the British to get out of India . He too was captured and persecuted. 1 billion Indians and half the world now worship at his alter. A little man ignored would have not done much for India but a little man persecuted has turned the world on its head.
A German bishop ignored would have left the mighty Church in Rome intact but a German Bishop persecuted has divided the Roman church with the Roman Church a minority among Christians. The same effect has resulted in the persecutions of a Black preacher, and African Nation's early leaders.
Why do governments make the same mistakes over and over again? Over centuries? Why have they not listened to Einstein? Could it be true that they are all really insane?
Recently Mr. Ugwuonye was in Nigeria to keep a court date. He has proven that he would not flee if allowed to go on bail. What did he get? Arrest and detention. His accusers did not even show up in court where they could have argued for revocation of his bail, added more charges like instigating disaffection against the state or even treason. They just pounced on him as an ordinary criminal. Now a decent court would award him some court costs, including his travel expenses to Nigeria and back to US where he resides. He would now have more lawyers (SANs all) to defend him freely. He will now get more publicity and give more interviews and generally poke his fingers on the face of Ms. Waziri and her EFCC.
Ms. Waziri is now being seen as totally incompetent and her association with the departed attorney general has become the subject while Mr. Ugwuonye has become the object.
What a change in fortunes?
If Ms. Waziri does not back off from Mr. Ugwuonye's case the possible results could be:
Ms. Waziri and EFCC would become the victims of the case as she could be removed from EFCC or the entire out fit would be merged back into the police force. She would have lost her command (the worst outcome for any commander such as Adekunle) with his troops absorbed by other commands.
Mr. Ugwuonye could muster enough popular support to ride to the presidency of Nigeria as Nkrumah, Mandela, Kenyatta, etc did. These were men who came from prison to rule their countries when the ruling authorities made an ordinary citizen a hero.
Mr. Ugwuonye might even become a Martin Luther King Jr. of Nigeria with his own holiday and statutes erected in his memory. He would not have deserved any of these based on his antecedents if he had been handled as the law demands. If he had been tried on the charges of holding back federal money he received as the attorney for the federal government and the court's ruling accepted there would not have been an "Emeka Ugwuonye." But the government thought he had the power he never had and in the process gave that power to him on a platter of silver. He is now using that power and welding it over the heads Ms. Waziri and her cohorts.
This world is a strange place.
Full disclosures: Emeka Ugwuonye and I are both married to the Anyaoku family, so we are both related by marriage. His children and my children are cousins. This relationship has precluded my getting in this discussion for a long time but it has gotten to the point where I must put in my two kobo. I have tried to be as objective as I can possibly be.
Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba