A particular trend by a section of Nigeria’s public opinion commentators is the easy resort to herd disposition. By this, they easily fall over a particular issue, chorusing the same argument in a manner reminiscent of a flock in dire need of pasture.
The engagement, ordinarily, may not give cause for concern. The danger, however, is that beyond the veneer of championing a touted national interest, there are individuals stoking the fire with the aim of profiting from an agenda. Often, the aim, which is hardly stated, usually tailored at settling scores. But by the time the dust of the exercise would have settled, some hard-earned reputation must have been sullied.
That, incidentally, has been the burden of public office-holders in Nigeria. Former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, is a victim of this absurd tendency. By the time the Second Republic that he served had been sent packing by soldiers led by the then Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (now president-elect), he was readily categorised among the rogues of the administration. Without due diligence but in obvious deference to the prevailing public opinion of the time, he was hauled into detention for a gruelling 20 months. It took a more thorough opinion by an appeal panel for it to be established that the former vice president, in fact, came out of government poorer than he was before volunteering for service.
The appeal panel had remarked that it would take somebody that is more of an angel to maintain the record that he had in service. That verdict, somehow, gave Ekwueme the needed breather. But, undoubtedly, his reputation and health had been tampered with before it came.
The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, is currently undergoing this jaundiced trial in the court of interested members of the public. She appears to have been programmed for an ignominious exit from office, in what may signal an era of witch-hunt that lies ahead.
The minister, incidentally, is not a stranger to controversies that have dogged her office since her appointment. Before now, she had been the butt of dangerous insinuations about the alleged sleaze in the petroleum industry. But she had, at every turn, rebuffed attempts to present her in bad light, blaming her woes on the antics of the oil cabal that she had been having running battles with.
But with less than a month to the exit of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, the onslaught on the minister has been on the upswing, giving the impression that she has become a marked woman.
What, perhaps, seems to have added fillip to her trial on the media is the statement by the president-elect that he is going to initiate fresh probe into the controversial “missing” $20 billion from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) account. Buhari was said to have told a delegation from Adamawa State led by the governor-elect, Bindow Jibrilla, that he would investigate the allegations of the missing fund, despite information that some persons have already started returning money to government coffers.
He reiterated that the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was removed as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) because he said that about $20 billion was missing, noting that instead of the government to investigate the matter, it sacked him.
Sanusi had, in September 2013, written President Jonathan, alleging that the NNPC had failed to remit the sum of $49.8 billion to the Federation Account over a 19-month period. The letter was supposed to be for the president’s attention and necessary action taken, but for reasons that became clearer later, the communication was leaked to the press. NNPC, however, quickly debunked the allegation.
When Sanusi was put on the spot by the Senate committee inquiring into his allegation to substantiate his case, he told the members that the missing figure was $12 billion instead. He was later to change the figure to $19.8 billion and then to $20 billion.
But obviously taking advantage of a system where questions are rarely asked, the former CBN governor pranced about with the confusing story and was rather lionised by the unwary public.
It was at this point that the federal government, wanting to set the records straight, ordered a forensic audit conducted by world-acclaimed accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), into the accounts of NNPC. The firm came up with the verdict that only $1.48 billion was actually unaccounted for.
That should settle the matter. But that is not the case. And it is hardly surprising. Oil business, the world over, is big business. Its operations are carefully kept from the eyes of the public. They are only known within the circles of the key players: the oligopolies. This is why even some oil-producing nations hardly have any say on how their oil is exploited or explored. It is, indeed, a tricky business.
It is also a dangerous terrain for a suspected intruder. This is the cross Alison-Madueke is currently carrying. By initiating and carrying out some far-reaching reforms in the sector that the players consider injurious to their interest, she has clearly stepped on toes and has incurred their wrath. To them and their local collaborators, therefore, anything and anyhow it takes to bring the minister down is in line with the tenets of the business.
This is why the in-coming administration should not allow itself to be used in the unfolding shadow-boxing that is clearly not in the interest of the country. Probing activities by a seating government of its predecessor is not a bad idea, per se; it should also be comprehensive and not selective. This is especially if the exercise is intended to enhance governance and add value to the lives of the people.
The action rather becomes a curious engagement when it is applied as instrument of vendetta to get at perceived opponents. The excitement in the camp of those chorusing the Alison-Madueke probe mantra suggests more to the issue than meets the eye.
This is where the president-elect is expected to exercise great deal of caution in dancing to frenzy for those yelling for action. He fell into this trap in his first coming, when, brimming with exuberance of revolutionary agenda, he took some actions that later worked against his government. With the benefit of hindsight and age, it is expected that he should, this time around, not allow himself to be herded into hasty actions that may end up serving concealed interest.
• Ogbuehi, a public affairs analyst, writes from Lagos.
