The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws ― Tacitus

By Olayinka Oyegbile

(A review of Fighting Corruption is Dangerous, Ngozi-Okonjo Iweala, The MIT Press, Massachusetts, 2018, 173 pages)

I love reading autobiographies, biographies and memoirs. However, I avoid some of those written by anyone who has had anything to do with public office in Nigeria or any politician. This is because I know they are liars and manipulators who often use their memoirs to launder images that are soiled beyond redemption. Men and women who had held public offices right before our eyes and whom we witnessed and lived through the horrors of their time in office would to concoct lies in the name of writing an autobiography or memoir. Worst still, they would expect me to spend my hard-earned pittance to buy such books and plough through the tortuous route of reading their tissues of lies and image laundering. God forbids!

Let no one think I have pigeon holed all politicians or public office holders into one sack. No. There are exceptions. I have read almost all the books written by the late sage Obafemi Awolowo, the autobiography of Sardauna of Sokoto Sir Ahmadu Bello, that of Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Alhaji Aminu Kano, Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe and a host of others. I have also read many of the accounts of the Nigerian civil war that have been written as either as memoirs, novels, or plays etc. When Chief Olusegun Obasanjo wrote My Command and Not My Will, I read them too. However, I have not read his trilogy My Watch, even though I have it.

A fellow bibliophile Nnnena Okoronkwo had some time ago, made some postings on her Facebook page about the memoir of former two-time Finance Minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The book, Fighting Corruption is Dangerous, which she had read and decided to post snippets of quotes and her own thoughts on drew me back to the book. I had about eight years ago bought the book and dropped it among the stacks of unread books a corner in my study. I had concluded that it was just one of those sanctimonious testaments by one of those who had served in government and was just trying to polish her image.

One day, pricked by Ms Okonronkwo’s postings, I decided to break the jinx and my stereotype about past public office holders. I decided to pick the book up to read. What did I find out? It is a small but mighty book that should be read by all Nigerians that are literate and interested in how the affairs of this our country is run. It is a complete dossier of how much we have sunk and may further sink if those in authorities refuse to do what is needed to save us from the tipping point!

The opening salvo of the book was the account of the kidnap of her then 82-year-old mother abducted from her home in Ogwashi-Ukwu, Delta State on a Sunday afternoon after Sunday worship service! She called the act an intimidation game meant to break her resolve to tackle the oil scammers who had been milking the country dry on the contentious oil subsidy claims by big oil marketers. Racing through her beautiful but dreadful account, I was shocked at the unfolding events. Not to be mistaken, I followed the event and worked on stories filed by reporters across the country about the kidnap when it took place. However, reading the former minister’s account first hand gave me insights into many things about our dear country.

It gives hints of how crimes continue to thrive and fester because culprits are never found nor punished. Or to put it more appropriately, no efforts are ever made to find culprits. Many murders, especially of prominent citizens have been committed without the killers ever found. Naming them all would fill many sheaves of papers. Now how does this connect with Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s memoir?

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala

At the breaking of the news about her mother’s kidnap to her, the first set of questions that raced through her mind would have been many. A few days after the incident, information came by phone that she should either resign her appointment as minister or pay the contentious oil subsidy claims by the oil marketers. To drive the point home, her brother got a phone call from a friend telling him that a meeting was held by some people at a certain location and parts of their demands was for her to resign or she would be maimed before leaving office! What an insult and intimidation! The woman with a heart of steel refused to back down.

The brother told the minister the name of one of those who were in attendance at the meeting. The person was known to her and she decided to confront her with the allegation because the woman’s husband had one day said the former minister was his “sister” because they hailed from the same locality. The former minister went ahead and confronted the woman with the allegation.

Here is her story, “We searched for her telephone number through contacts, and the next day I rang her and invited her to meet with me in Abuja to discuss the amounts owed her company. After she arrived for the meeting a couple of days later, I wasted no time getting straight to the point and informing her that I was aware of the meeting held at her house and the matters discussed. I told her the security services were aware. She feigned ignorance and denied any knowledge of what I was talking about, tried to get on her high horse, and insist that a woman in her position would never be involved in such a plot. But her denials rang hollow. After warnings that I won’t be intimidated, I ended the meeting and she left. I could see that she was in a bit of shock. The outraged call from her husband never came, so I knew the strategy had worked. Whatever plot had been hatched, there would be no follow-through!” (P10).

So, what happened after? Did the security agencies question the woman or followed it up? Or did Dr Okonjo-Iweala refuse to report to the security agencies? Since she left office what has happened to the woman in question? Were any attempts made to ascertain if the meeting was ever held and if the threat was made at the meeting? My question is: if a minister’s old mother was kidnapped, her life threatened and nothing happened to the suspects, what hope is there for a common citizen? No wonder kidnappings and huge ransom payments have continued without hindrance across the land.

There are so many issues raised by Dr Okonjo-Iweala that are begging for answers. Do our security and law enforcement agencies and leaders read? She wrote extensively about those she justifiably called “Oil Scammers”, but what has happened to them? From her testimonies, the ministry of finance and other agencies concerned with the oil in the country in the country have the records and the scammers are not spirits. Why have they not been punished for scamming a country of 240 million citizens? When President Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2023, made the now famous speech “Subsidy is gone!”, was it that he had no access to the list of the scammers or he decided to punish 240 million instead of the few scammers?

Fighting Corruption is Dangerous has given me a glimpse into why our country is held down by a few oligarchs who are well known in the corridors of power but would never get their comeuppance because they are all birds of a feather!